Cruise Control (with MPG sensitive logic)

[Smokingwheels]

Well what about a cruise control that you can set a speed range to slow down to up hills.
eg 20 km/h below the setpoint when throttle goes past a certain percentage.

[mjspiess]

I found that with my Metro & an aftermarket universal Rostra electric cruise control, if I set the PPM to 8000 instead of 4000, the cruise pretty much pulses & glides on its own based on elevation changes. If I set the cruise at 60 MPH, my speed will fluctuate between 53 MPH-68 MPH. It automatically slows down going up hills & speeds up going down hill. On flat ground it pretty much stays at 60 MPH.

[iveyjh]

[Bruce_3]

First, I understand that this thread has been dead for a year, but in case someone else is looking for the same thing I was I'll add my thoughts here.
I like the ideas, and was searching for a 'Smarter' cruise control. After reading here, I decided my stock cruise module should do the job with a Arduino intercepting the incoming speed signal, and outputting a new speed signal to the cruise module. I made the circuit board today, and did some testing. I think some of the speed constants I'm using might need adjusted, but overall I am getting the result I wanted.
I want the cruise to react slower to changes, and allow the speed to drop (but still controlling the speed within reason, after all that is the idea of cruise.) I have some pictures, a schematic, and the program. Once I figure out how to add it here I'll include more information. But I do appreciate all the thought and ideas here that led me to this.
--Bruce

[Bruce_3]

I should mention that my truck is a 2000 Chevy Silverado 5.3L with the stock cruise module. I tested the speed signal to the cruise, and it was a 12V square wave that was approximately 1 cycle per MPH.
The only wire cut is the speed wire from the PCM to the cruise module. I also tapped into the 'Set/Decel' , 'Resume/Accel', 'Cancel', and cruise power wires.

[Bruce_3]

The Arduino Code, still needs cleaned up some.
Any improvements are welcome.
--Bruce

Code Updated slightly.

[oldbeaver]

Originally Posted by Bruce_3

The Arduino Code, still needs cleaned up some.
Any improvements are welcome.
--Bruce

Very good idea, to use Arduino to modify the standard logic of the Factory cruise control, or even an aftermarket one.

Go ahead and many will appreciate your findings.

Oldbeaver

[mjspiess]

Very cool! My wife and I had the privilege to borrow the all new, not in full production yet, 2015 ATS Coupe. It had Adaptive Cruise Control. There were 4 sensors embedded into the front bumper that would "see" vehicles in front of the car and based on a setting of "Far, Medium, or Near", the cruise control would automatically slow the car down as you got within range of a car in front of you. It would make "drafting" extremely easy! lol I drove 2 hours on the highway & never once touched the breaks or adjust the cruise control. It was pretty awesome.

[Bruce_3]

Originally Posted by oldbeaver

Very good idea, to use Arduino to modify the standard logic of the Factory cruise control, or even an aftermarket one.

Go ahead and many will appreciate your findings.

Oldbeaver

Thanks, I realize that it is not actually a MPG sensitive cruise, but I am hoping the end result is similar. Also this keeps cost down since I did not need to replace my cruise module. I need to fine tune the values to work best in my truck (SPEEDDROP, MAXDROP, and SPEED_MULTIPLIER). But my three test runs today had the cruise working smooth without harsh downshifting.
--Bruce

[Bruce_3]

Originally Posted by mjspiess

Very cool! My wife and I had the privilege to borrow the all new, not in full production yet, 2015 ATS Coupe. It had Adaptive Cruise Control. There were 4 sensors embedded into the front bumper that would "see" vehicles in front of the car and based on a setting of "Far, Medium, or Near", the cruise control would automatically slow the car down as you got within range of a car in front of you. It would make "drafting" extremely easy! lol I drove 2 hours on the highway & never once touched the breaks or adjust the cruise control. It was pretty awesome.

I've driven a Toyota that has that option, and it is very nice.

--Bruce