JP2020008095A - Vehicle controller - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent a subsequent vehicle from being adversely affected in a case where temporary driving force loss occurs.SOLUTION: A vehicle controller 50 comprises: a travel control unit 46 that controls an actuator AC; a position sensor 32a that detects that driving force loss in which driving force transmitted from an engine to wheels temporarily decreases has occurred, when the travel control unit 46 controls the actuator AC; a torque sensor 32b that detects actual driving force; and an approach suppression control unit 47 that performs an approach suppression control of suppressing the degree of approach of a subsequent vehicle to the own vehicle, when the driving force loss is detected by the position sensor 32a, and it is detected that the actual driving force detected by the torque sensor 32b has decreased to a predetermined value or less.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle control device.

  During traveling of the vehicle, the driving force transmitted from the driving source to the axle may be temporarily reduced due to an accidental event. In this regard, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a sleeve that is supported by a hub that rotates integrally with a rotation shaft of a transmission so as to be movable in the axial direction, and that is disposed on the side of the sleeve and that can rotate relative to the rotation shaft. And a gear that establishes a shift speed by in-gearing dog teeth provided on the sleeve and dog teeth provided on the gear. In the device described in Patent Document 1, when the in-gear fails and power cannot be transmitted through the gear even though the in-gear is attempted by instructing the movement of the sleeve, the power is transmitted from the drive source to the axle. The driving force temporarily decreases, but at this time, the sleeve is returned to the neutral position and the in-gear is tried again.

JP-A-10-299884

  However, in the device described in Patent Literature 1, there is a possibility that the driving force is lost from the failure of the in-gear to the termination of the in-gear due to the in-gear retry, and the vehicle is temporarily decelerated. As a result, for example, when there is a following vehicle, the following vehicle may approach the own vehicle suddenly.

  A vehicle control device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a traveling control unit that controls a traveling actuator, and a driving force that is transmitted from a driving source to wheels when the traveling control unit is controlling the traveling actuator. A driving force loss detecting unit that detects that a falling driving force loss has occurred, a driving force detecting unit that detects an actual driving force, and a driving force loss detecting unit that detects a driving force loss, and that is detected by the driving force detecting unit. And an approach suppression control unit that executes an approach suppression control that suppresses a degree of approach of the following vehicle to the own vehicle when it is detected that the actual driving force has decreased to a predetermined value or less.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the sudden approach of the following vehicle with respect to the own vehicle at the time of drive force loss can be suppressed.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a traveling system of an automatic driving vehicle to which a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an entire configuration of an automatic driving vehicle system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows an example of the action plan produced | generated by the action plan production | generation part of FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a failure handling promotion device included in the automatic driving vehicle system. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the controller of FIG. 4 is a time chart illustrating an example of an operation of the vehicle control device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The vehicle control device according to the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to both a vehicle having an automatic driving function (autonomous driving vehicle) and a vehicle having no automatic driving function (manual driving vehicle). Particularly, an example in which the present invention is applied to an automatic driving vehicle will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a traveling system of an automatic driving vehicle 200 (sometimes simply referred to as a vehicle or a host vehicle) to which the vehicle control device according to the present embodiment is applied. The vehicle 200 can run not only in the automatic driving mode in which the driving operation by the driver is unnecessary, but also in the manual driving mode by the driving operation of the driver.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 200 has an engine 1 and a transmission 2. The engine 1 mixes intake air supplied through a throttle valve 11 and fuel injected from an injector 12 at an appropriate ratio, ignites with an ignition plug or the like, burns, and thereby generates rotational power. Engine (for example, a gasoline engine). It should be noted that various engines such as a diesel engine can be used instead of the gasoline engine. The intake air amount is adjusted by the throttle valve 11, and the opening degree of the throttle valve 11 is changed by driving the throttle actuator 13 which is operated by an electric signal. The opening of the throttle valve 11 and the amount of fuel injected from the injector 12 (injection timing and injection time) are controlled by the controller 40 (FIG. 2).

  The transmission 2 is provided on a power transmission path between the engine 1 and the wheels (drive wheels) 3, changes the speed of rotation from the engine 1, and converts and outputs torque from the engine 1. The rotation that has been shifted by the transmission 2 is transmitted to the wheels 3, whereby the vehicle 200 runs. Note that a vehicle for driving may be provided as a drive source instead of or in addition to the engine 1 to configure the vehicle 200 as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle.

