SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ROAD ANGLE ESTIMATION

• US 20100100272A1
• Filed: 02/20/2009
• Published: 04/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Chiao Tung University (Government of The Republic of China)
• Original Assignee: National Chiao Tung University (Government of The Republic of China)
• Inventors: Hsu, Ling-Yuan, Chen, Tsung-Lin
• Granted Patent: US 8,170,726 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2210/22 Banked curves
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2210/36 Global Positioning System [GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/172 Determining control parameters used in the regulation, e.g. by calculations involving measured or detected parameters B60T8/17551 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/0604 Throttle position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/125 Lateral acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/14 Yaw
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/12 Brake pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/18 Steering angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/072 Curvature of the road
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/076 Slope angle of the road
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 9/00 Measuring inclination, e.g. by clinometers, by levels

Abstract

A system and method for estimating road angles of a road on which a moving body is traveling are disclosed. The road angle estimation system includes: a sensing module adapted to be mounted on the moving body to detect a plurality of pieces of measurement information associated with the moving body; and a calculating module coupled to the sensing module to receive the pieces of measurement information therefrom. The calculating module simultaneously calculates an estimated bank angle and an estimated grade angle on the basis of the pieces of measurement information, a plurality of support parameters, and a plurality of user control parameters.

Claims

1. A road angle estimation system for estimating road angles of a road on which a moving body is traveling, said road angle estimation system comprising:

a sensing module adapted to be mounted on the moving body to detect a plurality of pieces of measurement information associated with the moving body; and

a calculating module coupled to said sensing module to receive the pieces of measurement information therefrom, said calculating module simultaneously calculating an estimated bank angle and an estimated grade angle on the basis of the pieces of measurement information, a plurality of support parameters, and a plurality of user control parameters.

2. The road angle estimation system of claim 1, wherein:

the pieces of measurement information include a suspension displacement quantity, a lateral acceleration, a longitudinal speed, and a yaw angle of the moving body; and

the user control parameters include a steering angle, a throttle opening value, and a braking force value.

3. The road angle estimation system of claim 2, wherein the support parameters include one of a set of gravity components and a set of road angles, the set of gravity components including a first gravity component, a second gravity component, and a third gravity component, and the set of road angles including a road bank angle and a road grade angle.

4. The road angle estimation system of claim 3, wherein said sensing module includes an accelerometer, a suspension displacement sensor, and a receiving antenna of a differential global positioning system.

5. The road angle estimation system of claim 4, wherein said calculating module includes an extended Kalman filter, and performs calculations in cooperation with a fading memory technique and a dynamic formula for describing the moving body.

6. The road angle estimation system of claim 5, wherein the support parameters are constants.

7. The road angle estimation system of claim 1, wherein said sensing module detects the pieces of measurement information, and said calculating module simultaneously calculates the estimated bank angle and the estimated grade angle with reference to the auxiliary parameters.

8. The road angle estimation system of claim 7, wherein the auxiliary parameters include four reference frames and two sets of Euler angles, the motion frames including a global reference frame, a road reference frame, a moving body reference frame, and an auxiliary reference frame, one of the sets of Euler angles being used for describing an angular relation of the rotational orientation of the moving body relative to the road reference frame, and the other one of the sets of Euler angles being used for describing an angular relation of topological variations of the road relative to the global reference frame.

9. A road angle estimation method for estimating road angles of a road on which a moving body is traveling, said road angle estimation method comprising:

a) detecting a plurality of pieces of measurement information associated with the moving body through a sensing module mounted on the moving body; and

b) through a calculating module mounted on the moving body and coupled to the sensing module, simultaneously calculating an estimated bank angle and an estimated grade angle on the basis of the pieces of measurement information, a plurality of support parameters, and a plurality of user control parameters.

10. The road angle estimation method of claim 9, wherein:

in step a), the pieces of measurement information include a suspension displacement quantity, a lateral acceleration, a longitudinal speed, and a yaw angle of the moving body; and

in step b), the user control parameters include a steering angle, a throttle opening value, and a braking force value.

11. The road angle estimation method of claim 10, wherein, in step (b), the support parameters include one of a set of gravity components and a set of road angles, the set of gravity components including a first gravity component, a second gravity component, and a third gravity component, and the set of road angles including a road bank angle and a road grade angle.

12. The road angle estimation method of claim 11, wherein the sensing module includes an accelerometer, a suspension displacement sensor, and a receiving antenna of a differential global positioning system.

13. The road angle estimation method of claim 12, wherein the calculating module includes an extended Kalman filter, and performs calculations in cooperation with a fading memory technique and a dynamic formula for describing the moving body.

14. The road angle estimation method of claim 13, wherein, in step b), the support parameters are constants.

15. The road angle estimation method of claim 9, wherein:

in step a), the pieces of measurement information are detected with reference to a plurality of auxiliary parameters; and

in step b), the estimated bank angle and the estimated grade angle are simultaneously calculated with reference to the auxiliary parameters.

16. The road angle estimation method of claim 15, wherein the auxiliary parameters include four reference frames and two sets of Euler angles, the reference frames including a global reference frame, a road reference frame, a moving body reference frame, and an auxiliary reference frame, one of the sets of Euler angles being used for describing an angular relation of the rotational orientation of the moving body relative to the road reference frame, and the other one of the sets of Euler angles being used for describing an angular relation of topological variations of the road relative to the global reference frame.