SE541199C2

SE541199C2 - Method and control arrangement in a vehicle for suspension adjustment

Info

Publication number: SE541199C2
Application number: SE1750647A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Gustavo Martioli; Valdir Terzetti
Original assignee: Scania Cv Ab
Priority date: 2017-05-24
Filing date: 2017-05-24
Publication date: 2019-04-30
Also published as: WO2018217148A1; SE1750647A1

Abstract

Method (400) and control arrangement (170) in a vehicle (100), for increasing suspension height of the vehicle (100). The method (400) comprises: detecting (401) a height irregularity (110) on a road segment (120) ahead of the vehicle (100), in a direction of movement (105); and increasing (405) the suspension height of the vehicle (100) at a set of height adjustable suspension springs (210, 220) of the vehicle (100).

Description

METHOD AND CONTROL ARRANGEMENT IN A VEHICLE FOR SUSPENSION ADJUST-MENT TECHNICAL FIELD This document discloses a control arrangement and a method in a vehicle having an overhang. More particularly, a method and a control arrangement is provided, for increasing suspension height of the vehicle.

BACKGROUND Speed bumps, or speed breakers, are a common name for a family of traffic calming devices that use vertical deflection to slow motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve safety conditions. Variations include the speed hump (or speed ramp), speed cushion, and speed table.

The use of vertical deflection devices is widespread around the world, and they are most commonly found where vehicle speeds are statutorily mandated to be low, usually below 40 km/h (25 mph).

Although speed bumps are effective in keeping vehicle speeds down, their use is sometimes controversial, as they may damage vehicles if traversed at too great a speed. Poorly-designed speed bumps that stand too tall or with too-sharp an angle may be overly disruptive for drivers, and may be difficult to navigate for vehicles with low ground clearance and / or large overhang, even at very low speeds.

Vehicles, perhaps in particular heavy vehicles like busses or trucks, may have an overhang that may be damaged when passing a speed bump. The driver of a vehicle with a suspension control and air springs may avoid a collision between the vehicle overhang and the speed bump by raising the air springs of the vehicle via the suspension control. This may also be made in bad road situations due to cavities, potholes, ruts, fatigue cracking, cross road height differences and other irregularities or structural failures of the road.

However, the driver may be fully occupied with handling the environmental traffic situation and / or the situation among the passengers, e.g. in a bus, or may for other reason not notice the approaching speed bump in time to adjust the air springs of the vehicle.

The discussed disadvantages with speed bumps and vehicle overhang is intensified on vehicles with large overhang such as rear engine buses, where the powertrain is installed in the rear overhang. Also, public transportation vehicles often comprise unbelted passengers and / or standing passengers, why a collision with a speed bump may cause severe accidents among passengers in the passenger department.

Document DE10053316 describes a vehicle provided with one or more obstacle sensors, such as ultrasonic sensors, underneath the front. When the sensors detect an obstacle, such as a curb, a signal is sent to a control unit that operates a suspension actuator to adjust the height of the vehicle body to avoid a collision with the curb.

Unfortunately, the disclosed solution is concentrated in avoiding damages at the front part of the vehicle and does not concern vehicles with large overhang at the vehicle rear part and / or vehicles with passengers.

Document US2015145220 describes a vehicle provided with sensors at the front, said sensors detecting obstacles or debris in the roadway. The air suspension system is controlled to increase the ride height of the vehicle based on the height of the detected obstacles until the vehicle has passed the obstacle.

Neither this document discusses the particular problems of vehicles with passengers, vehicles with large overhang and avoidance of damages at the rear overhang.

It is thus desired to achieve further developments for warning another road user of the overhang of a vehicle.

SUMMARY It is therefore an object of this invention to solve at least some of the above problems and avoid collision between a vehicle overhang with the ground when passing an uneven road segment or vertical irregularity such as a road bumper.

