Method for estimating the reliability of measurements by wheel sensors of a vehicle and system for its application

• US 10,132,719 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2015
• Issued: 11/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Continental Automotive France (Continental AG), Continental Automotive GmbH (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Continental Automotive France (Continental AG), Continental Automotive GmbH (Continental AG)
• Inventors: Fudulea, Olivier
• Primary Examiner(s): Wiltey, Nicholas K
• Application Number:
  US14/968,663
• Publication Number:
  US 20160178481A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,072 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0477 Evaluating waveform of pressure readings
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0481 System diagnostic, e.g. monitoring battery voltage, detecting hardware detachments or identifying wireless transmission failures
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/067 by monitoring chassis to ground distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/171 Detecting parameters used in the regulation; Measuring values used in the regulation
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/013 Wheels
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

A method and system for evaluating the reliability of data supplied by multi-function WFC sensors of tires of wheels of a vehicle for targeted applications, on the basis of the irregularities of the road, which use displacement data sent from the road handling adaptation equipment of the vehicle, enabling the variations in the road condition to be reflected. The system includes equipment for monitoring the wheel displacement data for adapting it to the variations of profile of the road on which it is traveling, in order to maintain a stable body position. The monitoring equipment is linked to the WFC sensors via a central processing unit which is capable of correlating data supplied by the WFC sensors and values of wheel displacement data supplied by the monitoring equipment for the purpose of weighting the values of at least one parameter obtained from the data delivered by the WFC sensors.

Claims

1. A method for estimating the reliability of measurements made periodically by multi-function Wheel Fitted Component (WFC) sensors of tires of wheels of a vehicle traveling on a road, the method comprising, in succession:

a step of extracting, from a system for monitoring the vehicle in a given environment for the purpose of adapting a behavior of the vehicle to the given environment, periodic wheel displacement data on vehicle body displacement heights at the position of each wheel, indicating a state of the variations of a profile of the road on which the vehicle is traveling;

a step of correlating the periodic wheel displacement data with the values of at least one parameter sensitive to the variations in the profile of the road for an application of the WFC sensors, the values being deduced from the measurements made by the WFC sensors on each wheel at the same instant;

a step of using decision criteria to deduce a decision on the reliability of a given set of values of the at least one parameter deduced from the measurements of the WFC sensors based on the correlation between the displacement data and the values of the at least one parameter; and

a step of performing one of (1) determining wheel location, (2) detecting one or more of overload and wear of the tires, (3) performing automatic training of the WFC sensors, and (4) monitoring positions of the WFC sensors using the given set of values of the at least one parameter and the decision on the reliability of the given set of values,

wherein the number of periodic wheel displacement data is increased until a rate of global correlation between the periodic wheel displacement data and the values of said at least one parameter is at least equal to a given correlation threshold defining a reliability decision criterion.

2. A system for estimating the reliability of measurements made periodically by multi-function Wheel Fitted Component (WFC) sensors of tires of wheels of a vehicle capable of traveling on a road and transmitted in the form of digital signals to a central processing unit for the application of the method according to claim 1, the system comprising:

monitoring equipment configured to monitor the periodic wheel displacement data for adapting the system to the variations in the profile of the road on which the vehicle is traveling in order to maintain a stable body position by feedback control, the monitoring equipment being linked to the WFC sensors via the central processing unit which is configured to correlate the data supplied by the WFC sensors and the values of the periodic wheel displacement data supplied by the monitoring system to weight the values of the at least one parameter obtained from the measurements delivered by the WFC sensors to indicate the reliability of the measurements,

wherein the monitoring equipment is selected from among a suspension control system of the vehicle, which indirectly supplies monitoring data on the state of the road, and a system of stereoscopic cameras, at least one radar system, and a laser sensor which directly supply data on the surface state of the road, and

wherein the suspension control system is a hydroelectronic unit with an integrated computer configured to control a hydropneumatic suspension, the hydroelectronic unit receiving data from a steering wheel angle sensor and from sensors of the displacement of the vehicle body to regulate the suspension flow rate and pressure and the body height.

3. The system for estimating the reliability of measurements as claimed in claim 2, wherein the application of the WFC sensors is an angular location of the wheels, and the monitoring data on the state of the road supplied by the hydroelectronic unit of a hydropneumatic suspension monitoring system are correlated with acceleration data of the WFC sensors.

