Patent ID: 11952060
Assignee: VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATION
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 14:
15. A method for steering a vehicle comprising:
detecting a malfunction associated with a first steering actuator of a steering assembly, the first steering actuator configured to be actuated in accordance with at least one signal issued from a motion control system comprising a computerized control unit to control a steering angle of at least one steerable ground engaging member of the vehicle to control steering of the vehicle, the first steering actuator associated with a first nominal steering capability, defining at least one limitation of the at least one steerable ground engaging member, the at least one limitation of the first nominal steering capability comprising at least one of steering angle, steering angle rate, and steering torque,
utilizing the motion control system to associate a second steering actuator of the steering assembly with a second enhanced steering capability instead of a second nominal steering capability, the second enhanced steering capability being different from the second nominal steering capability, the second steering actuator configured to be actuated in accordance with at least one signal issued from the motion control system to control the steering angle of the at least one steerable ground engaging member of the vehicle to control the steering of the vehicle, the second steering actuator associated with the second nominal steering capability, defining at least one limitation of the at least one steerable ground engaging member, the at least one limitation of the second nominal steering capability comprising at least one of steering angle, steering angle rate, and steering torque,
steering the vehicle using the second steering actuator,
utilizing the motion control system to determine a blind stop path being a path that the vehicle is intended to follow during a malfunction of the vehicle,
utilizing the motion control system to determine whether the vehicle can follow the blind stop path if the vehicle is steered using the second steering actuator when associated with the second enhanced steering capability, and
performing at least one of the following steps (i) and (ii):
(i) when no malfunction associated with the first steering actuator is detected, utilizing the motion control system to automatically select which one of the first steering actuator, associated with the first nominal steering capability, and the second steering actuator, associated with the second nominal steering capability, should be currently actuated in order to control the steering angle of the at least one steerable ground engaging member in a manner capable of following the blind stop path, and to automatically issue at least one signal to the thus selected steering actuator for control of the thus selected steering actuator; and
(ii) upon detection of a malfunction associated with the first steering actuator, utilizing the motion control system to automatically issue at least one signal to the second steering actuator to control the steering angle of the at least one steerable ground engaging member of the vehicle to control the steering of the vehicle in a manner capable of following the blind stop path.