JP2009156746A - Load center-of-gravity height estimation device of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a load center-of-gravity height estimation device capable of estimating a height of the center of gravity of the whole load in a cargo room, regardless of the attitude or the traveling state of a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: This load center-of-gravity height estimation device loaded on a vehicle having a cargo room 60 has a laser radar 61 and an ECU. The laser radar 61 detects an outer surface position of the load 68 in a cargo room space 65 partitioned by the cargo room 60 at a plurality of spots as each coordinate in the cargo room space 65. The ECU calculates the height of the center of gravity of the whole load 68 in the cargo room space 65 by using a plurality of coordinates detected by the laser radar 61. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a product load center height estimation device that is mounted on a vehicle having a cargo compartment and estimates the height of the center of gravity of the entire cargo in the cargo compartment.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-304662 discloses a vehicle center-of-gravity height estimation calculation device that statically measures the height of the center of gravity according to the total body weight at that time, the weight applied to the front wheels, and the tilt angle. It is disclosed.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 200-292316 calculates the total vehicle mass using the change in vehicle speed from time t1 to time t2 during start acceleration of the vehicle and the fuel consumption during that time, and calculates the total vehicle mass and braking time. A vehicle center-of-gravity height estimation calculation device is disclosed that estimates and calculates the vehicle center-of-gravity height based on the rear axle load change amount, the wheel base, the unsprung mass, the pressure of the air suspension during braking, and the deceleration acceleration during braking. .

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-304662 JP 200-292316 A

  However, in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, in order to estimate the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle, it is necessary to stop at a gradient inclination angle of ± 1 degree or more, and the gradient inclination angle is less than ± 1 degree. In the case of (for example, when stopping on a flat road surface), the height of the center of gravity cannot be estimated.

  Moreover, in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, in order to estimate the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle, it is necessary that the vehicle is being accelerated, and the height of the center of gravity is estimated while the vehicle is stopped. I can't. For this reason, for example, even when the center of gravity height of the vehicle is changed by loading work while the vehicle is stopped, the changed center of gravity height cannot be estimated until a predetermined time has elapsed since the vehicle started. .

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a product load center height estimation device capable of estimating the height of the center of gravity of the entire load in the cargo compartment regardless of the posture of the vehicle and the traveling state.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is a product load center height estimation device mounted on a vehicle having a cargo compartment, and includes a load coordinate detection unit and a product load center height calculation unit. The load coordinate detection means detects the position of the outer surface of the load in the cargo space defined by the cargo space at a plurality of locations as coordinates in the cargo space. The product load center height calculation means calculates the center of gravity height of the entire load in the cargo space using the plurality of coordinates detected by the load coordinate detection means.

  The load coordinate detection means may detect the outer surface position of the load as a two-dimensional coordinate specifying the front-rear position along the vehicle front-rear direction and the vertical position along the height direction, and the front-rear position and the position The outer surface position of the load may be detected as a three-dimensional coordinate that specifies the vertical position and the vehicle width position along the vehicle width direction.

  In the above configuration, the load coordinate detecting means detects the outer surface position of the load in the cargo space as a coordinate in the cargo space, and the load load center height calculating means detects the multiple coordinates detected by the load coordinate detecting means. Since the center of gravity height of the entire load is estimated by using this, the center of gravity height of the entire load can be obtained regardless of the posture of the vehicle and the running state.

  A second aspect of the present invention is the product load center height estimation device according to the first aspect, wherein the load coordinate detection means determines the outer surface position of the load along the front-rear position and the height direction along the vehicle front-rear direction. The three-dimensional detection is performed by the vertical position and the vehicle width position along the vehicle width direction.

  In the above configuration, the height of the center of gravity of the entire load can be accurately estimated even when the loading state of the load in the cargo space is different in the vehicle width direction.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the product load center height estimation device according to the second aspect, wherein the load coordinate detection means includes a detection part and a detection part movable means. The detection unit detects the front-rear position and the vertical position in a virtual cross section that intersects the vehicle width direction and extends in the vehicle front-rear direction. The detector moving means moves the detector in the vehicle width direction and moves the virtual cross section in the vehicle width direction to change the vehicle width position.

  In the above configuration, the position of the outer surface of the load can be detected three-dimensionally by moving the single detection unit in the vehicle width direction.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention is the product load center height estimation device according to the third aspect, wherein the detection unit movable means includes a guide rail, a drive unit, and a coupling mechanism. The guide rail is fixed to the luggage compartment in the upper part of the luggage compartment space, extends along the vehicle width direction, and supports the detection unit slidably. The drive unit is fixed to the luggage compartment in the upper part of the luggage compartment space. The connection mechanism connects the detection unit and the drive unit, and moves the detection unit by the drive unit.

  In the said structure, since a guide rail, a drive part, and a connection mechanism are arrange | positioned at the upper part of luggage compartment space, the wide area | region including the downward direction of luggage compartment space can be used for cargo.

  A fifth aspect of the present invention is the product load center height estimation device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the load coordinate detection means is fixed at a plurality of positions of a ceiling plate that divides the upper part of the cargo space. Each has a plurality of detectors for detecting the vertical position of the outer surface of the load.

  In the above configuration, the outer surface position of the load can be detected simultaneously three-dimensionally by the detection unit fixed to the ceiling board.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is the product load center height estimating device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein there is a possibility that the state of the load in the cargo space is likely to change, or a change. Determination means for determining whether or not the determination has been made. The product load center height calculation unit calculates the height of the center of gravity of the entire load when the determination unit determines that the state of the load in the cargo space is likely to change or has changed.

  The determination means may detect whether or not the load of the load applied to the vehicle body has changed, and may determine that the state of the load in the cargo space has changed when the load of the load has changed. Further, the determination means detects whether or not a door that divides the rear part of the cargo space is opened, and determines that the state of the load in the cargo space may change when the door is opened. May be.

  In the above configuration, the load center height calculation means calculates the height of the center of gravity of the entire load on the condition that the determination means determines that the state of the load in the cargo space has changed or is likely to change. The execution frequency of the arithmetic processing by the center-of-gravity height calculation means can be reduced appropriately.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to estimate the height of the center of gravity of the entire load in the cargo compartment regardless of the posture of the vehicle and the traveling state.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an example in which the product load center height estimation device is provided in the travel support information providing device will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the entire load load calculated by the product load center height estimation device is described. The center of gravity height may be used for other controls.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a travel support information providing apparatus including a product load center height estimation apparatus according to the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a luggage compartment of a vehicle according to the present embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method for calculating the height of the center of gravity of the entire cargo, FIG. 4 is a side view showing the vehicle according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a mode in which a navigation device is used instead of the upper limit speed display device of FIG. 2, and FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an example of a screen displayed on the display unit of the navigation device of FIG. 8 is a wheel load map showing the relationship between the static vehicle height and the wheel load, and FIG. 9 is a wheel rate map showing the relationship between the wheel load and the wheel rate. In the figure, reference symbol FR indicates the front of the vehicle, UP indicates the upper side, and IN indicates the inner side in the vehicle width direction.

"Configuration of the travel support information provision device"
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the driving support information providing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a GPS receiver 11, a vehicle speed sensor 12, a vertical acceleration sensor 13, a vehicle height sensor 14, a lateral acceleration sensor 19, and an ECU (electronic A control unit 15, an external storage device 16, an upper limit vehicle speed display device 17, an alarm buzzer 18, and a laser radar 61, which are mounted on a truck 20 as a vehicle having a luggage compartment 60. The laser radar 61 constitutes the load coordinate detection means of this embodiment.

  The vehicle height sensor 14 includes a left vehicle height sensor 14a that detects the left vehicle height of the rear axle 25 and a right vehicle height sensor 14b that detects the right vehicle height. The ECU 15 includes an arithmetic processing unit 31, a road surface shape data recording / retrieving unit 32, a buffer memory 33 for storing upper limit vehicle speed data, an upper limit vehicle speed display / warning instruction unit 34, a storage unit 37, and a load position detection control unit 62. The external storage device 16 includes a road surface information database file 35 and an upper limit vehicle speed data file 36. The front part of the vehicle body 24 of the truck 20 is supported by a front axle (not shown) of the front wheel 22 via a suspension (not shown), and the rear part of the vehicle body 24 is supported by the left and right suspensions 26 on the rear axle 25 of the rear wheel 23. , 27.

  Among the travel support information providing devices, the laser radar 61, the vehicle height sensor 14, the arithmetic processing unit 31 and the storage unit 37 of the ECU 15 constitute the product load center height estimating device of the present embodiment.

  Note that the driving support information providing apparatus according to the present embodiment obtains an upper limit vehicle speed for suppressing an excessive vertical vibration on the rear axle 25 side of the vehicle body 24 and notifies the driver of the upper limit vehicle speed, as will be described later. Therefore, although the vertical acceleration sensor 13 is provided above the rear axle 25 and the vehicle height sensor 14 is provided in the vicinity of the rear axle 25, the upper limit vehicle speed for preventing the vertical vibration on the front axle side from becoming excessive. In this case, the vertical acceleration sensor 13 may be provided above the front axle and the vehicle height sensor 14 may be provided near the front axle.

  The GPS receiver 11 functions as position information acquisition means, and is provided on the outer surface of the cab 21 of the truck 20. The GPS receiving unit 11 sequentially receives latitude and longitude information (latitude N information and longitude E information) as current position information of the track 20 from the GPS artificial satellite at predetermined time intervals, and receives the received latitude and longitude information on the road surface of the ECU 15. The data is output to the shape data recording / retrieval unit 32.

  The vehicle speed sensor 12 functions as vehicle speed detection means and is provided in a transmission (not shown) of the cab 21. The vehicle speed sensor 12 sequentially detects the vehicle speed V of the truck 20 and outputs the detected vehicle speed V to the arithmetic processing unit 31 of the ECU 15.

  The vertical acceleration sensor 13 functions as vertical acceleration detection means, and is provided on the vehicle body 24 approximately above the rear axle 25 and in the center of the vehicle width direction. The vertical acceleration sensor 13 detects vertical acceleration acting on the vehicle body 24 and outputs the detected vertical acceleration to the arithmetic processing unit 31 of the ECU 15. The vertical acceleration sensor 13 may be provided above the rear axle 25 on both sides (left and right) in the vehicle width direction. In this case, the left and right vertical acceleration sensors 13 detect the vertical acceleration acting on the left and right of the vehicle body 24, and output the detected vertical acceleration to the arithmetic processing unit 31 of the ECU 15. The arithmetic processing unit 31 may calculate the average value of the vertical acceleration detected by the left and right vertical acceleration sensors 13 and adopt the calculated average value of the vertical acceleration as the vertical acceleration acting on the vehicle body 24.

The vehicle height sensors 14 (left vehicle height sensor 14a and right vehicle height sensor 14b) are provided on both sides (left and right) in the vehicle width direction in the vicinity of the rear axle 25, and are provided on the springs and unsprings of the left and right suspensions 26 and 27, respectively. the distance between (e.g., the distance between the axle 25 the rear and the lower edge of the body 24) is detected as the left static vehicle height d _L and the right static vehicle height d _R, static vehicle detected lateral high d _L , D _R are output to the arithmetic processing unit 31 of the ECU 15.

  The lateral acceleration sensor 19 is provided on the vehicle body 24 above the rear axle 25. The lateral acceleration sensor 19 detects lateral acceleration acting on the vehicle body 24 and outputs the detected lateral acceleration to the arithmetic processing unit 31 of the ECU 15.

