The invention relates to a method for operating an environment-monitoring system for a motor vehicle, by means of which the positions of objects in the environment laterally adjacent to, in front of, and behind the vehicle are determined. According to the invention, in order to improve the accuracy of the environment-monitoring system, the motion path is determined for a stationary object which the vehicle passes, and said motion path is used to determine the angular deviation with which the motion path determined for the stationary object deviates from the motion path of the vehicle.

The invention relates to a method for operating an environment-monitoring system for a motor vehicle, by means of which the positions of objects in the environment laterally adjacent to, in front of, and behind the vehicle are determined. According to the invention, in order to improve the accuracy of the environment-monitoring system, the motion path is determined for a stationary object which the vehicle passes, and said motion path is used to determine the angular deviation with which the motion path determined for the stationary object deviates from the motion path of the vehicle.

A method of providing road and vehicle diagnostics. The method includes providing a vehicle axle system having a first axle half shaft housing, a second axle half shaft housing and a differential housing. Attached one or more of said housings is one or more tri-axis accelerometers. In communication with the accelerometers is one or more data processors operably configured to receive and analyze data from the accelerometers. An occurrence of one or more road events is determined by one or more spikes in the Z-direction of said data collected from said accelerometers. A depth of the road event is determined by a magnitude of said positive and negative changes in acceleration of said spike in said Z-direction and a length of road event is determined by a span of said one or more spikes in said Z-direction. Once the road event is identified the time and geographic location of the road event is identified.

The present invention relates to a method for estimating the side slip angle (β.sup.stim) of a four-wheeled vehicle, comprising: —detecting signals representing the vehicle longitudinal acceleration (Ax), lateral acceleration (Ay), vertical acceleration (Az), yaw rate (formula I), roll rate (formula II), wheels speeds (V.sub.FL, V.sub.FR, V.sub.RL, V.sub.RR); —pre-treating (1) said signals in order to correct measurement errors and/or noises, so to obtain corrected measurements of at least the longitudinal acceleration (a.sub.x), the lateral acceleration (a.sub.y), the yaw rate (formula I) and the wheels speeds (ν.sub.FL, ν.sub.FR, ν.sub.RL, ν.sub.RR), —determining (2) an estimated vehicle longitudinal speed (V.sub.x.sup.stim) on the basis of at least one of the corrected measurements of the wheel speeds (ν.sub.FL, ν.sub.FR, ν.sub.RL, ν.sub.RR); —determining a yaw acceleration (formula III) from the signal representing the yaw rate (formula I); —solving (25) a time-depending parametrical non-linear filter, such as a Kalman filter or a Luenberger filter, describing the vehicle longitudinal and lateral speeds (formula IV) and longitudinal and lateral accelerations (formula V) as a function of the corrected measurements of the longitudinal acceleration (a.sub.x), of the lateral acceleration (a.sub.y), of the yaw rate (formula I) and the estimated vehicle longitudinal speed (V.sub.x.sup.stim) and of a filter parameter (F) depending from depending from at least one of the vehicle yaw acceleration (formula III), yaw rate (formula I) and lateral acceleration (ay) which adds a negative component to the lateral acceleration (formula VI) determined by the filter itself, said filter parameter (F) being selected such that said negative component reaches a maximum value when it is determined that the vehicle is moving straight on the basis of said at least one of the vehicle yaw acceleration (formula III), yaw rate (formula I) and lateral acceleration (ay); —determining the vehicle estimated side slip angle (β.sup.stim) from said longitudinal and lateral vehicle speeds (formula IV) determined by solving the non-linear filter. The present invention further relates to a computer program implementing said method, a control unit having said computer program loaded, and a vehicle comprising said control unit.

