US-12623737-B2 - Control architecture for a self-powered dolly vehicle

US12623737B2US 12623737 B2US12623737 B2US 12623737B2US-12623737-B2

Abstract

A dolly vehicle includes at least one motion support device, MSD, and a control unit arranged for vehicle motion management, VMM, wherein the control unit is configurable in a master mode where the at least one MSD is controlled based on a set of capabilities of a vehicle combination comprising the dolly vehicle to fulfil an assigned task. The control unit is configurable in a slave mode where the at least one MSD is controlled based on requests received from an external master control unit.

Inventors

Leo Laine
Leon Henderson
José Vilca
Mats Jonasson

Assignees

VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20200211

Claims (13)

1 . A dolly vehicle comprising at least one motion support device, MSD, and a control unit arranged for vehicle motion management, VMM, wherein the control unit is configurable in a master mode where the at least one MSD is controlled based on a set of capabilities of a vehicle combination comprising the dolly vehicle to fulfil an assigned task, and wherein the control unit is configurable in a slave mode where the at least one MSD is controlled based on requests received from an external master control unit, wherein the slave mode is automatically configured when the control unit of the dolly vehicle is connected via wireless link to an external control unit, wherein the slave mode is automatically configured when a drawbar of the dolly vehicle is at least indirectly connected to a master vehicle, and wherein the master vehicle comprises a control unit arranged to operate in the master mode.
2 . The dolly vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the master mode is automatically configured when the drawbar of the dolly vehicle is in a disconnected state.
3 . The dolly vehicle according to claim 1 , arranged to, when in the master mode configuration, determine a curvature and/or an acceleration request comprising longitudinal and/or lateral acceleration, determine required global vehicle forces in response to the requests, and control the at least one MSD to coordinate and generate the required global vehicle forces and moments, wherein the moments comprise any of a yaw moment, a roll moment, and a pitch moment.
4 . The dolly vehicle according to claim 1 , arranged to, when in the slave mode configuration, receive a request for generating one or more required dolly vehicle forces and to control the at least one MSD to generate the one or more required dolly vehicle forces.
5 . The dolly vehicle according to claim 1 , arranged to, when in the slave mode configuration, receive state information from the external master vehicle control unit and/or from an external control unit connected via wireless link, wherein the state information is associated with a local coordinate system of the dolly vehicle.
6 . The dolly vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein the state information comprises any of a velocity vector, an acceleration vector, and a rotation associated with the dolly vehicle.
7 . The dolly vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein the state information corresponds to state information associated with the master vehicle and geometrically transformed into a local coordinate system associated with the dolly vehicle.
8 . The dolly vehicle according to claim 1 , arranged to, when in the slave mode configuration, transmit status information and capability information to the external master vehicle control unit and/or to an external control unit connected via wireless link.
9 . The dolly vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one MSD comprises a propulsion unit configured in connection to a driven axle of the dolly vehicle.
10 . The dolly vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one MSD comprises a steerable axle of the dolly vehicle.
11 . The dolly vehicle according to claim 1 , arranged to control the at least one MSD to generate a requested coupling force associated with the drawbar or with a fifth wheel connection of the dolly vehicle.
12 . A method for managing dolly vehicle motion, where the dolly vehicle comprises at least one motion support device, MSD, the method comprising: determining if the dolly vehicle is to operate in a master mode or in a slave mode, where the dolly vehicle is to operate in slave mode at least when a control unit of the dolly vehicle is connected via wireless link to an external control unit, wherein the slave mode is automatically configured when a drawbar of the dolly vehicle is at least indirectly connected to a master vehicle, when the dolly vehicle is to operate in the master mode controlling the at least one MSD based on a set of capabilities of a vehicle combination comprising the dolly vehicle to fulfil an assigned task, and when the dolly vehicle is to operate in the slave mode controlling the at least one MSD based on requests received from an external master control unit, wherein the master vehicle comprises a control unit arranged to operate in the master mode.
