Methods, systems, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to control vehicle based on signal mixing

Abstract

Methods, systems, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to control a vehicle based on signal mixing are disclosed. An example apparatus disclosed herein includes programmable circuitry that at least: determines a first yaw rate signal based on first signal data output by a yaw rate sensor of a vehicle, determines a second yaw rate signal based on second signal data output by a steering wheel angle sensor of the vehicle, a hybrid yaw rate signal is determined based on the first yaw rate signal and the second yaw rate signal, and a torque to be applied by a motor of the vehicle is adjusted based on the hybrid yaw rate signal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to vehicle steering and, more particularly, to methods, systems, devices, and articles of manufacture for controlling a vehicle based on signal mixing. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, vehicles have become increasingly automated. Some vehicles include automated control systems to control and / or facilitate one or more operations of the vehicle (e.g., steering, acceleration, braking, etc.). Some vehicle control systems are communicatively coupled to one or more sensors of the vehicle (e.g., accelerometers, transducers, etc.), and the vehicle control system can measure and / or monitor characteristics (e.g., yaw rate, steering wheel angle, acceleration, etc.) based on sensor data from the sensors. Based on the sensor data, the vehicle control system can generate one or more control signals and transmit the control signals to an operable control assembly of the vehicle (e.g., valves, actuators, motors, etc.) to facilitate its operation. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Automation of vehicles is commercially desirable because automation can improve the accuracy of performing operations (e.g., steering, acceleration, braking, etc.), reduce operator fatigue, increase efficiency, and / or provide other benefits. Some vehicles include automated control systems to facilitate and / or control one or more operations of the vehicle. For example, an automatic steering system (e.g., a lane centering system, a lateral motion controller (LMC), etc.) can be used to control and / or adjust the steering of the vehicle to facilitate lane changes, keep the vehicle centered in a lane, perform avoidance maneuvers, etc. In some cases, the automatic steering system controls the steering by generating control signals and / or providing control signals to one or more control devices (e.g., motors, actuators, valves, etc.) implemented by the vehicle. Such control signals can be used, for example, to adjust the torque applied by one or more motors, engage and / or disengage brakes, adjust the wheel angles of one or more wheels, etc.

[0004] In some cases, the steering system can generate control signals based on sensor data (e.g., signal data) output by one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the steering system. The sensor data can include, for example, steering wheel angle data from a steering wheel sensor, yaw rate data from a yaw rate sensor, speed and / or acceleration data (e.g., lateral and / or longitudinal acceleration data) from an accelerometer, etc. The sensor data can be provided as feedback to a controller (e.g., a closed-loop controller, a feedback control loop) implemented by the steering system, where the controller generates and / or adjusts control signals based on the feedback.

[0005] In some cases, a curvature difference (e.g., a difference between an actual path of a vehicle and a predicted curved path of the vehicle) can be calculated by a controller and / or used to generate a control signal for steering the vehicle. In some cases, yaw rate information (e.g., an angular rotation rate of the vehicle about a vertical axis of the vehicle) can be provided as feedback to the controller to calculate the curvature difference. For example, steering wheel angle data can be used to approximate the yaw rate of the vehicle. Since the steering wheel angle data is measured and / or transmitted within the steering system, the steering wheel angle data can be obtained at a relatively high frequency and / or with reduced latency. Thus, when the vehicle is within a linear steering range and / or traveling on a relatively flat surface (e.g., a surface with few or no protrusions or unevenness), the steering wheel angle data can be used to accurately predict and / or represent the motion of the vehicle. However, when the vehicle is traveling along an uneven and / or slippery surface, when there are other external forces acting on the vehicle, etc., the steering wheel angle data may not accurately represent the vehicle motion (e.g., may vary).

[0006] Alternatively, the yaw rate can be obtained from a yaw rate sensor of the vehicle, where the yaw rate sensor measures an actual yaw rate of the vehicle (e.g., a measured yaw rate). In some cases, the measured yaw rate can be more representative of the actual vehicle motion (e.g., compared to the steering wheel angle data). However, since the yaw rate sensor is typically implemented separately from the steering system, there may be a delay associated with the transmission and / or filtering of the measured yaw rate signal, and / or the measured yaw rate signal may include more noise compared to the steering wheel angle data. Such noise and / or delay may reduce the responsiveness of the measured yaw rate signal to relatively rapid perturbations acting on the vehicle (e.g., frost heaves, road protrusions, etc.).

[0007] During driving, a vehicle may encounter disturbances in the road, such as frost heaves, bumps, uneven surfaces, and / or other irregularities. Such disturbances may reduce the reliability of measured and / or estimated yaw rate values, resulting in unexpected oscillations in the control signal values generated by the controller. For example, when one or more wheels of the vehicle encounter a disturbance while the vehicle is traveling along a curve, the contact between the wheels and the ground may be temporarily lost or reduced. During the reduced contact and / or loss of contact, the steering wheel and thus the wheels of the vehicle may continue to turn in the direction of the curve while the normal force from the ground on the wheels decreases. As a result, the measured yaw rate of the vehicle may be temporarily reduced, causing the controller to request, via a control signal, that one or more motors of the vehicle apply additional torque in a first direction. However, once the contact and / or normal force between the wheels and the ground is restored, an increase in the steering wheel angle and / or an increase in the normal force may cause the measured yaw rate to increase. In such cases, the controller may request that the motor apply torque in a second direction to correct the increased measured yaw rate. In some cases, due to signal delays and / or threshold rates (e.g., rate limits) at which the torque can be adjusted for the motor, the control signal and / or the requested torque value may oscillate during a period of time before the desired operation and / or steering direction of the vehicle is achieved. The passengers of the vehicle may feel this oscillation, and it may result in a poor ride experience and / or reduced comfort for the passengers.

[0008] The examples disclosed herein perform frequency-based mixing on two or more signals representative of a vehicle's yaw rate and utilize the mixed signal to control one or more example operations of the vehicle (e.g., steering). The example vehicle control circuits disclosed herein access and / or obtain first example signal data from an example yaw rate sensor of the vehicle and second example signal data from an example steering wheel angle sensor of the vehicle. In some examples, the first signal data represents a measured yaw rate of the vehicle and the second signal data represents a calculated yaw rate of the vehicle (e.g., an estimated yaw rate). The examples disclosed herein select an example threshold frequency (e.g., a crossover frequency) for frequency-based filtering of the first signal data and the second signal data based on a road curvature along a predicted path of the vehicle and / or based on a threshold speed of the vehicle. In some examples, the vehicle control circuit applies a first filter (e.g., a low-pass filter) to the first signal data to pass low-frequency components (e.g., signal components equal to or below the threshold frequency) and attenuate high-frequency components of the first signal data (e.g., signal components above the threshold frequency). Conversely, the vehicle control circuit applies a second filter (e.g., a high-pass filter) to the second signal data to pass high-frequency components of the second signal data and attenuate low-frequency components. In some examples, the vehicle control circuit mixes (e.g., adds, combines) the filtered first signal and the second signal to generate an example mixed yaw rate signal. In some examples, the mixed yaw rate signal is provided as feedback to an example control system of the vehicle (e.g., a closed-loop controller, a feedback control loop), and the control system can generate and / or adjust one or more example control signals based on the feedback. Such control signals can be used to adjust the direction and / or magnitude of the torque applied by a motor to perform lane centering and / or other lateral control operations.

[0009] Advantageously, by mixing signal data from both a yaw rate sensor and a steering wheel angle sensor, the examples disclosed herein can more accurately represent the motion of the vehicle (e.g., yaw rate) (e.g., as compared to when using yaw rate sensor data or steering wheel angle data alone). Specifically, the mixing of the signal data can reduce the impact of measurement noise and / or transmission delay on the resulting mixed signal. Additionally, by generating one or more control signals based on the mixed signal, the examples disclosed herein can reduce unnecessary oscillations of the control signals in the presence of external disturbances to the vehicle (e.g., associated with frost heaves, road humps, and / or protrusions). By reducing such oscillations of the control signals, the examples disclosed herein can reduce the power utilized by one or more motors of the vehicle and / or can improve comfort and / or provide a smoother ride for the vehicle's passengers. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle in which examples disclosed herein may be implemented.

[0011] Figure 2 Is Figure 1 A block diagram of an example implementation of an example vehicle control circuit.

[0012] Figure 3 Represents Figure 1 And / or Figure 2 An example curve graph of the selection of an example threshold frequency by an example vehicle control circuit.

[0013] Figure 4 Is by Figure 1 And / or Figure 2 An example curve graph of an example yaw rate signal measured and / or obtained by an example vehicle control circuit.

[0014] Figure 5 Is a flowchart representing example machine - readable instructions and / or example operations that can be executed, instantiated, and / or implemented by an example programmable circuit to implement Figure 2 The vehicle control circuit 102 of

[0015] Figure 6 Is a block diagram of an example processing platform including a programmable circuit, the programmable circuit being configured to execute, instantiate, and / or implement example machine - readable instructions and / or perform Figure 5 The example operations of Figure 2 To implement the vehicle control circuit 102 of

[0016] Figure 7 Is Figure 6 A block diagram of an example implementation of a programmable circuit of

[0017] Figure 8 Is Figure 6 A block diagram of another example implementation of a programmable circuit of

[0018] Figure 9 Is for distributing software, instructions, and / or firmware (e.g., corresponding to Figure 5 The example machine - readable instructions of

[0019] Generally, throughout the drawings and the accompanying written description, like reference numerals will be used to refer to like or similar parts. The drawings are not necessarily to scale. Instead, the thickness of layers or regions may be exaggerated in the drawings. Although the drawings show layers and regions with simple lines and boundaries, some or all of these lines and / or boundaries may be idealized. In reality, the boundaries and / or lines may be unobservable, mixed, and / or irregular. Detailed Description

[0020] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle 100 in which examples disclosed herein may be implemented. In Figure 1 the illustrated example, the vehicle 100 implements an example vehicle control circuit 102 in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure. In this example, the vehicle 100 also includes an example steering wheel sensor 104, an example yaw rate sensor 106, and one or more example motors 108 that are operatively coupled to respective wheels 110 of the vehicle 100 (e.g., including front wheels 110A, 110B and / or rear wheels 110C, 110D).

[0021] The vehicle 100 is a motorized wheeled drive vehicle. In Figure 1 the illustrated example, the vehicle 100 is a pickup truck. In other examples, the vehicle 100 can be any type of wheeled vehicle (e.g., sedan, coupe, van, sport utility vehicle, all-terrain vehicle (ATV), agricultural vehicle, etc.). In some examples, the vehicle 100 includes an internal combustion engine (e.g., a non-electric vehicle, a partially electric vehicle, etc.). In other examples, the vehicle 100 is a pure electric vehicle.