According to a first aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method in a vehicle having an overhang. The method intends to increase suspension height of the vehicle. The method comprises detecting a height irregularity on a road segment ahead of the vehicle, in a direction of movement. Further, the method also comprises increasing the suspension height of the vehicle at a set of height adjustable suspension springs of the vehicle, associated with one of the vehicle overhangs.

According to a second aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a control arrangement in a vehicle having an overhang. The control arrangement aims at increasing suspension height of the vehicle. The control arrangement is configured to detect a height irregularity on a road segment ahead of the vehicle, in a direction of movement via a sensor. In addition, the control arrangement is also configured to generate a command to increase the suspension height of the vehicle at a set of height adjustable suspension springs of the vehicle, associated with one of the vehicle overhangs.

Thanks to the described aspects, by detecting a height irregularity ahead of the vehicle, the suspension height of the vehicle may be increased automatically, without interaction of the vehicle driver. By increasing the suspension height of one set of adjustable springs, of either the rear part of the vehicle, or the front part of the vehicle, the vertical distance between the vehicle underneath and the road is further increased, due to the tilting of the vehicle. Thereby, a collision between the height irregularity and the underneath of the vehicle is avoided. This is an advantage, perhaps in particular for rear engine vehicles, where the sensitive and / or expensive engine parts at the rear overhang. Further, the driver may thereby focus on the environmental traffic situation, passengers, etc.

Other advantages and additional novel features will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description.

FIGURES Embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying figures, in which: Figure 1 illustrates an embodiment of a vehicle approaching a height irregularity on an ahead road segment.

Figure 2A illustrates a vehicle according to an embodiment passing a height irregularity at a first moment in time.

Figure 2B illustrates a vehicle according to an embodiment passing a height irregularity at a second moment in time.

Figure 3A illustrates a vehicle according to an embodiment, driving in reverse direction, approaching a height irregularity.

Figure 3B illustrates a vehicle according to an embodiment, driving in reverse direction, approaching a height irregularity.

Figure 3C illustrates an embodiment of a vehicle approaching a height irregularity on an ahead road segment.

Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method; Figure 5 is an illustration depicting a system according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the invention described herein are defined as a method and a control arrangement, which may be put into practice in the embodiments described below. These embodiments may, however, be exemplified and realised in many different forms and are not to be limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these illustrative examples of embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

Still other objects and features may become apparent from the following detailed description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the herein disclosed embodiments, for which reference is to be made to the appended claims. Further, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.

Figure 1 illustrates a vehicle 100 driving in a driving direction 105, approaching a height irregularity 110 of a road 120. The vehicle 100 has an overhang such as a front overhang 140a and a rear overhang 140b. As illustrated in Figure 1, the overhangs 140a, 140b are the lengths of the vehicle 100 which extend beyond the front wheelbase 150 at the front and / or the rear wheelbase 160. Practicality, style, and performance of the vehicle 100 are affected by the size and weight of the respective overhangs 140a, 140b. One or both of the respective overhangs 140a, 140b may in some embodiments exceed a threshold limit, such as e.g. % of the total length of the vehicle 100; 20% of the vehicle length; 25% of the vehicle length, etc.

The vehicle 100 may comprise e.g. a bus, a truck, a car, a trailer, a taxiing aircraft, or other similar manned or unmanned means of conveyance running e.g. on wheels, rails or similar media. In some embodiments, the vehicle 100 may be driver controlled or driverless (i.e. autonomously controlled) in different embodiments. However, for enhanced clarity, the vehicle 100 is subsequently described as having a driver.

The height irregularity 110 of the road 120 may comprise e.g. a speed bump, a sidewalk curb or other object protruding from the road surface; and / or a cross road where the cross roads has different inclinations. However, the height irregularity 110 may also comprise a cavity in the road surface, such as a hole.

