Extensions and performance improvements for non-contact ride height sensing

• US 10,252,594 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2016
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: D'Amato, Anthony Mario, Samuels, Harold Bernard, Pfeiffer, John Jeffrey
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Yuen H
• Application Number:
  US15/331,411
• Publication Number:
  US 20180111440A1
• Time in Patent Office: 900 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/018 characterised by the use of a specific signal treatment or control method
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/01908 Acceleration or inclination sensors characterised by the use of gyroscopes B60G21/08
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/102 vertical
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/252 vertical
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/91 Frequency
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2401/172 Hall effect
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2500/30 Height or ground clearance
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/182 Active control means
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/60 Signal noise suppression; Electronic filtering means

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a ride height sensing system that includes an encoded electromagnetic source as an input unit for a Hall Effect sensors and the signal from the electromagnet is encoded to enable the rejection of ambient magnetic field. In various embodiments, the ride height sensing system includes a self-calibration system including at least one Hall effect sensor mounted at a fixed distance and orientation with respect to the electromagnetic source to provide for continuous calibration of the system. In one embodiment, the enhanced ride height sensing system includes at least two inertial measurement units, such as accelerometers mounted to each of the body frame of the vehicle and the axle frame of the vehicle. This enables the system to optimize power usage by more accurately and efficiently measuring the ride height at high frequency rates with relatively lower power consumption.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

an active suspension system; and

a ride height sensing system that includes;

an electromagnetic source configured to output an encoded magnetic signal at a specified frequency;

at least two magnetometers configured to sense magnetic field data, wherein at least one magnetometer is located at a fixed distance from the electromagnetic source; and

a controller in communication with the active suspension system and configured to;

filter the sensed data to extract the encoded magnetic signal and determine a change in ride height of a vehicle body; and

adjust performance of the active suspension system based on the change in ride height of the vehicle body.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller utilizes the at least one magnetometer located at the fixed distance from the electromagnetic source to calibrate the ride height sensing system.

3. The vehicle of claim 2, wherein the at least one magnetometer is configured to continuously calibrate the ride height sensing system.

4. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the at least one magnetometer continuously calibrates the ride height sensing system to account for at least one of fluctuations in electrical current, component aging, and manufacturing variability.

5. The vehicle of claim 2, further including an axle to which the electromagnetic source and the at least one magnetometer located at the fixed distance from the electromagnetic source are fixed.

6. The vehicle of claim 5, wherein at least one other magnetometer is fixed to the vehicle body.

7. The vehicle of claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to filter the sensed data collected by the at least one magnetometer fixed to the axle to calibrate the ride height sensing system and filter the sensed data collected by the at least one other magnetometer fixed to the vehicle body to determine the change in ride height.

8. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the at least two magnetometers are Hall effect based sensors.

9. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the hall effect based sensor is capable of sensing multi-axis magnetic field.

10. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller utilizes the filtered data is to determine physical distance units for ride height measurements.

11. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine a frequency encryption of the electromagnetic source.

12. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to decompose a multi-axes reading for magnetic field data regarding each axis.

13. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured extract the encoded magnetic signal at the specified frequency.

14. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to extract the encoded magnetic signal to determine a change in strength of the encoded magnetic signal.

15. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to extract the encoded magnetic signal in real-time.

16. A vehicle comprising:

a suspension system; and

a sensing system that includes;

an electromagnetic source to output a magnetic signal;

magnetometers to sense magnetic field data, at least one of the magnetometers being located at a fixed distance from the electromagnetic source; and

a controller to;

filter the sensed data to extract the magnetic signal and determine a change in ride height of a vehicle body; and

adjust the suspension system based on the change.