Abstract: Described herein are steer-by-wire systems and methods of operating these systems in vehicles. A steer-by-wire system comprises a steering wheel assembly, comprising a steering wheel, sensors, and a torque generator. The system comprises a rack assembly, comprising a steering rack, sensors, and a rack actuator. The steering wheel assembly and the rack assembly are communicatively coupled by a steer-by-wire system controller, without having any direct mechanical links between the assemblies. In some examples, the controller instructs the rack assembly to control the steering rack position based on the steering input, such as changes in the steering wheel position. A steering map is used to determine the desired steering rack position based on the current steering wheel position. In some examples, a steering map is selected from a steering map set based on, e.g., the vehicle speed, vehicle direction, driver preference, and the like.

Abstract: A method includes identifying a path to be followed by an ego vehicle. The method also includes determining a desired yaw rate and a desired yaw acceleration for the ego vehicle based on the identified path. The method further includes determining a desired yaw moment for the ego vehicle based on the desired yaw rate and the desired yaw acceleration. In addition, the method includes distributing the desired yaw moment to multiple wheels of the ego vehicle such that the distributed desired yaw moment creates lateral movement of the ego vehicle during travel along the identified path. In some cases, the desired yaw rate and the desired yaw acceleration for the ego vehicle may be determined based on nonlinear kinematics of the ego vehicle, and the desired yaw moment for the ego vehicle may be determined based on a single-track dynamic model of the ego vehicle.