Search

CN-121986045-A - Apparatus and method for controlling actuator

CN121986045ACN 121986045 ACN121986045 ACN 121986045ACN-121986045-A

Abstract

Aspects of the invention relate to a control system (500) for controlling a steering actuator (310) of a vehicle (100), the control system (10) comprising one or more controllers (400), the control system (500) comprising an input device (430) for receiving a driver control signal (505) indicative of a driver steering input at a steering control device (200) of the vehicle (100) and autonomous trajectory data (545,1045) indicative of an autonomous trajectory (710) of the vehicle (100), a processing device (410) configured to determine (610,1110) a change in a driving state of the vehicle (100) from the driver control signal (505), and when the change in driving state occurs to determine (620,1120) a driver trajectory (720) of the vehicle (100) from the driver control signal (505), to determine (640,1140) an error input (535,1035) to the steering controller (550) from the autonomous trajectory (710) and the driver trajectory (720), to determine (640,1140) the error input (550,1050) to the steering actuator (310) of the vehicle (100) for the steering controller (550,1050) from the error input, one or more limits (830, 840) for the magnitude of the control input to the steering actuator (310) are determined (660) in accordance with one or more parameters (517,1017) associated with the vehicle to limit the force applied to the steering control device (200), and an output device (445) for outputting a signal (445,585,1085) indicative of the control input to the steering actuator (310) of the vehicle (100).

Inventors

  • Cristina. Machado
  • Carlos George Bolt
  • JUAN HERRERA

Assignees

  • 捷豹路虎有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20240521
Priority Date
20230522

Claims (15)

  1. 1. A control system for controlling a steering actuator of a vehicle, the control system comprising one or more controllers, the control system comprising: An input device for receiving: A driver control signal indicative of a driver steering input at a steering control of the vehicle, and Autonomous trajectory data, the autonomous trajectory data being indicative of an autonomous trajectory of the vehicle; a processing device configured to: Determining a change in a driving state of the vehicle according to the driver control signal, and performing the following when the change in the driving state occurs: determining a driver trajectory of the vehicle based on the driver control signal, An error input to a steering controller is determined from the autonomous trajectory and the driver trajectory, Determining a control input for the steering actuator of the vehicle from the error input, and Determining one or more limits on the magnitude of the control input to the steering actuator to limit the force applied to the steering control device according to one or more parameters associated with the vehicle, and An output device for outputting a signal indicative of the control input to the steering actuator of the vehicle.
  2. 2. The control system of claim 1, wherein determining the driver trajectory of the vehicle comprises: Receiving environmental data indicative of an environment of the vehicle, and And predicting the driver trajectory according to the environmental data and the driver control signal.
  3. 3. The control system of claim 2, wherein the prediction is performed using a trained driver trajectory model.
  4. 4. A control system according to claim 2 or 3, comprising determining a combined trajectory from the autonomous trajectory and a predicted driver trajectory.
  5. 5. The control system of claim 1, wherein determining the driver trajectory of the vehicle comprises: determining an actual driver trajectory of the vehicle based on the driver control signal, and A trajectory offset is determined from the actual driver trajectory, at least in part from the autonomous trajectory.
  6. 6. The control system of claim 5, wherein determining the trajectory offset comprises: Determining a predicted trajectory offset using a trained trajectory offset model, and A combined trajectory is determined from the autonomous driving trajectory and the predicted trajectory offset.
  7. 7. The control system of claim 6, comprising determining a trajectory offset between the combined trajectory and the actual driver trajectory.
  8. 8. The control system of claim 6, comprising determining a trajectory offset between the control input for the steering actuator of the vehicle and a corresponding input associated with the actual driver trajectory.
  9. 9. A control system according to any preceding claim wherein the error input to the steering controller is determined from one or more parameters associated with the autonomous driving trajectory and the driver trajectory.
  10. 10. A control system according to any preceding claim, wherein the one or more parameters associated with the vehicle from which the one or more limits for the magnitude of the control input are determined include one or more of a speed, yaw rate, lateral acceleration and jerk of the vehicle.
  11. 11. A control system according to any preceding claim, wherein the steering control of the vehicle is a steering wheel.
  12. 12. A system, comprising: a control system according to any preceding claim, and An actuator responsive to the signal indicative of the control input for the vehicle.
  13. 13. A vehicle comprising a control system according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or a system according to claim 12.
  14. 14. A method, comprising: Receiving a driver control signal indicative of a driver input at a control device of a vehicle; Receiving autonomous trajectory data, the autonomous trajectory data indicating an autonomous driving trajectory of the vehicle; Determining a change in a driving state of the vehicle according to the driver control signal; Determining a driver trajectory of the vehicle from the driver control signal; Determining an error input to a controller from the autonomous driving trajectory and the driver trajectory, the error input for determining a control input for the vehicle; Determining one or more limits for magnitude of the control input at the control device as a function of one or more parameters associated with the vehicle, and A signal indicative of the control input to the vehicle is output to control an actuator associated with the control device.
  15. 15. Computer readable instructions which, when executed by a computer, are configured to perform the method of claim 14.

