METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TORQUE LINEARIZATION IN AN ELECTRIC POWER STEERING SYSTEM

An exemplary embodiment of the invention is a method of controlling a motor in an electric power steering system. The method includes obtaining a motor control signal having an initial duty cycle and linearizing the initial duty cycle to obtain a secondary duty cycle. An offset is added to the secondary duty cycle to obtain an adjusted duty cycle. The motor is controlled using the adjusted duty cycle. An alternative embodiment is a torque linearization device for linearizing torque produced by a motor in response to a motor control signal having an initial duty cycle. The torque linearization device includes a comparator for receiving the initial duty cycle and comparing the initial duty cycle to a threshold. A linearization table converts the initial duty cycle to a linearized duty cycle. A selector receives the initial duty cycle and the linearized duty cycle and selects one of the initial duty cycle and the linearized duty cycle as a secondary duty cycle in response to the comparing.