CN114084115A

CN114084115A - Braking system and braking method for vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN114084115A
Application number: CN202010856676.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 尼尔森·安德斯; 克里斯汀·吕兰德; 安德斯·林奎斯特; 王梓
Original assignee: Hande Wan'an Shanghai Electric Brake System Co ltd
Current assignee: Hande Wan'an Shanghai Electric Brake System Co ltd
Priority date: 2020-08-24
Filing date: 2020-08-24
Publication date: 2022-02-25
Anticipated expiration: 2040-08-24
Also published as: DE102021121914A1; CN114084115B

Abstract

The invention provides a braking system and a braking method for a vehicle. The brake system comprises two control modules and an electromechanical brake device for providing braking force for wheels, wherein at least one control module comprises a vehicle dynamics control unit and acquires driving torque information from a driving motor controller of the vehicle, and the driving motor controller controls at least one driving motor of the vehicle to provide driving torque, wherein when the control module detects a driving torque error, the electromechanical brake device and/or the driving motor controller is used for correction. The braking system proposed by the present invention can correct the driving torque using the electromechanical braking device and/or the driving motor controller when a driving torque error is detected, to improve the safety of the vehicle.

Description

Braking system and braking method for vehicle

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of vehicle braking, in particular to an electronic mechanical braking system and a braking method thereof.

Background

The electric mechanical brake system is a pure brake-by-wire system, has the characteristics of high energy efficiency, quick response and environmental friendliness, and can be well adapted to an auxiliary driving system and an unmanned driving system.

During the running of the vehicle, a demand for increasing or decreasing the torque may be generated due to the driver's driving intention, and a non-manual driving system, adaptive cruise (i.e., ACC), drive anti-slip control (i.e., ASR), and body electronic stability control (i.e., ESC), etc.

In the above case, if the drive motor does not adjust the drive torque in accordance with the above requirement, the vehicle may not perform the corresponding operation. In order to overcome such a possible situation, and to improve the reliability and safety of the vehicle during running, it is necessary to provide a brake system capable of detecting a driving torque error and correcting it to improve the safety of the vehicle.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a brake system for a vehicle, in which correction is performed using an electromechanical brake device and/or a drive motor controller when an error occurs in drive torque, which is a problem that has been encountered in the related art.

In order to solve the above technical problem, a brake system for a vehicle according to the present invention includes:

the vehicle comprises two control modules and an electromechanical brake device for providing braking force for wheels, wherein at least one control module comprises a vehicle dynamics control unit and acquires driving torque information from a driving motor controller of a vehicle, the driving motor controller controls at least one driving motor of the vehicle to provide driving torque, and the control module corrects the driving torque by using the electromechanical brake device and/or the driving motor controller when detecting driving torque errors.

With the brake system according to the invention, when a drive torque error occurs, such as an excessive drive torque causing wheel slip, or a driver misoperating an accelerator pedal, or an insufficient drive torque causing understeer, the electromechanical brake device and/or the drive motor controller makes a correction, thereby providing safety redundancy for the vehicle running.

The control module of the brake system according to the present invention communicates with the drive motor controller to thereby effect control of the drive torque output by the drive motor. The Control Module may be an Axle Control Module (Axle Control Module) provided corresponding to the Axle.

Preferably, the braking system according to the invention comprises two of the above-mentioned control modules. Optionally, they are in communication and/or electrically connected, respectively, with electromechanical braking devices provided at the wheel ends of the vehicle.

In the context of the present invention, the drive motors include an internal combustion engine and an electric motor of the vehicle, which provide a driving torque for running to the vehicle, drive the wheels in motion, and which are controlled by a drive motor controller.

The drive motor controller for controlling the drive motor includes a motor control unit and a motor driver. The motor control unit and the motor drive can be provided independently of one another, for example, integrated in a control module of the brake system or in a Vehicle Control Unit (VCU). For electric-only vehicles or hybrid vehicles using an electric motor as a drive motor, the motor control unit, i.e. the electric machine control unit, and for internal combustion engines its Engine Control Unit (ECU).

The vehicle dynamics control unit may include, for example, an anti-lock braking function (ABS), a body electronic stability control function (ESC), an anti-slip control function (ASR), and the like.

The braking system according to the invention is suitable for use in the power layout of various vehicles. In particular, the braking system according to the invention is applicable to a vehicle in which the drive motors drive the wheels via a differential, as well as to a vehicle in which the at least one drive motor is at least one pair of drive motors, i.e. at least two drive motors and which drive a pair of wheels independently of each other. For the latter, two-wheel drive and four-wheel independent drive situations are contemplated herein, in which case the driveline of the vehicle allows all of the wheels to draw torque from their respective drive motors independently of each other.

Specifically, in the brake system according to the present invention, the control module is configured to apply the brake using only the electromechanical brake device to reduce the driving torque if the detected driving torque error is that the driving torque is greater than the actual demand.

Additionally or alternatively, the control module is configured to use only the drive motor controller if the detected drive torque error is that the drive torque is greater or less than the actual demand, the control module sending a request to the drive motor controller to reduce or increase the torque.

Further, the control module may be configured to previously apply the drive motor controller and, if it is detected that the request to reduce the drive torque or increase the torque sent by the control module has not been followed, the control module may then apply the brakes using the electromechanical braking device.

Additionally or alternatively, the control module is configured to use both the drive motor controller and the electromechanical brake device. For example, for situations where torque does not meet the actual demand, the control module applies the brakes using electromechanical braking devices to reduce the drive torque of one wheel, while the adjustment of the drive torque to the other wheel sends a request to the drive motor controller to reduce or increase torque, depending on the actual situation.

When the motor control unit is integrated in the control module of the brake system, the risk of communication abnormalities between the two can be reduced. In this case, the control module includes a motor control unit therein, and the control module can directly control the motor driver to correct the driving torque according to the actual demand.

If the motor control unit is not integrated in the control module of the braking system, at least one control module of the braking system sends a target torque request to the motor control unit to correct the driving torque when it is detected that a driving torque error requires correction of the torque. At this time, the control module applies the brakes using the electromechanical braking device if the drive motor does not increase or decrease torque accordingly following the target torque request.

Preferably, the electromechanical brake device of the brake system according to the invention further comprises a redundant vehicle dynamics control unit having at least a part of the vehicle dynamics control functions for improving the driving stability of the vehicle, for example the electromechanical brake device has an anti-lock brake module. If the electromechanical braking device is to implement all the modules of the vehicle dynamics control unit described above, it is necessary to acquire sensor information from the control module described above, in addition to the wheel speed that can be directly obtained by means of the wheel speed sensor.

Preferably, the drive motor controller and/or at least one control module of the vehicle receives the acceleration signal. The acceleration signal is, for example, from an accelerator pedal, i.e., the drive motor controller and/or at least one control module is in communication with the accelerator pedal.

More preferably, the vehicle is also equipped with a non-manual driving system. At least one of the control modules of the vehicle communicates with a non-manual driving system to verify an acceleration signal from an accelerator pedal. This verification is to judge the rationality of the operation of the accelerator pedal by the driver. And if the verification result indicates that the operation of the driver fails or the operation is wrong, the control module applies the brake to the wheels by using the electronic mechanical brake device to control the vehicle in a reasonable state. This prevents the driver from accidentally actuating the accelerator pedal, which increases the safety of the vehicle in this case.

