Dynamically Adjustable Combined Reactive-Proactive Controller

Abstract

Combination reactive-proactive controllers and their uses are described herein. In a first mode of operation, such controllers may simultaneously rely on both a priori information about the road surface ahead of the vehicle obtained from a database and real-time information collected by one or more on-board sensors. Alternatively, in a second mode, such controllers may rely only on real-time information collected by one or more on-board sensors. Systems controlled by such controllers may include, but are not limited to, active suspension actuators.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Related Applications This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 309,723, filed February 14, 2022, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0002] Technical Field The disclosed embodiments relate to methods and apparatus for simultaneous proactive and reactive control of on-board vehicle systems, which may be used to dynamically transition between or balance the two modes. [Background technology]

[0003] background Some vehicle-mounted systems are operated proactively, for example, based on preview or a priori information (e.g., information stored in a remote database or a database mounted on the vehicle) that characterizes at least some aspects of the road segment ahead of the vehicle.

[0004] Alternatively, some vehicle-mounted systems are operated reactively, for example, in response to data from one or more sensors mounted on the vehicle. Systems that may be operated proactively or reactively may include active or semi-active suspension systems, braking systems, steering systems, etc. When previously stored road information may be used to estimate the position of and / or control one or more vehicle systems, the vehicle's position estimate may be based on data from, for example, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and / or a terrain-based navigation system. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] overview According to one aspect, a method is provided for controlling a system within a vehicle using a combination reactive-proactive controller while the vehicle is traveling along a road surface. The method may include a first mode of operation that may include receiving, at a microprocessor, a priori information from a database regarding an aspect of a first portion of the road surface before engaging a first portion of the road, operating the combination reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-proactive mode to develop a first command based on the a priori information, and operating the system based on the first command when the vehicle is on the first portion of the road. The method may also include a second mode of operation that may include receiving, at the microprocessor, information regarding an aspect of a second portion of the road surface from at least one on-board sensor when the vehicle is on a second portion of the road, operating the combination reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-only mode to develop a second command based on information from the at least one sensor, and operating the system based on the second command when the vehicle is on the second portion of the road. In some embodiments, the system may be a suspension system (e.g., a semi-active or fully active suspension system) actuator. In some embodiments, the database may be a remote database (e.g., not located on the vehicle but located in the cloud). In some embodiments, the vehicle may operate in the second operational mode when communication with the database is interrupted for more than a predetermined period of time. In some embodiments, the vehicle may operate in the second operational mode when the vehicle's position cannot be determined with sufficient accuracy or reliability. In some embodiments, sufficient accuracy is achieved when the vehicle's absolute or relative position is known or can be determined to within 10 centimeters, within 5 centimeters, or within 1 centimeter. Furthermore, in some embodiments, accuracy greater than or less than the ranges indicated above may be considered sufficient, as the disclosure is not so limited.In some embodiments, sufficient accuracy and / or reliability may be achieved when the position estimate is based on a greater number of satellites than a threshold, or when the terrain-based position estimate reports an accuracy and / or reliability level above a threshold. In some embodiments, under at least one operating condition, the vehicle may transition from operating in a first mode to operating in a second mode. In some embodiments, under at least one operating condition, the vehicle may transition from operating in the second mode to operating in the first mode. In some embodiments, the combination reactive-proactive controller operates according to an algorithm executing on at least one microprocessor, the algorithm including at least one parameter, the value of which may be changed during a transition between the first mode and the second mode. In some embodiments, the at least one parameter may be a gain. In some embodiments, the at least one parameter may be changed from a first value to a second value. In some embodiments, the first value of the at least one parameter may be one, and the second value of the at least one parameter may be zero. In some embodiments, the first value of the at least one parameter may be 0 and the second value of the at least one parameter may be 1. In some embodiments, the change may be made gradually over a period of at least 0.5 seconds but less than 1.5 seconds. In some embodiments, the change may be, for example, a linear function of time, a quadratic function of time, or an exponential function of time. Further, in some embodiments, the transition may be made over a period of 1.5 seconds or more, or a period of less than 0.5 seconds, as the disclosure is not so limited.