Large overhangs 140a, 140b contribute to enlarge vehicle dimensions, and the associated advantages of size, which is an advantage e.g. for buses and / or trailers. On rear engine vehicles 100, large rear overhang 140b may accommodate larger engines, besides more passengers/ load. On front engine vehicles 100, measuring rear overhang 140b is helpful in predicting the size of the trunk. For these same vehicles 100, large front overhangs 140a may accommodate larger engines. Further, thanks to large overhangs 140a, 140b, it is possible to construct the vehicle 100 with a shorter wheelbase, which reduces the turning radius of the vehicle 100, making it easier to turn and to adjust the vehicle position at e.g. a loading dock or in city traffic.

However, a large overhang 140a, 140b, perhaps in particular a large rear overhang 140b may present a problem in large vehicles 100 such as buses and trucks. Long rear overhang 140b requires the driver of the vehicle 100 to continuously pay attention to height irregularities 110 in the driving direction 105 and slow down speed of the vehicle 100 when passing a height irregularity 110. However, the driver is typically focused on the environmental traffic situation and other road users. In case the vehicle 100 is a bus, the driver also has to keep an eye on on-board passengers as well as waiting passengers at bus stops.

The vehicle 100 further comprises a sensor 130. In some embodiments, as will be illustrated in Figure 3A and Figure 3B, the vehicle 100 may comprise a plurality of sensors 130.

In some embodiments, the sensor/s 130 may be installed underneath the vehicle 100; and may be configured to measure the distance from the vehicle chassis to the road 120, in order to detect abrupt/ uneven ground level changes 110.

The vehicle 100 may also; or alternatively comprise a forwardly directed sensor 130 (i.e. forward in the driving direction 105) in some embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment, which is merely an arbitrary example, the forwardly directed sensor 130 may be situated e.g. at the front of the vehicle 100, behind the windscreen of the vehicle 100.

Mounting the forwardly directed sensor 130 behind the windshield have some advantages compared to externally mounted camera systems. These advantages include the possibility to use windshield wipers for cleaning and using the light from headlights to illuminate objects in the camera’s field of view. It is also protected from dirt, snow, rain and to some extent also from damage, vandalism and/ or theft. Such sensor 130 may also be used for a variety of other tasks.

The sensor 130 may be directed towards the front of the vehicle 100, in the driving direction 105. The sensor 130 may comprise e.g. a camera, a stereo camera, an infrared camera, a video camera, a radar, a lidar, an ultrasound device, a time-of-flight camera, or similar device, in different embodiments.

Further, the vehicle 100 comprises a control arrangement 170 in the vehicle 100. The control arrangement 170 may receive sensor signals from the sensor 130 and based there upon detect height irregularity 110 on a road segment 120 ahead of the vehicle 100, in the direction of movement 105.

The control arrangement 170 may be configured for image recognition/ computer vision and object recognition, and may thereby detect the height irregularity 110 ahead of the vehicle 100, in the driving direction 105.

Computer vision is a technical field comprising methods for acquiring, processing, analysing, and understanding images and, in general, high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information. A theme in the development of this field has been to duplicate the abilities of human vision by electronically perceiving and understanding an image. Understanding in this context means the transformation of visual images (the input of retina) into descriptions of world that can interface with other thought processes and elicit appropriate action. This image understanding can be seen as the disentangling of symbolic information from image data using models constructed with the aid of geometry, physics, statistics, and learning theory. Computer vision may also be described as the enterprise of automating and integrating a wide range of processes and representations for vision perception.

The image data of the one or more sensors 130 may take many forms, such as e.g. images, video sequences, views from multiple cameras, or multi-dimensional data from a scanner.

Thereby the control arrangement 170 may detect the height irregularity 110 and possibly also estimate the distance between the vehicle 100 and the height irregularity 110. When having detected the height irregularity 110, the control arrangement 170 may generate a command to increase the suspension height of the vehicle 100 at a set of height adjustable suspension springs, e.g. air springs of the vehicle 100, such as the rear set of air springs at the rear wheels 160.

By raising the rear overhang 140b, a collision between the underneath of the vehicle 100 and the road height irregularity 110 is avoided. Thus, the driver is released from the stress of continuously monitoring the surroundings for height irregularities 110 and avoid collisions with them. Instead, the driver may focus on the environmental traffic situation and (in case the vehicle 100 has passengers), also focus on the passengers.

