JP2024030184A - Vehicle control device - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device that can suppress the processing load for driving at a set vehicle speed without impairing the sense of acceleration for an occupant. A driving control device 10 detects a vehicle speed when an occupant operates the vehicle speed using a vehicle speed sensor 34, and a characteristic setting device 38 sets two coefficients b and c in a Gompertz curve according to the detected vehicle speed and a change in vehicle speed. Set. When the vehicle speed setting device 36 is designated to maintain the vehicle 12 at a set speed, the vehicle speed setting device 36 sets the vehicle speed and the time change in the vehicle speed based on the Gompertz curve according to the coefficients b and c set in the characteristic setting device 38. , the vehicle ECU 20 controls the engine 14 and the transmission 16 to obtain the set vehicle speed change. Thereby, the vehicle speed can be controlled so that the same feeling of acceleration as when the occupant manipulates the vehicle speed can be obtained, and the processing load for controlling the vehicle speed can be suppressed. [Selection diagram] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle control device that controls vehicle speed.

In the driving assistance device of Patent Document 1, a driving characteristic management server collects position information from each of a plurality of vehicles, vehicle situation information including the structure of the road on which the vehicle is traveling and the presence or absence of surrounding vehicles, and driving behavior information including the driver's acceleration/deceleration movement pattern. Acquire and store each piece of characteristic information. Also. When the set speed of cruise control in a vehicle is changed, the driving characteristic management server acquires the position information, vehicle situation information, and driving characteristic information of the target vehicle from the driving assistance device, and stores the acquired information of the target vehicle. Based on the information and the accumulated information, the driving assist device of the target vehicle sets the set speed when controlling the cruise control speed.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-125724

By the way, when the set speed is changed, if various information is acquired from the vehicle and the set speed is set to be changed based on the acquired information and accumulated information, the driving characteristics will be changed when the set speed is changed. The processing load on the management server increases, and there is room for improvement in setting and changing the setting speed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device that can suppress the processing load without impairing the sense of acceleration given to passengers when the vehicle is traveling at a set vehicle speed.

To achieve the above object, a vehicle control device according to claim 1 includes a detection means for detecting vehicle running information including vehicle speed and time change in vehicle speed, and a detection means for detecting vehicle running information including vehicle speed and time change of vehicle speed, and a detection means for detecting vehicle running information including vehicle speed and time change of vehicle speed. Characteristic setting means for setting the two coefficients using the travel information detected by the detection means for a Gompertz function indicating vehicle speed and vehicle speed change, and setting a Gompertz curve indicated by the Gompertz function; and a speed operation by a passenger. a vehicle speed setting means for setting a vehicle speed that changes toward the set vehicle speed based on the Gompertz curve set by the characteristic setting means when the set vehicle speed is specified to be maintained without using the vehicle speed; When the operation is performed, the vehicle speed is controlled in accordance with the vehicle speed operation by the occupant, and when the set vehicle speed is specified to be maintained without the speed operation by the occupant, the vehicle speed is controlled based on the vehicle speed set by the vehicle speed setting means. and a travel control means for controlling the vehicle speed.

In the invention according to claim 1, when the vehicle speed is operated by the occupant, the traveling control means controls the vehicle speed according to the vehicle speed operation by the occupant, and the detecting means collects vehicle traveling information including the vehicle speed and time changes in the vehicle speed. To detect. Further, the vehicle is provided with a vehicle speed setting means, and when the traveling control means is specified to maintain the set vehicle speed without the speed operation by the occupant, the vehicle speed is controlled based on the setting of the vehicle speed setting means. I do.

Here, when the vehicle speed is operated by the occupant, the characteristic setting means sets two coefficients using the traveling information detected by the detection means for the Gompertz function, in which two coefficients indicate changes in vehicle speed with respect to time changes, and Set the Gompertz curve represented by the function. The vehicle speed setting means sets a vehicle speed that changes toward the set vehicle speed based on the Gompertz curve set by the characteristic setting means when it is specified to maintain the set vehicle speed without a speed operation by a passenger.

This reduces the processing load for setting the Gompertz curve and for setting the vehicle speed based on the Gompertz curve, and prevents an increase in the processing load for driving the vehicle at the set speed. can. Furthermore, when it is specified to maintain the set vehicle speed without involving the occupant's speed operation, the vehicle speed control means can control the vehicle speed so that the vehicle speed changes in the same way as the occupant's vehicle speed operation. It does not impair the feeling of acceleration.