Although not particularly shown, the laser radar 61 includes a light projecting unit, a light receiving unit, a driving unit, and a signal processing unit inside, and as shown in FIG. 2, the interior of the cargo space 60 (the cargo space 65). It arrange | positions at the upper part (in this embodiment, the rear-end part (just ahead of the back door 69) of the ceiling board 66 which divides the upper part of the luggage compartment space 65). The light projecting unit emits laser light to the cargo space 65. The light receiving unit receives the reflected light that is emitted and reflected by the detection target, and outputs the detection signal to the signal processing unit. The signal processing unit executes a laser beam projection control process from the light projecting unit and a detection signal calculation process from the light receiving unit in accordance with a control signal from the load position detection control unit 62 (FIG. 1) of the ECU 15. In the arithmetic processing of the detection signal, detects the distance L _i up to the detection target (measurement point) on the basis of the detection signal, further from the exit angle θ and the distance L _i of the laser beam, the coordinates P _i of the measurement point _{(alpha i} , Β _i ). The drive unit rotates and moves the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit in accordance with a control signal from the load position detection control unit 62 of the ECU 15.

Specifically, the light projecting unit emits laser light at a point P _L at the rear upper end in a coordinate plane with the front lower end of the cargo space 65 as the origin and the rear and upper sides of the vehicle from the origin to the α axis and β axis, respectively. The light is emitted from (α _L , β _L ). The drive unit emits the laser light in the horizontal direction (parallel to the α axis or the direction where the angle with the α axis is minute) from the initial direction, and downward (parallel to the β axis or the angle with the β axis is very small). Change to the correct direction). Assuming that the angle of the laser beam in the initial direction with respect to the α axis is θ ₀ , the drive unit rotates the laser beam so that it tilts from θ ₀ by Δθ toward the cargo floor 67 (α axis), and the signal processing unit At each angle θ ₀ + iΔθ (where i is the number of angle changes), the distance L _i to the upper surface or rear surface of the load 68 to be detected (hereinafter, both are collectively referred to as the outer surface) is detected. Further, the signal processing unit assigns the coordinates P _i (α _i , β _i ) of each measurement point on the outer surface of the load 68 by substituting the distance L _i and the angle θ ₀ + iΔθ into the following equation (26). calculate. The coordinates P _L (α _L , β _L ) of the laser beam emission source are values specific to the vehicle determined by the arrangement position of the laser radar 61 and the size of the cargo space 65 and are stored in the laser radar 61 in advance. Has been.

The laser radar 61 transmits the calculated coordinates P _i (α _i , β _i ) of each measurement point to the ECU 15 as detection data of the laser radar 61.

In the present embodiment, the laser radar 61 executes a process of calculating the coordinates P _i (α _i , β _i ) of each measurement point from the distance L _i and the angle θ ₀ + iΔθ. _The distance information indicating _i and the angle θ ₀ + iΔθ may be transmitted to the ECU 15, and the arithmetic processing unit 31 of the ECU 15 may execute processing for obtaining the coordinates.

  That is, the laser radar 61 functions as a detection unit that identifies the front-rear position and the vertical position of the outer surface of the load 68 in one virtual cross section that is substantially orthogonal to the vehicle width direction. Further, since the virtual cross section is determined by the arrangement position of the laser radar 61 in the vehicle width direction, it differs depending on which position in the vehicle width direction the laser radar 61 is arranged, and the entire load 68 depends on the set position of the virtual cross section. The cross-sectional shapes are different. However, generally, when loading the load 68 into the loading chamber 60, the delivery operator loads the load 68 as uniformly as possible in the vehicle width direction in consideration of the running stability of the vehicle and the stability of the load 68. For this reason, in this embodiment, it is considered that the cross section of the whole load 68 along the vehicle front-back direction is uniform in the vehicle width direction.

  Note that the means for detecting the position of the outer surface of the load 68 is not limited to the laser radar 61 described above, and other detections that can detect the position of the detection target, such as a sonar, radio wave radar, or stereo camera. It may be a device.

The storage unit 37 of the ECU 15 is configured by a RAM, a ROM, or the like. The storage unit 37 includes a wheel load map (shown in FIG. 8) showing the relationship between the left and right static vehicle heights d _L , d _R and the wheel load, and a wheel rate map showing the relationship between the wheel load and the wheel rate ( In addition to (shown in FIG. 9), a process execution program executed by the arithmetic processing unit 31 is stored in advance. The process execution program includes a predetermined expression used in each process. The storage unit 37 is provided with an angle change counter that stores the change number i of the laser beam emission angle θ. Further, in the storage unit 37, when the sprung mass (static load) m calculated by the calculation processing unit 31 of the ECU 15 executing a sprung mass estimation calculation process described later is changed, the sprung after the change is changed. An area for storing the mass m as mpast is provided.

  The arithmetic processing unit 31 of the ECU 15 performs a vertical acceleration determination process, a sprung mass estimation calculation process, a product load center height estimation process, a wheel rate estimation calculation process, a vehicle condition coefficient, according to a process execution program read from the storage unit 37. A calculation process, a road surface shape coefficient calculation process, a turning radius calculation process, a first upper limit vehicle speed calculation process, an expected wheel rate estimation calculation process, an expected vehicle state coefficient calculation process, and a second upper limit vehicle speed calculation process Then, an upper limit vehicle speed comparison determination process is executed. The calculation processing unit 31 functions as a product load center height calculation unit, a determination unit, a wheel rate acquisition unit, a road surface shape factor calculation unit, a turning radius acquisition unit, a wheel rate estimation unit, an upper limit vehicle speed calculation unit, and an upper limit vehicle speed comparison unit. .

  In the vertical acceleration determination process, it is determined whether or not the vertical acceleration detected by the vertical acceleration sensor 13 exceeds a predetermined acceleration (vertical acceleration peak value). In addition, when it is determined that the vertical acceleration exceeds the vertical acceleration peak value, the arithmetic processing unit 31 exceeds the vertical acceleration peak value to the upper limit vehicle speed display / warning instruction unit 34 via the road surface shape data recording / searching unit 32. The peak excess signal indicating that

In the sprung mass estimation calculation process, the sprung mass (static load) m shared by the rear wheels 23 (left and right suspensions 26, 27) is obtained out of the total weight of the vehicle including the vehicle body 24, the occupant, and the load 68. Specifically, the static vehicle height d _L is obtained from the static vehicle heights d _L and d _R detected by the vehicle height sensor 14 (the left vehicle height sensor 14a and the right vehicle height sensor 14b) and the wheel load map shown in FIG. Left and right static wheel loads w _L and w _R corresponding to _{L 1} and d _R are obtained, respectively, and the obtained static wheel loads w _L and w _R are converted into masses, respectively, so that the left spring upper mass m _L and the right spring The upper mass m _R is calculated, and the calculated left spring upper mass m _L and right spring upper mass m _R are substituted into the following equation (1) to calculate the rear mass 23 on the rear wheel 23 side.

  In this embodiment, the relationship between the static vehicle height and the wheel load is set in advance as a wheel load map. However, the relationship between the two may be set as a table or set as a predetermined formula. Good.

  The sprung mass m is calculated by the above sprung mass estimation calculation process. For example, the relationship between the accelerator opening, the sprung mass, and the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle is set in advance in a map or table, and the accelerator is opened. The degree and the longitudinal acceleration may be detected or acquired, and the sprung mass may be estimated from a map or a table.

  When calculating the sprung mass m by the sprung mass estimation calculation process, the arithmetic processing unit 31 compares the sprung mass m calculated this time with the past sprung mass mpast stored in the storage unit 37, If they are different from each other, it is determined that the state of the load 68 in the cargo space 65 (the load of the entire load 68) has changed, a load load center height estimation process described later is executed, and the currently calculated sprung mass m is mpast. Updated in the storage unit 37 and stored. That is, the vehicle height sensor 14 and the arithmetic processing unit 31 function as a determination unit that determines whether or not the state of the load 68 in the cargo space 65 has changed.

  In the present embodiment, the change in the load of the entire load 68 is set as the execution condition of the product load center height estimation process, but instead of or in addition to this, the state of the load 68 in the cargo space 65 is changed. It may be determined whether or not there is a possibility of change, and if there is a possibility of change, the product load center height estimation process may be executed. For example, a switch that is turned on / off in response to opening / closing of a door 69 that divides the rear portion of the cargo space 65 is provided, and when the door 69 is opened and turned on, the load 68 in the cargo space 65 is The product load center height estimation process may be executed by determining that the state may change. Further, when an interior light that is turned on when the door 69 is opened is provided, it is determined that there is a possibility that the state of the load 68 in the cargo space 65 changes when the interior light is turned on. May be executed.

In the product load center height estimation process, first, the arithmetic processing unit 31 outputs a process start signal to the load position detection control unit 62, and the load position detection control unit 62 that has received the process start signal outputs a control signal to the laser radar 61. . Laser radar 61 according to the control signal from the cargo position detection control section 62, together with the emit laser light, is rotated its emission angle theta to tilt toward the cargo room floor 67 from theta ₀ by [Delta] [theta], respectively at an angle θ ₀ + iΔθ detects the distance _{L i} between the outer surface of the load 68, the distance _{L i} and the angle θ ₀ + iΔθ the coordinates _{P i} of each measurement point on the outer surface of the cargo 68 with (α _i, β _i) Are calculated, and the calculated coordinates P _i (α _i , β _i ) of each measurement point are transmitted to the ECU 15 as detection data. Each time the load position detection control unit 62 changes the emission angle θ of the laser beam, the load position detection control unit 62 increments the angle change count counter of the storage unit 37 by 1 until the counter value reaches a predetermined value n. Repeat detection.

The arithmetic processing unit 31 uses the coordinates (α _i , β _i ) of each measurement point P _i received from the laser radar 61 to calculate the coordinates P _CG (α _CG , β _CG ) of the center of gravity of the entire load 68. . Hereinafter, a description will be given of a method of calculating the coordinates P _CG the center of gravity.

P ₁ (α ₁ , β ₁ ), P ₂ (α ₂ , β ₂ ),..., P _n (in order of increasing output angle θ), the coordinates (α _i , β _i ) of each measurement point P _i. α _n , β _n ). Here, a point on the β axis that has moved forward in the horizontal direction from the measurement point P ₁ (α ₁ , β ₁ ) is defined as a base point P ₀ (α ₀ , β ₀ ). Since this base point P ₀ (α ₀ , β ₀ ) is on the β axis, the value of α ₀ is zero. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, these coordinates P ₀ (α ₀ , β ₀ ), P ₁ (α ₁ , β ₁ ), P ₂ (α ₂ , β ₂ ),..., P _n (α Assuming a rectangle with vertices _n , β _n ), dividing the virtual cross section of the entire load 68 into a plurality of rectangles, and assuming that the density of the load 68 is uniform, the area of each rectangle is divided into the rectangles It is proportional to the mass of the loaded cargo and the center of each rectangle is its center of gravity. The area of each rectangle is represented by the following equation (27):

The coordinates P _iCG (α _iCG , β _iCG ) of the center of gravity of each rectangle are expressed by the following equation (28). In the following formula (28), i = 0, 1, 2,..., N.

The value of β _CG of the coordinates P _CG (α _CG , β _CG ) of the center of gravity position of the entire load 68 is the height of the center of gravity h _Lb of the entire load 68 from the cargo floor 67, and the following formula ( 29).