The control arrangement 170, the sensor/s 130 and the set of air springs of the vehicle 100 may interactively communicate between themselves via e.g. a wired or wireless communication bus. The communication bus may comprise e.g. a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, a Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST) bus, Ethernet, or similar. However, the communication may alternatively be made over a wireless connection comprising, or at least be inspired by any of the previously discussed wireless communication technologies.

In some embodiments, the control arrangement 170 may estimate a vertical distance 180 between the detected height irregularity 110 and the road surface of the surrounding road segment 120.

Thereby, in some embodiments, the air springs may be elevated at a height which is enough for not collide with the height irregularity 110, but not more. Thereby, disturbance and inconvenience for the passengers (when the vehicle 100 is a bus) is reduced or even eliminated; or at least minimised. This may be important in particular for busses, which often may have standing passengers and / or seated passengers who are unbelted; the floor may be crowded with luggage, baby strollers, wheelchairs, why a collision with the height irregularity 110 may cause a severe accident among the passengers.

Figure 2A discloses a vehicle 100 as e.g. the vehicle 100 previously illustrated in Figure 1, at a first moment in time, while driving in a driving direction 105, approaching a height irregularity 110 on a road segment 120 ahead of the vehicle 100.

The control arrangement 170 detects the height irregularity 110 via the sensor 130, and generate a command to increase the suspension height of the vehicle 100 at a rear set of air springs of the vehicle 100.

Figure 2B discloses the vehicle 100 of Figure 2A, at a second moment in time, later than the first moment in time. The rear set of height adjustable suspension springs 220 has at the second moment in time increased the suspension height of the vehicle 100. Thereby a collision between the vehicle underneath and the height irregularity 110 on the road segment 120 is avoided. The height adjustable suspension springs 220 may comprise air springs in some embodiments, or hydraulic springs in other embodiments.

It may be noted that by increasing the suspension at the rear set of height adjustable suspension springs 220 while not increasing the suspension at the front set of air springs, the vehicle height at the rear overhang 140b is increased due to the inclination of the vehicle 100, in comparison with increasing both the front set of air springs and the rear set of height adjustable suspension springs 220 simultaneously.

Figure 3A discloses a vehicle 100 as e.g. the vehicle 100 previously illustrated in Figure 1, Figure 2A and / or Figure 2B, while reversing in a driving direction 105, approaching a height irregularity 110 on a road segment 120 behind of the vehicle 100.

The vehicle 100 in this embodiment comprises a first sensor 130a at the front of the vehicle 100, and a second sensor 130b at the rear part of the vehicle 100.

The control arrangement 170 detects the height irregularity 110 behind the vehicle 100 via the rear sensor 130b, and generate a command to increase the suspension height of the vehicle 100 at a rear set of height adjustable suspension springs 220 of the vehicle 100.

Figure 3B discloses a vehicle 100 as e.g. the vehicle 100 previously illustrated in Figure 1, Figure 2A, Figure 2B and / or Figure 3A, while reversing in a driving direction 105, approaching a height irregularity 110 on a road segment 120 behind of the vehicle 100.

The scenario depicted in Figure 3B much reminds of the previously discussed scenario of Figure 3A, but the height irregularity 110 comprises a cavity on the road 120, followed by an uphill. This situation may occur e.g. when the vehicle 100 is reversing in a road crossing.

The control arrangement 170 detects the height irregularity 110 behind the vehicle 100 via the rear sensor 130b, and generate a command to increase the suspension height of the vehicle 100 at a rear set of height adjustable suspension springs 220 of the vehicle 100. Further, in some embodiments, the control arrangement 170 may estimate a vertical height difference 180 in some embodiments.

Figure 3C illustrates a vehicle 100 as e.g. the vehicle 100 previously illustrated in Figure 1 Figure 2A, Figure 2B, Figure 3A and/ or Figure 3B.

