Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Adrian Berry

Jeremy John Greenwood

Sam Anker

David Andrew Clare

David Armstrong

Jan Pieter Prins

Derek Leslie Jones

Keith Gary Reginald Parsons

Philippa Laing

Nick Moore

Richard Cook

David Inch

Adrie Breugelmans

Scott Dicken

Phil Guest

Andrew Cotta

Tim Slaney

Michael Corner

A vehicle mode controller, a driving mode collecting means, and a plurality of subsystem controllers including an engine management system, a transmission controller, a steering controller, a brakes controller and a suspension controller, provide an improved system and method of operating a vehicle control system in a host vehicle in a manner suitable for a respective driving surface in a plurality of different off-road surfaces and terrains such as might be encountered when driving off-road. An improved method is provided for controlling a vehicle control system by avoiding unplanned combinations of subsystem configuration modes and minimizing the transition time when changing between subsystem configuration modes.

Vehicle control method and apparatus

A tire pressure monitoring system () for a vehicle () includes a speed sensor () generating a speed signal indicative of vehicle speed, a timer () generating a time signal, a warning status memory () having warning statuses therein. The system further includes a plurality of rolling tires in respective rolling location. The plurality of rolling tires (), (), () and () have respective rolling transmitters (), (), () and (). An auxiliary tire () in an auxiliary location has an auxiliary transmitter () that generates an auxiliary sensor transmission signal. A controller () is coupled to the rolling transmitters, the spare tire transmitter and the warning status memory (). The controller () receives the auxiliary sensor transmission signal. When the speed is greater than a predetermined speed and, when the time signal is greater than a predetermined time, the controller associates the auxiliary sensor identification to an auxiliary location of the warning status memory.

Method and system for automatically extending a tire pressure monitoring system for an automotive vehicle to include auxiliary tires

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Banbury, United Kingdom

Adrian Berry