As explained above, according to the present invention, when the vehicle is driven at a set speed, it is possible to suppress an increase in the processing load for controlling the vehicle speed in the same manner as the vehicle speed operation by the occupant.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a travel control device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a Gompertz curve according to the present embodiment. (A) and (B) are diagrams each showing an outline of the Gompertz curve, (A) showing the outline according to the change in the coefficient b in the Gompertz function, and (B) showing the outline according to the change in the coefficient c in the Gompertz function. The outline is shown according to the following. It is a flow chart showing an outline of cruise control processing according to the present embodiment.

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of the main parts of a cruise control device 10 as a vehicle control device according to the present embodiment, and the cruise control device 10 performs speed control (vehicle speed control) in vehicle control of a vehicle 12. take charge Each device installed in the vehicle 12 includes an ECU (Electronics Control Unit), and the ECU in the vehicle 12 includes a microcomputer connected to a CPU, ROM, RAM, non-volatile storage, etc. via a bus. It is composed of necessary functional circuits. In the ECU, the CPU reads programs stored in the ROM and storage, and executes the programs while expanding them in the RAM, thereby realizing functions corresponding to each program. In the vehicle 12, various control functions including travel control are realized by a plurality of devices (ECUs) working together.

The vehicle 12 has an engine 14 (which may be an electric motor or an electric motor and an engine) as a drive source for running, and which decelerates the driving force (rotational force) of the engine 14 and transmits it to drive wheels (not shown). It is equipped with a transmission (automatic transmission) 16. The vehicle 12 includes a vehicle ECU 20 that performs driving control, an engine ECU 22 that controls the engine 14, and a transmission ECU 24 that controls the transmission 16. The vehicle 12 also includes an accelerator device 26, a brake device 28, a shift device 30, and a driving support device 32 that supports the driver's driving operations.

When a passenger operates an accelerator pedal (not shown), the accelerator device 26 outputs a signal to the vehicle ECU 20 according to the amount of operation of the accelerator pedal. Vehicle ECU 20 controls the driving force (rotational force) of engine 14 via engine ECU 22 so that driving force according to the amount of operation of the accelerator pedal is obtained.

The brake device 28 operates a brake (not shown) when an occupant operates a brake pedal (not shown) to decelerate the vehicle. Further, the brake device 28 is connected to the vehicle ECU 20, and the brake device 28 enables deceleration of the vehicle by operating a brake in response to a braking signal from the vehicle ECU 20.

When a shift operation means such as a shift lever (not shown) is operated, the shift device 30 outputs a signal corresponding to the operation of the shift lever to the speed change ECU 24 via the vehicle ECU 20. As a result, in the vehicle 12, the shift range of the transmission 16 is changed in accordance with the operation of the shift lever.

The driving support device 32 is equipped with a detection means such as a millimeter wave radar, for example, and detects at least an object such as a vehicle (preceding vehicle) traveling in front of the vehicle 12 and the distance to the object, and detects the object. It outputs a signal according to the distance to the detected object. At this time, the driving support device 32 can be controlled via the vehicle ECU 20 so that the brake device 28 is activated when the distance to the object (inter-vehicle distance) reaches a preset distance. Thereby, the driving support device 32 can notify the occupants of the approach of a vehicle ahead of the vehicle 12, and can also prevent the vehicle 12 from approaching the vehicle ahead.

A vehicle speed sensor 34 is disposed in the vehicle 12 and detects the traveling speed (vehicle speed) of the vehicle and outputs a signal corresponding to the detected vehicle speed to the vehicle ECU 20. The vehicle ECU 20 controls the reduction ratio in the transmission 16 based on the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 34 and the driving force (rotational speed) of the engine 14, so that the driving wheels are controlled by the required driving force according to the vehicle speed. Control to be driven. Note that the driving support device 32 may be able to control the vehicle ECU 20 to perform automatic driving control of the vehicle without involving the driver's driving operations (vehicle speed, steering, gear change operation, etc.).

On the other hand, in the travel control device 10, the vehicle speed sensor 34 functions as a detection means, and the vehicle ECU 20 functions as a travel control means. The cruise control device 10 also includes a vehicle speed setting device (cruise control device) 36 that functions as a vehicle speed setting device, and a characteristic setting device 38 that functions as a characteristic setting device.

When the set speed is set, the vehicle speed setting device 36 performs a cruise control (CC) function that controls the vehicle speed to be maintained at the set speed without involving the vehicle speed operation (accelerator operation) by the occupant. Realize. Furthermore, the vehicle speed setting device 36 according to the present embodiment is capable of adaptive cruise control (ACC), and is capable of adjusting the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle detected by the driving support device 32 to the required distance between the vehicles. Vehicle speed control is performed to maintain the vehicle speed.

