EP-4739565-A1 - CONTROL UNIT FOR A MONITORING SYSTEM OF A MOTOR VEHICLE, MONITORING SYSTEM FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE, AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A MONITORING SYSTEM

EP4739565A1EP 4739565 A1EP4739565 A1EP 4739565A1EP-4739565-A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a control unit (4) for a monitoring system (2) of a motor vehicle, wherein the control unit (4) comprises at least one computing unit (12, 14, 16) for evaluating output signals of at least one sensor (6, 8) of the monitoring system (2) and for actuating an electronic power system (9) of an actuator (10) of the monitoring system (2) by means of actuation signals in a manner which is dependent on these output signals, wherein the control unit (4) comprises three computing units (12, 14, 16) and is designed and configured in such a way that the output signals of the at least one sensor (6, 8) can be evaluated in parallel in all computing units (12, 14, 16) and the electronic power system (9) of the actuator (10) can be actuated by means of actuation signals of each of the computing units (12, 14, 16), and wherein, if at least two actuation signals which correspond to one another of two of the three computing units (12, 14, 16) match, the electronic power system (9) of the actuator (10) can be actuated by means of the actuation signals by at least one computing unit (12, 14; 12, 16; 14, 16) of these two computing units.

Inventors

ORLOV, SERGEY
Demir, Hüseyin
HUSBERG, OLAF
ISEKE, CHRISTIAN
WOSTMANN, Christoph

Assignees

HELLA GMBH & CO. KGAA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20240619

Claims (13)

1 . Control device (4) for a control system (2) of a motor vehicle for controlling a function of the motor vehicle, wherein the control device (4) has at least one computing unit (12, 14, 16) for evaluating output signals of at least one sensor (6, 8) of the control system (2) and for controlling a power electronics unit (9) of an actuator (10) of the control system (2) by means of control signals depending on these output signals in order to carry out this function of the motor vehicle, characterized in that the control device (4) has three computing units (12, 14, 16), wherein the control device (4) is designed and set up in such a way that the output signals of the at least one sensor (6, 8) can be evaluated in parallel in all computing units (12, 14, 16) and the power electronics unit (9) of the actuator (10) can be controlled by means of control signals of each of the computing units (12, 14, 16), and wherein if at least two corresponding Control signals from two of the three computing units (12, 14, 16), the power electronics (9) of the actuator (10) can be controlled by means of the control signals from at least one computing unit (12, 14; 12, 16; 14, 16) of these two computing units (12, 14; 12, 16; 14, 16).
2. Control device (4) according to claim 1, characterized in that the control device (4) is designed and arranged such that a first computing unit (12) of the three computing units (12, 14, 16) is functionally connected to a first voltage source (18) of the control system (2) for supplying the actuator (10) with an electrical power for operating the actuator (10), a second computing unit (14) of the three computing units (12, 14, 16) is functionally connectable to a second voltage source (20) of the control system (2) for supplying the actuator (10) with the electrical power for operating the actuator (10), and a third computing unit (16) of the three computing units (12, 14, 16) is functionally connectable to the first and/or the second voltage source (18, 20) for supplying the actuator (10) with the electrical power for operating the actuator (10).
3. Control unit (4) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the control unit (4) has only a single signal interface (22) for all three computing units (12, 14, 16) for the sensor signal-transmitting connection of the three computing units (12, 14, 16) to a bus system (24) of the motor vehicle that is superordinate to the control unit (4), wherein by means of the bus system (24) and this signal interface (22) output signals of at least one of the at least one sensor can be transmitted from this sensor to the computing units (12, 14, 16).
4. Control device (4) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the control device (4) has only a single signal interface (26) for all three computing units (12, 14, 16) for the sensor signal-transmitting connection of the three computing units (12, 14, 16) to at least one sensor (6, 8) functionally interacting with the actuator (10), wherein output signals from this sensor (6, 8) can be transmitted to the computing units (12, 14, 16) by means of this signal interface (26).
5. Control device (4) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the control device (4) has only a single control interface (28) for all three computing units (12, 14, 16) for the control signal-transmitting connection of at least one of the three computing units (12, 14, 16) to the power electronics (9) of the actuator (10), wherein by means of this control interface (28) control signals can preferably be transmitted to the power electronics (9) of the actuator (10) in such a way that the actuator (10) can be connected by means of these control signals to at least one voltage source (18, 20) of the control system (2) for supplying the actuator (10) with the electrical power for operating the actuator (10).
6. Control device (4) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the control device (4) is designed as a structural unit, preferably that all computing units (12, 14, 16) of the control device (4) are designed to be essentially identical to one another only in functional terms.
7. Control system (2) of a motor vehicle for controlling a function of the motor vehicle, with at least one control unit (4), wherein the control unit (4) has at least one computing unit (12, 14, 16) for evaluating output signals of at least one sensor (6, 8) of the control system (2) and for controlling power electronics (9) of an actuator (10) of the control system (2) by means of control signals depending on these output signals for carrying out this function of the motor vehicle, characterized in that the control unit (4) is designed as a control unit (4) according to one of claims 1 to 6.
8. Control system (2) according to claim 7, characterized in that the control unit (4) is designed as only a single control unit (4).
9. Control system (2) according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the control system (2) is designed as a control system (2) for steering at least one wheel (30) of the motor vehicle, wherein the actuator (10) for steering the at least one wheel (30) is operable as a function of output signals from at least one sensor of the control system (2) that functionally interacts with a steering wheel of the motor vehicle for determining a steering movement of the steering wheel and as a function of output signals from at least one sensor (6, 8) of the control system (2) that functionally interacts with the actuator (10) of the control system (2) for determining a steering position of the wheel (30), preferably that the control system (2) is designed only as a steer-by-wire control system.
10. Control system (2) according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the control device (4) comprises at least two of the following components of the control system (2), preferably all of the following components, particularly preferably as one structural unit: the three computing units (12, 14, 16), a signal interface (22) for the sensor signal-transmitting connection of the three computing units (12, 14, 16) to a bus system (24) superordinate to the control device (4), a signal interface (26) for the sensor signal-transmitting connection of the three computing units (12, 14, 16) to at least one sensor (6, 8) that functionally interacts with the actuator (10), a control interface (28) for the control signal-transmitting connection of the three computing units (12, 14, 16) to the power electronics (9) of the actuator (10), the power electronics (9) for the actuator (10), a voltage source switch (32) for the Connection of at least one of at least two voltage sources (18, 20) of the control system (2) to the actuator (10) controlled by the control interface (28) for supplying the actuator (10) with the electrical power for operating the actuator (10), the actuator (10).
11. Method for operating a control system (2) of a motor vehicle according to one of claims 7 to 10, according to which the output signals of the at least one sensor (6, 8) are evaluated in parallel in all computing units (12, 14, 16) and the power electronics (9) of the actuator (10) can be controlled by means of control signals from each of the computing units (12, 14, 16), wherein if at least two corresponding control signals from two of the three computing units (12, 14, 16) match, the power electronics (9) of the actuator (10) is controlled by means of the control signals from at least one computing unit (12, 14; 12, 16; 14, 16) of these two computing units (12, 14; 12, 16; 14, 16).
12. Method according to claim 11, characterized in that the power electronics (9) of the actuator (10) are controlled by means of control signals such that the actuator (10) is connected by means of these control signals to at least one voltage source (18, 20) of the control system (2) for supplying the actuator (10) with the electrical power for operating the actuator (10).
13. Method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the actuator (10) connected to at least one wheel (30) of the motor vehicle in a force-transmitting manner is controlled as a function of output signals from at least one sensor of the control system (2) functionally interacting with a steering wheel of the motor vehicle for determining a steering movement of the steering wheel and as a function of Output signals of at least one sensor (6, 8) of the control system (2) which functionally interacts with the actuator (10) of the control system (2) to determine a steering position of the wheel (30), preferably that the control system (2) is operated only as a steer-by-wire control system.

