Method for controlling a power-assisted steering apparatus

• US 9,051,000 B2
• Filed: 10/24/2013
• Issued: 06/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Kluge, Torsten
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu, Yonel
• Application Number:
  US14/062,809
• Publication Number:
  US 20140121905A1
• Time in Patent Office: 593 Days
• Field of Search: 701 41- 42, 701/44, 180/6.2, 180/252, 180/400, 180/446
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 6/008 Control of feed-back to the steering input member, e.g. simulating road feel in steer-by-wire applications

Abstract

A method and apparatus for controlling an electrically power-assisted steering device for vehicles including a control unit providing control information to a steering device. The method and apparatus includes a setpoint signal value transmitter providing setpoint value information and obtaining actual value information from the steering device. The actual value information is fed to the setpoint signal value transmitter and a difference value information is obtained from the setpoint value information and actual value information with the difference value information fed to the control unit. A filter unit filters information components from one of the actual value information provided, the actual value information fed to the setpoint signal value transmitter, the setpoint value information or the difference value information.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a power-assisted steering device comprising the steps of:

providing control information from dynamic control unit;

feeding the control information to the steering device;

providing a setpoint signal value transmitter;

providing actual value information from the steering device to a filter unit;

using the filter unit to filter out an information component from the actual value information received from the steering device and generate filtered information;

feeding the filtered information to the setpoint signal value transmitter and using the setpoint signal value transmitter to generate setpoint value information;

forming difference value information from the setpoint value information and the actual value information, wherein said difference value information includes the information component filtered from the actual value information; and

feeding the difference value information to the control unit.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the filtered out information component includes at least one of the following:

steering angle information, steering angle speed information, and steering angle acceleration information.

3. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein step of filtering out an information component includes using a Butterworth filter.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein step of filtering out an information components includes filtering out more than one information component;

and

using a separate filter to filter out each information component.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the control information is provided by a PID control unit.

6. An apparatus for controlling a power-assisted steering device comprising:

a control unit providing control information;

a setpoint signal value transmitter providing setpoint value information;

a steering system providing actual value information;

control circuitry operative to develop a difference value information from the setpoint value information and actual value information and transmit said difference value information to said control unit, said difference value information containing the predetermined information component filtered by said filter unit; and

a filter unit, said filter unit operative to filter out a predetermined information component.

7. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said filter unit filters out a predetermined information component from said actual value information.

8. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said filter unit filters out a predetermined information component from the actual value information received by the setpoint signal value transmitter.

9. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said filter unit filters out a predetermined information component from the setpoint value information.

10. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said filter unit filters out a predetermined information component from the difference value information.

11. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein the filter unit filters out and information component that includes at least one of the following:

steering angle information, steering angle speed information, and steering angle acceleration information.

12. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein the filter unit includes at least one Butterworth filter.

13. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6 including a separate filter unit for information component.

14. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein the control unit is a PID control unit.