When constant speed driving is not set in the vehicle speed setting device 36 and the vehicle speed of the vehicle 12 is controlled according to the vehicle speed operation by the occupant, the characteristic setting device 38 detects the vehicle speed and vehicle speed change detected by the vehicle speed sensor 34 ( A characteristic curve indicating the vehicle speed of the vehicle 12 and the time change of the vehicle speed is set by acquiring driving information including the vehicle speed change over time. In this embodiment, the characteristic curve is set for each vehicle 12, but the characteristic curve can be set for each passenger by acquiring information that specifies the passenger who operates the vehicle 12.

In this embodiment, a Gompertz curve, which is a so-called growth curve (reliability growth curve), is applied to the characteristic curve. The Gompertz curve can be expressed by the Gompertz equation (Gompertz function) shown as equation (1).

In the Gompertz function fgon, x is a variable, and b and c are coefficients (2 coefficients). It changes depending on. FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the Gompertz curve determined by the Gompertz function.

As shown in FIG. 2, the Gompertz curve is a substantially S-shaped curve, where x is the horizontal axis and fgon is the vertical axis. In the Gompertz curve, by setting x to time and fgon to vehicle speed, changes in vehicle speed with respect to time can be obtained. Further, in the Gompertz curve, the vehicle speed fgon with respect to time x depends on the coefficients b and c, and a change in at least one of the coefficients b and c appears as a change in the shape of the Gompertz curve. In the drawings, the variable x is shown as 0≦x≦1, and the vehicle speed fgon is shown as 0≦fgon≦1. Further, in FIG. 2, a dashed-two dotted line indicates a curve obtained by changing the coefficient b and the coefficient c with respect to the Gompertz curve indicated by a solid line.

Here, FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B) schematically show a Gompertz curve in which one of the coefficients b and c is kept constant and the other is varied. Note that FIG. 3(A) shows the case where the coefficient c is kept constant and the coefficient b is changed, and FIG. 3(B) shows the case where the coefficient b is kept constant and the coefficient c is changed. has been done.

As shown in Figure 3(A), by keeping the coefficient c constant (c=3.0) and varying the coefficient b in the range of 0.0001 to 0.5, the Gompertz curve has a larger coefficient b. Accordingly, the shape changes upward as a whole.

Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3(B), by keeping the coefficient b constant (b = 0.1) and varying the coefficient c in the range of 1.0 to 6.0, the Gompertz curve As the coefficient c increases, it changes upwardly in a convex shape, but in a region where the variable x is relatively small, the curve rises steeply as the coefficient c increases. When such a Gompertz curve is viewed as a change in vehicle speed over time, when the coefficient b becomes small, the speed change becomes gentler than when the coefficient b is large, making it possible to improve fuel efficiency.

The characteristic setting device 38 sets (identifies) a Gompertz curve for the vehicle (occupant) by setting (adjusting) two coefficients b and c based on the vehicle speed of the vehicle 12 and the time change in the vehicle speed. Further, the characteristic setting device 38 includes: The Gompertz curve in which the coefficients b and c are set is stored as a vehicle speed profile showing changes in vehicle speed over time in the vehicle 12.

When a set vehicle speed is set and an ACC in which the vehicle travels at the set speed is specified, the vehicle speed setting device 36 uses the vehicle speed profile stored in the characteristic setting device 38 to set the vehicle speed to the set vehicle speed. and set the vehicle speed change.

Vehicle speed control in the vehicle 12 will be described below as an operation in this embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of the vehicle speed control process executed in the travel control device 10 of this embodiment. Note that the vehicle speed control process is executed by the vehicle ECU 20, the vehicle speed setting device 36, and the characteristic setting device 38 working together.

The flowchart in FIG. 4 is executed when the vehicle 12 is ready to start traveling, and ends when the vehicle 12 finishes traveling. In this flowchart, in the first step 100, the vehicle ECU 20 confirms whether running (cruise control) in which the set speed is maintained is specified (ACC ON). If ACC is not turned on in the vehicle speed setting device 36, the vehicle ECU 20 makes a negative determination in step 100 and proceeds to step 102. In step 102, the vehicle ECU 20 performs vehicle speed control to control the driving force of the engine 14 and the reduction ratio of the transmission 16 in accordance with the vehicle speed operation (operation of the accelerator pedal) by the occupant.

At the same time, in step 104, the characteristic setting device 38 acquires driving information including the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 34 and the time change in the vehicle speed, and calculates each of the coefficient b and the coefficient c in the Gompertz function in the vehicle 12. Adjust to the specified value. Further, in the characteristic setting device 38, when each of the coefficients b and c is determined by adjustment, in step 106, a vehicle speed profile indicating a Gompertz curve specified by the determined coefficients b and c is stored. Note that the characteristic setting device 38 repeatedly adjusts the coefficients b and c at predetermined time intervals and stores a vehicle speed profile determined for each vehicle 12.