Preferably, at least one control module of the braking system according to the present invention refers to the steering angle of the steering wheel obtained by means of the steering wheel angle sensor and/or the yaw rate obtained by the yaw rate sensor. When the control module detects that the steering angle and/or yaw rate exceeds a threshold value, i.e., the vehicle body configuration may be unstable, the electronic stability control of the vehicle body is implemented by applying brakes to the wheels using electromechanical braking devices and/or commanding a corresponding corrective drive torque to the drive motor controller.

Preferably, the two control modules comprised in the brake system according to the invention are each in communication with the drive motor controller. In such a configuration, when one control module fails or loses communication with the drive motor controller, another control module may instead communicate with and effect control of the drive motor controller, thereby increasing the fault tolerance of the system.

Preferably, in the brake system according to the invention, the two control modules are communicatively coupled to each other. In such a redundant system architecture, two control modules may control part of the electronic brake devices through respective control loops, for example, one control module may correspond to the electronic brake devices on both ends of one axle, or one control module may correspond to each of the left and right electronic brake devices on two axles in a cross manner, and the overall operating state of the brake system is verified through the mutual communication connection, and when any control module fails, the normal control module may take over the control function of the failed control module completely or partially.

Preferably, the control module of the brake system acquires the drive motor speed to compare with the wheel speed acquired by the wheel speed sensor of the vehicle, thereby verifying the wheel speed with the drive motor speed. The drive motor speed may be obtained from a drive motor speed sensor provided to the drive motor.

Preferably, when a wheel speed sensor of one wheel of the vehicle fails, the control module of the brake system calculates a wheel speed of the wheel for which the wheel speed sensor failed based on a correspondingly obtained drive motor rotational speed and/or a wheel speed obtained by other operating wheel speed sensors.

Furthermore, the present invention also proposes a method for braking a vehicle, the vehicle comprising a drive motor, a drive motor controller controlling the drive motor to provide a drive torque, and a braking system comprising two control modules and an electromechanical braking device providing a braking force for a wheel, at least one control module obtaining the drive torque information from the drive motor controller of the vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

a) detecting that the driving torque is wrong;

b1) applying the brakes using electromechanical braking means, and/or

b2) The drive motor controller is used to correct the error.

The drive motor includes an internal combustion engine and an electric motor of the vehicle, provides a drive torque for running to the vehicle, drives the wheels in motion, and is controlled by a drive motor controller.

The driving motor controller includes a motor control unit and a motor driver. The motor control unit and the motor drive can be provided independently of one another, for example, integrated in a control module of the brake system or in a Vehicle Control Unit (VCU). For electric-only vehicles or hybrid vehicles using an electric motor as a drive motor, the motor control unit, i.e. the electric machine control unit, and for internal combustion engines its Engine Control Unit (ECU).

It should be noted that the steps b1) and b2) may be performed alternatively or both.

In particular, in the braking method according to the invention, after step a), the control module of the braking system can apply braking to the wheels directly by means of the electromechanical braking device in order to reduce the driving torque, wherein the control module, preferably both control modules, are in communication and/or electrically connected with the electromechanical braking device provided at the wheel end of the vehicle, respectively.

Alternatively or additionally, after step a), the brake system uses the drive motor controller to correct torque errors. In particular, the motor control unit may be integrated in a control module of the braking system to reduce the risk of communication anomalies between the two. In this case, step b2) is executed, and since the control module includes the motor control unit therein, the control module can directly control the motor driver, so as to correct the driving torque according to the actual demand. If the motor control unit is not integrated in the control module of the brake system, step b2) is performed after step a), the control module sending a target torque request to the motor control unit to modify the driving torque.

Alternatively or additionally, step b1) and step b2) may be performed after step a) is performed. For example, for a drive torque error where the torque does not meet the actual demand, an electromechanical brake device is used to apply the brake to reduce the drive torque of one wheel, and a request to reduce or increase the torque is sent to the drive motor controller for the drive torque of the other wheel based on the actual demand.

It should be noted that for the case where only step b2) is performed, the method may further comprise the steps of:

c) detecting that the driving torque of the driving motor is not corrected;

d) applying braking using the electromechanical braking device.

That is, if it is detected by means of the drive torque information obtained from the drive motor controller that the drive motor is not following the target torque request issued by the control module described above to increase or decrease the torque accordingly, the control module applies the brakes to the wheels using the electromechanical braking device.

Preferably, the method of braking a vehicle according to the present invention further comprises the steps of:

receiving an acceleration signal;

communicating with a non-manual driving system and verifying an acceleration signal from an accelerator pedal;

and when the verification result indicates that the operation is failed or misoperated, applying the brake by using the electronic mechanical brake device.

Through the steps, the method for braking the vehicle can judge the reasonability of the operation of the accelerator pedal by the driver, and can apply the brake to the wheels by the electromechanical brake device to control the vehicle in a reasonable state when the verification result indicates that the operation of the driver fails or the operation is wrong. This prevents the driver from accidentally actuating the accelerator pedal, which increases the safety of the vehicle in this case.

a steering angle and/or yaw rate of the reference steering wheel;

and timely using the electronic mechanical brake device and/or the driving motor controller to implement electronic stability control of the vehicle body.

Through the above steps, when the steering angle and/or yaw rate of the steering wheel exceeds the threshold value, indicating that the vehicle running posture may be in an unstable state, the vehicle body electronic stability control is implemented by means of the electromechanical brake device and/or the drive motor controller, so that the vehicle body running posture is stabilized as much as possible, and the safety of the vehicle running in this case is improved.

the drive motor speed is acquired to verify the vehicle wheel speed.

In this step, the drive motor rotational speed may be obtained from a drive motor speed sensor provided to the drive motor.

calculating a wheel speed of the wheel whose wheel speed sensor is disabled based on the drive motor speed and/or the wheel speed of the other wheel.

Through the above steps, when a wheel speed sensor of one wheel of the vehicle fails, the control module of the brake system calculates a wheel speed of the wheel whose wheel speed sensor fails based on a correspondingly obtained drive motor rotation speed and/or wheel speeds obtained through other operating wheel speed sensors.

The beneficial technical effects obtained by the invention are as follows: in the vehicle with the brake system according to the invention, when the control module detects a driving torque error, the driving torque can be corrected by using the electromechanical brake device and/or the driving motor controller, and the safety of the vehicle is improved. Additionally, by means of sensors comprised by the brake system of the vehicle, the operation of the brake system with respect to the drive system of the vehicle can be verified, ensuring the safety of the vehicle.

Additional features and advantages are set forth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description or recognized by practicing the embodiments described herein, including the detailed description which follows, the claims, as well as the appended drawings.

Drawings

With reference to the above objects, the technical features of the present invention are clearly described in the following claims, and the advantages thereof are apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate by way of example a preferred embodiment of the present invention, without limiting the scope of the inventive concept.

