Electronic control system for a motor vehicle

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electronic control system for a motor vehicle, including a control device, an actuator, and at least one sensor. The control system according to the invention is characterized in that it has a sensor board for reading the data detected by the sensor, wherein the sensor board has a memory for storing actuator-specific data and an interface between the sensor board and the control device for transferring the data stored in the sensor board to the control device. The present invention also relates to a method for operating this type of control system.

Claims

1. A method for operating an electronic control system having: a controller, an actuator and at least one sensor a sensor board for reading data which is detected by the sensor, the sensor board has a memory for storing actuator-specific data and an interface between the sensor board and the controller for transmitting the data which is stored in the sensor board to the controller, wherein said method comprising comprises: starting the controller; transmitting the actuator-specific data which is stored in the sensor board to the controller; comparing the actuator-specific data which is transmitted from the sensor board with actuator-specific data which is stored in the controller; switching the controller to a normal operating mode when the actuator-specific data which is transmitted from the sensor board corresponds to the actuator-specific data which is stored in the controller; starting a training process when the actuator-specific data which is transmitted from the sensor board does not correspond to the actuator-specific data which is stored in the controller, said training method comprising the following sub-steps: storing the actuator-specific data which is transmitted from the sensor board in the controller; configuring the controller in accordance with the actuator-specific data which is transmitted from the sensor board; and switching to the normal operating mode of the controller.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein sensor data is read from the sensor board and transmitted to the controller in the normal operating mode of the controller.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising performing data transmission between the sensor board and the controller by a field bus.

4. An electronic control system for a motor vehicle, comprising: —a controller, an actuator and at least one sensor; —a sensor board for reading data which is detected by the sensor, the sensor board has a memory for storing actuator-specific data; and —an interface between the sensor board and the controller for transmitting the data which is stored in the sensor board to the controller, wherein the controller compares the actuator-specific data which is transmitted from the sensor board with actuator-specific data which is stored in the controller and starts a training process when the actuator-specific data which is transmitted from the sensor board does not correspond to the actuator-specific data which is stored in the controller, and wherein the training process includes configuring the controller in accordance with the actuator-specific data which is transmitted from the sensor board.

5. The electronic control system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the sensor board is physically arranged between the controller and the actuator, and the sensor board is connected to the actuator.

6. The electronic control system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the at least one sensor is arranged on the sensor board.

7. The electronic control system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the at least one sensor comprises sensors for detecting the temperature, the rotor position or the torque.

8. The electronic control system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the controller is a remotely mounted controller which is arranged physically separately from the actuator in the motor vehicle.

9. The electronic control system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the actuator is an electric motor.

10. The electronic control system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the electronic control system is a roll stabilization system of the motor vehicle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Preferred embodiments of the invention will be explained in greater detail below with reference to the figures, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an electronic control system according to the invention; and

(3) FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a method according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(4) The electronic control system according to the invention comprises a controller 01 which is preferably designed as a remotely mounted controller. The controller 01 is connected to an actuator 02. The controller 01 and the actuator 02 are installed such that they are physically separated from one another. In typical applications, the distance between the controller 01 and the actuator 02 is approximately 1 to 1.5 meters. The control system further comprises a plurality of sensors, specifically a temperature sensor 03, a rotor position sensor 04 and a torque sensor 05.

(5) A sensor board 07 is located between the actuator 02 and the controller 01. The sensor board 07 comprises a non-volatile memory 08 in which actuator-specific data, such as variant, serial number, calibration data, sensor offset and actuator stiffness characteristic, are stored. This data is determined during assembly of the vehicle and is stored in the sensor board 07. The sensor board 07 and the actuator 02 are preferably mechanically connected to one another. The sensor board 07 also has a logic unit 09 for reading the sensor signals. In the shown embodiment of the control system, the rotor position sensor 04 is arranged on the sensor board 07. The temperature sensor 03 is arranged on the actuator 02 and is connected to a corresponding temperature sensor contact 10 of the sensor board 07. The torque sensor 05 is connected to a torque sensor contact 12 of the sensor board 07. The sensor data which is read by the logic unit 09 is transmitted to the controller 01 via an interface 13 by a field bus. The actuator-specific data which is stored in the memory 08 of the sensor board 07 can be called up by the controller 01.

(6) The sensor data which is to be transmitted is illustrated using dashed lines in FIG. 1. It is clear that the sensor data which is read by the logic unit 09 is transmitted to the controller 01 in bundled form. The electrical lines are illustrated as solid lines and the mechanical connections are illustrated as dash-and-dot lines. The controller 01 communicates with the actuator 02 via a corresponding interface 14.

(7) The method according to the invention for operating the electronic control system will be explained below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 2. In a first step 20, the controller 01 is started. Then, in step 21, the actuator-specific data which is stored in the sensor board 07 is transmitted to the controller 01. This is followed in the third step 22 by comparison of the actuator-specific data which is transmitted from the sensor board 07 with the actuator-specific data which is already stored in the controller 01. If the data corresponds, the actuator 02 is already known to the controller 01. Therefore, in step 23, the controller can be switched to the normal operating mode. If the data does not correspond, the mode of the controller 01 is changed in step 24. A training process is started. The actuator-specific data which is transmitted from the sensor board 07 is stored in the controller 01 in step 25 for this purpose. Furthermore, in step 26, the controller 01 is configured in accordance with the actuator-specific data which is transmitted from the sensor board 07. The mode of the controller 01 is then changed in step 27. The controller 01 is subsequently switched to the normal operating mode (step 23). During the normal operating mode, the sensor data which is read by the sensor board 07 is transmitted from the sensor board 07 to the controller 01 by a field bus. The controller 01 evaluates the transmitted sensor data and, if control of the process in question is required, sends corresponding control instructions to the actuator 02.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

(8) 01 Controller 02 Actuator 03 Temperature sensor 04 Rotor position sensor 05 Torque sensor 06 - 07 Sensor board 08 Memory 09 Logic unit 10 Temperature sensor contact 11 - 12 Torque sensor contact 13 Sensor board/controller interface 14 Actuator/controller interface 20-27 Method steps