Practical Pinch Torque Detection Algorithm for Anti-Pinch Window Control System Application

A practical pinch torque estimator based on the Kalman filter is proposed for low-cost anti-pinch window control systems. To obtain the accurate angular velocity from Hall-effect sensor measurements, the angular velocity calculation algorithm is executed with additional procedures for removing the measurement noises. Apart from the previous works using the angular velocity estimates and torque estimates for detecting the pinched condition, the torque rate is augmented to the system model and the proposed pinch estimator is derived by applying the steady-state Kalman filter recursion to the model. The motivation of this approach comes from the idea that the bias errors in torque estimates due to the motor parameter uncertainties can be almost eliminated by introducing the torque rate state. For detecting the pinched condition, a systematic way to determine the threshold level of the torque rate estimates is also suggested via the deterministic estimation error analysis. Simulation results are given to certify the pinch detection performance of the proposed algorithm and its robustness against the motor parameter uncertainties.