Vehicle pedal control method and system

Abstract

The present invention provides a vehicle pedal control method and system. The vehicle pedal control method of the present invention includes the following steps: obtaining the real-time current value of the drive motor during the release / retraction operation after the pedal is activated; determining the current difference between the real-time current value and the temporarily stored reference current value; comparing the current difference with a pre-stored difference threshold. If the current difference is greater than the difference threshold, the obstacle warning mode is activated; if the current difference is less than the difference threshold, continue to obtain the real-time current value of the drive motor during the release / retraction operation after the pedal is activated. The vehicle pedal control method of the present invention determines whether the pedal encounters an obstacle by obtaining the real-time current value and comparing the difference between the real-time current value and the temporarily stored reference current value with the difference threshold, so as to realize the real-time monitoring of obstacles, prevent pinching of personnel or damage to the pedal, and improve the safety during the movement of the pedal and the service life of the pedal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of automobiles, and particularly relates to a vehicle pedal control method; at the same time, the present invention also relates to a vehicle pedal control system. Background Art

[0002] Electric side steps are mostly applicable to SUV models. Since large SUVs have a relatively high chassis, it is not friendly for the elderly, children, and some women to get on and off the vehicle. The electric side step is equivalent to adding a step to the SUV, facilitating passengers to get on and off the vehicle. The electric side step acts automatically according to the door state. It automatically extends when the door is opened to facilitate passengers to get on and off the vehicle, and automatically retracts when the door is closed to ensure driving safety.

[0003] However, during the extension or retraction process of the electric side step, there is a risk of hitting or pinching obstacles and people, which is likely to cause damage to the pedal or pinch the people getting on and off the vehicle. Although some existing vehicle pedals have achieved the function of obstacle detection and can detect obstacles, their obstacle detection functions mostly judge by the time of receiving the signal transmitted back by the vehicle pedal. If the pedal signal is not received within a period of time, it is considered that the pedal has encountered an obstacle and the vehicle pedal is stopped.

[0004] However, during the period from waiting for the signal to judging that no signal is transmitted back, the motor keeps running. If the pedal pinches an obstacle, it may cause damage to the pedal. And if the pedal pinches a person, it may cause injury to the person. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of this, the present invention aims to propose a vehicle pedal control method to improve the safety of the pedal during movement and the service life of the pedal.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the technical solution of the present invention is realized as follows:

[0007] A vehicle pedal control method, the method includes the following steps:

[0008] Obtain the real-time current value of the drive motor during the release / retraction operation after the pedal is started;

[0009] Determine the current difference between the real-time current value and the temporarily stored reference current value;

[0010] Compare the current difference with a pre-stored difference threshold. If the current difference is greater than the difference threshold, start the obstacle warning mode; if the current difference is less than the difference threshold, continue to obtain the real-time current value of the drive motor during the release / retraction operation after the pedal is started.

[0011] Further, the reference current value is obtained by the following steps:

[0012] Activate the pedal;

[0013] Detect the real-time position of the pedal;

[0014] If the real-time position of the detected pedal enters the release / retraction operation range after the pedal is activated, determine the current value of the drive motor at present as the reference current value.

[0015] Furthermore, obtain the real-time position of the pedal by acquiring the rotational speed and rotational angle of the drive motor of the pedal.

[0016] Furthermore, the reference current value is the first current value of the drive motor per unit time.

[0017] Furthermore, if the real-time current value is greater than the pre-stored maximum protection current threshold, activate the motor stall warning mode.

[0018] Furthermore, the motor stall warning mode is to display a stall warning message to the user.

[0019] Furthermore, the obstacle warning mode includes a mode of displaying a warning message to the user.

[0020] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0021] For the vehicle pedal control method of the present invention, by acquiring the real-time current value and comparing the difference between the real-time current value and the temporarily stored reference current value with the difference threshold, it is determined whether the pedal encounters an obstacle, which is convenient for realizing real-time monitoring of the obstacle during the movement of the pedal, improving the service life of the pedal and its safety during movement.

[0022] In addition, by using the current value of the motor when the real-time position of the pedal enters the release / retraction operation range after the pedal is activated as the reference current value, it is convenient to re-determine the reference current value every time the pedal starts to move, so as to prevent adverse effects of external environmental factors, etc. on the detection of obstacles and improve the accuracy of obstacle detection.

