Patent Publication Number: US-2022212718-A1

Title: Steering control method, steering wheel steering device for automatic driving, and vehicle

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to automatic driving, and particularly to a steering control method, a steering wheel steering device for automatic driving, and a vehicle. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The servo motor rotation system (including a servo motor and a drive) in vehicles has many redundant designs, high purchase cost, and low torque and work efficiency. For example, the servo motor rotation system may include a steering column, a torque sensor, a servo motor, a control module, and other components, and after the vehicle is started, the servo motor rotation system starts to work. When a vehicle speed is less than a certain speed, the control module transmits a control instruction to the servo motor based on data such as a steering torque, a rotation direction, and the vehicle speed etc., to enable the servo motor to output the torque having corresponding magnitude and direction, so as to generate auxiliary power. 
     However, in a current field of autonomous vehicles, such as agricultural machinery, an automatic steering system itself only has a single steering function. If rotation angle information is required to be fed back, the automatic steering system requires an additional external angle sensor, at an increased cost of the entire steering system. In autonomous vehicles, the cost of sensors is relatively important. The control system of the autonomous vehicles requires to acquire various parameters with the help of various types of sensors, and make decisions based on those parameters, so as to automatically control the vehicle, and realize automatic driving. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure provides a steering control method, a steering wheel steering device for automatic driving, and a vehicle, the steering wheel motor rotation system can be controlled without any additional angle sensor, thereby saving installation costs and maintenance costs. 
     The present disclosure provides a steering control method, a steering wheel steering device for automatic driving, and a vehicle, the steering wheel motor rotation system can adjust a direction based on instructions of a vehicle control system, so that the vehicle travels based on an expected planned path. 
     The present disclosure provides a steering control method, a steering wheel steering device for automatic driving, and a vehicle, the steering wheel motor steering system can automatically determine whether steering is being done by a human driver, and control the vehicle to return to a traditional driving mode. 
     The present disclosure provides a steering control method, a steering wheel steering device for automatic driving, and a vehicle, the steering wheel motor steering system drives a steering wheel by a motor, and determines a rotation angle of the steering wheel by acquiring a rotation angle of the motor, thereby no external angle sensor is required to detect the rotation angle of the steering wheel. 
     According to one aspect of the preset disclosure, a steering control method for automatic driving is provided, the steering control method includes: 
     in response to a steering instruction, driving a steering wheel to rotate a preset angle by using a steering wheel motor, a rotation angle of the steering wheel being controlled by rotation of the steering wheel motor. 
     According to one embodiment of the preset disclosure, the steering control method further includes: 
     when the vehicle travels automatically along a planned path, and a deviation between an actual track of the vehicle and the planned path is greater than a preset value, transmitting the steering instruction to a steering wheel steering device, which comprises the steering wheel motor and the steering wheel. 
     According to one embodiment of the preset disclosure, the steering control method further includes: 
     when the actual track is corrected until the deviation between the actual track and the planned path is less than the preset value, controlling the steering wheel to remain in a current position by controlling the steering wheel motor to stop rotating. 
     According to one embodiment of the preset disclosure, the steering control method further includes: 
     when the vehicle is required to turn around, transmitting the steering instruction to a vehicle control device, and a steering wheel steering device being controlled by the vehicle control device. 
     According to one embodiment of the preset disclosure, the steering control method further includes: 
     transmitting, by the vehicle control device, an instruction to the steering wheel steering device, to activate a steering wheel motor of the steering wheel steering device into a working mode; 
     acquiring state parameters of the steering wheel motor and determining whether the steering wheel steering device is in an idle state; and 
     when the steering wheel steering device is in the idle state, controlling the steering wheel steering device to rotate based on the steering instruction from the vehicle control device. 
