Detecting driver grip on steering wheel

A method comprising:

• sending an excitation instruction to move a steering wheel of a vehicle to an electrically assisted power steering system (EPS) motor;
• in response to receiving the excitation instruction, moving, by the EPS motor, the steering wheel;
• determining, by the EPS motor an amount of power required to move the steering wheel according to the excitation instruction;
• comparing a value indicative of the amount of power to a first threshold value;
• determining whether a driver is gripping the steering wheel based on the comparison to the first threshold value;
• comparing the value indicative of the amount of power to a second threshold value, wherein the second threshold value is greater than the first threshold value;
• and
• determining a degree of the gripping based on the comparison to the second threshold value.

A system comprising:

• a processor configured to send an excitation instruction to move a steering wheel of a vehicle;
• an electrically assisted power steering system (EPS) motor configured to receive the excitation instruction and respond by moving the steering wheel, the EPS motor being further configured to generate system position data for a steering system of the vehicle;
• a torque sensor for monitoring the movement of the steering wheel and generating pattern data based on the monitoring;
• wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether a driver is gripping the steering wheel based on the pattern data and the system position data.

A system comprising:

• a processor configured to:
• send an instruction to move a steering wheel of a vehicle to an electrically assisted power steering system (EPS) motor;
• receive from the EPS motor system position data for a steering system of the vehicle;
• receive from a torque sensor pattern data based on movement of the steering wheel by the EPS motor in response to the excitation command;
• and
• determine whether a driver is gripping the steering wheel based on the pattern data and the system position data.

A system comprising:

• a processor configured to:
• cause an electrically assisted power steering system (EPS) motor to move a steering wheel of a vehicle;
• receive, from the EPS motor, a value indicative of the amount of power used by the EPS motor to cause the steering wheel to move;
• compare the value to a first threshold value;
• determine whether a driver is gripping the steering wheel based on the comparison to the first threshold value;
• compare the value indicative of the amount of power to a second threshold value, wherein the second threshold value is greater than the first threshold value;
• and
• determine a degree of the gripping based on the comparison to the second threshold value.

A non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium on which computer readable instructions of a program are stored, the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

• sending an excitation instruction to move a steering wheel of a vehicle to an electrically assisted power steering system (EPS) motor;
• receiving from the EPS motor system position data for a steering system of the vehicle l;
• receiving from a torque sensor pattern data based on movement of the steering wheel by the EPS motor;
• and
• determining whether a driver is gripping the steering wheel based on the pattern data and the system position data.