Methods and systems are provided for controlling and diagnosing a mechanical vehicle component. In one example, a method may include determining a vehicle speed and a plurality of clutch position settings at a diagnostic controller, and identifying unauthorized conditions based on these determinations. Further, the diagnostic controller may trigger an active fault state of the mechanical vehicle component in order to avoid unauthorized conditions that may lead to unwanted or unanticipated changes in vehicle motion.

A method of operating a first electric machine and a second electric machine in a vehicle drive includes operating the vehicle drive in a first operating mode by operating the first electric machine to regulate electrical power at a bus to maintain a first voltage on the bus and operating the second electric machine to consume electrical power from the bus. The method includes operating the vehicle drive in a second operating mode by operating the first electric machine to consume electrical power from the bus and operating the second electric machine to regulate electrical power at the bus to maintain a second voltage on the bus. A sum of the electrical power regulated by the first electric machine, the electrical power losses, and the electrical power consumed by the second electric machine is zero in the first operating mode and in the second operating mode.

The technology relates to enhancing or extending the field of view of sensors for vehicles configured to operate in an autonomous driving mode. One or more mirrors are used to reflect or redirect beams emitted from onboard sensors that would otherwise be wasted, for instance due to obstruction by a portion of the vehicle or because they are emitted at high pitch angles to the side. The mirrors are also used to redirect incoming beams from the external environment toward one or more of the onboard sensors. Using mirrors for such redirection can reduce or eliminate blind spots around the vehicle. A calibration system may be employed to account for mirror movement due to vibration or wind drag. Each mirror may be a front surface mirror. The mirrors may be positioned on the vehicle body, on a faring, or extending from a sensor housing on the vehicle.

When the state of charge of a battery is greater than or equal to a lower limit value and less than or equal to an upper limit value, an electronic control unit calculates a charging electric energy transferred between a motor-generator and the battery such that the battery is neither charged nor discharged. When the state of charge is less than the lower limit value, a required torque of the engine is calculated based on the charging electric energy, a power consumption of an auxiliary device, and a driving torque. When the state of charge is greater than or equal to the lower limit value and less than or equal to the upper limit value, the required torque is calculated based on the charging electric energy and the driving torque, without taking the power consumption into consideration.

The invention provides an automatic braking system and method and a vehicle. The automatic braking method comprises: entering an automatic braking process when a vehicle speed is less than a predetermined speed threshold value and a driver completely releases an accelerator pedal, wherein the automatic braking process comprises: detecting surrounding information by a sensing module; determining a target stop position based on the surrounding information, and determining a braking deceleration based on the target stop position; adjusting a motor and a braking system to slow down a vehicle at the predetermined braking deceleration and to stop the vehicle at the target stop position; and automatically activate an autohold system upon the vehicle stopping at the target stop position. The method and device according to embodiments of the invention can enable completely automatic braking and holding. The method and device according to embodiments of the invention can enable completely automatic braking and holding.

A vehicle includes a gear mechanism connected to a driving wheel; a traveling electric motor configured to exchange heat with a heat exchange medium shared by the gear mechanism and output motive power to the driving wheel via the gear mechanism; and a controller configured to change an operating point of the traveling electric motor to a stronger field side rather than a maximum efficiency point in a case that a temperature of the heat exchange medium is less than a predetermined temperature.

The teachings of the present disclosure may include operation of a drivetrain system for a vehicle with multiple operation modes. The first includes coupling the AC electric machine with the internal combustion engine for starting the internal combustion engine or for supplying an additional torque. The second includes coupling the internal combustion engine with the AC electric machine for charging the electric battery. The third includes decoupling the AC electric machine from the internal combustion engine and connecting an AC winding to a heating resistance of a catalyst device for electrically heating the catalyst device. The fourth includes coupling the internal combustion engine with the AC electric machine to the heating resistance for electrically heating the catalyst device.

A four-wheel drive vehicle includes: (a) main drive wheels and auxiliary drive wheels; (b) a rotating machine as a drive power source; (c) a drive-power distribution clutch configured to allocate a part of a drive power outputted to the main drive wheels from the drive power source, to the auxiliary drive wheels, so as to distribute the drive power to the main drive wheels and the auxiliary drive wheels with a drive-power distribution ratio between the auxiliary drive wheels and the main drive wheels, such that the drive-power distribution ratio is variable with an engaging force of the drive-power distribution clutch being controlled; and (d) a control apparatus configured, when determining that a heat load of the drive-power distribution clutch is large during deceleration running of the vehicle, to limit a regenerative torque of the rotating machine, as compared with when determining that the heat load is small.

A braking force controller causes a first actuator unit to generate a target jerk when the target jerk is equal to or larger than a first jerk, causes the first actuator unit to generate the first jerk and a second actuator unit to generate a jerk obtained by subtracting the first jerk from the target jerk as an additional jerk when the target jerk is smaller than the first jerk and equal to or larger than the sum of the first jerk and a second jerk, and causes the first actuator unit to generate the first jerk and the second actuator unit to generate the second jerk as the additional jerk when the target jerk is smaller than the sum of the first jerk and the second jerk.

A computing device-implemented method comprises receiving information representative of a state of charge of an energy storage device of a vehicle that includes an alternative fuel propulsion system, receiving information representative of a performance measure of the vehicle for a period of time, receiving information representative of a position of an accelerator pedal of the vehicle, determining an amount of torque required by a second propulsion system to send to a driveshaft of the vehicle from the received information representative of a position of a pedal, determining an amount of torque assistance required to send to a driveshaft of the vehicle from the alternative fuel propulsion system included in the vehicle from the information representative of a performance measure of the vehicle and the information representative of the state of charge, and adjusting an amount of torque required by a second propulsion system using the determined torque assistance.