4. The method for estimating the reliability of measurements as claimed in claim 1, wherein the application is the location of the WFC sensors based on a position of the wheels, and the parameter is a length of a footprint of the tires on the road, determined based on an acceleration signal.

5. The method for estimating the reliability of measurements as claimed in claim 1, wherein the correlation relates to the inverse variations between the periodic wheel displacement data and the corresponding values of tire footprint length of the corresponding tire.

6. The method for estimating the reliability of measurements as claimed in claim 1, wherein a rolling average of the periodic wheel displacement data is determined, and

wherein the wheel displacement data relate to the variations in the rolling average of the periodic wheel displacement data.

7. A method for estimating the reliability of measurements made periodically by multi-function Wheel Fitted Component (WFC) sensors of tires of wheels of a vehicle traveling on a road, the method comprising, in succession:

a step of extracting, from a system for monitoring the vehicle in a given environment for the purpose of adapting a behavior of the vehicle to the given environment, periodic wheel displacement data on vehicle body displacement heights at the position of each wheel, indicating a state of the variations of the profile of the road on which the vehicle is traveling;

a step of correlating the periodic wheel displacement data with the values of at least one parameter sensitive to the variations in a profile of the road for an application of the WFC sensors, the values being deduced from the measurements made by the WFC sensors on each wheel at the same instant;

a step of using decision criteria to deduce a decision on the reliability of a given set of values of the parameter deduced from the measurements of the WFC sensors based on the correlation between the displacement data and the values of the parameter; and

a step of performing one of (1) determining wheel location, (2) detecting one or more of overload and wear of the tires, (3) performing automatic training of the WFC sensors, and (4) monitoring positions of the WFC sensors using the given set of values of the parameter and the decision on the reliability of the given set of values,

wherein the application is the location of the WFC sensors based on the position of the wheels, and the parameter is a length of a footprint of the tires on the road, determined based on an acceleration signal.

8. The method for estimating the reliability of measurements as claimed in claim 7, wherein, a radial acceleration being detected by the WFC sensor, the variations in footprint or the presence of noise are directly detected by the WFC sensor.

9. A method for estimating the reliability of measurements made periodically by multi-function Wheel Fitted Component (WFC) sensors of tires of wheels of a vehicle traveling on a road, the method comprising, in succession:

a step of extracting, from a system for monitoring the vehicle in a given environment for the purpose of adapting a behavior of the vehicle to the given environment, periodic wheel displacement data on vehicle body displacement heights at the position of each wheel, indicating a state of the variations of the profile of the road on which the vehicle is traveling;

a step of correlating the periodic wheel displacement data with the values of at least one parameter sensitive to the variations in a profile of the road for an application of the WFC sensors, the values being deduced from the measurements made by the WFC sensors on each wheel at the same instant;

a step of using decision criteria to deduce a decision on the reliability of a given set of values of the parameter deduced from the measurements of the WFC sensors based on the correlation between the displacement data and the values of the parameter; and

a step of performing one of (1) determining wheel location, (2) detecting one or more of overload and wear of the tires, (3) performing automatic training of the WFC sensors, and (4) monitoring positions of the WFC sensors using the given set of values of the parameter and the decision on the reliability of the given set of values,

wherein the correlation relates to the inverse variations between the periodic wheel displacement data and corresponding values of tire footprint length of the corresponding tire.

10. A method for estimating the reliability of measurements made periodically by multi-function Wheel Fitted Component (WFC) sensors of tires of wheels of a vehicle traveling on a road, the method comprising, in succession:

a step of extracting, from a system for monitoring the vehicle in a given environment for the purpose of adapting a behavior of the vehicle to the given environment, periodic wheel displacement data on vehicle body displacement heights at the position of each wheel, indicating a state of the variations of the profile of the road on which the vehicle is traveling;

a step of correlating the periodic wheel displacement data with the values of at least one parameter sensitive to the variations in a profile of the road for an application of the WFC sensors, the values being deduced from the measurements made by the WFC sensors on each wheel at the same instant;

a step of using decision criteria to deduce a decision on the reliability of a given set of values of the parameter deduced from the measurements of the WFC sensors based on the correlation between the displacement data and the values of the parameter; and

a step of performing one of (1) determining wheel location, (2) detecting one or more of overload and wear of the tires, (3) performing automatic training of the WFC sensors, and (4) monitoring positions of the WFC sensors using the given set of values of the parameter and the decision on the reliability of the given set of values,

wherein the periodic wheel displacement data and/or values of footprint length are selected based on thresholds of detection of variation of the periodic wheel displacement data and/or the values of footprint length.

