Fault-tolerant automobile steering based on diversity of steer-by-wire, braking and acceleration

Steer-by-wire (SBW) systems, which have no mechanical linkage between the steering wheel and front wheels, are expected to improve vehicle safety through better steering capability. SBW system failures, however, can cause hazardous driving situations. This paper introduces fault-tolerant architecture based on diversified steering mechanisms consisting of SBW backed up with steering by braking and acceleration during SBW failures. These backup steering functions are chosen according to driver's intention of deceleration and acceleration. A loss of SBW function during front-obstacle avoidance on a straight highway is investigated by driving simulator experiments. The results show that the driver can maneuver the vehicle by the steering wheel during the SBW failures. Both cost and volume increase by excessive redundancy within SBW is avoided by the diversified design, thus facilitating SBW application on new-generation vehicles.