FIG. 1A schematically illustrates an arrangement having a braking system according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 1B schematically illustrates one power arrangement of a vehicle having a braking system according to the present invention;

FIG. 1C schematically illustrates another power arrangement for a vehicle having a braking system according to the present invention;

FIG. 1D schematically illustrates yet another power arrangement for a vehicle having a braking system according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2A schematically illustrates the power layout of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1B with a braking system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2B schematically illustrates the power layout of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1C with a braking system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2C schematically illustrates the power arrangement of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1D with a braking system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A schematically illustrates the power layout of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1B with a braking system according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3B schematically illustrates the power arrangement of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1C with a braking system according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3C schematically illustrates the power arrangement of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1D with a braking system according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a flow chart of a braking system according to the invention for a vehicle with different power arrangements in the case of a drive slip control; and

fig. 5 shows a flow chart of the brake system according to the invention in the case of an electronic stability control of the vehicle body.

List of reference numerals:

10 driving a motor;

11 a drive motor controller;

12 a motor speed sensor;

13 a motor driver;

14 a motor control unit;

20A, 20B control module;

30 an accelerator pedal;

31 a right front wheel;

32 left front wheels;

33 right rear wheel;

34 a left rear wheel;

311. 321, 331, 341 electromechanical braking means;

312. 322, 332, 342 wheel speed sensors;

40 a brake pedal;

50 differential devices;

60 a charging power supply;

70 power batteries;

71 a battery management system;

101 is a non-manual driving system.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below.

Fig. 1A shows an arrangement with a brake system according to the invention, wherein only the necessary components of the drive train of the vehicle and the brake system according to the invention are shown.

As shown in fig. 1A, the brake system includes two

control modules

20A and 20B and

electromechanical brake devices

311, 321, 331, and 341 that provide braking forces for

wheels

31, 32, 33, and 34, where the

control modules

20A and 20B are respectively disposed corresponding to two axles of a vehicle, and control and/or supply power to the

electromechanical brake devices

311, 321, 331, and 341 disposed at both ends of the corresponding axle. The

control modules

20A, 20B may be installed on the vehicle as independently packaged devices, however, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the internal components may be installed at different positions of the vehicle in a non-independent packaging manner, and the packaging manner and the installation position may be adjusted according to the actual layout of the vehicle, as long as the control and/or power supply of the electromechanical brake device can be achieved. At least one of the

control modules

20A, 20B includes a vehicle dynamics control unit including, for example, an anti-lock brake module (ABS), a body electronic stability control module (ESC), an anti-slip drive control module (ASR), and the like.

The

electromechanical brake devices

311, 321, 331, 341 provided at the wheel ends of the vehicle to provide a braking force to each wheel include a brake motor for generating a braking force, and a mechanical transmission mechanism driven by the brake motor. In the case of a disc brake, the brake motor converts electrical power into mechanical energy to drive the mechanical transmission mechanism to push the brake pads toward or away from the brake disc to generate the required braking force.

The vehicle has a drive motor 10, which may be an electric motor or an internal combustion engine, and the drive motor 10 is controlled by a drive motor controller 11.

In the context of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, the drive motor 10 may be any one of an electric motor and an internal combustion engine, and the drive motor controller 11 is a controller of the electric motor 10 or an Engine Control Unit (ECU) including the internal combustion engine 10. Taking an electric drive motor as an example, the drive motor controller 11 further comprises a motor driver 13 and a motor control unit 14, which are not shown here. The motor driver 13 and the motor control unit 14 may be provided separately. The motor driver 13 is mainly constituted by a three-phase bridge circuit, for example, and drives the drive motor 10 in accordance with a low-current control signal from the motor control unit 14. The motor control unit 14 performs logical and digital control of the drive motor 10, is configured with logic circuits and can control it via a higher-level interface, for example, the motor control unit 14 can receive control signals from the

control modules

20A, 20B of the brake system or from a Vehicle Control Unit (VCU), or be integrated in the

control modules

20A, 20B of the brake system or in the Vehicle Control Unit (VCU). During the running of the vehicle, at least one

control module

20A, 20B obtains drive torque information from the drive motor controller 11 and detects the drive torque. If a drive torque error is detected, the drive torque is corrected using one or more of the

electromechanical brakes

311, 321, 331, 341 and/or the drive motor controller 11.

Situations where the

control modules

20A, 20B may detect a drive torque error include an output of drive torque that is not in compliance with the driver or vehicle dynamics control module requirements, such as outputting the wrong drive torque, reducing drive torque without reducing or increasing drive torque without increasing. At this time, the control module 20A and/or 20B controls one or more of the

electromechanical brake devices

311, 321, 331, 341 to apply a brake to lower the torque, or controls the drive motor controller 11 to raise or lower the drive torque, or in the case where a brake is applied to at least one wheel using the

electromechanical brake devices

311, 321, 331, 341, raises or lowers the drive torque of the other wheels with the drive motor controller 11.

Specifically, in one embodiment, control module 20A and/or 20B is configured to apply braking using

electromechanical braking devices

311, 321, 331, 341 when a drive torque greater than an actual demand is detected. For example, when the driving torque output by the driving motor 10 needs to be reduced according to the manual operation of the driver or the non-manual operation of the non-manual driving system, such as the auxiliary driving system, the driving antiskid control module, the electronic stability control module of the vehicle body, and the like, if the control module 20A and/or 20B detects that the driving torque of the driving motor 10 is not reduced according to the torque reduction requirement, that is, the driving torque has an error, the control module 20A and/or 20B controls one or more of the

electromechanical braking devices

311, 321, 331, and 341 to apply braking, so that the vehicle can still reduce the driving torque according to the driving requirement.

In another embodiment, the control module 20A and/or 20B may also issue a request to the drive motor controller 11 to reduce the drive torque first when it detects that the drive torque is greater than the actual demand. If it is detected that the drive torque has not decreased, the control module 20A and/or 20B then applies the brakes to the vehicle using the electromechanical braking device.

Alternatively, control module 20A and/or 20B may modify the drive torque using

electromechanical braking devices

311, 321, 331, 341 to apply braking and issue a request to reduce the drive torque to drive motor controller 11 simultaneously when it detects that the drive torque is greater than the actual demand.

Here, the

electromechanical brake devices

311, 321, 331, 341 further include a redundant vehicle dynamics control unit having a part of a vehicle dynamics control function, such as a brake anti-lock function, which acquires a wheel speed of a corresponding wheel through a wheel speed sensor to activate the anti-lock function at a proper time. Thus, the

electromechanical brake devices

311, 321, 331, 341 can directly perform part of the vehicle dynamics control function to stabilize the running of the vehicle. If the electromechanical brake device is to perform other functions of the vehicle dynamics control unit on this basis, the functions may be performed by acquiring other sensor information than the wheel speed from the

control modules

20A, 20B.

Furthermore, it may be noted in fig. 1A that the

control modules

20A and 20B are communicatively coupled to each other such that the control module 20B may alternatively control the drive motor controller 11 in the event of a failure of one of the control modules, for example the control module 20A.

