Apparatus for steering by wire and operating method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12522288-B2
Application number	US-202418440495-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 13, 2024
Priority date	Dec 15, 2023
Publication date	Jan 13, 2026
Grant date	Jan 13, 2026

Abstract

Disclosed are an apparatus for steering by wire and an operating method thereof which detect whether mechanical end stop (MES) enforcing mechanical rotation restriction of a steering wheel has a breakdown based on sensing information of the apparatus for steering by wire to enhance steering stability and prevent an accident due to steering instability.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An apparatus for steering by wire, which is mounted on a vehicle, and includes a mechanical end stop (MES) enforcing mechanical rotation restriction of a steering wheel, and a soft end stop (SES) enforcing software rotation restriction of the steering wheel, comprising:
a first ECU controlling a steer wheel feedback actuator (SFA), and detecting whether the MES has a breakdown based on sensing information of the apparatus for steering by wire; and a second ECU controlling a road wheel actuator (RWA), wherein the sensing information includes a steering wheel angle indicating a current angle of the steering wheel, a disturbance torque indicating current mechanical friction of the SFA, and a curb detection result indicating whether a street curb contacts a tire of a vehicle.

2 . The apparatus for steering by wire of claim 1 , wherein the first ECU acquires the steering wheel angle and the disturbance torque, and detects whether the MES has the breakdown based on the acquired steering wheel angle, the acquired disturbance torque, and the curb detection result provided from the second ECU.

3 . The apparatus for steering by wire of claim 2 , wherein when the steering wheel angle is larger than a first rotation restriction angle according to the SES and the steering wheel angle is larger than a second rotation restriction angle according to the MES, the first ECU determines that the MES has the breakdown, and
the second rotation restriction angle has a larger value than the first rotation restriction angle.

4 . The apparatus for steering by wire of claim 3 , wherein when the steering wheel angle is smaller than the first rotation restriction angle, the first ECU detects whether the MES has the breakdown based on the disturbance torque and the curb detection result.

5 . The apparatus for steering by wire of claim 4 , wherein when the disturbance torque is larger than a predetermined reference torque, the first ECU detects whether the MES has the breakdown based on the curb detection result.

6 . The apparatus for steering by wire of claim 5 , wherein the first ECU determines that the MES does not have the breakdown when the curb is detected according to the curb detection result, and determines that the MES has the breakdown when the curb is not detected according to the curb detection result.

7 . The apparatus for steering by wire of claim 5 , wherein when the disturbance torque is smaller than the reference torque, the first ECU determines that the MES does not have the breakdown regardless of the curb detection result.

8 . The apparatus for steering by wire of claim 4 , wherein when the steering wheel angle is larger than the first rotation restriction angle, and the steering wheel angle is smaller than the second rotation restriction angle, the first ECU determines that the MES does not have the breakdown regardless of the disturbance torque and the curb detection result.

9 . An operating method of an apparatus for steering by wire, which is mounted on a vehicle, and includes a mechanical end stop (MES) enforcing mechanical rotation restriction of a steering wheel, and a soft end stop (SES) enforcing software rotation restriction of the steering wheel, comprising:
controlling, by a first ECU, a steer wheel feedback actuator (SFA), and acquiring sensing information of the apparatus for steering by wire; and detecting, by the first ECU, whether the MES has a breakdown based on the sensing information, wherein the sensing information includes a steering wheel angle indicating a current angle of the steering wheel, a disturbance torque indicating current mechanical friction of the SFA, and a curb detection result indicating whether a street curb contacts a tire of a vehicle.

10 . The operating method of claim 9 , wherein the detecting of whether the MES has the breakdown is achieved by determining that the MES has the breakdown when the steering wheel angle is larger than a first rotation restriction angle according to the SES and the steering wheel angle is larger than a second rotation restriction angle according to the MES, and
the second rotation restriction angle has a larger value than the first rotation restriction angle.

11 . The operating method of claim 10 , wherein the detecting of whether the MES has the breakdown is achieved by detecting whether the MES has the breakdown based on the disturbance torque and the curb detection result when the steering wheel angle is smaller than the first rotation restriction angle.

12 . The operating method of claim 11 , wherein the detecting of whether the MES has the breakdown is achieved by detecting whether the MES has the breakdown based on the curb detection result when the disturbance torque is larger than a predetermined reference torque.

13 . The operating method of claim 12 , wherein the detecting of whether the MES has the breakdown is achieved by determining that the MES does not have the breakdown when the curb is detected according to the curb detection result, and determining that the MES has the breakdown when the curb is not detected according to the curb detection result.

Assignees

• Hl Mando Corp

Inventors

• Chae Hansang
• Lee Sunggun
• Lee Jaewoo

Classifications

• B62D5/0469

  End-of-stroke control · CPC title

• B62D5/005

  means for generating torque on steering wheel or input member, e.g. feedback · CPC title

• B62D15/021

  Determination of steering angle · CPC title

• B60Y2306/15

  Failure diagnostics · CPC title

• B62D6/008 Primary

  Control of feed-back to the steering input member, e.g. simulating road feel in steer-by-wire applications · CPC title