Fuel Optimal Powertrain Control for Heavy Trucks Utilizing Look Ahead

The road topography in highways affects the powertrain control of a heavy truck substantially since the engine power is low in relation to the vehicle weight. In large road gradients constant speed is not possible to keep, which would have been beneficial otherwise, and in some uphills shifting gears becomes inevitable. If information about the road ahead, i.e. look ahead information, is available, then the powertrain can be controlled in a more fuel efficient way. Trial runs are performed, where the velocity trajectory that minimizes energy consumption, is calculated and communicated in real time as set points to the conventional cruise control. This look ahead control gives significant fuel consumption reductions compared to a standard cruise control, while keeping to the same mean speed. The results are the inspiration to further studies in how powertrain control can benefit from look ahead information. An engine with a non-linear fuel map is studied to understand its impact on fuel optimal speed. It is shown that for a significant fuel map non-linearity, quantified by a threshold value, constant speed in small road gradients is no longer optimal. Further, an automated manual transmission (AMT) optimal gear control is studied. It is shown that the reduced propulsion of a typical AMT gear-shifting process must be considered when choosing when to shift gears. Thus, additional reductions of fuel consumption are obtained with a look ahead control based on knowledge of engine and transmission characteristics.