Patent Abstract:
Disclosed is a method for assisting the parking of a vehicle. The method includes determining a vehicle position relative to an obstacle. When the relative position meets a first set of criteria, a first torque pulse is delivered to the steering wheel in the first direction to cue an operator of the vehicle to turn the steering wheel in the first direction. When the relative position meets a second set of criteria, a second torque pulse is delivered to the steering wheel in the second direction, opposite to the first direction to cue the operator to turn the steering wheel in the second direction. A system for assisting the parking of a vehicle is also disclosed.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/949,299, filed Jul. 12, 2007, the entire contents of which are specifically incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention generally relates to vehicle steering systems of, for example, automobiles, boats, etc. More particularly, the present invention relates to parking assist features of vehicle steering systems. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Parking a vehicle properly can be difficult at times. Parallel parking especially poses challenges to many drivers when, for example, the parking space is small or other conditions such has curb variations, adverse weather, moving obstacles, grade variations, etc. exist. Other parking maneuvers, such as 90 degree back up parking, often present similar challenges to drivers. 
     Recently, parking assist systems have been developed to assist drivers in these tasks. The developed systems have focused on either (a) controlling the motion of the steering wheel while control of braking and acceleration is left to the driver, (b) providing audial/visual guidance to the driver regarding motion of the steering wheel, or (c) controlling the motion of the steering wheel as well as controlling braking and acceleration of the vehicle. Options (a) and (c), by removing some or all control from the drivers during parking maneuvers, require very robust systems that can compensate for all of the potential variations in the parking situation such as those listed above. Current systems of this type have a narrow range of operability and/or only function within large parking areas. Furthermore, acceptance of systems that entirely remove control of the vehicle from the driver, as in option (c), may be difficult because of potential liability issues. 
     Option (b) leaves control of the vehicle with the driver, but the driver must process the audial/visual cues and convert those cues into motion of the steering wheel. Further, visual cues displayed forward of the driver, for example, on the dashboard, seem contradictory to the premise of the driver remaining in control while driving the vehicle backward. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A method for assisting the parking of a vehicle includes determining a vehicle position relative to an obstacle. When the relative position meets a first set of criteria, a first torque pulse is delivered to the steering wheel in the first direction to cue an operator of the vehicle to turn the steering wheel in the first direction. When the relative position meets a second set of criteria, a second torque pulse is delivered to the steering wheel in the second direction, opposite to the first direction to cue the operator to turn the steering wheel in the second direction. 
     A system for assisting the parking of a vehicle includes at least one sensor for determining a position of a vehicle relative to an obstacle and a torque generator in operable communication with a steering wheel. When the position of the vehicle relative to the obstacle meets a first set of criteria, the torque generator is capable of delivering a first torque pulse to the steering wheel in the first direction to cue an operator of the vehicle to turn the steering wheel in the first direction. When the position of the vehicle relative to the obstacle meets a second set of criteria, the torque generator is capable of delivering a second torque pulse to the steering wheel in the second direction, opposite to the first direction to cue the operator to turn the steering wheel in the second direction. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of a typical parallel parking situation; 
         FIG. 2  is a graph of torque cues provided over time by an embodiment of a steering assist system of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an alternative torque cue configuration including bias torques for the system of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an alternative torque cue configuration for the system of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is an alternative torque cue configuration including multiple torque pulses for the system of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 6  is an alternative torque cue configuration including multiple torque pulses of varying magnitude for the system of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 7  is an example of a visual cue; 
         FIG. 8  is another plan view of a typical parking situation and staging; 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic of an algorithm utilized in the system of  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 10  is an illustration of variation in vehicle location profiles relative to an ideal vehicle location profile. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     A parking assist system is disclosed that provides cues to the driver through torque pulses delivered through the steering wheel. This can be achieved with, for example, an electric or hydraulic actuator or the like.  FIG. 1  illustrates a typical parallel parking situation. Vehicle  10  is attempting to park between parked vehicles  12  and  14 . Profile  16  is a desired path of a center of gravity  18  of the vehicle  10 . Further in  FIG. 1 , steering wheel angle (θ) versus vehicle station (S) along the profile  16  is plotted, and illustrates the angles θ 1  and θ 2  that a driver may turn the steering wheel at stations S 1  and S 2 , respectively, in order to successfully maneuver the vehicle  10  between parked vehicles  12  and  14 . 
