US Patent 11603128 Steering control method and steering control device

A steering control method controls the steering of a vehicle having a steer-by-wire steering mechanism. A steering reaction force is set that includes a restoration component for restoring a steering angle of the steering wheel to a reference angle, a viscous component corresponding to a steering angular velocity of the steering wheel, and a friction component corresponding to the steering angular velocity. An actuator is controlled to apply a rotational torque to the steering wheel for generating the steering reaction force. A turning angle of the steered wheel is controlled in accordance with the steering angle. A target travel path is set upon determining the driver is not operating the steering wheel. The actuator is controlled such that the steering angle becomes a target steering angle for causing the vehicle to travel along the target travel path to suppress the friction component of the steering reaction force.