US-20260125047-A1 - VEHICLE WITH ROLLOVER ANGLE PREDICTION ON UNEVEN SURFACES

US20260125047A1US 20260125047 A1US20260125047 A1US 20260125047A1US-20260125047-A1

Abstract

A vehicle, system, and method includes receiving suspension data indicating a current state of suspensions of a vehicle, and estimating, by at least one processor, a height of a current center of gravity of the vehicle using at least the suspension data. The method then determines by at least one processor, a rollover limit angle prediction using the height of the current center of gravity. The method also includes performing, by at least one processor, an action to attempt to avoid a rollover of the vehicle depending on the rollover limit angle prediction.

Inventors

Dustin Howard Malcom Smith
Avesta Goodarzi

Assignees

GM Global Technology Operations LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20241107

Claims (20)

1 . A method, comprising: receiving suspension data indicating a current state of suspensions of a vehicle in a current laterally inclined state, wherein the vehicle comprises a chassis and wheels rotatably connected to the chassis, and wherein the wheels are arranged to apply force to the suspensions; estimating, by at least one processor, a height of a current center of gravity of the vehicle using at least the suspension data; determining a current road bank angle that is obtained by subtracting a current roll angle from an absolute lateral angle of the vehicle in the inclined state; generating a roll gain that indicates a roll between the wheels and the chassis caused by the suspensions, wherein the roll gain is a ratio of an amount of suspension roll per unit of vertical component of a tilted road grade causing the incline of the inclined state of the vehicle and as provided by the roll angle divided by sine of the current road bank angle; determining, by at least one processor, a rollover limit angle prediction using the height of the current center of gravity, the roll gain, a height of a center of gravity of sprung mass of the vehicle, a height of a rolling center of the vehicle, and a safety factor; and performing, by at least one processor, an action on the vehicle to attempt to avoid a rollover of the vehicle while the vehicle is in the inclined state and depending on the rollover limit angle prediction, wherein the action includes showing a display with all of: a roll gauge with an image of an inclined vehicle having an orientation at the inclined state, a warning indicator at an angle that indicates the vehicle is approaching close to the rollover limit angle prediction, and a maximum road bank angle indicator to indicate the rollover limit angle prediction at which the vehicle is likely to roll, wherein the action comprises at least one of: autonomously steering, autonomously accelerating, and autonomously braking of the vehicle to avoid the rollover.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the action comprises displaying an alert on the vehicle.
3 . (canceled)
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the current absolute lateral angle indicates the inclined state of the vehicle and is used to generate the height of the current center of gravity.
5 . The method of claim 1 , comprising determining a corner load of each wheel of the vehicle and comprising using suspension deflections indicating wheel height and suspension stiffness of the suspension data.
6 . The method of claim 5 , comprising using the corner loads to generate a vehicle weight and the height of the current center of gravity of the vehicle.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein generating the height of the current center of gravity comprises using the corner loads, a vehicle track width of the vehicle, and the current absolute lateral angle of the vehicle.
8 . The method of claim 1 , comprising generating the height of the center of gravity of the sprung mass of the vehicle comprising generating a weight of sprung mass by using a weight of the vehicle and a weight of unsprung mass.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein generating the height of the center of gravity of the sprung mass comprises using the weight of the vehicle, the height of the current center of gravity, the weight of unsprung mass, and the weight of sprung mass.
10 . (canceled)
11 . A system, comprising: memory; and processor circuitry forming one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the memory, the processor being arranged to operate by: receiving suspension data indicating a current state of suspensions of a vehicle in a current laterally inclined state, wherein the vehicle comprises a chassis and wheels rotatably connected to the chassis, and wherein the wheels are arranged to apply force to the suspensions; estimating a height of a current center of gravity of the vehicle using at least the suspension data, determining a current road bank angle that is obtained by subtracting a current roll angle from an absolute lateral angle of the vehicle in the inclined state; generating a roll gain that indicates a roll between the wheels and the chassis caused by the suspensions, wherein the roll gain is a ratio of an amount of suspension roll per unit of vertical component of a tilted road grade causing the incline of the inclined state of the vehicle and as provided by the roll angle divided by sine of the current road bank angle, determining a rollover limit angle prediction using the height of the current center of gravity, the roll gain, a height of a center of gravity of sprung mass of the vehicle, a height of a rolling center of the vehicle, and a safety factor, and performing an action on the vehicle to attempt to avoid a rollover of the vehicle while the vehicle is in the inclined state and depending on the rollover limit angle prediction, wherein the action includes showing a display with all of: a roll gauge with an image of an inclined vehicle having an orientation at the inclined state, a warning indicator at an angle that indicates the vehicle is approaching close to the rollover limit angle prediction, and a maximum road bank angle indicator to indicate the rollover limit angle prediction at which the vehicle is likely to roll, wherein the action comprises at least one of: autonomously steering, autonomously accelerating, and autonomously braking of the vehicle to avoid the rollover.
12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the determining comprises generating the current roll angle comprising using a vehicle track width and suspension deflections of the suspension data.
13 . (canceled)
14 . (canceled)
15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the determining comprises using a predetermined roll center height of the vehicle based on a configuration of the suspensions.
16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the determining comprises using a safety factor that is a predetermined margin including 1.0.
17 . A vehicle, comprising: one or more controllers, comprising: memory; and processor circuitry forming one or more processors communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is to operate by: receiving suspension data indicating a current state of suspensions of a vehicle in a current laterally inclined state, wherein the vehicle comprises a chassis and wheels rotatably connected to the chassis, and wherein the wheels are arranged to apply force to the suspensions; estimating a height of a current center of gravity of the vehicle using at least the suspension data, determining a current road bank angle that is obtained by subtracting a current roll angle from an absolute lateral angle of the vehicle in the inclined state; generating a roll gain that indicates a roll between the wheels and the chassis caused by the suspensions, wherein the roll gain is a ratio of an amount of suspension roll per unit of vertical component of a tilted road grade causing the incline of the inclined state of the vehicle and as provided by the roll angle divided by sine of the current road bank angle, determining a rollover limit angle prediction using the height of the current center of gravity, the roll gain, a height of a center of gravity of sprung mass of the vehicle, a height of a rolling center of the vehicle, and a safety factor, and performing an action on the vehicle to attempt to avoid a rollover of the vehicle while the vehicle is in the inclined state and depending on the rollover limit angle prediction, wherein the action includes showing a display with all of: a roll gauge with an image of an inclined vehicle having an orientation at the inclined state, a warning indicator at an angle that indicates the vehicle is approaching close to the rollover limit angle prediction, and a maximum road bank angle indicator to indicate the rollover limit angle prediction at which the vehicle is likely to roll.
18 . The vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the action comprises displaying a rollover gauge as the display with an image of an inclined vehicle at a current inclined angle.
19 . The vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the action is displaying an alert of different predetermined color or text or both on the vehicle when a detected current inclined angle is within an angle range of the rollover limit angle prediction.
20 . The vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the action comprises at least one of: autonomously steering, autonomously accelerating, and autonomously braking of the vehicle to avoid the rollover.

