VEHICLE SUSPENSION SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME

• US 20130103259A1
• Filed: 10/20/2011
• Published: 04/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Eng, Donald, Izak, Robert G.
• Granted Patent: US 9,533,539 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/37
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/0165 to an external condition, e.g. rough road surface, side wind
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/019 characterised by the type of sensor or the arrangement thereof B60G17/01941 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2401/142 Visual Display Camera, e.g. LCD

Abstract

A system and method that may inspect an upcoming road segment and use that information to control certain aspects of a vehicle suspension system. In an exemplary embodiment, several cameras are used to evaluate an upcoming road segment and to provide road information to a control module so that damping and/or other aspects of an active or semi-active suspension system can be controlled in a feed-forward manner. Because the vehicle suspension system assesses a segment of the road that is ahead of the vehicle, as opposed to one currently being encountered by the vehicle, the system may improve ride performance by anticipating and preparing for road conditions before they are actually encountered.

Claims

1. A method for use with a vehicle suspension system, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving road information from a vision system, the road information pertains to an upcoming road segment;

(b) using the road information to determine if the vehicle is expected to encounter an item in the upcoming road segment;

(c) if the vehicle is expected to encounter an item in the upcoming road segment, then using the road information to determine a preemptive adjustment for the vehicle suspension system; and

(d) making the preemptive adjustment to the vehicle suspension system before the vehicle encounters the item in the upcoming road segment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises receiving camera output from a plurality of cameras, blending the output from the cameras together into a blended digital image, and extracting road information from the blended digital image in the form of a collection of coordinates for different points on the upcoming road segment.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises receiving road information that pertains to an object located in the upcoming road segment, and the road information includes at least one of the following pieces of information:

a position of the object, a size of the object, a distance to the object, or a projected wheel path as it relates to the object.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises receiving road information that pertains to a road surface change in the upcoming road segment, and the road information includes at least one of the following pieces of information:

a description of the road surface change, a position of the road surface change, a distance to the road surface change, or a projected wheel path as it relates to the road surface change.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein step (a) further comprises receiving road information that pertains to a road surface change and includes a qualitative description of the road surface change that uses different categories of road surfaces.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises receiving road information that pertains to a road feature change in the upcoming road segment, and the road information includes at least one of the following pieces of information:

a description of the road feature change, a position of the road feature change, a distance to the road feature change, or a projected wheel path as it relates to the road feature change.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein step (a) further comprises receiving road information that pertains to a road feature change and includes a qualitative description of the road feature change that uses different categories of road features.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises receiving road information from a vision system and a navigation system;

and step (c) further comprises using the road information from the vision system and the navigation system to determine the preemptive adjustment for the vehicle suspension system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) further comprises using one or more pieces of information from the road information to assign a predetermined value to the preemptive adjustment for the vehicle suspension system.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein step (c) further comprises using at least one of the following pieces of information as input to a look-up table in order to assign a predetermined value to the preemptive adjustment for the vehicle suspension system:

a position of an item, a size of an item, a distance to an item, or a projected wheel path.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein step (c) further comprises using a size of an object located in the upcoming road segment and a vehicle speed as input to a look-up table in order to assign a predetermined value to the preemptive adjustment for the vehicle suspension system.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) further comprises using one or more pieces of information from the road information to calculate an expected effect that the item will have on the vehicle suspension system, and then determining a preemptive adjustment for the vehicle suspension system to counteract the expected effect.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein step (c) further comprises using at least one of the following pieces of information as input to an algorithm in order to determine the preemptive adjustment for the vehicle suspension system:

a position of an item, a size of an item, a distance to an item, or a projected wheel path.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein step (c) further comprises using a size of an object located in the upcoming road segment and a vehicle speed as input to an algorithm in order to calculate the expected effect, and determining a preemptive adjustment for the vehicle suspension system that will counteract the expected effect.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) further comprises combining a plurality of preemptive adjustments in order to generate a command signal for the vehicle suspension system.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein a first preemptive adjustment is given a higher weighting than a second preemptive adjustment when they are combined in order to generate the command signal for the vehicle suspension system.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle suspension system includes a magneto-rheological (MR) damper and step (d) further comprises making the preemptive adjustments for the vehicle suspension system by adjusting a current, a voltage or both that is provided to the magneto-rheological (MR) damper.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle suspension system includes a plurality of individual suspension devices and step (d) further comprises making preemptive adjustments for the vehicle suspension system by sending a first command signal to a first suspension device and sending a second command signal to a second suspension device, wherein the first and second command signals control the first and second suspension devices separately.

19. A vehicle suspension system, comprising:

a vision system configured to provide road information pertaining to an upcoming road segment;

a suspension device; and

a control module coupled to the vision system and the suspension device, wherein the control module is configured to use the road information from the vision system to make an adjustment to the suspension device in a feed-forward manner.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the vision system is a stereo vision system and includes a plurality of cameras that capture digital images of the upcoming road segment.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the suspension device includes a magneto-rheological (MR) damper filled with a fluid whose properties are controlled by a magnetic field and affect the performance of the damper.