Field of the invention:
The present invention relates to a device and method to control torque response of a vehicle.
Background of the invention:
The vehicle behavior expectation varies from rider/driver to rider/driver. Some riders/driver expect the vehicle to have progressive behavior with refinement and smoothness with respect to the accelerator input. Whereas some riders/drivers expect the vehicle behavior to be aggressive and sporty. There are another group of end users who want the vehicle to have different character, depending on the riding/driving environment and on the rider/driver's mood. There is a need for a simple system to enable accelerator response or torque output to satisfy the requirements without any mode selection.
According to an Indian patent literature 201721011867, a method and a system for operating a vehicle in multiple drive modes is disclosed. The system comprises an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) that receives data related to operating parameters such as load on the vehicle and terrain condition in current location of the vehicle from one or more sources associated with the vehicle in real-time. The ECU determines drive mode from a plurality of pre-set drive modes for operating the vehicle by comparing the data related to the operating parameters with a pre-stored data. Finally, the ECU communicates the drive mode to an Engine Management System (EMS) to dynamically control drive parameters based on the drive mode. The present disclosure provides an advantage of automatically detecting by the ECU, appropriate pre-set drive mode for the vehicle based on one or more operating parameters computed in real-time, thereby improves performance and fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
Brief description of the accompanying drawings:
An embodiment of the disclosure is described with reference to the following accompanying drawing,

[0005] Fig. 1 illustrates a device to control torque response of a vehicle, according to an embodiment of the present invention, and
[0006] Fig. 2 illustrates a method for controlling torque response of a vehicle, according to the present invention.
Detailed description of the embodiments:
[0007] Fig. 1 illustrates a device to control torque response of a vehicle, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle 120 comprises an accelerator 114 and a corresponding position sensor 102. The other components and devices of the vehicle 120 are excluded from the explanation due to common knowledge and also to keep the present invention simple. The device 100 comprises a controller 110 adapted to detect a first parameter comprising a position of the accelerator 114 from the position sensor 102. The accelerator 114 is a throttle grip in handlebar based vehicles 120 and is a pedal in foot based acceleration system. Further, the position sensor 102 is an angle sensor (but not limited thereto). The device 100 is characterized by, the controller 110 adapted to compute a second parameter comprising a rate of change of the position of the accelerator 114, and then control the engine 108 based on combination of the first parameter and the second parameter. The controlling of the engine 108 corresponds to the controlling the torque output from the engine 108.
[0008] The controller 110 comprises a processor, memory elements 112 (Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), timers, clocks and other circuits such as Analog To Digital (ADC) and/or DAC, etc., all connected by communication channel such as Bus. The construction and working of the controller 110 is known to a person skilled in the art.
[0009] The controller 110 receives the input from the position sensor 102 and computes the rate of change of the position. Using both the first parameter and the second parameter, the controller 110 controls the engine 108 to obtain corresponding torque output.

[0010] In accordance to another embodiment, the controller 110 is adapted to detect at least one auxiliary parameter selected from an engine temperature and a gear position. The controller 110 then controls the engine 108 based on the at least one auxiliary parameter in addition to the first parameter and the second parameter. The torque output from the engine is varied depending on the position of the accelerator 114, rate of change of position of the accelerator 114, gear position and engine temperature.
[0011] The engine temperature is detected by at least one of a temperature sensor 104 and a temperature model, and the gear position is detected by at least one of a gear sensor 106 and a gear detection model. The temperature model and the gear detection model are stored in the memory element 112 of the controller 110. Now, an example is explained to give clarity in understanding of the present invention.
[0012] Consider a driver opens the accelerator 114 from 10% to 40% of its entire opening degree (10% to 40% is selected for explanation and must not be understood in limiting sense). In a conventional system the torque request may increase from 10Nm to 40Nm (assumed for this condition where the torque values are randomly selected to help in understanding the working). The torque request changes from 10Nm to 40Nm irrespective of rate of change of the position of the accelerator 114. The change in torque request is same, i.e. from 10Nm to 40 Nm, whether the accelerator position is changed in 2 seconds, 1 second, 0.5 seconds, or 0.1 seconds. However, with the device 100, if the rate of change of position of the accelerator 114 changes from 10% to 40% is either slow (such as 1 second, 2 seconds) or fast (such as 0.5 seconds, 0.1 seconds), the engine torque also changes from 10Nm to a max torque of the engine relative to the rate of change of the position of the accelerator 114. If the rate of change of position of the accelerator 114 from 10% to 40 % is in 1.0 second, then the torque request changes from 10Nm to greater than 40Nm in 1.0 second, if the rate of change of position of the accelerator 114 from 10% to 40% is in 0.5 seconds, then the torque request changes from 10Nm to even

