The subject matter of the invention is a method for detecting faults related to wheels of a motor vehicle in a driving situation, comprising: a step (S.sub.1) of automatically determining a first series of corrective steering wheel angles applied successively to force the vehicle to follow a path parallel to a first rectilinear portion of a traffic lane; a step (S.sub.2) of automatically detecting, from the corrective steering wheel angles of the first series, the presence of a fault affecting a pair of steering wheels of the vehicle; and, optionally: a step (S.sub.3) of estimating a type of fault associated with the detected fault, a step (S.sub.4) of identifying the steering wheel of the pair of wheels affected by the fault; and a step (S.sub.5) of generating a warning message for the attention of the driver of the motor vehicle, the message including the estimated type of fault and the wheel identified as having the fault.

The present invention relates to a steering control device and method, and a steering control system, and, more specifically, to a steering control device comprising: a rack position detection unit for detecting the rack position of an output device after the ignition of a vehicle is turned on; a steering wheel rotation angle determination unit for determining the rotation angle of a steering wheel corresponding to the rack position; a steering wheel display unit for displaying, on the steering wheel, the center position of the steering wheel according to the rotation angle of the steering wheel; and a steering reaction force provision unit for providing a steering reaction force according to the rotation angle of the steering wheel.

The present invention relates to a steering control device and method, and a steering control system, and, more specifically, to a steering control device comprising: a rack position detection unit for detecting the rack position of an output device after the ignition of a vehicle is turned on; a steering wheel rotation angle determination unit for determining the rotation angle of a steering wheel corresponding to the rack position; a steering wheel display unit for displaying, on the steering wheel, the center position of the steering wheel according to the rotation angle of the steering wheel; and a steering reaction force provision unit for providing a steering reaction force according to the rotation angle of the steering wheel.

A control apparatus of a hybrid leaning vehicle includes: a travel mode request section that requests one travel mode selected from a plurality of travel modes including a first travel mode in which an engine is stopped and an electric motor is operated and a second travel mode in which the engine is operated; and a travel mode setting section. When the travel mode request section requests the second travel mode during travel in the first travel mode, the travel mode setting section, upon determining that a steady turning condition is satisfied, sets the second travel mode as the travel mode to be executed and, upon determining that the steady turning condition is not satisfied, prohibits the second travel mode from being set as the travel mode to be executed.

A control apparatus of a hybrid leaning vehicle includes: a travel mode request section that requests one travel mode selected from a plurality of travel modes including a first travel mode in which an engine is stopped and an electric motor is operated and a second travel mode in which the engine is operated; and a travel mode setting section. When the travel mode request section requests the second travel mode during travel in the first travel mode, the travel mode setting section, upon determining that a steady turning condition is satisfied, sets the second travel mode as the travel mode to be executed and, upon determining that the steady turning condition is not satisfied, prohibits the second travel mode from being set as the travel mode to be executed.

A steering control device for controlling a rotation angle of a motor that drives a steering mechanism according to a rotation angle of a steering wheel, includes a torque controller to control torque of the motor with the rotation angle of the steering wheel as a command value, and a phase advance processor to perform feedback control on the torque of the motor with at least one of the rotation angle and angular velocity of the motor as a command value, and advance a phase of a signal waveform to be fed back for a partial frequency range that includes a resonance frequency of the motor and the steering mechanism in an entire frequency range.

A steering system includes a mechanism configured to turn a steer wheel of a vehicle, a motor configured to generate driving force that is applied to the mechanism, and a controller configured to control the motor according to a steering status. The controller includes a limiting control circuit configured to limit a current that is supplied to the motor to a limiting value, a determining circuit configured to determine whether the steer wheel is in contact with an obstacle by using at least a comparison between a value of the current that is supplied to the motor and a threshold, and a threshold computing circuit configured to compute the threshold that is used by the determining circuit, the threshold computing circuit being configured to compute a value less than the limiting value according to the limiting value as the threshold.

A steering system includes a mechanism configured to turn a steer wheel of a vehicle, a motor configured to generate driving force that is applied to the mechanism, and a controller configured to control the motor according to a steering status. The controller includes a limiting control circuit configured to limit a current that is supplied to the motor to a limiting value, a determining circuit configured to determine whether the steer wheel is in contact with an obstacle by using at least a comparison between a value of the current that is supplied to the motor and a threshold, and a threshold computing circuit configured to compute the threshold that is used by the determining circuit, the threshold computing circuit being configured to compute a value less than the limiting value according to the limiting value as the threshold.

An apparatus of assisting steering of a vehicle, may include a turning direction recognizer that recognizes a turning direction of a tire, by use of a steering angle controlled through manipulation of a handle; and a tire driving controller that determines a tire, to which a first driving force for generating a steering assisting torque that assists turning of the tire to the recognized turning direction is applied, and a tire, to which a second driving force for offsetting the first driving force to maintain a forward/rearward force of the vehicle at 0 is applied, and controls driving motors provided in the tires, respectively, to generate the first driving force and the second driving force, whereby the tire may be turned with a steering torque of a limit steering torque or more which may be generated by the steering motor, and a control method thereof.

Methods and apparatus to determine rack force are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a rack to couple to a steering knuckle of a vehicle, a ball nut engaged with the rack, a first ring gear coupled to the ball nut, a first pinion fixed to a motor, the first pinion engaged with the first ring gear, the motor to rotate the ball nut to move the rack, a motor encoder to detect a rotation of the first pinion, a second ring gear coupled to the ball nut, and a sensor fixed to a second pinion, the second pinion engaged with the second ring gear, the second pinion to rotate as the second ring gear rotates, the sensor to detect a rotation of the second pinion, the rotation of the second pinion and the rotation of the first pinion corresponding to a force on the rack.