[0006] According to one aspect, a method is provided for controlling a system in a vehicle using a first combined reactive-proactive controller and a second combined reactive-proactive controller while the vehicle is traveling along a road surface. The method may include a first mode of operation that may include, in a microprocessor, receiving a priori information from a database regarding a behavior of a first portion of the road surface before engaging a first portion of the road, operating the first combined reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-proactive mode and formulating first commands based on the a priori information to control the system within a first frequency range, operating the second combined reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-proactive mode and formulating second commands based on the a priori information to control the system within a second frequency range, and operating the system based on the first and second commands when the vehicle is on the first portion of the road. The method may also include a second operating mode, which may include, when the vehicle is on the second portion of the road, receiving, at the microprocessor, information regarding an aspect of the second portion of the road surface from at least one on-board sensor; operating the first combined reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-only mode and formulating a third command based on the information from the at least one sensor; operating the second combined reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-only mode and formulating a fourth command based on the information from the at least one sensor; and operating the system based on the third and fourth commands when the vehicle is on the second portion of the road. In some embodiments, the system may be a suspension system (e.g., semi-active or fully active) actuator. In some embodiments, the database may be a remote database, e.g., a database in the cloud. In some embodiments, the vehicle may operate in the second operating mode when communication with the database is interrupted for a predetermined period of time. In some embodiments, the vehicle may operate in the second operating mode when the vehicle's position cannot be determined with sufficient accuracy or reliability.In some embodiments, sufficient accuracy may be when the vehicle's position is known or can be determined within 10 centimeters, 5 centimeters, or 1 centimeter. Furthermore, in some embodiments, accuracy greater than or less than the ranges indicated above may be considered sufficient, as the disclosure is not so limited. In some embodiments, under at least one operating condition, the vehicle transitions from operating in a first mode to operating in a second mode and / or from operating in the second mode to operating in the first mode. In some embodiments, the combination reactive-proactive controller operates according to at least one algorithm executing on at least one microprocessor, the at least one algorithm including at least one parameter, and the value of the at least one parameter, e.g., a gain, is changed during the transition between the first mode and the second mode. In some embodiments, the value of the at least one parameter may be changed from a first value to a second value. In some embodiments, the first value of the at least one parameter may be 1, and the second value of the parameter may be 0. In some embodiments, the first value of the at least one parameter may be 0 and the second value of the at least one parameter may be 1. In some embodiments, the change may be gradual over a period of at least 0.5 seconds but less than 1.5 seconds. Further, in some embodiments, the transition may be over a period of 1.5 seconds or more, or less than 0.5 seconds, as the disclosure is not so limited. In some embodiments, the change may be a linear function of time, a quadratic function of time, or an exponential function of time. In some embodiments, the first and third frequency ranges may be equal, and / or the second and fourth frequency ranges may be equal. In some embodiments, the first and third frequency ranges may include specific frequencies above 0.1 Hz but less than 2 Hz, and the second and fourth frequency ranges include specific frequencies above 2 Hz but less than 20 Hz.Furthermore, the first and third frequency ranges may include some frequencies greater than or equal to 0.1 Hz and less than or equal to 1.5 Hz, and the second and fourth frequency ranges may include some frequencies greater than or equal to 1.5 Hz but less than 20 Hz. Combinations of different portions of the above-mentioned ranges are contemplated, as the disclosure is not so limited.

[0007] It should be understood that the above-described concepts, and additional concepts described below, may be arranged in any suitable combination, as the disclosure is not limited in this respect. Moreover, other advantages and novel features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of various non-limiting embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0008] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component shown in various figures may or may not be represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, every component may not be labeled in every drawing. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows a vehicle having a suspension actuator traveling along a road surface. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a system for generating force commands that are based on preview and / or feedback information and that dampen induced body motions resulting from interacting with the road surface. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a proactive controller layout. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of the contents of the proactive control calculation block. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a vehicle control system including a reactive-proactive controller. [Figure 6]FIG. 6 shows a vehicle control system that includes two reactive-proactive controllers. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Detailed Description In some embodiments, a controller within a vehicle may operate reactively based on real-time sensor data, or alternatively, may operate proactively based on previously collected, a priori, or preview data. However, the inventors have recognized that in some embodiments, a controller operating one or more systems (e.g., vehicle systems, active or semi-active suspension systems, braking systems, steering systems) may operate simultaneously or alternately reactively and proactively in at least one or more modes. The inventors have further recognized that in such combined modes of operation, reactive controller commands, for example, based on real-time sensor data (e.g., accelerometer, IMU, displacement data), may at least partially conflict or contradict proactive commands, which may be based on a priori or preview information. In some embodiments, access to previously collected information, for example, information received from a remote database, or the flow of real-time data, for example, from on-board sensors, may occasionally be interrupted or otherwise unavailable. Alternatively, or in addition, the vehicle may be unable to determine its position with sufficient accuracy. Under one or more of these scenarios, the reactive-proactive controller may switch between a combined reactive-proactive mode and a reactive-only mode. In some embodiments, if the loss of access to a priori data and / or localization accuracy is temporary and is restored, the reactive-proactive controller may switch back to the combined mode.

