Patent ID: 6865462

Claim:
A method for initial synchronization of steering wheel and road wheel angles in a steer-by-wire system of a vehicle when the steer-by-wire system is powered, the method comprising: providing a steering wheel control system for producing the steering feel to a vehicle driver and for controlling the steering wheel to track a steering wheel reference angle; providing a road wheel control system for generating road wheel reference angles and for controlling the road wheels to track road wheel reference angles; sensing relative angle and absolute angle of the steering wheel, relative angle and absolute angle of the left road wheel, and relative angle and absolute angle of the right road wheel; generating an augmented steering wheel angle based on the relative angle and the initial value of the absolute angle of the steering wheel, an augmented right road wheel angle based on the relative angle and the initial value of the absolute angle of the right road wheel, and an augmented left road wheel angle based on the relative angle and the initial value of the absolute angle of the left road wheel; using the augmented steering wheel angle as a feedback signal to the steering wheel control system and the augmented left and right road wheel angles as feedback signals to the road wheel control system; and controlling the steering wheel and the road wheels for performing initial synchronization of the steering wheel and the road wheels.