Systems and methods involving quadrant dependent active damping

A power steering system, comprising:

• a steering wheel;
• a motor operatively linked to the steering wheel;
• a torque sensor operatively linked to the motor;
• a processor configured to receive a first signal from the torque sensor representative of a torque applied to the steering wheel, apply a first backlash function to the first signal, wherein the first backlash function imparts a defined first hysteresis in the system, receive a second signal from the motor representative of a motor velocity of a motor operatively linked to the steering wheel, convert the second signal to represent a motor velocity of the motor, apply a second backlash function to the second signal, wherein the second backlash function imparts a defined second hysteresis in the system, multiply the first signal with the second signal resulting in a product signal, multiply a defined first-third quadrant scaling factor with an active damping signal, and send a resultant motor command signal to the motor responsive to determining that the product signal is a positive signal, and multiply a defined second-fourth quadrant scaling factor with the active damping signal, and send the resultant motor command signal to the motor responsive to determining that the product signal is a negative signal.

A method for controlling a power steering system, the method including:

• receiving a first signal representative of a torque applied to a steering wheel;
• receiving a second signal representative of a motor velocity of a motor operatively linked to the steering wheel;
• multiplying the first signal with the second signal resulting in a product signal;
• applying a backlash function to the product signal wherein the backlash function imparts a defined hysteresis in the system;
• multiplying a defined first-third quadrant scaling factor with an active damping signal, and sending a resultant motor command signal to the motor responsive to determining that the product signal is a positive signal;
• and
• multiplying a defined second-fourth quadrant scaling factor with the active damping signal, and sending the resultant motor command signal to the motor responsive to determining that the product signal is a negative signal.