1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an active front steering (AFS) system for a vehicle and, more particularly, to an AFS system for a vehicle that provides hand-wheel damping.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Active front steering (AFS) systems are known in the art for providing automatic front-wheel steering in combination with the vehicle operator's steering command. AFS systems typically employ a steering actuator system that receives a vehicle operator intended steering signal from a hand-wheel sensor, a vehicle speed signal and a vehicle yaw rate signal. The steering actuator system provides a correction to the operator steering signal to cause the vehicle to more closely follow the vehicle operator's intended steering path and increase vehicle stability and handling. The AFS system is able to provide steering corrections much quicker than the vehicle operator's reaction time, so that the amount of operator steering is reduced.
The AFS system operates in conjunction with a variable gear ratio (VGR) system that changes the steering signal gear ratio for different vehicle speeds and provides low-speed maneuverability and high-speed stability. The vehicle-level control is provided by algorithms to provide the vehicle-level performance. These control algorithms are not affected by actuator control in the AFS system, which might provide poor hand-wheel damping. For example, the actuator in the AFS system that provides the automatic front-wheel steering could cause the vehicle hand-wheel to slightly oscillate when it returns to the straight steering position. Although this oscillation does not affect vehicle handling and performance, it is undesirable.