greater than 40Nm in 0.5 seconds (as compared to the one with 1.0 second), whereas the during change of position of the accelerator 114 from 10% to 40 % is in 2 seconds, then the torque request changes from 10Nm to 40Nm in 2 seconds. In an embodiment, an instantaneous accelerator response is achieved by the multiplication of the load map of the engine 108 with the second parameter. Alternatively, the operating point is detected based on the position of the accelerator 114 and the engine speed, and is then multiplied with the second parameter. In other words, the device 100 factors the first parameter, the second parameter and the auxiliary parameters and is applied to the load map of the engine 108 to obtain the torque.
[0013] In accordance to an embodiment of the present invention, the engine 108 is at least one selected from an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and an Electric Motor (EM). In case of the ICE and hybrid vehicle 120, the first parameter, the second parameter and the auxiliary parameters are used for torque control. In case of electric vehicle 120, the first parameter, the second parameter and the engine temperature are used for torque control. Further, the vehicle 120 is shown to be a motorcycle. However, the device 100 is applicable for a two-wheeler, a three-wheeler, a four-wheeler, and multi-wheeler vehicles 120, such as scooters, cars, auto-rickshaws, buses and the like. The engine 108 is controlled by means of a Fuel Injection System (FIS) in a fuel based or hybrid vehicle 120, and by means of motor control in an electric vehicle 120.
[0014] Fig. 2 illustrates a method for controlling torque response of a vehicle, according to the present invention. The method comprising the steps of, a step 202 comprising, detecting, by the controller 110, a first parameter comprising a position of the accelerator 114 through the position sensor 102. The method is characterized by a step 204 comprising, computing, by the controller 110, a second parameter comprising the rate of change of the position of the accelerator 114. A next step 206 comprises controlling, by the controller 110, an output of the engine 108 of the vehicle 120, based on combination of the first parameter and the second parameter.

[0015] The method comprises a step 208 of detecting at least one auxiliary parameter selected from the engine temperature and the gear position. The step 208 is followed by the step 206 of controlling the engine 108 based on the first parameter and said second parameter but along with the at least one auxiliary parameter.
[0016] According to the present invention, the engine temperature is detected by at least one of the temperature sensor 104 and the temperature model. The gear position is detected by at least one of the gear sensor 106 and the gear detection model. The memory element 112 stores the temperature model and the gear model (if used). The engine 108 is at least one selected from an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and an Electric Motor (EM), and the vehicle 120 is a two-wheeler, a three-wheeler, a four-wheeler, and multi-wheeler.
[0017] According to the present invention, the device 100 is provided to control torque response of a vehicle. The device 100 uses driver’s accelerator input behavior based on the first parameter and the second parameter to modulate the engine torque output. The present invention avoids the use of manual selection of drive/ride modes. The device 100 is applicable for vehicles 120 with an Electronic Fuel Injection System (EFI), but not limited thereto. Further, the device 100 is provided to control accelerator response of the vehicle 120.
[0018] It should be understood that embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this invention. Many such embodiments and other modifications and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.

We claim:
1. A device (100) to control torque response of a vehicle (120), said vehicle
(120) comprises an accelerator (114) and a corresponding position sensor
(102), said device (100) comprises:
a controller (110) adapted to
detect a first parameter comprising a position of said accelerator
(114) from said position sensor (102), characterized by
compute a second parameter comprising a rate of change of said position of said accelerator (114), and control said engine (108) based on combination of said first parameter and said second parameter.
2. The device (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said controller (110)
adapted to
detect at least one auxiliary parameter selected from an engine
temperature and a gear position, and
control said engine (108) based on said at least one auxiliary
parameter in addition to said first parameter and said second
parameter.
3. The device (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein said engine temperature is detected by at least one of a temperature sensor (104) and a temperature model, and wherein said gear position is detected by at least one of a gear sensor (106) and a gear detection model.
4. The device (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said engine (108) is at least one selected from an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and an Electric Motor (EM).
5. The device (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vehicle (120) is a two-wheeler, a three-wheeler, a four-wheeler, and multi-wheeler.

6. A method for controlling torque response of a vehicle (120), said method
comprising the steps of:
detecting, by a controller (110), a first parameter comprising a position of an accelerator (114) through a position sensor (102), characterized by
computing, by said controller (110), a second parameter comprising a rate of change of said position of said accelerator (114), and
controlling, by said controller (110), an output of an engine (108) of said vehicle (120), based on combination of said first parameter and said second parameter.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said method comprises
detecting at least one auxiliary parameter selected from an engine
temperature and a gear position, and
controlling said engine (108) based on said at least one auxiliary
parameter in addition to said first parameter and said second
parameter.
8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said engine temperature is detected by at least one of a temperature sensor (104) and a temperature model, and wherein said gear position is detected by at least one of a gear sensor (106) and a gear detection model.
9. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said engine (108) is at least one selected from an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and an Electric Motor (EM).
10. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said vehicle (120) is a two-wheeler, a three-wheeler, a four-wheeler, and multi-wheeler.