The scenario depicted in Figure 3C much reminds of the previously discussed scenario of Figure 1, Figure 2A and / or Figure 2B, but the height irregularity 110 comprises a cavity on the road 120, followed by an uphill.

The control arrangement 170 detects the height irregularity 110 via the sensor 130, and generate a command to increase the suspension height of the vehicle 100 at a front set of air springs of the vehicle 100.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of a method 400 according to an embodiment. The flow chart in Figure 4 shows the method 400 in a control unit 170 in a vehicle 100 having an overhang 140a, 140b. The method 400 aims at increasing suspension height of the vehicle 100, at a set of height adjustable suspension springs 210, 220 of the vehicle 100, associated with one of the vehicle overhangs 140a, 140b. The height adjustable suspension springs 210, 220 may comprise air springs or hydraulic springs in different embodiments.

In order to correctly be able to increase the vehicle suspension height, the method 400 may comprise a number of steps 401-406. Further, the described steps 401-406 may be performed in a somewhat different chronological order than the numbering suggests. Some of the described method steps may be performed only in some particular embodiments, such as e.g. steps 402-404 and / or step 406. The method 400 may comprise the subsequent steps: Step 401 comprises detecting a height irregularity 110 on a road segment 120 ahead of the vehicle 100, in a direction of movement 105.

The direction of movement 105 may be the regular direction of movement during traffic, or the reverse direction in different embodiments.

Step 402, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises estimating a vertical distance 180 between the detected 401 height irregularity 110 and the road surface of the surrounding road segment 120.

The height irregularity 110 may be a protrusion, protruding from the surrounding road segment 120 in some embodiments; or a cavity/ hole in the surrounding road segment 120. The height irregularity 110 may also comprise a cross roads with different height levels; side walk curbs, road bumps, crossing railway lines, etc.

Step 403, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises estimating vehicle speed.

The vehicle speed may be determined by a speedometer or similar instrument on board the vehicle 100. Alternatively, monitored positioning data from a satellite navigation system such as the Navigation Signal Timing and Ranging (Navstar) Global Positioning System (GPS), Differential GPS (DGPS), Galileo, GLONASS, or similar device may be used for estimating the vehicle speed.

Step 404, which only may be performed in some embodiments wherein step 403 has been performed, comprises comparing the estimated 403 vehicle speed with a speed threshold limit.

The speed threshold limit may be set to approximately e.g. 30 km/ h, 40 km/ h, 50 km/ h, etc. (arbitrary, non-limiting examples). The speed threshold limit may be predetermined or configurable.

Step 405 comprises increasing the suspension height of the vehicle 100 at a set of height adjustable suspension springs 210, 220 of the vehicle 100, associated with one of the vehicle overhangs 140a, 140b.

The set of height adjustable suspension springs 210, 220 of the vehicle 100 may comprise any of the front height adjustable suspension springs 210 of the vehicle 100, or the rear height adjustable suspension springs 220 of the vehicle 100, in different embodiments.

By only increasing the suspension height of either the front height adjustable suspension springs 210 or the rear height adjustable suspension springs 220 of the vehicle 100 instead of both simultaneously, the height at the critical overhang is further increased as the vehicle 100 is tilted, as illustrated e.g. in Figure 2B, Figure 3A, and / or Figure 3B. Thereby, the risk of a collision is further reduced.

In some embodiments, wherein step 402 has been performed, the suspension height of the vehicle 100 may be increased, based on the estimated 402 vertical distance 180 between the detected 401 height irregularity 110 and the road surface of the surrounding road segment 120. An advantage therewith is that the vehicle height is not increased more than required for passing the height irregularity 110. Thereby the disturbance for passengers on board is reduced and / or minimised, while yet avoiding collision with the height irregularity 110.

