A method for fine-tuning a variable-gear steering column according to a speed of the vehicle, the method includes: a step of characterizing a desired handling of the vehicle for a speed V1 and of characterizing a desired stability for a speed V2; a step of determining a value G1 of the gear ratio allowing obtaining the desired handling at the speed V1, and a value G2 of the gear ratio allowing obtaining the desired stability at the speed V2, a step of calculating a parameter p1 and a parameter p2 according to the speed V1, the speed V2, the value G1 and the value G2 so that the relationship between the gear ratio and the speed of the vehicle is defined by the equation G=p2+p1/V, when the speed is included between a first threshold and a second threshold.

A system for estimating a hitch angle includes a control module with memory for storing programmatic control logic, a processor for executing the control logic, and one or more input/output (I/O) ports. Wheel speed sensors on a trailer communicate with the processor via the I/O ports. A trailering application defines a portion of the control logic and has at least first, and second control logics. The first control logic estimates the hitch angle from a first term, a second term and physical parameters of the vehicle and trailer. The second control logic provides the estimated hitch angle to one or more of a driver and to on-board control systems of the vehicle and trailer.

The present application provides a steering mechanism, a vehicle, and an apparatus and method for producing a steering mechanism, and belongs to the technical field of vehicles. Wherein the steering mechanism comprises a first directive wheel, a second directive wheel, a first driving device, and a second driving device. The first driving device is connected to the first directive wheel; and the second driving device is connected to the second directive wheel. The first driving device and the second driving device are configured to separately drive the first directive wheel and the second directive wheel respectively, thus making the first directive wheel and the second directive wheel deflect in the same direction to achieve steering. No linkage relationship exists between the two directive wheels, whereby the two directive wheels do not need to be connected through a complex mechanical transmission mechanism, and a structure of the steering mechanism is simplified.

A vehicle has a detecting section that detects, as a detection value, a rotational angle of each wheel assembly. A transmitter provided in each wheel assembly transmits transmission data when the rotational angle of the wheel assembly is any of specific angles. At the performance of transmission at the specific angle, the transmitter changes data that is different from angular data indicating the rotational angle of the wheel assembly and is included in the transmission data in accordance with the specific angle. A vehicle-mounted receiver collects the detection values detected by the detecting section upon reception of the transmission data. The receiver collects the detection values for each piece of the transmission data transmitted at the same specific angle based on a manner in which data included in the received transmission data is changed in accordance with the specific angle.

A steering controller includes processing circuitry configured to execute a torque control process that calculates a steering-side operation amount, an angle feedback control process that calculates an angle-side operation amount, and an operation process that operates a drive circuit of an electric motor to adjust torque of the electric motor to a torque command value. The processing circuitry is further configured to execute a switch process that switches, when determining that a controllability of the electric motor is less than or equal to a predetermined efficiency, the torque command value from a value based on the angle-side operation amount to a value based on the steering-side operation amount instead of the angle-side operation amount.

An optical sensor system mounted in a wheel arch of a car for determining trajectory of the car includes: a first optical sensor mounted in the wheel arch above a wheel and located behind a first clear casing that does not touch the wheel; and a second optical sensor mounted in the wheel arch on one side of the wheel and located behind a second clear casing that does not touch the wheel. The first optical sensor and second optical sensor perform a plurality of counts corresponding to respectively capturing a plurality of images of the wheel. The captured images are compared with a reference image to determine a 2D displacement of the wheel from its original position. The trajectory of the car is determined by calculating a turning degree of the wheel according to a trigonometric manipulation of the measured 2D displacement.

System, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to calibrating a steering wheel in a steering system of a vehicle. In one embodiment, the disclosed calibration system detects an object in front of the vehicle based on first data generated by one or more front sensors of the vehicle, detects the object to the rear of the vehicle based on second data generated by one or more rear sensors of the vehicle, determines a trajectory of the object based on the first data and output data from a steering wheel sensor, determines an estimate position of the object based on the trajectory, determines that the second data indicates a difference exists between the estimate position of the object and an actual position of the object, and determines a correction offset adjustment to apply to the output data from the steering wheel sensor based on the difference.

Navigation of a solar vehicle is provided by obtaining a target geographic destination for the vehicle having one or more photovoltaic solar arrays; obtaining configuration data defining a target solar vector relative to a reference frame of the vehicle; identifying a current geographic positioning of the vehicle via a geo-positioning system of the vehicle, including a current geographic location and a current geographic orientation of the vehicle; identifying a current solar vector relative to the reference frame of the vehicle; and during at least a portion of a solar day, outputting a steering command for the vehicle for an indirect path from the current geographic location toward the target geographic destination that is based, at least in part, on a comparison of the current solar vector to the target solar vector. The steering command can be presented to a human operator or programmatically implemented by an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle.

A method estimates an articulation angle between a towing vehicle and a trailer with respect to a pivot. The method determines a distance between an instantaneous center of velocity of the towing vehicle and a center of at least one axle of the towing vehicle representative for a rotation of the towing vehicle about the instantaneous center of velocity of the towing vehicle and/or a distance between an instantaneous center of velocity of the trailer and a center of at least one axle of the trailer representative for a rotation of the trailer about the instantaneous center of velocity of the trailer. The method determines at least one instantaneous speed representative for a wheel speed of at least one wheel of the towing vehicle and/or the trailer, wherein the at least one instantaneous speed refers to the at least one determined distance, and estimates the articulation angle based on the at least one determined instantaneous speed and the at least one determined distance.

An optical sensor system mounted in a wheel arch of a car for determining trajectory of the car includes: a first optical sensor mounted in the wheel arch above a wheel and located behind a first clear casing that does not touch the wheel; and a second optical sensor mounted in the wheel arch on one side of the wheel and located behind a second clear casing that does not touch the wheel. The first optical sensor and second optical sensor perform a plurality of counts corresponding to respectively capturing a plurality of images of the wheel. The captured images are compared with a reference image to determine a 2D displacement of the wheel from its original position. The trajectory of the car is determined by calculating a turning degree of the wheel according to a trigonometric manipulation of the measured 2D displacement.