Steering Angle Sensor Alignment Segmentation for Industrial Trucks
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing alignment methods for steering angle sensors in electric steering systems of industrial trucks require excessive movement of the steered wheel, leading to stress and prolonged alignment times, especially when the system is restarted after being turned off.
Innovation Solution
A method that uses a setpoint sensor to detect the steering angle sensor position and an actual value sensor to detect the steered wheel orientation, with a transmission ratio defining the angle change of the steered wheel relative to the steering angle sensor, allowing alignment within specific segments to minimize wheel movement and reduce alignment time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the steering angle sensor is aligned by reproducing the entire angular change beyond segment limits, then the alignment accuracy is improved, but the steered wheel undergoes excessive movement and stress
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the angular range of the steered wheel into segments, where each segment corresponds to a full rotation of the steering angle sensor (360°). During alignment, the system only needs to reproduce the angular change within the current segment rather than the entire angular range. This segmentation allows accurate alignment while limiting steered wheel movement to a manageable range, thereby reducing stress on the wheel mechanism.
2Measurement precision
If the steering angle sensor undergoes multiple full rotations during alignment, then the alignment accuracy is improved, but the alignment time is prolonged
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the alignment process into segments corresponding to 360° rotations of the steering angle sensor, the system can efficiently determine the current segment and only reproduce the necessary angular change within that segment. This avoids unnecessary full rotations and significantly reduces alignment time while maintaining accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system determines the current segment of the steered wheel before performing the alignment reproduction. This preliminary identification of the segment allows the system to calculate the exact angular change needed within that segment, avoiding unnecessary rotations and enabling faster alignment.
3Productivity
If the transmission ratio is increased to cover the entire angular range with fewer sensor rotations, then the alignment speed is improved, but the steering precision is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maintains a transmission ratio that requires multiple full rotations of the steering angle sensor to cover the entire angular range of the steered wheel. However, by implementing segment-based alignment, the system only needs to reproduce the angular change within the current segment (typically less than one full rotation), thereby achieving both high precision and fast alignment speed.
Data Source
Figure 1~4
AI summary
The method involves detecting the orientation of steering wheels (20) using actual value sensors (22), and detecting position of steering angle sensors (10) with a reference value sensor (12). A steering control (14) is utilized to specify a speed ratio between steering angle sensors and the steering wheels and divide angular range of the wheels into angular segments. The steering wheels are rotated within the angular segment in an angular orientation corresponding to the position of the steering angle sensor, where the position is detected by the reference value sensor. An independent claim is also included for an industrial truck with an electrical steering and a steering angle sensor.