The present invention relates to a method for estimating the side slip angle (β.sup.stim) of a four-wheeled vehicle, comprising: —detecting signals representing the vehicle longitudinal acceleration (Ax), lateral acceleration (Ay), vertical acceleration (Az), yaw rate (formula I), roll rate (formula II), wheels speeds (V.sub.FL, V.sub.FR, V.sub.RL, V.sub.RR); —pre-treating (1) said signals in order to correct measurement errors and/or noises, so to obtain corrected measurements of at least the longitudinal acceleration (a.sub.x), the lateral acceleration (a.sub.y), the yaw rate (formula I) and the wheels speeds (ν.sub.FL, ν.sub.FR, ν.sub.RL, ν.sub.RR), —determining (2) an estimated vehicle longitudinal speed (V.sub.x.sup.stim) on the basis of at least one of the corrected measurements of the wheel speeds (ν.sub.FL, ν.sub.FR, ν.sub.RL, ν.sub.RR); —determining a yaw acceleration (formula III) from the signal representing the yaw rate (formula I); —solving (25) a time-depending parametrical non-linear filter, such as a Kalman filter or a Luenberger filter, describing the vehicle longitudinal and lateral speeds (formula IV) and longitudinal and lateral accelerations (formula V) as a function of the corrected measurements of the longitudinal acceleration (a.sub.x), of the lateral acceleration (a.sub.y), of the yaw rate (formula I) and the estimated vehicle longitudinal speed (V.sub.x.sup.stim) and of a filter parameter (F) depending from depending from at least one of the vehicle yaw acceleration (formula III), yaw rate (formula I) and lateral acceleration (ay) which adds a negative component to the lateral acceleration (formula VI) determined by the filter itself, said filter parameter (F) being selected such that said negative component reaches a maximum value when it is determined that the vehicle is moving straight on the basis of said at least one of the vehicle yaw acceleration (formula III), yaw rate (formula I) and lateral acceleration (ay); —determining the vehicle estimated side slip angle (β.sup.stim) from said longitudinal and lateral vehicle speeds (formula IV) determined by solving the non-linear filter. The present invention further relates to a computer program implementing said method, a control unit having said computer program loaded, and a vehicle comprising said control unit.

A method for identifying a longitudinal jerking of a motor vehicle is provided, wherein a wheel speed of a driven wheel and a wheel speed of a non-driven wheel are recorded and wherein the longitudinal jerking of the motor vehicle is detected on the basis of a change in the measured wheel speeds. The detection of the longitudinal jerking is improved by comparing the change in the wheel speed of the driven wheel with the change in the wheel speed of the non-driven wheel in order to detect a longitudinal jerking as a result of a vibration stimulation in the drive train.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a self-driving method and an apparatus. The method includes: sending, by a first vehicle, lane change request information and first real-time information to a network device; receiving, by the first vehicle, lane change indication information sent by the network device, where the lane change indication information is determined by the network device according to the first real-time information and second real-time information that is sent by a second vehicle, and the lane change indication information indicates that the first vehicle is allowed to perform lane change; and changing, by the first vehicle, from the first lane to the second lane according to the lane change indication information.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a self-driving method and an apparatus. The method includes: sending, by a first vehicle, lane change request information and first real-time information to a network device; receiving, by the first vehicle, lane change indication information sent by the network device, where the lane change indication information is determined by the network device according to the first real-time information and second real-time information that is sent by a second vehicle, and the lane change indication information indicates that the first vehicle is allowed to perform lane change; and changing, by the first vehicle, from the first lane to the second lane according to the lane change indication information.

A method for estimating a value representing the frictional behavior of a vehicle being driven on a road segment, including receiving operating parameters of a vehicle including at least, a driving wheel angular velocity, an angular velocity of a free wheel of the vehicle, and vehicle a dynamic characteristic; computing a first ratio between the driving wheel angular velocity and the angular velocity of a free wheel of the vehicle, which are acquired when the vehicle is moving substantially in a straight line at a velocity greater than or equal to a first preset threshold; determining, from the received operating parameters, a second ratio between the driving wheel radius and the free wheel radius; determining a slip rate from a product of the first and second determined ratios; and obtaining a value representing the vehicle's frictional behavior by normalizing the determined slip rate using at least the vehicle's dynamic characteristic.

A method for estimating a value representing the frictional behavior of a vehicle being driven on a road segment, including receiving operating parameters of a vehicle including at least, a driving wheel angular velocity, an angular velocity of a free wheel of the vehicle, and vehicle a dynamic characteristic; computing a first ratio between the driving wheel angular velocity and the angular velocity of a free wheel of the vehicle, which are acquired when the vehicle is moving substantially in a straight line at a velocity greater than or equal to a first preset threshold; determining, from the received operating parameters, a second ratio between the driving wheel radius and the free wheel radius; determining a slip rate from a product of the first and second determined ratios; and obtaining a value representing the vehicle's frictional behavior by normalizing the determined slip rate using at least the vehicle's dynamic characteristic.