ENCODED ELECTROMAGNETIC BASED RIDE HEIGHT SENSING

• US 20170282665A1
• Filed: 04/04/2016
• Published: 10/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: D'Amato, Anthony Mario, Samuels, Harold Bernard, Pfeiffer, John Jeffrey
• Granted Patent: US 9,925,840 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/016 characterised by their responsiveness, when the vehicle is travelling, to specific motion, a specific condition, or driver input B60G17/017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2204/62 Adjustable continuously, e.g. during driving
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/25 Stroke; Height; Displacement
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2401/172 Hall effect
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2500/30 Height or ground clearance
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/182 Active control means
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/187 Digital Controller Details and Signal Treatment
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/142 using Hall-effect devices measuring magnetic variables using Hall-effect or other galvanomagnetic devices G01R33/06

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a ride height sensing system that includes an encoded electromagnetic source as an input unit for a Hall Effect sensors and the signal from the electromagnet is encoded to enable the rejection of ambient magnetic field. In various embodiments of the present disclosure, a band pass filter is used for signal processing of the encoded electromagnetic data. Additionally, several Hall Effect sensors may be used with a single electromagnetic source to provide multi-axis sensing and as such, provides robustness in determining ride height changes, or in the case of dependent suspensions (solid axle), a single electromagnetic source can used to determine ride height at multiple locations on the axle.

Claims

1. A vehicle having a ride height sensing system comprising:

an electromagnetic source configured to output an encoded magnetic signal at a specified frequency;

a magnetometer configured to sense magnetic field data; and

a controller configured to filter the sensed data to extract the encoded magnetic signal and determine a change in ride height of a vehicle body.

2. The vehicle having the ride height sensing system of claim 1, wherein the magnetometer is a hall effect based sensor.

3. The vehicle having the ride height sensing system of claim 2, wherein the hall effect based sensor is capable of sensing multi-axis magnetic field.

4. The vehicle having the ride height sensing system of claim 1, wherein the controller utilizes the filtered data is to determine physical distance units for ride height measurements.

5. The vehicle having the ride height sensing system of claim 4, wherein the controller utilizes the determined physical distance units to obtain desired ride height distance measurements directly from the data sensed by the magnetometer.

6. The vehicle having the ride height system of claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic source is capable of high switching rates.

7. The vehicle having the ride height system of claim 1, wherein the extraction of the encoded signal is a real-time extraction.

8. The vehicle having the ride height sensing system of claim 1, wherein the controller utilizes the determined ride height to activate an active suspension system of the vehicle.

9. The vehicle having the ride height sensing system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine the frequency encryption of the electromagnetic source.

10. The vehicle having the ride height system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to decompose a multi-axes reading for magnetic field data regarding each axis.

12. The ride height sensing method for the vehicle of claim 1, wherein the magnetometer is a hall effect based sensor.

13. The ride height sensing method for the vehicle of claim 12, wherein the hall effect based sensor is capable of sensing multi-axis magnetic field.

11. A ride height sensing method for a vehicle comprising:

configuring an electromagnetic source of the vehicle to output an encoded magnetic field signal at a specified frequency

receiving, from a magnetometer of the vehicle, sensed magnetic field data;

filtering the sensed data to extract the encoded magnetic signal; and

determining a change in ride height of a vehicle body.

14. The ride height sensing method for the vehicle of claim 11, further comprising utilizing, by a controller, the filtered data to determine physical distance units for ride height measurements.

15. The ride height sensing method for the vehicle of claim 14, further comprising utilizing, by the controller, the determined physical distance units to obtain desired ride height distance measurements directly from the data sensed by the magnetometer.

16. The ride height method for the vehicle of claim 11, wherein the electromagnetic source is capable of high switching rates.

17. The ride height method for the vehicle of claim 11, wherein the extraction of the encoded signal is a real-time extraction.

18. The ride height sensing method for the vehicle of claim 11, further comprising utilizing, by the controller, the determined ride height to activate an active suspension system of the vehicle.

19. The ride height sensing method for the vehicle of claim 11, further comprising configuring a controller to determine the frequency encryption of the electromagnetic source.

20. The ride height method for the vehicle of claim 11, further comprising configuring a controller to decompose a multi-axes reading for magnetic field data regarding each axis.