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DE-102025113885-B3 - Method for removing snow from the surface of a vehicle, active suspension system for a vehicle, and vehicle

DE102025113885B3DE 102025113885 B3DE102025113885 B3DE 102025113885B3DE-102025113885-B3

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for removing snow from the surface (2) of a vehicle (1). According to the invention, after the activation of a snow removal function of the vehicle (1), an active chassis system (3) of the vehicle (1) initiates a two-stage movement sequence for the body (4) of the vehicle (1), with a snow collection phase (5) as the first movement phase and a snow shaking phase (6) as the subsequent second movement phase.

Inventors

  • Thomas Kevin Gallagher
  • Jascha Janzen

Assignees

  • CARIAD SE

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20250409

Claims (8)

  1. A method for removing snow from the surface (2) of a vehicle (1), characterized in that, after activation of a snow removal function of the vehicle (1), an active chassis system (3) of the vehicle (1) specifies a two-stage movement sequence for the body (4) of the vehicle (1), in which, in a snow collection phase (5) as the first movement phase of the two-stage movement sequence, the body (4) of the vehicle (1) is controlled by the active chassis system (3) of the vehicle (1) in several successive periodic phase segments (10) to perform a roll movement (7) of the body (4) of the vehicle (1) such that, in a first sub-phase (11) of a respective phase segment (10), a rapid accelerated roll movement (7) of the body (4) of the vehicle (1) is specified in a direction of movement with a non-linear motion profile up to a certain roll angle (16), and in a second sub-phase (12) of a respective In phase section (10) a slow roll movement (7) of the body (4) of the vehicle (1) in the other direction of movement with a linear motion profile up to the roll angle (16) is specified, and in a snow-shaking phase (6) as a temporally subsequent second movement phase of the two-stage movement sequence the body (4) of the vehicle (1) is controlled by the active chassis system (3) of the vehicle (1) to perform a superposition movement from a roll movement (7) of the body (4) of the vehicle (1), from a lifting movement (8) of the body (4) of the vehicle (1) and from a pitching movement (9) of the body (4) of the vehicle (1) with a superposition wave (17) as a superposition of excitation waves (13, 14, 15) with a specified wave shape.
  2. Procedure according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the body (4) of the vehicle (1) is controlled by the active chassis system (3) of the vehicle (1) in the snow collection phase (5) in 4 to 6 periodic phase sections (10) with a total duration of 15 s to 20 s, that in the first sub-phase (11) of a respective phase section (10) a fast accelerated roll movement (7) of the body (4) of the vehicle (1) is specified in a time period of 0.5 s to 1 s up to a roll angle (16) of 3 degrees to 4 degrees, and that in the second sub-phase (11) of a respective phase section (10) a slow roll movement (7) of the body (4) of the vehicle (1) is specified in a time period of 2 s to 4 s up to the roll angle (16) of 3 degrees to 4 degrees.
  3. Procedure according to Claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the body (4) of the vehicle (1) is subjected to the active suspension system (3) of the vehicle (1) during the snow shaking phase (6) is controlled for a total duration of 30 s to 80 s.
  4. Procedure according to one of the Claims 1 until 3 , characterized in that the body (4) of the vehicle (1) is controlled by the active chassis system (3) of the vehicle (1) in the snow shaking phase (6) with a superposition of sinusoidal waves (13, 14, 15) and/or of triangular waves and/or of rectangular waves as excitation waves.
  5. Procedure according to Claim 4 , characterized in that the body (4) of the vehicle (1) is controlled by the active chassis system (3) of the vehicle (1) in the snow shaking phase (6) with a superposition of different sinusoidal waves (13, 14, 15) adapted to the body shape of the vehicle (1) as excitation waves.
  6. Procedure according to one of the Claims 1 until 5 , characterized in that the snow removal function of the vehicle (1) can be manually activated by a user activity of a user of the vehicle (1) and/or can be automatically activated by the sensor signal of at least one sensor system of the vehicle (1).
  7. Active suspension system (3) for a vehicle (1) for carrying out a procedure according to one of the Claims 1 until 6 .
  8. Vehicle (1) comprising at least one active chassis system (3) for carrying out a procedure according to one of the Claims 1 until 6 .

