Abstract: A system and method for detecting and predicting low performing cells in a fuel cell stack. When the fuel cell stack is running and certain data validity criteria have been met, an algorithm collects the data, such as stack current density, average cell voltage and minimum cell voltage. This information is used to estimate predetermined parameters that define the stack polarization curve. The system defines a predetermined minimum current density that is used to identify a low performing cell. The system then calculates an average cell voltage and a minimum cell voltage at the minimum current density set-point, and calculates a cell voltage difference between the two. If the cell voltage difference is greater than a predetermined low voltage threshold and the minimum cell voltage is less than a predetermined high voltage threshold, the algorithm sets a flag identifying a potential for a low performing cell.

Abstract: A measurement circuit that has particular application for detecting a high impedance measurement signal from a liquid water sensor. The measurement circuit includes a high impedance resistance-to-frequency conversion circuit that is coupled to the sensor and receives a resistance signal therefrom. The resistance-to-frequency conversion circuit includes an oscillator that converts the resistance signal to a representative frequency. The measurement circuit also includes a frequency-to-voltage conversion circuit that receives the frequency signal from the resistance-to-frequency conversion circuit, and converts the frequency signal to a representative voltage that provides an indication of water on the sensor.

Abstract: A system and method for assigning certificates and reducing the size of the certificate revocation lists in a PKI based architecture for a vehicle wireless communications system that includes separating a country, or other area, into geographic regions and assigning region-specific certificates to the vehicles. Therefore, a vehicle need only process certificates and certificate revocation lists for the particular region that it is traveling in. Vehicles can be assigned multiple certificates corresponding to more than one region in the vehicles vicinity as advance preparation for possible travel or transmission into nearby regions. Further, the expiration time of certificates assigned to vehicles corresponding to a given geographic region can be tailored to be inversely proportional to the distance from a registered home region of the vehicle. A scalable design for a back-end certifying authority with region-based certificates can also be provided.

Abstract: A system and method for estimating vehicle lateral velocity and surface coefficient of friction using front and rear axle lateral force versus side-slip angle tables and sensor measurements. The sensor measurements include lateral acceleration, yaw-rate, longitudinal speed and steering angle of the vehicle. The method includes calculating front and rear axle lateral forces and front and rear side-slip angles on the axles of the vehicle. The method also includes identifying two equations from the calculated lateral forces and the vehicle measurements. The method provides tables that identify a relationship between the calculated front and rear axle lateral forces and the front and rear side-slip angles, and determines the vehicle lateral velocity and surface coefficient of friction from the tables.

Abstract: A system and method for providing control timing for a vehicle system at the design level. The method includes defining component timing specifications in a parametric form at a system level and at a sub-system level; mathematically representing the timing specifications in a system model; providing a constraint extraction algorithm that extracts timing constraints from the mathematical representations; using the constraint extraction algorithm to generate a plurality of linear equations that define the constraints; solving for real time constraint ranges from parameters in the linear equations; and selecting values from the real time constraint ranges to be used in the mathematical representations. In non-limiting embodiments, the constraint extraction algorithm can be a boundary discovery algorithm or a proof-tree.

Abstract: A system and method for mitigating the effects of Doppler shift, multipath and/or noise for a mobile receiver, such as on a vehicle, that is receiving broadcast television signals. The vehicle may include a map database and a GPS receiver that combine to identify the location of the vehicle on the roadway. The receiver on the vehicle includes a rotatable antenna that can be either mechanically or electronically directed towards a broadcast tower that is broadcasting the signal that the vehicle wishes to receive. Therefore, multipath effects and other noise conditions can be mitigated or eliminated by more precisely directing the antenna towards the source of a signal. Further, the receiver on the vehicle can use the forward velocity of the vehicle and the direction of the broadcasting tower to determine the movement of the vehicle relative to the tower to correct for the Doppler shift.