     A determination is made preliminarily and/or during the parking maneuver as to whether the vehicle  10  can possibly be parked in an available space between parked vehicles  12  and  14 . This determination can be made by the driver alone or, in some embodiments, by the parking assist system which may then communicate the determination to driver through visual and/or audial cues. 
     The system of the present invention assists the driver in determining when they have reached station S 1  and the steering wheel is to be turned to angle θ 1 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the system provides a pulse of torque, T 1 , through the steering wheel in the direction the steering wheel is to be turned. In reaction to T 1 , the driver then turns the steering wheel to angle θ 1 , which is normally the end of the travel of the steering wheel. 
     As the vehicle  10  continues to S 2 , another pulse of torque, T 2 , is delivered to the steering wheel indicating to the driver that it is time to turn the steering wheel to θ 2 . T 2  is delivered in the opposite direction of T 1  since the direction of turn of the steering wheel is opposite at S 2  compared with S 1 . Further, the magnitude of the torque pulse T 2  is greater than the magnitude of the torque pulse T 1 . As the vehicle  10  moves from a staging station, S 0 , to S 1 , the vehicle  10  is moving substantially directly rearward thus a driver applied torque to the steering wheel during this portion of the parking is minimal. As a result, a small magnitude of torque T 1  can be applied by the parking assist system and it will be perceived by the driver. When T 2  is applied, however, the driver is inputting significant torque into the system in turning the steering wheel to θ 1 . Therefore, for the driver to perceive T 2 , the magnitude of T 2  must be greater than that of T 1 . In the case of a pulse with a larger magnitude such as T 2 , instead of being a pulse having an abrupt end, the pulse may have a gradual end since an abrupt end may cause an oversteer-like sensation for the driver. Further, an additional impulse, T 3 , may be provided at station S 3  as a signal to the driver to straighten the vehicle and complete the parallel parking maneuver in a forward motion. 
     In some parallel parking situations, an initial lateral offset, D 0 , between vehicle  10  and parked vehicle  12  is large enough or, there may be an adjacent vehicle in traffic so that a θ 1  of the complete travel of the steering wheel is not necessary or is determined to be inappropriate by the system. After T 1  is delivered and the driver responds by turning the steering wheel in the suggested direction, if the driver turns the steering wheel to an actual angle  20  that is less than θ 1 , the system will not provide additional T 1  in the form of pulses or constantly varying torque. If, however, the driver attempts to turn the steering wheel to an actual angle greater than θ 1 , the system will respond with a torque T 4  to give the driver a perception that the end of steering wheel travel has been reached. System intervention in this case is continuous of a magnitude in proportion to an amount of overturning and one sided. T 4  is only provided when attempting to go beyond θ 1 , not when failing to reach θ 1 , so that the driver does not have the perception that the system is taking control from him/her. Similarly, if the driver attempts to turn the steering wheel to an actual angle  20  greater than θ 2  or attempts to turn the steering wheel to θ 2  prior to reaching S 2 , the system will respond with a continuous torque T 5  to resist the driver&#39;s input. Again, it should be noted that T 1 , T 2 , and T 3  are, in some embodiments, singular events while T 4  and T 5  may be transient or repetitive in nature. 
     An alternative for providing additional assistance to the driver is to provide a first bias torque, T 6 , subsequent to T 1 , and a second bias torque, T 7 , subsequent to T 2 . T 6  is in the same direction as T 1 , but is longer in duration and of lesser magnitude than T 1 . Likewise, T 7  is in the same direction as T 2 , but is longer in duration and of lesser magnitude than T 2 . In some embodiments, T 7  is of greater magnitude than T 6  because, as described above, the driver may be inputting significant torque in an opposite direction of T 7  during the first turn, so a greater magnitude T 7  is necessary to have a desired effect. Because of their longer durations and lesser magnitudes, the effect of the bias torques, T 6  and T 7 , is different from the effect of T 1  and T 2 . T 1  and T 2  are meant to alert the driver to turn the steering wheel in the desired direction, while T 6  and T 7  provide a level of assistance in parking that may not be readily perceived, thus may be acceptable, to most drivers. 