[0023] In addition, by pre-storing the maximum current protection threshold, it is possible to prevent the drive motor from overloading and running, which is convenient for protecting the drive motor.

[0024] Meanwhile, the present invention also relates to a vehicle pedal control system, which system includes:

[0025] A controller;

[0026] A storage module, storing a reference current value and a difference threshold;

[0027] An acquisition module acquires the real-time current value of the drive motor during the extension / retraction operation after the pedal is activated.

[0028] A determination module determines the current difference between the real-time current value and the temporarily stored reference current value.

[0029] A comparison module compares the current difference with a pre-stored difference threshold. If the current difference is greater than the difference threshold, the controller controls the activation of the obstacle warning mode. If the current difference is less than the difference threshold, the acquisition module continues to acquire the real-time current value of the drive motor during the extension / retraction operation after the pedal is activated.

[0030] Furthermore, the system includes a detection module that detects the real-time position of the pedal. If the detected real-time position of the pedal enters the extension / retraction operation interval after the pedal is activated, it is determined that the current value of the drive motor currently acquired by the acquisition module is the reference current value.

[0031] Furthermore, the detection module is a Hall sensor.

[0032] Furthermore, the storage module uses a FIFO storage module.

[0033] The vehicle pedal control system of the present invention has the same technical effects as the above-mentioned vehicle pedal control method and will not be elaborated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] The accompanying drawings, which form a part of the present invention, are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention. The schematic embodiments and descriptions thereof of the present invention are used to explain the present invention. The front-back, up-down, etc. orientation words involved herein are only used to represent relative positional relationships and do not constitute improper limitations to the present invention. In the drawings:

[0035] Figure 1 is a flowchart of the vehicle pedal control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 2 is a current schematic diagram of the drive motor during the operation of the pedal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 3 is a flowchart of obtaining the initial reference current value in the vehicle pedal control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 4 is a structural schematic diagram of the vehicle pedal control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Description of the reference numerals:

[0040] 1. Controller; 2. Storage module; 3. Acquisition module; 4. Determination module; 5. Comparison module; 6. Detection module. Detailed implementation manners

[0041] It should be noted that, without conflict, the embodiments in the present invention and the features in the embodiments may be combined with each other.

[0042] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that if terms indicating orientation or positional relationship such as "upper", "lower", "inner", "outer", etc. appear, they are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus cannot be understood as a limitation to the present invention. In addition, if terms such as "first" and "second" appear, they are also only for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0043] In addition, in the description of the present invention, unless otherwise clearly defined, the terms "installation", "connection", "connection", "connection component" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it may be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it may be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it may be the communication inside two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention may be understood in combination with specific situations.

[0044] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings and in combination with embodiments.

[0045] Embodiment 1

[0046] This embodiment relates to a vehicle pedal control method, which is Figure 1 As shown, the control method mainly includes the following steps:

[0047] S1. Obtain the real-time current value of the drive motor during the release / retraction operation after the pedal is started;

[0048] S2. Determine the current difference between the real-time current value and the temporarily stored reference current value;

[0049] S3. Compare the current difference with the pre-stored difference threshold. If the current difference is greater than the difference threshold, start the obstacle warning mode; if the current difference is less than the difference threshold, continue to obtain the real-time current value of the drive motor during the release / retraction operation after the pedal is started.

[0050] During a complete operation of the pedal, the current flowing through the drive motor is as Figure 2As shown in the figure, among them, area A corresponds to the starting interval before the pedal starts to move, area B corresponds to the pedal movement interval, that is, the pedal extension or retraction operation interval, and area C corresponds to the interval after the pedal movement is in place.

[0051] As known from Figure 2 in the figure, during the process of the pedal extending or retracting, the current of the drive motor is relatively smooth. However, when the pedal encounters an obstacle during movement, the current flowing through the drive motor will instantaneously increase, and the difference between the current of the drive motor at this moment and the reference current will exceed the difference threshold, thereby making a judgment of encountering an obstacle and starting the obstacle warning mode.