[0022] In Figure 1 the example, the steering wheel sensor 104 and the yaw rate sensor 106 are communicatively coupled to the vehicle control circuit 102 to provide example sensor data (e.g., sensor signal data) thereto. In some examples, the steering wheel sensor 104 is implemented on an example steering system of the vehicle 100, where the steering system converts the rotational movement of the steering wheel of the vehicle 100 into a pivoting movement of one or more of the wheels 110. In some examples, the steering system includes a mechanical linkage (e.g., a rack and pinion system and / or a steering column) to operatively couple the steering wheel to one or more of the wheels 110. In other examples, the steering system can be a steer-by-wire system and / or a partial steer-by-wire system. In some examples, the steering system can include any suitable type of power steering and / or steering assist (e.g., electric, hydraulic, hybrid electric hydraulic system, etc.). In Figure 1In the illustrated example, the steering wheel sensor 104 measures and / or detects an example steering wheel angle of the steering wheel and provides and / or transmits the measured steering wheel angle as example steering wheel angle data (e.g., steering wheel sensor data) 112 to the vehicle control circuit 102. In some examples, the steering wheel angle data 112 includes the position (e.g., angular position) of the steering wheel, the rotational rate of the steering wheel, and the like.

[0023] In Figure 1 the illustrated example, the yaw rate sensor 106 measures and / or detects an example yaw rate of the vehicle 100, where the yaw rate represents the rotational rate (e.g., angular velocity) of the vehicle 100 relative to an example yaw axis 116 of the vehicle 100. In some examples, the yaw rate sensor 106 provides and / or transmits the measured yaw rate as example yaw rate sensor data (e.g., measured yaw rate data, measured yaw rate signal data) 114 to the vehicle control circuit 102.

[0024] In Figure 1 the example, the motor 108 is operatively coupled to one or more respective wheels of the wheels 110 to adjust their wheel angles. For example, the motor 108 can apply torque to the wheel 110 in a first direction to cause the wheel 110 to rotate and / or pivot clockwise relative to Figure 1 the example yaw axis 116, thereby steering the vehicle 100 in the rightward direction of the vehicle 100. Conversely, the motor 108 can apply torque to the wheel 110 in a second direction (opposite to the first direction) to cause the wheel 110 to rotate and / or pivot clockwise relative to Figure 1 the yaw axis 116, thereby steering the vehicle 100 in the leftward direction of the vehicle 100. In some examples, the direction and / or magnitude of the torque applied by the motor 108 can be adjusted and / or controlled based on one or more control signals (e.g., torque control signal 118) received and / or obtained from the vehicle control circuit 102.

[0025] In Figure 1 the example, the vehicle control circuit 102 generates an example control signal 118 for controlling the corresponding motor 108 based on the steering wheel angle data 112 and / or the yaw rate sensor data 114. Although the control signal 118 is used to control the motor 108 in this example, the vehicle control circuit 102 can additionally or alternatively generate one or more control signals to control, for example, one or more other control devices of the vehicle 100 (e.g., brakes, actuators, valves, etc.). In some examples, the vehicle control circuit 102 generates the control signal 118 based on an example combined yaw rate (e.g., frequency-based combined yaw rate) determined from the steering wheel angle data 112 and the yaw rate sensor data 114.

[0026] Figure 2 Yes Figure 1 is a block diagram of an example implementation of the vehicle control circuit 102. Figure 2 The vehicle control circuit 102 of can be instantiated (e.g., created, formed over any length of time, embodied, implemented, etc.) by a programmable circuit such as a central processing unit (CPU) that executes a first instruction. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 2 The vehicle control circuit 102 of can be instantiated (e.g., created, formed over any length of time, embodied, implemented, etc.) by: (i) an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and / or (ii) a field programmable gate array (FPGA) that is structured and / or configured to perform operations corresponding to the first instruction in response to executing a second instruction. It should be understood that Figure 2 Some or all of the circuits of can thus be instantiated at the same or different times. Figure 2 Some or all of the circuits of can be instantiated, for example, in one or more threads that execute simultaneously on hardware and / or serially on hardware. Additionally, in some examples, Figure 2 Some or all of the circuits of can be implemented by a microprocessor circuit executing instructions and / or an FPGA circuit performing operations to implement one or more virtual machines and / or containers.

[0027] In Figure 2 the example shown, the vehicle control circuit 102 includes an example input interface circuit 202, an example yaw rate calculation circuit 204, an example frequency selection circuit 206, an example signal filtering circuit 208, an example torque control circuit 210, an example signal mixing circuit 212, and an example database 214.

[0028] Figure 2 The example database 214 of stores data utilized, generated, and / or obtained by the vehicle control circuit 102. Figure 2 The example database 214 of is implemented by any memory, storage device, and / or storage disk for storing data such as, for example, flash memory, magnetic media, optical media, solid state memory, hard disk drive, thumb drive, etc. Additionally, the data stored in the example database 214 can be in any data format such as, for example, binary data, comma separated data, tab separated data, structured query language (SQL) structures, etc. Although in the example shown, the example database 214 is shown as a single device, the example database 214 and / or any other data storage device described herein can be implemented by any number and / or type of memory.

[0029] The example input interface circuit 202 receives, accesses, and / or obtains example input data to be utilized by the vehicle control circuit 102. For example, the input interface circuit 202 receives fromFigure 1 An example steering wheel sensor 104 obtains example steering wheel angle data 112, and / or obtains example yaw rate sensor data 114 from Figure 1 an example yaw rate sensor 106. In some examples, the yaw rate sensor data 114 includes a second example signal representing measured yaw rate values over time, and the steering wheel angle data 112 includes a second example signal representing measured steering wheel angle values over time. In some examples, the input interface circuit 202 periodically accesses and / or obtains the steering wheel angle data 112 and / or the yaw rate sensor data 114, where the steering wheel angle data 112 and the yaw rate sensor data 114 may be associated with different transmission delays and / or latencies. In some examples, the input interface circuit 202 provides the steering wheel angle data 112 and / or the yaw rate sensor data 114 to the database 214 for storage therein. In some examples, the input interface circuit 202 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes input interface circuit instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those represented by Figure 5 a flowchart.

[0030] The yaw rate calculation circuit 204 calculates and / or determines the yaw rate of the vehicle 100 based on the steering wheel angle data 112 and / or the yaw rate sensor data 114. For example, the yaw rate calculation circuit 204 determines a first example yaw rate signal (e.g., a measured yaw rate signal, an actual yaw rate signal) corresponding to a first signal representing the measured yaw rate from the yaw rate sensor data 114. In some examples, the yaw rate calculation circuit 204 determines a second example yaw rate signal (e.g., a calculated yaw rate signal, an estimated yaw rate signal) based on the steering wheel angle data 112. For example, the yaw rate calculation circuit 204 estimates and / or determines a second yaw rate signal value of the vehicle 100 based on the steering wheel angle value from the steering wheel angle data 112 and / or based on one or more vehicle parameters of the vehicle 100. For example, the vehicle parameters may include the wheelbase of the vehicle 100, the driving speed of the vehicle 100, the mass of the vehicle 100, measured values of vehicle parts of the vehicle 100 (e.g., wheels 110), distances between relative regions of the vehicle 100. In some examples, the yaw rate calculation circuit 204 uses a bicycle model to estimate and / or determine the second yaw rate signal value based on the steering wheel angle data 112. In some examples, the yaw rate calculation circuit 204 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes yaw rate calculation circuit instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those represented by Figure 5 a flowchart.

[0031] Figure 2The frequency selection circuit 206 selects an example threshold frequency (e.g., a crossover frequency) to perform frequency-based filtering on the measured and calculated yaw rate signals. For example, the frequency selection circuit 206 may select the threshold frequency based on a threshold yaw rate expected along the predicted path of the vehicle 100 (e.g., a maximum yaw rate). In some examples, the frequency selection circuit 206 determines the expected threshold yaw rate based on the road curvature along the predicted path and / or based on a threshold speed along the predicted path (e.g., a posted speed limit). In some examples, the threshold frequency may be constant (e.g., unchanging), and / or the threshold frequency may vary over time (e.g., as the vehicle 100 travels along the predicted path). For example, the frequency selection circuit 206 may periodically evaluate the expected threshold yaw rate at corresponding different positions along the predicted path. In some such examples, when the vehicle 100 is at the corresponding different positions, the frequency selection circuit 206 adjusts the threshold frequency based on the corresponding expected threshold yaw rate. In some examples, the frequency selection circuit 206 selects the threshold frequency based on a combination (e.g., an average) of different threshold frequencies and / or expected threshold yaw rates.

[0032] In some examples, the frequency selection circuit 206 selects the threshold frequency based on empirical data associated with one or more vehicles (e.g., test and / or validation results). In some examples, the one or more vehicles may be of the same vehicle type (e.g., model) as the vehicle 100 Figure 1 and / or may include different vehicle types. In some examples, the empirical data may include historical threshold frequency values selected for one or more vehicles, historical control signals generated based on the corresponding historical threshold frequency values, and / or other performance metrics associated with one or more vehicles. In some examples, the frequency selection circuit 206 may select the threshold frequency based on the output of an example machine learning model trained according to the empirical data.

[0033] In some examples, the frequency selection circuit 206 evaluates historical control signals and / or performance metrics based on one or more example performance thresholds to select a threshold frequency. For example, the frequency selection circuit 206 can evaluate one or more example signal characteristics (e.g., the number of oscillations present in the historical control signal, the duration associated with the oscillations, the amplitude associated with the oscillations, etc.), where the signal characteristics represent the performance of the corresponding vehicle in response to encountering an obstacle (e.g., frost heave) and / or entering a turn. In some examples, the frequency selection circuit 206 selects a threshold frequency corresponding to a historical control signal whose signal characteristics in the historical control signal meet the performance threshold (e.g., indicating satisfactory performance of the vehicle in response to encountering an obstacle and / or entering a turn). In some examples, the frequency selection circuit 206 selects a threshold frequency of a historical control signal whose number of oscillations meets (e.g., is less than) a threshold number, oscillation duration meets (e.g., is less than) a threshold duration, and / or amplitude meets (e.g., is less than) a threshold amplitude in the historical control signal. In some examples, the frequency selection circuit 206 provides the selected threshold frequency to the database 214 for storage therein. For example, the frequency selection circuit 206 can generate and / or update an example look-up table (e.g., a one-dimensional static look-up table) that represents selected values of threshold frequencies for corresponding different speeds of the vehicle 100. In some examples, the frequency selection circuit 206 can utilize the look-up table to select a threshold frequency based on the speed of the vehicle 100. In some examples, the frequency selection circuit 206 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes frequency selection circuit instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those represented by the Figure 5 flowchart of

[0034] Figure 2The example signal filtering circuit 208 filters the measured yaw rate signal (e.g., from the yaw rate sensor 106) and / or the calculated yaw rate signal (e.g., from the steering wheel sensor 104) based on a selected threshold frequency. For example, the signal filtering circuit 208 applies a first example filter (e.g., a low-pass filter) to the measured yaw rate signal and a second example filter (e.g., a high-pass filter) to the calculated yaw rate signal, where the first filter and the second filter correspond to the selected threshold frequency. In some examples, the first filter passes (e.g., enables) a first example signal component of the measured yaw rate signal that is below the threshold frequency and attenuates (e.g., reduces, removes) a second example signal component of the measured yaw rate signal that is equal to or above the threshold frequency. Conversely, the second filter attenuates a third example signal component of the calculated yaw rate signal that is below the threshold frequency and passes a fourth example signal component of the calculated yaw rate signal that is equal to or above the threshold frequency. In some examples, the first filter corresponds to a low-pass filter (e.g., an infinite impulse response (IIR) low-pass filter), and the second filter corresponds to a high-pass filter (e.g., an IIR high-pass filter). In some examples, one or more different types of filters may be used for at least one of the first filter or the second filter. For example, at least one of the first filter or the second filter may include a notch filter, a band-pass filter, etc.

