CN111376736A

CN111376736A - Method, apparatus and computer storage medium for controlling power output of electric vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN111376736A
Application number: CN201811632447.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王瑶
Original assignee: Qoros Automotive Co Ltd
Current assignee: Qoros Automotive Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-12-29
Filing date: 2018-12-29
Publication date: 2020-07-07

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, apparatus, and computer storage media for controlling power output of an electric vehicle. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for controlling power output of an electric vehicle is provided, the electric vehicle including a vehicle control unit, a first motor controller, a second motor controller, and an autopilot domain controller, the vehicle control unit being coupled to the first motor controller, the second motor controller, and the autopilot domain controller via a first bus, a second bus, and a third bus, respectively, the method comprising: detecting the states of the first motor controller and the second motor controller; in response to detecting an abnormality in one of the first and second motor controllers, the normal motor controller is notified via a bus associated with the normal motor controller to increase power output.

Description

Method, apparatus and computer storage medium for controlling power output of electric vehicle

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of electric vehicles, and more particularly, to a method, apparatus, and computer storage medium for controlling power output of electric vehicles.

Background

In the process of driving the electric vehicle, the situation of unexpected power loss often occurs, which is very dangerous in road driving and easily causes casualties and great loss of property, and the main problems in the existing products and methods for preventing the unexpected power loss of the electric vehicle are as follows: for the lack of safety redundancy of the highly automated driving function, the difficulty and cost required for the implementation of the individual components is too high for the requirement of "avoiding unexpected power loss" at the vehicle level proposed according to the standard, when implementing the automated driving function above the level L3 and meeting the GB/T-34590 standard. Therefore, an electric vehicle electric driving architecture design and a control method based on the architecture are expected, and the method solves the problem that the danger risk of unexpected power loss of the whole vehicle caused by control system failure in the high-degree automatic driving and full-automatic driving functions is too high, so that the electric vehicle can meet the safety standard GB/T34590 of the vehicle function with lower cost when being equipped with the automatic driving function.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for controlling power output of electric traffic.

In a first aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method for controlling power output of an electric vehicle, the electric vehicle comprising a vehicle control unit, a first motor controller, a second motor controller and an autopilot domain controller, the vehicle control unit being coupled to the first motor controller, the second motor controller and the autopilot domain controller via a first bus, a second bus and a third bus, respectively, the method comprising: detecting the states of the first motor controller and the second motor controller; in response to detecting an abnormality in one of the first and second motor controllers, the normal motor controller is notified via a bus associated with the normal motor controller to increase power output.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for controlling power output of an electric vehicle is presented, the electric vehicle comprising a vehicle control unit, a first motor controller, a second motor controller and an autopilot domain controller, the vehicle control unit being coupled to the first motor controller, the second motor controller and the autopilot domain controller via a first bus, a second bus and a third bus, respectively, wherein the apparatus comprises: at least one processing unit; at least one memory coupled to the at least one processing unit and storing instructions for execution by the at least one processing unit, the instructions when executed by the at least one processing unit, cause the apparatus to perform acts comprising: detecting the states of the first motor controller and the second motor controller; in response to detecting an abnormality in one of the first and second motor controllers, the normal motor controller is notified via a bus associated with the normal motor controller to increase power output.

In a third aspect of the disclosure, a computer storage medium is provided. The computer storage medium has computer-readable program instructions stored thereon for performing the method according to the first aspect.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure.

Drawings

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the following more particular descriptions of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generally represent like parts throughout the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an environment 100 in which implementations of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a method 200 for controlling power output of electric traffic according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example control strategy flow diagram 300 in the event of a corresponding component failure, according to some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an example device 400 that may be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure

Detailed Description

Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

The term "include" and variations thereof as used herein is meant to be inclusive in an open-ended manner, i.e., "including but not limited to". Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "or" means "and/or". The term "based on" means "based at least in part on". The terms "one example embodiment" and "one embodiment" mean "at least one example embodiment". The term "another embodiment" means "at least one additional embodiment". The terms "first," "second," and the like may refer to different or the same object. Other explicit and implicit definitions are also possible below.

