Patent ID: 6895318
Filing Date: 2005-05-17
Classification: B60T,B62D

Abstract:
1. A steering assistance controller for the generation of a compensating torque which assists a vehicle driver in overcoming the tendency of a vehicle to oversteer, the controller comprising: a steering controller adapted to be connected to the vehicle steering system and operative to derive an estimation of the tendency of the vehicle to oversteer based upon estimates of vehicle yaw rate which are compared with measurements of actual vehicle yaw rate to provide a yaw rate error, said steering controller including a closed loop observer having yaw rate feedback which is arranged such that, when the vehicle starts to oversteer, a non-linear region is entered and the previously existing linear yaw rate estimate diverges from the feedback signal whereby the magnitude of the vehicle yaw rate is greater than the magnitude of the estimated yaw rate, thereby producing a negative yaw rate error which is used to generate a proportional signal indicative of the magnitude of the oversteer, said controller further operative to determine the compensating torque as a function of said proportional signal and to apply the compensation torque to the vehicle steering system to encourage the driver to steer the vehicle back to a non-oversteering condition.