FIG. 1B further illustrates a specific power arrangement of a vehicle having a braking system for a vehicle according to the present invention, which in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1B comprises:

wheel speed sensors

312, 322 provided in correspondence with each

wheel

31, 32, 33, 34 of the vehicle,

332. 342 for monitoring wheel speed;

a motor speed sensor 12 for detecting the rotational speed of the drive motor 10;

an accelerator pedal 30 through which the driver's intention to accelerate is input and transmitted to the drive motor controller 11;

a brake pedal 40 coupled with the

control modules

20A, 20B, respectively, to receive a braking operation of the driver and transmit it to the

control modules

20A, 20B;

differential means 50 allowing the

wheels

33, 34 to rotate at different speeds;

a charging power supply 60 electrically connected to the

control modules

20A, 20B; and

when the drive motor 10 is an electric motor, the vehicle further comprises a power battery 70 and a battery management system 71 for supplying power to the drive motor.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1B, the drive motor 10 of the vehicle is shown driving the

wheels

33 and 34 via a differential 50.

As in the embodiment shown in fig. 1A, the braking system of the vehicle includes two

control modules

20A, 20B and

electromechanical braking devices

311, 321, 331, 341 that provide braking forces to the

wheels

31, 32, 33, 34, wherein the

electromechanical braking devices

311, 321, 331, 341 that are provided at the wheel ends of the vehicle to provide braking forces to each wheel include a brake motor for generating braking forces, and a mechanical transmission mechanism driven by the brake motor.

In the illustrated embodiment, the electrical energy consumed by the braking system is derived from a charging power source 60, which may be independent of the vehicle's power source (e.g., the power battery 70 used to drive the vehicle's drive motor and/or the vehicle's generator or hub generator) and charged from the vehicle's power source 60 by voltage conversion or other means known in the art. However, according to one embodiment, the charging power supply 60 may also be a power battery 70 onboard the vehicle for supplying power to the drive system of the vehicle or a storage battery for supplying power to the onboard electrical appliances, in such a way that the number of power supplies required in the vehicle can be reduced. The charging power source 60 is electrically connected to the

control modules

20A and 20B to supply power to the

control modules

20A and 20B, and supply power to the braking motors of the

electromechanical braking devices

311, 321, 331, and 341 disposed at the wheel ends via the

control modules

20A and 20B to generate braking force. In one embodiment, the

control modules

20A, 20B may each include a power supply unit charged by the charging power source 60, and the output voltage and current of the power supply unit may be higher than that of the charging power source 60 to adapt to the high-power braking motors of the

electromechanical braking devices

311, 321, 331, 341 that cannot be driven by the charging power source 60 and its associated circuitry, so as to provide sufficient braking force to adapt to large commercial vehicles. In one embodiment, the power supply unit may use any type of capacitor-based power supply, wherein at least one of the capacitor-based power supplies is a super capacitor (supercapacitor) or a supercapacitor pack consisting of a plurality of supercapacitor units, the charging power supply 60 charges the power supply unit with a low voltage, for example, 12V/24V, which is the same as the vehicle circuit, and the power supply unit supplies the brake motor of the

electromechanical brake device

311, 321, 331, 341 with a high voltage, for example, 48V or higher, thereby constituting a more reliable, stable, and redundant power supply architecture.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, in addition to supplying power to each of the

electromechanical brake devices

311, 321, 331, 341 from a single charging power supply 60 through two

control modules

20A, 20B in a centralized arrangement as shown in fig. 1B, two charging power supplies may be provided in one-to-one correspondence with the

control modules

20A, 20B and supply power to corresponding power supply units in the

control modules

20A, 20B through the two charging power supplies.

In other embodiments, those skilled in the art may also use other means to derive the energy required to drive the brake motor.

It should be noted that in the preferred embodiment of the braking system shown in FIG. 1B, the braking system also includes a non-manual steering system 101 in communication with the control module 20B and/or the control module 20A. The non-manual driving system 101 may be any of various non-manual driving systems known in the art that enhance driving safety and/or assist driving, which may generate a need to reduce or increase the driving torque of the drive motor 10 during operation due to non-manual operation. The process of varying the drive torque, including participation of the non-manual driving system 101, will be explained in more detail below.

Further, another specific power arrangement of a vehicle with a brake system according to the invention is shown in fig. 1C, which differs from the power arrangement shown in fig. 1B in that the

wheels

33 and 34 of the vehicle are each provided with one drive motor 10, each drive motor 10 in turn being provided with a separate motor speed sensor 12, both drive motors 10 and motor speed sensors 12 being exemplarily coupled to the drive motor controller 11. During the running of the vehicle, when it is detected by the motor speed sensor 12 or the

wheel speed sensors

312, 322, 332, 342 that one or two driving motors 10 cannot be adjusted according to the manual operation of the driver, the non-manual operation of the non-manual driving system, or the requirement of the vehicle dynamics control unit, for example, the driving torque is increased or decreased, the control module 20A controls the corresponding

electromechanical braking devices

331, 341 and/or the driving motors 10 to apply braking or increase driving torque to the corresponding wheels, so as to correct the driving torque and achieve the correct operation intention.

Fig. 1D shows a further power arrangement of a vehicle with a brake system according to the invention, in which, in contrast to the previously described power arrangements shown in fig. 1B and 1C, the

wheels

31, 32, 33, 34 of the vehicle are each provided with one drive motor 10, each drive motor 10 in turn being provided with a separate motor speed sensor 12, the four drive motors 10 and the motor speed sensors 12 being coupled, by way of example, to the same drive motor controller 11. Thereby, the four

wheels

31, 32, 33, 34 of the vehicle are all driven independently of each other. When a driving torque error of any one of the driving motors 10 is detected by the motor speed sensor 12 or the

wheel speed sensors

312, 322, 332, 342 during the running of the vehicle, for example, when the driving torque cannot be reduced according to the manual operation of the driver, the non-manual operation of the non-manual driving system, or the demand of the driving anti-skid control or the vehicle body electronic stability control, the control module 20A or the control module 20B controls the corresponding

electromechanical brake devices

311, 321, 331, 341 to apply the brakes to the corresponding wheels, thereby achieving the operation intention of torque reduction. If the detected drive torque error is that the drive torque is too low, the control module 20A and/or 20B of the brake system issues a request to increase the drive torque to the corresponding drive motor 10 via the drive motor controller 11.

Thus, the brake system according to the present invention is applicable to vehicles having various power arrangements including: a single drive motor power system; a pair of drive motor power systems whose corresponding wheels are driven independently of each other; and a power system in which the drive motor is disposed one-to-one with the wheels, each of which is driven independently of the other.

As noted above, in fig. 1B-1D, the vehicle shown preferably has a non-manual driving system 101 in communication with the control module 20B. The process of the braking system braking with the non-manual driving system 101 included is explained in more detail below with reference to fig. 2A to 2C.

2A-2C illustrate the power arrangement of a vehicle having a braking system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the power arrangement in the example shown in FIGS. 2A-2C is the same as that described above with respect to FIGS. 1B-1D, except as specifically noted below.

