| CPC G07C 5/006 (2013.01) [B60W 50/10 (2013.01); B62D 15/0235 (2013.01); B60W 2510/202 (2013.01)] | 19 Claims |

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1. A method for predicting a maintenance/replacement period for a component of a vehicle, the method comprising:
acquiring, by at least one control unit comprising at least one processor, steering output data generated by at least one sensor of a vehicle, the vehicle comprising a power-assisted steering system including a steering actuator configured to assist in steering the vehicle, the steering output data indicative of a magnitude and/or a frequency of assisted steering as compensation for angular deviations of road wheels of the vehicle caused by road disturbances,
comparing, by the at least one control unit, the acquired steering output data with stored component wear data, the stored component wear data being indicative of when maintenance/replacement of the component is due based on wear caused by road disturbances, and
determining, by the at least one control unit and based on the comparison of the acquired steering output data and the stored component wear data, whether maintenance/replacement of the component is due;
wherein the steering actuator is configured to additionally assist in steering the vehicle in dependence of a desired steering activity by a driver, wherein the steering output data is a subset of total steering data which additionally includes data indicative of an assisted steering in dependence of a desired steering activity by a driver, wherein the acquiring by the at least one control unit, of the steering output data comprises filtering out the additional data from the total steering data;
wherein the stored component wear data includes one or more thresholds of a first parameter value,
wherein the steering output data includes first parameter values which have been converted from second parameter values generated by the steering actuator and are indicative of assisted steering as compensation for road disturbances,
wherein the comparing, by the at least one control unit, of the acquired steering output data with stored component wear data comprises comparing the first parameter values of the steering output data with the one or more thresholds, and
wherein the determining by the at least one control unit, comprises determining that maintenance/replacement of the component is due when one or more of the converted first parameter values exceeds the one or more thresholds.
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