BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to vehicle control systems and, more specifically, to vehicle control systems for monitoring operation of vehicle brake system and providing vehicle condition status alerts.

At least some known Electric Servo Brake (ESB) systems can detect brake fluid consumption changes by comparing a master cylinder stroke versus master cylinder pressure to a stored model. If the required master cylinder stroke to reach a predefined master cylinder pressure becomes too high (i.e., exceeds a predefined threshold), braking performance may be reduced. Some known vehicles display an indicator to inform the driver of this condition. This may be referred to as a Fluid Consumption Detection (FCD) warning. However, when a driver operates the vehicle in certain aggressive manners, the detection logic is less reliable and may produce false warnings to the driver. Accordingly, a need exists for a control system and method to prevent false warnings to the driver.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one aspect, a system for providing vehicle condition indicators is provided. The system includes a controller including at least one processor in communication with at least one memory. The at least one processor is programmed to receive sensor information from a plurality of sensors associated with a vehicle. The sensor information includes throttle values and lateral acceleration values. The at least one processor is also programmed to analyze the throttle values for a plurality of points in time to determine whether to activate an aggressive throttle flag. The at least one processor is further programmed to analyze the lateral acceleration values for the plurality of points in time to determine whether to activate an aggressive lateral acceleration flag. In addition, the at least one processor is programmed to activate a fluid consumption detection enable flag when the aggressive throttle flag and the aggressive lateral acceleration flag are both active.

In another aspect, a method for providing vehicle condition indicators is provided. The method is implemented by a vehicle controller including at least one processor in communication with at least one memory. The method includes receiving sensor information from a plurality of sensors associated with a vehicle. The sensor information includes throttle values and lateral acceleration values. The method also includes analyzing the throttle values for a plurality of points in time to determine whether to activate an aggressive throttle flag. The method further includes analyzing the lateral acceleration values for the plurality of points in time to determine whether to activate an aggressive lateral acceleration flag. In addition, the method includes activating a fluid consumption detection enable flag when the aggressive throttle flag and the aggressive lateral acceleration flag are both active.

In yet another aspect, a vehicle controller is provided. The vehicle controller includes at least one processor in communication with at least one memory. The at least one processor is programmed to receive, at a plurality of points in time, a current throttle value and a current lateral acceleration value. For each of the plurality of points in time, the at least one processor is programmed to compare the current throttle value to a throttle threshold. The at least one processor is also programmed to adjust a throttle counter based on the comparison. The at least one processor is further programmed to compare the throttle counter to a first threshold. In addition, the at least one processor is programmed to activate an aggressive throttle flag when the throttle counter exceeds the first threshold. For each of the plurality of points in time, the at least one processor is programmed to compare the current lateral acceleration value to a lateral acceleration threshold. Moreover, the at least one processor is programmed to adjust a lateral acceleration counter based on the comparison. Furthermore, the at least one processor is programmed to compare the lateral acceleration counter to a second threshold. The at least one processor is also programmed to activate an aggressive lateral acceleration flag when the lateral acceleration counter exceeds the second threshold. The at least one processor is further programmed to activate a fluid consumption detection enable flag when the aggressive throttle flag and the aggressive lateral acceleration flag are both active.

