JP6040792B2 - Travel control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a travel control device that plans a travel mode of a travel route based on travel state information such as a travel load of the vehicle on the travel route and causes the vehicle to travel based on the planned travel mode.

  Conventionally, this kind of traveling control device is known. For example, in Patent Document 1 below, map data is divided into mesh shapes, and vehicle travel load information (average speed) is stored in advance for each of the divided regions. Is a technique for predicting an energy balance in the divided area based on the traveling load information corresponding to, and planning a traveling mode (hybrid traveling mode or EV traveling mode) in each divided area on the traveling route based on the energy balance. It is disclosed. Further, in Patent Document 2 below, when a road between intersections is divided in advance into a plurality of segments and the same segment is traveled a plurality of times, an average value (average vehicle speed) of the plurality of vehicle speeds is stored in a database. Thus, a technique for outputting the average vehicle speed information to the vehicle control unit as control information is disclosed. In the technique of Patent Document 2, the information on the average vehicle speed is used for battery charge / discharge control and constant speed running control. In the technique of Patent Document 2, when a learning data value (vehicle speed) corresponding to an adjacent segment satisfies a predetermined condition and is smaller than a predetermined threshold, data is combined with the adjacent segment, and the database We are trying to reduce information.

JP 2009-012605 A JP 2008-197015 A

  By the way, in the technique of the said patent document 1, when planning driving | running | working mode, the driving | running | working load information corresponding to each mesh-shaped division area in a driving | running route is referred. For this reason, in this technique, since the granularity of information is fine, the amount of information becomes large, and it takes time to plan the driving mode, so there is room for improvement from the viewpoint of user convenience. Therefore, for example, when the difference in traveling state information such as traveling load information between adjacent divided regions is small, the processing load can be reduced by integrating the traveling state information of the two divided regions into one. It becomes possible. However, since there are roads with small differences in driving state information and some roads, there are cases where excessive driving modes are switched due to excessive integration, depending on the method for determining necessity of integration, In some cases, although the switching is desirable, the driving modes are not switched due to the integration.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a travel control device that can improve the disadvantages of the conventional example and can prevent the integration of travel state information from becoming excessive or insufficient.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a reference section calculation unit that determines a reference section from among sections on a travel route of a vehicle, travel state information of the reference section, and travel state information of an integration candidate section. Comparing the difference with the integrated determination threshold, and integrating the integrated candidate section into the reference section according to the comparison result, and the vehicle travel mode in the section based on the integrated travel state information And a threshold calculation unit that determines the integrated determination threshold according to the running state information of the reference section.

  Here, in addition to the comparison result between the difference and the integration determination threshold, the integration calculation unit further performs the integration when the total section length from the reference section to the integration candidate section does not exceed a predetermined section length. It is desirable to integrate candidate sections into the reference section.

  Further, the integrated determination threshold value increases as the driving load of the reference section increases when the driving state information is a driving load, and increases as the energy consumption of the reference section increases when the driving state information is energy consumption. It is desirable to do.

  Since the travel control device according to the present invention changes the integrated determination threshold based on the travel state information of the reference section, the difference in travel state (difference in travel load, difference in energy consumption) between adjacent sections is increased or decreased. Regardless of this (that is, a route with a large variation in driving conditions such as a general road in a mountain area or a route with a small variation in driving conditions such as an expressway) (Integration of state information) can be suppressed, and insufficient integration of sections (insufficient integration of travel state information) can also be suppressed.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a travel control device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the arithmetic processing operation of the travel control device of the embodiment. FIG. 3 is an example of an integrated determination threshold map. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of the integration result. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the arithmetic processing operation of the travel control apparatus according to the modification.

  Embodiments of a travel control device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

[Example]
An embodiment of a travel control device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The travel control device of the present embodiment plans a travel mode when traveling on the set travel route of the host vehicle, and switches the travel mode based on the planned travel mode. In this example, an electronic control device (hereinafter referred to as “travel plan ECU”) 1 that performs a plan of a travel mode, and an electronic control device (hereinafter referred to as a travel mode) that controls the travel mode switching and the travel of the vehicle according to the travel mode. , Referred to as “travel control ECU”) 2, a travel control device is configured.

