Vehicle Seat Posture Control via Steering Velocity Prediction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle seat apparatuses fail to provide adequate occupant hold during abrupt steering operations, as the actuation for seat posture control is initiated too late due to reliance on a predetermined lateral acceleration threshold, leading to delayed activation of the seat posture control.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle seat apparatus with an actuator and controller that activates seat posture control based on both lateral acceleration and steering velocity, allowing earlier initiation of seat posture control during sharp-turn operations by predicting increases in lateral acceleration, thereby ensuring a good hold of the occupant.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If seat posture control is activated only when lateral acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold value, then the control system remains simple and reliable, but the actuation is delayed during abrupt steering operations resulting in inadequate occupant hold
Solution Approach 1:
The control system performs preliminary action by detecting steering velocity and predicting lateral acceleration before it actually exceeds the threshold. When steering velocity exceeds a predetermined value, the system anticipates that lateral acceleration will soon exceed the threshold and activates seat posture control in advance, eliminating the delay that would otherwise occur during abrupt steering operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system uses feedback from the steering operation detection to continuously monitor steering velocity and predict future lateral acceleration conditions. This feedback mechanism allows the system to adjust the timing of seat posture control activation based on actual driving conditions, ensuring timely response to abrupt steering while maintaining simple and reliable operation during normal driving.
2Loss of time
If the lateral acceleration threshold is lowered to activate seat posture control earlier, then the response time is improved, but false activation during normal driving may occur
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of lowering the lateral acceleration threshold, the system performs preliminary detection of steering velocity and predicts future lateral acceleration. This allows the system to activate seat posture control at the appropriate time without prematurely activating during normal driving, as the prediction is based on actual steering input rather than just current acceleration levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system dynamically adjusts its activation criteria based on driving conditions by combining steering velocity detection with lateral acceleration prediction. Rather than using a fixed threshold, the system adapts its response timing to match the actual dynamics of the steering operation, activating control only when prediction indicates that lateral acceleration will exceed the threshold, thereby avoiding false activation while maintaining fast response.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle seat apparatus includes a seat, an actuator, and a controller in which a posture control unit exercises a seat posture control over the actuator based on a lateral acceleration and a steering velocity, to change an orientation of at least a portion of the seat. The posture control unit is configured to activate the seat posture control when a magnitude of the lateral acceleration becomes greater than a first acceleration threshold value, as well as to activate the seat posture control on conditions that the steering velocity has a magnitude greater than a steering velocity threshold value and when the magnitude of the lateral acceleration becomes greater than a second acceleration threshold value of which a magnitude is smaller than the first acceleration threshold value and a direction is laterally opposite to a direction of the steering velocity.