Method of calibrating and steering a vehicle provided with a positioning system

Abstract

The invention provides a method of calibrating a steering system for a vehicle, e.g. an off-highway machinery, to allow automatic steering based on input from a position or tracking system, e.g. based on a Global Positioning System (GPS). At least two records, each comprising a position value and a curvature value are established. The position value represents a position of the steered element, e.g. a position of a steered wheel of the vehicle, and the curvature value could e.g. be expressed as a radius of a curve followed by the vehicle with that position of the steered element. The curvature value is determined by the positioning system during movement of the vehicle. Due to the records, it is easy to calibrate or recalibrate the system and the invention is therefore applicable e.g. in connection with manufacturing of vehicles in small batch numbers, e.g. for one of a kind production or for retrofitting of steering components to existing vehicles. The invention further provides a method of operating the vehicle and a steering system incorporating the above mentioned calibration method.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.