  In this embodiment, a hybrid vehicle having an engine and a rotating machine as a power source is taken as an example of an application target of this travel control device. For this reason, the travel mode referred to here is a hybrid travel mode (hereinafter referred to as “HV travel mode”) in which only the power of the engine or the power of the engine and the rotating machine is used, and the power of the rotating machine. The electric vehicle mode (hereinafter referred to as “EV travel mode”) that travels alone. The engine is a so-called engine and refers to an internal combustion engine or an external combustion engine. The rotating machine refers to an electric motor or a motor generator.

  First, the system configuration related to the travel control device will be described.

  This system includes a host vehicle position detection device 11, a map information database 12, and a travel route calculation device 13 provided in the vehicle. The own vehicle position detection device 11 is a device that detects a position where the own vehicle exists. What is necessary is just to utilize what is called GPS (Global Positioning System) as this own vehicle position detection apparatus 11. FIG. The map information database 12 includes map information of roads through which vehicles can pass, map information of road-related facilities such as intersections, section information obtained by dividing the road in advance under predetermined conditions, and information for each section. Vehicle running state information is stored at least. The map information database 12 stores road information indicating the type of road (type of highway or general road, type of flat road, uphill road, and downhill road) and shape (gradient, etc.). It may be left. The travel route calculation device 13 calculates the travel route of the host vehicle to the destination designated by the operator.

  A section is, for example, a road divided by two adjacent intersections (that is, a road existing between two adjacent intersections), a road divided by flat roads, uphill roads, and downhill roads, and uphill roads. Among roads and downhill roads, roads classified based on the magnitude of the gradient, roads classified according to a predetermined distance, and the like. Here, the roads between the two intersections are various in length and there are cases where flat roads and slopes are mixed. For this reason, it is desirable that the section be determined in advance by a combination of the above various conditions such as between two intersections and a predetermined distance. Hereinafter, this section is also referred to as a link, and an end portion of the section (for example, a connection portion of an adjacent section) is also referred to as a node. In the map information database 12, together with the information on the section (link) and the end (node) of the section, the identification information (link ID) uniquely associated with the section and the end of the section are unique. Corresponding identification information (node ID) is also stored.

  The traveling state information is information representing the traveling state of the vehicle according to the road state (for example, gradient) of the section. This running state information is stored in the map information database 12 in association with the link ID of the corresponding section. The travel state information includes, for example, information on the vehicle's travel load when traveling in the section, information on energy consumption (specifically, fuel consumption and power consumption) consumed when traveling in the section, and the like. The travel plan ECU 1 determines a travel mode for traveling in this section based on at least one travel state information in the section.

  Specifically, for example, when the section is an uphill road, the traveling load is high and the energy consumption is large (the fuel efficiency and power consumption are poor) compared to a flat road or a downhill road. Further, in this case, the greater the gradient, the higher the traveling load and the greater the energy consumption (the fuel efficiency and the power consumption are worse). On the other hand, when the section is a downhill road, the traveling load is low and the energy consumption is low (fuel consumption and power consumption are good) as compared to a flat road and an uphill road. Furthermore, in this case, the greater the gradient, the lower the traveling load and the lower the energy consumption (good fuel consumption and power consumption). For this reason, the map information database 12 stores in advance a traveling load and energy consumption according to such road information as the traveling state information of the section. For example, when the section is an uphill road, the travel plan ECU 1 causes the HV travel mode to be selected rather than the EV travel mode in order to avoid a decrease in travel performance due to a higher travel load than fuel consumption and power consumption as the gradient increases. . On the other hand, when the section is a downhill road, the travel plan ECU 1 causes the EV travel mode to be selected rather than the HV travel mode with an emphasis on improvement in fuel consumption and power consumption as the gradient increases.