  The transmission 2 is a stepped transmission that can change the gear ratio stepwise according to, for example, a plurality of shift speeds (sixth, eight, etc.). Note that the transmission 2 may be configured as a dual clutch transmission or a twin clutch transmission having a pair of clutches for the odd gear and the even gear. A continuously variable transmission that can change the gear ratio steplessly can also be used as the transmission 2. Although not shown, power from the engine 1 may be input to the transmission 2 via a torque converter. The transmission 2 includes an engagement element 21 such as a dog clutch or a friction clutch. The hydraulic control device 22 controls the flow of oil from a hydraulic source to the engagement element 21 to change the gear position of the transmission 2. can do. The hydraulic control device 22 includes a transmission valve mechanism (for convenience, referred to as a shift actuator 23) such as a solenoid valve that is activated by an electric signal, and applies a force to the engagement element 21 according to the operation of the shift actuator 23. By changing the flow of the pressure oil, an appropriate gear can be set.

  The traveling of the self-driving vehicle 200 is controlled by the self-driving vehicle system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating an entire configuration of the automatic driving vehicle system 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic driving vehicle system 100 includes a controller 40, an external sensor group 31, an internal sensor group 32, an input / output device 33, and a GPS receiver 34 electrically connected to the controller 40. , A map database 35, a navigation device 36, a communication unit 37, and a travel actuator AC.

  The external sensor group 31 is a general term for a plurality of sensors that detect an external situation that is information about the periphery of the vehicle 200. For example, the external sensor group 31 measures the scattered light with respect to the illuminating light in all directions of the vehicle 200 to measure the distance from the vehicle 200 to a nearby obstacle. A radar that detects other vehicles and obstacles around the vehicle 200, a camera that is mounted on the vehicle 200, and has an image sensor such as a CCD or a CMOS and images the periphery (front, rear, and side) of the vehicle 200, and the like. included. The inter-vehicle distance from the vehicle 200 to the vehicle in front can be measured by any of a lidar, a radar, and a vehicle-mounted camera.

  The internal sensor group 32 is a general term for a plurality of sensors that detect the running state of the vehicle 200. For example, the internal sensor group 32 includes a vehicle speed sensor that detects the vehicle speed of the vehicle 200, an acceleration sensor that detects the longitudinal acceleration and the lateral acceleration (lateral acceleration) of the vehicle 200, and an engine that detects the rotation speed of the engine 1. It includes a rotational speed sensor, a yaw rate sensor that detects a rotational angular velocity around the vertical axis of the center of gravity of the vehicle 200, a throttle opening sensor that detects the opening of the throttle valve 11, and the like. The internal sensor group 32 also includes a sensor that detects a driver's driving operation in the manual driving mode, for example, an operation of an accelerator pedal, an operation of a brake pedal, an operation of steering, and the like.

  The input / output device 33 is a generic name of a device to which a command is input from a driver or information is output to the driver. For example, the input / output device 33 includes various switches for the driver to input various commands by operating the operation member, a microphone for the driver to input commands by voice, a display unit for providing information to the driver via a display image, and a voice for the driver. And a speaker that provides information. The various switches include a manual / automatic changeover switch for instructing one of the automatic operation mode and the manual operation mode.

  The manual automatic changeover switch is configured as, for example, a switch that can be manually operated by a driver, and issues a switch command to an automatic operation mode in which the automatic operation function is enabled or a manual operation mode in which the automatic operation function is disabled according to the switch operation. Output. Regardless of the operation of the manual / automatic changeover switch, when a predetermined traveling condition is satisfied, switching from the manual operation mode to the automatic operation mode or switching from the automatic operation mode to the manual operation mode may be instructed. Good. That is, mode switching may be performed automatically instead of manually by automatically switching the manual automatic switch.

  The GPS receiver 34 receives positioning signals from a plurality of GPS satellites, and measures the absolute position (latitude, longitude, etc.) of the vehicle based on the received positioning signals.

  The map database 35 is a device that stores general map information used for the navigation device 36, and is configured by, for example, a hard disk. The map information includes road position information, road shape (curvature and the like) information, and intersection and branch point position information. Note that the map information stored in the map database 35 is different from the highly accurate map information stored in the storage unit 42 of the controller 40.

  The navigation device 36 is a device that searches for a target route on a road to a destination input by a driver and performs guidance along the target route. The input of the destination and the guidance along the target route are performed via the input / output device 33. The target route is calculated based on the current position of the vehicle 200 measured by the GPS receiver 34 and the map information stored in the map database 35.

