Hands on/off detection sensor in a vehicle

A method, comprising:

• a) detecting a steering angle of a steering column by a steering wheel angle sensor;
• b) determining a maximum hysteresis angle threshold and a minimum hysteresis angle threshold based on an initial steering angle, wherein the initial steering angle corresponds to an initially detected steering angle;
• c) detecting a steering torque of the steering column by a steering torque sensor until the detected steering angle reached both the maximum hysteresis angle threshold and the minimum hysteresis angle threshold;
• d) determining a maximum torque value and a minimum torque value of the steering column based on a detected steering torque;
• e) repeating steps a) to d) such that multiple maximum torque values and multiple minimum torque values of different cycles of the method are determined;
• f) determining a mean value and a standard deviation for the multiple maximum torque values and for the multiple minimum torque values of the different cycles of the method by the evaluation device, respectively;
• and
• g) determining at least one adapted torque threshold for a hands on/off detection sensor by summing the determined mean value with n times the determined standard deviation, wherein n is a non-zero natural number.

A hands on/off evaluation device configured to execute program instructions, the instructions comprising instructions to:

• a) detect a steering angle of a steering column by a steering wheel angle sensor;
• b) determine a maximum hysteresis angle threshold and a minimum hysteresis angle threshold based on an initial steering angle, wherein the initial steering angle corresponds to an initially detected steering angle;
• c) detect a steering torque of the steering column by a steering torque sensor until the detected steering angle reached both the maximum hysteresis angle threshold and the minimum hysteresis angle threshold;
• d) determine a maximum torque value and a minimum torque value of the steering column based on a detected steering torque;
• e) repeat steps a) to d) such that multiple maximum torque values and multiple minimum torque values of different cycles of the method are determined;
• f) determine a mean value and a standard deviation for the multiple maximum torque values and for the multiple minimum torque values of the different cycles of the method by the evaluation device, respectively;
• and
• g) determine at least one adapted torque threshold for a hands on/off detection sensor by summing the determined mean value with n times the determined standard deviation, wherein n is a non-zero natural number.