[0052] By obtaining the real-time current value of the drive motor during the process of the pedal extending or retracting after startup, and judging the magnitude of the current difference between the real-time current value and the temporarily stored reference current value and the difference threshold, it is possible to realize the real-time judgment of whether an obstacle is encountered during the process of the pedal extending or retracting, so as to prevent damage to the pedal or pinching of personnel, and improve the service life of the pedal and the safety during the operation of the pedal.

[0053] In order to obtain the reference current value, as Figure 3 shown in the figure, it mainly includes the following steps:

[0054] S21, start the pedal;

[0055] S22, detect the real-time position of the pedal;

[0056] S23, if the real-time position of the detected pedal enters the extension / retraction operation interval after the pedal starts, determine the current value of the drive motor at this time as the reference current value.

[0057] By taking the current value of the motor when the real-time position of the pedal enters the extension / retraction operation interval after the pedal starts as the reference current value, it is convenient to re-determine a more appropriate reference current value during each operation of the pedal, so as to prevent adverse effects on the detection of obstacles caused by external environmental factors, long use time of the drive motor, etc., and improve the accuracy of obstacle detection.

[0058] In addition, for obtaining the real-time position of the pedal, the rotational speed and rotation angle of the drive motor of the pedal can be obtained. Among them, by obtaining the rotational speed of the drive motor, it is possible to know the speed of the pedal movement, and by obtaining the rotation angle of the drive motor, it is possible to know the position where the pedal is located.

[0059] In addition, to further improve the accuracy of obstacle detection, as a preferred implementation, in this embodiment, the reference current is re-acquired every unit time, and the reference current value is the first current value of the driving motor within the unit time. This setting facilitates detecting whether the pedal encounters an obstacle by determining whether the current changes suddenly within the unit time, which is beneficial to further improve the accuracy of obstacle judgment and prevent misjudgment.

[0060] In addition, preferably, a maximum protection current threshold is also set in this embodiment. If the real-time current value is greater than the pre-stored maximum protection current threshold, the motor stall warning mode is activated. This setting is to cope with the situation where the pedal encounters an obstacle when entering the release or retraction operation range.

[0061] Meanwhile, through the above setting, it is also convenient to cope with the situation where when the pedal or the driving motor is affected by external factors, the driving motor maintains a relatively large current when the pedal enters the release or retraction operation range. In this way, when the pedal encounters an obstacle, the difference between the real-time current and the reference current may not exceed the difference threshold, resulting in the inability to accurately judge the obstacle. By setting the maximum protection current threshold, when the current of the driving motor exceeds the maximum current protection threshold, the motor stall warning mode is directly activated to facilitate the realization of the anti-collision and anti-pinch protection function. At the same time, by setting the motor stall mode, it is also possible to prevent the motor from overloading and facilitate the protection of the motor.

[0062] The motor stall warning mode in this embodiment is to display the stall warning information to the user, so as to prompt the user to judge whether it is due to encountering an obstacle or due to other internal or external reasons that cause the current of the driving motor to be large, and then find a solution.

[0063] In addition, the obstacle warning mode includes a mode of displaying warning information to the user to remind the user that the pedal encounters an obstacle during operation.

[0064] The vehicle pedal control method of this embodiment facilitates the real-time and effective detection of obstacles, thereby preventing personal pinching or damage to the pedal, and improving the safety during the operation of the pedal and the service life of the pedal.

[0065] Embodiment 2

[0066] This embodiment relates to a vehicle pedal control system, as Figure 4As shown in the figure, the vehicle pedal control system includes: a controller 1, a storage module 2, an acquisition module 3, a determination module 4, and a comparison module 5. Among them, the storage module 2 stores the reference current value and the difference threshold value of the example in Embodiment 1. The acquisition module 3 is used to acquire the real-time current value of the drive motor during the release / retraction operation after the pedal is activated in the example of Embodiment 1. The determination module 4 is used to determine the current difference between the real-time current value and the temporarily stored reference current value. The comparison module 5 is used to compare the current difference with the pre-stored difference threshold value. If the current difference is greater than the difference threshold value, the controller 1 controls the activation of the obstacle warning mode; if the current difference is less than the difference threshold value, the real-time current value of the drive motor during the release / retraction operation after the pedal is activated is continuously acquired.

