Patents by Inventor Jeffrey J. Waldner

Jeffrey J. Waldner has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20200241541
    Abstract: Methods and systems for piecewise sinusoid trajectory planning including: receiving, by a processing unit disposed in an ego vehicle, point data defining a current path plan for the ego vehicle; fetching, by the processing unit, a current ego position along the current path plan; calculating, by the processing unit, a current velocity and an acceleration for the current ego position which is based in part on a velocity and acceleration derived from a previous planned trajectory, the planned trajectory is calculated by: setting a graph with a grid of nodes in the velocity-time domain of the search space connected by edges; evaluating the graph with a shortest path algorithm wherein the validity and cost with respect to desired constraints of vehicle motion and system limitations of each edge are determined by use of the piecewise sinusoidal path length, velocity, and acceleration profiles which are parameterized to connect pairs of nodes; setting, by the processing unit, the optimal vehicle trajectory equal to
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2019
    Publication date: July 30, 2020
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Travis R. McCawley, Jeffrey J. Waldner
  • Patent number: 9809130
    Abstract: An electric motor control system for a vehicle includes a vehicle speed module that determines a vehicle speed. A closed loop (CL) module determines a CL torque based on a difference between a target vehicle speed and the vehicle speed. A motor torque module determines a motor torque based on the CL torque and a motor torque request determined based on a position of an accelerator pedal. A switching control module controls switching of an inverter based on the motor torque to control application of power to an electric motor of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Adam J. Heisel, Christopher J. Twarog, Anthony H. Heap, Derek S. Bonderczuk, Krunal P. Patel, Lawrence A. Kaminsky, Nathaniel S. Michaluk, Robert L. Morris, Shaochun Ye, Jeffrey J. Waldner
  • Patent number: 9688266
    Abstract: A torque-generating system includes one or more torque-generating devices, a transmission having an output member, and a controller. The controller executes a method to control an operation of the system when the output member is operating at zero output speed. The controller is programmed to determine a torque request level and an actual speed of the output member, and an effective speed of the output member, as a calibrated non-zero value, using the torque request level when the determined actual speed is zero. The controller calculates an effective power of the powertrain using the effective speed and torque request level. A control action is executed with respect to the powertrain using the calculated effective power, including transmitting powertrain control signals to the torque-generating device(s) to select an appropriate powertrain operating mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: John J. Janczak, Eric Piper, Jeffrey J. Waldner
  • Publication number: 20170136916
    Abstract: An electric motor control system for a vehicle includes a vehicle speed module that determines a vehicle speed. A closed loop (CL) module determines a CL torque based on a difference between a target vehicle speed and the vehicle speed. A motor torque module determines a motor torque based on the CL torque and a motor torque request determined based on a position of an accelerator pedal. A switching control module controls switching of an inverter based on the motor torque to control application of power to an electric motor of the vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2016
    Publication date: May 18, 2017
    Inventors: Adam J. HEISEL, Christopher J. Twarog, Anthony H. Heap, Derek S. Bonderczuk, Krunal P. Patel, Lawrence A. Kaminsky, Nathaniel S. Michaluk, Robert L. Morris, Shaochun Ye, Jeffrey J. Waldner
  • Publication number: 20170080915
    Abstract: A torque-generating system includes one or more torque-generating devices, a transmission having an output member, and a controller. The controller executes a method to control an operation of the system when the output member is operating at zero output speed. The controller is programmed to determine a torque request level and an actual speed of the output member, and an effective speed of the output member, as a calibrated non-zero value, using the torque request level when the determined actual speed is zero. The controller calculates an effective power of the powertrain using the effective speed and torque request level. A control action is executed with respect to the powertrain using the calculated effective power, including transmitting powertrain control signals to the torque-generating device(s) to select an appropriate powertrain operating mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2015
    Publication date: March 23, 2017
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: John J. Janczak, Eric Piper, Jeffrey J. Waldner
  • Patent number: 8775000
    Abstract: A method for operating a powertrain system includes selecting a plurality of candidate transmission ranges associated with a present powertrain operating point and deselecting candidate transmission ranges not associated with the present powertrain operating point. A high resolution engine speed/torque search is executed for each of the selected candidate transmission ranges. A low resolution engine speed/torque search is executed for each of the deselected candidate transmission ranges. Each search is executed to determine a respective minimum power cost for operating the powertrain system in one of the candidate transmission ranges in response to an output torque request and output speed. A preferred transmission range is determined from the candidate transmission ranges. A preferred engine operating point is determined corresponding to the minimum power cost for the preferred transmission range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Anthony H. Heap, Kee Yong Kim, Samantha Victoria Lado, Jeffrey J. Waldner
  • Patent number: 8761988
    Abstract: A method for operating a powertrain system to transfer torque among an engine, torque machines, and a driveline includes executing a search to determine a preferred engine operating point for operating the powertrain system in a transmission range in response to an output torque request. The search includes employing a candidate torque normalization ratio to determine a candidate engine torque from a normalized torque search space, and determining a candidate power cost associated with operating the powertrain system at the candidate engine torque for each of a plurality of candidate engine speeds within an input speed range and a plurality of candidate torque normalization ratios. A preferred engine speed is determined, and includes the candidate engine speed corresponding to the one of the candidate engine torques associated with a minimum of the candidate power costs. Engine operation is controlled responsive to the preferred engine speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2014
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Kee Yong Kim, Anthony H. Heap, Samantha Victoria Lado, Jeffrey J. Waldner
  • Publication number: 20140039738
    Abstract: A method for operating a powertrain system includes selecting a plurality of candidate transmission ranges associated with a present powertrain operating point and deselecting candidate transmission ranges not associated with the present powertrain operating point. A high resolution engine speed/torque search is executed for each of the selected candidate transmission ranges. A low resolution engine speed/torque search is executed for each of the deselected candidate transmission ranges. Each search is executed to determine a respective minimum power cost for operating the powertrain system in one of the candidate transmission ranges in response to an output torque request and output speed. A preferred transmission range is determined from the candidate transmission ranges. A preferred engine operating point is determined corresponding to the minimum power cost for the preferred transmission range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 6, 2012
    Publication date: February 6, 2014
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Anthony H. Heap, Kee Yong Kim, Samantha Victoria Lado, Jeffrey J. Waldner
  • Publication number: 20140039737
    Abstract: A method for operating a powertrain system to transfer torque among an engine, torque machines, and a driveline includes executing a search to determine a preferred engine operating point for operating the powertrain system in a transmission range in response to an output torque request. The search includes employing a candidate torque normalization ratio to determine a candidate engine torque from a normalized torque search space, and determining a candidate power cost associated with operating the powertrain system at the candidate engine torque for each of a plurality of candidate engine speeds within an input speed range and a plurality of candidate torque normalization ratios. A preferred engine speed is determined, and includes the candidate engine speed corresponding to the one of the candidate engine torques associated with a minimum of the candidate power costs. Engine operation is controlled responsive to the preferred engine speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 6, 2012
    Publication date: February 6, 2014
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Kee Yong Kim, Anthony H. Heap, Samantha Victoria Lado, Jeffrey J. Waldner