Smart Pedal

Some in here make a point though. In order to prove a device makes a difference we need data. An obd device that shows live tps response before/after works.

 

The challenge with an OBD device is in getting the data fast enough. The device sends messages to request the accel position parameter, and the ECU sends a current value back in a reply message. That can be good enough for a lot of things, but for a product like this, where you would be looking to see the changes in response to small and quick pedal movements, you just wouldn't get anything over OBD that'd be of any use. Like flying a plane using email.

Hooking the product up to a chart recorder or storage oscilloscope would be the way to go. With a two-channel recorder, you could capture both the input (direct from the pedal sensor) and output (from the Smart Pedal) and see exactly how the signal is changed.

It would be interesting to see how they try to thread the needle, applying a filter to go pedal response, while not disappointing drivers who, in other threads, are often looking for mods to get more immediate pedal response.

 

I'm always more about the facts and data behind a product as well as quality control and how one stands behind their product. Plus how they expand.

 

None of them are on my 'default automatic trust' list.

And considering the great power of the placebo effect, I want something more solid than someone liking it based on their seat-of-the-pants feel. Chap's proposed test could potentially be vastly more convincing, but other similar measures or experiments, well documented, may also suffice.

 

If you'd like his data, why not check it out:

https://smartpedal.com/

He has several case studies in there.

Hope that helps.

 

Ah, now we're getting somewhere.

The patents claimed for the product include these:

• US Patent for System, method, and apparatus for optimizing acceleration in a vehicle Patent (Patent # 9,387,861 issued July 12, 2016) - Justia Patents Search
• US Patent for Method and apparatus to adjust for undesired force influencing a vehicle input control Patent (Patent # 9,481,375 issued November 1, 2016) - Justia Patents Search
• US Patent for Power connection for a vehicular acceleration input control apparatus Patent (Patent # 10,023,138 issued July 17, 2018) - Justia Patents Search

The first is somewhat generic. It does present a strategy idea of filtering your pedal inputs until it detects you getting annoyed (stomping the pedal harder, etc.), then backing off the filtering a bit.

The second has the most meat about what this gizmo is doing. Interesting to know (and I don't think mentioned in this thread before) there's an accelerometer in it. So it doesn't just have your go pedal signal as its input, and apply some filtering to that; it can independently sense accelerations of the car, and correlate those with what your pedal input is doing.

The third is narrowly about a way obtains its operating power from both of the ECU's independent connections to the pedal sensor, so it can pretend to still be a dual-redundant system the way the pedal sensor itself is.

Which, while thinking about it, makes a good place for a link to Smart Pedal's articles on safety.

(I notice one of its safety features is a "pedal-to-metal override": if you give an input 90% or above, it skips filtering and passes your input directly. They should probably fix the graph illustration on the home page, which shows three humps where the input is ≥ 90% but still filtered.)

I thought their article on the unit's different driving modes was interesting.

Considering how the gizmo learns some calibration data from your driving and the car's response, now I wonder how long it takes to recalibrate if you switch the car's built-in driving mode from the one you were in while the gizmo self-calibrated.

 

On a car with electronic throttle control, I'd want to see output of the throttle position sensor (throttle opening, not pedal position) too in order to see what effect this device has.

 

I'd like to see some user reports by people who usually use cruise control anyway. Wouldn't the smart pedal be effective (if it is at all) only in, say, stop-start driving around town or in other congested traffic?

 

Well, it acts on the go pedal signal, so it only has any effect when you are driving with the go pedal. So, not in those circumstances where you use cruise, but in all other circumstances when you don't.

It would likely be impossible to tease out this device's effects looking at the signal being sent to the throttle motor (or the position feedback coming back), because that is actively managed by the ECU based on too many other things. It's nothing like an older car where the go pedal and throttle position correspond.

The power management control ECU will take your input, calculate how much power you want, then decide how much of that to supply electrically and how much to ask the ECM for. Using the CVT, it will arrange to get that much power, as often as it can, at an optimal engine RPM for producing that amount of power. The ECM will then calculate how to make that much power at that RPM with the throttle as wide open as it can manage, to keep pumping losses low.

Instead of looking at the throttle position, you might want to look at those intermediate calculated numbers, the power being requested from the engine, MG1, and MG2, do some math to combine them, and see what total net power is being requested, and plot that against the go pedal input. But you'd have to get those numbers with CAN queries, and might not be able to query them fast enough to see the kind of effects at issue here.

 

The Prius of Theseus..

 

Is there any academic researching currently being conducted using Smart Pedal? What certifications do they have? EL? ETL? FCC? I want it to be real.

Was Smart Pedal acquired? This isn't exactly a promising sign from their website:
"The contents and organization of this website are copyright 2016-2019. All rights reserved."

 

It seems to be among the more-real of the add-on gas-saving gizmos that get plugged here ... see #27. It's been evaluated at a couple of large-fleet organizations that can be found from its web site. I don't know about its current status.

 

$300?
When does it pay off?

If you are not a spaz on the Go pedal why bother?
You are the captain of your ship.
Accel slow or quick. You are in control of your car's motion, regardless of this 'signal smoother'.

 

The theory behind the device is that you don't have full control of the inertial motions your foot makes in connection with bumps and jounces of the car. If you look earlier in the thread, you'll see I was dismissive at first. But a review of the patents indicates the device contains an accelerometer, so it can filter out those pedal movements that correlate with bumps and jounces, so it isn't just a 'signal smoother'.

Again, I don't have one, nor do I have my own figures for payoff, but some large-fleet organizations have evaluated it, apparently favorably.

Payoff may depend on how many miles you put on.

 

I still am, somewhat. And the posted case studies are composed in a manner that does nothing to calm my skepticism.

Conceptually, I can easily imagine this type of thing possibly working well for some groups of drivers, but not nearly enough to pay for itself with some other groups. For an initial sorting for which group some driver might fit into, compare their MPG with and without cruise control. I'd initially guess that drivers who benefit most from cruise control, would have a strong overlap with those who might benefit most from this device. While on the other end, drivers who regularly match or exceed the cruise control's MPG, will tend to find much less fuel savings from this device, very likely insufficient to cover its cost or even come close.

The Beta Test recruiting post specifically called for drivers who don't use cruise control, no surprise as this device is out of the control loop and providing no benefit when cruise control is active.

But another post also pricked to my skepticism detector:

If your engine runs quieter with this device than without, ECO mode included, then your foot on the pedal is very clearly behaving materially different than mine. When I engage cruise control in my car, which removes my foot vibrations and pedal fluctuations even better than this device could, I find no change in engine noise whatsoever. Nor a lower RPM. I have to take this as a clue that I'm not among the drivers who will well benefit from this device.

Good news: it appears that such a study is underway, sponsored by CalTrans and conducted by people at UC-Davis and UC-Riverside:

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Transportation Research Board:
Evaluating the Effectiveness of “Smart Pedal” Systems for Vehicle Fleets

CalTrans:
Evaluating the Effectiveness of “Smart Pedal” Systems for Vehicle Fleets

National Center for Sustainable Transportation, UC Davis:
Evaluating the Effectiveness of “Smart Pedal” Systems for Vehicle Fleets

I can wait to see their report next year.

 

That depends very much on driver style. Plenty of drivers do save fuel with cruise control.

I can wait for a disinterested, unbiased report.