     According to one embodiment of the preset disclosure, the steering control method further includes: 
     acquiring a rotation speed of the steering wheel motor; 
     comparing the rotation speed of the steering wheel motor with a preset rotation speed in the steering instruction; and 
     when the rotation speed of the steering wheel motor is less than the preset rotation speed, controlling the steering wheel motor to increase the rotation speed. 
     According to one embodiment of the preset disclosure, the steering control method further includes: 
     adjusting a heading angle of the vehicle to the preset angle; and 
     controlling, by the vehicle control device, the steering wheel motor to stop rotating, so as to stop rotating the steering wheel. 
     According to one embodiment of the preset disclosure, the steering control method further includes: 
     when the steering wheel is taken over manually by a human driver, controlling the steering wheel motor to stop working, to control the vehicle to enter a manual steering control state. 
     According to another aspect of the preset disclosure, a steering wheel steering device applied in driving a vehicle to steer is provided, the steering wheel steering device includes: 
     a steering wheel; and 
     a steering wheel motor, wherein: 
     the steering wheel is connected with the steering wheel motor and is driven by the steering wheel motor, 
     the steering wheel motor is controllably connected with a vehicle control device of the vehicle, 
     the vehicle control device transmits a steering instruction to the steering wheel motor based on an automatic driving instruction, to control the steering wheel motor to rotate the steering wheel to a preset angle, and 
     a rotation angle of the steering wheel is controlled by rotation of the steering wheel motor. 
     According to one embodiment of the preset disclosure, the steering wheel steering device further includes: 
     a steering wheel motor detector acquiring rotation parameters of the steering wheel motor and communicating with the vehicle control device, the steering instruction transmitted by the vehicle control device comprises a rotation parameter setting value of the steering wheel motor. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a schematic view of one embodiment of a vehicle with a steering wheel steering device according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 1B  is a schematic view of one embodiment of the a steering wheel steering device according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of one embodiment of the vehicle according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view of an application environment of one embodiment of a steering control method according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a steering control method according to the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following description is used to disclose the present disclosure so that one skilled in the art can implement the present disclosure. The embodiments in the following description are only examples, and one skilled in the art can think of other obvious variations. The basic principles of the present disclosure defined in the following description can be applied to other embodiments, modified embodiments, improvement embodiments, equivalent embodiments, and other technical solutions that do not deviate from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. 
     One of ordinary skill in the art should understand that, according to the present disclosure, the orientation or position relationship indicated by the terms “longitudinal”, “lateral”, “upper”, “lower”, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “inner”, “outer”, etc., is the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, which is convenient for describing the present disclosure and simplifying the description. No indication or implication is to be taken that the referred device or component must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, the above terms should not be understood as limiting the present disclosure. 
     It can be understood that, the term “a” should be understood as “at least one” or “one or more”, that is, in one embodiment, the number of a component may be one, and in another embodiment, the number of the components may also be multiple, the term “one” cannot be understood as a restriction on the number. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1A and 1B , a steering wheel steering device  15  and a vehicle  1  with a steering wheel  151  according to one embodiment of the present disclosure are illustrated respectively. 
     The vehicle  1  can be driven automatically or manually, a type of the vehicle  1  can be, but is not limited to, a car, a passenger car, a truck, an agricultural machine, or a motorized trolley in a factory. It is understandable that, the steering wheel steering device  15  can be used not only in the vehicle  1  of the above example, but also in a movable system with a steering wheel, which can realize steering by manipulating the steering wheel. It is understandable that the vehicle  1  may be an internal combustion engine vehicle, an electric vehicle, or a vehicle using other energy source. 
     The vehicle  1  includes a vehicle body  10  and a vehicle control device  20 , the vehicle body  10  is controllably connected with the vehicle control device  20 . The vehicle body  10  can include a vehicle frame  11 , a traveling device  12 , a driving device  13 , a braking device  14 , and the steering wheel steering device  15 . The traveling device  12 , the driving device  13 , the braking device  14 , and the steering wheel steering device  15  are respectively arranged on the vehicle frame  11 . The traveling device  12  is connected with the vehicle control device  20  and can be driven by the vehicle control device  20 , and when the traveling device  12  is in motion, the braking device  14  can reduce and stop the motion. The steering wheel steering device  15  controls steering of the traveling device  12 , that is, controls manner and process of steering of the traveling device  12 . 
