Sensor multiplexing in actuation systems comprising active-material actuators

1. A system, comprising:

a single work-source sensor for detecting a distance moved by a work source and a direction of movement;

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, for determining period-ending positions of multiple parts movable by select actuation of corresponding active materials, the operations comprising:

receiving, from the work-source sensor, work-source input indicating the distance moved by the work source and the direction of the movement;

determining, based on the work-source input and a first status history, corresponding to a first part of the multiple parts, a first distance travelled by the first part;

determining, based on the work-source input and a second status history, corresponding to a second part of the multiple parts, a second distance travelled by the second part;

calculating, based on the first distance determined and a first period-starting position, a first period-ending position, wherein the first period-starting position represents a position of the first part of the multiple parts at a start of a corresponding period, and the first period-ending position represents a position of the first part at an end of the period; and

calculating, based on the second distance determined and a second period-starting position, a second period-ending position, wherein the second period-starting position represents a position of the second part at the start of the period, and the second period-ending position represents a position of the second part at the end of the period.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

an input system including or connected to the work source;

a first output system including or connected to the first part;

a first actuator sub-system including a first active material, of said active materials, and a first actuating component, wherein the first actuator sub-system is configured so that the first active material, when activated selectively, causes the first actuating component to move between first actuating states to engage/disengage the single input system to/from the first output system for selectively moving the first part;

a second output system including or connected to the second part; and

a second actuator sub-system including a second active material, of said active materials, and a second actuating component, wherein the second actuator sub-system is configured so that the second active material, when activated selectively, causes the second actuating component to move between second actuating states to engage/disengage the single input system to/from the second output system for selectively moving the first part.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first part corresponds to a first feature of a vehicle sunroof assembly and the second part corresponds to a second feature of the assembly.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the work source includes a direct current motor and the work includes rotations or partial rotations of the motor.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the first status history includes a first time history of engaged/disengaged states for the first part; and

the second status history includes a second time history of engaged/disengaged states for the second part.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

calculating the first period-ending position includes calculating the first period-ending position according to:

p 1 ( t b )= p 1 ( t a )+ f (δ p 1 ( t a-b ), t a ,t b ,h 1 ,h 2 );

t a represents a start-of-period time;

t b represents an end-of-period time;

p 1 (t a ) represents the first period-starting position;

p 1 (t b ) represents the first period-ending position;

f(_) represents a general function of the arguments within the parentheses and identified below;

δp 1 (t a-b ) represents a first calculated distance travelled for the first part during the period;

h w , h 1 represent time histories of states for the work source and the first part, respectively;

calculating the second period-ending position includes calculating the second period-ending position according to:

p 2 ( t b )= p 2 ( t a )+ f (δ p 2 ( t a-b ), t a ,t b ,h 1 ,h 2 );

p 2 (t a ) represents the second period-starting position;

p 2 (t b ) represents the second period-ending position;

δp 2 (t a-b ) represents a second calculated distance travelled for the second part during the period; and

h 2 represents a time history of states for the second part.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the time histories indicates a direction of travel.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein:

the first calculated distance is determined according to:

δ p 1 ( t a-b )= wd*r 1 *g 1 ;

wd is +1 or −1, representing a direction of work-source operation during the period;

r 1 represents a first rotation total, being a total number of rotations made by the work source during times of the period at which the first part was being moved;

g 1 represents a first velocity ratio;

the second calculated distance is determined according to:

δ p 2 ( t a-b )= wd*r 2 *g 2 ;

r 2 represents a second rotation total, being a total number of rotations made by the work source during times of the period at which the second part was being moved; and

g 2 represents a second velocity ratio.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein:

the operations further comprise determining the first velocity ratio as:

g 1 =sgn*v 1 /n w ;

sgn is a sign, being positive or negative, depending on the direction of work-source operation;

v 1 represents a first part speed, being a first speed of motion of the first feature when the first feature is moving during the period;

n w represents a speed or rotation of the work source;

the operations further comprise determining the second velocity ratio as:

g 2 =sgn*v 2 /n w ; and

v 2 represents a second part speed, being a second speed of motion of the second feature when the second feature is moving during the period.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further define an initialization procedure comprising at least one function selected from a group of functions consisting of:

determining an effective extreme position for the first part beyond which the first part will not be moved;

determining an effective extreme position for the second part beyond which the second part will not be moved;

establishing a previously-determined end position for the first part as said first period-starting position;

establishing a previously-determined end position for the second part as said second period-starting position;

establishing the first period-ending position as a next start position for subsequent iterations of position calculation regarding the first part; and

establishing the second period-ending position as a next start position for subsequent iterations of position calculation regarding the second part.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein one or both of the first period-starting position and the second period-starting position is pre-set as zero.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the first period-starting position is a first present-period-starting position;

the first period-ending position is a first present-period-ending position;

a previous first position calculating performed regarding the first part resulted in a first previous-period-ending position;

the first previous-period-ending position is used as the first present-period starting position in calculating the first present-period-ending position;

the second period-starting position is a second present-period-starting position;

the second period-ending position is a second present-period-ending position;

a previous second position calculating performed regarding the second part resulted in a second previous-period-ending position; and

the second previous-period-ending position is used as the second present-period starting position in calculating the second present-period-ending position.