[0011] As used herein, the terms "previously collected road data," "a priori road data," or "preview road data" refer to information about aspects of the road or road segment ahead of the vehicle (e.g., road surface information (e.g., road surface characteristics, pothole characteristics, and other surface anomalies), road surface profile). As used herein, the term "road surface profile" refers to the vertical height of a surface (e.g., relative to a nominal surface or an arbitrary plane). Alternatively, it may refer to the first or second derivative of the vertical height, for example, along a two-dimensional cross-section of the road or road segment. As used herein, the term "longitudinal road surface profile" refers to the road surface profile in the direction of travel along the road.

[0012] In some embodiments, a reactive controller may react based on one or more set points or reference inputs and one or more feedback signals from sensors monitoring the state of the system being controlled, e.g., the state of the vehicle's body. Alternatively, in some embodiments, a proactive controller may be used that provides one or more predetermined inputs to the controller based on previously recorded or stored data that may cause the system to operate according to a predetermined plan or set of rules. Note that the set points or reference inputs may be constant or variable as a function of time.

[0013] As mentioned above, in some embodiments, a system may be operated by a controller that simultaneously acts as both a reactive and a proactive controller. Such a combination controller may receive feedback information from sensors that monitor the state of the system being controlled, as well as set points or reference information from data sources (e.g., databases and / or models).

[0014] As noted above, in some combination controller embodiments, a priori information and / or position estimation data that may be needed to properly use that information may not be continuously available. Accordingly, a reactive-proactive controller may occasionally engage and disengage its proactive control components. The inventors have recognized that when there is such an interruption, the operation of the controller and / or the controlled system may be adversely affected by switching between different modes.

[0015] Using a priori information about the approaching road or road segment and a precise position estimate (i.e., a position estimate that can determine position with absolute or relative accuracy of less than one meter, e.g., on the order of one to one hundred centimeters), the systems described herein can be used to command active and / or passive actuators (e.g., active suspension systems or semi-active suspension systems) to provide improved ride and / or handling and / or safety characteristics compared to feedback-only control loops. However, such commands can result in poor or undesirable ride characteristics under various operating conditions, for example, when (1) information about the road surface or vehicle position is inaccurate and / or (2) the model used to determine the desired commands is incorrect. In other words, commands based on a priori information may not be completely appropriate for at least a portion of the road or road segment ahead of the vehicle.

[0016] The systems and methods described herein can detect such situations and notify the controller to modify one or more output commands. The systems and methods described herein can continuously or intermittently analyze a recent record of vehicle motion, road motion, and / or actuator commands, e.g., the previous few seconds, and determine, based on one or more criteria, e.g., based on sensor measurements or occupant feedback, whether one or more of the commands by the controller during this period were beneficial or detrimental to vehicle performance. If the system determines that system performance is deficient, the output commands and / or the models used to determine them can be adjusted to avoid continued poor performance.

[0017] In some implementations, controller proactive commands may be scaled down to improve performance. For example, the system may apply a 10% gain, a 50% gain, a gain less than 100%, or the like to one or more of the controller's commands to adjust the system's output. In some cases, scaling down the output command may be frequency-dependent. For example, a gain may be applied only to the output command within a specific frequency range, or may be applied differently between different frequency ranges. For example, within a first frequency range, a 10% gain may be applied, within a second frequency range, a 50% gain may be applied, and within a third frequency range, no gain scaling may be applied. This distribution allows the system to maintain performance within frequency ranges where it would not experience performance degradation issues. For example, feedback control systems, such as suspension systems (e.g., active suspension, semi-active suspension, active roll system) and / or active steering systems, may use signals from one or more sensors to calculate system states and desired responses. The control system may then generate commands for one or more actuators to follow. This process may rely on fast response and processing, yet may tolerate any kind of input variation.

[0018] A proactive control system may use, for example, crowdsourced methods for estimating road profile and road event data, along with methods for position estimation, to provide information about an oncoming road profile or event to another system onboard the vehicle. Such a controller may predict one or more aspects of an oncoming disturbance and therefore tolerate much slower system response and processing times than those that may be used in a feedback system. However, it may be sensitive to input variations or errors, for example, due to reliance on inaccurate road profile and / or road event data. Such inaccuracies may arise, for example, due to unexplained deviations of the vehicle from the expected path, erroneous position estimates, or changes in the road profile since the data was collected.

[0019] In some embodiments, a combination of the two methods may be used to take advantage of the strengths of each type of control strategy. When simultaneously optimizing the control strategies for both methods, the proactive controller component of the controller may focus on the desired response to the predictive input, while the reactive controller component of the controller may be used to correct the output and monitor the effectiveness of the proactive control.