  Here, in the travel plan ECU 1, if there is a difference between the travel state information in the map information database 12 and the travel information when actually traveling, the travel plan ECU 1 actually obtained the travel state information in the map information database 12. Information may be updated. Whether or not the learning of the traveling state information is necessary is determined for each section. At that time, the travel information when the vehicle actually travels may be calculated based on the vehicle driving information during travel. The vehicle driving information includes, for example, the detection value (vehicle speed) of the vehicle speed sensor 14, the detection value of the accelerator opening sensor 15 (accelerator opening), the detection value of the brake sensor 16 (brake pedal operation amount), and the battery sensor 17. It is information that can determine the vehicle operating state such as a detection value (SOC: State of Charge). In addition, the traveling information when actually traveling may be calculated using the detection value of the longitudinal acceleration sensor 18 during traveling. This is because the gradient of the traveling road can be estimated based on the detection value of the longitudinal acceleration sensor 18.

  The travel state information for each section in the travel route may be acquired from the center by road-to-vehicle communication or may be acquired from another vehicle by vehicle-to-vehicle communication. In this system, an in-vehicle device 19 that performs such communication is prepared.

  Here, in the present system, a car navigation system including the vehicle position detection device 11, the map information database 12, and the travel route calculation device 13 may be used.

  The travel plan ECU 1 sets a certain section (link) on the travel route as a reference section {reference link No (0)}, and exists on the destination side from this reference section {reference link No (0)}. It is determined whether or not the existing section (link) is to be integrated with the reference section {reference link No (0)}.

  The travel plan ECU 1 is provided with a reference section calculation unit that determines a reference section {reference link No (0)} from each section on the travel route of the vehicle. This example reference section calculation unit sets the first reference section {reference link No (0)} as the first section when entering the travel route from the section where the vehicle is present or the parking lot or the like when the travel route is set. Decide on.

  Here, for the section (link) closer to the destination than the first reference section {reference link No (0)}, comparison with the reference section {reference link No (0)} when determining whether or not integration is necessary. It becomes a target and becomes an integration candidate with this reference section {reference link No (0)}. For this reason, in the following, the section (link) on the destination side is referred to as an integration candidate section {integration candidate link No (n)} (n = 1, 2,..., M). The link No (m) is a section where the destination exists or a section before the destination when the destination is a node, and represents the last section of the travel route.

  The travel plan ECU 1 calculates the difference between the travel state information of the reference section {reference link No (0)} and the travel state information of the integration candidate section {integration candidate link No (n)}, and the absolute value of the difference and a predetermined value are calculated. To determine whether or not it is necessary to integrate the reference section {reference link No (0)} and the integration candidate section {integration candidate link No (n)}. For this reason, the travel plan ECU 1 is provided with an integration calculation unit that integrates the reference section and the integration candidate section according to the determination result of the necessity of integration based on the comparison result. Hereinafter, the threshold value is referred to as an integrated determination threshold value. For example, when the traveling state information is traveling load information, the absolute value of the difference in traveling load between the reference section {reference link No (0)} and the integrated candidate section {integrated candidate link No (n)} is obtained. The value is compared with the integrated determination threshold value. Further, when the running state information is energy consumption information, an absolute value of a difference in energy consumption between the reference section {reference link No (0)} and the integration candidate section {integration candidate link No (n)} is obtained. The value is compared with the integrated determination threshold value.

  Since the travel plan ECU 1 determines that the travel mode does not need to be changed when the absolute value of the difference in the travel state information is equal to or less than the integration determination threshold, the integration candidate link No (n) is the reference link. It is determined that it is an integration target with No (0). On the other hand, if the absolute value of the difference is larger than the integration determination threshold value, it is determined that the travel mode needs to be changed, so that the integration candidate link No (n) is to be integrated with the reference link No (0). It is determined that it is not. Therefore, the integration determination threshold is determined based on whether or not the travel mode needs to be changed, that is, whether or not the section (link) needs to be integrated. When the travel state information is travel load information, for example, the travel mode is the absolute value of the difference in travel load between the reference section {reference link No (0)} and the integration candidate section {integration candidate link No (n)}. The maximum value of the absolute value of the difference that does not need to be changed or a correction value of the maximum value (a value obtained by correcting the maximum value in consideration of calculation error, sensor detection error, etc.) is determined as the integrated determination threshold value. Further, when the driving state information is energy consumption information, for example, among the absolute values of the difference in energy consumption between the reference section {reference link No (0)} and the integration candidate section {integration candidate link No (n)}, The maximum value of the absolute value of the difference that does not need to be changed in the driving mode or a correction value of the maximum value (a value obtained by correcting the maximum value in consideration of calculation error, sensor detection error, etc.) is determined as the integrated determination threshold value.