     The traveling device  12 , the driving device  13 , the braking device  14 , and the steering wheel steering device  15  are controllably connected with the vehicle control device  20 , and the vehicle control device  20  controls the vehicle body  10  based on data acquired by various sensors, so that the vehicle body  10  can be controlled as desired. 
     The vehicle  1  further includes an information acquisition device  30 , the information acquisition device  30  includes a number of sensors, such as a GPS, an infrared sensor, and an angle sensor, and acquires information about the vehicle body  10  itself or information outside the vehicle  1 , such as environmental information or external instruction information. The vehicle control device  20  communicates with the information acquisition device  30  and processes the data acquired by the information acquisition device  30 , and then transmits instructions to control the vehicle body  10  based on a processing result. 
     The steering wheel steering device  15  includes the steering wheel  151  and a steering wheel motor  152 . The steering wheel  151  is connected with the steering wheel motor  152  and can be driven by the steering wheel motor  152 , and an output shaft of the steering wheel motor  152  rotates to drive the rotation of the steering wheel  151 . 
     It is worth noting that, the steering wheel steering device  15  does not require an additional angle sensor for detecting a rotation angle of the steering wheel  151 . The rotation of the steering wheel  151  is realized by the rotation of the output shaft of the steering wheel motor  152 , the rotation angle of the steering wheel  151  being determined by acquiring the rotation angle of the output shaft of the steering wheel motor  152 . Further, the steering wheel steering device  15  includes a steering wheel motor detector  153 . The steering wheel motor detector  153  is configured to detect a state of the steering wheel motor  152 , such as a speed, a steering direction, or other parameters of the steering wheel motor  152 . The steering wheel motor detector  153  communicates with the vehicle control device  20 , so that the vehicle control device  20  can determine the state of the steering wheel motor  152  in real time, and transmit the instructions to the steering wheel motor  152  based on the state of the steering wheel motor  152 . The steering wheel motor detector  153  can be a speed sensor or an acceleration sensor. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , in one embodiment, the vehicle  1  further includes a storage device  101  and at least one processor  102 . The at least one processor  102  is used to execute a plurality of modules and other applications. The storage device  101  stores the computerized instructions of the plurality of modules, and one or more programs, such as the applications of the vehicle  1 . The storage device  101  can be any type of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or other computer storage device, such as a hard disk drive, a compact disc, a digital video disc, a tape drive, a storage card (e.g., a memory stick, a smart media card, a compact flash card), or other suitable storage medium, for example. The at least one processor  102  can be a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, or other data processor chip that performs data processing functions in the vehicle  1 . 
     In one embodiment, the vehicle control device  20  can be one of the at least one processer  102 . The vehicle control device  20  executes the instructions stored in the storage device  101 , and the instructions can be used for implementing the steering control method provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     For example, referring to  FIG. 3 , an application mode of the steering wheel steering device  15  according to one embodiment in an automatic driving process of the vehicle  1  is illustrated. 
     The vehicle  1  travels automatically along a preset path from A to B. After the vehicle  1  has traveled for a period of time, based on the data acquired by the information acquisition device  30 , the vehicle control device  20  determines that a certain deviation has occurred between a current track of the vehicle  1  and the preset path. If a deviation exceeds a preset range, based on such situation, the vehicle control device  20  transmits an instruction to the steering wheel steering device  15 , to control the steering wheel motor  152  to rotate, so that the steering wheel  151  rotates, to change a traveling direction of the vehicle body  10 . 
