A sensor unit for a steering system, in particular a steer-by-wire steering system, includes a component to be monitored and having a multifunctional position sensor, which has at least one spring element and at least one piezoelectric sensor, which is associated with the spring element and is provided at a first end of the spring element. The spring element is associated with the component to be monitored via a second end opposite to the first end. A steering wheel subassembly, a rack subassembly and a steering system are furthermore described.

According to one or more embodiments, an example system includes a motor, and a motor control system that includes a low side current measurement subsystem. The system further includes a processor that switches the motor control system to use feedforward current control in response to detecting a current measurement failure in the low side current measurement subsystem. The processor further identifies a first phase that has a failed current measurement. The processor also computes a current measurement for the first phase, which has the current measurement failure. The processor further uses the computed current measurement to compute a parameter estimate.

A sensor device includes: multiple sensor units, each of which includes multiple sensor elements and a signal processing unit that generates and transmits an output signal including multiple detection signals corresponding to detection values of the sensor elements; and multiple control units, each of which includes a communication unit that receives the output signal, an abnormality monitoring unit that monitors abnormality of the respective sensor unit, and a physical quantity computation unit that computes a physical quantity based on at least one of the detection signals which is normal. One control unit mutually transmits and receives the detection signals as subject sensor signals received from the respective sensor unit and the detection signals as other sensor signals received from another one of the control units with another system control unit.

A method for managing a vehicle assisted steering system including one assistance function intended to help a driver drive the vehicle and one safety function intended to give assistance function a predetermined ASIL level as defined by the ISO-26262 standard, the assistance function and safety function each make use of a vehicle speed indicator parameter, including a step of estimating a functional speed of the actual longitudinal speed of the vehicle, used by default as the vehicle speed indicator parameter, a step of estimating a speed upper bound, a step of calculating an underestimated speed resulting from the application, to the speed upper bound, of a reduction value derived from a reduction law, and, if the functional speed is lower than the underestimated speed, and a step of switching in which the underestimated speed is substituted for the functional speed as the vehicle speed indicator parameter.

A motor controller for controlling a motor includes first and second angle sensors detecting motor rotation, and first and second detection circuits detecting rotation number information based on sensor output from the angle sensors. Further, the motor controller includes a steer angle information obtainer obtaining steer angle information involving steering of a vehicle from an external sensor, which is different from the angle sensors, and an abnormality determiner determining abnormality of information that has a matching degree of lower than a preset value when post-conversion information, or value measured by the same characteristics. This information is compared with each other after conversion from the rotation number information and from the steer angle information, and is used by a control amount calculator to calculate a control amount of the motor based on the information determined as having no abnormality by the abnormality determiner.

Provided are a steering control system and method. The steering control system includes a control unit configured to perform steering control using a steering torque and a steering angle detected by a steering torque sensor and a steering angle sensor of a vehicle, wherein the control unit performs the steering control in consideration that the steering torque or the steering angle is changeable by a disturbance.

The failure detection device includes: an output unit detecting failure of a torque detection device that detects torque applied to a pinion shaft with torque sensors, and a target current calculation unit controlling drive of the electric motor. In response to detection of failure of one of the torque sensors, the target current calculation unit causes the motor to output continuous torque continuously generating torque that is detectable by the other of the torque sensors and, in response to the motor outputting the continuous torque, the output unit diagnoses failure of the other of the torque sensors based on a pattern of vibrations detected by the other torque sensor due to the continuous torque and determines that the other torque sensor is having failure if amplitude of vibrations is less than a reference amplitude.

A steering system includes a prioritized torque sensor, a redundant torque sensor, a controller, a first signal line, a second signal line, and a common signal line. Each of the first signal line and the second signal line connects the prioritized torque sensor and the controller. The common signal line connects the redundant torque sensor and the controller. The prioritized torque sensor is configured to transmit, via the first signal line, a first prioritized detection signal. The prioritized torque sensor is configured to transmit, via the second signal line, a second prioritized detection signal. The redundant torque sensor is configured to transmit, via the common signal line, a first redundant detection signal and a second redundant detection signal.

There is provided a control device for an electric power steering device, which determines an estimate of a steering angle instead of using an angle sensor when any abnormality is detected in the angle sensor to perform steering angle control using the determined estimate of the steering angle. When it is determined that the detected steering angle is normal based on a steering angle abnormality determination signal Flg_h, a steering angle calculating section 201 outputs a steering-wheel angle h as an actual steering angle r, while when it is determined that the detected steering angle is abnormal, the steering angle calculating section 201 determines and outputs an estimate r of an actual steering angle using a past value Zr of the actual steering angle under normal conditions, a motor relative angle m, and a relative twist angle of a torsion bar.

A detecting apparatus that uses a redundancy configuration comprising plural sensor sections including plural detecting sections, accurately performs abnormality detection and function continuation in a control apparatus such as an ECU in a case that abnormality is occurred in the sensor sections or a signal line, and has simple manufacturing processes, and an electric power steering apparatus equipped with the detecting apparatus. The apparatus includes plural sensor sections which include plural detecting sections that detect a same object or a same state quantity, and detects at least one of the state quantities in at least two of the sensor sections, wherein each of the sensor sections has a communication section that outputs the state quantities, which the detecting sections detect, as an error detectable signal.