Here, _assuming that the difference between the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle in the empty state and the height of the cargo floor 67 is h _vb , the difference in height h _vf between the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle and the center of gravity of the load 68 is (30).

Note that the difference in height h _vb between the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle in the empty state and the cargo compartment floor surface 67 is stored in the storage unit 37 in advance as a value unique to the vehicle.

That is, in the product load center height estimation process, the product position detection control unit 62 controls the laser radar 61 to receive the data of the coordinates (α _i , β _i ) of each measurement point P _i from the laser radar 61, and By substituting the coordinates (α _i , β _i ) of the measurement point P _i into the above equations (27) and (28), the area A _i of each rectangle in the virtual cross section and the β coordinate β _iCG of the centroid position of each rectangle are _obtained . calculated by substituting the area _{a i} and beta coordinates beta _iCG the above equation (29), calculates the center-of-gravity height _{h Lb} of the entire cargo 68 from the luggage compartment floor surface 67, previously this height _{h Lb} By substituting h _vb for the difference between the height of the center of gravity of the stored vehicle in the empty state and the height of the cargo floor 67, the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle and the center of gravity of the load 68 are obtained. calculates a difference h _vf height storing difference h _vf the calculated height Updated to the unit 37 and stored.

In the wheel rate estimation calculation process, an elastic spring constant (hereinafter referred to as a tire suspension wheel rate k) is determined in consideration of the tire of the rear wheel 23 and the suspensions 26 and 27. Specifically, the static vehicle height d _L is obtained from the static vehicle heights d _L and d _R detected by the vehicle height sensor 14 (the left vehicle height sensor 14a and the right vehicle height sensor 14b) and the wheel load map shown in FIG. _The left and right static wheel loads w _L and w _R corresponding to _{L 1} and d _R are obtained, and the left and right static wheel loads are calculated from the obtained static wheel loads w _L and w _R and the wheel rate map shown in FIG. w _L, respectively determined and _w left corresponding to _R wheel rate _{k L} and the right wheel rate _{k R,} by substituting the left was determined wheel rate _{k L} and the right wheel rate _{k R} in the following equation (2), The wheel rate k is calculated.

The wheel rate k calculated by the wheel rate estimation calculation process is a value obtained by estimating the current wheel rate of the running vehicle. In contrast, the expected wheel rate k _e calculated by the expected wheel rate estimation calculation process will be described later, the expected wheel rate in the track 20 during running passing future notification target position (road surface requires careful running) Value.

  In this embodiment, the relationship between the wheel load and the wheel rate is set in advance as a wheel rate map, but the relationship between the two may be set as a table or may be set as a predetermined formula.

  In the vehicle state coefficient calculation process, the wheel rate k calculated in the wheel rate estimation calculation process, the damping coefficient c of the suspensions 26 and 27 stored in advance in the storage unit 37, and the spring calculated in the sprung mass estimation calculation process. A vehicle condition coefficient (first vehicle condition coefficient) f is calculated by substituting the upper mass m into an expression (16a) described later.

  The road surface shape factor calculation process and the turning radius calculation process are executed when it is determined in the vertical acceleration determination process that the vertical acceleration detected by the vertical acceleration sensor 13 has exceeded the vertical acceleration peak value.

In the road surface shape coefficient calculation process, the vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed sensor 12, the vertical acceleration detected by the vertical acceleration sensor 13, and the vehicle state coefficient f calculated by the vehicle state coefficient calculation process are expressed by the following equation (17). By substituting, a road surface shape factor _KRd specific to the road surface that specifies the road surface shape is calculated. In the road surface shape factor calculation process, as described above, the vertical acceleration detected by the vertical acceleration sensor 13 is substituted into equation (17). The arithmetic processing unit 31 outputs the calculated road surface shape factor K _Rd to the road surface shape data recording / retrieving unit 32.

In the turning radius calculation process, the turning radius R of the traveling track 20 is substituted by substituting the vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed sensor 12 and the lateral acceleration _ay detected by the lateral acceleration sensor 19 into the following equation (3). _c is calculated. The arithmetic processing unit 31 outputs the calculated turning radius _Rc to the road surface shape data recording / retrieving unit 32.

A yaw rate sensor for detecting the speed at which the vehicle rotates is provided, and the turning radius R _c is calculated by substituting the vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed sensor 12 and the yaw rate γ detected by the yaw rate sensor into the following equation (4). It may be calculated.

When the road surface shape data recording / retrieving unit 32 receives the road surface shape factor K _Rd and the turning radius R _c from the arithmetic processing unit 31, the road surface shape data recording / retrieving unit 32 acquires the road surface shape factor K _Rd and the turning radius R _c from the GPS receiving unit 11. It is recorded in the road surface information database file 35 of the external storage device 16 in a state associated with the latitude / longitude information (latitude / longitude information to be notified). That is, the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32 functions as a vehicle position determination unit, and the road surface information database file 35 includes the latitude / longitude information to be notified indicating the position of the road surface requiring attention and the road surface shape of the road surface. Combinations of the coefficient K _Rd and the turning radius R _c are sequentially accumulated.

In addition, the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32 selects the data set recorded in the road surface information database file 35 (a combination of the latitude / longitude information to be notified and the corresponding road surface shape coefficient K _Rd and turning radius R _c ). And latitude / longitude information existing in a predetermined range (for example, a range of N ± a for latitude N and a range of E ± b for longitude E) centered on the current latitude / longitude information acquired from the GPS receiver 11. Extract the data set. That is, the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32 also functions as vehicle position determination means. Then, the road surface shape factor K _Rd and the turning radius R _c of the extracted data set are output to the arithmetic processing unit 31.

Upon receiving the road surface shape coefficient K _Rd and the turning radius R _c from the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32, the arithmetic processing unit 31 receives the first upper limit vehicle speed calculation process, the predicted wheel rate estimation calculation process, and the predicted vehicle state. A coefficient calculation process, a second upper limit vehicle speed calculation process, and an upper limit vehicle speed comparison determination process are executed.

In the first upper limit vehicle speed calculation process, the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32 uses the road surface shape coefficient K _Rd of the data set extracted from the road surface information database file 35 and the vehicle state coefficient f calculated in the vehicle state coefficient calculation process. , and calculates the first upper limit vehicle speed V _max for as vertical acceleration does not exceed the vertical acceleration peak value. Specifically, the first upper limit vehicle speed V _max is substituted by substituting the road surface shape coefficient K _Rd , the vehicle state coefficient f, and the vertical acceleration peak value stored in advance in the storage unit 37 into Expression (18) described later. Is calculated.

In the predicted wheel rate estimation calculation process, the static vehicle heights d _L and d _R detected by the vehicle height sensor 14, the sprung mass m calculated in the sprung mass estimation calculation process, and the first upper limit vehicle speed calculation process are calculated. from the the first upper limit vehicle speed V _max, the turning radius R _c of the data set that the road profile data recording and retrieval unit 32 is extracted from the road information database file 35, obtains the expected wheel rate k _e.

Specifically, the left and right static vehicle heights d _L and d _R detected by the vehicle height sensor 14, the static vehicle height d _c when empty (there is no load 68), and the center of gravity height of the vehicle when empty And the height difference h _vc between the roll center RC, the sprung mass m, the vehicle mass m _v , and the height difference h _vf between the center of gravity height of the vehicle and the center of gravity of the load 68 are _expressed as follows. By substituting into (22), the height difference h _RC between the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle body 24 and the load 68 (the center of gravity of the sprung mass m) and the roll center RC is calculated. Here, the static vehicle height d _c when the vehicle is empty is an average value of the left and right static vehicle heights d _L and d _R detected by the vehicle height sensor 14 when the vehicle is empty such as when the vehicle is delivered, and is stored in the storage unit 37 in advance. Has been. A difference h _vc between the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle and the height of the roll center RC when empty is stored in advance in the storage unit 37 as a value unique to the vehicle. The difference in height h _vf between the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle and the height of the center of gravity of the load 68 is calculated by the product load center height estimation process and stored in the storage unit 37. The vehicle mass m _v is stored in advance in the storage unit 37 as a value unique to the vehicle.

Next, the static wheel loads w _L and w _R and the sprung mass m acquired in the sprung mass estimation calculation process, the height difference h _RC calculated above, and the first upper limit vehicle speed calculation process were calculated. a first upper limit vehicle speed V _max, the turning radius R _c of the data set that the road profile data recording and retrieval unit 32 is extracted from the road information database file 35, and a distance t from the roll center RC to respective suspensions 26, 27 , by substituting the later-described formula (25a) and (25b), the expected wheel load _w eL of the left and right during _turning, calculates the _{w eR.} Then, the calculated predicted wheel load _{w eL, w eR} from and the wheel rate map shown in FIG. 9, left and right predicted wheel load _{w eL,} left predicted corresponding to _{w eR} wheel rate _{k eL} and right predicted wheel rate _{k eR Are} calculated, and the calculated expected wheel rate k _e is calculated by substituting the calculated expected left wheel rate k _eL and the estimated right wheel rate k _eR into equation (2). In the predicted wheel rate estimation calculation process, the left predicted wheel rate k _eL and the right predicted wheel rate k _eR are substituted into the equation (2) instead of the left wheel rate k _L and the right wheel rate k _R.

The predicted wheel rate k _e, the track 20 during running is the predicted value of the wheel rate when passing through future broadcast target position.

At the expected vehicle condition coefficient calculation process, the expected wheel rate and expected wheel rate k _e calculated in the estimated calculation process, the attenuation coefficient c of the suspension 26, 27 which is previously stored in the storage unit 37, the sprung mass estimation calculation process By substituting the sprung mass m calculated in step (1) into an expression (16a) described later, an expected vehicle state coefficient (second vehicle state coefficient) _fe is calculated. Incidentally, at the expected vehicle condition coefficient calculation processing substitutes the expected wheel rate k _e instead of wheel rate k in the equation (16a).

In the second upper limit vehicle speed calculation process, the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32 extracts the road surface shape coefficient K _Rd of the data set extracted from the road surface information database file 35 and the predicted vehicle state coefficient f calculated in the predicted vehicle state coefficient calculation process. _{From e} , a second upper limit vehicle speed V _maxe is calculated so that the vertical acceleration does not exceed the vertical acceleration peak value. Specifically, the second upper limit vehicle speed is obtained by substituting the road surface shape coefficient K _Rd , the predicted vehicle state coefficient _fe, and the vertical acceleration peak value stored in advance in the storage unit 37 into Expression (18) described later. V _maxe is calculated. In the second upper limit vehicle speed calculation process, the predicted vehicle state coefficient _fe is substituted for the equation (18) instead of the vehicle state coefficient f.

That is, the first upper limit vehicle speed V _max calculated by the first upper limit vehicle speed calculation process and the second upper limit vehicle speed V _maxe calculated by the second upper limit vehicle speed calculation process are the same as the first upper limit vehicle speed V _max. , A predicted wheel in which the second upper limit vehicle speed V _maxe is estimated in consideration of the turning radius R _c when the truck 20 passes the notification target position in the future. with the difference is a value calculated using the rate k _e.

In the upper limit vehicle speed comparison / determination process, the calculated first upper limit vehicle speed V _max and the second upper limit vehicle speed V _maxe are compared, and the upper limit vehicle speed having a smaller value is used for notification to the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32. Output.

  When the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32 receives an input of the upper limit vehicle speed for notification from the arithmetic processing unit 31, the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32 associates the upper limit vehicle speed for notification with the latitude and longitude information of the notification target included in the extracted data set. In this state, the upper limit vehicle speed data file 36 of the external storage device 16 is sequentially recorded.

