Abstract: In order to estimate a braking force gradient in a low slip region including a steady travelling region, there is provided a device comprising a wheel speed sensor for detecting a wheel speed in a predetermined sampling period and outputting time series data of the wheel speed as a wheel speed signal, a break point frequency estimating section for estimating a break point frequency in a gain diagram that represents a frequency response of a first order lag model that approximates a transmission characteristics from road surface disturbances to wheel speed, and a braking force gradient estimating section for estimating a braking force gradient with respect to the estimated break point frequency on the basis of the map showing a relationship between braking force gradient and break point frequency stored in advance.

Abstract: A physical quantity estimating apparatus and method that detects an acceleration and deceleration rate of a vehicle body and a rotational velocity of a wheel, estimates at least one of a tire radius of each wheel, a road surface &mgr; gradient, and a spring constant of a combination spring which combines spring elements, with a distribution ratio of braking force and driving force to a front and rear wheel and a distribution ratio of a load on each wheel that is corrected according to the detected acceleration and deceleration rate, as known values, based on a wheel speed difference of any two wheels, during acceleration and deceleration of a vehicle, of an ideal vehicle model that takes into consideration a tire torsional spring element and a suspension longitudinal spring element and estimates a tire type based on the estimated road surface &mgr; gradient and spring constant.

Abstract: A wheel velocity signal for each wheel detected by a wheel velocity sensor is input to a bandpass filter. Signals from frequency bands unrelated to the unsprung resonance are then removed from the wheel velocity signal and only signals from frequency bands related to the unsprung resonance are output. A road surface &mgr; gradient estimation device uses an online identification method to identify an damping ratio of a second order resonance model similar to a suspension—tire resonance model from the signal output from the bandpass filter. The road surface &mgr; gradient is then estimated from the identified damping ratio. The damping ratio of the second order resonance model corresponds to the road surface &mgr; gradient in the following manner: when the damping ratio is identified as being small, the road surface &mgr; gradient is estimated as being large; and when the road surface &mgr; gradient is identified as being large, the damping ratio is estimated as being small.

Abstract: In order to estimate a braking force gradient in a low slip region including a steady travelling region, there is provided a device comprising a wheel speed sensor for detecting a wheel speed in a predetermined sampling period and outputting time series data of the wheel speed as a wheel speed signal, a break point frequency estimating section for estimating a break point frequency in a gain diagram that represents a frequency response of a first order lag model that approximates a transmission characteristics from road surface disturbances to wheel speed, and a braking force gradient estimating section for estimating a braking force gradient with respect to the estimated break point frequency on the basis of the map showing a relationship between braking force gradient and break point frequency stored in advance.

Abstract: A braking force distribution control device is provided in which wheel speeds of respective wheels of a vehicle are detected. On the basis of the detected wheel speeds, slopes of coefficients of friction &mgr; between the wheels and a road surface are estimated as road surface &mgr; slope values of the respective wheels. On the basis of the estimated road surface &mgr; slope values of the respective wheels, braking forces of the respective wheels are controlled such that the braking forces among the respective wheels are adjusted.

Abstract: Disclosed is a road surface condition estimating apparatus including: a converting portion having a table showing a relation among a vehicle speed, a braking force and a resonance gain for each road surface condition and converting a detected value of the input vehicle speed and braking force into a resonance gain on the basis of the table, a subtracting device for computing each of differences between the resonance gain for each road surface condition converted by each of the converting portions and the detected value of the input resonance gain, and a minimum value selecting portion selecting the minimum value among the computed values in the subtracting device and outputting an information of the road surface condition corresponding to the converting portion giving the minimum value.

Abstract: In a wheel condition estimating apparatus for estimating a wheel condition in a wheel resonance system including a frictional characteristic between a tire and a road surface, a transfer characteristic of the wheel resonance system from the vibration input to the output response is expressed by a transfer function including, as an unknown component of a wheel condition, a physical quantity relating to ease of a slipping between the tire and the road surface, an output response with respect to the vibration input to the wheel resonance system is detected and the unknown component which substantially satisfies the detected output response is estimated on the basis of the transfer function.

Abstract: A memory is configured such that two operational modes, including a high-speed access mode in which current dissipation amount is large, but a high-speed access is possible, and a small current mode in which an access speed is lower than that in said high-speed access mode, but the current dissipation amount is small, are provided in the memory. The memory includes a control circuit for executing one of the two operational modes for the memory, in accordance with a mode designation signal sent from the outside of the memory.

Abstract: In a CMOS noise eliminating circuit, a plurality of PMOS transistors or NMOS transistors are connected in series so as to cause of switching speeds or switching timings of the PMOS transistors or the NMOS transistors, which are connected in series, to differ from each other, thereby improving the noise-resistant performance of a semiconductor integrated circuit.

Abstract: An apparatus for diagnosing a fault in a dynamic system includes a controller which controls the dynamic system through use of a control input signal and vibrates the dynamic system through use of an vibration signal irrelevant to the internal state quantity of the dynamic system; an observer for estimating, on the basis of a response output from the vibration dynamic system, total disturbance which is a sum of an internal disturbance vector stemming from a fault in the dynamic system and a vibration disturbance vector occurring in the dynamic system through vibration; a correlation calculation unit which calculates cross-correlation between the thus-estimated total disturbance and the internal state quantity of the dynamic system and separates a component related to the internal disturbance from the total disturbance; and a diagnostic unit for diagnosing a fault in the dynamic system on the basis of the thus-separated component related to the internal disturbance.

Abstract: An anti-lock braking system includes a friction torque gradient estimating unit for estimating, from a small number of parameters, the gradient of friction torque with respect to a slip speed, and controls a braking force acting on wheels on the basis of the friction torque gradient estimated by the friction torque gradient estimating unit. The friction torque gradient estimating unit may employ several types of estimating methods; e.g.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for detecting friction characteristics are disclosed, in which a wheel resonant system includes a vehicle body, a road surface and at least a wheel. A braking force control system exerts a braking force on the wheel. A resonant component detector determines a resonant gain providing the ratio between the amplitude of predetermined frequency component of the braking force and that of the wheel velocity and detects the ratio of the resonant gain to a present reference gain, a deviation calculator calculates the deviation between this ratio and unity, a PI controller controls the braking force control system in such a manner that the deviation coincides with zero, and a friction characteristics detector detects the friction characteristics on the basis of the braking force. When the friction force is made to approach a peak value by increasing the braking force, the resonant characteristics undergo a change thereby to reduce the resonant gain.

Abstract: A braking force acting on the wheel is actuated by a very small amount at a resonant frequency of a vibrating system comprised of a vehicle body, a wheel, and road surface, and the amplitude of the resonant-frequency component of the wheel speed is detected. A gain in the amplitude of the resonant-frequency component of the wheel speed with respect to the amplitude of the very small actuation of the braking force is determined. A mean braking force is controlled to decrease when the gain is smaller than a reference value, and to increase when the gain is greater than the reference value.