Description

Control device for a control system of a motor vehicle, control system for a motor vehicle and method for operating a control system Description The present invention relates to a control device for a control system of a motor vehicle of the type mentioned in the preamble of claim 1, a control system for a motor vehicle of the type mentioned in the preamble of claim 7 and a method for operating a control system for a motor vehicle. Such control devices for a control system of a motor vehicle, control systems for motor vehicles and methods for their operation are already known from the state of the art in numerous design variants. The known control systems for motor vehicles for controlling a function of the motor vehicle are designed such that at least one control device of the control system has at least one computing unit for evaluating output signals of at least one sensor of the control system and for controlling power electronics of an actuator of the control system by means of control signals depending on these output signals in order to carry out this function of the motor vehicle. This is where the present invention comes in. The present invention is based on the object of improving a control device for a control system of a motor vehicle for controlling a function of the motor vehicle, a control system for a motor vehicle and a method for operating a control system for a motor vehicle. This object is achieved by a control device with the features of claim 1, which is characterized in that the control device has three computing units wherein the control unit is designed and configured such that the output signals of the at least one sensor can be evaluated in parallel in all computing units and the power electronics of the actuator can be controlled by means of control signals from each of the computing units, and wherein, if at least two control signals from two of the three computing units correspond to one another, the power electronics of the actuator can be controlled by means of the control signals from at least one computing unit of these two computing units. Furthermore, this object is achieved by a control system for a motor vehicle with the features of claim 7 and a method for operating a control system for a motor vehicle with the features of claim 11. The subclaims relate to advantageous developments of the invention. A significant advantage of the invention is in particular that a control device for a control system of a motor vehicle for controlling a function of the motor vehicle, a control system for a motor vehicle and a method for operating a control system for a motor vehicle are improved. Due to the inventive design of the control device, the control system and the method for operating the control system, for example, sufficient redundancy for a so-called X-by-wire system or the like can be implemented in a simple and therefore cost-effective manner. Ensuring sufficient redundancy is particularly important in such systems and motor vehicles equipped with them because in such motor vehicles the mechanical couplings that exist in conventional motor vehicles and are relevant for the redundancy consideration are eliminated. For example, this is easy to understand using the example of the steering of a motor vehicle with a steer-by-wire system, in which a so-called steer-by-wire system is used instead of the known mechanical connection between a steering wheel of the motor vehicle and the wheels of the motor vehicle to be steered. The aforementioned mechanical connection is eliminated. However, the field of application of steering motor vehicles using steer-by-wire systems is only mentioned here as an example. The invention can also be used advantageously for other functions of motor vehicles. For example, reference is made here to other by-wire Systems are referred to that are generally referred to as X-by-wire systems. The basic design of such X-by-wire systems is well known to those skilled in the art. According to the invention, it is not necessary to provide a plurality of control units in order to achieve the aforementioned redundancy, for example. Instead, it is possible to use just one control unit to carry out the respective function of the motor vehicle. This means that only the number of computing units is tripled; the number of other components of the control unit remains the same. In principle, the control system according to the invention for motor vehicles with the control device according to the invention can be freely selected within wide, suitable limits in terms of type, functionality, material and dimensions. See the large number of different functions in modern motor vehicles, for example the above statements on the challenges of X-by-wire systems in general. The same applies to the method according to the invention for operating a control system for a motor vehicle. An advantageous development of the control device according to the invention provides that the c