The basic principles and several example implementations of the present disclosure are explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an environment 100 in which implementations of the present disclosure can be implemented. It should be understood that the environment 100 shown in FIG. 1 is merely exemplary and should not be construed as limiting in any way the functionality or scope of the implementations described in this disclosure. As shown in fig. 1, environment 100 includes an autonomous driving domain controller 110, a VCU (vehicle control unit) 120, a front MCU (motor controller) 130, a rear MCU (motor controller) 140, and topological connections therebetween, autonomous driving domain controller 110 is coupled to VCU120 via an ETH bus, autonomous driving domain controller 110 sends torque control requests to VCU120 and monitors torque execution states fed back by VCU120, VCU120 is coupled to and communicates with front MCU130 and rear MCU140 via an EPT-CAN1 bus and an EPT-CAN2 bus, respectively, to send torque execution requests, and monitors torque execution states fed back by front and

rear MCUs

130, 140. The ETH bus, the EPT-CAN1 bus and the EPT-CAN2 bus form a master communication network for communication during normal functional operation. Autonomous driving range controller 110 is coupled to VCU120, front MCU130, and rear MCU140 via a CAN bus, in which network autonomous driving range controller 110 and VCU120 may each transmit torque control requests, and front MCU130 and rear MCU140 receive and execute together. The CAN bus forms a standby communication network used when the main communication network is abnormal, and is controlled to be started by the automatic driving area controller.

In some embodiments, the VCU120, the front MCU130, and the rear MCU140 need only execute according to commands received from the standby network after the standby network is started. I.e. the standby network command has a high priority compared to the primary communication network.

In some embodiments, the master network (i.e., ETH bus, EPT-CAN1 bus, and EPT-CAN2 bus) employs high speed communications (Ethernet, Flexray, CAN FD) to ensure timely communication during highly autonomous driving. Different from the prior art, in the embodiment of the invention, in consideration of the characteristic that the standby network is not commonly used, the standby network adopts a general CAN bus with lower cost than the main network, so that the cost is further reduced while high automatic driving is ensured.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart for controlling power output of electric traffic according to a method 200 of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

At 210, the states of the first motor controller (front MCU130) and the second motor controller (rear MCU130) are detected.

At 220, it is determined whether an abnormality is detected in one of the first motor controller and the second motor controller.

At 230, in response to detecting an abnormality in one of the first and second motor controllers, the normal motor controller is notified via a bus associated with the normal motor controller (either the EPT-CAN1 bus or the EPT-CAN2 bus) to increase power output.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example control strategy flow diagram in the event of a corresponding component failure, according to some embodiments of the invention.

In one embodiment, autonomous domain controller 110 does not receive VCU-enabled torque execution status feedback (i.e., ETH bus communication anomaly) within a predetermined time (e.g., normally receiving feedback every 0.2 seconds, and turning on the backup network if no feedback is received 3 times, i.e., 0.6 seconds) on the primary network, at which point autonomous domain controller 110 needs to turn on the backup network to directly torque control front MCU130 and rear MCU140, and issue an alert to notify the driver to take over the electric vehicle until feedback information from the primary network is restored.

In one embodiment, autonomous domain controller 110 receives VCU120 feedback information but VCU120 status is abnormal (i.e., ETH bus communication is normal, VCU120 status is abnormal) on the primary network, at which point autonomous domain controller 110 needs to turn on the backup network to perform torque control on front MCU130 and rear MCU140, and issue an alarm to notify the driver to take over the electric vehicle until VCU120 abnormal status fed back by the primary network is restored.

In one embodiment, autonomous driving domain controller 110 receives VCU120 feedback on the primary network that only the front MCU130 communication status is abnormal (e.g., ETH bus communication is normal, VCU120 status is normal, EPT-CAN1 bus communication is abnormal), i.e., autonomous driving domain controller 110 needs to turn on the backup network for front MCU130 torque control and send an alarm to notify the driver to take over the electric vehicle until the front MCU130 communication status is restored.

In one embodiment, on the main network, autonomous driving domain controller 110 receives VCU120 feedback that only the rear MCU140 communication status is abnormal (i.e., ETH bus communication is normal, VCU120 status is normal, EPT-CAN2 bus communication is abnormal), at which point autonomous driving domain controller 110 needs to turn on the standby network for rear MCU140 torque control, and send an alarm to notify the driver to take over the electric vehicle until the rear MCU140 communication status is restored.

In one embodiment, on the host network, autopilot domain controller 110 receives a normal communication, but one of the two MCUs is an abnormal MCU (i.e., ETH bus communication is normal, VCU120 status is normal, EPT-CAN1 bus communication is normal, EPT-CAN2 bus communication is normal), at which time VCU120 needs to transfer the abnormal MCU torque execution to the normal MCU to ensure power output and issue an alarm to notify the driver to take over the electric vehicle. Specifically, the VCU120 acquires a history torque of the motor coupled to the abnormal MCU, acquires a torque of the motor coupled to the normal MCU, and determines a power output to transfer the torque execution of the abnormal MCU to the normal MCU based on the history torque and the torque.

