US 12,403,963 B2
Body mounted air brakes for stability and steering in low MU conditions in autonomous vehicles and method of using the same
Omkar Karve, Farmington Hills, MI (US)
Assigned to Continental Automotive Systems, Inc., Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Filed by Continental Automotive Systems, Inc., Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Filed on Jul. 20, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/868,992.
Prior Publication US 2024/0025494 A1, Jan. 25, 2024
Int. Cl. B62D 37/02 (2006.01)
CPC B62D 37/02 (2013.01) 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle comprising:
a body mounted air brake for stabilizing and steering a vehicle, wherein the air brake is power actuated;
a processor;
a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to provide autonomous driving functions of the vehicle, the memory including information regarding lateral forces generated by the body mounted air brake for various vehicle speeds, the instructions executable by the processor to cause an autonomous motion control system to determine whether, based on a surface coefficient of friction, to control the autonomous motion control system to deploy the body mounted air brake;
a body comprising at least one of a drive side, passenger side, a front-end, a rear-end, a hood, a roof, or a truck lid; and
at least one body mounted power actuated air brake constructed and arranged to be actuated to stabilize or steer the vehicle,
wherein the vehicle is constructed and arranged to drive using at least an autonomous driving mode,
wherein the shape of the at least one body mounted power actuated air brake is a flat surface that matches with an external shape of the vehicle or other shape including a conical surface configured to force incoming air force to be concentrated at the center of the conical surface,
wherein the at least one body mounted power actuated air brake is deployable to either add force on one side of a central, longitudinal plane of the vehicle or deployable to reduce drag on one side of the vehicle
wherein the at least one body mounted power actuated air brake comprises at least four actuators pivotally connected to an air brake panel; and
wherein the at least one body mounted power actuated air brake is constructed and arranged to tilt in X, Y, and Z directions.