  The travel plan ECU 1 compares the reference section {reference link No (0)} using the integration determination threshold value and the integration candidate section {integration candidate link No (n)} with the reference section {reference link No (0)}. In the integration candidate section {integration candidate link No (n)} on the destination side of the travel route, the above is repeated until it is determined that the integration is unnecessary in order from the near side to the destination side. The travel plan ECU 1 integrates all integration candidate sections {integration candidate link No (n)} determined to be integration targets and the reference section {reference link No (0)}. As a result, these integrated sections (links) are determined as one section (link) in a certain traveling state. For this reason, it is only necessary to obtain the result, so as to grasp the integration, it may be based on the idea that each section (link) is integrated, and the driving state information of each section (link) is integrated. You can stand on your mind. In the former case, for example, the average value of the travel state information of each section (each link) before integration may be used as the travel state information of the section (link) after integration, and the reference section {reference link No (0 )} May be used as the running state information of the section (link) after integration. Moreover, what is necessary is just to implement about the integration of the latter driving | running | working state information by the same view as the average value.

  If the integration candidate section {integration candidate link No (n)} remains after the integration, the integration candidate section {integration candidate on the destination side next to the integrated section {link No (n-1)}. Link No (n)} is set to a new reference section {reference link No (0)}, and the necessity of integration is repeated in the same manner as described above.

  For example, on an expressway that continues on a flat road, the absolute value of the difference in travel state information is equal to or less than the integration determination threshold value, so that the integration candidate link No (n) and the reference link No (0) are integrated. In this case, the travel mode planning unit of the travel plan ECU 1 plans the travel mode of the flat road in consideration of this point because the travel load and energy consumption of the integrated section (flat road) are small. For example, the EV travel mode is planned for a vehicle type with a wide travel area in which the EV travel mode is selected. In addition, in the case of a vehicle type in which the travel area selected in the EV travel mode is limited to a specific area such as at the start of travel, the HV travel mode is planned. On the other hand, for example, when the route changes from a flat road to a steep uphill road, the absolute value of the difference in running state becomes larger than the integration determination threshold, so that the integration candidate link No (n) and the reference link No (0) is integrated. In this case, the travel mode planning unit of the travel plan ECU 1 plans a travel mode according to the travel load and energy consumption of the flat road or the uphill road. For example, the travel plan ECU 1 plans the flat road as the EV travel mode, and plans the uphill road as the HV travel mode. However, the travel mode planning unit may perform the HV travel even if the EV travel mode is planned when the vehicle reaches the planned road or immediately before reaching, for example, if the SOC is small enough to require battery charging. If the mode is selected and the SOC indicates a fully charged battery, the EV travel mode may be selected even if the HV travel mode is planned.

  Here, the travel plan ECU 1 of the present embodiment changes the above-described integrated determination threshold according to the travel state information of the reference section {reference link No (0)}. For this reason, the travel plan ECU 1 is provided with a threshold value calculation unit that determines an integrated determination threshold value. Here, when roughly classified, the integrated determination threshold value is selectively used depending on whether or not the running state information of the reference section {reference link No (0)} is larger than a predetermined threshold value. In the following, the threshold value is referred to as a running state determination threshold value.

  The threshold value for determining the driving state is, for example, for discriminating between an area (for example, a mountainous area) where the fluctuation of the driving state is estimated to be large and an area (for example, an expressway or urban area) where the fluctuation of the driving state is estimated to be small. Is. In other words, the running state determination threshold value is for discriminating between an area where switching of the driving mode is easily requested and an area where switching of the driving mode is difficult to request. For example, an area where there is an uphill road that does not require a change in the driving mode that can be handled in the same way as a flat road is an area where the fluctuation of the driving state (running load and energy consumption) is small and the driving It can be estimated that mode switching is not required. On the other hand, it can be estimated that the area where the uphill road having a larger gradient than the uphill road exists is an area where the fluctuation of the running state is large, and switching of the running mode is required. For this reason, for example, when a climbing road that does not need to be changed when the vehicle moves from a flat road is determined, the maximum value of the traveling state information of the climbing road or a correction value (calculation of the maximum value) is calculated. A value obtained by correcting the maximum value in consideration of an error, a detection error of the sensor, or the like) may be determined as the running state determination threshold value.