  The communication unit 37 communicates with various servers (not shown) via a network including a wireless communication network such as an Internet line, and acquires map information and traffic information from the server periodically or at an arbitrary timing. The acquired map information is output to the map database 35 and the storage unit 42, and the map information is updated. The acquired traffic information includes traffic congestion information and signal information such as the remaining time until the traffic light changes from red to blue.

  The actuator AC is for operating various devices related to the traveling operation of the vehicle 200. The actuator AC includes a throttle actuator 13 for adjusting the opening degree (throttle opening degree) of the throttle valve 11 of the engine 1 shown in FIG. 1, and a shift stage of the transmission 2 by controlling the flow of oil to the engagement element 21. In addition to the speed change actuator 23 that changes the speed, a brake actuator that operates the braking device, a steering actuator that drives the steering device, and the like are included.

  The controller 40 is configured by an electronic control unit (ECU). Note that a plurality of ECUs having different functions such as an engine control ECU and a transmission control ECU can be separately provided, but FIG. 2 shows the controller 40 as a set of these ECUs for convenience. The controller 40 includes a computer having an arithmetic unit 41 such as a CPU, a storage unit 42 such as a ROM, a RAM, and a hard disk, and other peripheral circuits (not shown).

  The storage unit 42 stores high-precision detailed map information including information on the center position of the lane, information on the boundary of the lane position, and the like. More specifically, road information, traffic regulation information, address information, facility information, telephone number information, and the like are stored as map information. The road information includes information indicating types of roads such as expressways, toll roads, and national roads, the number of lanes of the road, the width of each lane, the gradient of the road, the three-dimensional coordinate position of the road, the curvature of the lane curve, and the lane curve. Information such as the positions of junction points and branch points, road signs, and the like is included. The traffic regulation information includes information indicating that lane travel is restricted or closed due to construction or the like. The storage unit 42 also stores various control programs and information such as thresholds used in the programs.

  The arithmetic unit 41 includes a host vehicle position recognizing unit 43, an external world recognizing unit 44, an action plan generating unit 45, and a running control unit 46 as functional components related to automatic running.

  The vehicle position recognition unit 43 recognizes the position of the vehicle 200 on the map (the vehicle position) based on the position information of the vehicle 200 received by the GPS receiver 34 and the map information of the map database 35. The own vehicle position may be recognized using the map information (information such as the shape of the building) stored in the storage unit 42 and the peripheral information of the vehicle 200 detected by the external sensor group 31. Can be recognized with high accuracy. When the position of the vehicle can be measured by a sensor installed on the road or outside the side of the road, the vehicle position can be recognized with high accuracy by communicating with the sensor via the communication unit 37. it can.

  The external world recognition unit 44 recognizes an external situation around the vehicle 200 based on a signal from the external sensor group 31 such as a rider, a radar, and a camera. For example, the position, speed, and acceleration of peripheral vehicles (vehicles ahead and following vehicles) traveling around the vehicle 200, the position of peripheral vehicles stopped or parked around the vehicle 200, and the position and state of other objects, etc. recognize. Other objects include signs, traffic lights, road boundaries and stop lines, buildings, guardrails, utility poles, signs, pedestrians, bicycles, and the like. Other object states include the color of the traffic light (red, blue, yellow) and the speed and direction of the pedestrian or bicycle.

  For example, the action plan generation unit 45 determines the current time based on the target route calculated by the navigation device 36, the vehicle position recognized by the vehicle position recognition unit 43, and the external situation recognized by the external world recognition unit 44. A traveling trajectory (target trajectory) of the vehicle 200 from a time to a predetermined time ahead is generated. When there are a plurality of trajectories that are candidates for the target trajectory on the target route, the action plan generation unit 45 selects an optimal trajectory that satisfies the laws and regulations and satisfies the criteria of efficiently and safely running from the trajectories. Then, the selected trajectory is set as the target trajectory. Then, the action plan generation unit 45 generates an action plan according to the generated target trajectory.