[0020] In one embodiment of the vehicle controller, the proactive and reactive components may be configured to achieve the same goal, e.g., reducing the vertical acceleration of a portion of the vehicle, e.g., the vehicle sprung mass or the vehicle body, over a given frequency range. If the proactive control is functioning correctly and accurately predicts the disturbance input, then the reactive control may not need to compensate for any errors.

[0021] As a result, the command signal correction provided by the reactive controller may be small or substantially zero within the target frequency range. In some embodiments where a combination proactive / reactive controller is used, there may be a preset threshold for command signal correction (e.g., less than or equal to 1 / 10 of the maximum output of the reactive controller). In such embodiments, if the reactive control output increases above this threshold, it may be used as an indicator of a malfunction of the proactive control, for example, due to deviation of the vehicle from its expected path.

[0022] When optimizing a reactive controller for a given plant or system (e.g., a vehicle having one or more actuators therein), the goal may be to overcome the effects of disturbance inputs from the environment. For example, the controller may be designed to minimize vehicle vertical body acceleration within a given frequency range due to road-induced disturbances. In some embodiments, the performance limit may be the response time of the system (actuators, sensors, and / or processor). A proactive controller may achieve better performance, for example, due to its ability to tolerate system latency and slower response. Thus, when the proactive controller is enabled, the reactive controller may only correct prediction errors of the proactive control components. This may be achieved using different control logic, and in one implementation, the reactive controller components may change to different adjustments and only switch back to reactive adjustments when the proactive controller fails to predict and / or react to disturbances with sufficient accuracy or otherwise becomes ineffective.

[0023] In some embodiments, such a combined controller mechanism may be used to compensate for reduced performance of the reactive controller, e.g., at higher frequencies such as, for example, above 8 Hz, by changing the tuning of the reactive controller, e.g., by reducing its overall gain, without incurring a loss of overall performance due to the performance of the proactive control component.

[0024] Using optimization control techniques, each controller can be optimally tuned, either independently or in combination, to achieve the desired overall performance. For example, a feedback controller can be tuned to contribute only within a particular frequency range, while a proactive controller can be tuned to contribute within a complementary frequency range.

[0025] In some embodiments, a proactive controller may provide a sensor reference and a proactive command, and a reactive controller may provide a reactive command in response to a sensor signal. When the proactive control is disabled, the feedback loop on the reactive controller may remain active, but the tuning parameters for the controller may be changed.

[0026] 1 , the vehicle 102 may be equipped with one or more sensors. The one or more sensors may include one or more sensors 104 (e.g., body accelerometers, ground clearance sensors, wheel accelerometers) that may be used to measure one or more quantities associated with ride characteristics, as well as one or more sensors 106 (e.g., body accelerometers, wheel accelerometers, ground clearance sensors, laser sensors, radar sensors, ground-penetrating radar sensors, and / or others) for collecting data that may be used for terrain-based position estimation. The vehicle 102 may include fully active or semi-active suspension dampers (e.g., actuators 108) that may receive active or passive force commands from a controller 105 onboard the vehicle 102.

[0027] Using information about the approaching road, commands can be formulated and communicated to actuators (including actuator 108) to improve the ride comfort performance of vehicle 102.

[0028] As the vehicle 102 travels across the road surface 114, the vehicle's wheels may move (e.g., vertically or partially vertically) as a result of interacting with one or more characteristics of the road surface (e.g., road roughness, road profile, road events, etc.). Force commands 112 may be transmitted to one or more suspension actuators (e.g., actuators 108). If the force commands 112 are calculated based on a correct model and accurate information about the road surface 114, the ride comfort of the vehicle 102 may be improved. In some implementations, for example, a road isolation strategy, e.g., skyhooking, may be implemented to reduce the vehicle's vertical body motion 110. In some implementations, for example, a road-following strategy, e.g., groundhooking, may be implemented, and the vertical body motion 110 may more closely track the vertical displacement of the road surface 114. In FIG. 1 , to the left of line L1, the body motion has been reduced relative to the vertical displacement of the road surface 114, as shown by the body motion trajectory 110. This behavior may be achieved based on an accurate model of the vehicle, accurate information about the road surface 114, and sufficiently accurate information about the vehicle's position. Appropriate force commands 112 may be formulated to isolate the body motion of the vehicle 102 from disturbances induced by the road surface 114. However, if either or both of the model and road surface information are not sufficiently accurate and / or the position of the vehicle 102 is not known with sufficient accuracy, such as to the right of line L1 in FIG. 1 , ride isolation may be reduced (e.g., worse than if no control forces were applied, or worse than if a comparable passive vehicle or a purely reactive control strategy were used) rather than improved, as shown to the right of line L1 in FIG. 1 . For example, errors or inaccuracies in the model or in the information about the characteristics of the road surface 114 may result in an inappropriate force command, which may result in, for example, an aberrant peak 118 in the force command.The deviant force command may increase the body motion (eg, compared to the expected body motion of an equivalent passive vehicle or reactive limited control strategy), as shown as a peak 116 in the body motion.