In addition, the road surface shape data recording / retrieving unit 32 stores all data sets (the upper limit vehicle speed for notification and the latitude / longitude information to be notified) stored in the upper limit vehicle speed data file 36 every predetermined time t _max seconds. The combination is transferred to the buffer memory 33. When the data is moved, all the data sets in the upper limit vehicle speed data file 36 are deleted. Next, the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32 extracts a data set having latitude / longitude information located forward of the traveling direction of the track 20 from the data set transferred to the buffer memory 33, and further extracts the data set. Based on the latitude / longitude information of each data set and the current latitude / longitude information acquired from the GPS receiver 11, the distance from the current position to each road surface requiring attention for traveling is calculated, and for each data set, Ranking is done in order of distance from the current position. The road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32 then displays the upper limit vehicle speed of the ranked data set, the calculated distance (distance from the current position to the road surface requiring attention), and the rank, and the upper limit vehicle speed display / alarm instruction unit 34. Output to.

  The upper limit vehicle speed display device 17 and the alarm buzzer 18 are both provided in an instrument panel (instrument panel) in the vehicle interior.

  The upper limit vehicle speed display device 17 functions as a notification means, and receives an upper limit vehicle speed for notification, a distance (distance from the current position to a road surface that requires attention), and a rank from the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32. Each time, the distance from the current position to the road surface that requires attention and the upper limit vehicle speed on the road surface are displayed in order from the current position according to the ranking. By viewing the content displayed on the upper limit vehicle speed display device 17, the driver can recognize in advance the distance to the road surface that requires attention and the upper limit vehicle speed on the road surface.

  The alarm buzzer 18 indicates that when the peak excess signal is input from the arithmetic processing unit 31 through the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32 and the upper limit vehicle speed display / alarm instruction unit 34, the driver is informed that the vertical acceleration peak value has been exceeded. A warning sound is issued to notify the user.

  When the navigation device 40 as shown in FIG. 6 is mounted on the truck 20, the navigation device 40 can be used instead of or in addition to the upper limit vehicle speed display device 17 and the alarm buzzer 18.

  The navigation device 40 includes a map database file 41, a navigation control unit 42, a display unit 43, and an audio generation unit 44 as its basic configuration. The navigation control unit 42 is configured by an ECU, reads map information around the current position from the map database file 41 based on the current latitude / longitude information acquired by the GPS receiving unit 11, and generates a map image 49 based on the read map information. It is displayed on the display screen 45 (shown in FIG. 7) of the display unit 43 together with the current position display 46. In addition, when a travel route is set in advance, the navigation control unit 42 causes the voice generation unit 44 to output a voice guide according to the travel route.

When the navigation device 40 is used instead of or in addition to the upper limit vehicle speed display device 17 and the alarm buzzer 18, the road surface shape data recording / retrieving unit 32 stores the upper limit vehicle speed data file 36 every predetermined time _tmax seconds. All accumulated data sets (a combination of the upper limit vehicle speed for notification and the latitude and longitude information to be notified) are extracted, and the extracted data set is output to the upper limit vehicle speed display / alarm instruction unit 34. The upper limit vehicle speed display / warning instruction unit 34 outputs the input data set to the navigation control unit 42. The road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32 may temporarily store the data set extracted from the upper limit vehicle speed data file 36 on the buffer memory 33, and has a configuration in the ECU 15 (shown in FIG. 1). A part or all of them may be included in the navigation control unit 42. The upper limit vehicle speed display / warning instruction unit 34 performs navigation control on the peak excess signal when the peak excess signal is input from the arithmetic processing unit 31 (shown in FIG. 1) via the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32. To the unit 42.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the navigation control unit 42 displays the map image 49 displayed on the display screen 45 of the display unit 43 based on the notification upper limit vehicle speed of the input data set and the latitude / longitude information to be notified. In addition, a specific display 47 for specifying a notification target position (a road surface position requiring attention for traveling) corresponding to the position information of the notification target is displayed, and a numerical value 48 of the upper limit vehicle speed is displayed in the vicinity of the specified position. . That is, the navigation control unit 42 and the display unit 43 function as notification means. By looking at the content displayed on the display screen 45, the driver can recognize in advance the position of the road surface that requires attention and the upper limit vehicle speed on the road surface.

  Further, the navigation control unit 42 causes the sound generation unit 44 to output a sound for notifying that the vertical acceleration peak value has been exceeded in response to the input of the peak excess signal.

"Derivation of road surface shape factor and upper limit vehicle speed"
[Input from road surface to wheels (tires)]
In order to derive the road surface shape factor and the upper limit vehicle speed, a state is assumed in which the wheels of the vehicle traveling at the vehicle speed V pass against the corner p of the step. The tire deformation at this time is negligible and is ignored.

As shown in FIG. 10, the wheel 50 that has moved in the horizontal direction at a speed V until it touches the corner portion p has a locus as indicated by a broken line as the wheel 50 rotates after contacting the corner portion p. Draw and step on the steps. The speed vector of the center of rotation of the wheel 50 does not change its magnitude from beginning to end, but changes its direction upward by an angle φ from the horizontal plane at the moment of contact with the corner portion p. Therefore, the velocity _vz is generated in the vertical direction at this moment. The magnitude of the velocity v _z is expressed by the following formula (5) from the geometric relationship.

  Φ in equation (5) is an angle formed by a straight line op and a vertical line at the moment when the wheel 50 contacts the corner portion p as shown in FIG. It is a numerical value determined geometrically.

After contacting the corner portion p, the speed v _z gradually decreases as shown in FIG. 11, and becomes 0 (zero) when the center of rotation of the wheel 50 reaches a vertical line passing through the corner portion p. Therefore, if δ (t) is an impulse function, the input from the road surface can be replaced with the following equation (6).

  The actual road surface input is not such a single input, but can be regarded as a collection of such inputs having various sizes.

[Estimation of sprung vertical acceleration]
Since the mass of the tire and the suspension is minute compared with the mass on the spring, the mass can be ignored. Therefore, the vibration model when the wheel 50 passes through the step is a system as shown in FIG. If the sprung mass is m, the vehicle body displacement is x ₂ , the road surface displacement is x ₁ , the wheel rate of the tire suspension is k, and the damping coefficient is c, the equation of motion of this system is the following equation (7).

  From equation (5), the state equation of this system is the following equation (8).

  When the Laplace transform is performed on Expression (6) to obtain a transfer function, the following Expression (9) is obtained.

From Expression (7), the transfer function of the vehicle body displacement speed x _{2d with} respect to the road surface displacement speed x _1d is expressed by the following Expression (10) if the respective Laplace transforms are X _1d (s) and X _2d (s).

Here, from the equation (6), the road surface displacement speed x _1d (t) when climbing a step is considered to be the following equation (11).

  Accordingly, the Laplace transform of equation (11) is expressed by the following equation (12).

  Therefore, the vehicle body displacement speed for this input is given by the following equation (13):

  The time response of the vertical acceleration at this time is obtained by performing inverse Laplace transform on the equation (13) and differentiating with respect to the time t, and becomes the following equation (14).

  In the function represented by the equation (14), the time t is substantially maximum near the value represented by the following equation (15a), and the theoretical peak value of the vertical acceleration generated on the spring at this time is expressed by the following equation: (15b).

  here,

If you

If the vertical acceleration peak value, vehicle specifications (sprung mass m, tire suspension wheel rate k, damping coefficient c), and vehicle speed V are known, the road surface shape factor K _Rd can be calculated according to equation (17). it can. It should be noted that f (m, k, c) calculated by substituting the above vehicle specifications (the sprung mass m, the tire suspension wheel rate k, the damping coefficient c) into the equation (16a) is the vehicle state coefficient. Called.

Further, if the road surface shape factor K _Rd is already known, the upper limit vehicle speed for suppressing the vertical acceleration below a certain value (the maximum value of the vertical acceleration) is calculated by the following equation (18). Can do.

"Derivation of expected wheel rate"
[Estimation of center of gravity height]
As shown in FIG. 13, the difference between the height of the center of gravity (the center of gravity of the sprung mass m) of the entire vehicle and the load 68 and the height of the roll center RC is represented by h _RC , and the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle and the load 68 The difference between the height of the center of gravity and h _vf is the height difference between the center of gravity of the vehicle and the load 68, and the difference between the height of the center of gravity of the load 68 and the center of gravity of the load 68 is h _vf1 . The difference between the height of the center of gravity and the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle is h _vf2 , and the difference between the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle and the height of the roll center RC is h _v . Further, when the total mass of a combination of the vehicle and load 68 (sprung mass) m, the mass of the vehicle is a vehicle-specific numerical and m _v, mass m _f cargo 68, the following equation (19) Become.

Here, h _vf the difference in height between the center of gravity height of the center of gravity height and load 68 of the vehicle, since the vehicle is traveling is always constant, vehicle and cargo 68 and the combined total center-of-gravity height and the vehicle center of gravity height The height difference h _vf2 is obtained by the following equation (20).

Further, the static vehicle height when the vehicle is empty (without the load 68) is d _c , the static vehicle heights when the load 68 is present are d _L and d _R , the center of gravity height of the vehicle when empty and the roll center if the difference in height between the RC and h _vc, the difference of h _v in height between the center of gravity height and roll center RC of the vehicle, the following equation (21).

Therefore, vehicle and cargo 68 and the combined total center-of-gravity height h _RC and the difference in height between the roll center RC (sprung mass center of gravity height of m) can be calculated by the following equation (22).

[Estimation of expected wheel rate]
Occurs in the vehicle when traveling at the upper limit vehicle speed (first upper limit vehicle speed) V _max and the turning radius R _c calculated by the equation (18) using the road surface shape factor K _Rd recorded in the road surface information database file 35. The lateral acceleration a _ymax can be calculated by the following equation (23).

If the roll angle is within a comparatively small range during normal running, the roll center RC during turning is considered to be fixed (does not change) as shown in FIG. 14, so that the static moment balance around the roll center RC is balanced. from equation, the upper limit vehicle speed (first upper limit vehicle _speed) load shift Δw due to roll caused by lateral acceleration _{a ymax} in the case of traveling (pass) at _{V max} is represented by the following formula (24).

Thus, the static wheel load of the left and right straight running _w L, when the _{w R,} predicted wheel load _w eL of the left and right when the vehicle is making a left _{turn, w eR} is calculated by the following equation (25).

The resulting left and right predicted wheel load _{w eL, w eR} from and the wheel rate map shown in FIG. 9, left and right predicted wheel load _{w eL,} left predicted corresponding to _{w eR} wheel rate _{k eL} and right predicted wheel rate _{k eR} calculated preparative respectively, by a left expected wheel rate k _eL and right predicted wheel rate k _eR obtained into equation (2), the expected wheel rate k _e is calculated.

"Processes executed by the ECU"
Next, processing executed by the ECU 15 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. Note that this processing is processing when the navigation device 40 is used, and includes processing executed by the navigation control unit 42.

  When the ECU 15 and the navigation device 40 are activated, a main routine process shown in FIG. 15 is started. When the main routine is started, it is first determined whether or not the navigation device 40 is ON (step S10). If the navigation device 40 is ON, the processes after step S1 are sequentially executed.

  When the process proceeds to step S1, the timer starts and the sprung mass estimation calculation process and the wheel rate estimation calculation process shown in FIG. 16 are executed.