In the power arrangement shown in fig. 2A-2C, the accelerator pedal 30 is also in communication with at least one control module 20A and/or 20B. Specifically, the accelerator pedal 30 is shown in fig. 2A-2C in communication with the control module 20B. It should be understood that the accelerator pedal may also be in communication with the control module 20A, or with both

control modules

20A, 20B.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 2A-2C, the vehicle's non-manual driving system 101 is also in communication with the control module 20B. The arrangement of the power system can provide verification of the operation of the driver on the accelerator pedal, and ensure the running safety of the vehicle. Specifically, when the accelerator pedal 30 is depressed by the driver, the operation signal requesting acceleration is transmitted to both the drive motor controller 11 and the control module 20B, the drive motor controller 11 controls the drive motor 10 to increase the torque output according to the signal from the accelerator pedal 30, and the control module 20B verifies the acceleration request. This verification may be based on algorithms, functions and/or sensor information built into the control module 20B, or may be performed with the aid of the non-manual driving system 101.

If the control module 20B fails in the verification, that is, the verification is that the driver's operation on the accelerator pedal is not the driver's intention to actually require driving but is, for example, an erroneous operation or operation failure, the

control module

20B, 20A controls the

electromechanical brake device

311, 321, 331, 341 to apply braking to the vehicle so as to prevent the vehicle from being erroneously accelerated. The

control modules

20A, 20B are also capable of controlling the drive motor 10 via the drive motor controller 11, sending commands thereto to reduce the torque output.

One scenario of malfunction is that when the non-manual driving System 101 is an automatic Emergency Braking System (Autonomous Emergency Braking System) during the driving of the vehicle, it detects that there is an obstacle in front of the vehicle, and the vehicle driving trajectory cannot avoid the obstacle, while still obtaining an acceleration command from the accelerator pedal 30, the acceleration command cannot pass the verification of the control module 20B. One scenario of operation failure is when the Traction Control System (Traction Control System) is enabled, the torque of the slipping wheel needs to be reduced to distribute drive torque to the non-slipping wheel, and when the rotational speed of the slipping wheel is not reduced by receiving an acceleration command from the accelerator pedal 30, the Control module 20B determines that the operation has failed, and applies braking to reduce the rotational speed of the slipping wheel using the electromechanical braking device. The above verification process is merely an example of the control module 20B verifying the operation of the accelerator pedal, and is not intended to limit the present invention, and any vehicle running parameter, sensor signal, or the like may be used to assist in determining the rationality of the accelerator operation.

The above-described verification of the acceleration demand of the driver by the accelerator pedal operation is also applicable to the examples shown in fig. 2B and 2C. Similar to fig. 1C and 1D, the example shown in fig. 2B and 2C differs from the example shown in fig. 2A in the particular power arrangement of the vehicle shown. Thus, when the verification fails, determining that the acceleration operation is not the driver's true intent or is not being performed by the drive system, the control module 20A and/or the control module 20B may control the brake system to apply the brakes to prevent the vehicle from erroneously accelerating or performing a torque down request.

In the system architecture shown in the embodiment of the present invention, the control module 20A and/or 20B having the vehicle dynamics control unit can acquire external information including the state of the drive motor 10, the

wheel speed sensors

312, 322, 332, 342, the accelerator pedal 30, the non-manual driving system 101, etc., to more accurately determine the driving state of the vehicle, to correct the driving torque error, and to timely implement the vehicle dynamics control function or the auxiliary driving function, such as the anti-skid driving function, the vehicle body electronic stability control function, the automatic emergency braking function, etc.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1A to 2C, when the control module 20A and/or 20B detects that the driving torque has an error and needs to be corrected, at least one of the control modules 20A and/or 20B sends a target torque request to a motor control unit (not shown in the figure) included in the driving motor controller 11 of the corresponding driving motor 10 to correct the driving torque.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 3A-3C, the

control modules

20A, 20B have the motor control unit 14 integrated directly therein. Therefore, when the control module 20A and/or 20B detects that the driving torque is erroneously corrected, at least one of the control modules 20A and/or 20B may directly control the motor driver 13 through the motor control unit 14 integrated therein to correct the driving torque provided by the driving motor 10.

When the control module 20A and/or 20B detects that the drive motor 10 does not follow the target torque request it sends, the brakes are applied using the

electromechanical braking devices

311, 321, 331, 341 for the corresponding wheels.

In one embodiment, at least one of the

control modules

20A, 20B refers to the steering angle of the steering wheel obtained by a steering wheel angle sensor not shown in the drawings and/or the yaw rate of the vehicle body obtained by a yaw rate sensor, and determines whether the vehicle body running posture is stable. When the vehicle body running posture is unstable, the

control modules

20A, 20B perform vehicle body electronic stability control using the

electromechanical brake devices

311, 321, 331, 341 and/or the drive motor controller 11.

Next, the operation of the control module 20A and/or 20B in implementing the drive slip control function and the vehicle body electronic stability control function included in the vehicle dynamics control unit will be specifically explained with reference to the flowcharts in fig. 4A, 4B, and 5.

Fig. 4A and 4B show a flow chart of a drive slip control function for vehicles having different transmission systems, respectively, in which fig. 4A is applied to a case where

wheels

33, 34 are driven by a drive motor 10 via a differential device 50 as shown in fig. 1B, for example, and fig. 4B is applied to a case where a drive wheel is provided with an independent drive motor 10 as shown in fig. 1C and 1D, for example.

Specifically, taking the flowchart shown in fig. 4A as an example, initially, the drive antiskid control functions of the vehicle dynamics control unit are all in the inactive state. Then, since the slipping of the driving wheels of the vehicle is detected, in order to ensure that the vehicle has sufficient driving torque to accelerate and steer, it is necessary to start the driving anti-slip control in time so that the driving wheels generate effective driving torque to prevent the wheels from slipping (idling). Accordingly, the drive slip control function in the

control module

20A, 20B or the

electromechanical brake device

331, 341 determines whether there is slip of the drive wheel 33 and/or 34 greater than a predetermined threshold value x, and activates the drive slip control function if there is slip.

The

control modules

20A, 20B then determine whether the slip of only one of the drive wheels, e.g., wheel 33, is greater than a predetermined threshold or whether the slip of both drive

wheels

33, 34 is greater than a predetermined threshold.

If the slip of only one of the drive wheels, e.g. wheel 33, is greater than a predetermined threshold, the

control module

20A, 20B controls the respective electromechanical braking device 331 to brake that drive wheel 33.

Next, it is detected by the wheel speed sensors 332 of the wheels 33 whether the brakes have been applied, and if so, the

control modules

20A, 20B repeat the above process until the slip amount of the drive wheels 33 is less than a predetermined threshold value x. At this time, the slip amount of the drive wheels has been controlled to decrease below a predetermined threshold, and the

control modules

20A, 20B turn off the drive slip control function.

If it is detected by the wheel speed sensor 332 that the electromechanical brake device 331 has not successfully applied the brakes to the drive wheels 33, for example, due to a malfunction of the electromechanical brake device 331 itself or communication between the electromechanical brake device 331 and the control module 20A, in this case, the

control module

20A, 20B deactivates the drive antiskid control function until the malfunction is cleared.

If it is the case that the slip of both drive

wheels

33, 34 is greater than the predetermined threshold x, the

control module

20A, 20B first requests the drive motor controller 11 to reduce the output torque of the corresponding drive motor 10, in particular to issue a request to reduce the drive torque at the control unit 14 to the motor of the drive motor controller 11.