[0029] 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a controller 120 having a proactive controller component 122 in combination with a feedback loop that includes a reactive (i.e., feedback) component 124. According to various embodiments, other controller configurations may be used, such as those with no feedback loop, but with a feedforward loop, and those for semi-active and partially active systems, as the disclosure is not so limited.

[0030] In the embodiment of FIG. 2, proactive controller component 122 may provide two outputs. First, it may provide actuator commands, which may be configured to produce a desired response of the plant or controlled system to a disturbance. As a second output, an expected sensor signal may be determined based at least in part on road data, e.g., previously recorded crowd-sourced road data, which may be received from a database (e.g., a remote database in the cloud, an on-board database). The second output may be provided as a reference signal to reactive controller component 124. Thus, in this embodiment, the proactive control strategy may be insensitive to the feedback loop. If the actuator commands from the proactive control result in an expected reference output from the sensor, then the feedback loop may not substantially indicate an error and therefore may produce substantially no reaction. On the other hand, if an error exists, for example, due to inaccuracies in the expected disturbance (e.g., due to errors in vehicle position estimation), then the feedback loop may operate to correct the resulting error in the motion.

[0031] In some embodiments of the combined reactive-proactive controller of FIG. 2, the vehicle may be traveling over a known surface, e.g., a road for which surface information has been previously recorded. Thus, if a disturbance preview and the vehicle's position with sufficient accuracy are available, then the time signal of the approaching disturbance can be determined by the proactive controller, e.g., if the vehicle's road speed is also known. For example, if a general road profile is available, as defined as z_road = f(s_road, y), where the road's vertical height z_road is a function of the longitudinal coordinate s_road and the lateral position y along the path. Knowing the vehicle's position along the path s_current at any given time and the road speed v_s = ∂s / ∂t, the approaching vertical road speed can be expressed as a function of time as ∂z / ∂t = ∂z / ∂s v_s. If this input is determined for each position along the path segment, a time trace of the command input for the control system can be calculated. By knowing the current path position, appropriate commands can be provided to the system at the appropriate time to achieve the desired result. Figure 3 illustrates aspects of one embodiment employing a proactive controller 250.

[0032] 4, flowchart 300 illustrates a method for controlling a vehicle's response to a road-induced disturbance caused by interaction with a surface feature of the road. The method includes receiving (302) information regarding at least one aspect of the feature before the vehicle reaches the feature, the information being based at least in part on previously collected, e.g., crowd-sourced, or otherwise measured, data. The method also includes generating (304) a first output and a second output using a proactive controller component on the vehicle based at least in part on the information in step 302, the first output being a first command signal for an actuator on the vehicle and the second output being a predicted response of a sensor on the vehicle to the disturbance. The method also includes generating (306), with the reactive controller component, a third output based at least in part on the error signal received by the reactive controller component, the third output being a second command signal for an on-board actuator, the error signal being based on a difference between the second output in step 304 and a signal generated by an on-board sensor in response to the disturbance. The method also includes operating (308) the actuator based on the first output and the third output. In some implementations, the actuator is an active suspension actuator.

[0033] 5 illustrates an example controller system 400 including a combined reactive-proactive controller 402 that operates systems 404 (e.g., a suspension system (e.g., a full or semi-active suspension system), a steering system, a braking system) onboard a vehicle 406. The controller 402 controls aspects of the motion of the vehicle 406. The controller 402 may operate in a combined reactive-proactive mode, a proactive-only mode, a reactive-only mode, and / or a transition mode.

[0034] In some embodiments, when in the combined reactive-proactive mode, controller 402 may receive a signal equal to the difference between real-time signal 408, which is a measurement of an aspect of vehicle 406 motion, and setpoint or reference signal 412, which may be constant or variable as a function of time, provided by data source 410. The value of the setpoint or reference signal may be based on a priori information about the road ahead of vehicle 406. The setpoint or reference signal may be, for example, a desired value of the magnitude of the aspect of motion represented by signal 408. Data source 410 may also provide command signal 414, which may be added to command signal 416 provided by controller 402. In-vehicle system 404 may be operated based on command signal 418, i.e., the sum of command signal 414 and command signal 416. If setpoint signal 412 and command signal 414 are accurately determined, signal 408 may be zero or substantially zero.