[0035] In some examples, due to applying the first filter and the second filter to the respective measured yaw rate signal and calculated yaw rate signal, the signal filtering circuit 208 outputs a first example filtered yaw rate signal corresponding to the measured yaw rate signal (e.g., the filtered measured yaw rate signal, a low-frequency signal) and a second example filtered signal corresponding to the calculated yaw rate signal (e.g., the filtered calculated yaw rate signal, a high-frequency signal). In some examples, the signal filtering circuit 208 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes signal filtering circuit instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those represented by Figure 5 the flowchart of.

[0036] The example signal mixing circuit 212 generates an example mixed signal (e.g., a mixed yaw rate signal) based on the first filtered signal and the second filtered signal. For example, the signal mixing circuit 212 mixes (e.g., combines, adds together) the first filtered signal and the second filtered signal to generate and / or output the mixed signal. In some examples, the mixed signal includes an example high-frequency signal component (e.g., a signal component equal to or higher than a threshold frequency) from the measured yaw rate signal and an example low-frequency component (e.g., a signal component lower than the threshold frequency) from the calculated yaw rate signal. In some examples, the signal mixing circuit 212 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes signal mixing circuit instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those represented by the Figure 5 flowchart.

[0037] The example torque control circuit 210 generates and / or outputs an example control signal 118 based on the mixed signal. For example, the torque control circuit 210 inputs and / or provides the mixed signal as an example feedback signal to an example closed-loop controller (e.g., a feedback loop controller) implemented by the torque control circuit 210. In some examples, the torque control circuit 210 calculates a difference value (e.g., a curvature difference) via the closed-loop controller based on the difference between the feedback signal and the desired and / or expected yaw rate of the vehicle 100, where the desired and / or expected yaw rate is based on the road curvature of the projected path of the vehicle 100. In some such examples, the torque control circuit 210 generates and / or adjusts the control signal 118 based on the calculated difference value. In some examples, the torque control circuit 210 provides and / or transmits the control signal 118 to Figure 1 one or more corresponding example motors of the example motor 108 and / or one or more other example devices (e.g., actuators, valves, brakes, etc.) of the vehicle 100. In some examples, based on the control signal 118, the torque control circuit 210 can adjust the direction and / or magnitude of the torque applied by the motor 108 to one or more corresponding wheels of the wheels 110 of the vehicle 100. In some examples, the torque control circuit 210 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes torque control circuit instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those represented by the Figure 5 flowchart.

[0038] Figure 3 is a representation of Figure 1 and / or Figure 2 example graph 300 of the selection of an example threshold frequency (e.g., a crossover frequency) by the example vehicle control circuit 102. In Figure 3In the illustrated example, the graph 300 includes a first example axis (e.g., a horizontal axis) 302 representing candidate values (e.g., frequency values) of a threshold frequency, and a second example axis (e.g., a vertical axis) 304 representing the contribution amount (e.g., percentage, ratio) of a signal (e.g., a measured yaw rate signal and / or a calculated yaw rate signal) relative to a mixed signal (e.g., a feedback signal). In this example, the graph 300 includes: a first example line 306 representing the first example contribution amount of the measured yaw rate signal at corresponding values of the threshold frequency; and a second example line 308 representing the second example contribution amount of the calculated yaw rate signal at corresponding values of the threshold frequency. Additionally, the graph 300 includes an example vertical line 310 representing a selected threshold frequency.

[0039] In Figure 3 the illustrated example, when the selected threshold frequency increases (e.g., the vertical line 310 shifts to the right in Figure 3 ), the first contribution amount of the measured yaw rate signal (e.g., represented by the first line 306) decreases, while the second contribution amount of the calculated yaw rate signal (e.g., represented by the second line 308) increases. Conversely, when the selected threshold frequency decreases (e.g., the vertical line 310 shifts to the left in Figure 3 ), the first contribution amount of the measured yaw rate signal increases, while the second contribution amount of the calculated yaw rate signal decreases. In some examples, the vehicle control circuit 102 selects a frequency value corresponding to an example intersection point 312 between the first line 306 and the second line 308 for the threshold frequency.

[0040] Figure 4 is an example graph 400 of an example yaw rate signal measured and / or obtained by Figure 1 and / or Figure 2 the example vehicle control circuit 102. In Figure 4 the illustrated example, the graph 400 includes a first example axis (e.g., a horizontal axis) 402 representing the number of samples (e.g., data samples), and a second example axis (e.g., a vertical axis) 404 representing example yaw rate values (e.g., in degrees per second). In this example, the graph 400 includes a first example signal 406 representing an example measured yaw rate from the Figure 1 yaw rate sensor 106, a second example signal 408 representing an example filtered value of the measured yaw rate, a third example signal 410 representing an example calculated yaw rate based on sensor data from the Figure 1 steering wheel sensor 104, a fourth example signal 412 representing an example filtered value of the calculated yaw rate, and a fifth example signal 414 representing an example mixed yaw rate based on the filtered measured yaw rate and the filtered calculated yaw rate.

[0041] InFigure 4 In the illustrated example, the first signal 406 includes high-frequency fluctuations and / or variations caused by transmission delays and / or noise introduced during the measurement of the yaw rate sensor 106. In some examples, to reduce the noise and / or fluctuations in the first signal 406, the vehicle control circuit 102 filters the first signal 406 (e.g., using a low-pass filter) and thus generates and / or outputs a second signal 408. In this example, the third signal 410 includes an offset (e.g., a scaling difference) relative to the first signal 406 and the second signal 408, where the offset in the third signal 410 is generated by an example offset associated with the steering system of the vehicle 100. In some examples, the vehicle control circuit 102 filters the third signal 410 (e.g., using a high-pass filter) to reduce the offset and thus generates a fourth signal 412.

[0042] In Figure 4 the example, the vehicle control circuit 102 mixes (e.g., combines, adds together) the second signal 408 and the fourth signal 412. Due to the mixing, the vehicle control circuit 102 generates and / or outputs a fifth signal 414 that is similar to the measured yaw rate represented in the first signal 406 but is smoother (e.g., includes less noise and / or fluctuations) compared to the first signal 406. By controlling Figure 1 the motor 108 based on the mixed fifth signal 414, the vehicle control circuit 102 can reduce the oscillation of the control signal 118 (e.g., in the case of external disturbances such as frost heave) and thus can reduce the power demand of the motor 108 and / or can provide a smoother ride for the driver and / or passengers of the vehicle 100.

[0043] In some examples, the vehicle control circuit 102 includes means for docking. For example, the means for docking can be implemented by the input interface circuit 202. In some examples, the input interface circuit 202 can be instantiated by a programmable circuit (such as Figure 6 the example programmable circuit 612). By way of example, the input interface circuit 202 can be Figure 7 instantiated by an execution machine that executes machine-executable instructions (such as those implemented by at least Figure 5 the blocks 502, 518) of the example microprocessor 700. In some examples, the input interface circuit 202 can be instantiated by a hardware logic circuit, which can be an ASIC, an XPU, or Figure 8implemented by the FPGA circuit 800, which is configured and / or structured to perform operations corresponding to machine-readable instructions. Additionally or alternatively, the input interface circuit 202 may be instantiated by any other combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware. For example, the input interface circuit 202 may be implemented by at least one or more hardware circuits (such as processor circuits, discrete and / or integrated analog and / or digital circuits, FPGAs, ASICs, XPUs, comparators, operational amplifiers (op-amps), logic circuits, etc.), which are configured and / or structured to perform some or all of the machine-readable instructions and / or perform some or all of the operations corresponding to the machine-readable instructions without executing software or firmware, but other structures are equally applicable.

[0044] In some examples, the vehicle control circuit 102 includes means for computing. For example, the means for computing may be implemented by the yaw rate computing circuit 204. In some examples, the yaw rate computing circuit 204 may be instantiated by a programmable circuit (such as Figure 6 the example programmable circuit 612). By way of example, the yaw rate computing circuit 204 may be Figure 7 implemented by an example microprocessor 700 that executes machine-executable instructions (such as those implemented by at least Figure 5 the blocks 504, 506). In some examples, the yaw rate computing circuit 204 may be instantiated by a hardware logic circuit, which may be implemented by an ASIC, XPU, or Figure 8 the FPGA circuit 800, which is configured and / or structured to perform operations corresponding to machine-readable instructions. Additionally or alternatively, the yaw rate computing circuit 204 may be instantiated by any other combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware. For example, the yaw rate computing circuit 204 may be implemented by at least one or more hardware circuits (such as processor circuits, discrete and / or integrated analog and / or digital circuits, FPGAs, ASICs, XPUs, comparators, operational amplifiers (op-amps), logic circuits, etc.), which are configured and / or structured to perform some or all of the machine-readable instructions and / or perform some or all of the operations corresponding to the machine-readable instructions without executing software or firmware, but other structures are equally applicable.

[0045] In some examples, the vehicle control circuit 102 includes means for selecting. For example, the means for computing may be implemented by the frequency selection circuit 206. In some examples, the frequency selection circuit 206 may be instantiated by a programmable circuit (such as Figure 6 the example programmable circuit 612). By way of example, the frequency selection circuit 206 may be Figure 7executes machine-executable instructions (such as those implemented by block 508 of at least Figure 5 example microprocessor 700). In some examples, the frequency selection circuit 206 may be instantiated by hardware logic circuitry, which may be implemented by an ASIC, XPU, or Figure 8 FPGA circuit 800, which is configured and / or structured to perform operations corresponding to the machine-readable instructions. Additionally or alternatively, the frequency selection circuit 206 may be instantiated by any other combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware. For example, the frequency selection circuit 206 may be implemented by at least one or more hardware circuits (e.g., processor circuitry, discrete and / or integrated analog and / or digital circuits, FPGA, ASIC, XPU, comparator, operational amplifier (op-amp), logic circuitry, etc.), which are configured and / or structured to perform some or all of the machine-readable instructions, and / or perform some or all of the operations corresponding to the machine-readable instructions, without executing software or firmware, but other configurations are equally applicable.

