Autonomous Vehicle Steering Control Rights Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for switching steering control rights from automated to manual driving mode in autonomous vehicles fail to handle abnormal situations, such as a driver gripping the steering wheel during synchronization or malfunctioning steering feedback motors, leading to unsafe and unintuitive control transitions.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a controller that synchronizes the steering angles of the steering wheel and road wheel, detects errors, and adjusts torque to ensure safe mode switching, including increasing torque when necessary and restraining abrupt rotations, to allow safe and intuitive control transitions even in abnormal situations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If synchronization is performed before mode switching, then steering control rights can be switched from automated to manual mode, but the system cannot handle abnormal situations such as driver hands-on during synchronization or steering feedback motor malfunction
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the synchronization completion criterion based on the actual operating state. Instead of requiring complete synchronization before mode switching, the system allows mode switching when the error value falls within an acceptable range, adapting to abnormal situations like driver hands-on or motor malfunction where complete synchronization may not be achievable.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an error value parameter (difference between steering wheel angle and road wheel angle) and compares it against a reference value to determine synchronization status. By changing the decision parameter from binary synchronized/not-synchronized to a continuous error value comparison, the system can handle abnormal situations more flexibly while maintaining safety.
2Ease of operation
If the steering wheel is gripped during synchronization, then the driver intends to take control, but the existing system cannot detect this abnormal hands-on state and proceed with mode switching
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors the error value between steering wheel angle and road wheel angle during the synchronization process. This feedback mechanism allows the system to detect when the driver grips the steering wheel (hands-on state) and adjusts the mode switching decision based on whether the error value is within the acceptable range, ensuring both intuitiveness and safety.
3Reliability
If synchronization fails due to steering feedback motor malfunction, then the steering wheel and road wheel angles cannot be synchronized, but the existing system cannot handle this failure and block mode switching
Solution Approach 1:
The system prepares for potential motor malfunction by establishing a reference error value threshold before synchronization begins. When motor malfunction occurs and synchronization fails, the system can still evaluate whether the existing error value is within the acceptable range and allow mode switching if so, providing fault tolerance while maintaining operational availability.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for controlling switching of steering control rights of an autonomous vehicle, may include: performing a control to synchronize a steering angle of a steering wheel and a steering angle of a road wheel, when switching of the steering control rights from an automated driving mode to a manual driving mode is requested. The method further includes: detecting an error value between the steering angle of the steering wheel and the steering angle of the road wheel, when a hands-on state in which the steering wheel is gripped is detected in the synchronization process. In addition, the method further includes: performing a control to switch the mode of the autonomous vehicle to the manual driving mode, when the error value is less than a preset value.