Method and apparatus for controlling the steering of a vehicle that is tracked or that has non-steerable wheels
First Claim
1. A method of controlling the steering of a vehicle that has propulsion means selected from either tracks or non-steerable driving wheels, and differential control means for applying differential control to the propulsion means, the method comprising the steps of producing a steering command signal for application to the control means on the basis of a steering instruction given by an operator of the vehicle, detecting an instantaneous angular velocity in yaw of the vehicle, amplifying with a determined gain a signal representative of the said velocity, said gain being variable and having a value of substantially zero when the steering behavior of the vehicle is naturally stable, which value increases rapidly when the steering behavior of the vehicle becomes unstable, comparing the amplified signal with the steering command signal for obtaining a difference, and transmitting the difference to the control means in order to automatically apply a steering correction on detecting a beginning of vehicle oversteer.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for controlling the steering of a vehicle that is tracked or that has non-steerable wheels, by applying a steering command signal to a differential control system for controlling the wheels or the tracks of the vehicle, which steering command signal is obtained on the basis of a steering instruction given by an operator or a driver of the vehicle, as modified by a correction effect obtained from a signal representative of the instantaneous angular velocity in yaw of the vehicle as provided by a rate gyro sensor and as amplified by a gain k that varies as a function of the stable or unstable behavior of the vehicle in steering. The invention makes it possible to ensure that the vehicle remains stable while steering by avoiding uncontrolled skids or oversteer.
101 Citations
14 Claims
- 1. A method of controlling the steering of a vehicle that has propulsion means selected from either tracks or non-steerable driving wheels, and differential control means for applying differential control to the propulsion means, the method comprising the steps of producing a steering command signal for application to the control means on the basis of a steering instruction given by an operator of the vehicle, detecting an instantaneous angular velocity in yaw of the vehicle, amplifying with a determined gain a signal representative of the said velocity, said gain being variable and having a value of substantially zero when the steering behavior of the vehicle is naturally stable, which value increases rapidly when the steering behavior of the vehicle becomes unstable, comparing the amplified signal with the steering command signal for obtaining a difference, and transmitting the difference to the control means in order to automatically apply a steering correction on detecting a beginning of vehicle oversteer.
- 8. Apparatus for controlling the steering of a vehicle that has propulsion means selected from either tracks or non-steerable driving wheels and differential control means for controlling the propulsion means, said apparatus comprising means for generating a steering command signal corresponding to a steering instruction given by an operator, rate gyro means for detecting the instantaneous angular velocity in yaw of the vehicle and for generating a corresponding velocity signal, gain generation means for amplifying said velocity signal by a variable gain, said gain having a value of substantially zero when the steering of the vehicle is naturally stable, and increasing rapidly when the steering of the vehicle is unstable, and means for establishing a difference between the steering command signal and the amplified velocity signal, said difference being transmitted to the above-mentioned control means, in order to automatically apply a steering correction on detecting a beginning of vehicle oversteer.
Specification