In the sprung mass estimation calculation process and the wheel rate estimation calculation process, the static vehicle heights d _L and d _R detected by the vehicle height sensor 14 (the left vehicle height sensor 14a and the right vehicle height sensor 14b) are read (step S41). estimates the static ride height d _L from the wheel load map shown in FIG. _8, d right and left static wheel load corresponding to _R w _L, w _R, respectively (step S42), the left and right from the wheel rate map shown in FIG. 9 estimates of the static wheel load _w L, and _w left corresponding to _R wheel rate _{k L} and the right wheel rate _{k R} respectively (step S43), the process proceeds to step S44. At step S44, and calculates a left sprung mass m _L and the right sprung mass m _R by converting the mass static wheel load w _L, w _R, respectively, calculated left sprung mass m _L and right spring by substituting the fine amount m _R in formula (1), to calculate the sprung mass m of the rear wheel 23 side. Further, by substituting the left wheel rate k _L and the right wheel rate k _R in formula (2), calculates the wheel rate k. When the process of step S44 ends, the process proceeds to step S70 of FIG.

  In step S70, the current sprung mass m calculated in the sprung mass estimation calculation process in step S1 is compared with the past sprung mass mpast stored in the storage unit 37. It determines with the load of the whole load 68 in 65 having changed, it progresses to step S71, and a product load center height estimation process is performed. On the other hand, if the current sprung mass m matches the previous sprung mass mpast, it is determined that the load of the entire load 68 in the cargo space 65 has not changed, and the product load center height estimation process is executed. Without proceeding to step S2.

In the product load center height estimation process, as shown in FIG. 17, first, the laser radar 61 is controlled to execute the process of detecting and reading the load section coordinates (α _i , β _i ) (step S72). That is, the ECU 15 causes the laser radar 61 to increase the laser beam emission angle θ by Δθ from the initial direction (angle θ ₀ ) while increasing the coordinates (α _i , β _i ) of each measurement point P _i in the virtual section (loading section). ) Is detected, and the detected data is received and read. The load position detection control unit 62 adds 1 to the count value (change number i) of the angle change number counter in the storage unit 37 every time the laser beam emission angle θ is changed, and the change number i reaches the predetermined value n. Then, the emission of the laser beam from the laser radar 61 is finished, the emission direction of the laser beam is returned to the initial direction, and the count value of the angle change count counter is returned to the initial value 1.

Next, by substituting the coordinates (α _i , β _i ) of each measurement point P _i into the equations (27) and (28), the area A _i of each rectangle in the virtual section and the β coordinate of the centroid position of each rectangle By calculating β _iCG and substituting the area A _i and β coordinate β _iCG into the formula (29), the center of gravity height h _Lb of the entire load 68 from the cargo floor 67 is calculated, and the height h _Lb and By substituting h _vb for the height difference between the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle stored in advance and the height of the cargo floor 67, the height of the center of gravity of the vehicle and the height of the center of gravity of the load 68 are calculated. The height difference h _vf is calculated, and the calculated height difference h _vf is updated and stored in the storage unit 37 (step S73). Next, the current sprung mass m calculated in the sprung mass estimation calculation process in step S1 is updated and stored in the storage unit 37 as mpast (step S74). When the process of step S74 ends, the process proceeds to step S2 of FIG.

  In step S2, vehicle state coefficient calculation processing is executed. In this vehicle state coefficient calculation process, the wheel rate k and sprung mass m calculated in step S1 (step S44) and the damping coefficient c of the suspensions 26 and 27 stored in advance in the storage unit 37 are expressed by the equation (16a). By substituting into, a vehicle state coefficient (first vehicle state coefficient) f is calculated.

  Next, it progresses to step S3 and the road surface shape factor calculation process shown in FIG. 18 is performed.

  In the road surface shape factor calculation process, the vertical acceleration of the vehicle body 24 detected by the vertical acceleration sensor 13 is read (step S11), and it is determined whether or not the read vertical acceleration value exceeds the vertical acceleration peak value (step S12). ). If the vertical acceleration value does not exceed the vertical acceleration peak value, it is determined that the road surface is not required to be traveled, the road surface shape coefficient calculation process is terminated, and the process proceeds to step S4 in FIG.

  On the other hand, if the vertical acceleration value exceeds the vertical acceleration peak value, it is determined that the road surface requires attention, and the process proceeds to step S13 to output a peak excess signal. Specifically, the arithmetic processing unit 31 outputs a peak excess signal to the navigation control unit 42 via the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32 and the upper limit vehicle speed display / alarm instruction unit 34, and in response thereto, the vertical acceleration peak The navigation control unit 42 causes the voice generation unit 44 to output a voice notifying that the value has been exceeded. Accordingly, the driver can recognize that the vehicle is traveling on a road surface that requires attention.

Next, the process proceeds to step S14, where the vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed sensor 12 and the latitude / longitude information received by the GPS receiver 11 are read (step S14), and the vertical acceleration in the vertical direction read in step S11 and in step S2. The road surface shape factor K _Rd is calculated by substituting the calculated vehicle state coefficient into the equation (13).

  Next, it progresses to step S17 and performs the turning radius calculation process shown in FIG.

In the turning radius calculation processing, it reads the lateral acceleration a _y of the lateral acceleration sensor 19 has detected (Step S51), the absolute value of the lateral acceleration a _y is determined whether it exceeds a predetermined minimum value a _ylow ( Step S52).

If the absolute value of the lateral acceleration a _y is determined to exceed the predetermined minimum value a _ylow at step S52, there is a possibility that the wheel rate greatly fluctuates, the flow proceeds to step S53. In step S53, the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 12 (the vehicle speed read in step S14) V and the lateral acceleration detected by the lateral acceleration sensor 19 (the lateral acceleration read in step S51) a _y are _expressed by equation (3). by substituting the, calculates the turning radius R _c of the track 20 during running, the process proceeds to step S54.

In step S54, it is determined whether or not the absolute value of the turning radius R _c is less than a predetermined maximum value R _cmax . If the turning radius R _c is less than the maximum value R _cmax , the turning radius calculation process is terminated and the process proceeds to step S16 in FIG. move on.

On the other hand, when the absolute value of the lateral acceleration _{a y} is equal to or less than a predetermined minimum value _{a ylow} in step S52, and when the absolute value of the turning radius _{R c} at step S54 is a predetermined maximum value _{R cmax} or If it is determined, since the fluctuation of the wheel rate can be estimated to be small, the process proceeds to step S55, after the value of the turning radius R _c is replaced by a predetermined maximum value R _cmax, exit the turning radius calculation processing Proceed to step S16 in FIG.

In step S16, the calculated road surface shape factor K _Rd, turning radius R _c and latitude / longitude information are associated with each other and added to the road surface information database file 35. By executing step S16, the road surface shape factor calculation recording process is terminated, and the process proceeds to step S4 in FIG. By this road surface shape factor calculation recording process, the road surface information database in which the latitude and longitude information of the road surface in which the vertical acceleration value exceeds the vertical acceleration peak value is associated with the road surface shape factor K _Rd and the turning radius R _c. Accumulated in file 35.

In step S4, it is determined whether or not the timer value T has reached the predetermined time _tmax . If the predetermined time has not yet been reached, the process proceeds to step S5 to execute the upper limit vehicle speed calculation recording process shown in FIG. To do.

  In the upper limit vehicle speed calculation recording process, it is first determined whether or not the upper limit vehicle speed calculation flag is ON. When the upper limit vehicle speed calculation flag is not ON (OFF), the upper limit vehicle speed calculation recording process for all data sets recorded in the road surface information database file 35 is completed, and the data extracted in the upper limit vehicle speed data file 36 Since the set has not yet been displayed (the display information has not been updated), the upper limit vehicle speed calculation recording process is terminated without executing the processes after step S22, and the process returns to step S10 in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the upper limit vehicle speed calculation flag is ON, since the following determinations of step S24 and step S25 are being sequentially performed on the data set recorded in the road surface information database file 35, step S22 is in progress. Proceed to the subsequent processing.

  In the processing after step S22, the latitude / longitude information received by the GPS receiver 11 is read (step S22), and the road surface shape coefficient and longitude / latitude information of the nth data set are read from the road surface information database file 35 (step S23). ), Whether the latitude is within the predetermined range (step S24) and whether the longitude is within the predetermined range (step S25). If at least one of the latitude and longitude is outside the predetermined range, Since it is a road surface, the process proceeds to step S28 without calculating the upper limit vehicle speed.

  On the other hand, when the latitude and longitude are both within the predetermined range, the road surface is a notification target. Therefore, the vehicle state coefficient calculated in step S2 and the road surface shape coefficient read in step S23 are substituted into equation (18). An upper limit vehicle speed is calculated (step S26).

  Next, it progresses to step S31 and performs the upper limit vehicle speed correction process shown in FIG.

In the upper limit vehicle speed correction process, it is determined whether or not the absolute value of the turning radius R _c is less than a predetermined maximum value R _cmax (step S61), and if it is less than the maximum value R _cmax , the wheel rate may fluctuate greatly. Is high, the process proceeds to step S62. On the other hand, when the absolute value of the turning radius R _c is equal to or greater than the predetermined maximum value R _cmax , it can be estimated that the fluctuation of the wheel rate is very small, so the upper limit vehicle speed correction process is terminated and the process proceeds to step S27 in FIG. .

In step S62, the center of gravity of the sprung mass m is calculated by equation (22) using the height difference h _vf between the center of gravity of the vehicle and the center of gravity of the load 68 calculated in the product load center height estimation process (step S73). The height difference h _RC between the height and the roll center RC is calculated, and the height difference h _RC and the turning radius R _{c of} the data set extracted from the road surface information database file 35 by the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32. And the first upper limit vehicle speed V _max calculated in the first upper limit vehicle speed calculation process (step S26), the left and right predicted wheel loads _weL , at the time of turning according to the equations (25a) and (25b), _WER is calculated, and the process proceeds to step S63.

In step S63, the calculated predicted wheel load _{w eL, w eR} from and the wheel rate map shown in FIG. 9, left and right predicted wheel load _{w eL,} left expected wheel rate corresponding to _{w eR k eL} and right predicted wheel rate k _The estimated wheel rate k _e is calculated by estimating _eR and substituting the estimated left predicted wheel rate k _eL and right estimated wheel rate k _eR into Equation (2), and the process proceeds to step S64.

In step S64, the expected wheel rate _{k e,} and damping coefficient c of the suspension 26, 27 which is previously stored in the storage unit 37, and a sprung mass m calculated in step S1 (step S44), the equation (16a) By substituting, an expected vehicle state coefficient (second vehicle state coefficient) _fe is calculated, and the process proceeds to step S65.

In step S65, the predicted vehicle state coefficient _fe , the road surface shape coefficient K _Rd (K _Rdd ) of the data set extracted from the road surface information database file 35 by the road surface shape data recording / retrieval unit 32, and the storage unit 37 are stored in advance. By substituting the vertical acceleration peak value into the equation (18), the second upper limit vehicle speed V _maxe is calculated, and the process proceeds to step S66.

At step S66, the comparing the first and the upper limit vehicle speed _{V max} and the second upper limit vehicle speed _{V maxe,} when the first upper limit vehicle speed _{V max} exceeds the second upper limit vehicle speed _{V maxe} is to step S67 proceeds, after replacing the value of the first upper limit vehicle speed _{V max} to the second upper limit vehicle speed _{V maxe,} proceeds to exit the upper speed correction process to step S27 in FIG. 20. Thus, by replacing the values of the first upper limit vehicle speed _{V max} to the second upper limit vehicle speed _{V maxe,} second upper limit vehicle speed _{V maxe} is the upper limit vehicle speed for informing substantially.

