The turning radius of a differentially steered vehicle towing a trailer is controlled when turning so that its turning radius is greater than a minimum allowable turning radius. The turning radius may be autonomously adjusted using a controller to monitor the instantaneous rotational speed differential between the driven wheels and increase or decrease the relative speed between the wheels when the instantaneous rotational speed differential exceeds a threshold rotational speed differential, indicating a turn which is too tight. Alternately, the turning radius may be controlled by the vehicle's operator, who receives a signal from the controller indicating that the vehicle's turning radius is less than the minimum allowable. The operator may then take action to enlarge the turning radius using manual controls.

The inventive concepts determines a threshold road slope based on camera information and lateral acceleration of a vehicle, estimates the road slope, compensates the estimated road slope to an ADAS driving convenience system, and thus prevents the vehicle from being inclined to the road slope in a section where a threshold road slope is present, thereby securing the driving stability of the vehicle by driving the vehicle in the middle of the lane on a road having the threshold road slope.

Techniques for using a set of non-steering variables to estimate an angle of a wheel are described. For example, a yaw rate, a linear velocity of a wheel, and vehicle dimensions (e.g., offset between the wheel and a turn-center reference line), can be used to estimate the angle of the wheel. Among other things, estimating angles based on non-steering variables may provide redundancy (e.g., when determined in parallel with steering-based command angles or other commanded angles) and/or may be used to validate commanded angles based on steering components.

An autonomous driving controller includes: a processor to collect driving data when a vehicle is traveling and calculate a steering override reference value, which is a criterion of determining an override mode, based on the collected driving data; and a storage to store the collected driving data and a set of instructions executed by the processor to calculate the steering override reference value. In particular, the processor controls autonomous driving by varying the steering override reference value based on the collected driving data or information regarding a driver of the vehicle.

A memory stores a plurality of steering angle characteristics including a first steering angle characteristic and a second steering angle characteristic. A steering angle characteristic selecting unit selects a selected steering angle characteristic from the steering angle characteristics stored in the memory. A driving control unit controls the steering angle of an autonomous-driving vehicle in accordance with the selected steering angle characteristic and a rightward or leftward operation amount of a mechanical operation unit of an autonomous-driving vehicle.

A vehicle control system for a steer-by-wire vehicle executes: driving assist control that assists driving of the vehicle; and conjunction reaction force control that applies a steering reaction force component to a steering wheel in conjunction with vehicle turning caused by the driving assist control. A driver turn angle is a target turn angle corresponding to a steering angle of the steering wheel, and a first system turn angle is a target turn angle required by the driving assist control. In the conjunction reaction force control, a second system turn angle is acquired by adjusting the first system turn angle according to a driver's steering intention such that the difference between the system turn angle and the driver turn angle becomes smaller. Then, a steering reaction force component is applied in a direction of reducing a difference between the driver turn angle and the second system turn angle.

A vehicle control system controls a vehicle of a steer-by-wire type. The vehicle control system is configured to execute: driving assist control that assists driving of the vehicle; and conjunction reaction force control that applies a steering reaction force component to a steering wheel in conjunction with turning of the vehicle caused by the driving assist control. A driving assist direction is a direction of the turning of the vehicle caused by the driving assist control. The conjunction reaction force control includes feedforward reaction force control that moves the steering wheel in a same direction as the driving assist direction without depending on a steering angle of the steering wheel.

A steering wheel-based HMI system for a vehicle includes a steer-by-wire system and a control module. The steer-by-wire system includes a steering wheel and a torque feedback unit mechanically connected to the steering wheel. The control module is communicatively connected to the torque feedback unit. The control module is configured to identify a communication, gather information about user securement of the steering wheel, and operate the torque feedback unit to apply a supplementary torque to the steering wheel for haptically issuing the communication through the steering wheel. The supplementary torque has a magnitude that is scaled based on the information about user securement of the steering wheel.

An embodiment driving assistance system for a vehicle includes a driving information provision unit configured to acquire and provide driving information of a traveling vehicle, a control unit configured to generate and output a control signal for driving assistance when it is determined the vehicle travels on a rough road based on the driving information of the vehicle provided by the driving information provision unit and it is determined that the vehicle is currently in a rough road traveling state, and a steering actuator configured to generate and apply a steering assistance force according to a control value of the control signal for the driving assistance output by the control unit to a steering wheel.

A device is provided for operating a vehicle which can be driven in an at least partly automated manner, having a steering wheel which can be operated by a driver and which is also designed to carry out a substantially manual driving mode for controlling at least the lateral control of the vehicle. The device has at least one first operating mode which differs from a substantially manual operating mode in that one or more operations initiated by the driver in a first time interval at the steering wheel are not carried out in the first time interval, but instead are carried out in a second time interval in accordance with a predetermined condition.