[0046] In some examples, the vehicle control circuit 102 includes means for filtering. For example, the means for filtering may be implemented by the signal filtering circuit 208. In some examples, the signal filtering circuit 208 may be instantiated by a programmable circuit (such as Figure 6 example programmable circuit 612). By way of example, the signal filtering circuit 208 may be Figure 7 executes machine-executable instructions (such as those implemented by block 510, 512 of at least Figure 5 example microprocessor 700). In some examples, the signal filtering circuit 208 may be instantiated by hardware logic circuitry, which may be implemented by an ASIC, XPU, or Figure 8 FPGA circuit 800, which is configured and / or structured to perform operations corresponding to the machine-readable instructions. Additionally or alternatively, the signal filtering circuit 208 may be instantiated by any other combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware. For example, the signal filtering circuit 208 may be implemented by at least one or more hardware circuits (e.g., processor circuitry, discrete and / or integrated analog and / or digital circuits, FPGA, ASIC, XPU, comparator, operational amplifier (op-amp), logic circuitry, etc.), which are configured and / or structured to perform some or all of the machine-readable instructions, and / or perform some or all of the operations corresponding to the machine-readable instructions, without executing software or firmware, but other configurations are equally applicable.

[0047] In some examples, the vehicle control circuit 102 includes means for controlling. For example, the means for controlling may be implemented by the torque control circuit 210. In some examples, the torque control circuit 210 may be instantiated by a programmable circuit (such as Figure 6 the example programmable circuit 612). For example, the torque control circuit 210 may be instantiated by Figure 7 an example microprocessor 700 that executes machine-executable instructions (such as those implemented by at least Figure 5 the block 516). In some examples, the torque control circuit 210 may be instantiated by a hardware logic circuit, which may be implemented by an ASIC, an XPU, or Figure 8 the FPGA circuit 800, which is configured and / or structured to perform operations corresponding to the machine-readable instructions. Additionally or alternatively, the torque control circuit 210 may be instantiated by any other combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware. For example, the torque control circuit 210 may be implemented by at least one or more hardware circuits (e.g., processor circuits, discrete and / or integrated analog and / or digital circuits, FPGAs, ASICs, XPU, comparators, operational amplifiers (op-amps), logic circuits, etc.), which are configured and / or structured to perform some or all of the machine-readable instructions and / or perform some or all of the operations corresponding to the machine-readable instructions without executing software or firmware, but other architectures are equally applicable.

[0048] In some examples, the vehicle control circuit 102 includes means for mixing. For example, the means for mixing may be implemented by the signal mixing circuit 212. In some examples, the signal mixing circuit 212 may be instantiated by a programmable circuit (such as Figure 6 the example programmable circuit 612). For example, the signal mixing circuit 212 may be instantiated by Figure 7 an example microprocessor 700 that executes machine-executable instructions (such as those implemented by at least Figure 5 the block 514). In some examples, the signal mixing circuit 212 may be instantiated by a hardware logic circuit, which may be implemented by an ASIC, an XPU, or Figure 8implemented by the FPGA circuit 800, which is configured and / or structured to perform operations corresponding to machine-readable instructions. Additionally or alternatively, the signal mixing circuit 212 may be instantiated by any other combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware. For example, the signal mixing circuit 212 may be implemented by at least one or more hardware circuits (e.g., processor circuits, discrete and / or integrated analog and / or digital circuits, FPGA, ASIC, XPU, comparators, operational amplifiers (op-amps), logic circuits, etc.), which are configured and / or structured to perform some or all of the machine-readable instructions and / or perform some or all of the operations corresponding to the machine-readable instructions without executing software or firmware, but other configurations are equally applicable.

[0049] Although Figure 2 shows an example manner of implementing Figure 1 the vehicle control circuit 102, Figure 2 one or more of the elements, processes, and / or devices shown in Figure 2 the example vehicle control circuit 102 can be combined, divided, rearranged, omitted, excluded, and / or implemented in any other way. Additionally, the example input interface circuit 202, the example yaw rate calculation circuit 204, the example frequency selection circuit 206, the example signal filtering circuit 208, the example torque control circuit 210, the example signal mixing circuit 212, the example database 214, and / or more generally Figure 2 the example vehicle control circuit 102 can be implemented by hardware alone or by hardware in combination with software and / or firmware. Thus, for example, any one of the example input interface circuit 202, the example yaw rate calculation circuit 204, the example frequency selection circuit 206, the example signal filtering circuit 208, the example torque control circuit 210, the example signal mixing circuit 212, the example database 214, and / or more generally the example vehicle control circuit 102 can be implemented by a programmable circuit in combination with machine-readable instructions (e.g., firmware or software), processor circuits, analog circuits, digital circuits, logic circuits, programmable processors, programmable microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), ASICs, programmable logic devices (PLDs), and / or field-programmable logic devices (FPLDs) (such as FPGAs). Additionally, Figure 2 the example vehicle control circuit 102 can include one or more elements, processes, and / or devices as a supplement or alternative to Figure 2 the elements, processes, and / or devices shown in

[0050] Figure 5 shows representations that can be executed by a programmable circuit to implement and / or instantiate Figure 2The example machine-readable instructions and / or representations of the vehicle control circuit 102 may be executed by the programmable circuit to implement and / or instantiate Figure 2 The machine-readable instructions may be a flowchart of an example operation of the vehicle control circuit 102. The machine-readable instructions may be for a programmable circuit (such as the following in conjunction with Figure 6 The example processor platform 600 shown in the example processor platform 600 discussed above may be executed by the programmable circuit 612) or one or more executable programs or portions of one or more executable programs, and / or may be executed by the following in conjunction with Figure 7 and / or Figure 8 The example programmable circuit (e.g., FPGA) discussed herein performs one or more functions or portions of functions. In some examples, machine-readable instructions cause operations, tasks, etc. to be performed and / or executed in an automated manner in the real world. As used herein, "automated" means without human involvement.

[0051] The program may be embodied in instructions (e.g., software and / or firmware) stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readable and / or machine-readable storage media, such as cache memory; magnetic storage devices or disks (e.g., floppy disks, hard disk drives (HDDs), etc.); optical storage devices or disks (e.g., Blu-ray discs, compact disks (CDs), digital versatile disks (DVDs), etc.); redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID); registers; ROM; solid-state drives (SSDs); SSD memory; non-volatile memory (e.g., electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, etc.); volatile memory (e.g., any type of random access memory (RAM), etc.); and / or any other storage device or storage disk. The instructions of the non-transitory computer-readable and / or machine-readable medium may be programmed and / or executed by programmable circuits located in one or more hardware devices, but the entire program and / or portions thereof may alternatively be executed and / or instantiated and / or embodied in dedicated hardware by one or more hardware devices rather than by programmable circuits. The machine-readable instructions may be distributed across multiple hardware devices and / or executed by two or more hardware devices (e.g., a server and a client hardware device). For example, a client hardware device may be implemented by an endpoint client hardware device (e.g., a hardware device associated with a user and / or machine user) or an intermediate client hardware device gateway (e.g., a radio access network (RAN) that may facilitate communications between a server and an endpoint client hardware device). Similarly, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may include one or more media. Furthermore, although reference is made to Figure 5The flowchart shown describes an example program, but many other methods may alternatively be used to implement the example vehicle control circuit 102. For example, the order of execution of the blocks of the flowchart may be changed, and / or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined. Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks of the flowchart may be implemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g., processor circuits, discrete and / or integrated analog and / or digital circuits, FPGAs, ASICs, comparators, operational amplifiers (op-amps), logic circuits, etc.), the one or more hardware circuits being structured to perform the corresponding operations without executing software or firmware. The programmable circuits may be distributed at different network locations and / or be local to one or more hardware devices (e.g., a single-core processor (e.g., a single-core CPU), a multi-core processor (e.g., a multi-core CPU, XPU, etc.)). For example, the programmable circuits may be a CPU and / or FPGA located in the same package (e.g., the same integrated circuit (IC) package or two or more separate enclosures), one or more processors in a single machine, multiple processors distributed across server racks, multiple processors distributed across one or more server racks, etc., and / or any combination thereof.

[0052] The machine-readable instructions described herein may be stored in one or more of a compressed format, an encrypted format, a segmented format, a compiled format, an executable format, a packaged format, etc. The machine-readable instructions described herein may be stored as data (e.g., computer-readable data, machine-readable data, one or more bits (e.g., one or more computer-readable bits, one or more machine-readable bits, etc.), a bitstream (e.g., a computer-readable bitstream, a machine-readable bitstream, etc.)) or a data structure (e.g., stored as a portion of an instruction, code, a representation of code, etc.) that can be used to create, manufacture, and / or generate machine-executable instructions. For example, the machine-readable instructions may be segmented and stored on one or more storage devices, disks, and / or computing devices (e.g., servers) located at the same or different locations of a network or a collection of networks (e.g., in the cloud, at an edge device, etc.). The machine-readable instructions may need to be installed, modified, adapted, updated, combined, supplemented, configured, decrypted, decompressed, unpacked, distributed, redistributed, compiled, etc. in order to be directly readable, interpretable, and / or executable by a computing device and / or other machine. For example, the machine-readable instructions may be stored in multiple parts that are individually compressed, encrypted, and / or stored on separate computing devices, where the parts form, when decrypted, decompressed, and / or combined, a set of computer-executable and / or machine-executable instructions that can together implement one or more functions and / or operations of a program such as described herein.

[0053] In another example, the machine-readable instructions may be stored in a state in which they can be read by a programmable circuit, but libraries (e.g., dynamic link libraries (DLLs)), software development kits (SDKs), application programming interfaces (APIs), etc. may need to be added in order to execute the machine-readable instructions on a particular computing device or other device. In another example, it may be necessary to configure the machine-readable instructions (e.g., store settings, input data, record network addresses, etc.) before the machine-readable instructions and / or one or more corresponding programs can be executed in whole or in part. Thus, as used herein, machine-readable, computer-readable, and / or machine-readable media may include instructions and / or programs regardless of the particular format or state of the machine-readable instructions and / or programs.

[0054] The machine-readable instructions described herein may be represented by any past, present, or future instruction language, scripting language, programming language, etc. For example, the machine-readable instructions may be represented using any one of the following languages: C, C++, Java, C#, Perl, Python, JavaScript, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Structured Query Language (SQL), Swift, etc.

