Driver training with look ahead

Abstract: The ambition to lower fuel consumption has been a goal for the vehicle industrysince many years.  During the first oil crisis in the seventies this first came intolight and it has become more relevant during the last years climate change debate.Fuel costs are also an issue.  Reducing lifetime costs, in which fuel is 30 %, givesa competitive advantage to the vehicle producer.  Over the years the drive trainhas been made efficient to the point where a reduction in fuel consumption due toimprovements in the drive train is highly expensive to develop.  The fact that thedriver behavior is a big factor in the vehicle’s fuel consumption has recently comeinto attention.  This master thesis has been performed at Scania in Södertälje andpresents a way to give the driver advice in advance of difficult road segments.  Theadvice will help the driver drive in a fuel efficient manner. Focus is put on a specificcase where the vehicle approaches a downhill and advice is given for the driver tolet the vehicle coast up to the start of the downhill so that the vehicle can regainits speed in the downhill.  The detection of the downhill is made with look-aheadtechnology where a GPS and a digital 3D road map makes the topography of theroad segment ahead available.