Abstract: A system and method for estimating surface coefficient of friction in a vehicle system. The method includes providing a kinematics relationship between vehicle yaw-rate, vehicle speed, vehicle steering angle and vehicle front and rear axle side-slip angles that is accurate for all surface coefficient of frictions on which the vehicle may be traveling. The method defines a nonlinear function for the front and rear axle side-slip angles relating to front and rear lateral forces and coefficient of friction, and uses the nonlinear function in the kinematics relationship. The method also provides a linear relationship of the front and rear axle side-slip angles and the front and rear lateral forces using the kinematics relationship. The method determines that the vehicle dynamics have become nonlinear using the linear relationship and then estimates the surface coefficient of friction when the vehicle dynamics are nonlinear.

Abstract: A method for predicting the dynamics of a vehicle using information about the path on which the vehicle is travelling that has particular application for enhancing active safety performance of the vehicle, to improve driver comfort and to improve vehicle dynamics control. The method includes generating a preview of a path to be followed by the vehicle where the preview of the path is generated based on actual values of a plurality of vehicle parameters. The method further includes obtaining a corrected value of at least one of the plurality of vehicle parameters corresponding to the actual values of each of the plurality of vehicle parameters, wherein the corrected value of the at least one of the vehicle parameters is obtained based on a target path to be followed by the vehicle on the road, and wherein the target path is obtained on the basis of a plurality of road parameters.

Abstract: A system and method for monitoring the state of health of the connection between a generator and a battery includes detecting an interruption in power between the generator and the battery, incrementing a counter each time an interruption is detected, generating a trend of a number of interruptions over time based on a number of increments in the counter, monitoring a rate of increase in the number of interruptions over time and determining if the rate of increase in the number of interruptions over time is greater than a predetermined threshold.

Abstract: The invention relates to a device and a method for the contactless personalisation of chips integrated into passports within a system for processing, sorting and packaging a large number of passports comprising a straight main transport path with a first transport direction for transporting the passports one behind the other through the system comprising a plurality of system modules for processing, sorting and/or packaging, with a respective straight first auxiliary transport path connected to the main transport path and arranged on either side thereof for leading the passports away from the main transport path in a second transport direction running perpendicular to the first transport direction, a plurality of coding stations arranged along the two first auxiliary transport paths and next to one another with respect to the first transport direction for coding the chips of the passports, and an equal plurality of transport elements which are respectively assigned to the coding stations and can be displaced

Abstract: A method for triggering an anode bleed from split fuel cell stacks in a fuel cell system that employs anode flow-shifting. The method requests the bleed if any one of three different conditions are met. Those conditions include that the concentration of nitrogen in the anode side of the split stacks is above a predetermined percentage, the voltage spread between the maximum cell voltage and the minimum cell voltage of two fuel cells in the split stacks is greater than a predetermined spread voltage and the absolute value of the difference between the overall voltage of the two split stacks is greater than a predetermined voltage. The concentration of nitrogen in the anode can be determined in any suitable manner, such as by a nitrogen cross-over model or a sensor.

Abstract: A technique that determines the tension in a tendon using a conduit reaction force applied to an end of a conduit through which the tendon is threaded. Any suitable tendon tension sensor can be employed that uses the conduit reaction force for this purpose. In one non-limiting embodiment, the tendon tension sensor includes a cylindrical strain gauge element and a force member mounted to an end of the conduit. The force member includes a cylindrical portion having a bore and a plate portion, where the cylindrical portion is inserted into a bore in the strain gauge element. The tendon is threaded through the strain gauge element and the force member. A strain gauge is mounted to the strain gauge element and measures the reaction force when tension on the tendon causes the strain gauge element to be pushed against the force member.

Abstract: A system and method for controlling tendon-driven manipulators that provide a closed-loop control of joint torques or joint impedances without inducing dynamic coupling between joints. The method includes calculating tendon reference positions or motor commands by projecting a torque error into tendon position space using a single linear operation. The method calculates this torque error using sensed tendon tensions and a reference torque and internal tension. The method can be used to control joint impedance by calculating the reference torque based on a joint position error. The method limits minimum and maximum tendon tensions by projecting the torque error into the tendon tension space and then projecting ii back into joint space.