  In this example, for convenience of explanation, the above-described integration determination threshold is referred to as a reference integration determination threshold. Then, here, when the traveling state of the reference section {reference link No (0)} is larger than the traveling state determination threshold (that is, the traveling state is changed to a level where switching of the traveling mode is requested based on the traveling state). In a case where it can be estimated that the area has a large fluctuation), the reference integrated determination threshold value is used as the integrated determination threshold value. The reference integration determination threshold value may be set in advance as a fixed value, or may be a fluctuation value based on the traveling state information of the reference section {reference link No (0)}. When the variation value is set, for example, a map of a reference integration determination threshold value (integration determination threshold value) corresponding to the traveling state may be prepared in advance.

  On the other hand, when the traveling state of the reference section {reference link No (0)} is equal to or less than the traveling state determination threshold value (that is, an area where the variation of the traveling state is not required to switch the traveling mode based on the traveling state). A value smaller than the reference integrated determination threshold value is used as the integrated determination threshold value. Also in this case, the integrated determination threshold value may be set as a fixed value in advance, or may be a fluctuation value based on the traveling state information of the reference section {reference link No (0)}. When the fixed value is used, for example, a multiplication value of the reference integration determination threshold value and a predetermined coefficient may be used as the integration determination threshold value. The coefficient determines what percentage of the running state information is used as the integrated determination threshold value. Further, when the variation value is set, for example, a map of the integrated determination threshold value corresponding to the traveling state may be prepared in advance.

  Hereinafter, the calculation processing operation related to the integration in this travel control device will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. Here, traveling load information will be described as an example of traveling state information.

  Travel plan ECU1 acquires the information of the travel route set by the travel route calculating apparatus 13 (step ST5). Here, the link ID and the node ID corresponding to at least each section in the travel route and the end of each section are acquired.

  Then, the travel plan ECU 1 acquires travel load information for each section {first reference link No (0), integration candidate link No (n)} in the travel route (step ST10). That is, in this step ST10, based on the link ID, the travel load information {travel load P0, P (n)} of each section in the travel route is read from the map information database 12.

  The travel plan ECU 1 sets the reference link No (0) to 0 and n to 1 (step ST15). That is, here, as a first comparison target with the reference link No (0), the integration candidate link No (1) connected to the reference link No (0) via the node is set.

  The travel plan ECU 1 determines whether or not the travel load P0 of the reference link No (0) is larger than a travel state determination threshold value (here, a threshold value related to the travel load) α (step ST20).

  The travel plan ECU 1 sets the reference integrated determination threshold β as the integrated determination threshold K when the travel load P0 is larger than the travel state determination threshold α (step ST25), and when the travel load P0 is equal to or less than the travel state determination threshold α, Γ (<β) is set as the integration determination threshold value K (step ST30). Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the integrated determination threshold value K (= β, γ) is calculated based on a map that varies according to the magnitude of the traveling load. In the map of FIG. 3, if the traveling load P0 is equal to or less than the traveling state determination threshold value α with the traveling state determination threshold value α as a boundary, γ (P0) that increases as the traveling load P0 increases is set as the integrated determination threshold value K. If the traveling load P0 is larger than the traveling state determination threshold value α, β (P0) that increases as the traveling load P0 increases is set as the integrated determination threshold value K. That is, the integrated determination threshold value K in this example increases as the traveling load in the reference section increases.

  The travel plan ECU 1 calculates a difference ΔP between the travel load P0 of the reference link No (0) and the travel load P (n) of the integration candidate link No (n) ahead of the reference link No (0) (step ST35). ), It is determined whether or not the absolute value of the difference ΔP is equal to or less than the integration determination threshold value K (step ST40).

  When the absolute value of the difference ΔP is equal to or less than the integration determination threshold K, the travel plan ECU 1 corresponds to the integration candidate link No (n) with the reference link No (0) (that is, the travel mode needs to be changed). N is set to n + 1 (step ST45). That is, here, the next integration candidate link No (n + 1) connected to the integration candidate link No (n) via the node on the destination side is set as a comparison target with the reference link No (0). .

