Vehicle rollover detection apparatus and method
First Claim
1. A rollover detection apparatus for detecting an anticipated overturn condition for a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:
- an angular rate sensor for sensing attitude rate of change of a vehicle and producing an output signal indicative thereof;
an integrator for integrating the sensed attitude rate of change signal and producing an attitude angle, said integrator having a variable time window;
a comparator for comparing the attitude angle to a threshold value; and
an output for providing a vehicle overturn condition signal based on said comparison.
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Abstract
A vehicle rollover sensing apparatus and method are provided for detecting an overturn condition of the vehicle. The rollover sensing apparatus includes an angular rate sensor for sensing attitude rate of change of a vehicle and producing an output signal indicative thereof. The rollover sensing apparatus also has an integrator for integrating the sensed attitude rate of change signal over a variable time window and producing an attitude angle. The rollover sensing apparatus further includes deployment logic for comparing the attitude angle and attitude rate of change to a pair of variable threshold values, with a gray-zone that varies based on time, and an output for deploying a vehicle overturn condition signal based on the comparison. Adaptive bias removal and output minimum logic reduces bias and noise associated with the sensed signal.
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Citations
52 Claims
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1. A rollover detection apparatus for detecting an anticipated overturn condition for a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:
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an angular rate sensor for sensing attitude rate of change of a vehicle and producing an output signal indicative thereof;
an integrator for integrating the sensed attitude rate of change signal and producing an attitude angle, said integrator having a variable time window;
a comparator for comparing the attitude angle to a threshold value; and
an output for providing a vehicle overturn condition signal based on said comparison. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A rollover detection apparatus for detecting an anticipated overturn condition for a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:
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an angular rate sensor for sensing attitude rate of change of a vehicle and producing an output signal indicative thereof;
an integrator for integrating the sensed attitude rate of change signal and producing an attitude angle;
deployment logic for comparing the attitude angle and sensed attitude rate of change with a variable threshold, said variable threshold defining a region of deployment, a region of no deployment, and a gray-zone which varies as a function of time; and
an output for providing a vehicle overturn condition signal based on said comparison. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A rollover detection apparatus for detecting an overturn condition for a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:
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an angular rate sensor for sensing attitude rate of change of a vehicle and producing an output signal indicative thereof;
bias removal logic for removing bias from said sensed attitude rate of change signal, said bias removal logic including a high-pass filter for high-pass filtering the sensed attitude rate of change signal when below a first threshold, and said bias removal logic passing the sensed attitude rate of change signal when above the first threshold;
an integrator for integrating the sensed attitude rate of change signal and producing an attitude angle;
a comparator for comparing the attitude angle to a threshold value; and
an output for providing a vehicle overturn condition signal based on said comparison. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A bias removal device for removing bias from a sensed signal, said bias removal device comprising:
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an input for receiving a sensed signal from a sensor;
a high-pass filter for filtering the sensed signal when the sensed signal has an amplitude below a first threshold;
an all pass region for passing the sensed signal when the sensed signal has an amplitude above the first threshold; and
an output for providing a bias removed output signal. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for detecting an anticipated overturn condition of a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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sensing an attitude rate of change of a vehicle and producing an output signal indicative thereof;
integrating the sensed attitude rate of change signal during a time window to generate an attitude angle;
varying the time window based on the attitude angle;
comparing the attitude angle to a threshold value; and
providing an output signal based on the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
increasing the time window when the attitude angle exceeds a window threshold; and
decreasing the time window when the attitude angle is below the window threshold.
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33. The method as defined in claim 31, wherein said step of comparing the attitude angle to a threshold value comprises comparing the attitude angle to a variable threshold value that varies based on the sensed attitude rate of change and attitude angle.
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34. The method as defined in claim 31, wherein said step of sensing comprises sensing a roll angular rate of the vehicle for determining a rollover condition of the vehicle about a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.
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35. The method as defined in claim 31, wherein said step of sensing comprises sensing pitch angular rate of the vehicle for determining a pitchover condition of the vehicle about a lateral axis of the vehicle.
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36. The method as defined in claim 31 further comprising the step of removing bias from the sensed attitude rate of change signal.
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37. The method as defined in claim 36, wherein said step of removing bias comprises high-pass filtering the sensed attitude rate of change signal when below a first threshold and passing the sensed attitude rate of change signal when above the first threshold.
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38. The method as defined in claim 37, wherein said step of removing bias further comprises setting the attitude rate of change to substantially zero when the sensed attitude rate of change signal is below a second threshold which is less than the first threshold.
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39. The method as defined in claim 31, wherein said step of comparing comprises comparing the attitude angle and sensed attitude rate of change with a threshold curve which varies based on an amount of time elapsed during a near rollover event.
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40. A method for detecting an anticipated overturn condition of a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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sensing an attitude rate of change of a vehicle and producing an output signal indicative thereof;
integrating the sensed attitude rate of change signal during a time window to generate an attitude angle;
comparing the attitude angle and sensed attitude rate of change with a variable threshold, said variable threshold defining a region of deployment, a region of no deployment, and a gray-zone which varies as a function of time; and
providing an output signal based on the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42)
increasing size of the time window when the attitude angle exceeds a window threshold; and
decreasing size of the time window when the attitude angle is below the window threshold.
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42. The method as defined in claim 41, wherein said time window increases at a first rate and decreases at a different second rate.
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43. A method for detecting an anticipated overturn condition of a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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sensing an attitude rate of change of a vehicle and producing an output signal indicative thereof;
removing bias from said sensed attitude rate of change signal, including high-pass filtering the sensed attitude rate of change signal when below a first threshold and passing the sensed attitude rate of change signal when above the first threshold;
integrating the sensed attitude rate of change signal and producing an attitude angle;
comparing the attitude angle to a threshold value; and
providing an output signal based on the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A method for removing bias from a sensed signal, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a sensed signal from a sensor;
filtering the sensed signal with a high-pass filter when the sensed signal has an amplitude below a first threshold;
passing the sensed signal when the sensed signal has an amplitude above the first threshold; and
providing a bias removed output signal. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52)
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Specification