On the other hand, when the first upper limit vehicle speed V _max does not exceed the second upper limit vehicle speed V _maxe (the first upper limit vehicle speed V _max is _{equal to} or lower than the second upper limit vehicle speed V _maxe ), the first upper limit vehicle speed V _{max Without} replacing the value of V _max with the second upper limit vehicle speed V _maxe , the upper limit vehicle speed correction process is terminated, and the process proceeds to step S27 in FIG. In this case, the first upper limit vehicle speed V _max is the upper limit vehicle speed for notification.

In step S27, the upper limit vehicle speed for notification (the first upper limit vehicle speed V _max after steps S66 and S67) is added to the upper limit vehicle speed data file 36 in association with the latitude / longitude information (position information) and recorded. The process proceeds to step S28.

  In step S28, whether the processing has reached the end (end) of the data set of the road surface information database file 35, that is, data whose latitude / longitude information is within a predetermined range in the data set recorded in the road surface information database file 35. It is determined whether the upper limit vehicle speed is calculated and recorded in the upper limit vehicle speed data file 36 for all the sets.

  If the processing has reached the end of the data set of the road surface information database file 35, the process proceeds to step S30, the upper limit vehicle speed calculation flag is turned off, and the process returns to step S10.

  On the other hand, if the process has not reached the end of the data set of the road surface information database file 35, the process proceeds to step S29 to set n = n + 1, and the process returns to step S21 to repeat the upper limit vehicle speed calculation recording process.

In step S4 of the main routine process of FIG. 15, when the timer value T has reached the predetermined time _tmax , the process proceeds to step S6 and subsequent steps.

  In the processing after step S6, all the data sets of the upper limit vehicle speed data file 36 are read onto the buffer memory 33 (step S6), and the display of the navigation device 40 is performed based on the upper limit vehicle speed data and the latitude / longitude information on the buffer memory 33. In the map image 49 of the screen 45, a specific display 47 for specifying the position corresponding to the latitude / longitude information (the position of the road surface requiring attention for traveling) is displayed, and a numerical value 48 of the upper limit vehicle speed is displayed in the vicinity of the specified position. Is displayed (step S7). Then, all the data sets of the upper limit vehicle speed data file 36 are cleared (step S8), n = 1 is set, the upper limit vehicle speed calculation flag is turned ON, T = 0 is set (step S9), and the process returns to step S10. .

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, when the vertical acceleration acting on the wheels 22 and 23 of the vehicle exceeds the vertical acceleration peak value, the road surface shape data recording / retrieving unit 32 is received by the GPS receiving unit 11. The current latitude / longitude information is recorded in the road surface information database file 35 as position information to be notified, and the road surface shape factor calculated using the vehicle speed, vertical acceleration, and sprung mass of the vehicle at this time, The turning radius calculated using the vehicle speed and the lateral acceleration is recorded in the road surface information database file 35 in association with the position information to be notified. The road surface shape factor is a coefficient specific to the road surface that identifies the road surface shape, and the turning radius is a value determined for each travel location when the vehicle travels according to a predetermined travel route.

  When the vehicle enters a predetermined range from the position information of the notification target recorded in the road surface information database file 35, the arithmetic processing unit 31 calculates the road surface shape factor and the predetermined acceleration corresponding to the current wheel rate and the position information of the notification target. And the sprung mass are used to calculate a first upper limit vehicle speed for preventing the vertical acceleration from exceeding the vertical acceleration peak value. In addition, the arithmetic processing unit 31 estimates an expected wheel rate when the vehicle travels in a place specified by the position information of the notification target based on the turning radius corresponding to the position information of the notification target. A second upper limit vehicle speed for preventing the vertical acceleration from exceeding the predetermined acceleration is calculated using the road surface shape factor corresponding to the position information to be notified, the predetermined acceleration, and the sprung mass. Then, the first upper limit vehicle speed is compared with the second upper limit vehicle speed, and the lower upper limit vehicle speed is selected for notification.

  The upper limit vehicle speed display device 17 and the navigation device 40 notify the driver in the passenger compartment of the upper limit vehicle speed selected for notification. Therefore, the driver of the vehicle is likely to have a road surface that requires attention because the vertical acceleration exceeds a predetermined acceleration (road surface to be notified), and the vertical acceleration does not exceed the vertical acceleration peak value. The upper limit vehicle speed can be determined before the vehicle reaches the road surface to be notified, and the ride comfort is reduced due to the vertical acceleration exceeding the vertical acceleration peak value, and the load 68 collapses or loads. Pain etc. can be avoided in advance.

  In addition, a road surface shape factor specifying the road surface shape of the notification target road surface is calculated and recorded in advance using the vehicle speed, the vertical acceleration and the sprung mass, and the vertical acceleration when traveling on the notification target road surface. Is calculated using the road surface shape factor, vertical acceleration peak value, and sprung mass of the road surface to be notified, so that the upper limit vehicle speed to prevent the vertical acceleration peak value from exceeding the vertical acceleration peak value. The accurate upper limit vehicle speed can be notified to the driver.

  In addition to the above, the road surface shape factor and the upper limit vehicle speed are calculated using the tire suspension wheel rate (current wheel rate or expected wheel rate) and the damping factor that differ between vehicles. Can be notified to the driver.

  Further, a first upper limit vehicle speed based on the current wheel rate and a second upper limit vehicle speed based on an expected wheel rate estimated from the turning radius of the vehicle at the notification target position are calculated, and the speed of the upper limit vehicle speed is calculated. Since the lower and lower ones are notified to the occupant, even if the wheel rate is significantly different between the straight traveling state and the turning state as in a commercial vehicle equipped with a highly nonlinear suspension, the occupant is in the turning state of the vehicle. It is possible to know an accurate upper limit vehicle speed that is considered.

  In addition, since the arithmetic processing unit 31 calculates the sprung mass based on the vehicle height displacement acquired by the vehicle height sensor 14, the load of the vehicle frequently fluctuates and the vehicle weight fluctuates during traveling. Even in such a case, the driver can know an accurate upper limit vehicle speed without complicated input by the occupant.

Further, the center of gravity height of the entire load 68 (the difference in height h _vf between the center of gravity of the vehicle and the center of gravity of the load 68) is calculated from the detection data from the laser sensor 61 by the product load center height estimation process, and the calculated height The estimated wheel rate is obtained using the difference h _vf and the second upper limit vehicle speed is calculated based on the obtained estimated wheel rate, so that the load state of the load 68 (the center of gravity height of the load 68 as a whole) can be accommodated. The accurate second upper limit vehicle speed can be calculated, and the driver can know the more accurate upper limit vehicle speed.

  Further, the laser radar 61 detects the position of the outer surface of the load 68 in the luggage space 65 at a plurality of locations as coordinates in the cargo space 65, and the ECU 15 uses the plurality of coordinates detected by the laser radar 61 to cause the ECU 15 to detect the entire load 68. Since the height of the center of gravity is calculated, the height of the center of gravity of the entire load 68 can be obtained regardless of the posture of the vehicle and the running state. For this reason, for example, when the vehicle starts after the driver stops the vehicle and loads and unloads the load 68, the ECU 15 immediately calculates the height of the center of gravity of the entire load 68 after the change, and reflects the calculation result. The upper limit vehicle speed can be notified to the driver.

  Further, since the product load center estimation process is executed on the condition that the current sprung mass m calculated by the sprung mass estimation calculation process has changed from the previously calculated sprung mass mpast, the execution of the product load center estimation process by the ECU 15 is executed. The frequency can be reduced accurately.

  Moreover, since the road surface shape factor is a value that specifies the road surface shape, the data can be shared between different vehicles. For example, by sharing the road surface information database file 35 among a plurality of vehicles, it is possible to use the latitude / longitude information and road surface shape factor of the road surface to be notified that has not traveled.

  Further, in the map image 49 displayed on the display screen 45 of the navigation device 40, a specific display 47 for specifying the position of the road surface to be notified is displayed, and a numerical value 48 of the upper limit vehicle speed is displayed in the vicinity of the specified position. Thus, the driver can recognize the position of the road surface to be notified and the upper limit vehicle speed in advance.

  Next, 2nd Embodiment of this invention is described based on FIGS.

  FIG. 22 is a plan view schematically showing the rear end portion of a luggage compartment equipped with a laser radar mount having a laser radar according to the second embodiment, FIG. 23 is a front view of FIG. 22, and FIG. 24 is an arrow of FIGS. FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing a product load center height estimation process according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a coordinate detection reading process. In FIG. 22 and FIG. 23, a guide rail 72 described later is indicated by a virtual line (two-dot chain line).

  In the present embodiment, the position of the outer surface of the load 68 in the cargo space 65 is changed along the front-rear position and the height direction along the vehicle front-rear direction by using the laser radar 61 provided movably along the vehicle width direction. The three-dimensional detection is performed based on the vertical position and the vehicle width position along the vehicle width direction. The detection of the outer surface position of the load 68 and the product load center height estimation process executed by the ECU 15 are different from those in the first embodiment. To do. In addition, about the structure similar to 1st Embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 22 to 24, a laser radar mount 71, a guide rail 72, a stepping motor 73, and a coupling mechanism 74 are provided at the upper rear end of the cargo space 65.

  The guide rail 72 has a base plate portion 75 and a guide plate portion 76, and is disposed immediately in front of the door 69 that defines the rear end of the cargo space 65 and at the upper end of the cargo space 65 and extends in the vehicle width direction. Extend along. The base plate portion 75 is fixed to the lower surface of the ceiling plate 66. The guide plate portion 76 includes a pair of guide outer plate portions 77 that bend downward from the front end edge and the rear end edge of the base plate portion 75 and a pair of casters that extend opposite to each other from the lower end of each guide outer plate portion 77. A support plate portion 78 and a pair of guide inner plate portions 79 extending upward from the tip of each caster support plate portion 78 are provided. Note that the guide rail 72 may be fixed to the side plate 70 of the luggage compartment 60.

  The laser radar mount 71 includes a laser radar 61, a mount bracket 80, a caster 81, and a chain fixing bracket 82. There are four pairs of casters 81 (up to eight in total). The number of casters 81 is not limited to the above number.

  The mount bracket 80 includes a mount lower plate portion 83 and a pair of mount vertical wall portions 84 that extend upward from the front end and the rear end of the mount lower plate portion 83 and face each other in the front-rear direction. The upper portion of the laser radar 61 is fixed to the lower surface of the mount lower plate portion 83. Two casters 81 are arranged on the outside of each mount vertical wall portion 84 (front and rear of the front and rear mount vertical wall portions 84) in pairs in the vehicle width direction, and each caster 81 is mounted on the mount vertical wall portion. 84 is rotatably supported. The distance between the upper and lower casters 81 is set to a distance substantially the same as or slightly larger than the thickness of the caster support plate 78 of the guide rail 72, and the caster support plate 78 is disposed between the upper and lower casters 81. That is, the upper caster 81 is placed on the upper surface of the caster support plate portion 78, and when the upper caster 81 rotates in this state, the mount bracket 80 (laser radar mount 71) is guided by the guide rail 72 and the vehicle width direction. Move to. In addition, the lower caster 81 rotates on the lower surface of the caster support plate 78 with the above movement, so that the laser radar mount 71 is more reliably guided by the guide rail 72. A chain fixing bracket 82 is fixed to one inner surface of the mount vertical wall portion 84 (in this embodiment, the rear surface of the front mount vertical wall portion 84).

