Apparatus and method for controlling height of vehicle

1. An apparatus for controlling a height of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

a seat including a seat unit and a backrest unit, the seat unit movable in directions of two or more axes;

a control module configured to:

determine a position of the seat in a state in which a driver is seated;

estimate a body shape of the driver based on the position of the seat;

calculate a vehicle height adjustment parameter based on the body shape; and

generate a suspension control signal for adjusting a vehicle height based on the vehicle height adjustment parameter; and

a suspension driving device configured to control a suspension based on the suspension control signal.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to:

estimate a calf length of the driver and a hip height from a ground in the state in which the driver is seated; and

calculate the vehicle height adjustment parameter based on a deviation between the estimated calf length and the estimated hip height.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the control module is configured to estimate a distance between a reference point at an outer end of the seat in a front direction and a center of an accelerator as the calf length.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the control module is configured to:

calculate an amount of change in the position of the seat in a seated state from a preset initial position of the seat; and

determine a position of the reference point at the outer end of the seat in the seated state based on a sum of the amount of change in the position and coordinates of the preset initial position of the outer end.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 ,

wherein the control module is configured to sum first to third heights to estimate a position of a hip reference point being faced by a tailbone of a hip faces in the seated state as the hip height,

wherein the first height refers to a height of a reference point of an inner end of the seat from the ground at the initial position,

wherein the second height refers to a change in the height of the inner end reference point in the seated state, and

wherein the third height refers to a height between a changed position of the inner end reference point and the hip reference point.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the control module is configured to calculate the third height based on a reference hypotenuse connecting the changed position of the inner end reference point and the hip reference point and a trigonometric function for an angle between the reference hypotenuse and a lower plane of the seat.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the control module is configured to:

calculate a hip position change value based on a preset backrest length and a trigonometric function for a tilting angle of the backrest unit; and

calculate a reference hypotenuse length by subtracting the hip position change value from a line segment connecting the changed position of the inner end reference point and a preset tilting reference point.

8. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the vehicle height adjustment parameter comprises a margin parameter proportional to a thigh length of the driver.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the control module is configured to estimate the thigh length lengthwise based on a tilting angle of the backrest unit.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the control module is configured to set the margin parameter to be larger when getting off than when getting on.

11. A method for controlling a height of a vehicle, the method comprising:

determining a position of a seat including a seat unit and a backrest unit in a state in which a driver is seated;

estimating a body shape of the driver based on the position of the seat;

calculating a vehicle height adjustment parameter based on the body shape; and

adjusting a vehicle height based on the vehicle height adjustment parameter.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein calculating the vehicle height adjustment parameter comprises:

estimating a calf length of the driver;

estimating a hip height from a ground in the state in which the driver is seated; and

calculating the vehicle height adjustment parameter based on a deviation between the calf length and the hip height.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein estimating the calf length comprises estimating a distance between a reference point at an outer end of the seat in a front direction and a center of an accelerator as the calf length.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein estimating the calf length comprises:

calculating an amount of change in the position of the seat in a seated state from a preset initial position of the seat; and

determining a position of the reference point at the outer end of the seat in the seated state based on a sum of the amount of change in the position and coordinates of the preset initial position of the outer end.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein estimating the hip height comprises:

calculating a height of a reference point of an inner end of the seat from the ground at an initial position as a first height;

calculating a change amount in the height of the inner end reference point in the seated state as a second height;

calculating a height between a changed position of the inner end reference point and a hip reference point as a third height; and

summing the first to third heights to estimate the hip height from the ground in the state in which the driver is seated.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein calculating the third height comprises:

calculating a length of a reference hypotenuse connecting the changed position of the inner end reference point and the hip reference point;

identifying an angle between the reference hypotenuse and a lower plane of the seat; and

calculating the third height based on a product of the reference hypotenuse and a sine value of the angle.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein calculating the length of the reference hypotenuse comprises:

calculating a hip position change value based on a preset backrest length and a trigonometric function for a tilting angle of the backrest unit; and

calculating the reference hypotenuse length by subtracting the hip position change value from a line segment connecting the changed position of the inner end reference point and a preset tilting reference point.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein calculating the vehicle height adjustment parameter comprises:

estimating a thigh length of the driver;

calculating a margin parameter in proportion to the thigh length of the driver; and

adding the margin parameter to the vehicle height adjustment parameter.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein estimating the thigh length comprises estimating the thigh length lengthwise based on a tilting angle of the backrest unit.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein calculating the margin parameter comprises setting the margin parameter to be larger when getting off than when getting on.