Abstract: An adaptive vehicle control system that classifies a driver's driving style based on vehicle passing maneuvers. A process determines whether the vehicle has started a lane change from a first lane to a second lane as a first phase of the passing maneuver. If so, the process determines whether the lane change to the second lane has been completed as a second phase of the passing maneuver. If the lane change to the second lane has been completed, the process determines whether there has been a lane change back to the first lane to complete the passing maneuver as a third phase of the passing maneuver. Further, the process determines whether a time threshold has been exceeded after the passing maneuver is in a second phase, but no lane change back to the first lane has occurred.

Abstract: A method for estimating the maximum tire/road surface coefficient of friction for a vehicle that includes actively inducing a small amount of acceleration or deceleration to the front wheels or the rear wheels of the vehicle and inducing a corresponding and opposite amount of acceleration or deceleration to the other of the front wheels or the rear wheels of the vehicle so that the acceleration and deceleration cancel each other and the perceived speed of the vehicle does not change. The tire/road surface coefficient of friction and a wheel-slip ratio can be used to determine a road surface condition.

Abstract: A semi-active suspension system that employs magnetically controlled dampers. The semi-active suspension system includes a plurality of sensors that measure vehicle parameters in response to disturbances on the vehicle and provide sensor signals to a central controller. The central controller converts the sensor signals to a flux command signal that is representative of the force on the dampers at each wheel of the vehicle. The flux command signal is sent to a local controller that generates a coil voltage that is applied to a coil within the damper. A flux feedback signal generated by the coil is estimated or measured and is compared to the flux command signal in the local controller to adjust the coil voltage to minimize the difference between the flux command signal and the flux feedback signal to provide a response to the force without a flux delay.

Abstract: A fuel cell system that employs a start-up heater. The heater is coupled to a cold plate that warms a stack coolant during system start-up. A heater circuit measures the voltage at the output of the fuel cell stack and across the heater and the current through the fuel cell stack and through the heater. The heater circuit controls the amount heat that the heater generates by the measured voltage and current and the available power at the output of the fuel cell stack. In one embodiment, the heater includes field effect transistors (FETs) and planar resistors directly mounted to the cold plate. The FETs operate in their linear mode, allowing only the amount of current, which is required at a given voltage, to produce the power needed from the stack.

Abstract: A method for determining whether a fuel cell stack is overheating. The method measures the temperature of end cells in the stack using end cell temperature sensors, and calculates an average end cell temperature based on the end cell temperature measurements. The method also measures the temperature of a cooling fluid being output from the fuel cell stack. The method determines if any of the measured end cell temperatures are outlying by comparing each end cell temperature measurement to the average. The method determines that the cooling fluid outlet temperature sensor has possibly failed if the cooling fluid outlet temperature is greater than the average end cell temperature and the cooling fluid outlet temperature minus the average end cell temperature is greater than a predetermined temperature value.

Abstract: A flow field plate or bipolar plate for a fuel cell that includes a hydrophilic coating formed on flow field channels extending through a tunnel region between a cell active area and the inlet and outlet manifolds. The flow field plates are an assembly of a cathode side unipolar plate and an anode side unipolar plate. The hydrophilic coating is deposited on the unipolar plates prior to the unipolar plates being assembled into the flow field plate so that line of site deposition processes can be used to coat the flow field channels in the tunnel region. The unipolar plates can be any suitable fuel cell unipolar plates, such as stamped unipolar plates or composite unipolar plates.

Abstract: A fuel cell system that employs a heat exchanger and a charge air cooler for reducing the temperature of the cathode inlet air to a fuel cell stack during certain system operating conditions so that the cathode inlet air is able to absorb more moisture in a water vapor transfer unit. The system can include a valve that selectively by-passes the heat exchanger if the cathode inlet air does not need to be cooled to meet the inlet humidity requirements. Alternately, the charge air cooler can be cooled by an ambient airflow.