     In some embodiments, the torque pulses T 1 , T 2  and T 3  may be single pulses as shown in  FIG. 2 , or the pulses may vary in duration, magnitude, and/or quantity.  FIG. 4  illustrates pulses T 1 , T 2  and T 3  as single pulses with increasing magnitude over time.  FIG. 5  illustrates each of pulses T 1 , T 2  and T 3  as multiple pulses, each of equal magnitude, while the pulses of  FIG. 6  are multiple pulses with each subsequent pulse increasing in magnitude over the previous pulse. 
     In some embodiments, visual cues  22  such as shown in  FIG. 7 , for example, may be included to complement the torque pulses, T 1 , T 2 , and T 3 , and/or continuous torques T 4  and T 5 . The first indicator  24  illustrates a current position of the steering wheel, while the second indicator  26  illustrates a desired position of the steering wheel and the arrow  28  indicates a necessary direction of rotation of the steering wheel to reach the desired position of the steering wheel indicated by the second indicator  26 . The visual cue  22  must be visible to the driver while the driver is looking rearward during the parking maneuver. Possible locations for the visual cue  22  include, for example, displaying it on a rear windshield of the vehicle, or displaying it on a device that could be pulled down from ceiling of the vehicle near the rear windshield. An additional display in the front of the vehicle would be complementary to one in the rear of the vehicle. 
     An important consideration in providing steering cues is an initial position of the vehicle  10 . Shown in  FIG. 8  is a typical parking situation. The staging zone  30  illustrates where the center of gravity  18  must be located with respect to a left rear corner  32  of the parked vehicle  12  for the parking maneuver to be successful. When the vehicle  10  is driven rearward, for instance with no heading angle offset and with straight steering wheel angle, as the vehicle starts going straight backward from its stationary position, the steering wheel must begin to be turned when the center of gravity  18  crosses staging zone border  34 . The greater the distance y 0  the center of gravity  18  is from the parked vehicle  12 , the sooner along axis x steering wheel turning must be initiated. The particular shape of the staging zone  30  may vary based on the shape of the vehicle  10 , whether a large heading angle offset is permitted at staging, or whether a motion other than directly rearward is allowed while the center of gravity  18  is inside the staging zone  30  and other factors. Because the steering cues are to correspond to a successful steering profile and the staging zone  30 , the location of the first steering cue along the x axis is a substantially linear function of the initial lateral distance y 0  as depicted by the boundary line  34  of the staging zone  30 .This holds for the case where the vehicle&#39;s initial heading angle is close to zero and it is driven directly rearward within the staging zone  30 . Alternative steering profiles and staging zones are possible and would result in similar methodology for determining the steering cues. 
     An algorithm for determining the location along the x-axis to begin providing steering cues is illustrated in  FIG. 9 . A first input  36  is an enable that starts a Parking Assist with Steering Cues mode. This is typically activated by the driver through an interface (audio, click, etc.). A second input  38  and a third input  40  are measurements of x and y of the center of gravity  18  relative to the parked car  12  (see  FIG. 8 ). The x and y measurements can be provided by a variety of sensors such as ultrasonic, GPS, radar, etc. Furthermore, it is not necessary to directly measure the x and y of the center of gravity  18 . Other points in the vehicle  10  could be utilized as well, and the x and y of the center of gravity  18  could be derived therefrom. 
     To determine the initial lateral position y 0 , a trig_stage_zone subsystem  42  is used. It takes in the real time y value and since the trig stage zone subsystem  42  is triggered by the first input  36 , an output will be the lateral distance y 0  at a time the driver provides the first input  36 . An X_tresh_RT block  44  receives y 0  from the trig_stage_zone subsystem  42  and outputs the longitudinal location of the first cue or X 1 , based on: X 1 =m Y 0 +b, where m and b are constants representing the boundary  34  of the staging zone  30 . A decision  46  is made whether the calculated X 1  or a fixed X 1a  is to be used, followed by a continual comparison  48  between X and X 1  as the vehicle  10  is driven directly rearward. Once X is less than X 1 , the first steering pulse, T 1 , is generated by a trig_pulse block  50 . 
     A staging check system  52  evaluates whether the vehicle  10  is within the staging zone  30  or not. The staging check system  52  may output a stage_zone_ok signal  54  to the driver, if desired. 
