Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Determining balance or center of gravity
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-17
2001-01-23
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Determining balance or center of gravity
C701S072000, C701S079000, C280S005507, C073S17800T
Reexamination Certificate
active
06178375
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an arrangement for determining inertial position angles of a vehicle from measured accelerations and to a method and arrangement for determining rotation angles of the vehicle from the inertial position angles and measured rotation rates.
2. Prior Art
In German Patent Application 196 09 717.1, which was not published by the filing date of the present application, an arrangement for detecting rollover events in vehicles is described. If a vehicle turns over, protection devices installed in the vehicle must be tripped in time; these include for instance roller bars, belt tighteners, and various air bags. If all these protective devices are to be tripped in time, a detection must be made as early as possible whether rotations of the vehicle about its vertical axis, longitudinal axis and transverse axis will cause it to overturn. Mistakes in deciding about a rollover event must be precluded as much as possible so that the restraint devices will not be tripped for instance if the vehicle is parked on a steep slope or is experiencing slow rotational events on cornering. To prevent mistaken decisions in sensing rollover, the inertial position, that is, the outset position of the vehicle relative to the ground-based coordinate system, must be known. The rollover sensing must detect whether rotary motions of the vehicle out of this inertial position are so great that the vehicle will overturn. To prevent mistakes in rollover sensing, it is therefore important to determine the inertial position of the vehicle as exactly as possible. Slow dynamic vehicle motions, such as running up onto a berm, taking a sharp corner, and braking or acceleration events should therefore not affect the ascertainment of the inertial positional angle of the vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and an arrangement of the type defined at the outset in which disruptive influences in determining the inertial position of the vehicle are precluded as much as possible.
According to the invention the accelerations of the vehicle are measured in the direction of its vertical axis and in the direction of its transverse axis and/or its longitudinal axis, and the inertial position angle of the vehicle with respect to its longitudinal axis and/or the inertial position angle with respect to its transverse axis is ascertained both on the basis of the acceleration in the direction of the transverse axis or longitudinal axis and on the basis of the acceleration in the direction of the vertical axis. Of the two inertial position angles, ascertained in different ways, the smaller is assumed to be the inertial positional angle. A dynamic change in position of the vehicle will as a rule have an effect only on the positional angle ascertained by one of the two algorithms, so that the other positional angle will be highly likely to represent the true inertial position of the vehicle. The two algorithms for ascertaining the positional angle thus offer redundance in the event that one acceleration sensor should be defective.
In rollover events, as a rule very fast changes in position of the vehicle occur, which can be best detected from rotation rate measurements. From the rotation rates measured, the positional angles are then derived by integration, and on the basis of these positional angles it is decided whether the vehicle is about to overturn. To assure that in the integration of the measured rotation rates, slow dynamic vehicle motions, which are not critical in a rollover event, will not be taken into account and thus the positional angles derived will not cause a mistake about a rollover event, it is expedient that the integration of the rotation rates be started with the ascertained inertial position angle or angles.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5797111 (1998-09-01), Halasz et al.
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
Donnelly Arthur D.
Robert & Bosch GmbH
Striker Michael J.
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