Collision avoidance with active steering and braking

A system for collision avoidance in a vehicle using automated braking and steering comprising:

• an active braking system comprising:
• a wheel actuator in operable communication with a vehicle wheel,
• a wheel speed sensor, and
• a sensor for detecting an application of braking by an operator,
• said active braking system including antilock braking functionality;
• an active steering system comprising:
• an operator input device,
• an actuator in operable communication with a steerable wheel, said actuator configured to adjust a steering angle of said steerable wheel independent of an input to said operator input device;
• a first steering angle sensor in operable communication with said operator input device for detecting a steering angle indicative of an operator input,
• a second steering angle sensor in operable communication with said steerable wheel for detecting another angle indicative of a position of said steerable wheel;
• a detection system comprising a sensor configured to detect an obstacle in a path of said vehicle;
• and
• a controller in operable communication with said active braking system, said active steering system, and said detection system said controller executing a method for collision avoidance using automated braking and steering.

A system for collision avoidance in a vehicle using automated braking and steering comprising:

• a means for determining an actual distance to an obstacle in a path of a vehicle;
• a means for determining a relative velocity between said obstacle and said vehicle;
• a means for determining a first distance sufficient to avoid collision by braking only;
• a means for determining a second distance sufficient to avoid collision by combined braking and steering around said obstacle;
• a means for applying braking if at least one of, said first distance exceeds said actual distance and said first distance is within a selected threshold of said actual distance;
• and
• a means for determining if said actual distance exceeds said second distance and a lane change is permitted, and a means for applying steering control to affect a lane change.

A storage medium encoded with a machine-readable computer program code, said computer program code including instructions for causing controller to implement a method for collision avoidance using automated braking and steering comprising:

• determining an actual distance to an obstacle in a path of a vehicle;
• determining a relative velocity between said obstacle and said vehicle;
• determining a first distance sufficient to avoid collision by braking only;
• determining a second distance sufficient to avoid collision by combined braking and steering around said obstacle;
• applying braking if at least one of, said first distance exceeds said actual distance and said first distance is within a selected threshold of said actual distance;
• and
• if said actual distance exceeds said second distance and a lane change is permitted, applying steering control to affect a lane change.

A computer data signal, said data signal comprising code configured to cause a controller to implement a method for collision avoidance using automated braking and steering comprising:

• determining an actual distance to an obstacle in a path of a vehicle;
• determining a relative velocity between said obstacle and said vehicle;
• determining a first distance sufficient to avoid collision by braking only;
• determining a second distance sufficient to avoid collision by combined braking and steering around said obstacle;
• applying braking if at least one of, said first distance exceeds said actual distance and said first distance is within a selected threshold of said actual distance;
• and
• if said actual distance exceeds said second distance and a lane change is permitted, applying steering control to affect a lane change.

A method for collision avoidance using automated braking and steering comprising:

• determining an obstacle is in a path of a vehicle with which a collision may occur;
• applying maximum emergency braking without skidding;
• if a lane change is permitted, applying steering control to affect a lane change, wherein said steering control is configured to achieve a maximum lateral acceleration sufficient to cause lateral displacement without loss of surface adhesion;
• and
• determining if said lane change is complete, wherein said lane change is complete if a heading angle magnitude is less than elected threshold, a lateral position error magnitude is less than a selected threshold, and at least one of a desired feedforward steering angle is substantially zero and a time elapsed exceeds a total allowable time for said lane change.

A system for collision avoidance in a vehicle using automated braking and steering comprising:

• a means for determining an obstacle is in a path of a vehicle with which a collision may occur;
• a means for applying maximum emergency braking without skidding;
• a means for determining:
• if a lane change is permitted;
• and
• a means for applying steering control to affect a lane change, wherein said steering control is configured to achieve a maximum lateral acceleration sufficient to cause lateral displacement without loss of surface adhesion;
• and
• means for determining if said lane change is complete, wherein said lane change is complete if a heading angle magnitude is less than a selected threshold, a lateral position error magnitude is less than a selected threshold, and at least on of a desired feedforward steering angle is substantially zero and a time elapsed exceeds a total allowable time for said lane change.

A method of controlling a steering angle input in order to automatically perform an emergency lane change

• using a feedforward control component and a feedback control components;
• said feedforward control component employing a selected steering pattern based on vehicle speed and an estimated surface coefficient of adhesion;
• and
• said feedback control component using a measured yaw rate, at least one of an estimated lateral position and a measured lateral position, and at least one of an estimated lateral velocity and a measured lateral velocity.