In some embodiments, wherein steps 403 and 404 has been performed, the suspension height of the vehicle 100 may be increased when the estimated 403 vehicle speed is lower than the speed threshold limit. In some embodiments, the vehicle speed may be adjusted to the speed threshold limit in some embodiments, wherein the estimated 403 vehicle speed exceeds the speed threshold limit, in some embodiments. In other embodiments, the vehicle 100 may be halted by a forced brake command when the vehicle speed exceeds the speed threshold limit.

In case the vehicle 100 drives over the height irregularity 110 at too high speed, i.e. exceeding the speed threshold limit, a collision may occur between the underneath of the vehicle 100 and the height irregularity 110, also when the suspension height of the vehicle 100 is increased. However, by automatically reducing the speed of the vehicle 100 when approaching the height irregularity 110 (to a speed at, or beneath, the speed threshold limit), and then increasing the height adjustable suspension springs 210, 220 of the vehicle 100, a collision may be avoided.

Step 406, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises decreasing the suspension height of the vehicle 100 at a set of height adjustable suspension springs 210, 220 of the vehicle 100, when no height irregularity 110 is detected 401 on the road segment 120 ahead of the vehicle 100, in the direction of movement 105. Thereby, the vehicle 100 returns to the normal suspension height during transportation.

By lowering the suspension height of the vehicle 100, the vehicle's versatility may be enhanced. Furthermore, aerodynamics may be improved, leading to reduced fuel consumption. Also, in case the vehicle 100 is a public transportation vehicle, a low floor allows people with large or bulky luggage, passengers with disabilities, etc., to enter or exit the vehicle 100 easily.

Figure 5 illustrates a system 500 in a vehicle 100 having an overhang 140a, 140b, for increasing suspension height of the vehicle 100. The system 500 comprises a control arrangement 170 for performing at least some of the previously described steps 401-406 according to the method 400 described above and illustrated in Figure 4. Thus, the control arrangement 170 aims at increasing suspension height of the vehicle 100.

The control arrangement 170 is configured to detect a height irregularity 110 on a road segment 120 ahead of the vehicle 100, in a direction of movement 105 via a sensor 130. Further, the control arrangement 170 is configured to generate a command to increase the suspension height of the vehicle 100 at a set of height adjustable suspension springs 210, 220 of the vehicle 100, associated with one of the vehicle overhangs 140a, 140b.

Further, according to some embodiments, the control arrangement 170 may be configured to estimate a vertical distance 180 between the detected height irregularity 110 and the road surface of the surrounding road segment 120. In some embodiments, the control arrangement 170 may also be configured to generate the command to increase the suspension height of the vehicle 100 at the set of height adjustable suspension springs 210, 220 of the vehicle 100, associated with one of the vehicle overhangs 140a, 140b, based on the estimated vertical distance 180.

The control arrangement 170 may furthermore be configured to estimate vehicle speed, in some embodiments. The control arrangement 170 may also be configured to compare the estimated vehicle speed with a speed threshold limit. Also, the control arrangement 170 may be configured to generate the command to increase the suspension height of the vehicle 100 when the estimated vehicle speed is lower than the speed threshold limit.

In addition, the control arrangement 170 may also be configured to generate a command to decrease the suspension height of the vehicle 100 at the set of height adjustable suspension springs 210, 220 of the vehicle 100 (frontal set of springs, or rear set of springs respectively), when no height irregularity 110 is detected on the road segment 120 ahead of the vehicle 100.

Further, the system 500 comprises a sensor 130 for detecting a height irregularity 110 on a road segment 120 ahead of the vehicle 100, in a direction of movement 105. The sensor 130 may comprise a camera, a stereo camera, an infrared camera, a video camera or similar device. Further the sensor 130 may also, or alternatively comprise a radar or a lidar unit, etc. Also, the sensor 130 may be configured for emitting radio waves and receiving reflexions of the emitted radio waves, reflected by the height irregularity 110.

According to some alternative embodiments, the sensor 130 may comprise any on-board rangefinder sensor, such as e.g. a laser rangefinder, an ultrasonic sensor emitting an ultrasonic wave and detecting and analysing the reflections, or other similar devices.