  The stepping motor 73 is fixed to the upper rear end of the inner surface of one side plate 70 (only one is shown in FIGS. 22 and 23) of the pair of left and right side plates 70 that define the cargo space 65, and the drive shaft 73a thereof. Extends upward. Note that the stepping motor 73 may be fixed to the ceiling plate 66 of the luggage compartment 60.

  The coupling mechanism 74 includes a drive gear 85, a driven gear (not shown), a chain 86, and the chain fixing bracket 82. The drive gear 85 is fixed to the drive shaft 73 a of the stepping motor 73. The driven gear is rotatably supported on the side plate (not shown) on the opposite side of the driving gear 85 in the vehicle width direction so as to face the driving gear 85. The chain 86 is disposed below the base plate portion 75 of the guide rail 72 along the vehicle width direction, and is spanned between the drive gear 85 and the driven gear. The chain fixing bracket 82 is fixed to an intermediate portion of the chain 86.

  The stepping motor 73 is driven according to a control signal from the load position detection control unit 62 of the ECU 15. When the stepping motor 73 is driven and the drive gear 85 rotates, the chain 86 moves, and the laser radar mount 71 is guided by the guide rail 72 and moves along the vehicle width direction. The drive unit of the laser radar 61 changes the emission direction of the laser light from the horizontal front (initial direction) to the lower in accordance with a control signal from the load position detection control unit 62 of the ECU 15. That is, the laser radar 61 functions as a detection unit that detects the front-rear position and the vertical position of the outer surface of the load 68 in a virtual cross section that intersects the vehicle width direction and extends in the vehicle front-rear direction. Further, the stepping motor 73 functions as a drive unit that is fixed to the luggage compartment 60 at the upper part of the cargo compartment space 65. The load position detection control unit 62 of the ECU 15 sets the stepping motor 73 so that the detection of the outer surface position of the load 68 by the laser radar 61 is started from one end (right end or left end) of the cargo space 65 in the vehicle width direction. By controlling, the initial position of the laser radar mount 71 is set in the vicinity of one end of the cargo space 65 in the vehicle width direction.

  The storage unit 37 of the ECU 15 is provided with a movement number counter for storing the number of movements j of the laser radar mount 71 in addition to the angle change number counter for storing the number of changes i of the laser beam emission angle θ. .

  Next, in this embodiment, the product load center height estimation process which the arithmetic processing part 31 of ECU15 performs is demonstrated.

In the product load center height estimation process, with the laser radar mount 71 set to the initial position, the calculation processing unit 31 outputs a process start signal to the load position detection control unit 62 and receives the process start signal. The unit 62 outputs a control signal to the stepping motor 73. The stepping motor 73 moves the laser radar mount 71 by a predetermined interval d _{1 in the} vehicle width direction in accordance with a control signal from the load position detection control unit 62. When the laser radar mount 71 is moved by a predetermined interval d ₁ in the vehicle width direction, the load position detection control unit 62 outputs a control signal to the laser radar 61. Laser radar 61 according to the control signal from the cargo position detection control section 62, together with the emit laser light, is rotated its emission angle theta to tilt toward the cargo room floor 67 from theta ₀ by [Delta] [theta], respectively at an angle θ _{0 +} iΔθ detects the distance L _i between the outer surface of the load 68, the distance L _i and the angle θ _{0 +} iΔθ and by substituting the equation (26), and the coordinates P of each measurement point on the outer surface of the cargo 68 _1i (α _1i , β _1i ) is calculated. Next, the cargo position detection control section 62 of the laser radar mount 71 in the vehicle width direction is moved ₁ minute predetermined distance d, in the same manner as described above, to detect each distance L _i between the outer surface of the load 68 by the laser beam, the cargo The coordinates P _2i (α _2i , β _2i ) of each measurement point on the outer surface 68 are calculated. As described above, the laser radar mount 71 is moved in the vehicle width direction by the predetermined distance d _j , the distance L _ji of each measurement point is detected by the laser light, and the coordinate position for calculating the coordinates P _ji (α _ji , β _ji ) is calculated. The detection process is repeated until the laser mount 71 reaches the vicinity of the other end in the vehicle width direction. The number j of movements of the laser radar mount 71 is set in advance according to the distance in the vehicle width direction of the cargo space 65 and each movement distance (interval d _j ) of the laser radar mount 71. With the coordinate position detection process, the coordinates P _ji (α of each measurement point) in each of k virtual cross sections (surfaces substantially orthogonal to the vehicle width direction and along the vehicle front-rear direction) having different positions in the vehicle width direction. _ji , β _i ) are detected. Note that j is an integer value from 1 to k. The laser radar 61 transmits the coordinates P _ji (α _ji , β _i ) of each measurement point to the ECU 15 as detection data.

The arithmetic processing unit 31 calculates coordinates P _CG (α _CG , β _CG ) of the center of gravity of the entire load 68 using the coordinates (α _ji , β _ji ) of each measurement point P _ji received from the laser radar 61. . Hereinafter, a description will be given of a method of calculating the coordinates P _CG the center of gravity.

As described above, detecting the coordinates P _ji (α _ji , β _ji ) of each measurement point in each of k virtual cross sections having different positions in the vehicle width direction means that the entire load 68 is longitudinally (front and rear of the vehicle). (Vertical direction) is divided into k vertical blocks, and the coordinates P _ji (α _ji , β _ji ) of the virtual cross section are detected for each vertical block.

  For each vertical block, as in the first embodiment, when the virtual cross section of the entire load 68 is divided into a plurality of rectangles, the area of each rectangle is represented by the following equation (31):

The coordinates P _jiCG (α _jiCG , β _jiCG ) of the gravity center position of the i-th rectangle in the j-th vertical block is _expressed by the following equation (32). In the following equation (32), i = 0, 1, 2,..., N, and j = 1, 2,.

The coordinates P _jCG (α _jCG , β _jCG ) of the center-of-gravity position of the j-th vertical block is _{expressed by the} following equation (33) from the moment balance.

The value of β _CG of the coordinates P _CG (α _CG , β _CG ) of the center of gravity of the entire load 68 is the height of the center of gravity h _Lb of the entire load 68 from the cargo compartment floor 67, and the width (interval d _j ) Considering the difference, the following equation (34) is obtained from the balance of moments.

When the height difference between the center of gravity height and luggage compartment floor 67 of the vehicle unladen state and h _vb, the difference h _vf in height between the height of the center of gravity of the center of gravity height and load 68 of the vehicle, a first embodiment Similarly, it is calculated by equation (30).

  Next, the product load center height estimation process executed by the ECU 15 will be described based on the flowcharts of FIGS. 25 and 26. Note that other processes executed by the ECU 15 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  In the process of step S70 shown in FIG. 15, when it is determined that the current sprung mass m calculated in the sprung mass estimation calculation process in step S1 is different from the past sprung mass mpast stored in the storage unit 37, Proceeding to step S71, product load center height estimation processing is executed.

In the product load center height estimation process of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 25, it is determined whether or not the count value (number of movements) j of the movement number counter in the storage unit 37 exceeds a predetermined number k (step S81). , is less than the predetermined number of times k, the process proceeds to step S82, the controls the stepping motor 73 to move a predetermined distance _{d j} min laser radar mount 71 in the vehicle width direction (step S82).

In step S83, the laser radar 61 is controlled to detect and read the load section coordinates (α _ji , β _ji ).

In the detection and reading processing of the load section coordinates, as shown in FIG. 26, the ECU 15 determines whether or not the count value (angle change count) i of the angle change count counter in the storage unit 37 exceeds a predetermined number n. (Step S91) If the predetermined number of times is less than n, the laser radar 61 is controlled to rotate the laser beam emission angle θ to θ ₀ + iΔθ (Step S92), and the laser radar 61 loads the measurement point P _ji . The cross-sectional coordinates (α _ji , β _ji ) are detected, and the detected data are received and read (step S93). When the reception and reading of the detection data are completed, the count value (change count) i of the angle change count counter in the storage unit 37 is incremented by 1 (step S94), and the process returns to step S91.

  If it is determined in step S91 that the count value (change count) i of the angle change count counter is greater than or equal to the predetermined count n, the laser beam emission direction is returned to the initial direction (step S95), and the angle change count counter count value (change) The number of times i is returned to the initial value 1 (step S96), and the process proceeds to step S84 in FIG.

In step S83, by substituting the coordinates (α _1i , β _1i ) of each measurement point P _1i into equations (31) and (32), the area A _ji of each rectangle in the virtual cross section of the jth vertical block and each The β-coordinate β _jiCG of the center of gravity of the rectangle is calculated, and the β-coordinate β _jCG of the centroid of the vertical block is calculated by substituting the area A _ji and β-coordinate β _jiCG into the equation (33), and the process _proceeds to step S85. move on.

  In step S85, the count value (number of movements) j of the movement number counter in the storage unit 37 is incremented by 1, and the process returns to step S81.

If it is determined in step S81 that the count value j of the movement number counter is equal to or greater than the predetermined number k, the process proceeds to step S86, and the β-coordinate β _CG of the center of gravity position of the entire load 68 is calculated by equation (34).
(The center of gravity height h _{Lb of the} entire load 68 from the cargo floor 67 is calculated), and the process proceeds to step S87.

In step S87, the center of gravity of the vehicle is substituted by substituting h _vb for the difference between the height h _Lb and the height of the center of gravity of the empty vehicle stored in advance and the height of the cargo floor 67 in equation (30). The height difference h _vf between the height and the center of gravity height of the load 68 is calculated, and the calculated height difference h _vf is updated and stored in the storage unit 37.

  Next, the stepping motor 73 is controlled to return the laser radar mount 71 to the initial position (step S89), the count value j of the movement counter is returned to the initial value 1 (step S90), and the sprung mass estimation calculation in step S1. The current sprung mass m calculated in the process is updated and stored in the storage unit 37 as mpast (step S90). When the process of step S90 ends, the process proceeds to step S2 of FIG.

  In this embodiment, the laser radar mount 71 is moved in the vehicle width direction along the guide rail 72 by the stepping motor 73. Instead, the plurality of laser radars 61 are moved to the rear end of the cargo space 65. You may arrange | position in a substantially linear form along a vehicle width direction at the upper part.

  According to the present embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the outer surface position of the load 68 is detected three-dimensionally, and therefore the loading state of the load 68 in the cargo space 65 differs in the vehicle width direction. Even so, the height of the center of gravity of the entire load 68 can be accurately estimated.

  Further, the position of the outer surface of the load 68 can be detected three-dimensionally by moving the single laser radar mount 71 in the vehicle width direction.

  Furthermore, since the guide rail 72, the stepping motor 73, and the coupling mechanism 74 are disposed in the upper part of the cargo space 65, a wide area including the lower portion of the cargo space 65 can be used for the load 68.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 27 is a side cross-sectional view schematically showing a luggage compartment provided with a sonar according to the third embodiment, FIG. 28 is a plan view schematically showing the arrangement of the sonar in FIG. 27, and FIG. 29 is a product load core of the third embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows a high estimation process.

