SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VEHICLE LATERAL CONTROL
First Claim
1. A lane controller system installed on a vehicle, comprising:
- (i) a path generator for generating a desired path for controlling the vehicle within a lane of a road;
(ii) a steering controller for applying a steering correction in order to maintain the vehicle'"'"'s movement on the desired path as determined by the path generator;
(iii) a vehicle state estimator for estimating a state of the vehicle;
(iv) a lane marking detector for detecting lane markings indicating the lane'"'"'s boundaries, wherein said desired path is based on feedback from the lane marking detector and said state of the vehicle;
(v) a path predictor for predicting a path actively followed by the vehicle, based on the vehicle'"'"'s current speed, acceleration, yaw rate, and steering angle, wherein said steering correction is to modify the vehicle'"'"'s predicted path, if the predicted path is different from the desired path;
(vi) a virtual dynamics module for modeling an anticipated path of the vehicle based on the steering corrections applied by the steering controller;
(vii) a comparer for comparing an actual path taken by the vehicle when the steering correction is applied with the anticipated path modeled by the virtual dynamics module; and
(viii) a diagnostic system for diagnosing a cause of differences between the actual path taken and the anticipated path, if the differences are above a threshold.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A lane controller system installed on a vehicle may include components for self-diagnosing malfunctions on the vehicle. The system may include a desired path generator for generating a desired path that keeps the vehicle within a road lane; a steering controller for providing steering a steering correction to keep the vehicle within the road lane; a vehicle state estimator for estimating the state of the vehicle; a lane marking detector for detecting position of road lane markings; a path predictor for predicting a path actively followed by the vehicle; a virtual dynamics module for modeling the anticipated path of the vehicle following input of the steering controller; a comparer that compares the results of actual steering corrections applied with those predicted by the virtual dynamics module, and a diagnostic system that determines a root cause of malfunctions, based on the comparison by the comparer.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A lane controller system installed on a vehicle, comprising:
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(i) a path generator for generating a desired path for controlling the vehicle within a lane of a road; (ii) a steering controller for applying a steering correction in order to maintain the vehicle'"'"'s movement on the desired path as determined by the path generator; (iii) a vehicle state estimator for estimating a state of the vehicle; (iv) a lane marking detector for detecting lane markings indicating the lane'"'"'s boundaries, wherein said desired path is based on feedback from the lane marking detector and said state of the vehicle; (v) a path predictor for predicting a path actively followed by the vehicle, based on the vehicle'"'"'s current speed, acceleration, yaw rate, and steering angle, wherein said steering correction is to modify the vehicle'"'"'s predicted path, if the predicted path is different from the desired path; (vi) a virtual dynamics module for modeling an anticipated path of the vehicle based on the steering corrections applied by the steering controller; (vii) a comparer for comparing an actual path taken by the vehicle when the steering correction is applied with the anticipated path modeled by the virtual dynamics module; and (viii) a diagnostic system for diagnosing a cause of differences between the actual path taken and the anticipated path, if the differences are above a threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for self-diagnosing malfunctions on a vehicle comprising the steps of:
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(d) upon receiving a request from a driver for lane centering assistance, checking that lane centering functionality is actually available and, engaging a lane centering system; (e) calculating an appropriate lane centering adjustment; (f) applying an adjustment to the vehicle'"'"'s motion via a steering controller; (g) applying the adjustment of step (e) to a virtual vehicle dynamics module, thereby calculating an anticipated vehicle motion; (h) recording actual vehicle motion resulting from the steering adjustment of step (0; (i) comparing the actual vehicle motion and the anticipated vehicle motion, over an appropriate distance; (j) if, based on the comparison, a difference between the actual vehicle motion and the anticipated vehicle motion is less than a threshold amount, recalculating the appropriate lane centering adjustment; (k) if, based on the comparison, a difference between the actual vehicle motion and the anticipated vehicle motion is greater than a threshold amount, diagnosing a cause for the difference, wherein the cause comprises at least one of wheel imbalance, wheel mis-alignment, flat tires, torque imbalance, lane sensor mis-positioning, camera mis-positioning and camera mis-alignment. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer software product for installing on a processor of a vehicle, the computer software product including a medium readable by a processor, the medium having stored thereon:
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(ii) a second set of instructions for receiving a request, from a driver, for lane centering assistance, checking that lane centering functionality is actually available and engaging a lane centering system; (iii) a third set of instructions for calculating an appropriate steering adjustment; (iv) a fourth set of instructions for applying the adjustment to a steering mechanism of the vehicle; (v) a fifth set of instructions for providing a vehicle dynamics simulation; (vi) a sixth set of instructions for applying the adjustment to the vehicle dynamics simulation; (vii) a seventh set of instructions for recording actual vehicle motion caused by the steering adjustment; (viii) an eighth set of instructions for calculating an anticipated vehicle motion; (ix) a ninth set of instructions for comparing the actual recorded motion and the calculated anticipated vehicle motion, over an appropriate distance; (x) a tenth set of instructions, wherein if the difference detected based on the ninth set of instructions is less than a threshold amount, then recalculating the appropriate lane centering adjustment; and
if the difference detected based on the ninth set of instructions is greater than a threshold amount, then diagnosing a cause for the detected difference. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification