Modular vehicle seat control system and method

Abstract

The application discloses a modular vehicle seat control system, comprising: a microcontroller; a power management module electrically connected with the microcontroller, used for receiving a vehicle power supply and generating at least one internal working voltage; a communication module electrically connected with the microcontroller, used for data exchange with a vehicle network; an input signal processing module electrically connected with the microcontroller, used for receiving input signals from at least one input device and transmitting the input signals to the microcontroller after preprocessing; and a power output driving module electrically connected with the microcontroller and the power management module respectively, used for selectively driving at least one vehicle seat actuator according to driving control instructions generated by the microcontroller; the power output driving module comprises a plurality of half-bridge driving units, and at least part of the plurality of half-bridge driving units can be selectively combined to form a full-bridge driving circuit, so as to drive a direct-current motor to realize forward and reverse rotation control.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention discloses a modular vehicle seat control system and method, belonging to the field of vehicle seat control technology. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid upgrading of automotive intelligence and comfort features, vehicle seats have evolved from simple seating support components into complex execution systems integrating multi-directional adjustment, massage, ventilation, heating, and posture adaptive control. The performance and flexibility of their control systems directly affect the overall vehicle assembly efficiency and user experience. Currently, most mainstream vehicle seat control systems employ dedicated drive architectures with fixed hardware circuits and drive topologies, typically configuring only a single type of drive unit, making it difficult to meet the drive requirements of different types of seat actuators. In scenarios involving forward and reverse rotation control of the seat's DC motor, traditional systems often require the addition of a dedicated drive circuit or replacement of the entire drive module, failing to achieve flexible reconfiguration of the drive topology based on the existing hardware. Furthermore, existing seat control systems generally adopt a discrete hardware layout, lacking unified planning for modules such as power management, communication interaction, signal acquisition, and power drive. Poor compatibility between functional units not only leads to bloated circuit structures and complex wiring but also increases the risk of hardware failure and assembly difficulty. In addition, due to the fixed structure of the drive units, it is impossible to achieve full-bridge drive functionality through simple combinations, resulting in insufficient precision and response speed for forward and reverse rotation control of the seat's DC motor, making it difficult to meet the control requirements of multi-mode seat adjustment in high-end models. Different car models or configurations of seats require the development of corresponding drive circuits and control logic, which not only prolongs the development cycle, but also increases hardware costs and the difficulty of later maintenance, resulting in poor universality and insufficient adaptability of the control system, which cannot meet the development needs of automotive platform and modular production. Summary of the Invention

[0003] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, this invention proposes a modular vehicle seat control system and method. Traditional vehicle seat control systems have fixed drive unit structures that cannot be flexibly combined to form a full-bridge drive circuit, making it difficult to achieve forward and reverse rotation control of the seat DC motor and resulting in a single type of drive control.

[0004] The technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

[0005] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a modular vehicle seat control system is provided, comprising: a microcontroller; a power management module electrically connected to the microcontroller for receiving vehicle power and generating at least one internal operating voltage; a communication module electrically connected to the microcontroller for exchanging data with a vehicle network; an input signal processing module electrically connected to the microcontroller for receiving input signals from at least one input device, preprocessing them, and then transmitting them to the microcontroller; and a power output drive module electrically connected to the microcontroller and the power management module respectively, for selectively driving at least one vehicle seat actuator according to drive control commands generated by the microcontroller; the power output drive module includes a plurality of half-bridge drive units, at least a portion of which can be selectively combined to form a full-bridge drive circuit, thereby driving a DC motor to achieve forward and reverse rotation control.

[0006] Furthermore, the power output drive module also includes: a drive signal generation unit, which integrates multiple drive signal output terminals; multiple power switching elements, which are electrically connected to the drive signal output terminals of the drive signal generation unit respectively, and the multiple power switching elements are paired to form multiple half-bridge drive units; the drive signal generation unit receives the pulse width modulation command from the microcontroller and outputs drive signals to the power switching elements in response to the pulse width modulation command.

[0007] Furthermore, when the microcontroller executes anti-pinch control, it includes: during the operation of the seat adjustment motor, acquiring in real time the current parameters of the seat adjustment motor and the position signal output by the position sensor associated with the seat adjustment motor; calculating the current change rate based on the current parameters and the position change rate based on the position signal; comparing the current change rate with a preset first threshold and the position change rate with a preset second threshold; determining that a pinching event has occurred when the current change rate is greater than or equal to the first threshold and the position change rate is less than or equal to the second threshold; and generating a reverse drive command in response to determining that a pinching event has occurred, controlling the seat adjustment motor to perform a reverse retraction operation within a preset time after the drive stops.

[0008] Furthermore, when the microcontroller performs seat position self-learning, it includes: marking at least one seat adjustment motor as unlearned after the control system is first powered on or receives a reset command; in response to user manual operation, driving the seat adjustment motor to move to a mechanical dead point in a first direction, and recording the current position sensor cumulative value as the first mechanical zero point in the first direction after detecting a stall state; driving the seat adjustment motor to move to another mechanical dead point in a second direction opposite to the first direction, and recording the total value of the position sensor throughout the entire stroke; calculating and storing the soft dead point range based on the first mechanical zero point, the mechanical zero point in the second direction, and the total value of the position sensor throughout the entire stroke; if no stall state is detected or the recorded total value of the position sensor throughout the entire stroke exceeds a preset range, the self-learning is determined to have failed, the control system remains in the unlearned state, the manual adjustment function remains effective while the seat position memory function is disabled, and the control system supports clearing the stored learning data through diagnostic commands to trigger relearning.

[0009] Furthermore, the microcontroller also performs zero-gravity attitude control, including: in response to receiving a one-button zero-gravity trigger signal, acquiring a preset set of zero-gravity attitude target position parameters, the target position parameter set including the target position of the first adjustment motor, the target position of the second adjustment motor, and the target position of the third adjustment motor; according to a preset execution sequence, first driving the first adjustment motor to the first adjustment motor target position, and then synchronously or sequentially driving the second adjustment motor and the third adjustment motor to their respective target positions to avoid mechanical interference; during the driving process, position closed-loop control is used until each seat adjustment motor reaches its respective target soft stop position.

[0010] Furthermore, the input signal processing module includes: a voltage divider network for converting switch presses at different positions into analog signals with different voltage values; a signal shaping circuit for shaping the pulse signal output by the position sensor into a digital level signal recognizable by the microcontroller; and a current detection and amplification circuit for amplifying the differential voltage across the sampling element in the motor drive circuit.

[0011] Furthermore, the power management module performs the following actions: when the vehicle ignition signal is off and there is no switching operation, it causes the microcontroller to enter a low-power mode and cuts off the power supply to the position sensor and switch pull-up elements in the input signal processing module; it retains only the remote wake-up function of the network transceiver in the communication module and the edge detection wake-up function of at least one switch in the input signal processing module; and the quiescent current of the control system in low-power mode is less than 0.1 mA.

[0012] Furthermore, the different configurations include at least two of the following: long wheelbase models and short wheelbase models, high-configuration models and low-configuration models, second-row seats and third-row seats; the control system selectively configures different numbers of half-bridge drive units, so that the number of drive motor channels is adjustable within a preset range.

[0013] Furthermore, the microcontroller is also used to: receive remote control commands from the vehicle network via the communication module; in response to the remote control commands, drive at least one seat adjustment motor to move to a preset welcome position; the welcome position is stored in the non-volatile memory of the control system, and the non-volatile memory stores multiple user-defined seat position memory data.

[0014] According to a second aspect of the present invention, a vehicle seat anti-pinch control method is provided for controlling the above-mentioned modular vehicle seat control system, comprising the following steps: Step S1, during the operation of the seat adjustment motor, real-time acquisition of the current parameters of the seat adjustment motor and the position signal output by the position sensor associated with the seat adjustment motor; Step S2, calculation of the current change rate based on the current parameters, and calculation of the position change rate based on the position signal; Step S3, comparison of the current change rate with a preset first threshold, and comparison of the position change rate with a preset second threshold; Step S4, when the current change rate is greater than or equal to the first threshold and the position change rate is less than or equal to the second threshold, a pinching event is determined to have occurred, wherein the first threshold corresponds to the maximum allowable value of the current change rate when the motor is operating normally, and the second threshold corresponds to the minimum allowable value of the position change rate when the motor is operating normally; Step S5, in response to the determination that a pinching event has occurred, immediate stopping of driving the seat adjustment motor, and generating a reverse drive command within a preset time period to control the seat adjustment motor to reverse back a preset distance.

[0015] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows:

[0016] This invention provides a modular vehicle seat control system and method. By setting multiple half-bridge drive units in the power output drive module, some half-bridge drive units can be selectively combined to form a full-bridge drive circuit. Working in conjunction with a microcontroller, power management module, communication module and input signal processing module, it can reliably drive the vehicle seat DC motor to achieve forward and reverse rotation control, enriching the drive control forms of the seat actuator and improving the system's adaptability to seat motor control.

[0017] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and are not intended to limit the invention. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic block diagram illustrating the structure of a modular vehicle seat control system according to an exemplary embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The technical solution of the present invention will now be clearly and completely described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0020] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this invention.

[0021] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0022] Example 1

[0023] Reference Figure 1 This invention provides a vehicle sliding door sensor-activated opening system. The system includes a microcontroller, a power management module, a communication module, an input signal processing module, and a power output drive module.

[0024] The power management module's power input terminal connects to the vehicle's constant power supply, compatible with a wide voltage input range of 9V~16V for 12V vehicle electrical systems and 18V~32V for 24V vehicle electrical systems. It can withstand abnormal operating conditions such as load dumping, voltage drops, and transient pulses in the vehicle environment. The controlled output terminal of the power management module is electrically connected to the microcontroller, communication module, input signal processing module, and power output drive module, respectively. It receives the vehicle's power input and, through multi-stage DC-DC conversion and linear voltage regulation circuits, converts it into multiple isolated and stable internal operating voltages, including a 3.3V operating voltage for the microcontroller core and peripherals, a 5V operating voltage for the sensors and communication module, and a 12V pre-drive voltage for the power drive unit. This provides tiered power supply support and full-condition power protection for all electrical units of the control system.

[0025] The communication module is bidirectionally connected to the microcontroller and accesses the vehicle's in-vehicle network to enable bidirectional data exchange between the microcontroller and the vehicle network. This facilitates control command reception, operational status uploading, diagnostic data interaction, and remote wake-up processing. In this embodiment, the communication module preferentially uses a CANFD bus transceiver, but can also be adapted to a LIN bus transceiver conforming to the LIN2.2A standard, depending on the vehicle's network architecture. It also reserves compatibility with an in-vehicle Ethernet interface, enabling full-scenario data linkage with the body domain controller, smart cockpit domain controller, keyless entry system, and remote vehicle control platform. Furthermore, the communication module supports the UDS unified diagnostic service, providing a full range of after-sales diagnostic functions, including fault code reading, fault code clearing, learning data reset, online control parameter calibration, and operation log export. It supports both offline diagnostics and online calibration modes, allowing for functional parameter adaptation and adjustment without software modifications.

[0026] The input signal processing module is connected to at least one seat input device at its input terminal and electrically connected to the microcontroller at its output terminal. It is used to receive the raw input signals output by each input device, perform standardized preprocessing such as filtering, shaping, amplification, and level conversion, and then transmit the acquired signals that conform to the microcontroller's acquisition specifications to the microcontroller, providing a precise and stable data source for the system's closed-loop control.

[0027] The control input terminal of the power output drive module is electrically connected to the microcontroller, the power input terminal of the power output drive module is electrically connected to the power management module, and the power output terminal of the power output drive module is connected to at least one vehicle seat actuator to receive drive control commands output by the microcontroller and selectively drive the corresponding vehicle seat actuator to perform corresponding actions.

[0028] Furthermore, the power output drive module includes a drive signal generation unit, multiple power switching elements, and multiple half-bridge drive units.

[0029] The drive signal generation unit integrates multiple independent drive signal output terminals. A single drive chip can support up to eight independent drive signal outputs. The number of drive channels can be expanded by cascading multiple chips. The signal input terminal of the drive signal generation unit is electrically connected to the PWM signal output terminal of the microcontroller to receive the pulse width modulation command output by the microcontroller and, in response to the pulse width modulation command, output a matching power transistor drive signal through the corresponding drive signal output terminal. The drive signal generation unit has built-in hardware dead-time control, overcurrent lockout, overheat shutdown, and short-circuit protection functions. It can quickly cut off the drive output in the event of a fault and simultaneously feed back a fault signal to the microcontroller, achieving hardware-level rapid protection.

[0030] The multiple power switching elements are electrically connected one-to-one to the corresponding drive signal output terminals of the drive signal generation unit. The power switching elements employ N-channel MOSFETs, featuring low on-resistance, high surge protection, and excellent heat dissipation performance, meeting the requirements of high-current drive conditions in vehicles. The multiple power switching elements are arranged in pairs, with each pair forming the upper and lower bridge arms of a half-bridge drive unit. That is, the multiple power switching elements form multiple half-bridge drive units in pairs. Each half-bridge drive unit is an independent, standardized hardware unit with independent current sampling, fault feedback, and heat dissipation design. A single half-bridge drive unit can support a continuous operating current of 10A and a peak stall current of 20A, meeting the drive requirements of the seat adjustment motor.

[0031] At least some of the multiple half-bridge drive units can be selectively combined to form a full-bridge drive circuit through software configuration of the microcontroller. Each full-bridge drive circuit drives a DC brushed seat adjustment motor to achieve closed-loop control of the motor's forward and reverse rotation. The half-bridge drive units that are not combined into a full-bridge drive circuit can independently drive unidirectional actuators such as seat heating, ventilation, massage, and lumbar support airbags. Alternatively, three half-bridge drive units can be combined to drive a three-phase brushless motor, which can be adapted to brushless drive actuators such as seat ventilation fans and massage pumps to maximize the utilization of hardware resources.

[0032] In this embodiment, all hardware units of the control system are deployed on the same circuit board platform. The circuit board platform has standardized mounting pads and complete signal and power wiring for different numbers of half-bridge drive units. The reserved circuit topology of all half-bridge drive units is completely consistent. During production and assembly, at least some of the multiple half-bridge drive units can be selectively mounted according to the configuration requirements of the target adapted seat, and the remaining reserved mounting positions can be left empty. No modification to the wiring design of the circuit board platform is required, and no change of PCB version is required, which greatly reduces the workload of hardware design and the cost of production line changeover. At the same time, the software program of the microcontroller adopts a fully compatible standardized architecture with built-in automatic channel identification and configuration adaptation logic. After power-on, it can automatically identify the number of configured half-bridge drive units, the corresponding drive channels and combination methods, and automatically load the corresponding control logic and protection parameters. Without changing the software program or re-burning the firmware, it can complete the adaptation to different configuration vehicle seats, achieving the design goal of "one hardware platform, one basic software, covering the entire series of seat configurations".

[0033] Optionally, the vehicle seat configurations that can be adapted to this embodiment include, but are not limited to, at least two of the following: long-wheelbase vehicle seats and short-wheelbase vehicle seats, high-configuration vehicle seats and low-configuration vehicle seats, driver's seat and passenger seat, and second-row and third-row vehicle seats. By selectively configuring different numbers of half-bridge drive units, the number of drive motor channels of the control system can be continuously adjusted within a preset range of 2 to 16 channels, covering the full-scenario application needs from basic 4-way adjustable seats to 16-way and above luxury adjustable seats, while also being compatible with the aftermarket demand for upgrading manual seats to electric seats.

[0034] Furthermore, the input signal processing module includes a voltage divider network, a signal shaping circuit, and a current detection and amplification circuit.

[0035] The input of the voltage divider network is connected to multiple push-button switch input devices on the seat, and the output of the voltage divider network is electrically connected to the ADC acquisition channel of the microcontroller. It adopts a stepped resistor voltage divider architecture, supporting multiplexing detection of up to 16 buttons. Each button corresponds to a unique voltage range, converting different button press operations into analog signals with corresponding voltage values, achieving single-port multiplexing detection of multiple buttons and significantly reducing the microcontroller's I / O port usage. The voltage divider network integrates a hardware RC anti-shake filter circuit. The anti-shake time can be flexibly configured via software to adapt to mechanical and touch buttons with different travel and feel, effectively filtering electromagnetic interference and false triggering caused by button bounce in the vehicle environment.

[0036] The input of the signal shaping circuit is connected to the incremental Hall position sensor that accompanies the seat adjustment motor, and the output of the signal shaping circuit is electrically connected to the encoder interface of the microcontroller. Each adjustment motor corresponds to an independent signal shaping circuit, which supports dual-channel quadrature Hall encoder signal input and is compatible with pulse frequencies up to 20kHz. It is used to perform hardware filtering and Schmitt trigger shaping on the quadrature pulse signals output by the position sensor to filter out glitches and interference in the pulse signals and convert them into standard digital level signals that the microcontroller can directly recognize. This provides a stable acquisition signal for the accurate detection of the motor's real-time position, speed, and direction. The position acquisition accuracy can reach 0.1mm level seat travel corresponding to a single pulse, meeting the requirements of high-precision position closed-loop control.

[0037] The input terminal of the current detection amplifier circuit is connected to both ends of the high-precision current sampling element in the motor drive circuit. The current sampling element adopts a low-temperature drift, high-precision milliohm-level shunt resistor. The output terminal of the current detection amplifier circuit is electrically connected to the ADC acquisition channel of the microcontroller. It adopts a high-precision rail-to-rail differential operational amplifier architecture, and the amplification factor can be adjusted through hardware configuration and software calibration. It supports a motor current acquisition range of 0~50A with an acquisition accuracy better than ±1%. It is used to amplify the weak differential voltage across the sampling element in the motor drive circuit, converting the motor operating current into an analog voltage signal that matches the acquisition range of the microcontroller. At the same time, it integrates a hardware low-pass filter circuit to filter out the current ripple caused by motor commutation, realizing real-time, high-precision acquisition of motor operating current, and providing a core data source for the system's stall detection, anti-pinch control, overcurrent protection, and short-circuit protection.

[0038] Furthermore, the power management module integrates a low-power control unit, which performs the following operations:

[0039] When the vehicle ignition signal is detected to be switched to the off position, and no switch operation signal, valid vehicle network message or remote control command is received within a preset time, a sleep trigger command is sent to the microcontroller to stop the operation of unnecessary peripherals and enter a low-power sleep mode.

[0040] The power supply to the position sensor, switch pull-up element, and non-wake-up button circuit in the input signal processing module is cut off simultaneously, while the power supply to the core wake-up circuit is retained to minimize sleep power consumption.

[0041] In sleep mode, only the remote wake-up function of the network transceiver of the communication module and the edge detection wake-up function of at least one wake-up button in the input signal processing module are retained, and all other non-essential power supply circuits are disconnected.

[0042] Through the above-mentioned graded low-power control, the static current of the entire machine in the low-power mode is less than 0.1mA, which fully meets the requirements of vehicle static power control and avoids the risk of battery depletion during long-term parking.

[0043] When the power management module receives a vehicle network wake-up message, a wake-up button trigger signal, or a vehicle ignition signal switched to the on position, it can stabilize the power supply of the entire circuit within 10ms, wake up the microcontroller to exit the sleep mode, enter the normal working state, and quickly respond to user operations and vehicle commands.

[0044] Meanwhile, the power management module also integrates overvoltage protection, undervoltage protection, reverse power connection protection, overcurrent protection and overheat protection units. When the vehicle power supply is in abnormal working condition, it can quickly cut off the output of the corresponding circuit, isolate the fault, protect the safety of the downstream circuit, and automatically restore normal operation after the fault is cleared.

[0045] Furthermore, the microcontroller has a built-in anti-pinch control algorithm, which specifically includes the following steps when executing anti-pinch control:

[0046] During the operation of the seat adjustment motor, the input signal processing module collects the operating current parameters of the seat adjustment motor and the real-time position signal output by the position sensor associated with the seat adjustment motor in real time at a preset sampling frequency. The sampling frequency is not less than 1kHz to ensure the real-time performance of the collected data.

[0047] The collected current parameters and position signals are processed by sliding window filtering to remove interference signals. The real-time current change rate is calculated based on the filtered current parameters, and the real-time position change rate is calculated based on the filtered position signals. The current change rate is the current increment per unit time, and the position change rate is the position pulse increment per unit time, corresponding to the real-time speed of the motor.

[0048] The calculated current change rate is compared with a preset first threshold, and the calculated position change rate is compared with a preset second threshold. The first and second thresholds are anti-pinch judgment thresholds based on the mechanical characteristics of the seat and the calibration of motor parameters. They can be calibrated online according to different adjustment directions and different seat models. They can also be adaptively corrected according to power supply voltage fluctuations and motor aging to avoid false triggering or failure of anti-pinch due to changes in working conditions.

[0049] When the rate of change of current is greater than or equal to the first threshold and the rate of change of position is less than or equal to the second threshold, it is determined that a clamping event has occurred. The dual threshold joint determination method can effectively distinguish whether the motor stall is caused by clamping or by reaching the mechanical stop. The anti-pinch function is activated within the soft stop range and automatically deactivated near the mechanical stop outside the soft stop, so as to avoid normal stall being misjudged as a clamping event.

[0050] In response to the determination of an object clamping event, a motor stop drive command is immediately generated, cutting off the drive output of the seat adjustment motor and controlling it to stop running. Within a preset time after the drive stops, a reverse drive command is generated to control the seat adjustment motor to perform a reverse retraction operation with a preset stroke. The reverse retraction stroke can be calibrated within the range of 5mm to 20mm. The anti-pinch force control meets the relevant national vehicle standards, with a maximum anti-pinch force of no more than 100N, quickly eliminating the risk of object clamping and ensuring safe use.

[0051] Furthermore, the microcontroller incorporates a built-in seat position self-learning algorithm, which specifically includes the following steps when performing seat position self-learning:

[0052] Upon initial power-up of the control system, or upon receiving a reset command or a self-learning trigger diagnostic command, the system automatically scans all configured motor channels and marks at least one seat adjustment motor that has not completed self-learning as unlearned. This embodiment supports both single-channel independent self-learning and full-channel synchronous self-learning modes, which can adapt to the single-component recalibration requirements after seat after-sales maintenance.

[0053] In response to the user's manual operation command, the seat adjustment motor is driven to move in the first direction at a preset self-learning low speed until the mechanical stop point in that direction is reached. After detecting a stalled state, the motor drive is stopped, and the cumulative value of the current position sensor is recorded as the first mechanical zero point in the first direction. The stalled state is determined by the following conditions: the motor operating current exceeds the preset stall threshold, and the position change rate remains at 0 for more than 200ms to avoid false judgments caused by mechanical jamming.

[0054] Drive the seat adjustment motor to move in the second direction opposite to the first direction at a preset self-learning low speed until the mechanical stop point in the second direction is reached. After the effective stall state is detected again, stop the motor drive and record the cumulative total value of the position sensor within the whole stroke as the total value of the position sensor for the whole stroke.

[0055] Based on the cumulative values ​​of the position sensors corresponding to the first mechanical zero point and the mechanical stop point in the second direction, as well as the total value of the position sensors for the entire stroke, the range of the soft stop point in the adjustment direction is calculated. The buffer distance between the soft stop point and the mechanical stop point can be calibrated within the range of 3mm to 10mm. The mechanical zero point, the total value for the entire stroke, and the range of the soft stop point are stored in non-volatile memory to complete the self-learning process.

[0056] If no effective stall condition is detected during the above process, or if the total value of the recorded full-stroke position sensor exceeds the preset reasonable range, the self-learning is deemed to have failed, and the control system maintains the unlearned state of the seat adjustment motor. In the state of self-learning failure, the manual adjustment function of the seat remains effective, while the seat position memory function and one-button posture adjustment function are disabled to avoid control abnormalities caused by invalid position data.

[0057] The control system supports receiving diagnostic commands through the communication module, clearing stored single-channel or full-channel self-learning data, triggering the re-execution of the self-learning process, and reading the self-learning status, self-learning fault codes, and calibrated position parameters through the diagnostic interface, which facilitates after-sales maintenance and fault diagnosis.

[0058] Furthermore, the microcontroller has a built-in zero-gravity attitude control algorithm, which specifically includes the following steps when performing zero-gravity attitude control:

[0059] In response to a received one-click zero-gravity trigger signal, including a button trigger signal, a vehicle infotainment screen trigger signal, a voice control trigger signal, or a vehicle network remote trigger signal, the system retrieves a set of zero-gravity posture target position parameters pre-stored in a non-volatile memory. The target position parameter set includes a first adjustment motor target position, a second adjustment motor target position, and a third adjustment motor target position. The first, second, and third adjustment motors are respectively one of a seat back angle adjustment motor, a seat leg support adjustment motor, and a seat pan fore-and-aft / height adjustment motor. Based on ergonomic design, the target position parameter set can achieve a zero-gravity posture with legs raised by 15°~30° and backrest tilted by 120°~135°, concentrating the body's center of gravity on the buttocks and reducing pressure on the spine and joints. It also supports multiple sets of custom zero-gravity posture parameters, including comfort mode, sleep mode, and movie-watching mode, to meet the needs of different usage scenarios.

[0060] According to the preset execution sequence, the first adjustment motor is first driven to the corresponding target position of the first adjustment motor, and then the second adjustment motor and the third adjustment motor are driven synchronously or sequentially to their respective target positions. The execution sequence can be flexibly calibrated according to the mechanical structure of the seat to avoid mechanical interference between the seat back, leg rest, seat basin and other components during the adjustment process.

[0061] During the driving process of each motor, a position closed-loop PID control is adopted to collect the motor position signal in real time, dynamically adjust the PWM drive duty cycle, and control the motor running speed and position accuracy until each seat adjustment motor runs to its corresponding target soft stop position, completing the zero-gravity attitude adjustment. During the adjustment process, if a manual adjustment command, stop command, or vehicle emergency signal is received from the user, the current zero-gravity adjustment process is immediately paused to respond to user operation and vehicle command, ensuring safety of use.

[0062] Furthermore, the microcontroller also performs a linkage control operation between the welcoming position and seat memory, specifically including:

[0063] The communication module receives remote control commands, vehicle unlocking signals, ignition switch status signals, user key ID recognition signals, or user account login signals from the vehicle network.

[0064] In response to the remote control command or vehicle unlock signal, at least one seat adjustment motor is driven to move to a preset welcoming position; the welcoming position is usually the posture with the seat backed to its maximum travel, the backrest straight, and the leg rest fully retracted. It can be customized according to user needs and stored in the non-volatile memory of the control system for the convenience of users getting in and out of the vehicle.

[0065] When the system detects that a user has entered the vehicle and the ignition switch has been turned to the on position, it automatically retrieves the seat position memory data that is bound to the current user's key ID or user account, and drives the seat adjustment motor to run to the user's preset memory position.

[0066] The non-volatile memory uses EEPROM or automotive-grade Flash with high erase / write life, supporting at least 100,000 erase / write cycles. In addition to the welcome position parameters, it also stores at least 5 sets of user-defined seat position memory data. Each set of memory data contains the position parameters of all configured adjustment motors, enabling personalized seat position memory and one-click recall for multiple users.

[0067] Furthermore, the microcontroller integrates full-condition fault diagnosis and protection functions, detecting abnormal conditions in real time such as power overvoltage / undervoltage faults, motor overcurrent / short circuit / open circuit faults, position sensor signal loss faults, button sticking faults, and communication bus faults. When a fault is detected, it immediately executes corresponding graded protection actions, including limiting motor output, cutting off the fault channel drive, recording fault codes and operating data at the time of the fault, and simultaneously uploading the fault information to the vehicle network in real time through the communication module. The fault codes conform to the vehicle diagnostic standards and can be read and cleared through the OBD interface, enabling rapid fault location and after-sales troubleshooting. At the same time, the microcontroller has built-in motor overheat protection logic, estimating the motor winding temperature rise in real time based on the motor's operating current, running time, and ambient temperature. When the temperature rise exceeds a preset threshold, it limits the continuous running time of the motor to prevent overheating damage and extend the service life of the seat actuator.

[0068] Example 2

[0069] This embodiment provides a vehicle seat anti-pinch control method, which can be applied to the system described in any of the above embodiments.

[0070] The method includes the following steps.

[0071] Step S1: During the operation of the seat adjustment motor, the current parameters of the seat adjustment motor and the position signals output by the position sensor associated with the seat adjustment motor are collected in real time.

[0072] Specifically, in this step, the seat adjustment motor is a DC brushed motor that drives the corresponding adjustment dimensions of the seat (including seat fore-and-aft adjustment, height adjustment, backrest angle adjustment, leg support extension and retraction adjustment, lumbar support adjustment, etc.). The real-time acquisition and judgment process of this anti-pinch control method is only started when the seat adjustment motor receives the drive command and is in normal electric adjustment operation. When the motor is in a stationary state, manual adjustment state, or self-learning state, the anti-pinch judgment logic is turned off to avoid invalid calculations and false triggers.

[0073] This step uses synchronous sampling for real-time acquisition, with a sampling frequency of no less than 1kHz, to ensure that the acquisition timing of the current parameter and the position signal is synchronized, avoiding subsequent judgment errors caused by timing deviations. Specifically:

[0074] The current parameter is the real-time operating current in the seat adjustment motor drive circuit. It is sampled by a high-precision, low-temperature drift milliohm-level shunt resistor connected in series in the motor drive circuit. The sampled differential voltage signal is linearly amplified by the current detection amplifier circuit and then low-pass filtered by hardware before being input to the ADC acquisition channel of the microcontroller to complete the real-time acquisition of the current parameter.

[0075] The position sensor is an incremental orthogonal Hall position sensor that is connected to the output shaft of the seat adjustment motor. It is matched with the motor one-to-one. The motor outputs a fixed number of orthogonal pulse signals for each rotation. The number of pulses is linearly related to the seat adjustment stroke. The original pulse signal output by the position sensor is shaped by Schmitt triggering and de-jitter filtering by the signal shaping circuit, and then input to the orthogonal encoder interface of the microcontroller to complete the real-time acquisition of the position signal. The position acquisition accuracy can reach 0.1mm level seat adjustment stroke for a single pulse.

[0076] Step S2: Calculate the current change rate based on the current parameters and the position change rate based on the position signal.

[0077] Specifically, this step first preprocesses the raw current parameters and position signals acquired in real time in step S1 to remove abnormal jump data, and then calculates the rate of change based on the preprocessed valid data. This includes the following sub-steps:

[0078] S21. Data preprocessing: The sliding window mean filtering algorithm is used to filter the current parameters and position signals of N consecutive sampling periods. The value of N is in the range of 3 to 10. The invalid jump data caused by vehicle electromagnetic interference, motor commutation ripple and Hall signal glitches are filtered out to obtain the smoothed effective current value and effective position value.

[0079] S22. Calculation of current change rate: The current change rate is the current increment per unit time, i.e., di / dt. The specific calculation formula is: Current change rate = (effective current value of the current sampling period - effective current value of the previous sampling period) / sampling period, which characterizes the instantaneous change rate of the motor operating current.

[0080] S23. Calculation of position change rate: The position change rate is the position pulse increment per unit time. The specific calculation formula is: Position change rate = (Current sampling period effective position cumulative value - Previous sampling period effective position cumulative value) / Sampling period. The position change rate has a linear relationship with the real-time speed of the seat adjustment motor and can directly characterize the real-time operating speed of the seat adjustment mechanism.

[0081] Step S3: Compare the current change rate with a preset first threshold, and compare the position change rate with a preset second threshold.

[0082] Specifically, in this step, both the first threshold and the second threshold are pre-calibrated through full-condition testing on the seat bench and stored in the non-volatile memory of the control system, which can be calibrated and adjusted online through the vehicle diagnostic interface.

[0083] The first threshold corresponds to the maximum allowable value of the current change rate when the motor is running normally, and is the judgment benchmark for distinguishing between normal fluctuations and abnormal surges in motor current. For the mechanical load characteristics of different adjustment dimensions of the seat and the electrical parameters of different motor models, the corresponding first threshold can be calibrated independently. For example, the load of backrest angle adjustment is greater than that of seat fore-and-aft adjustment, and its corresponding first threshold can be set to a higher value independently.

[0084] The second threshold corresponds to the minimum allowable value of the position change rate when the motor is running normally, and is the criterion for distinguishing between normal fluctuations and abnormal drops in motor speed. Similarly, the corresponding second threshold can be independently calibrated according to the operating speed characteristics of different adjustment dimensions of the seat.

[0085] Furthermore, in this step, the microcontroller can adaptively correct the first threshold and the second threshold according to the real-time operating conditions. The correction factors include the real-time on-board power supply voltage, the estimated temperature rise of the motor windings, and the cumulative running time of the seat: when the power supply voltage is lower than the rated value, the first threshold is corrected downward to avoid misjudgment caused by the normal rise of the motor current under low voltage; when the motor temperature rise exceeds the preset value, the first threshold is corrected upward to compensate for the normal fluctuation of current caused by the increase of the motor internal resistance, and to ensure the accuracy of the anti-pinch judgment under all operating conditions.

[0086] Step S4: When the current change rate is greater than or equal to the first threshold and the position change rate is less than or equal to the second threshold, it is determined that a clamping event has occurred, wherein the first threshold corresponds to the maximum allowable value of the current change rate when the motor is running normally, and the second threshold corresponds to the minimum allowable value of the position change rate when the motor is running normally.

[0087] Specifically, this step employs a dual-threshold joint judgment logic. An object clamping event is only determined to have occurred when both conditions, "current change rate exceeding the limit" and "position change rate exceeding the limit," are simultaneously met. Meeting only one condition does not trigger the clamping judgment, thus reducing the probability of false triggering at its source.

[0088] If the rate of change of current is greater than or equal to the first threshold, but the rate of change of position is greater than the second threshold, it is determined to be a normal fluctuation of motor current, which may be caused by sudden changes in power supply voltage or temporary changes in mechanical friction, and is not determined to be a clamping event.

[0089] If the rate of change of position is less than or equal to the second threshold, but the rate of change of current is less than the first threshold, it is determined to be a normal fluctuation of motor speed, which may be caused by a drop in power supply voltage or manual intervention by the user, and is not determined to be a clamping event.

[0090] Only when both conditions are met simultaneously can the motor be judged to have the stalled characteristic of "sudden increase in load leading to sudden increase in current and sudden decrease in speed", and the stall occurs within the adjustment stroke, which is consistent with the electrical and kinematic characteristics of the clamping event.

[0091] Furthermore, to avoid misjudgment caused by interference from a single sampling, in this step, a clamping event is only determined to have occurred when the above-mentioned double threshold conditions are met for M consecutive sampling periods. The value of M ranges from 2 to 5, which further improves the anti-interference capability of the judgment while ensuring the anti-clamping response speed.

[0092] Meanwhile, in this step, the anti-pinch judgment is only activated within the effective soft stop range of the seat adjustment stroke. At both ends of the seat adjustment direction, in the preset buffer zone near the mechanical stop, the anti-pinch judgment logic is automatically turned off. The buffer zone is set based on the mechanical zero point and full stroke parameters calibrated by the seat position self-learning, and the distance from the mechanical stop is 3mm~10mm, so as to avoid the motor reaching the normal mechanical stop and being mistakenly judged as a pinching event.

[0093] Step S5: In response to the determination that an object clamping event has occurred, immediately stop driving the seat adjustment motor and generate a reverse drive command within a preset time period to control the seat adjustment motor to reverse back a preset distance.

[0094] Specifically, this step is the execution phase of the anti-pinch protection, and the specific execution logic is as follows:

[0095] Emergency Stop: At the same moment the microcontroller detects the object clamping event, it immediately cuts off the PWM drive output of the full-bridge drive circuit corresponding to the seat adjustment motor, shuts off all power switching components, and stops driving the seat adjustment motor to prevent the clamping force from continuing to increase and causing injury.

[0096] Reverse retraction: Within a preset time period after the drive stops, a reverse drive command is generated. This preset time period does not exceed 50ms to ensure the timeliness of the anti-pinch response. The reverse drive command uses a low-speed PWM drive signal to control the seat adjustment motor to run in the opposite direction to the original adjustment direction, retracting a preset distance.

[0097] Status feedback and recording: After the reverse retraction is completed, the microcontroller immediately locks the electric drive function in the adjustment direction until a new valid adjustment command is received. At the same time, it records the fault code, position at the time of triggering, current, running time and other data of this anti-pinch trigger event, and uploads them to the body domain controller and instrument through the vehicle communication network to complete the fault prompt and data retention.

[0098] Furthermore, the preset distance can be calibrated through bench testing, with a value range of 5mm to 20mm, ensuring that the clamping space can be completely released and the risk of clamping can be eliminated, while avoiding secondary mechanical interference caused by excessive reverse retraction; the maximum clamping force after the anti-pinch is triggered is no more than 100N, which meets the requirements of national motor vehicle safety standards for the anti-pinch performance of vehicle-mounted electric components.

[0099] In this preferred embodiment, during the seat adjustment process, if a user's manual stop command, reverse adjustment command, or a higher priority command such as a collision signal or emergency door opening signal sent by the vehicle is received, the current anti-pinch judgment process is immediately interrupted, and the high priority command is responded to first, ensuring the safety of the driver and passengers and the response priority in emergency scenarios.

[0100] Meanwhile, this method can be linked with the seat position memory function and the one-click posture adjustment function. During the automatic operation process such as the seat automatically adjusting to the memory position and zero gravity posture, the anti-pinch judgment logic is activated throughout the process to achieve full-scene anti-pinch protection coverage.

[0101] Although embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed above, they are not limited to the applications listed in the specification and embodiments. It can be applied to various fields suitable for the present invention. Other modifications can be readily made by those skilled in the art. Therefore, without departing from the general concept defined by the claims and their equivalents, the present invention is not limited to the specific details and examples shown and described herein.

Claims

1. A modular vehicle seat control system, comprising: microcontroller; A power management module, electrically connected to the microcontroller, is used to receive vehicle power and generate at least one internal operating voltage. The communication module, electrically connected to the microcontroller, is used for data exchange with the vehicle network; An input signal processing module, electrically connected to the microcontroller, is used to receive input signals from at least one input device, preprocess them, and then transmit them to the microcontroller. as well as A power output drive module is electrically connected to the microcontroller and the power management module, respectively, and is used to selectively drive at least one vehicle seat actuator according to the drive control command generated by the microcontroller. The power output drive module includes multiple half-bridge drive units, at least some of which can be selectively combined to form a full-bridge drive circuit, thereby driving the DC motor to achieve forward and reverse rotation control.

2. The modular vehicle seat control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The power output drive module also includes: A drive signal generating unit, wherein the drive signal generating unit integrates multiple drive signal output terminals; Multiple power switching elements are electrically connected to the drive signal output terminal of the drive signal generation unit, and the multiple power switching elements are paired to form the multiple half-bridge drive units; The drive signal generating unit receives the pulse width modulation command from the microcontroller and outputs a drive signal to the power switching element in response to the pulse width modulation command.

3. The modular vehicle seat control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the microcontroller performs anti-pinch control, it includes: During the operation of the seat adjustment motor, the current parameters of the seat adjustment motor and the position signals output by the position sensor associated with the seat adjustment motor are collected in real time. The rate of change of current is calculated based on the current parameters, and the rate of change of position is calculated based on the position signal; The rate of change of current is compared with a preset first threshold, and the rate of change of position is compared with a preset second threshold; When the rate of change of current is greater than or equal to the first threshold and the rate of change of position is less than or equal to the second threshold, it is determined that an object clamping event has occurred. In response to the determination that an object clamping event has occurred, a reverse drive command is generated to control the seat adjustment motor to perform a reverse retraction operation within a preset time after the drive stops.

4. The modular vehicle seat control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the microcontroller performs seat position self-learning, it includes: Upon initial power-on or receipt of a reset command, at least one seat adjustment motor is marked as unlearned. In response to manual operation by the user, the seat adjustment motor is driven to move in the first direction to the mechanical dead point. After detecting a stall state, the current position sensor cumulative value is recorded as the first mechanical zero point in the first direction. Drive the seat adjustment motor to move in a second direction opposite to the first direction to another mechanical stop point, and record the total value of the position sensor throughout the entire stroke; The soft stop range is calculated and stored based on the first mechanical zero point, the mechanical zero point in the second direction, and the total value of the full-stroke position sensor. If no stall condition is detected or the total recorded value of the full-stroke position sensor exceeds the preset range, the self-learning is determined to have failed. The control system maintains the unlearned state. At this time, the manual adjustment function remains effective while the seat position memory function is disabled. The control system also supports clearing the stored learning data through diagnostic commands to trigger relearning.

5. The modular vehicle seat control system according to claim 4, characterized in that, The microcontroller also performs zero-gravity attitude control, including: In response to receiving a one-click zero gravity trigger signal, a preset set of zero gravity attitude target position parameters is obtained, the target position parameter set including a first adjustment motor target position, a second adjustment motor target position and a third adjustment motor target position; According to the preset execution sequence, the first regulating motor is driven to the target position of the first regulating motor first, and then the second regulating motor and the third regulating motor are driven synchronously or sequentially to their respective target positions to avoid mechanical interference; Position closed-loop control is used during the drive process until each seat adjustment motor reaches its respective target soft stop position.

6. The modular vehicle seat control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The input signal processing module includes: A voltage divider network is used to convert the pressure of a switch at different positions into analog signals with different voltage values. Signal shaping circuitry is used to shape the pulse signal output by the position sensor into a digital level signal recognizable by the microcontroller; and A current detection amplifier circuit is used to amplify the differential voltage across the sampling element in the motor drive circuit.

7. The modular vehicle seat control system according to claim 6, characterized in that, The power management module performs the following functions: When the vehicle ignition signal is off and there is no switch operation, the microcontroller enters a low-power mode and cuts off the power supply to the position sensor and switch pull-up element in the input signal processing module. Only the remote wake-up function of the network transceiver in the communication module and the edge detection wake-up function of at least one switch in the input signal processing module are retained; The quiescent current of the control system in the low-power mode is less than 0.1 mA.

8. The modular vehicle seat control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The different configurations include at least two of the following: long wheelbase models and short wheelbase models, high-configuration models and low-configuration models, second-row seats and third-row seats; The control system selectively configures different numbers of half-bridge drive units, making the number of drive motor channels adjustable within a preset range.

9. The modular vehicle seat control system according to claim 8, characterized in that, The microcontroller is also used for: The communication module receives remote control commands from the vehicle network. In response to the remote control command, at least one seat adjustment motor is driven to move to a preset welcoming position; The welcoming position is stored in the non-volatile memory of the control system, and the non-volatile memory stores multiple user-defined seat position memory data.

10. A vehicle seat anti-pinch control method for controlling the modular vehicle seat control system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising the following steps: Step S1: During the operation of the seat adjustment motor, the current parameters of the seat adjustment motor and the position signals output by the position sensor associated with the seat adjustment motor are collected in real time. Step S2: Calculate the current change rate based on the current parameters, and calculate the position change rate based on the position signal; Step S3: Compare the current change rate with a preset first threshold, and compare the position change rate with a preset second threshold to obtain the corresponding comparison results; Step S4: When the current change rate is greater than or equal to the first threshold and the position change rate is less than or equal to the second threshold, it is determined that a clamping event has occurred, wherein the first threshold corresponds to the maximum allowable value of the current change rate when the motor is running normally, and the second threshold corresponds to the minimum allowable value of the position change rate when the motor is running normally. Step S5: In response to the determination that an object clamping event has occurred, immediately stop driving the seat adjustment motor and generate a reverse drive command within a preset time period to control the seat adjustment motor to reverse back a preset distance.

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