WHEEL LOCALIZER, WHEEL LOCALIZATION DEVICE, SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR LOCATING A POSITION OF A WHEEL

• US 20140058580A1
• Filed: 08/19/2013
• Published: 02/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
• Original Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
• Inventors: Kandler, Michael, Peine, Andre
• Granted Patent: US 9,251,120 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0416 allocating a corresponding wheel position on vehicle, e.g. front/left or rear/right
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0488 Movement sensor, e.g. for sensing angular speed, acceleration or centripetal force
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00

Abstract

Embodiments can provide a system, a wheel localizer, a wheel localization device, a method or a computer program for locating a position of wheel. The system for locating the position of the wheel on the vehicle includes a detector for obtaining information related to a steering angle of the vehicle and a locator for determining the position of the wheel based on the information related to the steering angle of the vehicle. Embodiments further provide a device, a method and a computer program configured to determine information related to one or more expected rotational frequencies of one or more wheels of a vehicle. The device includes a path detector configured to determine expected path lengths of the one or more wheels of the vehicle based on information related to a path of the vehicle. The device further includes a controller configured to determine the information related to the one or more expected rotational frequencies of the one or more wheels of the vehicle based on the expected path lengths of the one or more wheels.

Claims

1. A system for locating a position of a wheel on a vehicle, comprising:

a detector configured to obtain information related to a state of movement of the vehicle; and

a locator configured to determine the position of the wheel based on the information related to the state of movement of the vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the information related to the state of movement comprises information on a rotation of the vehicle.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the detector comprises at least one of an inertial sensor, a micro-mechanical sensor, an acceleration sensor, or a gyroscope, wherein each are configured to generate a signal based on which the state of movement is detectable.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the locator is operable to further use information on a rotational frequency of the wheel to determine the position of the wheel based on the information related to the state of movement of the vehicle.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the locator is operable to use information on rotational frequencies for each of a plurality of wheels on the vehicle and determine a position for each of the plurality of wheels on the vehicle based on the information on the plurality of rotational frequencies and the information related to the state of movement of the vehicle.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the locator is operable to assign predefined positions on the vehicle to each of the plurality of wheels based on the information on the plurality of rotational frequencies and expected rotational frequencies, wherein the expected rotational frequencies are based on the information related to the state of movement.

7. The system of claim 4, further comprising an acceleration sensor, an energy harvester, or a tire pressure monitoring system sensor configured to obtain the information on the rotational frequency of the wheel.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein the system is operable to verify a signal indicating the rotational frequency of the wheel and a signal indicating the state of movement of the vehicle before using the signals as information to determine the position of the wheel.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the system is operable to verify that the rotational frequency of the wheel and a rotational rate of the vehicle, which is based on the state of movement of the vehicle, fulfill a predefined relation for a predefined time interval.

10. The system of claim 4, wherein the locator is operable to determine the position of the wheel when changes of the state of movement of the vehicle are below a predefined threshold for a predefined time interval.

11. The system of claim 4, wherein the locator is operable to determine a corrected rotational frequency of the wheel based on information on a tire pressure of a tire of the wheel and based on the rotational frequency of the wheel, and wherein the locator is operable to determine the position of the wheel based on the corrected rotational frequency.

12. A wheel localizer for locating a position of a wheel on a vehicle, comprising:

a detector configured to output a movement signal comprising information on a state of movement of the vehicle; and

a locator configured to receive the movement signal, and generate a location signal comprising information on the position of the wheel based on the information on the state of movement of the vehicle.

13. The wheel localizer of claim 12, wherein the detector comprises at least one of a sensor, an inertial sensor, a micro-mechanical sensor, an acceleration sensor, or a gyroscope, wherein each are configured to sense the state of movement of the vehicle.

14. The wheel localizer of claim 12, wherein the locator further comprises an input configured to receive a signal comprising information on a rotational frequency of the wheel.

15. The wheel localizer of claim 14, wherein at least one of a sensor, an acceleration sensor, an energy harvester, or a tire pressure monitoring system sensor is coupled to the locator.

16. The wheel localizer of claim 14, further configured verify a signal comprising information on the rotational frequency of the wheel and the movement signal comprising the information on the state of movement of the vehicle, before using these signals as information to determine the position of the wheel.

17. The wheel localizer of claim 16, further configured to verify that the signal comprising the information on the rotational frequency of the wheel and the movement signal comprising the information on the state of movement of the vehicle fulfill a predefined relation for a predefined time interval.

18. The wheel localizer of claim 12, wherein the locator comprises one or more inputs configured to receive signals comprising information on a plurality of rotational frequencies for each of a plurality of wheels, and wherein the locator is configured to determine a plurality of locations for the plurality of wheels on the vehicle, based on the information on the plurality of rotational frequencies and on the information of the state of movement.

19. The wheel localizer of claim 18, wherein the locator is configured to assign predefined positions on the vehicle to each of the plurality of wheels based on the information on the plurality of rotational frequencies and expected rotational frequencies, wherein the expected rotational frequencies are based on the information of the state of movement.

20. The wheel localizer of claim 12, wherein the locator further comprises an input configured to receive a signal comprising information on a tire pressure of a tire of the wheel, and wherein the locator is operable to determine a corrected rotational frequency of the wheel based on the information on the tire pressure of the tire of the wheel, and wherein the locator is operable to output the information on the location of the wheel based on the corrected rotational frequency.

21. A wheel localization device, comprising:

an input configured to receive a signal comprising information on a state of movement of a vehicle, signals comprising information indicating rotational frequencies of each of a plurality of wheels of the vehicle, and signals comprising information indicating a tire parameter for each of the plurality of wheels; and

a unit configured to assign to each of the plurality of wheels one location of a set of predefined locations based on the information on the state of movement and the information on the rotational frequencies.

22. A method for locating a position of a wheel on a vehicle, comprising:

obtaining information related to a state of movement of the vehicle; and

determining the position of the wheel based on the information related to the state of movement of the vehicle.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising using information on a rotational frequency of the wheel for the determining of the position of the wheel based on the information related to the state of movement.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the using comprises using information on rotational frequencies of a plurality of wheels on the vehicle, and wherein the determining comprises determining positions for each of the plurality of wheels on the vehicle based on the information on the plurality of rotational frequencies and the information related to the state of movement.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the determining comprises assigning predefined positions on the vehicle to each of the plurality of wheels based on the information on the plurality of rotational frequencies and expected rotational frequencies, wherein the expected rotational frequencies are based on the information related to the state of movement.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising verifying a signal indicating the rotational frequency of the wheel and a signal indicating the state of movement of the vehicle, before using the signals as information to determine the position of the wheel.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the verifying comprises verifying that the rotational frequency of the wheel and a rotational rate of the vehicle, which is based on the state of movement of the vehicle, fulfill a predefined relation for a predefined time interval.

28. The method of claim 23, further comprising correcting the rotational frequency of the wheel based on information on a tire pressure of a tire of the wheel to determine a corrected rotational frequency, and wherein the determining of the position of the wheel is based on a corrected rotational frequency.

29. A computer program having a program code on a non-transitory media for performing, when the computer program is executed on a computer or on a processor, a method for locating a position of a wheel on a vehicle, comprising:

obtaining information related to a state of movement of the vehicle; and

determining the position of the wheel based on the information related to the state of movement of the vehicle.