BACKGROUND

The present application generally relates to motor control systems, and particularly to a configurable diagnostic data monitor that captures diagnostic data of a motor control system.

In general, an electric power steering apparatus, which energizes a steering apparatus of a vehicle by using a rotational torque of a motor as an assist torque, applies a driving force of the motor as the assist torque to a steering shaft or a rack shaft by means of a transmission mechanism such as gears or a belt through a reduction mechanism. In order to accurately generate the assist torque (a steering assist torque), such a conventional electric power steering apparatus (EPS) performs a feedback control of a motor current. The feedback control adjusts a voltage supplied to the motor so that a difference between a current command value and a motor current becomes small or zero, and the adjustment of the voltage applied to the motor is generally performed by an adjustment of a duty ratio of a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control.

Diagnosing malfunctioning EPS parts can be difficult. For example, a significant percentage of warranty returns on EPS parts occurs without successful diagnosis of the issues that caused the malfunctioning.

SUMMARY

Described herein are example embodiments of a method to capture, in real time, diagnostic data of a system, and a computer program product having executable instructions to cause a processing unit to perform the method. The method involves determining the diagnostic data that is to be captured by receiving a trigger configuration having a trigger condition and a record configuration; identifying a computation based on a control signal of the system by parsing the trigger condition; computing a first value based on the computation that is identified; and comparing the first value with a second value identified from the trigger condition using a logical operator specified in the trigger condition. In response to the first value and the second value satisfying the trigger condition according to the logical operator that is specified, the method further involves capturing the diagnostic data in a record that is formatted according to the record configuration.

In accordance with an aspect of example embodiments, the record configuration indicates a duration for which to capture the diagnostic data, and/or a data capture rate at which to capture the diagnostic data, and/or

In accordance with an aspect of example embodiments, the diagnostic data that is captured includes one or more control signal values of the system.

In accordance with aspects of example embodiments, the record is a first record captured at a first timestamp, and the monitoring system is further configured to adjust the trigger condition dynamically and in response capture a second record captured at a second timestamp, the first record being distinct from the second record.

In accordance with aspects of example embodiments, the method further involves determining a validity of the trigger configuration during a setup of the trigger configuration by an operator; and indicating the validity of the trigger configuration for the operator to adjust the trigger configuration accordingly.

In accordance with aspects of example embodiments, a steering system is provided that has a motor; a controller; and a monitoring system. The monitoring system has a memory device and a processor, and is coupled with the controller of the steering system. The monitoring system is configured to capture, in real time, diagnostic data of the steering system, wherein determining the diagnostic data that is to be captured involves the method; that is, receiving a trigger configuration that has a trigger condition and a record configuration; identifying a computation based on a control signal of the steering system by parsing the trigger condition; computing a first value based on the computation that is identified; and comparing the first value with a second value identified from the trigger condition using a logical operator specified in the trigger condition. In response to the first value and the second value satisfying the trigger condition according to the logical operator that is specified, the diagnostic data is captured in a record that is formatted according to the record configuration.

These and other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.