13. A computer-readable storage device, comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, for determining period-ending positions of multiple parts movable by select actuation of corresponding active materials, the operations comprising:

receiving, from a work-source sensor, work-source input indicating a distance moved by the work source and a direction of movement;

determining, based on the work-source input and a first status history, corresponding to a first part of the multiple parts, a first distance travelled by the first part;

determining, based on the work-source input and a second status history, corresponding to a second part of the multiple parts, a second distance travelled by the second part;

calculating, based on the first distance determined and a first period-starting position, a first period-ending position, wherein the first period-starting position represents a position of the first part of the multiple parts at a start of a corresponding period, and the first period-ending position represents a position of the first part at an end of the period; and

calculating, based on the second distance determined and a second period-starting position, a second period-ending position, wherein the second period-starting position represents a position of the second part at the start of the period, and the second period-ending position represents a position of the second part at the end of the period.

14. The computer-readable storage device of claim 13 , wherein:

the first status history includes a first time history of engaged/disengaged states for the first part; and

the second status history includes a second time history of engaged/disengaged states for the second part.

15. The computer-readable storage device of claim 13 , wherein:

the operation of calculating the first period-ending position includes calculating the first period-ending position according to:

p 1 ( t b )= p 1 ( t a )+ f (δ p 1 ( t a-b ), t a ,t b ,h 1 ,h 2 );

t a represents a start-of-period time;

t b represents an end-of-period time;

p 1 (t a ) represents the first period-starting position;

p 1 (t b ) represents the first period-ending position;

f(_) represents a general function of the arguments within the parentheses and identified below;

δp 1 (t a-b ) represents a first calculated distance travelled for the first part during the period;

h w , h 1 represent time histories of states for the work source and the first part, respectively;

the operation of calculating the second period-ending position includes calculating the second period-ending position according to:

p 2 ( t b )= p 2 ( t a )+ f (δ p 2 ( t a-b ), t a ,t b ,h 1 ,h 2 );

p 2 (t a ) represents the second period-starting position;

p 2 (t b ) represents the second period-ending position;

δp 2 (t a-b ) represents a second calculated distance travelled for the second part during the period; and

h 2 represents a time history of states for the second part.

16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15 , wherein:

the first calculated distance is determined according to:

δ p 1 ( t a-b )= wd*r 1 *g 1 ;

wd is +1 or −1, representing a direction of work-source operation during the period;

r 1 represents a first rotation total, being a total number of rotations made by the work source during times of the period at which the first part was being moved;

g 1 represents a first velocity ratio;

the second calculated distance is determined according to:

δ p 2 ( t a-b )= wd*r 2 *g 2 ;

r 2 represents a second rotation total, being a total number of rotations made by the work source during times of the period at which the second part was being moved; and

g 2 represents a second velocity ratio.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16 , wherein:

the operations further comprise determining the first velocity ratio as:

g 1 =sgn*v 1 /n w ;

sgn is a sign, being positive or negative, depending on the direction of work-source operation;

v 1 represents a first part speed, being a first speed of motion of the first feature when the first feature is moving during the period;

n w represents a speed or rotation of the work source;

the operations further comprise determining the second velocity ratio as:

g 2 =sgn*v 2 /n w ; and

v 2 represents a second part speed, being a second speed of motion of the second feature when the second feature is moving during the period.

18. A method, for determining period-ending positions of multiple parts movable by select actuation of corresponding active materials, comprising:

receiving, by a device using a computing processor, from a work-source sensor, work-source input indicating a distance moved by the work source and a direction of movement;

determining, by the device, based on the work-source input and a first status history, corresponding to a first part of the multiple parts, a first distance travelled by the first part;

determining, by the device, based on the work-source input and a second status history, corresponding to a second part of the multiple parts, a second distance travelled by the second part;

calculating, by the device, based on the first distance determined and a first period-starting position, a first period-ending position, wherein the first period-starting position represents a position of the first part of the multiple parts at a start of a corresponding period, and the first period-ending position represents a position of the first part at an end of the period; and

calculating, by the device, based on the second distance determined and a second period-starting position, a second period-ending position, wherein the second period-starting position represents a position of the second part at the start of the period, and the second period-ending position represents a position of the second part at the end of the period.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein:

the operation of calculating the first period-ending position includes calculating the first period-ending position according to:

p 1 ( t b )= p 1 ( t a )+ f (δ p 1 ( t a-b ), t a ,t b ,h 1 ,h 2 );

t a represents a start-of-period time;

t b represents an end-of-period time;

p 1 (t a ) represents the first period-starting position;

p 1 (t b ) represents the first period-ending position;

f(_) represents a general function of the arguments within the parentheses and identified below;

δp 1 (t a-b ) represents a first calculated distance travelled for the first part during the period;

h w , h 1 represent time histories of states for the work source and the first part, respectively;

the operation of calculating the second period-ending position includes calculating the second period-ending position according to:

p 2 ( t b )= p 2 ( t a )+ f (δ p 2 ( t a-b ), t a ,t b ,h 1 ,h 2 );

p 2 (t a ) represents the second period-starting position;

p 2 (t b ) represents the second period-ending position;

δp 2 (t a-b ) represents a second calculated distance travelled for the second part during the period; and

h 2 represents a time history of states for the second part.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein:

the first calculated distance is determined according to:

δ p 1 (t a-b )= wd*r 1 *g 1 ;

wd is +1 or −1, representing a direction of work-source operation during the period;

r 1 represents a first rotation total, being a total number of rotations made by the work source during times of the period at which the first part was being moved;

g 1 represents a first velocity ratio;

the second calculated distance is determined according to:

δ p 2 ( t a-b )= wd*r 2 *g 2 ;

r 2 represents a second rotation total, being a total number of rotations made by the work source during times of the period at which the second part was being moved; and

g 2 represents a second velocity ratio.