Solenoid position sensing
AssigneeRivian IP Holdings, LLC
InventorsBoru Wang, Yanyan Xie, Silva Hiti, Steven Ernest Schulz, Chia-Chou Yeh, Khwaja Mustafizur Rahman
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Abstract
In certain embodiments, a method of controlling a solenoid including an armature and a coil includes initiating, by a control system in electrical communication with the coil, movement of the armature by applying a first commanded electrical current to the coil. The method also includes, after the initiating, generating, by the control system, current fluctuations to vary a rate of change of current through the coil. The method also includes estimating, by the control system, a position of the armature based on the rate of change of current through the coil.
Claims20
A method of controlling a solenoid including an armature and a coil, the method comprising:
- initiating, by a control system in electrical communication with the coil, movement of the armature by applying a first commanded electrical current to the coil;
- after the initiating, generating, by the control system, current fluctuations to vary a rate of change of current through the coil;
- and
- estimating, by the control system, a position of the armature based on the rate of change of current through the coil.
An actuation system comprising:
- a solenoid comprising an armature and a coil;
- a control system in electrical communication with the coil, wherein the control system is operable to:
- initiate movement of the armature by applying a first commanded electrical current to the coil;
- after the initiating, generate current fluctuations to vary a rate of change of current through the coil;
- and
- estimate a position of the armature based on the rate of change of current through the coil.
A computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer-usable medium having computer-readable program code embodied therein, the computer-readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method of controlling a solenoid including an armature and a coil, the method comprising:
- initiating movement of the armature by applying a first commanded electrical current to the coil;
- after the initiating, generating current fluctuations to vary a rate of change of current through the coil;
- and
- estimating a position of the armature based on the rate of change of current through the coil.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.