Next, it is detected by the motor speed sensor 12 whether the drive motor 10 follows the above-described request to reduce the output torque. If the output torque is successfully reduced, the

control module

20A, 20B loops this process until the amount of slip of both drive

wheels

33, 34 is less than the threshold x. At this time, the running of the vehicle has been stabilized, and the

control modules

20A, 20B turn off the drive antiskid control function.

If it is detected by the motor speed sensor 12 that the drive motor 10 does not follow the request for torque reduction, the

control modules

20A, 20B control the

electromechanical braking devices

331, 341 to apply the brakes to the

respective drive wheels

33 and 34, and detect whether the brakes have been applied successfully at that time by the

wheel speed sensors

332, 342. If the

electromechanical braking devices

331, 341 have successfully applied the braking, the above process is repeated until the amount of slip of both

wheels

33, 34 falls below a predetermined threshold x, at which point the

control modules

20A, 20B turn off the drive anti-slip control function.

Here, it should be noted that, during the above-described cycle, the

control modules

20A, 20B still issue a request for lowering the driving torque to the motor control unit 14 of the driving motor controller 11 of the corresponding driving motor 10 each time, and control the

electromechanical brake devices

331, 341 of the driving

wheels

33, 34 to apply the brakes to the corresponding driving wheels only when it is confirmed that the driving torque output from the driving motor 10 is not successfully reduced.

In the above process, if it is detected by the

wheel speed sensors

332, 342 that the

electromechanical brake devices

331, 341 are not successfully applying brakes to the

corresponding drive wheels

33, 34, the

control modules

20A, 20B will deactivate the drive antiskid control function, similar to the above-described case when the slip amount of a single wheel exceeds the predetermined threshold value x, until the failure that causes the

electromechanical brake devices

331, 341 to fail to successfully apply brakes is eliminated.

Fig. 4B shows a flow of the

control modules

20A, 20B performing the drive slip control function in the case where the drive wheels are provided with the independent drive motors 10, which is generally similar to the above-described case where the slip amounts of both the drive wheels shown in fig. 4A are larger than the predetermined threshold value x.

Taking the power arrangement shown in fig. 1C as an example, if the slip of the drive wheels 33 is greater than the predetermined threshold value x at the time of driving, the

control modules

20A, 20B request the drive motor controller 11 to reduce the output torque of the drive motor 10 corresponding to the drive wheels 33, specifically by issuing a request to reduce the drive torque to the motor control unit 14 of the drive motor controller 11.

Next, it is detected by the motor speed sensor 12 provided at the drive motor 10 whether the drive motor 10 follows the above-described request to reduce the output torque. If the output torque is successfully reduced, the

control modules

20A, 20B loop this process until the slip amount of the drive wheels 33 is less than the threshold value x, at which time the running of the vehicle has stabilized, and the

control modules

20A, 20B turn off the drive slip control function.

If it is detected by the motor speed sensor 12 that the drive motor 10 does not follow the above-described request for torque reduction, the

control module

20A, 20B controls the electro-mechanical brake device 331 to apply the brakes to the drive wheels 33, and detects whether the brakes have been successfully applied by the wheel speed sensor 332. If the braking has been successfully applied, the above process is repeated until the amount of slip of the wheel 33 falls below a predetermined threshold x. At this time, the

control modules

20A, 20B turn off the drive antiskid control function.

Here, it should be noted that, during the above-described cycle, the

control modules

20A, 20B still issue a request for torque reduction to the motor control unit 14 of the drive motor controller 11 of the drive motor 10 of the wheel 33 every time, and control the electromechanical brake device 331 of the drive wheel 33 to apply the brake to the drive wheel only in the case where it is confirmed that the output torque of the drive motor 10 is not successfully reduced.

In the above process, if it is detected by the wheel speed sensor 332 that the electromechanical brake device 331 is not successfully applying the brakes to the drive wheels 33, the

control modules

20A, 20B will deactivate the drive slip control function of the vehicle dynamics control unit until the failure that causes the electromechanical brake device 331 to fail to apply the brakes is eliminated.

It should be noted that although the above-described process of driving the anti-slip control function is exemplarily described for the driving wheels 33, the process is applicable to any driving wheels of the vehicle provided with the independent driving motor 10.

Here, it should also be noted that the motor control unit 14 of the respective drive motor controller 11 of the drive motor 10 as described hereinbefore may be directly integrated in the

control module

20A, 20B, as shown in fig. 3A-3C. In this case, during the above-described cycle, the

control modules

20A, 20B can directly drive the motor driver 13 via the motor control unit 14 integrated therein, reducing the driving torque of the drive motor 10. Likewise, the electromechanical brake device 331 that controls the drive wheels 33 applies the brakes to the drive wheels only in the case where it is confirmed that the output torque of the drive motor 10 has not been successfully reduced.

The braking system according to the invention can be used to perform body Electronic Stability Control (ESC) functions. Specifically, at least one of the

control modules

20A, 20B implements vehicle body electronic stability control using an electromechanical brake device and/or a drive motor controller with reference to the steering angle and/or yaw rate of the steering wheel.

The

control modules

20A, 20B refer to the steering angle of the steering wheel and/or the yaw rate of the vehicle, and for example, when the left turn of the vehicle is insufficient, the control module 20A controls the drive motor controller 11 to send a torque down signal to the drive motor 10 so as to reduce the drive torque of the left rear wheel 34, and controls the corresponding electromechanical brake device 341 to apply a brake to the left rear wheel 34 if it is detected that the vehicle body running posture is not stabilized, so as to ensure that the vehicle running posture is stabilized.

Next, a process in which the

control modules

20A, 20B in the brake system perform the above-described vehicle body electronic stability control function will be described with specific reference to the flowchart schematically shown in fig. 5.

For example, taking the vehicle powerplant shown in fig. 2A as an example, when the vehicle having the powerplant shown in fig. 2A turns left, initially, the body electronic stability control function of the vehicle dynamics control unit included in the

control modules

20A, 20B of the vehicle is in an inactive state, and whether to initiate body electronic stability control is determined by the

control modules

20A and 20B. Specifically, the

control modules

20A, 20B determine whether there is a difference between the expected vehicle motion state and the actual motion state, such as whether there is an oversteer or understeer condition in the vehicle body, with reference to

wheel speed sensors

312, 322, 332, 342 and other sensors not shown in the figures, including wheel speed values provided by yaw sensors, steering wheel angle sensors, etc., the steering wheel steering angle, and/or the yaw rate of the vehicle body. If there is a situation such as oversteer when the vehicle is turning left, the

control modules

20A and 20B start the vehicle body electronic stability control, issue a request to reduce the drive torque to the motor control unit 14 included in the drive motor controller 11, and request the drive motor 10 to reduce the output drive torque.

Next, it is detected by means of the motor speed sensor 12 whether the drive torque output from the drive motor 10 is successfully reduced. If the drive motor 10 is successfully reduced in output torque, the reduction in torque of the drive motor 10 by the

control modules

20A and 20B via the drive motor controller 11 is continued until the driving posture of the vehicle body is restored to normal, that is, there is no oversteer condition anymore, at which time the

control modules

20A, 20B turn off the vehicle body electronic stability control function.