[0035] In some embodiments, if there is an error in either or both of these values, signal 408 may be used to correct the resulting aspect of vehicle motion. However, signal 408 may be equal to zero if in-vehicle system 404 is an active suspension actuator and the setpoint or reference is zero (e.g., if it is desired that a portion of the vehicle body not move vertically in response to road-induced disturbances, e.g., if it is desired that the portion of the vehicle body be isolated from road-induced disturbances), and if command signal 414 has been accurately determined to achieve the desired motion.

[0036] In some embodiments of system 400, if the data source is unable to access the a priori road data, for example, due to an interruption in communication with a remote database, the data source may provide a setpoint signal of a predetermined value, e.g., 0, and a command signal 414 of a predetermined value, e.g., 0. In such a scenario, controller 402 may operate in a reactive-only mode. In some embodiments, for example, when access to the a priori road data is restored, data source 410 may revert to a reactive-proactive mode of operation.

[0037] When switching from one mode to another, for example, a sudden change in the values ​​of signals 412 and 414 from their current values ​​to a different value, e.g., a predetermined value, can cause undesirable disruptions in system performance. In some embodiments, when switching between modes, data source 410 may apply gains that gradually transition from their current values ​​to their target values. For example, when transitioning from reactive-proactive mode to reactive-only mode, the gain of one or more output signals, e.g., signal 412 and / or signal 414, may be adjusted from their current values ​​to a target value, e.g., zero. This gradual transition may occur over a period of, for example, 0.5 seconds to 1.5 seconds. Periods greater or less than this range are contemplated, as the disclosure is not so limited.

[0038] Figure 6 shows an example controller system 500 that includes two combined reactive-proactive controllers 502a and 502b to operate the system 404 of the embodiment shown in Figure 5. In some embodiments, controller 502a may provide commands within a first range of frequencies, while controller 502b may provide commands within a second range of frequencies.

[0039] In some embodiments, the first range may be above a threshold frequency, while the second range is below the threshold frequency. In some embodiments, data source 510 may provide the same or different setpoints or reference signals to the two controllers. For example, in some embodiments, the setpoint provided to controller 502a for the higher frequency range may be zero, e.g., to achieve isolation from road disturbances, while the setpoint provided to controller 502b for the lower frequency range may be equal to a non-zero number, e.g., to achieve tracking of road vertical displacement. In some embodiments, the non-zero setpoint or reference provided to controller 502b may be equal to a priori-based vertical displacement of the road surface relative to a predetermined baseline.

[0040] In some embodiments, if data source 510 loses access to a priori data or vehicle position, setpoint or reference signal 512a, setpoint or signal 512b, and / or command signal 514 may be set to zero, substantially zero, or another predetermined value. In such a scenario, one or both controllers 502a and 502b may operate in a reactive-only mode. In some embodiments, when access to a priori data is re-established, one or both controllers may return to a reactive-proactive mode of operation.

[0041] In some embodiments, when switching between modes, data source 510 may gradually adjust the output gain from a current value to a target value to achieve a smooth transition between modes, as described above with respect to the embodiment disclosed in FIG. 5.

[0042] In some embodiments, at least one error signal calculated as the difference between the sensor signal 408 and the reference signal 412 used as an input to the controller 402 can be used to verify the quality of the proactive control components. For example, the signal can be compared to a threshold, or filtered within a frequency band and then compared to a threshold, or filtered above or below a frequency and then compared to a threshold. If the signal exceeds at least one threshold, a decision can be made regarding the quality of the proactive control, and appropriate action can be taken. For example, if the signal exceeds a first threshold, or exceeds it for a specified period of time, or has a signal energy, as determined by a method such as root mean square (rms) or other similar method, that exceeds a threshold, the proactive control gain can be reduced; if the signal exceeds a second threshold, the proactive control can be deactivated.

[0043] The above-described embodiments of the techniques described herein may be implemented in any of numerous ways. For example, embodiments may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. When implemented in software, the software code may be executed on any suitable processor or collection of processors, whether provided in a single computing device or distributed among multiple computing devices. Such processors may be implemented as integrated circuits with one or more processors within integrated circuit components, including commercially available integrated circuit components known in the art by names such as CPU chips, GPU chips, microprocessors, microcontrollers, or coprocessors. Alternatively, a processor may be implemented in the form of custom circuitry, such as an ASIC, or semi-custom circuitry resulting from constructing a programmable logic device. As a still further alternative, a processor may be part of a larger circuit or semiconductor device, whether commercially available, semi-custom, or custom. As a specific example, some commercially available microprocessors have multiple cores, whereby one or a subset of those cores may constitute a processor. However, a processor may be implemented using circuitry in any suitable format. It should also be understood that any reference to a controller in this disclosure is understood to refer to the use of one or more processors configured to perform one or more of the methods disclosed herein.