     In the above process, the information acquisition device  30  acquires position information of the vehicle body  10  in real time, for example, the position information of the vehicle body  10  is acquired through GPS, the vehicle control device  20  processes the data acquired by the information acquisition device  30 . If the processing result determined by the vehicle control device  20  is that the current driving track of the vehicle body  10  coincides with the preset path, the vehicle control device  20  transmits the instruction to the steering wheel steering device  15 , to cancel the rotation of the steering wheel motor  152  and the steering wheel  151  remains in such position as to continue along the preset path, the data related to the current rotation angle of the steering wheel motor  152  can be fed back to the vehicle control device  20  in real time through the information acquisition device  30 . 
     Further, if the vehicle control device  20  determines that the vehicle body  10  deviates from the preset path again based on the data acquired by the information acquisition device  30 , the above steps can be repeated, and the vehicle control device  20  continues to adjust the steering wheel  151  until the vehicle  1  completes the preset path automatically. 
     According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a steering control method for automatic driving is provided, the steering control method includes: 
     After the vehicle  1  starts to travel automatically, the vehicle  1  automatically travels along a preset direction, once the real-time track of the vehicle  1  deviates from the preset path and the deviation is greater than a preset value, the vehicle control device  20  transmits the instruction to the steering wheel motor  152 , to control the steering wheel motor  152  to rotate the steering wheel  151  to adjust the traveling direction of the vehicle  1 , until the deviation between the real-time track of the vehicle  1  and the preset path is within the preset range. 
     In detail, when the deviation is greater than the preset value, the rotation parameters of the steering wheel motor  152 , such as a rotation speed and a rotation direction, are adjusted, and the rotation parameters are fed back to the vehicle control device  20  in real time. When the deviation of the vehicle  1  is adjusted to be within the preset range, for example, when the travel track of the vehicle  1  coincides with the preset path, the vehicle control device  20  controls the steering wheel motor  152  to stop rotating, to stop the adjustment of the steering wheel  151 , so as to regain the traveling direction of the vehicle  1 . In other words, at this time, the steering wheel  151  is kept in the adjusted direction. When the deviation is greater than the preset value again, the vehicle control device  20  retransmits the instruction to the steering wheel motor  152 , to adjust the position of the steering wheel  151 , until the deviation returns to within the preset range or no longer deviates. 
     For example, when the vehicle  1  is traveling along a straight line, after a period of time, it is determined that the vehicle  1  has deviated to the left, then the vehicle control device  20  controls the steering wheel motor  152  to rotate, to control the vehicle to travel to the right, so as to return to the expected straight line, and the steering wheel  151  is kept in the adjusted position. After the vehicle  1  returns to the expected straight track and after a period of time, the vehicle  1  again deviates, to the right, thus the vehicle control device  20  will control the steering wheel motor  152  to rotate in reverse, to rotate the steering wheel  151 , so that the vehicle  1  is turned to the left. In this way, the position of the steering wheel  151  is continuously adjusted based on the traveling track of the vehicle  1 . 
     It can be understood that, after the vehicle  1  returns to the expected straight line, the steering wheel motor  152  can also automatically return to center and restore to the state before adjustment, so that the steering wheel  151  is controlled to return to center, that is, restored to an initial state. In other words, when the adjustment is completed, the steering wheel  151  can be returned to center, or can be kept in the adjusted state. 
     Further, if a human driver suddenly needs to adjust the driving direction of the vehicle  1  based on requirement, the driver can intervene at any time and control the steering wheel  151 . For example, if the vehicle  1  keeps traveling in the straight line, and the driver turns the steering wheel  151  to the right, so as to control the vehicle  1  to travel to the right, the steering wheel steering device  15  will not operate, that is, the steering wheel motor  152  does not rotate the steering wheel  151  against the human driver, but allows the steering wheel  151  to be rotated by the operation of the human driver. 
     The steering wheel steering device  15  can determine whether the human driver is involved in the operation by detecting force or contra force experienced by the steering wheel motor  152 , although the steering wheel steering device  15  being forced or contra forced by the human driver is only one means of detecting the actions of the human driver. 