11. A method for estimating the reliability of measurements made periodically by multi-function Wheel Fitted Component (WFC) sensors of tires of wheels of a vehicle traveling on a road, the method comprising, in succession:

a step of extracting, from a system for monitoring the vehicle in a given environment for the purpose of adapting a behavior of the vehicle to the given environment, periodic wheel displacement data on vehicle body displacement heights at the position of each wheel, indicating a state of the variations of the profile of the road on which the vehicle is traveling;

a step of correlating the periodic wheel displacement data with the values of at least one parameter sensitive to the variations in a profile of the road for an application of the WFC sensors, the values being deduced from the measurements made by the WFC sensors on each wheel at the same instant;

a step of using decision criteria to deduce a decision on the reliability of a given set of values of the parameter deduced from the measurements of the WFC sensors based on the correlation between the displacement data and the values of the parameter; and

a step of performing one of (1) determining wheel location, (2) detecting one or more of overload and wear of the tires, (3) performing automatic training of the WFC sensors, and (4) monitoring positions of the WFC sensors using the given set of values of the parameter and the decision on the reliability of the given set of values,

wherein the correlation relates to a simultaneous detection of noise in the periodic wheel displacement data and in values of footprint length of the corresponding tire.

12. A method for estimating the reliability of measurements made periodically by multi-function Wheel Fitted Component (WFC) sensors of tires of wheels of a vehicle traveling on a road, the method comprising, in succession:

a step of extracting, from a system for monitoring the vehicle in a given environment for the purpose of adapting a behavior of the vehicle to the given environment, periodic wheel displacement data on vehicle body displacement heights at the position of each wheel, indicating a state of the variations of the profile of the road on which the vehicle is traveling;

a step of correlating the periodic wheel displacement data with the values of at least one parameter sensitive to the variations in a profile of the road for an application of the WFC sensors, the values being deduced from the measurements made by the WFC sensors on each wheel at the same instant;

a step of using decision criteria to deduce a decision on the reliability of a given set of values of the parameter deduced from the measurements of the WFC sensors based on the correlation between the displacement data and the values of the parameter; and

a step of performing one of (1) determining wheel location, (2) detecting one or more of overload and wear of the tires, (3) performing automatic training of the WFC sensors, and (4) monitoring positions of the WFC sensors using the given set of values of the parameter and the decision on the reliability of the given set of values,

wherein a rolling average of the periodic wheel displacement data is determined, and

the periodic wheel displacement data relate to variations in the rolling average of the periodic wheel displacement data.

13. The method for estimating the reliability of measurements as claimed in claim 12, wherein the application relates to the location of the WFC sensors by association of the rotation data, deduced from the measurements of an angular detector of the WFC sensors, the wheel revolution data being counted by impulse sensors of an anti-lock braking system (ABS), the average of the periodic wheel displacement data being used to weight a validity of angular offsets to be determined for the assignment of a WFC sensor to each of the wheels based on the detection of predetermined successive angular positions of the sensor of each wheel.

14. The method for estimating the reliability of measurements as claimed in claim 13, wherein each angular position is modulated by an application of weighting coefficients varying as a function of the variations of the displacement data for each wheel relative to a reference displacement data element in a determination of a dispersion variance of the set of angular positions, to deduce a reliability decision therefrom, taking into account the consistency between the value of each angular position and the state of the road.

15. The method for estimating the reliability of measurements as claimed in claim 12, wherein the parameter is the measurement of a length of a footprint of a tire for an application for estimating a load on the tire by introducing weighting coefficients applied to the measurements of footprint length and varying as a function of the displacement data for each wheel, in relation to the state of degradation of the road, to deduce a reliability decision therefrom by elimination of the measurements corresponding to degraded conditions of the state of the road.

16. The method for estimating the reliability of measurements as claimed in claim 12, wherein the parameter is the measurement of an overshoot of a footprint length of a tire, for an estimation of the wear on the tire, by introducing weighting coefficients applied to the measurements of footprint length and varying as a function of the displacement data for each wheel, in relation to a state of degradation of the road, to deduce a reliability decision therefrom by elimination of the measurements corresponding to degraded conditions of the state of the road.

17. The method for estimating the reliability of measurements as claimed in claim 12, wherein the application of the WFC sensors relates to the position of sensors and the parameter is a function for monitoring the detachment/breakaway of the sensor.