Vehicle Sensor Delay Compensation for Stable Distance Control

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing vehicle control systems face challenges in compensating for sensor delays, which can lead to inappropriate vehicle responses, unstable inter-vehicle distances, and increased risk of collisions due to delayed sensor information.

Innovation Solution

A control method and system that calculates and compensates for sensor delays by determining optimal control parameters based on conditions such as maximum sensitivity value and chain stability, ensuring accurate inter-vehicle distance and speed control, thereby minimizing the impact of temporal delays in perception data.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If sensor data is used for vehicle control, then the vehicle can maintain inter-vehicle distance and speed control, but the sensor time delay causes inappropriate vehicle responses and unstable control

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevehicle control reliabilityVSAvoidsensor time delay
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary delay measurement by comparing timestamps of sensor data with actual measurement times, then uses this pre-measured delay information to compensate for future sensor readings. This allows the control system to anticipate and correct for delays before they affect control decisions, resolving the contradiction between using sensor data for reliable control and dealing with time delays.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Measurement precision

If control parameters are adjusted to compensate for delay, then vehicle response accuracy improves, but the control system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedelay measurement precisionVSAvoidcontrol system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements feedback by continuously measuring the actual time delay between sensor measurements and data delivery, then using this measured delay information to adjust and compensate for future sensor readings. This feedback loop enables accurate delay compensation without requiring complex predictive models, as the system learns the actual delay characteristics through direct measurement and applies corrections based on observed performance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP4077087B1Vehicle control system and method with sensor time delay compensation
Publication Date: 2024.01.31 AMPERE SAS
  • EP4077087B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4077087B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4077087B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The invention concerns a control method implemented in a vehicle (12) for controlling the driving of the vehicle using data from sensors (200) in a perception system (20), the perception system providing at least one variable determined on the basis of the data measured by at least some of the sensors. The control method implements a control loop for transmitting at least one control signal to one or more vehicle actuators depending on the determined difference between (a) an inter-vehicle distance and the inter-vehicle distance target value, and/or (b) the difference between the vehicle speed and the vehicle speed target value. The control signal is dependent on at least one pair of control parameters (Kpi, Kvi). The method comprises a step of calculating the sensor delay and a step of compensating for the sensor delay, the latter step comprising the determination of at least one pair of control parameters with an optimum value using a set of starting values for the pair of control parameters, wherein the pair of control parameters with an optimum value is selected from the starting values of the pair of control parameters that meet a set of selection conditions comprising at least one condition relating to a maximum sensitivity value, wherein the maximum sensitivity value is defined depending on the control parameters and a reference inter-vehicle separation time.