  The action plan includes travel plan data set for each unit time Δt (for example, 0.1 second) from the present time to a predetermined time T (for example, 5 seconds) ahead, that is, time corresponding to the unit time Δt. The set travel plan data is included. The travel plan data includes the position data of the vehicle 200 and the data of the vehicle state for each unit time Δt. The position data is, for example, data of a target point indicating a two-dimensional coordinate position on a road, and the vehicle state data is vehicle speed data indicating a vehicle speed, direction data indicating the direction of the vehicle 200, and the like. The vehicle state data can be obtained from a change in position data for each unit time Δt. The travel plan is updated every unit time Δt.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the action plan generated by the action plan generation unit 45. In FIG. 3, in a state where the front vehicle 201 and the following vehicle 202 are traveling in front and behind the vehicle 200, respectively, the vehicle 200 changes lanes from the traveling lane to the overtaking lane, and the following vehicle 203 is traveling in the overtaking lane. An action plan for a scene moving forward and overtaking the preceding vehicle 201 is shown. Each point P in FIG. 3 corresponds to position data for each unit time Δt from the current time to a destination of a predetermined time T, and the target trajectory 103 is obtained by connecting these points P in time order. At this time, the acceleration (target acceleration) for each unit time Δt is calculated based on the vehicle speed (target vehicle speed) at each target point on the target track 103 for each unit time Δt. That is, the action plan generation unit 45 calculates the target vehicle speed and the target acceleration. Note that the target acceleration may be calculated by the travel control unit 46.

  In the action plan generation unit 45, in addition to the overtaking travel, various action plans corresponding to lane change travel for changing the travel lane, lane keeping travel for maintaining the lane so as not to deviate from the travel lane, deceleration travel or acceleration travel, etc. Generated. When generating the target trajectory, the action plan generation unit 45 first determines the driving mode and generates the target trajectory based on the driving mode. For example, when creating an action plan corresponding to lane keeping traveling, first, traveling modes such as constant speed traveling, following traveling, decelerating traveling, and curve traveling are determined.

  The travel control unit 46 controls each actuator AC so that the vehicle 200 travels along the target trajectory 103 generated by the action plan generation unit 45 in the automatic driving mode. That is, the throttle actuator 13, the shift actuator 23, the brake actuator, the steering actuator, and the like are controlled such that the vehicle 200 passes the target point P for each unit time Δt.

  More specifically, the driving control unit 46 takes into account the driving resistance determined by the road gradient or the like in the automatic driving mode, and calculates the required driving for obtaining the target acceleration per unit time Δt calculated by the action plan generating unit 45. Calculate the force (target driving force). Then, for example, the actuator AC is feedback-controlled so that the actual vehicle speed or the actual acceleration detected by the internal sensor group 32 becomes the target vehicle speed or the target acceleration. That is, the actuator AC is controlled so that the vehicle 200 runs at the target vehicle speed and the target acceleration. In the manual operation mode, the travel control unit 46 controls each actuator AC according to a travel command (accelerator opening and the like) from the driver acquired by the internal sensor group 32.

  In the above-described automatic driving vehicle system 100, while the vehicle 200 is traveling, the driving force transmitted from the engine 1 to the wheels 3 temporarily drops below the target driving force due to an accidental event. May occur. For example, when the engagement operation (in-gear) of the engagement element 21 is started to change the gear position of the transmission 2, the engagement operation fails and the engagement operation is restarted (in-gear retry). In this case, power transmission via the gear is temporarily disabled, and a driving force is lost.

  In addition, when the shift between the target position and the actual position of the shift component driven by the shift actuator 23 occurs and the controller 40 cannot determine the gear position, that is, when a gear invalid occurs, the gear position is grasped. For this reason, the shift actuator 23 is driven in a predetermined manner (so-called reference search), but a driving force loss occurs even during the execution of the reference search. Further, when the reliability of the clutch decreases, a forced refill is performed such that the clutch oil pressure is once released to the atmosphere and then restored, but the driving force is lost even during the execution of the forced refill.

  Such a driving force loss is not an event caused by the failure of the self-driving vehicle system 100, and therefore does not cause much problem for the vehicle 200. However, if the driving force loss occurs accidentally, the vehicle speed becomes lower than the target vehicle speed, and the inter-vehicle distance ΔL (FIG. 3) between the vehicle 200 and the following vehicle 202 decreases. That is, since the driver of the following vehicle 202 does not expect the deceleration of the vehicle 200, the driver of the following vehicle 202 cannot immediately recognize the deceleration of the vehicle 200, and the following vehicle 202 may approach the vehicle 200 suddenly. In order to deal with such a problem, in the present embodiment, the vehicle control device is configured as follows.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of the vehicle control device 50 according to the present embodiment. The vehicle control device 50 includes a configuration related to automatic driving of the vehicle 200. Therefore, although it has a partly common configuration with the automatic driving vehicle system 100 of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 shows only a main configuration used as the vehicle control device 50.

