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US 11,993,279 B1Granted
Automatically adjustable camber and caster for autonomous vehicle
OwnerMatthew Macgregor Royinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An autonomous vehicle comprises a chassis, a plurality of wheels rotationally mounted to the chassis, wherein each wheel is characterized by a camber angle and a caster angle. The vehicle includes a vehicle dynamics prediction module for predicting a vehicle dynamics condition and for generating a control signal based on the vehicle dynamics condition and a wheel geometry adjustment mechanism connected to each of the wheels for automatically adjusting one or both of the camber angle and the caster angle in response to the control signal.
Claims20
An autonomous vehicle comprising:
- a chassis;
- a plurality of wheels rotationally mounted to the chassis, wherein each wheel is characterized by a camber angle and a caster angle;
- a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver to determine a current location of the autonomous vehicle;
- a vehicle navigation system cooperating with the GNSS receiver to provide a route for the autonomous vehicle;
- a processor executing a vehicle dynamics prediction module that is configured to identify a curve that the autonomous vehicle is approaching along the route, to determine a predicted speed at the curve, and to determine a turn profile of the curve, the turn profile being characterized by a varying radius of curvature, to predict a vehicle dynamics condition that includes an expected cornering force to be encountered at the curve based on the predicted speed at the curve and the varying radius of curvature of the turn profile, and to generate a control signal based on the vehicle dynamics condition that is predicted to occur at the curve, wherein the vehicle dynamics prediction module predicts a transient lateral force profile based on the varying radius of curvature of the curve and the predicted speed of the autonomous vehicle at the curve, and determines a time-varying geometry for dynamically adjusting wheel geometry through the curve;
- and
- a wheel geometry adjustment mechanism connected to each of the wheels for automatically and pre-emptively adjusting one or both of the camber angle and the caster angle in response to the control signal such that the one or both of the camber angle and the caster angle is adjusted prior to the autonomous vehicle reaching the curve, wherein the wheel geometry is also dynamically adjusted through the curve in accordance with the time-varying geometry.
4 more elements
An autonomous vehicle comprising:
- a chassis;
- a plurality of wheels rotationally mounted to the chassis, wherein each wheel is characterized by a camber angle;
- a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver to determine a current location of the autonomous vehicle;
- a vehicle navigation system cooperating with the GNSS receiver to provide a route for the autonomous vehicle;
- a processor executing a vehicle dynamics prediction module that is configured to identify a curve that the autonomous vehicle is approaching along the route, to determine a predicted speed at the curve, and to determine a turn profile of the curve, the turn profile being characterized by a varying radius of curvature, to predict a vehicle dynamics condition characterized by an expected cornering force on each wheel based on the predicted speed at the curve and the varying radius of curvature of the turn profile, and to generate a control signal for each based on the vehicle dynamics condition, wherein the vehicle dynamics prediction module predicts a transient lateral force profile based on the varying radius of curvature of the curve and the predicted speed of the autonomous vehicle at the curve, and determines a time-varying camber angle for dynamically adjusting the camber angle through the curve;
- and
- a camber adjustment actuator for each wheel for automatically adjusting the camber angle of each wheel in response to the control signal, wherein the camber angle is dynamically adjusted through the curve in accordance with the time-varying camber angle.
4 more elements
An autonomous vehicle comprising:
- a chassis;
- a plurality of wheels rotationally mounted to the chassis, wherein each wheel is characterized by a caster angle;
- a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver to determine a current location of the autonomous vehicle;
- a vehicle navigation system cooperating with the GNSS receiver to provide a route for the autonomous vehicle;
- a processor executing a vehicle dynamics prediction module that is configured to identify a curve that the autonomous vehicle is approaching along the route, to determine a predicted speed at the curve, and to determine a turn profile of the curve, the turn profile being characterized by a varying radius of curvature, to predict a vehicle dynamics condition characterized by an expected cornering force on each wheel based on the predicted speed at the curve and the varying radius of curvature of the turn profile and to generate a control signal for each wheel based on the vehicle dynamics condition, wherein the vehicle dynamics prediction module predicts a transient lateral force profile based on the varying radius of curvature of the curve and the predicted speed of the autonomous vehicle at the curve, and determines a time-varying caster angle for dynamically adjusting the caster angle through the curve;
- and
- a caster adjustment actuator for each wheel for automatically adjusting the caster angle of each wheel in response to the control signal, wherein the caster angle is dynamically adjusted through the curve in accordance with the time-varying caster angle.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.