     Further, the vehicle  1  with the steering wheel steering device  15  can not only automatically correct the direction when there are deviations from the planned course, but can also perform automatic steering. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the vehicle  1  can be automatically turned around at a position if required. In detail, the vehicle control device  20  of the vehicle  1  can receive external instructions, and transmit an instruction to the steering wheel steering device  15  based on the external instructions, to control the steering wheel steering device  15  to enter a working state. In addition, the vehicle control device  20  can acquire parameters from the steering wheel steering device  15 , such as the current rotation angle of the steering wheel motor  152 . 
     If the steering wheel motor  152  is currently in an idle state, the vehicle control device  20  generates a control instruction based on the parameters from the steering wheel steering device  15  and the external instructions, and controls the steering wheel motor  152  to rotate based on a certain rotation speed and a rotation direction, to rotate the steering wheel  151 . 
     If the steering wheel  151  is currently in a working state, for example, and is then manipulated by the human driver, the vehicle control device  20  can issue prompts based on the parameters from the steering wheel steering device  15 . 
     Further, the information acquisition device  30  acquires a position state of the vehicle  1  in real time, so that the vehicle control device  20  can determine whether the vehicle body  10  has completed a track or an operation, such as turning around. If the vehicle  1  has not completed the operation and a heading angle of the vehicle  1  has not been adjusted to an expected angle, the vehicle control device  20  continues to transmit the instruction to the steering wheel steering device  15 , to control the steering wheel motor  152  to continue to rotate, so that the steering wheel  151  continues to be adjusted. If the vehicle control device  20  determines that the current heading angle of the vehicle  1  reaches the expected angle based on the information acquired by the information acquisition device  30 , then the vehicle control device  20  transmits the instruction to the steering wheel steering device  15 , to control the steering wheel motor  152  of the steering wheel steering device  15  to stop rotating the steering wheel  151 . 
     The steering control method can include: 
     At block  401 , the vehicle control device  20  receives an automatic driving instruction, the automatic driving instruction may from an APP, for example, from a mobile electronic device, and a user can control the vehicle  1  through the mobile electronic device; 
     At block  402 , the vehicle control device  20  receives instructions and transmits an enable instruction to the steering wheel motor  152 ; 
     At block  403 , the steering wheel motor  152  enters a working mode based on the enable instruction from the vehicle control device  20 ; 
     At block  404 , acquire a state of the steering wheel steering device  15  and feed the acquired state back to the vehicle control device  20 ; 
     At block  405 , if the steering wheel steering device  15  is determined to be in an idle state based on the acquired state of the steering wheel steering device  15 , the vehicle control device  20  transmits a steering instruction to the steering wheel motor  152 , to adjust the position of the steering wheel  151 ; 
     At block  406 , the steering wheel motor  152  starts to rotate when receiving the steering instruction; 
     At block  407 , if a rotation speed of the steering wheel motor  152  reaches a preset rotation speed, the steering wheel motor  152  stops rotating, if the rotation speed of the steering wheel motor  152  does not reach the preset rotation speed, the steering wheel motor  152  continues to increase the rotation speed; 
     At block  408 , acquire a heading angle information of the vehicle  1 . 
     At block  409 , if the vehicle  1  has been adjusted to a preset heading angle, the vehicle control device  20  transmits an instruction to the steering wheel steering device  15 , to control the steering wheel motor  152  to stop working, until the rotation speed of the steering wheel motor  152  reduces to zero. If the vehicle  1  has not been adjusted to the preset heading angle, the vehicle control device  20  continues to transmit the instruction to the steering wheel steering device  15 , to control the steering wheel steering device  15  to continue to maintain the adjustment. 