Description

INTRODUCTION The present disclosure relates to vehicles with off-road driving features, and more particularly, automatic rollover prediction for driving on uneven, rough surfaces. When a vehicle is driven off-road, such vehicles are often intentionally driven over uneven, rocky, or severely angled dirt and unpaved vehicle trails. When one side of the vehicle is being driven over a much higher obstacle, such as a boulder, than the other side of the vehicle, or at a severely slanted trail, the vehicle may be driven at a banked angle. When such a banked angle is too large for the vehicle, the vehicle may roll onto its side or completely upside-down. Hence, an automatic, accurate, rollover angle prediction is desired to inform the driver of the vehicle before the rollover occurs. BRIEF SUMMARY In an example implementation, a method includes receiving suspension data indicating a current state of suspensions of a vehicle, and estimating, by at least one processor, a height of a current center of gravity of the vehicle using at least the suspension data. The method then determines by at least one processor, a rollover limit angle prediction using the height of the current center of gravity. The method also includes performing, by at least one processor, an action to attempt to avoid a rollover of the vehicle depending on the rollover limit angle prediction. Also in accordance with another example implementation, the action includes displaying an alert on the vehicle. Also in accordance with another example implementation, the action includes displaying a current inclined angle of the vehicle and the rollover limit angle prediction of the vehicle. Also in accordance with another example implementation, the method includes receiving data of a current absolute lateral angle indicating an inclined state of the vehicle and used to generate the height of the current center of gravity. Also in accordance with another example implementation, the method includes determining a corner load of each wheel of the vehicle and includes using suspension deflections indicating wheel height and suspension stiffness of the suspension data. Also in accordance with another example implementation, the method includes using the corner loads to generate a vehicle weight and the height of the current center of gravity of the vehicle. Also in accordance with another example implementation, the generating of the height of the current center of gravity includes using the corner loads, a vehicle track width of the vehicle, and a current absolute lateral angle of the vehicle. Also in accordance with another example implementation, the method includes generating a height of a center of gravity of a sprung mass of the vehicle includes generating a weight of sprung mass using a weight of the vehicle and a weight of unsprung mass, and using the height of the center of gravity of the sprung mass to generate the rollover limit angle prediction. Also in accordance with another example implementation, the generating of the height of the center of gravity of the sprung mass includes using the weight of the vehicle, the height of the current center of gravity, the weight of unsprung mass, and the weight of sprung mass. Also in accordance with another example implementation, the vehicle includes a chassis and wheels rotatably connected to the chassis, and the wheels are arranged to apply force to the suspensions. The method includes generating a roll gain that indicates a roll between the wheels and the chassis caused by the suspensions, and providing the roll gain to determine the rollover limit angle prediction. In another example implementation, a system includes memory, and processor circuitry forming one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the memory, the processor being arranged to operate by: receiving suspension data indicating a current state of suspensions of a vehicle, estimating a height of a current center of gravity of the vehicle using at least the suspension data, determining a rollover limit angle prediction using the height of the current center of gravity, and performing an action to attempt to avoid a rollover of the vehicle depending on the rollover limit angle prediction. Also in accordance with another example implementation, the determining comprises generating a current roll angle comprising using a vehicle track width and suspension deflections of the suspension data. Also in accordance with another example implementation, the processor is arranged to operate by generating an existing bank angle comprising using the current roll angle and an existing absolute lateral angle of the vehicle. Also in accordance with another example implementation, the vehicle includes a chassis and wheels rotatably connected to the chassis. The wheels are arranged to apply force to the suspensions, and the processor is arranged to operate by using the current roll angle and road bank angle to generate a roll gain that indicates a rol