[0055] As mentioned above, executable instructions (e.g., computer-readable instructions and / or machine-readable instructions) stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readable media and / or machine-readable media may be used to implement Figure 5Example operations. As used herein, the terms non-transitory computer-readable medium, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, non-transitory machine-readable medium, and / or non-transitory machine-readable storage medium are expressly defined to include any type of computer-readable storage device and / or storage disk, and to exclude propagated signals and to exclude transmission media. Examples of such non-transitory computer-readable media, non-transitory computer-readable storage media, non-transitory machine-readable media, and / or non-transitory machine-readable storage media include optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, HDDs, flash memories, read-only memories (ROMs), CDs, DVDs, caches, any type of RAM, registers, and / or any other storage device or storage disk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., an extended period of time, permanently, for a transient situation, for temporary buffering, and / or for caching information). As used herein, the terms "non-transitory computer-readable storage device" and "non-transitory machine-readable storage device" are defined to include any physical (mechanical, magnetic, and / or electrical) hardware to retain information for a period of time, but to exclude propagated signals and to exclude transmission media. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage devices and / or non-transitory machine-readable storage devices include any type of random access memory, any type of read-only memory, solid-state memories, flash memories, optical disks, magnetic disks, disk drives, and / or redundant array of independent disks (RAID) systems. As used herein, the term "device" refers to a physical structure that can be configured and / or fabricated, either by or without computer-readable instructions, machine-readable instructions, etc., to execute computer-readable instructions, machine-readable instructions, etc., such as a mechanical and / or electrical device, hardware, and / or circuitry.

[0056] Figure 5 represents example machine-readable instructions and / or a flowchart of example operations 500 that can be executed, instantiated, and / or implemented by a programmable circuit to implement Figure 1 and / or Figure 2 example vehicle control circuit 102. Figure 5 The example machine-readable instructions and / or example operations 500 begin at block 502, where example vehicle control circuit 102 accesses and / or obtains example steering wheel angle data 112 and / or example yaw rate sensor data 114 from one or more example vehicle sensors of vehicle 100 of Figure 1 For example, Figure 2 example input interface circuit 202 of Figure 1 accesses the steering wheel angle data 112 output by example steering wheel sensor 104 of Figure 1 and accesses the yaw rate sensor data 114 from example yaw rate sensor 106 of

[0057] At block 504, example vehicle control circuit 102 determines an example calculated yaw rate signal based on steering wheel angle data 112. For example, Figure 2 example yaw rate calculation circuit 204 of Figure 2 determines a calculated yaw rate signal based on a steering wheel angle value from steering wheel angle data 112 and / or based on one or more example vehicle parameters of vehicle 100. For example, vehicle parameters can include the wheelbase of vehicle 100, the driving speed of vehicle 100, the mass of vehicle 100, measurements of vehicle parts of vehicle 100, distances between relative regions of vehicle 100, etc.

[0058] At block 506, example vehicle control circuit 102 determines an example measured yaw rate signal based on yaw rate sensor data 114. For example, yaw rate calculation circuit 204 determines that the measured yaw rate signal corresponds to a measured yaw rate value that varies over time represented in yaw rate sensor data 114.

[0059] At block 508, example vehicle control circuit 102 selects an example crossover frequency (e.g., a threshold frequency). For example, Figure 2 example frequency selection circuit 206 of Figure 2 selects a crossover frequency based on a threshold yaw rate (e.g., a maximum yaw rate) expected along a predicted path of vehicle 100, where the expected threshold yaw rate can be based on the road curvature along the predicted path and / or based on a threshold speed (e.g., a posted speed limit) along the predicted path. In some examples, frequency selection circuit 206 selects a crossover frequency based on historical test and / or validation results associated with one or more other vehicles.

[0060] At block 510, example vehicle control circuit 102 applies an example low-pass filter to the measured yaw rate signal based on the crossover frequency. For example, Figure 2 example signal filtering circuit 208 of Figure 2 applies a low-pass filter to the measured yaw rate signal to pass low-frequency signal components (e.g., signal components below the crossover frequency) and attenuate high-frequency signal components (e.g., signal components equal to or above the crossover frequency) in the measured yaw rate signal. In some examples, due to applying the low-pass filter, signal filtering circuit 208 outputs an example filtered measured yaw rate signal.

[0061] At block 512, example vehicle control circuit 102 applies an example high-pass filter to the calculated yaw rate signal based on the crossover frequency. For example, signal filtering circuit 208 applies a high-pass filter to the calculated yaw rate signal to attenuate low-frequency signal components (e.g., signal components below the crossover frequency) and pass high-frequency signal components (e.g., signal components equal to or above the crossover frequency) in the calculated yaw rate signal. In some examples, due to applying the high-pass filter, signal filtering circuit 208 outputs an example filtered calculated yaw rate signal.

[0062] At block 514, example vehicle control circuit 102 mixes the filtered measured yaw rate signal and the filtered calculated yaw rate signal. For example, Figure 2 example signal mixing circuit 212 mixes (e.g., combines, adds together) the filtered measured yaw rate signal and the calculated yaw rate signal to output an example mixed yaw rate signal.

[0063] At block 516, example vehicle control circuit 102 adjusts an example torque based on the mixed yaw rate signal. For example, Figure 2 example torque control circuit 210 provides the mixed yaw rate signal as an input to a closed-loop controller and generates an example control signal 118 based on the output of the closed-loop controller. In some examples, torque control circuit 210 provides and / or transmits control signal 118 to Figure 1 one or more respective motors of example motor 108 to adjust the direction and / or magnitude of the torque applied by motor 108.

[0064] At block 518, example vehicle control circuit 102 determines whether to continue monitoring. For example, when vehicle 100 is operating and / or when new steering wheel angle data and / or new yaw rate sensor data are obtained, input interface circuit 202 determines to continue monitoring. In response to input interface circuit 202 determining to continue monitoring (e.g., block 518 returns a result of "yes"), control returns to block 502. Alternatively, in response to input interface circuit 202 determining not to continue monitoring (e.g., block 518 returns a result of "no"), control ends.

[0065] Figure 6 is structured to execute and / or instantiate Figure 5 example machine-readable instructions and / or example operations to implement Figure 2 example programmable circuit platform 600 of vehicle control circuit 102. Programmable circuit platform 600 can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, a workstation, a self-learning machine (e.g., a neural network), a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet computer such as an iPad TM ), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet device, a DVD player, a CD player, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, a game console, a personal video recorder, a set-top box, a head-mounted headset (e.g., an augmented reality (AR) head-mounted headset, a virtual reality (VR) head-mounted headset, etc.) or other wearable device or any other type of computing device and / or electronic device.

[0066] The programmable circuit platform 600 of the illustrated example includes a programmable circuit 612. The programmable circuit 612 of the illustrated example is hardware. For example, the programmable circuit 612 can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits, FPGAs, microprocessors, CPUs, GPUs, DSPs, and / or microcontrollers from any desired family or manufacturer. The programmable circuit 612 can be implemented by one or more semiconductor (e.g., silicon-based) devices. In this example, the programmable circuit 612 implements the example input interface circuit 202, the example yaw rate calculation circuit 204, the example frequency selection circuit 206, the example signal filtering circuit 208, the example torque control circuit 210, the example signal mixing circuit 212, and the example database 214.

[0067] The programmable circuit 612 of the illustrated example includes local memory 613 (e.g., cache, registers, etc.). The programmable circuit 612 of the illustrated example communicates with a main memory 614, 616 including volatile memory 614 and non-volatile memory 616 via a bus 618. The volatile memory 614 can be implemented by synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), dynamic random access memory and / or any other type of RAM device. The non-volatile memory 616 can be implemented by flash memory and / or any other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 614, 616 of the illustrated example is controlled by a memory controller 617. In some examples, the memory controller 617 can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits, microcontrollers, or any other type of circuit from any desired family or manufacturer to manage the data stream to and from the main memory 614, 616.

[0068] The programmable circuit platform 600 of the illustrated example also includes an interface circuit 620. The interface circuit 620 can be implemented in hardware according to any type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, interface, a near field communication (NFC) interface, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) interface, and / or a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interface.

[0069] In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 622 are connected to the interface circuit 620. The input devices 622 allow a user (e.g., a human user, a machine user, etc.) to input data and / or commands into the programmable circuit 612. The input devices 622 can be implemented by, for example, audio sensors, microphones, cameras (static or video), keyboards, buttons, mice, touchscreens, trackpads, trackballs, point devices, and / or voice recognition systems.

[0070] One or more output devices 624 are also connected to the interface circuit 620 of the illustrated example. The output device 624 can be implemented, for example, by a display device (e.g., light emitting diode (LED), organic light emitting diode (OLED), liquid crystal display (LCD), cathode ray tube (CRT) display, in-plane switching (IPS) display, touch screen, etc.), a haptic output device, a printer, and / or a speaker. Thus, the interface circuit 620 of the illustrated example generally includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip, and / or graphics processor circuitry, such as a GPU.

[0071] The interface circuit 620 of the illustrated example also includes a communication device, such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a modem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and / or a network interface, to facilitate data exchange with an external machine (e.g., any type of computing device) via a network 626. The communication can be performed, for example, via an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, a satellite system, an over-the-horizon wireless system, a line-of-sight wireless system, a mobile phone system, an optical connection, etc.

[0072] The programmable circuit platform 600 of the illustrated example also includes one or more mass storage disks or devices 628 for storing firmware, software, and / or data. Examples of such mass storage disks or devices 628 include magnetic storage devices (e.g., floppy disks, drives, HDDs, etc.), optical storage devices (e.g., Blu-ray discs, CDs, DVDs, etc.), RAID systems, and / or solid state storage disks or devices, such as flash memory devices and / or SSDs.

[0073] Can be implemented by Figure 5 Machine-readable instructions 632 can be stored in the mass storage device 628, stored in the volatile memory 614, stored in the non-volatile memory 616, and / or stored on at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (such as a CD or DVD) that may be removable.

[0074] Figure 7 Is Figure 6 A block diagram of an example implementation of the programmable circuit 612. In this example, Figure 6 The programmable circuit 612 is implemented by a microprocessor 700. For example, the microprocessor 700 can be a general-purpose microprocessor (e.g., a general-purpose microprocessor circuit). The microprocessor 700 executes Figure 5 Some or all of the machine-readable instructions of the flowchart to effectively instantiate the Figure 2 Circuit into a logic circuit to perform operations corresponding to those machine-readable instructions. In some such examples, Figure 2The circuit is instantiated by the hardware circuit of the microprocessor 700 in combination with machine-readable instructions. For example, the microprocessor 700 may be implemented by a multi-core hardware circuit such as a CPU, DSP, GPU, XPU, etc. Although it may include any number of example cores 702 (e.g., 1 core), the example microprocessor 700 is a multi-core semiconductor device including N cores. The cores 702 of the microprocessor 700 may operate independently or may cooperate to execute machine-readable instructions. For example, the machine code corresponding to a firmware program, an embedded software program, or a software program may be executed by one of the cores 702, or may be executed by multiple cores among the cores 702 at the same or different times. In some examples, the machine code corresponding to a firmware program, an embedded software program, or a software program is divided into threads and executed in parallel by two or more of the cores 702. The software program may correspond to part or all of the machine-readable instructions and / or operations represented by Figure 5 the flowchart of.

[0075] The cores 702 may communicate via a first example bus 704. In some examples, the first bus 704 may be implemented by a communication bus to perform communications associated with one or more of the cores 702. For example, the first bus 704 may be implemented by at least one of an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) bus, a serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus, a PCI bus, or a PCIe bus. Additionally or alternatively, the first bus 704 may be implemented by any other type of computing or electrical bus. The cores 702 may obtain data, instructions, and / or signals from one or more external devices via an example interface circuit 706. The cores 702 may output data, instructions, and / or signals to one or more external devices via the interface circuit 706. Although the example cores 702 include an example local memory 720 (e.g., a level 1 (L1) cache that may be divided into an L1 data cache and an L1 instruction cache), the microprocessor 700 also includes an example shared memory 710 that may be shared by the cores (e.g., a level 2 (L2) cache) for high-speed access to data and / or instructions. Data and / or instructions may be passed (e.g., shared) by writing to and / or reading from the shared memory 710. The local memory 720 of each of the cores 702 and the shared memory 710 may be part of a storage device hierarchy including multiple levels of cache memory and main memory (e.g., Figure 6 the main memories 614, 616). Generally, higher-level memories in the hierarchy exhibit shorter access times and have smaller storage capacities than lower-level memories. The variations in the cache hierarchy at each level are managed (e.g., coordinated) by a cache coherence policy.

[0076] Each core 702 may be referred to as a CPU, DSP, GPU, etc., or any other type of hardware circuit. Each core 702 includes a control unit circuit 714, an arithmetic and logic (AL) circuit (sometimes referred to as an ALU) 716, a plurality of registers 718, a local memory 720, and a second example bus 722. Other structures may exist. For example, each core 702 may include a vector unit circuit, a single instruction multiple data (SIMD) unit circuit, a load / store unit (LSU) circuit, a branch / jump unit circuit, a floating point unit (FPU) circuit, etc. The control unit circuit 714 includes semiconductor-based circuitry configured to control (e.g., coordinate) data movement within the corresponding core 702. The AL circuit 716 includes semiconductor-based circuitry configured to perform one or more mathematical and / or logical operations on data within the corresponding core 702. Some example AL circuits 716 perform integer-based operations. In other examples, the AL circuit 716 also performs floating point operations. In other examples, the AL circuit 716 may include a first AL circuit that performs integer-based operations and a second AL circuit that performs floating point operations. In some examples, the AL circuit 716 may be referred to as an arithmetic logic unit (ALU).

[0077] The registers 718 are semiconductor-based structures for storing data and / or instructions, such as the result of one or more of the operations performed by the AL circuit 716 of the corresponding core 702. For example, the registers 718 may include vector registers, SIMD registers, general purpose registers, flag registers, segment registers, machine-specific registers, instruction pointer registers, control registers, debug registers, memory management registers, machine check registers, etc. The registers 718 may be arranged in groups as shown in Figure 7 FIG. Alternatively, the registers 718 may be organized in any other arrangement, format, or structure, including being distributed throughout the core 702 to reduce access time. The second bus 722 may be implemented by at least one of an I2C bus, an SPI bus, a PCI bus, or a PCIe bus.

[0078] Each core 702 and / or more generally the microprocessor 700 may include additional and / or alternative structures to those shown and described above. For example, there may be one or more clock circuits, one or more power supplies, one or more power gates, one or more cache coherence agents (CHA), one or more aggregation / common mesh stations (CMS), one or more shifters (e.g., barrel shifters), and / or other circuitry. The microprocessor 700 is a semiconductor device fabricated to include many transistors interconnected to implement the above structures in one or more integrated circuits (ICs) contained in one or more packages.

[0079] The microprocessor 700 may include one or more accelerators (e.g., acceleration circuits, hardware accelerators, etc.) and / or cooperate with the one or more accelerators. In some examples, the accelerator is implemented by logic circuitry to perform certain tasks faster and / or more efficiently than a general-purpose processor can. Examples of accelerators include ASICs and FPGAs, such as those discussed herein. GPUs, DSPs, and / or other programmable devices may also be accelerators. The accelerator may be on the microprocessor 700, in the same chip package as the microprocessor 700, and / or in one or more packages separate from the microprocessor 700.

[0080] Figure 8 Is Figure 6 Another example implementation of the programmable circuit 612 of. In this example, the programmable circuit 612 is implemented by the FPGA circuit 800. For example, the FPGA circuit 800 may be implemented by an FPGA. The FPGA circuit 800 can be used, for example, to perform operations that could otherwise be performed by Figure 7 The example microprocessor 700 that executes the corresponding machine-readable instructions. However, once configured, the FPGA circuit 800 instantiates in hardware the operations and / or functions corresponding to the machine-readable instructions, and thus can generally perform the operations / functions faster than a general-purpose microprocessor executing the corresponding software.

[0081] More specifically, compared with the above Figure 7 The microprocessor 700 (which is a general-purpose device that can be programmed to execute some or all of the machine-readable instructions represented by the Figure 5 Flowchart, but the interconnects and logic circuitry of the general-purpose device are fixed once manufactured), Figure 8 The example FPGA circuit 800 of includes interconnects and logic circuitry that can be configured, structured, programmed, and / or interconnected in different ways after manufacture to instantiate, for example, some or all of the operations / functions corresponding to the Figure 5 Machine-readable instructions represented by the flowchart. Specifically, the FPGA circuit 800 can be considered an array of logic gates, interconnects, and switches. The switches can be programmed to change the way the logic gates are interconnected by the interconnects, thereby effectively forming one or more dedicated logic circuits (unless and until the FPGA circuit 800 is reprogrammed). The configured logic circuitry enables the logic gates to cooperate in different ways to perform different operations on the data received by the input circuit. Those operations can correspond to some or all of the Figure 5 Instructions (e.g., software and / or firmware) represented by the flowchart. Thus, the FPGA circuit 800 can be configured and / or structured to correspond to Figure 5Some or all of the operations / functions of the machine-readable instructions in the flowchart are effectively instantiated as dedicated logic circuits, thereby performing the operations / functions corresponding to these software instructions in a dedicated manner similar to an ASIC. Thus, the FPGA circuit 800 can execute some or all of the operations / functions corresponding to Figure 5 the machine-readable instructions faster than a general-purpose microprocessor.

[0082] In Figure 8 the example, the FPGA circuit 800 is configured and / or structured in response to being programmed (and / or reprogrammed one or more times) based on a binary file. In some examples, the binary file can be compiled and / or generated based on instructions in a hardware description language (HDL) (such as Lucid, Very High Speed Integrated Circuit (VHSIC) Hardware Description Language (VHDL), or Verilog). For example, a user (e.g., a human user, a machine user, etc.) can write code or a program in HDL corresponding to one or more operations / functions; the code / program can be translated into a low-level language as needed; and the code / program (e.g., the code / program in the low-level language) can be converted (e.g., by a compiler, a software application, etc.) into a binary file. In some examples, Figure 8 the FPGA circuit 800 can access and / or load the binary file to cause Figure 8 the FPGA circuit 800 to be configured and / or structured to perform one or more operations / functions. For example, the binary file can be implemented by a bitstream (e.g., one or more computer-readable bits, one or more machine-readable bits, etc.), data (e.g., computer-readable data, machine-readable data, etc.), and / or machine-readable instructions that can be accessed by Figure 8 the FPGA circuit 800 to cause Figure 8 the configuration and / or structuring of the FPGA circuit 800 or portions thereof.

[0083] In some examples, the binary file is compiled, generated, transformed, and / or otherwise output from a unified software platform for programming the FPGA. For example, the unified software platform can translate first instructions (e.g., code or a program) corresponding to one or more operations / functions in a high-level language (e.g., C, C++, Python, etc.) into second instructions corresponding to one or more operations / functions in HDL. In some such examples, the binary file is compiled, generated, and / or otherwise output from the unified software platform based on the second instructions. In some examples, Figure 8 the FPGA circuit 800 can access and / or load the binary file to cause Figure 8The FPGA circuit 800 is configured and / or structured to perform one or more operations / functions. For example, a binary file can be implemented by a bitstream (e.g., one or more computer-readable bits, one or more machine-readable bits, etc.), data (e.g., computer-readable data, machine-readable data, etc.), and / or machine-readable instructions that can be accessed by Figure 8 the FPGA circuit 800 to enable Figure 8 the configuration and / or structuring of the FPGA circuit 800 or portions thereof.

[0084] Figure 8 The FPGA circuit 800 includes an example input / output (I / O) circuit 802 to obtain data from and / or output data to an example configuration circuit 804 and / or external hardware 806. For example, the configuration circuit 804 can be implemented by an interface circuit that can obtain a binary file, which can be implemented by a bitstream, data, and / or machine-readable instructions to configure the FPGA circuit 800 or portions thereof. In some such examples, the configuration circuit 804 can obtain the binary file from a user, a machine (e.g., a hardware circuit (e.g., a programmable or dedicated circuit) that can implement an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) model to generate the binary file), etc. and / or any combination thereof. In some examples, the external hardware 806 can be implemented by an external hardware circuit. For example, the external hardware 806 can be implemented by Figure 7 the microprocessor 700.

[0085] The FPGA circuit 800 also includes an array of example logic gate circuits 808, a plurality of example configurable interconnects 810, and an example storage circuit 812. The logic gate circuits 808 and the configurable interconnects 810 can be configured to instantiate one or more operations / functions that can correspond to Figure 5 at least some of the machine-readable instructions and / or other desired operations. Figure 8 The logic gate circuits 808 shown in are fabricated in blocks or groups. Each block includes a semiconductor-based electrical structure that can be configured as a logic circuit. In some examples, the electrical structure includes logic gates (e.g., "AND" gates, "OR" gates, "NOT" gates, etc.) that provide the basic building blocks for the logic circuit. Electro-controlled switches (e.g., transistors) are present in each of the logic gate circuits 808 to support configuring the electrical structure and / or the logic gates to form a circuit for performing a desired operation / function. The logic gate circuits 808 can include other electrical structures such as look-up tables (LUTs), registers (e.g., flip-flops or latches), multiplexers, etc.

[0086] The configurable interconnect 810 of the illustrated example is a conductive path, trace, via, etc., which may include an electrically controlled switch (e.g., a transistor), and the state of the electrically controlled switch can be changed by programming (e.g., using an HDL instruction language) to activate or deactivate the connection between one or more of the logic gate circuits 808 to program the desired logic circuit.

[0087] The storage circuit 812 of the illustrated example is structured to store the result of one or more of the operations performed by the corresponding logic gates. The storage circuit 812 may be implemented by registers, etc. In the illustrated example, the storage circuit 812 is distributed among the logic gate circuits 808 to facilitate access and improve execution speed.

[0088] Figure 8 The example FPGA circuit 800 also includes an example dedicated operation circuit 814. In this example, the dedicated operation circuit 814 includes a dedicated circuit 816, which can be called to implement common functions to avoid the need to program those functions on-site. Examples of such dedicated circuits 816 include memory (e.g., DRAM) controller circuits, PCIe controller circuits, clock circuits, transceiver circuits, memory, and multiplier-accumulator circuits. There may be other types of dedicated circuits. In some examples, the FPGA circuit 800 may also include an example general-purpose programmable circuit 818, such as an example CPU 820 and / or an example DSP 822. There may be other general-purpose programmable circuits 818 additionally or alternatively, such as GPUs, XPUs, etc., which can be programmed to perform other operations.

[0089] Although Figure 7 and Figure 8 illustrate Figure 6 two example implementations of the programmable circuit 612, many other methods are also conceivable. For example, the FPGA circuit may include an on-board CPU, such as Figure 7 one or more of the example CPUs 820. Thus, Figure 6 the programmable circuit 612 can also be implemented by at least combining Figure 7 the example microprocessor 700 and Figure 8 the example FPGA circuit 800. In some such hybrid examples, Figure 7 one or more cores 702 of Figure 5 can execute the first part of the machine-readable instructions represented by the flowchart of Figure 8 to perform a first operation / function, Figure 5 the FPGA circuit 800 of Figure 5The third operation / function of the third part of the machine-readable instructions represented by the flowchart.

[0090] It should be understood that Figure 2 Some or all of the circuits of can thus be instantiated at the same or different time instances. For example, Figure 7 The same and / or different parts of the microprocessor 700 of can be programmed to execute the respective parts of the machine-readable instructions at the same and / or different times. In some examples, Figure 8 The same and / or different parts of the FPGA circuit 800 of can be configured and / or structured to perform the operations / functions corresponding to the respective parts of the machine-readable instructions at the same and / or different times.

[0091] In some examples, Figure 2 Some or all of the circuits of can be instantiated, for example, in one or more threads that execute simultaneously and / or serially. For example, Figure 7 The microprocessor 700 of can execute the machine-readable instructions in one or more threads that execute simultaneously and / or serially. In some examples, Figure 8 The FPGA circuit 800 of can be configured and / or structured to perform the operations / functions simultaneously and / or serially. Additionally, in some examples, Figure 2 Some or all of the circuits of can be implemented within one or more virtual machines and / or containers that execute on Figure 7 the microprocessor 700 of.

[0092] In some examples, Figure 6 The programmable circuit 612 of can be in one or more packages. For example, Figure 7 the microprocessor 700 of and / or Figure 8 the FPGA circuit 800 of can be in one or more packages. In some examples, the XPU can be implemented by Figure 6 the programmable circuit 612 of, which can be in one or more packages. For example, the XPU can include a CPU (e.g., Figure 7 the microprocessor 700 of, Figure 8 the CPU 820, etc.) in one package, a DSP (e.g., Figure 8 the DSP 822) in another package, a GPU in another package, and an FPGA (e.g., Figure 8 the FPGA circuit 800 of ) in yet another package.

[0093] Figure 9 shows a diagram for distributing software (such as Figure 6Block diagram of an example software distribution platform 905 that provides example machine-readable instructions 632 to other hardware devices (e.g., hardware devices owned and / or operated by a third party that is an owner and / or operator of a software distribution platform). The example software distribution platform 905 can be implemented by any computer server, data facility, cloud service, etc. that is capable of storing software and transmitting the software to other computing devices. The third party can be a customer of the entity that owns and / or operates the software distribution platform 905. For example, the entity that owns and / or operates the software distribution platform 905 can be a developer, seller, and / or licensor of software such as Figure 6 the example machine-readable instructions 632). The third party can be a consumer, user, retailer, OEM, etc. that purchases and / or licenses the software for use and / or resale and / or sublicense. In the example shown, the software distribution platform 905 includes one or more servers and one or more storage devices. The storage device stores the machine-readable instructions 632, which can correspond to Figure 5 the example machine-readable instructions, as described above. One or more servers of the example software distribution platform 905 communicate with an example network 910, which can correspond to the Internet and / or any one or more of the example networks described above. In some examples, the one or more servers respond to a request to transmit software as part of a commercial transaction. Payment for the delivery, sale, and / or license of the software can be processed by one or more servers of the software distribution platform and / or by a third-party payment entity. The server enables a purchaser and / or licensee to download the machine-readable instructions 632 from the software distribution platform 905. For example, software that can correspond to Figure 5 the example machine-readable instructions can be downloaded to an example programmable circuit platform 600 that is configured to execute the machine-readable instructions 632 to implement the vehicle control circuit 102. In some examples, one or more servers of the software distribution platform 905 periodically provide, transmit, and / or enforce updates to the software (e.g., Figure 6 the example machine-readable instructions 632) to ensure that improvements, patches, updates, etc. are distributed and applied to the software at the end-user device. Although referred to above as software, the distributed "software" can alternatively be firmware.

[0094] "Including" and "comprising" (and all of their forms and tenses) are used herein as open-ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim uses any form of "including" or "comprising" (e.g., including, comprising, containing, covering, having, etc.) as a preamble or within any kind of claim recitation, it should be understood that additional elements, items, etc. may exist without falling outside the scope of the corresponding claim or recitation. As used herein, when the phrase "at least" is used as a transitional term in the preamble of a claim, it becomes an open-ended term in the same manner as the terms "comprising" and "including" become open-ended terms. The term "and / or", when used in the form such as A, B, and / or C, means any combination or subset of A, B, C, such as (1) only A, (2) only B, (3) only C, (4) A and B, (5) A and C, (6) B and C, and (7) A and B and C. As used herein in the context of describing a structure, component, article, object, and / or thing, the phrase "at least one of A and B" is intended to refer to an embodiment including (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, or (3) any one of at least one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing a structure, component, article, object, and / or thing, the phrase "at least one of A or B" is intended to refer to an embodiment including (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, or (3) any one of at least one A and at least one B. As used herein in the context of describing the implementation or execution of a process, instruction, action, activity, etc., the phrase "at least one of A and B" is intended to refer to an embodiment including (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, or (3) any one of at least one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing the implementation or execution of a process, instruction, action, activity, etc., the phrase "at least one of A or B" is intended to refer to an embodiment including (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, or (3) any one of at least one A and at least one B.

[0095] As used herein, singular recitations (e.g., "a / an", "first", "second", etc.) do not exclude pluralities. As used herein, the term "a / an" object refers to one or more of such objects. The terms "a / an", "one or more", and "at least one" are used interchangeably herein. Additionally, although listed separately, multiple devices, elements, or acts may be implemented by, for example, the same entity or object. Further, although individual features may be included in different examples or claims, these may be combined, and including them in different examples or claims does not mean that the combination of features is infeasible and / or disadvantageous.

[0096] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the term "above" describes the relationship of two parts relative to the Earth. If the second part has at least a portion between the Earth and the first part, the first part is above the second part. Similarly, as used herein, when the first part is closer to the Earth than the second part, the first part is "below" the second part. As described above, the first part can be above or below the second part in one or more of the following forms: there are other parts between them, there are no other parts between them, the first part and the second part touch, or the first part and the second part do not directly contact each other.

[0097] As used in this patent, a statement that any part (e.g., a layer, film, region, zone, or plate) is located on another part in any way (e.g., positioned thereon, located thereon, disposed thereon, or formed thereon, etc.) indicates that the recited part is in contact with the other part, or the recited part is above the other part, with one or more intermediate parts located between them.

[0098] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, connection references (e.g., attach, couple, connect, and link) can include intermediate members between the elements referenced by the connection reference and / or relative movement between these elements. Thus, a connection reference does not necessarily infer that two elements are directly connected and / or in a fixed relationship with each other. As used herein, stating that any part "contacts" another part is defined to mean that there is no intermediate part between the two parts.

[0099] Unless otherwise specifically stated, descriptors such as "first", "second", "third", etc. used herein do not in any way impose or otherwise indicate any meaning of priority, physical order, arrangement in a list, and / or sorting, but are only used as labels and / or arbitrary names to distinguish elements, for the convenience of understanding the disclosed examples. In some examples, the descriptor "first" can be used to refer to an element in the detailed description, while in the claims, different descriptors such as "second" or "third" can be used to refer to the same element. In such cases, it should be understood that such descriptors are only used to clearly identify those elements within the context of the discussion (e.g., within the claims), where those elements may, for example, otherwise share the same name.

[0100] As used herein, "about" and "approximately" modify their subject / value to identify the potential existence of variations that occur in real-world applications. For example, "about" and "approximately" can modify dimensions that may be imprecise due to manufacturing tolerances and / or other real-world imperfections, as would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art. For example, unless otherwise stated herein, "about" and "approximately" can indicate that such dimensions can be within a tolerance range of + / - 10%.

[0101] As used herein, "substantially real-time" refers to occurring in a nearly instantaneous manner, recognizing that there may be real-world delays for computing time, transmission, etc. Thus, unless otherwise stated, "substantially real-time" refers to real-time + / - 1 second.

[0102] As used herein, the phrase "communicate" (including its variations) encompasses direct communication and / or indirect communication through one or more intermediate components, and does not require direct physical (e.g., wired) communication and / or continuous communication, but rather includes selective communication at periodic intervals, scheduled intervals, aperiodic intervals, and / or one-time events.