If it is detected via the motor speed sensor 12 that the torque output by the drive motor 10 has not been successfully reduced following the instructions of the

control modules

20A, 20B, the control module 20B controls the electromechanical brake device 311 to apply braking to the right front wheel 31. In the case where the electromechanical brake device 311 successfully applies the brake, the vehicle body electronic stability control function remains on until the traveling posture of the vehicle body is restored to normal. Whether the running posture is returned to normal or not still requires the

control modules

20A, 20B to determine with reference to the steering angle of the steering wheel and the yaw rate of the vehicle body. If the electromechanical brake device 311 is not successfully applying the brakes, the

control modules

20A, 20B disable the body electrical stability control function described above.

For another example, when the vehicle is under-steered when turning left, the

control modules

20A and 20B start the vehicle body electronic stability control, issue a request to reduce the drive torque to the motor control unit included in the drive motor controller 11, and request the drive motor 10 to reduce the output drive torque.

Next, it is detected by means of the motor speed sensor 12 whether the drive torque output from the drive motor 10 is successfully reduced. If the drive motor 10 is successfully reduced in output torque, the reduction in torque of the drive motor 10 via the drive motor controller 11 by the

control modules

20A and 20B is continued until the driving posture of the vehicle body is restored to normal, i.e., there is no more understeer condition, at which time the

control modules

20A, 20B turn off the vehicle body electronic stability control function.

control modules

20A, 20B, the control module 20A controls the electromechanical brake device 341 to apply braking to the left rear wheel 34. In the case where the electromechanical brake device 341 successfully applies the brake, the vehicle body electronic stability control function remains on until the traveling posture of the vehicle body is restored to normal. Whether the running posture is returned to normal or not still requires the

control modules

20A, 20B to determine with reference to the steering angle of the steering wheel and the yaw rate of the vehicle body. If the electromechanical brake device 341 is not successfully applying the brakes, the

control modules

For the power arrangement of the vehicle shown in fig. 2B, unlike the case of the power arrangement shown in fig. 2A described above, are: when the vehicle turns left, the drive torque of the drive motor 10 corresponding to the left rear wheel 34 decreases, and the drive torque of the drive motor 10 corresponding to the right rear wheel 33 increases. When the vehicle turns left but the steering is insufficient, the

control modules

20A and 20B start the vehicle body electronic stability control, and issue an instruction to the motor control unit included in the drive motor controller 11 to request the drive motor 10 corresponding to the left rear wheel 34 to reduce the output drive torque. If it is detected via the motor speed sensor 12 that the torque output by the drive motor 10 has not been successfully reduced following the instructions of the

control modules

20A, 20B, the control module 20B controls the electromechanical braking device 341 to apply braking to the left rear wheel 34.

For the power arrangement of the vehicle shown in fig. 2C, unlike the case of the power arrangement shown in fig. 2A and 2B described above, are: when the vehicle turns left, the drive torque of the drive motor 10 corresponding to the left rear wheel 34 and the left front wheel 32 decreases, and the drive torque of the drive motor 10 corresponding to the right rear wheel 33 and the right front wheel 31 increases. When the vehicle turns left but oversteers, the

control modules

20A and 20B start the vehicle body electronic stability control, and issue an instruction to the motor control unit included in the drive motor controller 11 to request the drive motor 10 corresponding to the right front wheel 31 to reduce the output drive torque. If it is detected via the motor speed sensor 12 that the torque output by the drive motor 10 has not been successfully reduced following the instructions of the

control modules

20A, 20B, the control module 20A controls the electromechanical brake device 341 to apply braking to the right front wheel 31.

It should be noted that possible reasons why the drive torque of the drive motor 10 does not decrease successfully following the instruction issued by the

control module

20A, 20B during the start of the above-described drive slip control function or vehicle body electronic stability control function also include that the communication between the

control module

20A or 20B, which originally communicated with the drive motor controller 11, and the drive motor controller 11 is failed, in which case, as a safety redundancy, the

control module

20A, 20B controls the

electromechanical brake device

311, 321, 331, 341 to apply braking to the corresponding drive wheel when it is detected by the motor speed sensor 12 that the torque of the drive motor 10 is not decreasing during the above-described function.

It should also be noted that in the above-described embodiment, the

control modules

20A, 20B have the authority to control the drive motor 10, for example, the

control modules

20A, 20B can issue instructions to the motor control unit 14 of the drive motor controller 11. However, it is also possible that the

control modules

20A, 20B do not have the authority to control the drive motor 10, and in this case, at the time of the start of the above-described drive slip control function or vehicle body stability control function, if the drive motor 10 fails to reduce the drive torque, the

control modules

20A, 20B skip the step of requesting the drive motor 10 to reduce the drive torque, and directly control the

electromechanical brake devices

311, 321, 331, 341 corresponding to the slipping wheel or the oversteered or understeered wheel to apply the brakes to the corresponding drive wheels.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 2A-2C, both control module 20A and control module 20B communicate with drive motor controller 11, respectively, so that when communication of one control module, for example, control module 20A, with drive motor controller 11 is interrupted, control module 20B can instead communicate with drive motor controller 11 to perform control of drive motor 10, providing greater safety redundancy.

More preferably, the motor driver 13 and the motor control unit 14 that drive the motor controller 11 are provided separately, and the motor control unit 14 is integrated into at least one of the control module 20A and the control module 20B, and particularly preferably into both of these control modules, as shown in fig. 3A to 3C. Thus, the fault tolerance of the brake system is further enhanced, avoiding a situation where the

control module

20A or 20B may lose communication with the drive motor controller 11 and thereby affect the vehicle operation, as described above.

In this case, as shown in fig. 3A, the drive motor controller 11 is integrated into the control module 20A and the control module 20B, the

control module

20A or 20B may directly control the motor driver 13, and the motor speed sensor 12 communicates with the motor driver 13. In this arrangement, the control of the drive motor 10 by the control module 20A is actually achieved by the control of the motor control unit 14 integrated in the control module 20A. At this time, the accelerator pedal 30 communicates with the

control modules

20A and 20B, respectively.

Similarly, fig. 3B and 3C correspond to a rear-wheel two-wheel independent drive and four-wheel independent drive power arrangement in which the motor control unit 14 of the drive motor controller 11 thereof is integrated into the control module 20B and the control module 20A, while each drive motor is independently provided with a motor driver 13, respectively, and the control module 20B realizes control of the corresponding drive motor 10 by controlling the corresponding motor driver 13 by means of the motor control unit 14, respectively.

Since the motor control unit 14 is directly integrated in the control module 20A and/or 20B, the control module 20A and/or 20B can directly control the motor control unit 14 when a correction of the driving torque of the driving motor 10 is required, unlike the case shown in fig. 1A to 2C.

