SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING AN IMPENDING TIP OVER OF A VEHICLE

• US 20180111606A1
• Filed: 03/23/2016
• Published: 04/26/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dana Italia S.R.L.
• Original Assignee: Dana Italia S.R.L.
• Inventors: GIORGIO BORT, Carlos Maximiliano, MAFFEI, Claudio, MASSEI, Alessandro, ORNELLA, Giulio, SERRAO, Lorenzo
• Granted Patent: US 10,507,826 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/143 Alarm means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/22 Strain gauge
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/16 Pitch
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/18 Roll
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/04 related to roll-over prevention
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/12 Limiting control by the driver depending on vehicle state, e.g. interlocking means for the control input for preventing unsafe operation
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 17/003 for fork-lift trucks

Abstract

A method and system of detecting an impending tip over of a vehicle with the following steps and apparatus. Acquiring first measurement data, the first measurement data having strain data and at least one of attitude data and acceleration data. Acquiring second measurement data, the second measurement data having strain data and at least one of attitude data and acceleration data. Determining, based on the first measurement data and based on the second measurement data, if the second measurement data is indicative of an impending tip over of the vehicle. Only if it is determined that the second measurement data is indicative of an impending tip over of the vehicle, triggering an alarm signal, overriding a control command or overwriting a control command.

Claims

1-15. -15. (canceled)

16. A method of detecting an impending tip over of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps:

acquiring first measurement data, the first measurement data comprising vehicle axle strain data, and at least one of attitude data and acceleration data;

acquiring second measurement data, the second measurement data comprising vehicle axle strain data, and at least one of attitude data and acceleration data;

determining, based on the first measurement data and based on the second measurement data, if the second measurement data is indicative of an impending tip over of the vehicle; and

only if it is determined that the second measurement data is indicative of an impending tip over of the vehicle, triggering an alarm signal, overriding a control command or overwriting a control command.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein acquiring the first measurement data comprises acquiring a plurality of first data sets, wherein for each of the first data sets acquiring the first data set comprises acquiring, at the same point in time, vehicle axle strain data, and at least one of attitude data and acceleration data;

wherein those first data sets of the plurality of first data sets which are indicative of an impending tip over of the vehicle are saved in a database and marked with a first label; and

wherein determining if the second measurement data is indicative of an impending tip over is based on the second measurement data and at least on the first data sets marked with the first label.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein a first data set of the plurality of first data sets is identified as being indicative of an impending tip over and marked with the first label based on an input command provided by an operator.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein a first data set of the plurality of first data sets is automatically identified as being indicative of an impending tip over and is automatically marked with the first label if at least one of a measured strain value, a measured vehicle attitude value and a measured vehicle acceleration value of the corresponding first data set falls outside a predetermined range.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the first data sets which are not indicative of an impending tip over are saved in the database and are marked with a second label;

and

wherein determining if the second measurement data is indicative of an impending tip over is based on the second measurement data, on the first data sets, and on the labels assigned to the first data sets.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein acquiring the second measurement data comprises acquiring a second data set, wherein acquiring the second data set comprises acquiring, at the same point in time, vehicle axle strain data, and at least one of attitude data and acceleration data;

and

wherein determining if the second measurement data is indicative of an impending tip over comprises;

determining, based on the first data sets marked with the first label and preferably additionally based on the first data sets marked with the second label, at least one continuous subset of a measurement data space, the measurement data space comprising the first data sets and the second data set, wherein the continuous subset is determined such that the continuous subset does not comprise the data sets labeled with the first label; and

identifying the second data set as being indicative of an impending tip over if the second data set falls outside the continuous subset, and identifying the second data set as not being indicative of an impending tip over if the second data set falls within the continuous subset.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein acquiring the second measurement data comprises acquiring a second data set, wherein acquiring the second data set comprises acquiring, at the same point in time, vehicle axle strain data, and at least one of attitude data and acceleration data;

and

wherein, if it is determined that the second data set is indicative of an impending tip over and if the second data set does not fall within a neighborhood of any of the data sets labeled with the first label, the database is updated by saving the second data set in the database and by labeling the newly saved second data set with the first label.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein acquiring the second measurement data comprises acquiring a second data set, wherein acquiring the second data set comprises acquiring, at the same point in time, vehicle axle strain data, and at least one of attitude data and acceleration data;

and

wherein,

if it is determined that the second data set is indicative of an impending tip over,

if the second data set falls within a neighborhood of a data set X saved in the database and labeled with the first label, and

if a frequency of the event that a second data set falls within the neighborhood of the data set X is above a threshold frequency,

the database is updated by re-labeling the data set X with the second label and preferably by additionally re-labeling the saved data sets falling within the neighborhood of the data set X and labeled with the first label with the second label.

24. The method of claim 21, further including the step of:

updating the continuous subset such that the updated continuous subset does not comprise the data sets labeled with the first label.

25. A sensor system for detecting an impending tip over of a vehicle, and in particular for identifying false positives during tip over detection, the sensor system comprising:

at least one strain sensor for acquiring vehicle axle strain data;

at least one further sensor, the further sensor comprising at least one of a gyrometer for acquiring attitude data and an accelerometer for acquiring acceleration data; and

a control unit;

wherein the sensors are configured to acquire first measurement data and second measurement data, the first measurement data and the second measurement data each including vehicle axle strain data, and at least one of attitude data and acceleration data; and

wherein the control unit is configured to control the strain sensor and the at least one further sensor.

26. The sensor system of claim 25, further comprising at least one of:

one or more steering sensors for acquiring vehicle steering data;

one or more speed sensors for acquiring vehicle speed data;

one or more tire pressure sensors for acquiring tire pressure data; and

an input device for controlling a working implement of the vehicle;

wherein the first and the second measurement data include at least one of vehicle steering data, vehicle speed data, tire pressure data and working implement control data.

27. The sensor system of claim 25, wherein the strain sensor includes at least two strain gauges disposed on a common mechanical support, wherein the strain gauges are spaced apart from each other so that the strain gauges are configured to simultaneously acquire vehicle axle strain data at different positions on a vehicle axle.

28. The sensor system of claim 27, wherein the strain sensor, the at least one further sensor and the control unit are disposed on the common mechanical support, thereby forming at least one sensor platform.

29. The sensor system of claim 28, comprising two or more sensor platforms, the sensor platforms being configured to exchange data with each other, thereby forming a distributed sensor network.

30. The sensor system of claim 29, further comprising a central vehicle control unit and a CAN bus, wherein one of the sensor platform control units is configured to function as a master control unit of the sensor network, wherein the master control unit is configured to communicate with the central vehicle control unit via the CAN bus.