Description

Apparatus and method for controlling actuator Technical Field The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for controlling an actuator. In particular, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for controlling a steering actuator of a vehicle. Aspects of the invention relate to control systems, vehicles, methods, computer software, and computer-readable media. Background Vehicles are known to have autonomous driving functions that allow at least some aspects of driving tasks, such as steering the vehicle, to be performed at least semi-autonomously. The autonomous driving function may be at least level 3 autonomy defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Such vehicles may be capable of environmental detection, i.e., detecting objects in the environment, to determine control inputs to the vehicle, such as steering inputs to the vehicle. However, a human driver can override (override) the autonomous control input provided to the vehicle, for example, by actuating a steering control device of the vehicle. In this case, the driver may perceive an autonomously provided steering input in the form of a force (e.g. torque) provided to the steering control via the actuator. The force applied by the actuator may be in a different direction or of a different magnitude than the driver actuation. Therefore, the switching process is performed for a period of time to transfer the control of the vehicle from the autonomous function to the driver while maintaining the control of the vehicle. It will also be appreciated that the same process may be performed in reverse, in which the driver releases the steering control device to transfer control of the vehicle from the driver to the autonomous function. It is an object of the present invention to address one or more of the disadvantages associated with the prior art. Disclosure of Invention Aspects and embodiments of the invention provide a control system, vehicle, method and computer software as claimed in the appended claims. According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a control system for controlling a steering actuator of a vehicle, the control system comprising one or more controllers, the control system comprising input means for receiving a driver control signal indicative of a driver steering input at the steering control means of the vehicle and autonomous trajectory data indicative of an autonomous trajectory of the vehicle, wherein the control system is configured to determine a driver trajectory of the vehicle from the driver control signal, to determine an input to the steering controller from the autonomous trajectory and the driver trajectory, to determine a control input to the steering actuator of the vehicle from the input, to determine one or more limits of magnitude of the control input to the steering actuator to limit a force applied to the steering control means, and output means for outputting a signal indicative of the control input to the steering actuator of the vehicle. According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a control system for controlling a steering actuator of a vehicle, the control system comprising one or more controllers, the control system comprising input means for receiving a driver control signal indicative of a driver steering input at a steering control means of the vehicle and autonomous trajectory data indicative of an autonomous trajectory of the vehicle, processing means configured to determine a change in a driving state of the vehicle in dependence on the driver control signal and when the change in driving state occurs to determine a driver trajectory of the vehicle in dependence on the driver control signal, determine an error input to the steering controller in dependence on the autonomous trajectory and the driver trajectory, determine a control input to the steering actuator of the vehicle in dependence on the error input, determine one or more limits of magnitude of the control input to the steering actuator in dependence on one or more parameters associated with the vehicle to limit a force applied to the steering control means, and output means for outputting a signal indicative of the control input to the steering actuator of the vehicle. Advantageously, an error input is generated based on both the autonomous driving trajectory and the driver trajectory to improve the transition between autonomous driving and driver. Furthermore, controlling the magnitude of the control input helps to address disturbances and non-linearities, such as non-linearities of actuators, driver inputs, vehicle responses, and the like. The control system optionally includes a processing device and a memory device. The processing device may be one or more electronic processing devices or processors operable to execute computer-readable instructions. The memory means may be one or more memory devices. The memory device is electrically coupled to the processing device. The memo