Vehicle steering system

A steering system for a motor vehicle comprising an electronics control unit configured to:

• determine a present steering position of a manually actuatable steering unit of the motor vehicle based on sensor data;
• generate a steering command based on the present steering position of the steering unit;
• then, determine, based on sensor-detected present vehicle dynamics data, whether the motor vehicle is in a straight-ahead running situation during driving operation;
• upon determining the motor vehicle is in the straight-ahead running situation, determine whether the present steering position of the steering unit deviates from a straight-ahead running position of the steering unit for at least one of a specified time period and a specified traveling distance of the motor vehicle;
• upon determining a deviation of the present steering position of the steering unit from the straight-ahead running position, generate a compensation steering command based on the deviation;
• and
• generate a corrected steering command by combining the compensation steering command with the steering command.

A motor vehicle, comprising:

• a wheel;
• a manually actuatable steering unit;
• a steering actuator configured to steer the wheel based on a steering command or a corrected steering command;
• and
• an electronics unit in communication with the steering actuator, the electronics control unit configured to:
• determine a present steering position of the manually actuatable steering unit based on sensor data;
• generate the steering command based on the present steering position of the steering unit;
• then, determine, based on sensor-detected present vehicle dynamics data, whether the motor vehicle is in a straight-ahead running situation during driving operation;
• upon determining the motor vehicle is in the straight-ahead running situation, determine whether the present steering position of the steering unit deviates from a straight-ahead running position of the steering unit for at least one of a specified time period and a specified traveling distance of the motor vehicle;
• upon determining a deviation of the present steering position of the steering unit from the straight-ahead running position, generate a compensation steering command based on the deviation;
• and
• generate a corrected steering command by combining the compensation steering command with the steering command.

A method, comprising:

• determining a present steering position of a manually actuatable steering unit of the motor vehicle based on sensor data;
• generating a steering command based on the present steering position of the steering unit;
• then, determining, based on sensor-detected present vehicle dynamics data, whether the motor vehicle is in a straight-ahead running situation during driving operation;
• upon determining the motor vehicle is in the straight-ahead running situation, determining whether the present steering position of the steering unit deviates from a straight-ahead running position of the steering unit for at least one of a specified time period and a specified traveling distance of the motor vehicle;
• upon determining a deviation of the present steering position of the steering unit from the straight-ahead running position, generating a compensation steering command based on the deviation;
• and
• generating a corrected steering command by combining the compensation steering command with the steering command.