The system 500 also comprises a set of height adjustable suspension springs 210, 220. The height adjustable suspension springs 210, 220 may comprise air springs in some embodiments, or alternatively hydraulic springs in different embodiments.

The control arrangement 170 comprises a receiver 510, configured for receiving sensor data from the sensor/s 130.

Also, the control arrangement 170 comprises a processing circuit 520 configured for performing at least some of the previously described method steps 401-406, such as e.g. detecting 401 the height irregularity 110 on the road segment 120 ahead of the vehicle 100, in the direction of movement 105; and increasing 405 the suspension height of the vehicle 100 at the set of height adjustable suspension springs 210, 220 of the vehicle 100.

Such processing circuit 520 may comprise one or more instances of a processor, i.e. a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logic that may interpret and execute instructions. The herein utilised expression “processing circuit” may thus represent a processing circuitry comprising a plurality of processing circuits, such as, e.g., any, some or all of the ones enumerated above.

Furthermore, the control arrangement 170 may comprise a memory 525 in some embodiments. The optional memory 525 may comprise a physical device utilised to store data or programs, i.e., sequences of instructions, on a temporary or permanent basis. According to some embodiments, the memory 525 may comprise integrated circuits comprising siliconbased transistors. The memory 525 may comprise e.g. a memory card, a flash memory, a USB memory, a hard disc, or another similar volatile or non-volatile storage unit for storing data such as e.g. ROM (Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable PROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM), etc. in different embodiments.

Further, the control arrangement 170 may comprise a signal transmitter 530. The signal transmitter 530 may be configured for transmitting a signal to be received by the set of height adjustable suspension springs 210, 220 of the vehicle 100.

The previously described steps 401-406 to be performed in the control arrangement 170 may be implemented through the one or more processing circuits 520 within the control arrangement 170, together with computer program product for performing at least some of the functions of the steps 401-406. Thus, a computer program product, comprising instructions for performing the steps 401-406 in the control arrangement 170 may perform the method 400 comprising at least some of the steps 401 -406 for increasing suspension height of the vehicle 100, when the computer program is loaded into the one or more processing circuits 520 of the control arrangement 170.

The described method steps 401-406 thus may be performed by a computer algorithm, a machine executable code, a non-transitory computer-readable medium, or a software instructions programmed into a suitable programmable logic such as the processing circuits 520 in the control arrangement 170.

Further, some embodiments may comprise a vehicle 100, comprising the system 500 for increasing suspension height of the vehicle 100.

The computer program product mentioned above may be provided for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing at least some of the steps 401-406 according to some embodiments when being loaded into the one or more processing circuits 520 of the control arrangement 170. The data carrier may be, e.g., a hard disk, a CD ROM disc, a memory stick, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device or any other appropriate medium such as a disk or tape that may hold machine readable data in a non-transitory manner. The computer program product may furthermore be provided as computer program code on a server and downloaded to the control arrangement 170 remotely, e.g., over an Internet or an intranet connection.

The terminology used in the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the described method 400, control arrangement 170, system 500, computer program and / or vehicle 100. Various changes, substitutions and / or alterations may be made, without departing from invention embodiments as defined by the appended claims.

As used herein, the term "and/ or" comprises any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The term “or” as used herein, is to be interpreted as a mathematical OR, i.e., as an inclusive disjunction; not as a mathematical exclusive OR (XOR), unless expressly stated otherwise. In addition, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are to be interpreted as “at least one”, thus also possibly comprising a plurality of entities of the same kind, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "includes", "comprises", "including" and / or "comprising", specifies the presence of stated features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. A single unit such as e.g. a processor may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. A computer program may be stored/ distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms such as via Internet or other wired or wireless communication system.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. A method (400) in a vehicle (100) having an overhang (140a, 140b), for increasing suspension height of the vehicle (100); wherein the method (400) comprises: detecting (401) a height irregularity (110) on a road segment (120) ahead of the vehicle (100), in a direction of movement (105); increasing (405) the suspension height of the vehicle (100) at a set of height adjustable suspension springs (210, 220) of the vehicle (100), associated with one of the vehicle overhangs (140a, 140b), wherein the set of height adjustable suspension springs (210, 220) of the vehicle (100), associated with one of the vehicle overhangs (140a, 140b), comprises any of the front height adjustable suspension springs (210) of the vehicle (100), or the rear height adjustable suspension springs (220) of the vehicle (100), and wherein the step of increasing (405) the suspension height is only done for either the front height adjustable springs (210) or the rear height adjustable suspension springs (220) of the vehicle.

