Method and system of controlling a vehicle in the presence of a disturbance

1. A method of controlling a towing vehicle adapted to be connected to a trailer, the method comprising:

sensing a plurality of vehicle conditions indicative of at least a movement of the towing vehicle, and an angle of the towing vehicle;

estimating a hitch force caused by the trailer using a calculated dynamic model of the towing vehicle;

wherein the dynamic model of the towing vehicle is based on data including at least the movement of the vehicle and the angle of the vehicle;

generating a compensation signal based on the estimated hitch force; and

controlling a vehicle system based on the compensation signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the movement of the vehicle comprises a yaw rate.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the angle of the vehicle comprises at least one of a body slip angle of the vehicle and a steering angle of the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data further includes at least one of a mass, a longitudinal speed, a moment of inertia around a center point, a cornering stiffness of a front tire, a cornering stiffness of a rear tire, a distance between the front tire and the center point, a second distance between the rear tire and the center point, and a distance between the rear tire and a hitch connecting the towing vehicle to the trailer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the movement of the vehicle comprises a sensed movement, and wherein estimating the hitch force caused by the trailer comprises:

determining a movement estimate; and

comparing the movement estimate with the sensed movement.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the angle comprises a sensed angle, and wherein estimating the hitch force caused by the trailer comprises:

determining an angle estimate; and

comparing the angle estimate with the sensed angle.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the estimated hitch force represents a dynamic force applied by the trailer.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compensation signal comprises at least one of an engine torque compensating value, a brake torque compensating value, a front steering torque compensating value, and a rear steering torque compensating value.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the disturbance comprises a hitch force is estimated at a hitch connecting the towing vehicle and the trailer, wherein generating the compensation signal further comprises determining a wheel torque compensating value and a steering angle compensating value from at least one of a first distance between a front tire and a center point, a second distance between a rear tire and the center point, a third distance between the rear tire and the hitch of the towing vehicle, a first cornering stiffness of the front tire, and a second cornering stiffness of the rear tire.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compensation signal comprises at least one of a front wheel torque compensation value, a rear wheel torque compensation value, a front wheel steering angle compensation value, and a rear wheel steering angle compensation value.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting at least one of a front wheel torque, a rear wheel torque, a front wheel steering angle, and a rear wheel steering angle based on the compensation signal.

12. A system for controlling a towing vehicle adapted to be used with a trailer at a hitch, the system comprising:

at least one sensor configured to sense vehicle conditions including a movement and a speed of the towing vehicle;

an estimating module configured to receive the sensed vehicle conditions including the movement of the towing vehicle and the speed of the towing vehicle, and to estimate a hitch force the hitch using a calculated dynamic model of the towing vehicle;

wherein the dynamic model of the towing vehicle is based on data including the sensed vehicle conditions; and

a compensation module configured to receive the estimated hitch force from the estimating module, to generate a compensation signal based on the estimated hitch force.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the movement of the towing vehicle comprises a lateral movement of the towing vehicle.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the speed of the towing vehicle comprises a wheel speed of the towing vehicle.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the estimated hitch force represents a dynamic force applied by the trailer.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the vehicle conditions further include at least one of a steering angle, a mass, a yaw rate, a body slip angle, a moment of inertia around a center point, a cornering stiffhess of a front tire, a cornering stifihess of a rear tire, a distance between the front tire and the center point, a second distance between the rear tire and the center point, and a distance between the rear tire and the hitch of the towing vehicle.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the movement comprises a sensed movement, and wherein the estimating module is further configured to determine a movement estimate, and to compare the movement estimate with the sensed movement.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the vehicle conditions further comprise a body slip angle of the towing vehicle, and wherein the estimating module is further configured to determine a body slip angle estimate, and to compare the body slip angle estimate with the sensed angle.

19. The system of claim 12 , wherein the compensation signal comprises at least one of an engine torque compensating value, a brake torque compensating value, a front steering torque compensating value, and a rear steering torque compensating value.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the compensation module is further configured to determine a wheel torque and a steering angle from at least one of a first distance between a front tire and a center point, a second distance between a rear tire and the center point, a third distance between the rear tire and the hitch of the towing vehicle, a first cornering stiffness of the front tire and a second cornering stiffness of the rear tire.

21. The system of claim 12 , wherein estimating module is further adapted to adjust the hitch force estimate based on a plurality of wheel torques including an engine driving torque and a brake torque.