  In the following, as an example in which the driving force is lost, it is assumed, for convenience, that the in-gear has failed and the in-gear retry has been performed despite the fact that the in-gear was attempted by moving the sleeve for gear engagement by driving the shift actuator 23. . In other words, it is assumed that an in-gear command is output to establish a predetermined gear position, and the sleeve corresponding to the in-gear command is moved, but an in-gear retry is performed without moving the sleeve to the predetermined in-gear position. I do. Note that the same configuration can be applied to a case where a driving force is lost due to a gear invalid or a forced refill.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle control device 50 includes a controller 40, a position sensor 32a, a torque sensor 32b, a vehicle speed sensor 32c, a distance sensor 31a, and a manual automatic changeover switch 33a connected to the controller 40, respectively. , An actuator AC, and a brake lamp 51.

  The position sensor 32a is a sensor that detects the position of a gear engagement sleeve provided on the transmission 2, and is an example of the internal sensor group 32 in FIG. Note that the position sensor 32a can be configured by a contact switch that is turned on when the sleeve moves to a predetermined in-gear position. The driving force loss can be detected by the position sensor 32a. The torque sensor 32 b is provided on an axle connected to the wheels 3 and detects actual torque (running driving force) acting on the axle, and is an example of the internal sensor group 32. The actual torque can be calculated using the torque of the engine 1, the speed of the transmission 2, the transmission efficiency of the torque in the transmission 2, and the like, and can be used instead of the torque sensor 32b.

  The distance sensor 31a detects a distance ΔL (FIG. 3) from the vehicle 100 to a surrounding object (for example, a following vehicle 202). The distance sensor 31a is an example of the external sensor group 31 shown in FIG. 2, and includes a radar, a rider, a camera, and the like. The manual / automatic changeover switch 33a is an example of the input / output device 33 in FIG. The brake lamp 51 is a vehicle lamp stipulated by law to be mounted on the rear surface of the vehicle 100, and is turned on when the brake is operated by automatic driving or when the brake is operated by operating a brake pedal.

  The controller 40 has, as a main functional configuration, an approach suppression control unit 47 in addition to the action plan generation unit 45 and the travel control unit 46.

  First, the approach suppression control unit 47 determines, based on a signal from the position sensor 32a, whether or not a driving force loss has occurred due to the failure of the in-gear. Specifically, in response to an in-gear command from the controller 40 (travel control unit 46), it is determined that a driving force loss has occurred when the sleeve has stopped moving without moving to the predetermined in-gear position. When it is determined that the driving force is lost, the approach suppression control unit 47 further determines whether or not the actual driving force G detected by the torque sensor 32b has decreased to a predetermined value Ga or less. This determination is for determining whether or not the vehicle 100 decelerates beyond the range of normal vehicle deceleration even when the braking device is not operated. The predetermined value Ga is set to, for example, 0. When the detected actual driving force G is equal to or less than the predetermined value Ga, the approach suppression control unit 47 outputs a control signal to the brake lamp 51, and turns on the brake lamp 51 as in the case where the braking device operates.

  At this time, since the target vehicle speed output by the action plan generation unit 45 and the actual vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed sensor 32c deviate, the target driving force (request driving force) during the feedback control by the traveling control unit 46 increases. I do. The approach suppression control unit 47 determines whether or not the inter-vehicle distance ΔL detected by the distance sensor 31a is equal to or less than a predetermined value ΔLa, and when the inter-vehicle distance ΔL is equal to or less than the predetermined value ΔLa, the driving control feedback control is performed by the traveling control unit 46. On the other hand, when it is larger than the predetermined value ΔLa, the feedback control is prohibited.

  That is, when the inter-vehicle distance ΔL is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value ΔLa, the feedback control is permitted because the vehicle 200 needs to be rapidly accelerated so as not to adversely affect the driver of the following vehicle. As a result, the vehicle 200 is rapidly accelerated at the same time when the driving force loss ends, so that a sufficient inter-vehicle distance ΔL with the following vehicle 202 can be promptly secured. On the other hand, when the inter-vehicle distance ΔL is larger than the predetermined value ΔLa, the feedback control is prohibited because there is no need for rapid acceleration. In this case, the traveling control unit 46 keeps the target driving force constant until the driving force loss ends, for example, so that the actual driving force gradually increases at a predetermined rate toward the target driving force when the driving force loss ends. To control the actuator AC. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the sudden acceleration of the vehicle 200 when the driving force loss ends, and reduce the shock given to the occupant.

