In-situ wheel position measurement using inertial measurement units (IMUs)
First Claim
1. A method for the in-situ determination of vehicle wheel position using an inertial measurement unit (IMU), the method comprising:
- providing an IMU comprising at least two accelerometers mounted on a wheel of a vehicle;
using the accelerometers, measuring linear acceleration on the wheel;
exclusively comparing only linear acceleration measurements on the wheel; and
,in response to comparing the linear acceleration measurements on the wheel, determining a wheel toe angle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed herein are systems and methods for the in-situ determination of vehicle wheel position using an inertial measurement unit (IMU). In one aspect as the wheel is rotating, gyroscope measurements are used to find a slip angle defined between the direction of wheel travel and the direction of vehicle travel, to determine a toe alignment condition for the wheel. System and methods are also presented for using an accelerometer to measure slip angle and camber angle. Using an accelerometer or gyroscope, instantaneous wheel angle measurements can also be made to predict vehicle movement, and aid in autonomous steering and in-situ wheel alignment adjustments.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for the in-situ determination of vehicle wheel position using an inertial measurement unit (IMU), the method comprising:
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providing an IMU comprising at least two accelerometers mounted on a wheel of a vehicle; using the accelerometers, measuring linear acceleration on the wheel; exclusively comparing only linear acceleration measurements on the wheel; and
,in response to comparing the linear acceleration measurements on the wheel, determining a wheel toe angle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for the in-situ determination of vehicle wheel position using an inertial measurement unit (IMU), the method comprising:
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providing an IMU comprising an accelerometer mounted on a rotating part of a wheel of a vehicle, aligned along a radial axis of the wheel; using the accelerometer, measuring acceleration on the wheel as follows; accepting accelerometer measurements in a plurality of instances subsequent to a corresponding plurality of vehicle movements, when the wheel is stationary; determining a peak accelerometer measurement selected from the group consisting of a maximum accelerometer measurement, a minimum accelerometer measurement, and combinations thereof, and, determining a camber angle by comparing the peak accelerometer measurement to a constant selected from the group consisting of zero and gravity (1G).
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9. A system for the in-situ determination of vehicle wheel position using an inertial measurement unit (IMU), the system comprising:
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an IMU comprising accelerometers mounted on a wheel of a vehicle, having outputs to supply linear accelerometer measurements; a processor; a non-transitory memory; and
,an application enabled as a sequence of processor executable instructions stored in the memory, the application accepting linear accelerometer measurements on the wheel, and exclusively comparing only the linear acceleration on the wheel to determine a wheel toe angle. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification