Failsafe detection

• US 9,475,521 B1
• Filed: 06/08/2015
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Fung, Kin C., Dick, Timothy J.
• Primary Examiner(s): MARC-COLEMAN, MARTHE Y
• Application Number:
  US14/733,836
• Time in Patent Office: 505 Days
• Field of Search: 701/43, 701/41, 340/576
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/223 Posture, e.g. hand, foot, or seat position, turned or inclined
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/12 Lane keeping
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/025 Active steering aids, e.g. helping the driver by actively influencing the steering system after environment evaluation B62D1/28 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 3/00 Measuring torque, work, mechanical power, or mechanical efficiency, in general

Abstract

Systems and techniques for failsafe detection of vehicle components are provided herein. A system for failsafe detection may include one or more touch sensors determining presence information associated with a number of hands or other appendages an operator of a vehicle has in contact with a steering wheel of the vehicle. The system may include an electronic power steering (EPS) component estimating presence information indicative of whether the operator of the vehicle has hands or other appendages in contact with the steering wheel of the vehicle. The system may include a failsafe component comparing the presence information of the touch sensors with the presence information of the electronic power steering component and generating a component determination for one or more of the touch sensors based on the comparison.

Claims

1. A system for failsafe detection comprising:

one or more touch sensors determining presence information associated with a number of hands or other appendages an operator of a vehicle has in contact with a steering wheel of the vehicle;

an electronic power steering (EPS) component estimating presence information indicative of whether the operator of the vehicle has hands in contact with the steering wheel of the vehicle; and

a failsafe component;

comparing the presence information of the touch sensors with the presence information of the electronic power steering component; and

generating a component determination for one or more of the touch sensors based on the comparison.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic power steering component estimates presence information based on readings from one or more torque sensors or one or more steering angle sensors coupled to the steering wheel.

3. The system of claim 2, comprising a controller area network component receiving:

a first reading from one or more of the touch sensors; and

a second reading from one or more of the torque sensors or one or more of the steering angle sensors.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the touch sensors are capacitive touch sensors.

5. The system of claim 1, comprising a notification component rendering a notification upon the component determination indicating a failure of one or more of the touch sensors.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the failsafe component determines one or more corrective actions for one or more vehicle components based on the component determination and component dependencies of one or more of the vehicle components.

7. The system of claim 1, comprising a lane keep assist component generating one or more lane keep assist actions based on presence information from one or more of the touch sensors.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the failsafe component disables the lane keep assist component based on the component determination indicating a failure of one or more of the touch sensors.

9. A method for failsafe detection comprising:

receiving a first reading from a first set of one or more sensors of a steering wheel of a vehicle, the first reading indicative of presence information associated with a number of hands or other appendages an operator of the vehicle has in contact with the steering wheel;

receiving a second reading from a second set of one or more sensors of the vehicle;

estimating presence information indicative of whether the operator of the vehicle has hands or other appendages in contact with the steering wheel based on the second reading from the second set of sensors;

comparing the presence information of the first reading with the presence information of the second reading; and

generating a component determination for the first set of sensors or the second set of sensors based on the comparison of presence information between the first reading and the second reading.

10. The method of claim 9, comprising rendering a notification upon generation of the component determination indicating a failure of the first set of sensors or the second set of sensors.

11. The method of claim 9, comprising generating one or more lane keep assist actions based on presence information from the first set of sensors.

12. The method of claim 11, comprising generating one or more of the lane keep assist actions based on presence information from the second set of sensors and not the first set of sensors when the component determination is indicative of a failure of the first set of sensors.

13. The method of claim 11, comprising disabling one or more of the lane keep assist actions when the component determination is indicative of a failure of the first set of sensors.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the component determination is indicative of whether a corresponding set of sensors has failed.

15. A system for failsafe detection comprising:

one or more touch sensors determining presence information associated with a number of hands or other appendages an operator of a vehicle has in contact with a steering wheel of the vehicle;

an electronic power steering (EPS) component estimating presence information indicative of whether the operator of the vehicle has hands or other appendages in contact with the steering wheel of the vehicle by taking readings from one or more torque sensors; and

a failsafe component;

comparing the presence information of the touch sensors with the presence information of the electronic power steering component;

generating a component determination for one or more of the touch sensors based on the comparison; and

determining one or more corrective actions for one or more vehicle components based on the component determination and touch sensor dependencies of one or more of the vehicle components.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein one or more of the touch sensors are capacitive touch sensors.

17. The system of claim 15, comprising a notification component rendering a notification upon the component determination indicating a failure of one or more of the touch sensors.

18. The system of claim 15, comprising a lane keep assist component generating one or more lane keep assist actions based on presence information from one or more of the touch sensors.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein one or more of the corrective actions includes disabling the lane keep assist component.

20. The system of claim 19, comprising a controller area network component transmitting a disable signal to the lane keep assist component in response to the component determination indicating a failure of one or more of the touch sensors.