Steering Assist Torque Reduction for Anomaly Recognition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional steering assist control systems fail to effectively recognize and alert drivers to a one-unit anomaly in actuator units, which can lead to reduced safety and awareness during driving, especially on curved roads, as they maintain the steering function but diminish assist torque, making anomaly recognition less likely.
Innovation Solution
A steering assist control system that monitors actuator units for anomalies, reduces assist torque when a one-unit anomaly is detected, and simultaneously presents a warning sound to the driver, enhancing both failsafe capability and anomaly recognition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the steering assist control system maintains the steering assisting function by continuing to output torque from remaining normal actuator units after a one-unit anomaly, then the failsafe capability is enhanced, but the user's recognition of the anomaly becomes less likely
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by presenting warning sounds to the driver when an anomaly is detected in one actuator unit. This allows the system to maintain normal steering assist operation while simultaneously informing the driver of the anomaly, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining reliability and ensuring anomaly recognition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary information presentation apparatus that mediates between the actuator units and the driver. This intermediary device communicates the anomaly status to the driver through warning sounds, allowing the system to maintain both failsafe capability and anomaly recognizability without directly altering the steering assist torque.
2Loss of information
If the assist torque is reduced to make anomaly recognition more likely, then the user awareness of the anomaly increases, but the steering assisting function is significantly degraded
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of reducing assist torque to signal the anomaly, the system uses feedback through warning sounds to inform the driver of the anomaly while maintaining normal steering assist levels. This resolves the contradiction by providing anomaly recognition without degrading the steering assisting function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical approach of reducing assist torque with an acoustic information delivery method. By substituting the mechanical signal (torque reduction) with an acoustic signal (warning sound), the system achieves anomaly recognition while preserving the full steering assist function.
3Reliability
If the steering assist control system uses multiple actuator units to provide steering assistance, then the failsafe capability is enhanced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The steering assist system is segmented into multiple independent actuator units, each capable of providing steering assistance independently. This segmentation enhances failsafe capability by allowing the system to continue operating with one or more normal units even when others fail, while the monitoring and control logic manages the complexity of coordinating multiple units.
Data Source
AI summary
A steering assist control system causes multiple actuator units to control an assist torque that provides assistance in steering in accordance with a turning operation on a steering wheel in a vehicle having an information presentation apparatus. The steering assist control system includes: a monitoring part that monitors the actuator units; a torque control part that reduces, in a case of a one-unit anomaly, the assist torque that results from combining output torques from all the actuator units, when the turning operation is performed on the steering wheel; and a warning control part controls the information presentation apparatus. In the case of the one-unit anomaly, the torque control part reduces the assist torque so that the assist torque is smaller than an assist torque output before the occurrence of the one-unit anomaly, every time the turning operation proceeds by a set angle.