Electric power steering apparatus and method capable of adjusting assist torque based on possibility of head-on collision and side collision

A steering control system of a vehicle, the steering control system comprising:

• an image sensor installed in the vehicle to have visibility to an outside of the vehicle and configured to capture image data;
• a non-image sensor installed in the vehicle to have a monitoring region for the outside of the vehicle and configured to capture sensing data;
• and
• at least one processor configured to process the image data captured by the image sensor and the sensing data captured by the non-image sensor and to control at least one driver assistance system provided in the vehicle,
• wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine whether there is a possibility of the vehicle colliding with an object to a side of the vehicle,
• wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine whether an assistance adjustment condition is satisfied based on whether there is a possibility of the vehicle colliding with the object to the side,
• wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a critical collision steering angle at which the vehicle collides with the object to the side in response to determining that the assistance adjustment condition is satisfied,
• wherein the at least one processor is configured to adjust an assistance value that controls an operation force of a steering wheel, according to a steering angle of the vehicle based on the critical collision steering angle, and
• wherein in response to a case in which tire slipping has occurred in the vehicle over a predetermined period of time, the at least one processor determines that the assistance adjustment condition is not satisfied and performs steering torque assisting control.

A non-image sensor system, comprising a processor, installed in a vehicle to have a monitoring region for an outside of the vehicle and configured to capture sensing data, wherein the processor is configured to:

• process the sensing data to determine whether there is a possibility of the vehicle colliding with an object to a side of the vehicle, and
• determine whether an assistance adjustment condition is satisfied based on whether there is a possibility of the vehicle colliding with the object to the side,
• determine a critical collision steering angle at which the vehicle collides with the object to the side in response to determining that the assistance adjustment condition is satisfied, and
• adjust an assistance value that control an operation force of a steering wheel, according to a steering angle of the vehicle is adjusted based on the critical collision steering angle,
• wherein in response to a case in which tire slipping has occurred in the vehicle over a predetermined period of time, the processor determines that the assistance adjustment condition is not satisfied and performs steering torque assisting control.

An electric power steering apparatus of a vehicle, the electric power steering apparatus comprising a processor configured to:

• determine whether an assistance adjustment condition is satisfied based on whether there is a possibility of the vehicle colliding with an object to a side of the vehicle,
• determine a critical collision steering angle at which the vehicle collides with the object to the side in response to determining that the assistance adjustment condition is satisfied, and
• adjust an assistance value that controls an operation force of a steering wheel, based on the critical collision steering angle,
• wherein in response to a case in which tire slipping has occurred in the vehicle over a predetermined period of time, the processor determines that the assistance adjustment condition is not satisfied and performs steering torque assisting control.

A method of adjusting an assistance value based on whether there is a possibility of a vehicle colliding with an object to a side of the vehicle by means of an electric power steering apparatus, which comprises a processor, of the vehicle, the method comprising steps of:

• determining, by the processor, whether an assistance adjustment condition is satisfied based on whether there is a possibility of the vehicle colliding with the object to the side;
• determining, by the processor, a critical collision steering angle at which the vehicle collides with the object to the side in response to determining that the assistance adjustment condition is satisfied;
• and
• adjusting, by the processor, the assistance value that controls an operation force of a steering wheel, according to a steering angle of the vehicle based on the critical collision steering angle by means of the electric power steering apparatus of the vehicle,
• wherein the determining whether the assistance adjustment condition is satisfied comprises, in response to a case in which tire slipping has occurred in the vehicle over a predetermined period of time, determining that the assistance adjustment condition is not satisfied and performing steering torque assisting control.