  When the driving force loss is detected during the driving in the automatic driving mode and the actual driving force G is equal to or less than the predetermined value Ga, the action plan generation unit 45 excludes the overtaking driving from the generated action plan. Thereby, the traveling control unit 46 controls the actuator AC so as to prohibit the lane change to the overtaking lane for the overtaking traveling.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the CPU of the controller 40 in FIG. 4 according to a program stored in advance. The processing shown in this flowchart is started, for example, when the automatic operation mode is selected by the manual automatic changeover switch 33a, and is repeated at a predetermined cycle.

  As shown in FIG. 5, first, in step S1, it is determined based on a signal from the position sensor 32a whether a temporary drive force loss has occurred. When the result in step S1 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S2, where it is determined whether or not the actual driving force G is equal to or less than a predetermined value Ga based on a signal from the torque sensor 32b. If the result in either step S1 or step S2 is negative, the process proceeds to step S7, in which a control signal is output to the actuator AC so that the actual driving force G matches the target driving force, in other words, the actual vehicle speed becomes the target vehicle speed. I do. That is, feedback control of the actuator AC is performed.

  On the other hand, if affirmative in step S2, the process proceeds to step S3, in which a control signal is output to the brake lamp 51, and the brake lamp 51 is turned on. Next, in step S4, overtaking travel is excluded from the action plan generated by the action plan generation unit 45, and overtaking travel is prohibited. Next, in step S5, it is determined whether or not the inter-vehicle distance ΔL is equal to or less than a predetermined value ΔLa based on a signal from the distance sensor 31a. If affirmative in step S5, the process proceeds to step S7, and if negative, the process proceeds to step S6.

  In step S6, the feedback control of the driving force is prohibited. More specifically, the target driving force is kept constant until the driving force loss ends, and when the driving force loss ends, the target driving force is gradually increased at a predetermined rate so that the actual vehicle speed becomes the target vehicle speed. Although illustration is omitted, when the driving force loss ends, the brake lamp 51 is turned off and the command to prohibit the overtaking is canceled.

  FIG. 6 is a time chart illustrating an example of the operation of the vehicle control device 50 according to the present embodiment. The characteristics f1, f3, and f5 indicated by dotted lines in the drawing are the characteristics of the target vehicle speed, the target driving force when the inter-vehicle distance ΔL is equal to or less than a predetermined value ΔLa, and the target driving force when the inter-vehicle distance ΔL is larger than a predetermined value ΔLa. The solid line characteristics f2, f4, and f6 are the characteristics of the actual vehicle speed, the actual driving force G when ΔL ≦ ΔLa, and the actual driving force G when ΔL> ΔLa, respectively.

  At time t1, when the in-gear of the transmission 2 fails and the transmission 2 shifts from the forward state to the neutral state, the actual driving force G falls below the predetermined value Ga, the driving force is lost, and the brake lamp 51 is turned on (ON). ) (Step S3). Thus, the driver of the following vehicle 202 (FIG. 3) can recognize the deceleration state of the vehicle 200 indicated by the characteristic f2 at an early stage, and can cope with the deceleration of the vehicle 200 with a margin. Thereafter, at time t2, when the in-gear due to the retry of the transmission 2 is completed and the driving force loss ends, the brake lamp 51 is turned off (off).

  At time t1, if the inter-vehicle distance ΔL at the time when the driving force is lost is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value ΔLa, feedback control of the driving force is executed (step S7). At this time, since the vehicle speed gradually deviates from the target vehicle speed as shown by the characteristic f1, the target driving force gradually increases as shown by the characteristic f3. Therefore, when the driving force loss ends at time t2, the actual driving force G sharply rises as indicated by the characteristic f4. As a result, the vehicle 200 is rapidly accelerated, and a sufficient inter-vehicle distance ΔL with the following vehicle 202 can be secured. In this case, since the overtaking is prohibited (step S4), it is possible to prevent the following vehicle 203 (FIG. 3) traveling in the overtaking lane from being adversely affected.