On the other hand, in the vehicle 12, a set vehicle speed is set in the vehicle speed setting device 36 as a vehicle speed maintained at a steering wheel or steering column (not shown), and driving is specified to be maintained at the set vehicle speed without the vehicle speed operation by the occupant. ACC ON). In the vehicle ECU 20, when driving is designated by ACC in the vehicle speed setting device 36 (ACC ON), an affirmative determination is made in step 100 and the process proceeds to step 108. When the process proceeds to step 108, the vehicle speed setting device 36 obtains a vehicle speed profile (Gompertz curve) from the characteristic setting device 38.

Thereafter, in step 110, the vehicle speed setting device 36 sets the vehicle speed (temporal change in vehicle speed) so that the vehicle speed of the vehicle 12 changes based on the vehicle speed profile (Gompertz curve) and reaches the set vehicle speed. The travel ECU 20 controls the driving force of the engine 14 (engine control) and controls the reduction ratio of the transmission 16 (speed change) so that the vehicle speed (change in vehicle speed) of the vehicle 12 becomes the vehicle speed set by the vehicle speed setting device 36. control) is performed (step 112).

Thereby, the vehicle speed of the vehicle 12 is changed along the Gompertz curve, which is a curve change (vehicle speed change with respect to time) according to the coefficient b and the coefficient c set for the vehicle 12.

In this way, in the travel control device 10, a Gompertz curve is set as a vehicle speed profile for each vehicle 12. At this time, the Gompertz curve is set by setting coefficients b and c in the Gompertz function according to the vehicle speed and the change in vehicle speed due to the vehicle speed operation by the occupant. Thereby, the Gompertz curve becomes a vehicle speed change according to the vehicle speed operation by the occupant.

For this reason, for example, when the occupant performs a vehicle speed operation in which the vehicle speed changes sharply, the coefficient b is set relatively large, and the Gompertz curve becomes a curve with a steep fall. By changing the vehicle speed based on this Gompertz curve, the occupant can obtain a comfortable acceleration feeling that matches his or her own vehicle speed control.

Further, for example, if the occupant manipulates the vehicle speed so that the vehicle speed changes gradually to emphasize fuel efficiency, the coefficient b is set to be relatively small, and the Gompertz curve becomes a curve with a gradual fall. By changing the vehicle speed based on this Gompertz curve, the occupant can obtain a feeling of gentle acceleration that matches his/her own vehicle speed control, and the fuel consumption of the vehicle 12 is suppressed.

Here, the cruise control device 10 uses a Gompertz curve determined by two coefficients b and c as the vehicle speed profile. Thereby, it is possible to suppress an increase in the processing load for setting the vehicle speed and vehicle speed change with respect to time. In addition, the Gompertz curve is determined when the occupant operates the vehicle speed, and when ACC is specified, the vehicle speed and the change in vehicle speed are set using the determined Gompertz curve, so the cruise control device 10 can distribute the processing load and process It is possible to suppress the load from increasing.

Note that the vehicle 12 (vehicle ECU 20) provided with the travel control device 10 may be connected to a Hips (Hardware In the Loop Simulator) evaluation server using a wireless communication method. The Hips evaluation server is set by simulating in advance the optimum driving force change (map) of the engine 14 and the shift line of the transmission 16 according to the coefficients b and c in the Gompertz curve. The Hips evaluation server outputs the driving force change (map) and shift line that match the coefficients b and c acquired from the vehicle 12 to the vehicle ECU 20, and the vehicle ECU 20 performs engine control and shift control based on this. Appropriate engine control and gear shift control can be performed in accordance with the Gompertz curve.

10 Travel control device (vehicle control device)
20 Vehicle ECU (driving control means)
26 Accelerator device 32 Driving support device 34 Vehicle speed sensor (detection means)
36 Vehicle speed setting device (vehicle speed setting means)
38 Characteristic setting device (characteristic setting section)

Claims (1)

Detection means for detecting vehicle running information including vehicle speed and time changes in vehicle speed;
When a vehicle speed operation is performed by a passenger, the Gompertz function, in which two coefficients indicate the vehicle speed and the change in vehicle speed with respect to time, is set using the travel information detected by the detection means, and the Gompertz function is a characteristic setting means for setting a Gompertz curve;
vehicle speed setting means for setting a vehicle speed that changes toward the set vehicle speed based on the Gompertz curve set by the characteristic setting means when the set vehicle speed is specified to be maintained without a speed operation by a passenger; ,
When the vehicle speed is operated by the occupant, the vehicle speed is controlled in accordance with the vehicle speed operation by the occupant, and when the set vehicle speed is specified to be maintained without the occupant's speed operation, the vehicle speed set by the vehicle speed setting means is specified. Travel control means that controls vehicle speed based on vehicle speed;
Vehicle control equipment including.