[0103] As used herein, "programmable circuit" is defined to include: (i) one or more dedicated circuits (e.g., application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), the one or more dedicated circuits being structured to perform specific operations and including one or more semiconductor-based logic devices (e.g., electrical hardware implemented by one or more transistors); and / or (ii) one or more general-purpose semiconductor-based circuits, the semiconductor-based circuits being programmable with instructions to perform specific functions and / or operations and including one or more semiconductor-based logic devices (e.g., electrical hardware implemented by one or more transistors). Examples of programmable circuits include programmable microprocessors such as a central processing unit (CPU) that can execute a first instruction to perform one or more operations and / or functions, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) that can be programmed with a second instruction to cause configuration and / or structuring of the FPGA to instantiate one or more operations and / or functions corresponding to the first instruction, a graphics processing unit (GPU) that can execute a first instruction to perform one or more operations and / or functions, a digital signal processor (DSP) that can execute a first instruction to perform one or more operations and / or functions, an XPU, a network processing unit (NPU), one or more microcontrollers and / or integrated circuits (such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) that can execute a first instruction to perform one or more operations and / or functions. For example, an XPU can be implemented by a heterogeneous computing system that includes multiple types of programmable circuits (e.g., one or more FPGAs, one or more CPUs, one or more GPUs, one or more NPUs, one or more DSPs, etc. and / or combinations thereof) and an orchestration technique (e.g., an application programming interface (API)), the API being able to allocate computing tasks to one or more of the multiple types of programmable circuits that are most suitable and available for executing the computing task.

[0104] As used herein, an integrated circuit is defined as one or more semiconductor packages that include one or more circuit elements (such as transistors, capacitors, inductors, resistors, current paths, diodes, etc.). For example, an integrated circuit can be implemented as one or more of an ASIC, FPGA, chip, microchip, programmable circuit, semiconductor substrate that couples multiple circuit elements, system-on-chip (SoC), etc.

[0105] Based on the foregoing, it can be understood that example systems, devices, articles, and methods have been disclosed that perform frequency-based mixing of an example yaw rate signal to control one or more operations of a vehicle (e.g., steering). The examples disclosed herein mix a high-frequency signal component of a yaw rate signal measured from an example yaw rate sensor and a low-frequency signal component of a calculated yaw rate signal (e.g., an estimated yaw rate signal) from an example steering wheel angle sensor to generate and / or output an example mixed yaw rate signal. Additionally, the examples disclosed herein provide the mixed yaw rate signal as feedback to an example closed-loop controller, where the closed-loop controller outputs one or more example control signals based on the mixed yaw rate signal. In some examples, by controlling one or more vehicle motors based on the control signals, the examples disclosed herein can reduce excessive oscillations in vehicle steering, thereby improving comfort and / or providing a smoother ride for passengers of the vehicle. Additionally, the disclosed systems, devices, articles, and methods can reduce unnecessary activation and / or adjustment of example control devices of the vehicle (e.g., motors, actuators, etc.), thereby reducing the power used by one or more of the control devices. Accordingly, the disclosed systems, devices, articles, and methods relate to one or more improvements in the operation of machines such as computers or other electronic and / or mechanical devices.

[0106] Examples methods, devices, systems, and articles for controlling a vehicle based on signal mixing are disclosed herein. Additional examples and combinations thereof include the following:

[0107] Example 1 includes a device that includes a memory, instructions, and a programmable circuit, the programmable circuit programmed by the instructions to at least: determine a first yaw rate signal based on first signal data output by a yaw rate sensor of a vehicle, determine a second yaw rate signal based on second signal data output by a steering wheel angle sensor of the vehicle, determine a mixed yaw rate signal based on the first yaw rate signal and the second yaw rate signal, and adjust a torque to be applied by a motor of the vehicle based on the mixed yaw rate signal.

[0108] Example 2 includes the device of Example 1, wherein the programmable circuit is configured to filter the first yaw rate signal and the second yaw rate signal based on a crossover frequency.

[0109] Example 3 includes the apparatus as described in Example 2, wherein the programmable circuit applies a low-pass filter to the first yaw rate signal and a high-pass filter to the second yaw rate signal, and the low-pass filter and the high-pass filter correspond to a crossover frequency.

[0110] Example 4 includes the apparatus as described in Example 3, wherein the programmable circuit selects the crossover frequency based on at least one of the following: (a) the road curvature along the predicted path of the vehicle or (b) a threshold speed of the vehicle along the predicted path.

[0111] Example 5 includes the apparatus as described in Example 3, wherein the programmable circuit is configured to determine a combined yaw rate signal by combining the filtered first yaw rate signal and the filtered second yaw rate signal.

[0112] Example 6 includes the apparatus as described in Example 2, wherein the programmable circuit applies a first filter to the first yaw rate signal and a second filter to the second yaw rate signal, the first filter being configured to attenuate a first signal component of the first yaw rate signal that is higher than the crossover frequency, and the second filter being configured to attenuate a second signal component of the second yaw rate signal that is lower than the crossover frequency.

[0113] Example 7 includes the apparatus as described in Example 6, wherein the first filter and the second filter include at least one of a high-pass filter, a low-pass filter, a notch filter, or a band-pass filter.

[0114] Example 8 includes the apparatus as described in Example 1, wherein the first yaw rate signal corresponds to first signal data, and the programmable circuit is configured to estimate the second yaw rate signal based on second signal data and one or more vehicle parameters.

[0115] Example 9 includes the apparatus as described in Example 1, wherein the programmable circuit is configured to select an adjusted torque by providing the combined yaw rate signal as feedback to a closed-loop controller.

[0116] Example 10 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium that includes instructions that, when executed, cause the programmable circuit to at least: determine a first yaw rate signal based on first signal data output by a yaw rate sensor of a vehicle, determine a second yaw rate signal based on second signal data output by a steering wheel angle sensor of the vehicle, determine a combined yaw rate signal based on the first yaw rate signal and the second yaw rate signal, and adjust a torque to be applied by a motor of the vehicle based on the combined yaw rate signal.

[0117] Example 11 includes the non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Example 10, wherein the instructions cause the programmable circuit to filter the first yaw rate signal and the second yaw rate signal based on a crossover frequency.

[0118] Example 12 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Example 11, wherein the instructions cause the programmable circuit to apply a low-pass filter to a first yaw rate signal and a high-pass filter to a second yaw rate signal, the low-pass filter and the high-pass filter corresponding to a crossover frequency.

[0119] Example 13 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Example 12, wherein the instructions cause the programmable circuit to select a crossover frequency based on at least one of the following: (a) the road curvature along the predicted path of the vehicle or (b) a threshold speed of the vehicle along the predicted path.

[0120] Example 14 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Example 12, wherein the instructions cause the programmable circuit to determine a combined yaw rate signal by combining the filtered first yaw rate signal and the filtered second yaw rate signal.

[0121] Example 15 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Example 10, wherein the first yaw rate signal corresponds to first signal data, and the instructions cause the programmable circuit to estimate the second yaw rate signal based on the second signal data and one or more vehicle parameters.

[0122] Example 16 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Example 10, wherein the instructions cause the programmable circuit to select an adjusted torque by providing the combined yaw rate signal as feedback to a closed-loop controller.

[0123] Example 17 includes a method that includes: determining a first yaw rate signal based on first signal data output by a yaw rate sensor of a vehicle; determining a second yaw rate signal based on second signal data output by a steering wheel angle sensor of the vehicle; determining a combined yaw rate signal based on the first yaw rate signal and the second yaw rate signal; and adjusting a torque to be applied by a motor of the vehicle based on the combined yaw rate signal.

[0124] Example 18 includes the method as described in Example 17, the method further including filtering the first yaw rate signal and the second yaw rate signal based on a crossover frequency.

[0125] Example 19 includes the method as described in Example 18, the method further including applying a low-pass filter to the first yaw rate signal and applying a high-pass filter to the second yaw rate signal, the low-pass filter and the high-pass filter corresponding to a crossover frequency.

[0126] Example 20 includes the method as described in Example 19, which further includes determining a combined yaw rate signal by combining the filtered first yaw rate signal and the filtered second yaw rate signal.

[0127] The appended claims are hereby incorporated by reference into this detailed description. Although certain example systems, devices, articles, and methods have been disclosed herein, the scope of this patent is not limited thereto. Instead, this patent covers all systems, devices, articles, and methods that fall entirely within the scope of the claims of this patent.

Claims

1. A device comprising: Memory; instruction; as well as a programmable circuit to be programmed by the instructions to at least: determining a first yaw rate signal based on first signal data output by a yaw rate sensor of the vehicle; determining a second yaw rate signal based on second signal data output by a steering wheel angle sensor of the vehicle; determining a hybrid yaw rate signal based on the first yaw rate signal and the second yaw rate signal; and Torque to be applied by a motor of the vehicle is adjusted based on the hybrid yaw rate signal.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the programmable circuit is to filter the first yaw rate signal and the second yaw rate signal based on a crossover frequency.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the programmable circuit applies a low pass filter to the first yaw rate signal and a high pass filter to the second yaw rate signal, the low pass filter and the high pass filter corresponding to the crossover frequency.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the programmable circuit is to select the crossover frequency based on at least one of: (a) road curvature along the vehicle's projected path or (b) a threshold speed of the vehicle along the projected path.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the programmable circuit is to determine the hybrid yaw rate signal by combining a filtered first yaw rate signal and a filtered second yaw rate signal.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the programmable circuit applies a first filter to the first yaw rate signal and a second filter to the second yaw rate signal, wherein the first filter is used to attenuate a first signal component of the first yaw rate signal that is higher than the crossover frequency and the second filter is used to attenuate a second signal component of the second yaw rate signal that is lower than the crossover frequency.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first filter and the second filter comprise at least one of a high pass filter, a low pass filter, a notch filter, or a band pass filter.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first yaw rate signal corresponds to the first signal data, and the programmable circuit is to estimate the second yaw rate signal based on the second signal data and one or more vehicle parameters.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the programmable circuit is to select the adjusted torque by providing the hybrid yaw rate signal as feedback to a closed loop controller.

10. A computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a programmable circuit to at least: determining a first yaw rate signal based on first signal data output by a yaw rate sensor of the vehicle; determining a second yaw rate signal based on second signal data output by a steering wheel angle sensor of the vehicle; determining a hybrid yaw rate signal based on the first yaw rate signal and the second yaw rate signal; and Torque to be applied by a motor of the vehicle is adjusted based on the hybrid yaw rate signal.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the programmable circuit to filter the first yaw rate signal and the second yaw rate signal based on a crossover frequency.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions cause the programmable circuit to apply a low pass filter to the first yaw rate signal and a high pass filter to the second yaw rate signal, the low pass filter and the high pass filter corresponding to the crossover frequency.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions cause the programmable circuit to select the crossover frequency based on at least one of: (a) a road curvature along an expected path of the vehicle or (b) a threshold speed of the vehicle along the expected path.

14. A method comprising: determining a first yaw rate signal based on first signal data output by a yaw rate sensor of the vehicle; determining a second yaw rate signal based on second signal data output by a steering wheel angle sensor of the vehicle; determining a hybrid yaw rate signal based on the first yaw rate signal and the second yaw rate signal; as well as Torque to be applied by a motor of the vehicle is adjusted based on the hybrid yaw rate signal. 15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising filtering the first yaw rate signal and the second yaw rate signal based on a crossover frequency.

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