13 . A non-transitory computer program comprising program code for performing the steps of claim 12 when said program code is run on a computer or on processing circuitry of a control unit.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a U.S. National Stage application of PCT/EP2020/053431, filed Feb. 11, 2020 and published on Aug. 19, 2021, as WO 2021/160253, all of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to heavy-duty vehicles, such as trucks and construction equipment, and in particular to dolly vehicles comprising at least one motion support device (MSD) and a control unit for controlling the motion support device. Although the invention will be described mainly with respect to semi-trailer vehicles and trucks, the invention is not restricted to this particular type of vehicle but may also be used in other types of vehicles. BACKGROUND A semitrailer vehicle normally comprises a tractor arranged to tow a trailer unit via a fifth wheel connection. In order to extend the cargo transport ability of the semitrailer vehicle, a dolly vehicle can be added to the vehicle combination which allows for additional trailer units to be towed by the same tractor. A traditional dolly is an unpowered vehicle unit designed for connection to a tractor unit, truck or prime mover vehicle with strong traction power. Dolly vehicles comprising on-board power sources such as electric machines and dolly vehicles with one or more steered axles have recently been proposed. Such dolly vehicles can provide additional power to the vehicle combination, thus reducing the traction power requirements imposed on the prime mover vehicle. Electrified dolly vehicles may also reduce overall fuel consumption by the vehicle combination, since they provide a degree of hybridization to conventional diesel-engine powered tractors. Steered axle dolly vehicles may furthermore be used for improved steering of the vehicle combination, e.g., when negotiating sharp curves. WO 2018/1152030 discloses one interesting example use of such electrified dolly vehicles. This type of advanced dolly vehicle relies on one or more on-board control units implementing control methods for performing various tasks. US 2018/297815 A1 also discloses use of electrified dolly vehicles. There is a need for more advanced such control units and systems in order to extract the full potential of self-powered and/or steerable dolly vehicles. SUMMARY It is an object of the present disclosure to provide control units and methods for controlling self-powered and/or steerable dolly vehicles as well as vehicle combinations comprising one or more dolly vehicles. This object is obtained by a dolly vehicle comprising at least one motion support device (MSD) and a control unit arranged for vehicle motion management (VMM). The control unit is configurable in a master mode where the at least one MSD is controlled based on a set of capabilities of a vehicle combination comprising the dolly vehicle to fulfil an assigned task. The control unit is also configurable in a slave mode where the at least one MSD is controlled based on requests received from an external master control unit. Thus, the dolly vehicle may interact with an eternal control unit in slave mode but may also assume control over itself and potentially also other connected vehicles by configuring itself in master mode. This is an advantage since the dolly functions can be used also when the dolly is connected to a towing truck lacking a control unit which is configurable in master mode (the dolly can then become the master). The dolly unit can also operate as a towing vehicle, for instance when it is not connected to a towing truck via its drawbar. In this case it can manage vehicle control by configuring itself in master mode. According to aspects, the master mode is automatically configured when a drawbar of the dolly vehicle is in a disconnected state. This means that, for instance, safety features implemented in the VMM may remain functional even if connection to a master VMM in a towing truck is lost as the master VMM is disconnected from the dolly. According to aspects, the dolly vehicle is arranged to, when in the master mode configuration, determine a curvature and/or an acceleration request comprising longitudinal and/or lateral acceleration, determine required global vehicle forces in response to the requests, and control the at least one MSD to coordinate and generate the required global vehicle forces and moments, wherein the moments comprises any of a yaw moment, a roll moment, and a pitch moment. Thus, the dolly vehicle may assume the role of towing truck for a vehicle combination. The dolly vehicle may, e.g., move trailers up to a loading dock or park trailers in a cargo terminal by configuring itself in master mode and then executing a requested mission. According to aspects, the slave mode is automatically configured when the drawbar of the dolly vehicle is at least indirectly connected to a master vehicle. A master vehicle is here a vehicle comprising a control unit arranged to operate in the master mode. This feature e