     A second torque system  56  triggers a second torque pulse T 2 . T 2  is triggered by continually comparing X with a constant value for X 2  (such as −1.8). Note that it has been experimentally verified that unlike X 1 , X 2  is not sensitive to initial staging variation. Also note that triggering of the second torque pulse T 2  may be achieved by comparing Y to a second constant. Alternatively, the triggering of T 2  may be achieved by comparing a distance D 1  between a front right corner  58  of vehicle  10  and the rear left corner  32  of the parked vehicle  12  to a third constant (see  FIG. 8 ). Further, the triggering of T 2  can be achieved by generating and comparing a heading angle of the vehicle  10  against a fourth constant. Once the vehicle  10  is at the appropriate location, X equaling X 2 , the second torque pulse, T 2 , is generated by trig_pulse 1  block  60 . 
     If the vehicle  10  is to be driven directly rearward while the center of gravity  18  is in the staging zone  30 , variation in X 1  is due to variations in the initial location X 0 , y 0  of the center of gravity  18  of the vehicle  10 . The driver&#39;s driving style is, by definition, irrelevant. On the other hand, the location of X 2  for application of T 2  is influenced by the driver&#39;s driving style. For example, a speed at which the vehicle  10  is moving, the magnitude the driver turns the steering wheel, and speed at which the driver turns the steering wheel are factors in determining the optimal location to apply T 2 . 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an initial ideal steering wheel profile as a function of station. The ideal profile is perhaps better achievable with an actuator of some kind with driver&#39;s hands off the wheel. Since station is defined as an arc length along the path of the center of gravity  18 , it will be conveniently determinable as an integral of the vehicle speed. Thus if the driver decides to bring the vehicle  10  to a halt, the ideal steering wheel location will not change as long as the vehicle is stationary. The steering cues which follow the lead of the ideal steering wheel rotation will also need to be position based as opposed to time based, if the vehicle speed variations are to be taken into account. Furthermore, an exact shape of the ideal profile is a function of the vehicle speed. Generally speaking, the faster the vehicle  10  is moving, the faster the steering wheel must be turned for the vehicle  10  to traverse through the same path. Therefore, one can imagine that the profile shown in  FIG. 1  corresponds to a vehicle  10  traveling at an average, or ideal, speed. 
     As shown in  FIG. 10 , one approach to modifying the location X 2  of T 2  is to determine a real time steering wheel profile  62  while the driver is turning the steering wheel. An ideal steering wheel profile  64  corresponding to an ideal center of gravity profile is compared to the real time steering wheel profile  62  and an error signal, e, is found that can be integrated for a desired duration past X 1 . The integrals may be expressed as:
 
 I=∫e ( t ) dt  or  I=∫e ( s ) dS  
 
     If I is positive, it indicates that the driver has been aggressive in turning the steering wheel ahead of the steering wheel ideal profile  64 . If for that interval, an average vehicle speed has been greater than the ideal, the location X 2  is not altered. However, if the average vehicle speed has been close to or less than the ideal vehicle speed, T 2  is provided at a location X 2+  which is past the original location of X 2 . This allows the vehicle path to become closer to the ideal profile  64 . The amount of change in the location of steering cue, ΔX 2+ , is proportional to I. 
     On the other hand if I is negative, it indicates that the driver has been passive in turning the steering wheel. In particular, if that has occurred while the vehicle  10  has been moving at a higher speed, on the average, compared to the ideal speed, T 2  is provided at location X 2−  which is before the original location of X 2 . This allows the vehicle path to again move closer to the ideal profile  64 . If the average vehicle speed has been lower than the ideal speed while I was negative, no change in X 2  is made. The amount of change in the location of steering cue, ΔX 2− , is proportional to I. 
     Alternatively, a process comparing an actual average steering wheel speed when the vehicle  10  is past X 1  to an ideal steering wheel speed for the same interval may be used. The driver would be considered passive if the actual average steering wheel speed is less than the ideal steering wheel speed, and active when the actual steering wheel speed exceeds the ideal steering wheel speed. With the same considerations for vehicle speed as described above, the same consequences would apply in terms of moving the application of T 2  relative to X 2 . This approach does not require real time computation of the ideal profile. 
     In addition to the location of T 2 , its amplitude, duration, and/or its number of occurrences may be changed. For example, when the driver is passive after the application of T 1 , T 2  could occur before the vehicle  10  reaches X 2 , with more amplitude, with more duration, and/or it may even be a double pulse or the like. 
     While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1