Gear shifting by engine control

By using engine control during the gear shift, a manual transmission can be automated without using the clutch during the shift event, it is then impo rtant to minimize the total time needed for a gear shift, but when doing so driveline resonances may be excited. This in turn may lead to problems wit h disengaging the old gear and synchronizing speeds for engaging the new ge ar. Internal driveline torque control is a novel idea for handling resonanc es and increasing shift quality. By estimating the transmitted torque and c ontrolling it to zero by engine control, the gear can systematically be dis engaged with minimized driver disturbances and faster speed synchronization . Field trials show fast shifts to neutral gear, despite disturbances and d riveline oscillations at the start of the gear shift. The control scheme is simple and robust against variations among different gears. Furthermore, d amping of driveline resonances can be obtained with an observer in combinat ion with a proportional integral derivative feedback structure, despite the higher order driveline system.