[0067] In addition, the vehicle pedal control system further includes a detection module 6, which is used to detect the real-time position of the pedal. If the detected real-time position of the pedal enters the release / retraction operation interval after the pedal is activated, it is determined that the current value of the drive motor acquired by the acquisition module 3 is the reference current value.

[0068] Furthermore, preferably, the detection module 6 in this embodiment can be a Hall sensor commonly used in the prior art, and the Hall sensor is connected to the drive motor, so as to sample the rotational speed of the drive motor and the rotation angle of the drive motor respectively, and further enable the monitoring of the speed of the pedal movement and the position of the pedal. The storage module 2 in this embodiment preferably adopts a FIFO storage module, that is, a first-in-first-out data storage structure. When the FIFO storage module is working, since the capacity of the storage module is fixed, the current stored in the FIFO storage module first within a period of time, that is, the reference current value in Embodiment 1 will be overflowed first. At this time, after the old reference current value is popped out, the latest current acquired by the acquisition module can be used as the new reference current value to update the reference current value and make the newly set reference current value more appropriate.

[0069] It should also be noted that the controller 1 in this embodiment can preferably be a vehicle ECU, which has a simple structure and does not require the setting of an additional control device. The acquisition module 3 can be a current sensor or a current sampling module commonly used in the prior art to realize the real-time acquisition of the current of the drive motor. The determination module 4 can be an ALU, that is, an arithmetic logic unit commonly used in the prior art. In addition, the comparison module 5 in this embodiment can be a numerical comparison module commonly used in the prior art.

[0070] The vehicle pedal control system of this embodiment has the same beneficial effects as the vehicle pedal control method in Embodiment 1, and will not be elaborated here.

[0071] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention shall be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A vehicle pedal control method, characterized in that The method includes the following steps: Obtain the real-time current value of the drive motor during the release / retraction operation after the pedal is activated; Determine the current difference between the real-time current value and the temporarily stored reference current value; Compare the current difference with a pre-stored difference threshold. If the current difference is greater than the difference threshold, activate the obstacle warning mode; If the current difference is less than the difference threshold, continue to obtain the real-time current value of the drive motor during the release / retraction operation after the pedal is activated; Obtain the reference current value by the following steps: Activate the pedal; Detect the real-time position of the pedal; If the detected real-time position of the pedal enters the release / retraction operation interval after the pedal is activated, determine the current value of the drive motor at present as the reference current value; The reference current value is the first current value of the drive motor per unit time.

2. The vehicle pedal control method according to claim 1, wherein: Obtain the real-time position of the pedal by obtaining the rotational speed and rotational angle of the drive motor of the pedal.

3. The vehicle pedal control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: If the real-time current value is greater than the pre-stored maximum protection current threshold, activate the motor stall warning mode.

4. The vehicle pedal control method according to claim 3, wherein: The motor stall warning mode is to display a stall warning message to the user.

5. The vehicle pedal control method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The obstacle warning mode includes a mode of displaying a warning message to the user.

6. A vehicle pedal control system for implementing the vehicle pedal control method according to claim 1, characterized in that The system includes: A controller (1); A storage module (2) storing a reference current value and a difference threshold; An obtaining module (3) for obtaining the real-time current value of the drive motor during the release / retraction operation after the pedal is activated; A determining module (4) for determining the current difference between the real-time current value and the temporarily stored reference current value; A comparison module (5) for comparing the current difference with the pre-stored difference threshold. If the current difference is greater than the difference threshold, the controller (1) controls to activate the obstacle warning mode; if the current difference is less than the difference threshold, continue to obtain the real-time current value of the drive motor during the release / retraction operation after the pedal is activated.

7. The vehicle pedal control system according to claim 6, wherein The system includes: A detection module (6) for detecting the real-time position of the pedal. If the detected real-time position of the pedal enters the release / retraction operation interval after the pedal is activated, determine the current value of the drive motor obtained by the obtaining module (3) at present as the reference current value.

8. The vehicle pedal control system according to claim 7, wherein: The detection module (6) is a Hall sensor.

9. The vehicle pedal control system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The storage module (2) adopts a FIFO storage module.

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