2. The method (400) according to claim 1, further comprising: estimating (402) a vertical distance (180) between the detected (401) height irregularity (110) and the road surface of the surrounding road segment (120); and wherein the suspension height of the vehicle (100) is increased (405), based on the estimated (402) vertical distance (180).

3. The method (400) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising: estimating (403) vehicle speed; comparing (404) the estimated (403) vehicle speed with a speed threshold limit; and wherein the suspension height of the vehicle (100) is increased (405) when the estimated (403) vehicle speed is lower than the speed threshold limit.

4. The method (400) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising: decreasing (406) the suspension height of the vehicle (100) at the set of height adjustable suspension springs (210, 220) of the vehicle (100), when no height irregularity (110) is detected (401) on the road segment (120) ahead of the vehicle (100).

5. A computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the steps of the method (400) according to any one of the preceding claims.

6. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the steps of the method (400) according to any one of claims 1-5.

7. A control arrangement (170) in a vehicle (100) having an overhang (140a, 140b), for increasing suspension height of the vehicle (100); wherein the control arrangement (120) is configured to: detect a height irregularity (110) on a road segment (120) ahead of the vehicle (100), in a direction of movement (105) via a sensor (130); and generate a command to increase the suspension height of the vehicle (100) at a set of height adjustable suspension springs (210, 220) of the vehicle (100), associated with one of the vehicle overhangs (140a, 140b), wherein the set of height adjustable suspension springs (210, 220) of the vehicle (100) comprises any of the front height adjustable suspension springs (210) of the vehicle (100), or the rear height adjustable suspension springs (220) of the vehicle (100), and wherein the command is generated such that the suspension height of only either front height adjustable springs (210) or rear height adjustable suspension springs (220) of the vehicle is increased.

8. The control arrangement (170) according to claim 7, further configured to: estimate a vertical distance (180) between the detected height irregularity (110) and the road surface of the surrounding road segment (120); and also configured to generate the command to increase the suspension height of the vehicle (100), based on the estimated vertical distance (180).

9. The control arrangement (170) according to any of claim 7 or claim 8, further configured to: estimate vehicle speed; and compare the estimated vehicle speed with a speed threshold limit; and also configured to generate the command to increase the suspension height of the vehicle (100) when the estimated vehicle speed is lower than the speed threshold limit.

10. The control arrangement (170) according to any of claims 7-9, further configured to: generate a command to decrease the suspension height of the vehicle (100) at the set of height adjustable suspension springs (210, 220) of the vehicle (100), when no height irregularity (110) is detected on the road segment (120) ahead of the vehicle (100).

11. A system (500) in a vehicle (100) having an overhang (140a, 140b), for increasing suspension height of the vehicle (100); wherein the system (500) comprises: a control arrangement (170) according to any one of claims 7-10; a sensor (130) for detecting a height irregularity (110) on a road segment (120) ahead of the vehicle (100), in a direction of movement (105); and a set of height adjustable suspension springs (210, 220), associated with one of the vehicle overhangs (140a, 140b), wherein the set of height adjustable suspension springs (210, 220) of the vehicle (100) comprises any of the front height adjustable suspension springs (210) of the vehicle (100), or the rear height adjustable suspension springs (220) of the vehicle (100).

12. A vehicle (100) comprising a system (500) according to claim 11.