System and method for shared control for emergency steering

A method for controlling steering of a vehicle, the method comprising:

• receiving, from at least one sensor, information corresponding to an environment external to the vehicle;
• identifying at least one obstacle in the environment external to the vehicle using the information;
• determining a distance between the vehicle and the at least one obstacle;
• determining whether a collision between the vehicle and the at least one obstacle is imminent based on the distance between the vehicle and the at least one obstacle and a vehicle speed;
• in response to a determination that a collision between the vehicle and the at least one obstacle is imminent, determining whether the vehicle can move within a lane of travel to avoid the collision;
• in response to a determination that the vehicle can move within the lane of travel to avoid the collision, determining a trajectory of travel for the vehicle;
• generating a steering assist angle command based on the trajectory of travel;
• generating a torque overlay based on the steering assist angle command and a measured steering angle;
• and
• selectively controlling position of a steering assist mechanism of the vehicle based on the torque overlay and an operator applied torque to avoid collision with the obstacle while maintaining the lane of travel of the vehicle.

An apparatus for controlling steering of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory that includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
• determine a distance between the vehicle and at least one obstacle, the at least one obstacle being indicated by an output of at least one sensor;
• determine whether a collision between the vehicle and the at least one obstacle is imminent based on the distance between the vehicle and the at least one obstacle and a vehicle speed;
• in response to a determination that a collision between the vehicle and the at least one obstacle is imminent, determine a trajectory of travel for the vehicle that avoids collision with the obstacle while maintaining a lane of travel of the vehicle;
• generate a steering assist angle command based on the trajectory of travel;
• generate a torque overlay based on the steering assist angle command and a measured steering angle;
• and
• selectively control position of a steering assist mechanism of the vehicle based on the torque overlay and an operator applied torque to avoid collision with the obstacle while maintaining the lane of travel of the vehicle.