Methods and apparatus to compensate for body roll in vehicle weight calculations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11364920-B2
Application number	US-201916261088-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 29, 2019
Priority date	May 1, 2018
Publication date	Jun 21, 2022
Grant date	Jun 21, 2022

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to compensate for body roll in vehicle weight calculations are disclosed. An example method includes receiving sensor data from sensors of a vehicle, determining a weight of the vehicle and determining a body roll of the vehicle. The example method further includes comparing the body roll to a threshold and, if the body roll satisfies the threshold, adjusting the determined weight of the vehicle based on the determined body roll and properties of a suspension system of the vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
a sensor input to receive sensor data from sensors of a vehicle;
a weight determiner to determine a weight of the vehicle based on the sensor data;
a roll calculator to determine a body roll of the vehicle based on the sensor data;
a threshold determiner to determine a roll threshold based on at least one of a make of the vehicle, a model of the vehicle, or a suspension system of the vehicle;
a roll threshold comparator to compare the body roll to the roll threshold;
a force angle characteristic determiner to determine a suspension force angle characteristic;
a weight adjuster to, when the body roll satisfies the roll threshold, adjust the determined weight of the vehicle based on the determined body roll and the suspension force angle characteristic; and
a vehicle system interface to adjust a driving characteristic of the vehicle based on the adjusted weight.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the roll threshold corresponds to an engagement of an anti-roll mechanism of the vehicle.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the anti-roll mechanism is a stay bar.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the roll threshold corresponds to a critical camber of a wheel of the vehicle.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensors of the vehicle include at least one of a ride height sensor, a tilt sensor, an accelerometer or a stay bar strain gauge.

6. A method comprising:
receiving sensor data from sensors of a vehicle;
determining a weight of the vehicle based on the sensor data;
determining a body roll of the vehicle based on the sensor data;
determining a roll threshold based on at least one of a make of the vehicle, a model of the vehicle, or a suspension system of the vehicle;
comparing the body roll to the roll threshold;
determining a suspension force angle characteristic;
when the body roll satisfies the roll threshold, adjusting the determined weight of the vehicle based on the determined body roll and the suspension force angle characteristic; and
adjusting a driving characteristic of the vehicle based on the adjusted weight.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the roll threshold corresponds to an engagement of an anti-roll mechanism of the vehicle.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the anti-roll mechanism is a stay bar.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the roll threshold corresponds to a critical camber of a wheel of the vehicle.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the sensors of the vehicle include at least one of a ride height sensor, a tilt sensor, an accelerometer or a stay bar strain gauge.

11. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to at least:
receive sensor data from sensors of a vehicle;
determine a weight of the vehicle based on the sensor data;
determine a body roll of the vehicle based on the sensor data;
determine a roll threshold based on at least one of a make, a model, or a suspension system of the vehicle; and
compare the body roll to the roll threshold;
determine a suspension force angle characteristic;
when the body roll satisfies the roll threshold, adjust the determined weight of the vehicle based on the determined body roll and the suspension force angle characteristic; and
adjust a driving characteristic of the vehicle based on the adjusted weight.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the roll threshold corresponds to an engagement of an anti-roll mechanism of the vehicle.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the roll threshold corresponds to a critical camber of a wheel of the vehicle.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the sensors of the vehicle include at least one of a ride height sensor, a tilt sensor, an accelerometer or a stay bar strain gauge.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Rogness Anton
• Niedert Andrew
• Pearson Elliott
• Rajasingh Joshua

Classifications

• B60G3/20 Primary

  all arms being rigid · CPC title

• B60G2400/0531

  Roll acceleration · CPC title

• B60G2800/012

  Rolling condition · CPC title

• B60W40/13

  Load or weight · CPC title

• B60G2401/142

  Visual Display Camera, e.g. LCD · CPC title