Systems and methods for ground distance control

Abstract

Ground distance control for automated vehicles wherein operation of at least a transmission and/or braking system(s) can be controlled in response to a generated distance request to achieve an identified travel distance, as well as to satisfy a maximum force or thrust command. As the vehicle travels, a measured distance can be tallied such that the measured distance increases when the vehicle travels in a first direction, and decreases when the vehicle travels in a second direction. The system can automatically determine a distance to be traveled, in terms of the measured distance, before commands are to operate a brake actuator and/or transmission actuator to decelerate and/or stop the movement of the vehicle. The system can further evaluate whether the measured distance at the location at which the vehicle actually stopped is within a distance tolerance of the distance request. The measured distance may be reset at key-on or key-off.