Further, in the braking of the vehicle using the braking system according to the present invention, the

control modules

20A, 20B also perform verification of the wheel speeds, specifically, taking the embodiment shown in fig. 1C as an example, the motor speed sensors 12 measure the rotational speeds of their respective drive motors 10, respectively, and transmit the measured drive motor speeds to the control module 20A, and then the control module 20A verifies the wheel speeds of the

respective drive wheels

33, 34 measured by the

wheel speed sensors

332, 342 with the above-described drive motor speeds, so that the drive wheel speeds with high accuracy and/or reliability can be obtained even in the case where the wheel speeds are low. The same applies to the embodiments shown in fig. 1B and 1D.

The

control module

20A, 20B is further capable of calculating a wheel speed of a

wheel

31, 32, 33, 34 based on the rotational speed of its corresponding drive motor 10 and/or the speed of the corresponding wheel obtained by the other operating

wheel speed sensors

312, 322, 332, 342 when the corresponding

wheel speed sensor

312, 322, 332, 342 fails.

During the running of the vehicle, the wheel speed sensor of a certain wheel may fail due to damage to the body of the

wheel speed sensor

312, 322, 332, 342, breakage of the signal line, poor contact of the plug, or clogging of sludge. In this case, in order to still ensure real-time monitoring of the wheel speed of each wheel, the

control module

20A, 20B may calculate the wheel speed of the wheel corresponding to the failed wheel speed sensor based on other sensor data.

Taking fig. 1B as an example, when the wheel speed sensor 332 of a driving wheel, for example, the right rear wheel 33, fails, the control module 20A may measure the wheel speed of the left rear wheel 34 based on the wheel speed sensor 342 of the left rear wheel 34 and calculate the wheel speed of the right rear wheel 33 by combining the driving motor rotation speed obtained by the motor speed sensor 12 and the differential device 50, or vice versa, to obtain the wheel speed of the left rear wheel 34.

In the power arrangement of the vehicle shown in, for example, fig. 1C or fig. 1D, when a wheel speed sensor 332 of a wheel, for example, the right rear wheel 33 fails, the control module 20A may directly calculate the wheel speed of the right rear wheel 33 based on the rotational speed of the drive motor 10 obtained by the motor speed sensor 12 of the drive motor 10 of the right rear wheel 33.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A brake system for a vehicle, characterized in that,

the brake system comprises two control modules (20A, 20B) and an electromechanical brake device (311, 321, 331, 341) for providing braking force to a wheel (31, 32, 33, 34), at least one of the control modules (20A, 20B) comprises a vehicle dynamics control unit and obtains drive torque information from a drive motor controller (11) of a vehicle, the drive motor controller (11) controls at least one drive motor (10) of the vehicle to provide drive torque,

wherein, when the control module (20A, 20B) detects a drive torque error, a correction is performed using an electromechanical brake device (311, 321, 331, 341) and/or the drive motor controller (11).

2. A braking system according to claim 1, characterised in that the electromechanical braking device (311, 321, 331, 341) comprises a redundant vehicle dynamics control unit having at least part of the vehicle dynamics control functions.

3. A braking system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the control module (20A, 20B) is configured to apply braking using the electromechanical braking device (311, 321, 331, 341) when the driving torque is greater than the actual demand.

4. A braking system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the drive motor (10) drives the wheels (31, 32, 33, 34) via a differential device (50).

5. A braking system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the at least one drive motor (10) is at least one pair of drive motors which drive a pair of wheels (31, 32; 33, 34) independently of each other.

6. A braking system according to any one of the foregoing claims, characterised in that the drive motor controller (11) and/or at least one of the control modules (20A, 20B) receives an acceleration signal.

7. A braking system according to claim 6, characterised in that at least one of the control modules (20A, 20B) communicates with a non-manned system (101) to verify an acceleration signal from an accelerator pedal (30) and to apply the brakes using the electromechanical braking device (311, 321, 331, 341) when the verification indicates a failure or malfunction.

8. A braking system according to any one of the foregoing claims, characterised in that said at least one control module implements an electronic body stabilisation control, in time using said electromechanical braking means (311, 321, 331, 341) and/or said drive motor controller (11), with reference to the steering angle and/or yaw rate of the steering wheel.

9. A braking system according to any one of the foregoing claims, characterised in that the drive motor controller (11) comprises a motor control unit (14) and a motor drive (13).

10. The brake system of claim 9, wherein the at least one control module (20A, 20B) sends a target torque request to the motor control unit (14) to modify the drive torque.

11. A braking system according to claim 10, characterized in that the control module (20A, 20B) is configured to apply braking using the electromechanical braking device (311, 321, 331, 341) when the drive motor (10) does not comply with the target torque request.

12. A braking system according to claim 9, characterized in that the control module (20A, 20B) comprises a motor control unit (14) for controlling the motor drive (13) to modify the driving torque.

13. A braking system according to any one of the foregoing claims, characterised in that both of the control modules (20A, 20B) communicate with the drive motor controller (11), respectively.

14. A braking system according to any one of the foregoing claims, characterised in that two of the control modules (20A, 20B) are communicatively connected.

15. A braking system according to any one of the foregoing claims, characterised in that the control module (20A, 20B) acquires drive motor speed for verifying vehicle wheel speed.

16. A braking system according to any preceding claim, wherein the control module calculates the wheel speed of one wheel (31; 32; 33; 34) based on the corresponding drive motor speed and/or the wheel speeds of the other wheels in the event of a failure of a wheel speed sensor (312; 322; 332; 342) of the wheel.

17. A method for braking a vehicle comprising a drive motor (10), a drive motor controller (11) controlling the drive motor to provide a drive torque, and a brake system comprising two control modules (20A, 20B) and an electromechanical brake device (311, 321, 331, 341) providing a braking force for a wheel (31, 32, 33, 34), at least one of the control modules (20A, 20B) obtaining drive torque information from the drive motor controller (11) of the vehicle, characterized in that the method comprises the steps of:

a) detecting that the driving torque is wrong;

b1) applying braking using the electromechanical braking device (311, 321, 331, 341),

and/or

b2) Correcting an error using the drive motor controller (11).

18. A method of braking a vehicle as claimed in claim 17, wherein after step b2), the method further comprises:

c) detecting that the drive torque of the drive motor (10) is not corrected;

d) applying braking using the electromechanical braking device (311, 321, 331, 341).

19. A method of braking a vehicle according to claim 17 or 18, further comprising the steps of:

receiving an acceleration signal;

communicating with a non-manual driving system (101) and verifying an acceleration signal from an accelerator pedal (30);

applying braking using the electromechanical braking device (311, 321, 331, 341) when the verification result indicates an operation failure or a malfunction.

20. A method of braking a vehicle according to any one of claims 17 to 19, further comprising the steps of:

a steering angle and/or yaw rate of the reference steering wheel;

and timely implementing electronic vehicle body stability control by using the electronic mechanical brake devices (311, 321, 331, 341) and/or the driving motor controller (11).

21. A method of braking a vehicle according to any one of claims 17 to 20, further comprising the steps of:

the drive motor speed is acquired to verify the vehicle wheel speed.

22. A method of braking a vehicle according to any one of claims 17 to 21, further comprising the steps of:

a wheel speed of a wheel (31; 32; 33; 34) with a failed wheel speed sensor (312; 322; 332; 342) is calculated based on the drive motor speed and/or the wheel speed of the other wheel.