Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/619701
communicating and working seam- lessly together to deliver the best pos- sible fuel economy at all times. But even at their best, many of today's conventional cruise control systems still have a hard time dealing with changing road elevations. The most recent generation of systems rely on real-time sensor inputs, and any throttle adjustments to match upcoming hills and downgrades still have to be made by the driver. Now, a new generation of predictive cruise control systems use real- time GPS and topographical data to logically and economically tackle any terrain. Daniel Dempsey, systems engineering manager for Cummins On-Highway, says the new systems actually are superior to a human driver. "Drivers today can generally only see short distances in front of them," Dempsey says. "They can effectively make speed and throttle adjustments to deal with the conditions in front of them, but they have no way of looking beyond the immediate hill or incline to set the truck up to deal with condi- tions out of their line of sight." Today's modern systems use an electronic control module to analyze multiple data streams – horsepower, torque, engine rpms, vehicle speed, load and angle of ascent or descent – to calculate the most fuel-effi cient throttle setting at all times. "Many current-generation optimized drivetrains do that as well, but predic- tive cruise takes things several steps further," Dempsey says. The system can "see" up to two or three miles ahead and calculate how to deal with conditions that have yet to come into the driver's line of sight. When the system is activated, throttle inputs are made just as a driver would do. On upslopes, it will add power to keep the truck in as high a gear as possible for effi cient cruising, and on downslopes, it will put the truck into neutral and allow it to use inertia to coast, facilitating the best possible fuel economy. As the downgrade evens out, it gradually will add power. "The systems are so much smooth- er and more effi cient than anything we've ever had before," says An- thony Gansle, on-highway market- ing manager for Peterbilt, which just introduced its new Predictive Cruise Control system. Gansle says the pay- offs are real: Peterbilt's new system is yielding a 2 percent fuel economy boost for trucks running in hilly terrain. The systems also help improve driv- er safety and lessen fatigue, Dempsey says. "Now, drivers can focus less on managing fuel economy and pay more attention to traffi c and other road conditions for a less stressful driving experience," he says. ◆ 18 www.studentdriverplacement.com January '16 |Tomorrow's Trucks |