Let the Apple Car rumors roll on. Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,919,520) for “integrated chassis control” for improved safety.
In the patent filing, Apple notes that electronic stability control systems are intended to detect and reduce loss of directional stability. Upon determining that the vehicle has lost stability, the electronic stability control system can apply braking at the road wheels individually and/or request propulsion torque to regain stability.
For example, braking may be applied to the outer front wheel to counter oversteer or braking may be applied to the inner rear wheel to counter understeer. Apple wants an Apple Car to be able to minimize the disparity between the desired chassis yaw rate and the measured chassis yaw rate, so that its electronic stability control system can help maintain “controllability.”
Here’s the summary of the invention: “A control system for a vehicle includes a plurality of vehicle actuators that are operable to affect actual chassis-level accelerations, a vehicle intelligence unit that determines a motion plan, a vehicle motion control unit that determines a chassis-level motion request based on the motion plan, and a chassis control unit that determines actuator commands for the plurality of vehicle actuators based on the chassis-level motion request and actuator identity information that describes presently available actuators from the plurality of vehicle actuators.”
Sounds great for the long term – that will remain the long term for the time being, until there is a short term.
An actuator measuring chassis yaw rate will require a chassis. And a chassis in motion will require an engine, a frame, a car design, and few million other viable things that deserve some serious attention first.
Unless this whole project is supposed to remain a wild, exotic bunch of technologies without a clue how to implement them.