Patent ID: 7726748

Claim:
A method for estimating a force value exerted by a brake pad onto a rotor comprising the steps of: providing an electric motor; actuating said electric motor to advance an actuator, said actuator being positioned to advance said brake pad into engagement with said rotor, wherein, upon actuation, said electric motor has a motor current; determining a first value of said motor current representative of a configuration in which said first body is disengaged from said second body during a no-load state of said electric motor; determining a second value of said motor current, said second value being different from said first value and representative of a second configuration in which said brake pad is engaged with said rotor during a load state of said electric motor; and calculating the force value according to F 0 = κ 2 ⁡ ( I F ⁢ ⁢ 0 I NL - 1 ) , wherein κ 2 is a constant and I F0 is said second value of said motor current and I NL is said first value of said motor current.