[0044] Further, it should be understood that a computing device including one or more processors may be embodied in any of a number of forms, such as a rack-mounted computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, or a tablet computer. In addition, a computing device may be incorporated within devices not generally considered computing devices but having suitable processing capabilities, including a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a tablet, or any other suitable portable or fixed electronic device.

[0045] A computing device may also have one or more input and output devices. These devices may be used, among other things, to present a user interface. Examples of output devices that may be used to provide a user interface include a display screen for visual presentation of output and a speaker or other sound-generating device for audible presentation of output. Examples of input devices that may be used for a user interface include keyboards, individual buttons, and pointing devices such as mice, touchpads, and digitizing tablets. As another example, a computing device may receive input information through voice recognition or in other audible formats.

[0046] Such computing devices may be interconnected by one or more networks of any suitable form, such as a local area network or a wide area network, such as an enterprise network or the Internet. Such networks may be based on any suitable technology and may operate according to any suitable protocol, and may include wireless networks, wired networks, or fiber optic networks.

[0047] Also, the various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded as software that is executable on one or more processors utilizing any of a variety of operating systems or platforms. These methods may be embodied as processor-executable instructions stored on associated non-transitory computer-readable media that, when executed by one or more processors, perform any of the methods disclosed herein. Additionally, such software may be written using any of a number of suitable programming languages ​​and / or programming or scripting tools, and may be compiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code that runs on a framework or virtual machine.

[0048] In this regard, the embodiments described herein may be embodied as a computer-readable storage medium (or multiple computer-readable media) (e.g., computer memory, one or more floppy disks, compact discs (CDs), optical disks, digital video disks (DVDs), magnetic tape, flash memory, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, circuitry in a field programmable gate array or other semiconductor device, or other tangible computer storage medium) encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one or more computers or other processors, perform methods for implementing the various embodiments described above. As is evident from the above examples, a computer-readable storage medium may retain information for a sufficient time to provide computer-executable instructions in a non-transitory form. Such computer-readable storage medium or media may be portable, such that the program or programs stored thereon can be loaded into one or more different computing devices or other processors to implement various aspects of the present disclosure as described above. As used herein, the term "computer-readable storage medium" encompasses only non-transitory computer-readable media, which may be considered an article of manufacture (i.e., an article of manufacture) or a machine. Alternatively, or in addition, the present disclosure may be embodied as a computer-readable medium other than a computer-readable storage medium, such as a propagating signal.

[0049] The terms "program" or "software" are used generically herein to refer to any type of computer code or set of computer-executable instructions that can be used to program a computing device or other processor to implement various aspects of the present disclosure as described above. Additionally, in accordance with one aspect of the present embodiments, it should be understood that one or more computer programs that, when executed, perform the methods of the present disclosure need not reside on a single computing device or processor, but may be distributed in a modular manner among a number of different computers or processors to implement various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0050] Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

[0051] The embodiments described herein may be embodied as methods, of which only one example is provided. The acts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable manner. Thus, embodiments may be constructed in which the acts are performed in an order different from that illustrated. This may include performing some acts simultaneously, even if shown as sequential acts in the illustrated embodiment.

[0052] Additionally, some actions are described as being taken by a "user." It should be understood that a "user" need not be a single individual, and that in some embodiments, actions attributed to a "user" may be performed by a team of individuals and / or an individual in combination with computer-assisted tools or other mechanisms.

[0053] While the present teachings have been described in conjunction with various embodiments and examples, it is not intended that the present teachings be limited to such embodiments or examples. On the contrary, the present teachings encompass various alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only.

Claims

1. 1. A method of controlling a system in a vehicle using a combined reactive-proactive controller while the vehicle is traveling along a road surface, the method comprising: In a first mode of operation, receiving, in a microprocessor, prior to encountering a first portion of the road surface, a priori information regarding a behavior of the first portion of the road surface from a database; operating the combination reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-proactive mode and formulating a first command based on the a priori information; operating the system based on the first command when the vehicle is on the first portion of the road surface; In a second mode of operation, receiving, at a microprocessor, information relating to a behavior of the second portion of the road surface from at least one on-board sensor while the vehicle is on the second portion of the road surface; operating the combination reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-only mode and formulating second commands based on the information from the at least one sensor; operating the system based on the second command when the vehicle is on the second portion of the road surface; A method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the system is a suspension system actuator of a suspension system.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the suspension system is an active suspension system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the database is a remote database, and the remote database is in a cloud.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle operates in the second operating mode when communication with the database is interrupted for a predetermined period of time.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle operates in the second operating mode when the position of the vehicle cannot be determined with sufficient accuracy.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the sufficient accuracy is when the position of the vehicle is known to within 10 centimeters.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the sufficient accuracy is when the position of the vehicle is known to within 5 centimeters.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the sufficient accuracy is when the position of the vehicle is known to within one centimeter.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle transitions from operating in the first mode to operating in the second mode under at least one operating condition.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle transitions from operating in the second mode to operating in the first mode under at least one operating condition.