  On the other hand, if the inter-vehicle distance ΔL is greater than the predetermined value ΔLa at time t1, the feedback control is prohibited (step S6). In this case, as indicated by the characteristic f5, the target driving force is maintained constant until the driving force loss ends, and when the driving force loss ends at time t2, the target driving force gradually increases at a predetermined rate. Therefore, since the degree of deviation between the actual driving force G and the target driving force at the time point t2 is smaller than in the case of ΔL ≦ ΔLa, the actual driving force G rises gently at the time point t2 as shown by the characteristic f6. As a result, sudden acceleration of the vehicle 200 is suppressed, and shocks to the occupants can be reduced.

According to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The vehicle control device 50 temporarily controls the driving control unit 46 that controls the driving actuator AC, and the driving force transmitted from the engine 1 to the wheels 3 when the driving control unit 46 controls the actuator AC. , A torque sensor 32b that detects the actual driving force G, and a driving force loss detected by the position sensor 32a, and the actual driving force detected by the torque sensor 32b. An approach suppression control unit 47 that executes an approach suppression control that suppresses the degree of approach of the following vehicle 202 to the vehicle 200 when it is detected that the force G has decreased below the predetermined value Ga (FIG. 4). Thus, when the driving force is lost due to an accidental cause and the vehicle 200 temporarily decelerates unintentionally, it is possible to prevent the following vehicle 202 from approaching the vehicle 200 suddenly.

(2) The vehicle control device 50 further includes a brake lamp 51 that notifies the following vehicle of the deceleration state of the vehicle 200 (FIG. 4). The approach suppression control unit 47 turns on the brake lamp 51 when the position sensor 32a detects that the driving force has dropped and the torque sensor 32b detects that the actual driving force G has dropped below the predetermined value Ga. (Step S3). Thus, the driver of the following vehicle 202 can immediately recognize the deceleration of the vehicle 200 due to the lack of the driving force, and can cope with the deceleration of the vehicle 200 with a margin.

(3) The vehicle control device 50 further includes an action plan generation unit 45 that generates a required driving force during automatic driving, and a distance sensor 31a that detects an inter-vehicle distance ΔL between the vehicle 200 and the following vehicle 202 ( (Fig. 4). The approach suppression control unit 47 detects by the distance sensor 31a when the driving force loss is detected by the position sensor 32a and when it is detected that the actual driving force G detected by the torque sensor 32b drops below the predetermined value Ga. When the detected inter-vehicle distance ΔL is equal to or less than a predetermined value ΔLa, the traveling control is performed so that the actual driving force G detected by the torque sensor 32b becomes the target driving force (requested driving force) generated by the action plan generation unit 45. While the feedback control of the driving force is performed by the unit 46 (step S5 → step S7), when the inter-vehicle distance ΔL detected by the distance sensor 31a is larger than the predetermined value ΔLa, the feedback control of the driving force by the traveling control unit 46 is prohibited. (Step S5 → Step S6). As a result, when the inter-vehicle distance ΔL becomes short due to the lack of the driving force, the inter-vehicle distance ΔL can be immediately increased at the same time as the end of the lack of the driving force, thereby preventing the following vehicle 202 from approaching suddenly. In addition, when the inter-vehicle distance ΔL is equal to or greater than the predetermined value ΔLa and, for example, there is no following vehicle 202, rapid acceleration of the vehicle 200 is limited, and shock to the occupant of the vehicle 200 can be reduced.

(4) The vehicle 200 is configured as an automatic driving vehicle having an automatic driving function. The traveling control unit 46 detects that the driving force omission is detected by the position sensor 32a during the automatic driving traveling and that the actual driving force G detected by the torque sensor 32b is reduced to a predetermined value Ga or less. The lane change for overtaking the preceding vehicle 201 (FIG. 3) is prohibited (step S4). As a result, when the driving force is lost, the lane change is not automatically performed, and it is possible to prevent the following vehicle 203 from adversely affecting the following vehicle 203, such as a sudden deceleration of the following vehicle 203 traveling in the overtaking lane.

  The above embodiment can be changed to various forms. Hereinafter, modified examples will be described. In the above-described embodiment, the drive sensor loss is detected by detecting the failure of the in-gear of the transmission 2 by the position sensor 32a. However, when the travel control unit 46 controls the travel actuator AC, the drive source supplies the wheels to the wheels. The configuration of the driving force loss detection unit may be any configuration as long as it detects that a driving force loss in which the transmitted driving force temporarily decreases is detected. When a motor is used as the drive source instead of the engine 1, a temporary decrease in the driving force of the motor itself may be detected. In the above embodiment, the actual driving force is detected by the torque sensor 32b. However, the actual torque is detected by using, for example, the torque of the engine 1, the speed of the transmission 2, the transmission efficiency of the torque in the transmission 2, and the like. It can also be calculated and can be used in place of the torque sensor 32b. Therefore, the configuration of the driving force detection unit is not limited to the above.