  On the other hand, when the absolute value of the difference ΔP is larger than the integration determination threshold K, the travel plan ECU 1 does not correspond to the integration candidate of the integration candidate link No (n) with the reference link No (0) (that is, the change of the travel mode). Therefore, all the links from the reference link No (0) to the integration candidate link No (n-1) or the travel load information of each link are integrated into one (step ST50). That is, here, all the links from the reference link No (0) to the integration candidate link No (n-1) are integrated into the same one section in the travel mode.

  Thereafter, the travel plan ECU 1 sets the integration candidate link No (n) that has not been integrated with the reference link No (0) to a new reference link No (0), and sets n to n + 1. (Step ST55). That is, here, the integration candidate link No (n + 1) connected to the new reference link No (0) on the destination side is set as a comparison target with the reference link No (0).

  The travel plan ECU 1 determines whether n (= n + 1) set in step ST45 or step ST55 is m−1 (step ST60). As described above, the link No (m) is the last section of the travel route. Therefore, in this determination, the integration candidate link No (n + 1) to be compared with the reference link No (0) is the integration candidate link (m−1) immediately before the last link No (m) of the travel route. It is determined whether or not.

  If the travel plan ECU 1 is not “n = m−1”, the integration candidate link No (n + 1) is not the integration candidate link (m−1) immediately before the last link No (m) of the travel route. In order to determine whether or not the integration candidate link No (n + 1) is to be integrated with the new reference link No (0), the process returns to step ST20, and the travel load P0 of the new reference link No (0) is predetermined. It is determined whether it is larger than the threshold value α. Thereafter, the travel plan ECU 1 repeats the above-described calculation process until it is determined in step ST60 that “n = m−1”.

  When it is determined in step ST60 that “n = m−1”, the travel plan ECU 1 travels all the links from the reference link No (0) to the integration candidate link No (n−1) or the respective links. The load information is integrated into one (step ST65).

  FIG. 4 shows an example of travel load information before and after the execution of the calculation process. In FIG. 4, the upper diagram shows the state before the execution of the arithmetic processing, and the lower diagram shows the state after the execution of the arithmetic processing. The upper diagram is a conceptual diagram visualizing the travel load information of the travel route based on the map information, and represents the travel load information of each section (link) before integration. On the other hand, the lower diagram is a conceptual diagram in which the travel load information of the travel route is integrated based on the travel load of each section (each link). In this example, links No (0) to No (2) are integrated into a new link No (0), links No (3) to No (4) are integrated into a new link No (1), Link Nos. (5) to No (7) are integrated to become a new link No (2).

  The travel plan ECU 1 sets whether the travel mode of the new section is the HV travel mode or the EV travel mode based on the travel state information of the new section (link) of the travel route integrated as described above. To do. In addition, the travel plan ECU 1 sets the output ratios of the respective powers of the engine and the rotating machine in accordance with the travel state information in the HV travel mode and the planned section. When planning the travel mode, considering the SOC of the battery, for example, the HV travel mode is set when the remaining battery level is low, and the EV travel mode is set when the remaining battery level is near full charge or near full charge. Good. In addition, when the own vehicle is executing, for example, follow-up control of other vehicles ahead or inter-vehicle distance control with other vehicles in front, information such as the distance between other vehicles, the vehicle speed and acceleration / deceleration of other vehicles, etc. The driving mode may be set in consideration of the above. Such information is acquired using, for example, an image in front of the host vehicle taken by the imaging device 20, a detection value of the radar device 21, and the like.

  The travel plan ECU 1 passes the travel mode plan information for each route on the travel route to the travel control ECU 2. Then, when entering the respective routes, the travel control ECU 2 continues the travel in the current travel mode if there is no need to change, and switches the travel mode to travel if there is a need for a change.