12. 12. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein the combination reactive-proactive controller operates according to an algorithm executing on at least one microprocessor, the algorithm including at least one parameter, the value of which is changed during a transition between the first mode and the second mode.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the at least one parameter is a gain, and the value of the at least one parameter is changed from a first value to a second value.

14. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first value of the at least one parameter is 1 and the second value of the at least one parameter is 0.

15. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first value of the at least one parameter is 0 and the second value of the at least one parameter is 1.

16. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the change is made gradually over a period of at least 0.5 seconds but less than 1.5 seconds.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the variation is a linear function of time.

18. 1. A method of controlling a system in a vehicle using a first combined reactive-proactive controller and a second combined reactive-proactive controller while the vehicle is traveling along a road surface, the method comprising: In a first mode of operation, receiving, in a microprocessor, prior to encountering a first portion of the road surface, a priori information regarding a behavior of the first portion of the road surface from a database; operating the first combined reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-proactive mode to control the system within a first frequency range and formulating first commands based on the a priori information; operating the second combination reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-proactive mode to control the system within a second frequency range and formulating second commands based on the a priori information; and operating the system based on the first commands and the second commands when the vehicle is on the first portion of the road surface. In a second mode of operation, receiving, at a microprocessor, information relating to a behavior of the second portion of the road surface from at least one on-board sensor while the vehicle is on the second portion of the road surface; operating the first combination reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-only mode to control the system within a third frequency range and formulating third commands based on the information from the at least one sensor; operating the second combination reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-only mode to control the system within a fourth frequency range and formulating fourth commands based on the information from the at least one sensor; operating the system based on the third and fourth commands when the vehicle is on the second portion of the road surface; A method comprising:

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the system is a suspension system actuator of a suspension system.

20. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the suspension system is an active suspension system.

21. 20. The method of claim 18 or 19, wherein the database is a remote database.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the remote database is in the cloud.

23. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the vehicle operates in the second operating mode when communication with the database is interrupted for a predetermined period of time.

24. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the vehicle operates in the second operating mode when the position of the vehicle cannot be determined with sufficient accuracy.

25. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the sufficient accuracy is when the position of the vehicle is known to within 10 centimeters.

26. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the sufficient accuracy is when the position of the vehicle is known to within 5 centimeters.

27. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the sufficient accuracy is when the position of the vehicle is known to within one centimeter.

28. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the vehicle transitions from operating in the first mode to operating in the second mode under at least one operating condition.

29. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the vehicle transitions from operating in the second mode to operating in the first mode under at least one operating condition.

30. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the combination reactive-proactive controller operates according to at least one algorithm executing on at least one microprocessor, the at least one algorithm including at least one parameter, the value of which is changed during a transition between the first mode and the second mode.

31. 31. The method of claim 30, wherein the at least one parameter is a gain.

32. 32. The method of claim 30 or 31, wherein the value of the at least one parameter is changed from a first value to a second value.

33. 33. The method of claim 32, wherein the first value of the at least one parameter is 1 and the second value of the at least one parameter is 0.

34. 33. The method of claim 32, wherein the first value of the at least one parameter is 0 and the second value of the at least one parameter is 1.

35. 33. The method of claim 32, wherein the change is made gradually over a period of at least 0.5 seconds but less than 1.5 seconds.

36. 36. The method of claim 35, wherein the change is a linear function of time.

37. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the first frequency range and the third frequency range are equal.

38. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the second frequency range and the fourth frequency range are equal.

39. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the first and third frequency ranges include specific frequencies above 0.1 Hz but below 2 Hz, and the second and fourth frequency ranges include specific frequencies equal to or greater than 2 Hz but below 20 Hz.

40. 1. A method of controlling a system in a vehicle using a combined reactive-proactive controller while the vehicle is traveling along a road surface, the method comprising: In a first mode of operation, controlling the system by operating the combination reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-proactive mode; In a second mode of operation, controlling the system by operating the combination reactive-proactive controller in a reactive-only mode; A method comprising:

41. 41. The method of claim 40, wherein the system is selected from the group consisting of an active suspension system, a semi-active suspension system, a braking system, and a steering system.

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