  In the present embodiment, by using a plurality of sonar SNs provided on the ceiling plate 66 of the cargo compartment 60, the outer surface position of the load 68 in the cargo compartment space 65 is set along the front-rear position and the height direction along the vehicle longitudinal direction. The three-dimensional detection is performed based on the vertical position and the vehicle width position along the vehicle width direction, and the detection of the outer surface position of the load 68 and the product load center height estimation process executed by the ECU 15 are performed in the first and second embodiments. It differs from the form. In addition, about the structure similar to 1st Embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 27 and 28, on the lower surface of the ceiling plate 66, k × n sonar SNs arranged in a substantially linear shape in k rows in the vehicle width direction and n rows in the vehicle front-rear direction are arranged in a lattice pattern. Is arranged. Note that the sonar SN in the vehicle width direction i-th row is generically represented as SN _ix , the sonar SN in the vehicle longitudinal direction j-th row is generically represented as SN _yj, and the vehicle longitudinal direction j-th row in the vehicle width direction i-th row. The sonar SN of the eye is denoted as SN _ij . Each sonar SN transmits a sound wave and receives a reflected wave in accordance with a control signal from the load position detection control unit 62 of the ECU 15, detects a distance σ to the outer surface of the load 68 vertically below, and detects the detected distance σ Is transmitted to the ECU 15. For example, the sonar SN _ij detects the distance σ _ij . Further, sonar _SN 1x the right and left (both vehicle transverse direction end), _{SN kx} are respectively arranged from both vehicle transverse direction end of the luggage compartment space 65 (the inner surface of the side plate 70) by a predetermined distance [delta] _2/2, while , SN _{(k−2) x} , and SN _{(k−1) x} are arranged with a predetermined distance δ ₂ between the sonars SN _2x , SN _3x,. Further, the sonars SN _y1 and SN _{yn at} the front end and the rear end (both ends in the vehicle front-rear direction) are respectively a predetermined distance δ _1/2 from both ends in the vehicle front-rear direction (the rear surface of the front plate 90 and the front surface of the door 69). The sonars SN _y2 , SN _y3 ,..., SN _{y (n−2)} , SN _{y (n−1)} between them are arranged with a predetermined distance δ ₁ .

  Next, in this embodiment, the product load center height estimation process which the arithmetic processing part 31 of ECU15 performs is demonstrated.

  In the product load center height estimation process, the arithmetic processing unit 31 outputs a process start signal to the load position detection control unit 62, and the load position detection control unit 62 that has received the process start signal outputs a control signal to each sonar SN. Each sonar SN detects the distance σ to the outer surface of the load 86 in the vertically downward direction, and transmits the detected distance σ to the ECU 15 as detection data.

  The arithmetic processing unit 31 calculates the height of the center of gravity of the entire load 68 using the distance σ at each measurement point received from the laser radar 61. Hereinafter, a method for calculating the height of the center of gravity will be described.

When the sonar SN _ij in the vehicle width direction i-th row and the vehicle longitudinal direction j-th row detects the distance σ _ij , the front and lower ends of the luggage space 65 are set as the origin, and the vehicle rear and upper sides from the origin are the α axis and β axis, respectively. in the coordinate plane and, beta coordinates beta _ij measurement points by sonar SN _ij, when the distance from the luggage compartment floor 67 to the ceiling plate 66 and beta _L, represented by the following formula (35).

Since the mounting intervals of the sonar SN are σ ₁ and σ _2, it is assumed that the height of the rectangular column (β coordinate of the upper surface) having the upper and lower surfaces of the rectangle of σ ₁ × σ ₂ is detected by the sonar SN _ij . The volume V _ij can be expressed by the following equation (36).

Assuming that the density ρ of the load 68 is constant, the mass m _{ij of the} quadrangular column is expressed by the following equation (37):

The β coordinate β _CGij of the center of gravity position of the quadrangular prism is _expressed by the following equation (38).

From the balance of the moment about the beta coordinates beta _CG cargo 68 overall center-of-gravity position, the following relationship (39) holds.

  Substituting the above equations (37) and (38) into the above equation (39) yields the following equation (40).

From the above equation (40), β _CG becomes the following equation (41):

Further, when the above equation (35) is substituted into the above equation (41), _βCG is expressed by the following equation (42).

Therefore, the distance β _L from the cargo floor 67 to the ceiling board 66 is stored in advance in the storage unit 37 as a vehicle-specific value, and the distance β _L and the detected distance σ _ij detected by the sonar SN _ij by substituting 42), it is possible to calculate the beta coordinates beta _CG the center of gravity of the entire load 68.

Further, when the height difference between the center of gravity height and luggage compartment floor 67 of the vehicle unladen state and h _vb, the height difference h _vf of the height of the center of gravity of the center of gravity height and load 68 of the vehicle, the first embodiment Similar to the form, it is calculated by the equation (30).

  Next, the product load center height estimation process executed by the ECU 15 will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. Note that other processes executed by the ECU 15 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  In the process of step S70 shown in FIG. 15, when it is determined that the current sprung mass m calculated in the sprung mass estimation calculation process in step S1 is different from the past sprung mass mpast stored in the storage unit 37, Proceeding to step S71, product load center height estimation processing is executed.

In the product load center height estimation process of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 29, the ECU 15 reads detection data (distance σ _ij ) from each sonar SN _ij (step S101), and the read distance σ _ij is stored in advance. By substituting the distance β _L into the equation (42), the β coordinate β _CG of the center of gravity of the entire load 68 is calculated (step S102), and the center of gravity of the vehicle and the center of gravity of the load 68 are calculated by the equation (30). The height difference h _vf is calculated (step S103), and the current sprung mass m calculated in the sprung mass estimation calculation process in step S1 is updated and stored in the storage unit 37 as mpast (step S104). When the process of step S104 ends, the process proceeds to step S2 of FIG.

  According to the present embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the outer surface position of the load 68 is detected three-dimensionally, and therefore the loading state of the load 68 in the cargo space 65 differs in the vehicle width direction. Even so, the height of the center of gravity of the entire load 68 can be accurately estimated.

  Moreover, the outer surface position of the load 68 can be detected simultaneously three-dimensionally by the sonar SN fixed to the ceiling board 66, and the time required for the product load center estimation process can be shortened.

  As mentioned above, although the embodiment to which the invention made by the present inventor is applied has been described, the present invention is not limited by the discussion and the drawings that form part of the disclosure of the present invention according to this embodiment. That is, it is needless to say that other embodiments, examples, operation techniques, and the like made by those skilled in the art based on this embodiment are all included in the scope of the present invention.

  The driving support information providing apparatus according to the present invention can be used by being mounted on various vehicles.

It is a block diagram which shows the driving assistance information provision apparatus provided with the product load center height estimation apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a side sectional view schematically showing a luggage compartment of a vehicle according to a first embodiment. It is a schematic diagram explaining the method of calculating the gravity center height of the whole load. 1 is a side view showing a vehicle according to a first embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows typically the VV arrow cross section of the vehicle of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the aspect which replaced with the upper limit speed display apparatus of FIG. 2, and used the navigation apparatus. It is a top view which shows an example of the screen displayed on the display part of the navigation apparatus of FIG. It is a wheel load map which shows the relationship between static vehicle height and wheel load. It is a wheel rate map which shows the relationship between wheel load and a wheel rate. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which the wheel of the vehicle currently drive | working at vehicle speed hits the corner | angular part of a level | step difference, and passes. It is a figure which shows the change of the speed of the up-down direction of the wheel after contacting a corner | angular part. It is a schematic diagram which shows the vibration model at the time of a wheel passing a level | step difference. It is a schematic diagram which shows the relationship between a roll center and each gravity center height. It is a schematic diagram which shows the load movement by a roll. It is a flowchart which shows a main routine process. It is a flowchart which shows a sprung mass estimation calculation process and a wheel rate estimation calculation process. It is a flowchart which shows a product load center height estimation process. It is a flowchart which shows a road surface shape factor calculation recording process. It is a flowchart which shows a turning radius calculation process. It is a flowchart which shows an upper limit vehicle speed calculation recording process. It is a flowchart which shows an upper limit vehicle speed correction process. It is a top view which shows typically the rear end part of the luggage compartment provided with the laser radar mount which has a laser radar which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 23 is a front view of FIG. 22. 22 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XXIV-XXIV. It is a flowchart which shows a product load center height estimation process. It is a flowchart which shows a coordinate detection reading process. It is a side section showing typically a luggage room provided with a sonar concerning a 3rd embodiment. It is a top view which shows typically arrangement | positioning of the sonar of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows a product load center height estimation process.

Explanation of symbols

11: GPS receiver 12: vehicle speed sensor 13: vertical acceleration sensor 14: vehicle height sensor 15: ECU
16: External storage device 17: Upper limit vehicle speed display device 18: Alarm buzzer 19: Lateral acceleration sensor 20: Truck (vehicle)
21: Cab 22: Front wheel 23: Rear wheel 24: Vehicle body 25: Rear axle 26, 27: Suspension 31: Calculation processing unit (product load center height calculation means, determination means)
32: Road surface shape data recording / retrieving unit 33: Buffer memory 34: Upper limit vehicle speed display / warning instruction unit 35: Road surface information database file 36: Upper limit vehicle speed data file 40: Navigation device 41: Map database file 42: Navigation control unit 43: Display unit 44: Voice generation unit 45: Display screen 49: Map image 60: Cargo compartment 61: Laser radar (load coordinate detection means, detection unit)
65: Cargo space 66: Ceiling board 68: Load 71: Laser radar mount 72: Guide rail (detector moving means)
73: Stepping motor (detection unit moving means, drive unit)
74: Connecting mechanism (connecting part moving means)
SN: Sonar (load coordinate detection means)

Claims (6)

A product load center height estimation device mounted on a vehicle having a luggage compartment,
Load coordinate detection means for detecting the outer surface position of the load in the cargo space defined by the cargo space at a plurality of locations as coordinates in the cargo space;
Using a plurality of coordinates detected by the load coordinate detection means, product load center height calculation means for calculating the center of gravity height of the entire load in the cargo space,
An apparatus for estimating a product load center height of a vehicle, comprising: The product load center height estimation device according to claim 1,
The load coordinate detection means detects the outer surface position of the load in a three-dimensional manner by a front-rear position along the vehicle front-rear direction, a vertical position along the height direction, and a vehicle width position along the vehicle width direction. An apparatus for estimating a product load center height of a vehicle. The product load center height estimation device according to claim 2,
The cargo coordinate detection means includes:
A detection unit that detects the front-rear position and the vertical position in a virtual cross section that intersects the vehicle width direction and extends along the vehicle front-rear direction;
A vehicle load-bearing height estimation device, comprising: a detection unit movable unit configured to move the detection unit in a vehicle width direction and move the virtual cross section in the vehicle width direction to change the vehicle width position. . The product load center height estimation device according to claim 3,
The detector moving means is
A guide rail that is fixed to the cargo compartment at the upper part of the cargo compartment space, extends along the vehicle width direction, and slidably supports the detection unit;
A drive unit fixed to the luggage compartment at the top of the luggage compartment space;
An apparatus for estimating the product load center height of a vehicle, comprising: a coupling mechanism that couples the detection unit and the drive unit and moves the detection unit by the drive unit. The product load center height estimation device according to claim 1 or 2,
The load coordinate detection means is fixed to a plurality of positions on a ceiling plate that defines an upper portion of the cargo space, and each of the load coordinate detection means includes a plurality of detection units that detect the vertical position of the outer surface of the load. Product load center height estimation device. The product load center height estimation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A determination means for determining whether or not the state of the load in the cargo space is likely to change or whether it has changed;
The product load center height calculation means calculates the center of gravity height of the entire load when the determination means determines that there is a possibility that the state of the load in the cargo space has changed or has changed. Vehicle load center height estimation device.

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