  Here, in this example, the travel load information is taken as an example of the travel state information. However, for example, when using the energy consumption information as the travel state information, based on the energy consumption of the reference section {reference link No (0)}. The integration determination threshold value K may be changed. For example, the integrated determination threshold value K increases as the energy consumption in the reference section increases. In this case, the difference between the energy consumption of the reference link No (0) and the energy consumption of the integration candidate link No (n) is obtained. If the absolute value of this difference is equal to or less than the integration determination threshold value K, the integration is performed. If the candidate link No (n) is set as an integration target with the reference link No (0) and the absolute value of the difference is larger than the integration determination threshold K, the integration candidate link No (n) is set as the reference link No (0). ) Is not set as an integration target. Note that the integration candidate link No (n) that is not the integration target is the next new reference link No (0), as in the case of the travel load.

  As described above, the travel control device of the present embodiment changes the integrated determination threshold value K based on the travel state information of the reference section {reference link No (0)}. Regardless of the magnitude of the difference (difference in travel load, difference in energy consumption) (that is, even if the travel condition such as a general road in a mountainous region has a large fluctuation in the travel condition, the fluctuation in the travel condition such as an expressway may occur. Even if it is a small route, it is possible to suppress the integration of excessive sections (integration of running state information) and to suppress the insufficient integration of sections (insufficient integration of running state information). In this way, the travel control device can suppress excessive and insufficient integration of sections (integration of travel state information), so that excessive travel mode change on the travel route is suppressed and travel The required driving mode can be changed on the route. Therefore, this travel control device can manage, for example, travel load and energy consumption suitable for achieving both travel performance, fuel consumption performance, and power consumption performance while appropriately switching the power source.

[Modification]
For example, even in the case where the fluctuation of the traveling state is small over a long route such as an expressway, the traveling control device according to the above-described embodiment has all the sections in which the variation of the traveling state is small or the traveling state information of each section. To integrate. For this reason, it is conceivable that the section length after integration becomes too long, and when there is an excessively long section length, it is not possible to change the driving mode, and instead the integration reduces the driving performance, fuel consumption performance In addition, there is a possibility of causing a decrease in power consumption performance. Therefore, in the travel control device of this modified example, the reference section {reference link No (0) is set so that the combined section length does not exceed a predetermined length (hereinafter referred to as “predetermined section length”) Dx. } Of the section length D (0) and the section length D (n) of each integration candidate section {integration candidate link No (n)} of the integration target candidates (hereinafter referred to as “total section length”) Dall ( When it is determined that n) is equal to or longer than the predetermined section length Dx, the integration candidate section {integration candidate link No (n-1)} immediately before the integration candidate section {integration candidate link No (n)} is set as the integration target. Decide. The total section length Dall (n) is obtained using an arithmetic expression of “Dall (n) = Dall (n−1) + D (n)”. Therefore, in addition to the comparison result between the above-described difference between the driving state information and the integration determination threshold value, the total operation length Dall (n) from the reference section to the integration candidate section exceeds the predetermined section length Dx. When there is not, the integration candidate section is integrated with the reference section.

  Hereinafter, the calculation processing operation related to the integration in the travel control device will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Here, as in the embodiment, traveling load information will be described as an example of traveling state information. 2, the same calculation process is performed in FIG. 5, and thus the description thereof is omitted or simplified.

  The travel plan ECU 1 of the present modification obtains various information in the same manner as in the embodiment (steps ST5 and ST10), and then the reference link No (0) is 0, n is 1, and Dall (0) is the reference section {reference The section length D (0) of the link No (0)} is set (step ST16).

  And this travel plan ECU1 sets the integrated determination threshold value K according to the travel load P0 of the reference link No (0) (steps ST20 to ST30), and the travel load P0 and the reference link No (0) ahead. The difference ΔP between the integration candidate link No (n) and the travel load P (n) is calculated (step ST35), and all the links existing from the reference link No (0) to the integration candidate link No (n) are calculated. The total section length Dall (n) is obtained (step ST36).

  The travel plan ECU 1 determines whether or not the absolute value of the difference ΔP is equal to or less than the integrated determination threshold value K and the total section length Dall (n) is shorter than the predetermined section length Dx (step ST41). For example, the predetermined section length Dx may be changed depending on the road type. For example, several kilometers are set as the predetermined section length Dx on a general road that is highly likely to have a large fluctuation in traveling state. On the other hand, on an expressway where there is a high possibility that the fluctuation of the traveling state is smaller than this, several tens of kilometers are set as the predetermined section length Dx.