  In the above-described embodiment, when the driving force dropout is detected and the actual driving force G is reduced to the predetermined value Ga or less, the brake lamp 51 is operated and the degree of the approach of the following vehicle 202 to the vehicle 200 is determined. Was reduced. Further, when the driving force loss is detected, and the actual driving force G is reduced to a predetermined value Ga or less, and the inter-vehicle distance ΔL is equal to or less than a predetermined value ΔLa, the actuator AC is feedback-controlled to the vehicle 200. Of the following vehicle 202 is suppressed. However, at least when the driving force loss is detected, and when it is detected that the actual driving force has decreased to a predetermined value or less, if the approach suppression control that suppresses the degree of approach of the following vehicle to the own vehicle is executed, The configuration of the approach suppression control unit may be any configuration.

  In the above embodiment, the deceleration state of the vehicle 200 is notified to the following vehicle 202 by the brake lamp 51, but the configuration of the deceleration notification unit is not limited to this. For example, the vehicle 200 may output a deceleration state via the communication unit 37, and the subsequent vehicle 202 may acquire the deceleration state to notify the deceleration state. In the above-described embodiment, the inter-vehicle distance ΔL between the vehicle 200 and the following vehicle 202 is detected by the distance sensor 31a, but the configuration of the inter-vehicle distance detection unit is not limited to this. In the above embodiment, the required driving force is generated by the action plan generating unit 45 which is a part of the automatic driving vehicle system 100, but the configuration of the required driving force generating unit is not limited to this.

  In the above embodiment, the vehicle control device 50 is applied to the self-driving vehicle, but the vehicle control device of the present invention can be similarly applied to a manually-driving vehicle having no automatic driving function.

  The above description is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited by the above-described embodiments and modifications as long as the features of the present invention are not impaired. It is also possible to arbitrarily combine one or more of the above-described embodiment and the modifications, and it is also possible to combine the modifications.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 engine, 2 transmission, 3 wheels, 31 a distance sensor, 32 a position sensor, 32 b torque sensor, 40 controller, 45 action plan generation unit, 46 running control unit, 47 approach suppression control unit, 50 vehicle control device, 51 brake lamp , AC actuator

Claims (4)

A traveling control unit that controls the traveling actuator;
When the traveling control unit is controlling the traveling actuator, a driving force loss detection unit that detects that a driving force loss that temporarily reduces the driving force transmitted from the driving source to the wheels has occurred.
A driving force detection unit that detects an actual driving force;
When the driving force loss detecting unit detects the driving force loss and detects that the actual driving force detected by the driving force detecting unit has decreased to a predetermined value or less, the degree of approach of the following vehicle to the own vehicle. A vehicle control device comprising: an approach suppression control unit that executes an approach suppression control that suppresses a vehicle. The vehicle control device according to claim 1,
The vehicle further includes a deceleration notifying unit that notifies the following vehicle of the deceleration state of the own vehicle,
The approach suppression control unit is configured to, when the driving force loss detecting unit detects a driving force loss and detecting that the actual driving force detected by the driving force detecting unit is reduced to a predetermined value or less, the deceleration A vehicle control device for activating a notification unit. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 or 2,
A required driving force generator that generates the required driving force;
An inter-vehicle distance detecting unit that detects an inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and a following vehicle,
The approach suppression control unit is configured to, when the driving force loss detection unit detects a driving force loss, and detects that the actual driving force detected by the driving force detection unit has decreased to the predetermined value or less, the headway When the inter-vehicle distance detected by the distance detecting unit is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the traveling is performed such that the actual driving force detected by the driving force detecting unit becomes the required driving force generated by the required driving force generating unit. While the control unit performs the feedback control of the driving force, when the inter-vehicle distance detected by the inter-vehicle distance detection unit is larger than the predetermined value, the driving control unit controls the driving control unit to prohibit the feedback control of the driving force. Vehicle control device. The vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The own vehicle is an automatic driving vehicle having an automatic driving function,
The traveling control unit detects that a driving force loss is detected by the driving force loss detection unit during the automatic driving traveling, and that the actual driving force detected by the driving force detection unit is reduced to the predetermined value or less. Then, the vehicle control device controls the travel actuator so as to prohibit or delay lane change for overtaking the preceding vehicle.

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