Attitude sensing system for an automotive vehicle relative to the road

A system for controlling a safety system of an automotive vehicle comprising:

• a longitudinal acceleration sensor generating a longitudinal acceleration signal;
• a vehicle speed sensor generating a vehicle speed signal;
• and
• a controller coupled to the longitudinal acceleration sensor and the vehicle speed sensor, said controller determining a reference pitch in response to the longitudinal acceleration signal and the vehicle speed signal, said controller determining a pitch stability index, said controller determining an adjusted pitch angle in response to the reference pitch angle and the pitch stability index, said controller controlling the safety system in response to the adjusted pitch angle.

A system for controlling a safety system of an automotive vehicle comprising:

• a vehicle speed sensor generating a vehicle speed signal;
• a lateral acceleration sensor generating a lateral acceleration signal;
• a yaw rate signal generating a yaw rate signal;
• and
• a controller coupled to the vehicle speed sensor, the lateral acceleration sensor and the yaw rate sensor, said controller determining a reference roll angle in response to said yaw rate signal, said lateral acceleration signal and the wheel speed signal, said controller determining a roll stability index, said controller determining an adjusted roll angle in response to the reference roll angle and the roll stability index, said controller controlling the safety system in response to the adjusted roll angle.

A method of controlling a safety system comprising:

• determining a reference roll angle or a reference pitch angle,
• determining a roll stability index or a pitch stability index;
• providing a roll observer having a roll observer gain or a pitch observer having a pitch observer gain, said roll observer gain being a function of the reference roll angle and roll stability index and said pitch observer gain being a function of the reference pitch angle and the pitch stability index;
• integrating the roll observer to obtain a roll angle or the pitch observer to obtain a pitch angle;
• and
• controlling a safety system in response to the roll angle or the pitch angle.

A method of controlling a safety system comprising:

• determining a reference roll angle or a reference pitch angle,
• determining a roll stability index or a pitch stability index;
• providing a roll observer having a roll observer adjustment or a pitch observer adjustment, said roll observer adjustment determined in response to a roll observer gain and the reference roll angle, said pitch observer determined in response to the reference pitch angle and a pitch observer gain;
• integrating the roll observer to obtain a roll angle or the pitch observer to obtain a pitch angle;
• and
• controlling a safety system in response to the roll angle or the pitch angle.