     Further, in other embodiments, the steering control method includes: 
     in response to a steering instruction, the steering wheel motor  152  drives the steering wheel  151  to rotate to a preset angle, the rotation angle of the steering wheel  151  is controlled by the rotation of the steering wheel motor  152 ; 
     if the vehicle  1  travels automatically along a planned path, and a deviation between the actual track of the vehicle  1  and the planned path is greater than a preset value, transmit the steering instruction to the steering wheel steering device  15 ; and 
     if the actual track of the vehicle  1  is corrected, and the deviation between the actual track of the vehicle  1  and the planned path becomes less than the preset value, retransmit the steering instruction to the steering wheel steering device  15 , so that a deviation between the actual track and the planned path of vehicle  1  can be maintained as much as possible. 
     In detail, when the vehicle  1  travels along a straight line, and after a period of time, it is determined that the traveling track of the vehicle  1  is deviating to the right, transmit the steering instruction to control the vehicle  1  to turn to the left, until the deviation between the traveling track and the planned path is less than the preset value. After the deviation between the traveling track of the vehicle  1  and the planned path returns to less than the preset value, the vehicle control device  20  continues to transmit the steering instruction to the steering wheel steering device  15  of the vehicle  1 , to control the steering wheel  151  to return to center for a certain angle, so as to reduce possibility of an increasing deviation between the actual track of the vehicle  1  and the planned path. 
     In this way, before the deviation between the actual track of the vehicle  1  and the planned path increases, the steering of the steering wheel  151  of the vehicle  1  can be corrected in advance. That is, the steering wheel  151  of the vehicle  1  can be corrected in advance. 
     In the steering process, whenever manual power takes over the steering wheel  151 , the data of the steering wheel steering device  15  can be fed back to the vehicle control device  20 , and the vehicle control device  20  can determine the priority of the manual intervention being higher than its own steering instruction. 
     Upon manual intervention on the steering wheel  151 , the steering wheel motor  152  can stop working, so that the human user can fully control the steering wheel  151 . It may also be that, the steering wheel motor  152  plays an auxiliary role. In detail, after manual intervention on the steering wheel  151 , the vehicle control device  20  can determine the rotation direction of the steering wheel  151  based on the data acquired by the steering wheel motor detector  153  from the steering wheel motor  152 . When the steering wheel  151  is rotated in a direction, the vehicle control device  20  transmits the instruction to the steering wheel motor  152  based on the data detected by the steering wheel motor detector  153 , to control the steering wheel motor  152  to rotate the steering wheel  151  along the direction in which the steering wheel  151  is rotated. For the human user, it will be more convenient to manually operate the steering wheel  151 , especially in the case of a large vehicle being operated. 
     Further, the steering wheel steering device  15  has an emergency mechanism. In detail, the information acquisition device  30  of the vehicle  1  continuously acquires the surrounding environment information of the vehicle  1  while automatic driving. After the human user intervenes on the steering wheel  151 , the steering wheel  151  is controlled by the human user. If the vehicle control device  20  determines that an obstacle is in front based on the information acquired by the information acquisition device  30 , but the human user does not perform safety action within a preset time, such as steering away or around, if the vehicle  1  continues to drive in the current direction, the vehicle  1  will hit the obstacle. In this case, the vehicle control device  20  can transmit an instruction to the steering wheel steering device  15 , to control the steering wheel motor  152  to rotate the steering wheel  151 . If the human user is steering the vehicle  1  during this process, but the steering direction is opposite to the steering direction in the instruction of the vehicle control device  20 , the priority of the instruction transmitted by the vehicle control device  20  is then higher than the manual operation instruction, and the vehicle  1  turns to avoid the obstacle under control of the vehicle control device  20 . 
     One of ordinary skill in the art should understand that, the above description and the embodiments of the present disclosure shown in the drawings are only examples and do not limit the present disclosure. The purpose of the present disclosure has been completely and effectively achieved. The functions and structural principles of the present disclosure have been shown and explained in the embodiments. Without departing from the principles, the embodiments of the present disclosure may have any deformation or modification.