Description

The invention relates to a method for removing snow from the surface of a vehicle and to an active chassis system for a vehicle and a vehicle. In vehicles, assistance systems are increasingly used to control the vehicle's driving operation, in order to support or relieve the driver in certain driving situations or during certain vehicle movements. Similarly, active suspension systems in a wide variety of designs are now used in vehicles, proactively reacting to road conditions and the driver's driving behavior. This allows certain suspension components, such as vehicle height and shock absorber damping, to be adjusted and automatically adapted to improve ride comfort and/or increase driving safety. The active chassis systems used to control driving operations in vehicles can also be used for other applications. That is how it is from the US 2024 / 0 181 827 A1 It is known to alleviate motion sickness experienced by vehicle occupants by appropriately controlling the active suspension system, or to induce movement within the vehicle using the active suspension system, or to enhance video and/or audio enjoyment for vehicle occupants using the active suspension system, or to generate haptic warnings for vehicle occupants in response to certain traffic situations using the active suspension system. The active suspension system can also be used to shake snow off the vehicle, for which jerky or shaking movements at various frequencies can be employed. In particular, a slow movement of the entire body can first be induced, followed by a higher frequency with a smaller amplitude. Furthermore, in the CN 115 723 707 A A method for automatically removing snow from a vehicle is known. In this method, the vehicle's transmission parameters are determined, and a spectral sensitivity analysis of a transfer function containing these parameters is performed. Based on the transfer function, the appropriate change in a torque frequency for the required snow removal performance is determined, and the snow removal from the vehicle is carried out accordingly. The invention is based on the objective of providing a method for removing snow from the surface of a vehicle, in which the snow can be removed from the surface of the vehicle in a simple, effective and reliable manner while adhering to safety aspects. This problem is solved according to the invention by a method for removing snow from the surface of a vehicle with the features listed in claim 1. Advantageous further developments of the inventive method, an active chassis system for a vehicle for carrying out the method and a vehicle with an active chassis system are part of the further patent claims. In the inventive method for removing snow from the surface of a vehicle, after the activation of a vehicle's snow removal function—either manually by an operator or automatically by a sensor system—the vehicle body, and thus the vehicle superstructure, is moved for a specific period of time using a predetermined sequence of movements. For this purpose, an active chassis system of the vehicle initiates a two-stage movement sequence for the vehicle body, and thus for the vehicle superstructure. This sequence consists of a snow collection phase as the first phase, and a subsequent snow shaking phase (or "snow removal phase") as the second phase. This snow removal function enables the efficient removal of snow from the vehicle's surface by having the active chassis system first move the vehicle body, or superstructure, in a targeted manner during the first phase of the two-stage movement sequence and then shake it accordingly during the second phase. According to the invention, the vehicle's body is controlled by the vehicle's active chassis system to perform a roll or pitching motion ("waving" in English) during the snow accumulation phase, and during the snow shaking phase to perform a superimposed motion of several movement forms of the vehicle's body. For the During the snow-shaking phase, three directions of movement are available for the vehicle body, specifically for generating the superimposed motion. These three movements are: lifting, rolling, and pitching. Due to the longer wheelbase (compared to the track width), a larger roll angle than the pitch angle can be achieved with the same wheel travel. This results in a higher roll rate. Consequently, the snow on the vehicle's surface experiences a higher velocity during a roll than during a pitch. When a lifting motion is combined with a roll, the lifting vibration is given a higher frequency, reducing the snow's adhesion to the vehicle's surface. According to the invention, the vehicle body is further controlled by the vehicle's active suspension system during the snow accumulation phase by means of the body's roll motion in several successive periodic phase segments. In a first sub-phase of each phase segment, a rapid roll motion of the vehicle body is initiated as an alternating unidirectional vertical movement of the body