22. The system of claim 12 , wherein the compensation signal comprises at least one of a front wheel torque compensation value, a rear wheel torque compensation value, a front wheel steering angle compensation value, and a rear wheel steering angle compensation value.

23. The system of claim 12 , further comprising at least one of a front wheel control configured to adjust a front wheel torque based on the compensation signal, a rear wheel control configured to adjust a rear wheel torque based on the compensation signal, a front wheel steering control configured to adjust a front wheel steering angle based on the compensation signal, and a rear wheel steering control configured to adjust a rear wheel steering angle based on the compensation signal.

24. A method of controlling a towing vehicle adapted to be connected to a trailer, the method comprising:

generating a dynamic model of the towing vehicle based on a plurality of dynamics of the towing vehicle;

estimating a hitch force caused by the trailer based on the dynamic model of the towing vehicle; and

compensating at least one of a wheel torque and a steering angle based on the estimated hitch force.

25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the plurality of dynamics of the towing vehicle are modeled with at least of one of a linear model, and a non-linear model.

26. The method of claim 24 , wherein the plurality of dynamics of the towing vehicle comprise a wheel speed, a steering angle, a mass, a yaw rate, a body slip angle, a moment of inertia around a center point, a cornering stiffness of a front tire, a cornering stiffness of a rear tire, a distance between the front tire and the center point, a second distance between the rear tire and the center point, and a distance between the rear tire and a hitch connecting the towing vehicle and the trailer.

27. The method of claim 24 , wherein estimating the hitch force at the hitch comprises:

sensing a vehicle condition indicative of a yaw rate of the towing vehicle;

determining a yaw rate estimate; and

comparing the yaw rate estimate with the sensed yaw rate.

28. The method of claim 24 , wherein estimating the hitch force at the hitch comprises:

sensing a vehicle condition indicative of a body slip angle of the towing vehicle;

determining a body slip angle estimate; and

comparing the body slip angle estimate with the sensed body slip angle.

29. The method of claim 24 , wherein the wheel torque comprises at least one of a front wheel torque, and a rear wheel torque.

30. The method of claim 24 , wherein the steering angle comprises at least one of a front wheel steering angle, and a rear wheel steering angle.

31. The method of claim 24 , wherein compensating at least one of a wheel torque and a steering angle comprises adjusting at least one of the wheel torques with the hitch force at a hitch connecting the towing vehicle and the trailer, and the steering angle with the disturbance at the hitch.

32. A system for controlling a towing vehicle adapted to be connected to a trailer at a hitch, the system comprising:

means for generating a dynamic model of the towing vehicle based on a plurality of dynamics of the towing vehicle;

means for estimating a hitch force caused by the vehicle trailer based on the dynamic model of the towing vehicle; and

means for compensating at least one of an engine torque, a brake torque, and a wheel torque based on the estimated hitch force.

33. The system of claim 32 , wherein the means for modeling comprise one of a linear bicycle model, a single-track model, a two-track model, and a non-linear bicycle model.

34. The system of claim 32 , wherein the plurality of dynamics of the towing vehicle comprise a wheel speed, a steering angle, a mass, a yaw rate, a body slip angle, a moment of inertia around a center point, a cornering stifthess of a front tire, a cornering stiffness of a rear tire, a distance between the front tire and the center point, a second distance between the rear tire and the center point, and a distance between the rear tire and the hitch.

35. The system of claim 32 , wherein means for estimating the hitch force comprises:

means for sensing a vehicle condition indicative of a yaw rate of the towing vehicle;

means for determining a yaw rate estimate; and

means for comparing the yaw rate estimate with the sensed yaw rate.

36. The system of claim 32 , wherein means for estimating the hitch force comprises:

means for sensing a vehicle condition indicative of a body slip angle of the towing vehicle;

means for determining a body slip angle estimate; and

means for comparing the body slip angle estimate with the sensed body slip angle.

37. The system of claim 32 , further comprising means for finding at least one of a convergence of a yaw rate estimate, a second convergence of a body slip angle, and a convergence of the hitch force estimate.

38. The system of claim 32 , wherein the wheel torque comprises at least one of a front wheel torque and a rear wheel torque.

39. The system of claim 32 , wherein the steering angle comprises at least one of a front wheel steering angle and a rear wheel steering angle.