  When the absolute value of the difference ΔP is equal to or less than the integration determination threshold K and the total section length Dall (n) is shorter than the predetermined section length Dx, the travel plan ECU 1 determines the integration candidate link No (n) as the reference link No. The target of integration with (0) is determined, and n is set to n + 1 (step ST45).

  On the other hand, when the absolute value of the difference ΔP is larger than the integration determination threshold K or when the total section length Dall (n) is equal to or greater than the predetermined section length Dx, the travel plan ECU 1 determines that the integration candidate link No (n) All links from the reference link No (0) to the integration candidate link No (n-1) are judged as not being integrated with the reference link No (0) (that is, the travel mode needs to be changed). Alternatively, the travel load information of each link is integrated into one (step ST50). For this reason, even if the absolute value of the difference ΔP is equal to or less than the integration determination threshold value K and the integration candidate link No (n) can be an integration target with the reference link No (0), the total section length Dall ( When n) is equal to or longer than the predetermined section length Dx, the integration candidate link No (n) is not targeted for integration with the reference link No (0). Therefore, in this travel control device, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the section length becomes excessively long.

  Thereafter, the travel plan ECU 1 sets the integration candidate link No (n) that has not been integrated with the reference link No (0) to a new reference link No (0), and sets n to n + 1. At the same time, the section length D (n) of the integration candidate link No (n) is set to the total section length Dall (n) (step ST56). The total section length Dall (n) at this time corresponds to the section length D (0) of the new reference link No (0).

  Thereafter, the travel plan ECU 1 determines whether n (= n + 1) set in step ST45 or step ST56 is m−1 (step ST60), and is determined to be “n = m−1”. If so, all the links from the reference link No (0) to the integration candidate link No (n-1) or the travel load information of each link are integrated into one (step ST65).

  As described above, the travel control device of the present modified example changes the integrated determination threshold value K based on the travel state information of the reference section {reference link No (0)} in the same manner as in the embodiment. Regardless of the difference in travel status between sections (difference in travel load, difference in energy consumption), integration of excessive sections (integration of travel status information) can be suppressed, and insufficient integration of sections (travel status) (Insufficient integration of information) can be suppressed. Furthermore, since this traveling control apparatus can also avoid the integration of an excessively long section length, it is possible to suppress the integration of excessive sections (integration of traveling state information). Therefore, this travel control device can further suppress the integration of the sections (integration of the travel state information) from being excessive or insufficient as compared with the embodiment, so that an excessive travel mode change on the travel route is possible. In addition to being suppressed, it is possible to change the travel mode required on the travel route. Therefore, this traveling control device can manage, for example, traveling load and energy consumption that are more suitable for achieving both traveling performance, fuel consumption performance, and power consumption performance than the embodiment while appropriately switching the power source.

1 Travel plan ECU
2 Travel control ECU
11 vehicle position detection device 12 map information database 13 travel route calculation device

Claims (3)

A reference section calculation unit for determining a reference section from among the sections on the travel route of the vehicle;
A difference between the driving state information of the reference section and the driving state information of the integration candidate section is compared with an integration determination threshold value, and an integration calculation unit that integrates the integration candidate section into the reference section according to the comparison result;
A travel mode planning unit that plans the travel mode of the vehicle in the section based on the integrated travel state information of the section;
A threshold value calculation unit that determines the integration determination threshold value according to the driving state information of the reference section;
Equipped with a,
The travel mode is a hybrid travel mode or an EV travel mode,
The driving mode planning unit selects the hybrid driving mode even when planning the EV driving mode when the SOC is small enough to require charging of the battery, and when the SOC indicates full charging of the battery, the hybrid driving A travel control device that selects the EV travel mode even if a mode is planned .   In addition to the comparison result between the difference and the integration determination threshold, the integration calculation unit further determines the integration candidate section when the total section length from the reference section to the integration candidate section does not exceed a predetermined section length. The travel control device according to claim 1, wherein the travel control device is integrated with the reference section.   The integrated determination threshold is increased as the driving load of the reference section is higher when the driving state information is a driving load, and is increased as the energy consumption of the reference section is higher when the driving state information is energy consumption. The travel control device according to claim 1, wherein:

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