In one embodiment, the VCU110 does not receive valid front MCU130 or rear MCU140 feedback on the primary network for a predetermined time, at which point the VCU120 needs to feedback to the autopilot domain controller 110 indicating that the MCU130 or 140 is out of order and issue an alert to notify the driver to take over the electric vehicle.

According to the method and the system, the problem that damage risk of 'unexpected power loss of the whole vehicle' is too high due to failure of a control system in the high-degree automatic driving and full-automatic driving functions is solved, so that the electric vehicle can meet the automobile function safety standard GB/T34590 with lower cost and optimization when being equipped with the automatic driving function.

Fig. 4 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an example device 400 that may be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, autonomous driving domain controller 110 as shown in fig. 1 may be implemented by device 400. As shown, device 400 includes a Central Processing Unit (CPU)401 that may perform various appropriate actions and processes in accordance with computer program instructions stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM)402 or loaded from a storage unit 408 into a Random Access Memory (RAM) 403. In the RAM 403, various programs and data required for the operation of the device 400 can also be stored. The CPU 401, ROM 402, and RAM 403 are connected to each other via a bus 404. An input/output (I/O) interface 405 is also connected to bus 404.

A number of components in device 400 are connected to I/O interface 405, including: an input unit 406 such as a keyboard, a mouse, or the like; an output unit 407 such as various types of displays, speakers, and the like; a storage unit 408 such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or the like; and a communication unit 409 such as a network card, modem, wireless communication transceiver, etc. The communication unit 409 allows the device 400 to exchange information/data with other devices via a computer network, such as the internet, and/or various telecommunication networks.

The various processes and processes described above, such as method 200, may be performed by processing unit 401. For example, in some embodiments, the method 200 may be implemented as a computer software program tangibly embodied in a machine-readable medium, such as the storage unit 408. In some embodiments, part or all of the computer program may be loaded and/or installed onto the device 400 via the ROM 402 and/or the communication unit 409. When loaded into RAM 403 and executed by CPU 401, may perform one or more of the acts of method 200 described above.

The present disclosure may be methods, apparatus, systems, and/or computer program products. The computer program product may include a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions embodied thereon for carrying out various aspects of the present disclosure.

The computer readable storage medium may be a tangible device that can hold and store the instructions for use by the instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic memory device, a magnetic memory device, an optical memory device, an electromagnetic memory device, a semiconductor memory device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanical coding device, such as punch cards or in-groove projection structures having instructions stored thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Computer-readable storage media as used herein is not to be construed as transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission medium (e.g., optical pulses through a fiber optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through electrical wires.

The computer-readable program instructions described herein may be downloaded from a computer-readable storage medium to a respective computing/processing device, or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, such as the internet, a local area network, a wide area network, and/or a wireless network. The network may include copper transmission cables, fiber optic transmission, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. The network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer-readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer-readable program instructions for storage in a computer-readable storage medium in the respective computing/processing device.

The computer program instructions for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may be assembler instructions, Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) instructions, machine-related instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data, or source or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C + + or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The computer-readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the case of a remote computer, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet service provider). In some embodiments, the electronic circuitry that can execute the computer-readable program instructions implements aspects of the present disclosure by utilizing the state information of the computer-readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, such as a programmable logic circuit, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or a Programmable Logic Array (PLA).

Various aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-readable program instructions.

These computer-readable program instructions may be provided to a processing unit of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processing unit of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer-readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can direct a computer, programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer-readable medium storing the instructions comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems which perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

Having described embodiments of the present disclosure, the foregoing description is intended to be exemplary, not exhaustive, and not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen in order to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application, or improvements made to the technology in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for controlling power output of an electric vehicle, the electric vehicle including a vehicle control unit, a first motor controller, a second motor controller, and an autopilot domain controller, the vehicle control unit coupled to the first motor controller, the second motor controller, and the autopilot domain controller via a first bus, a second bus, and a third bus, respectively, the method comprising:

detecting the state of the first motor controller and the second motor controller;

in response to detecting an abnormality in one of the first and second motor controllers, notifying the normal motor controller via a bus associated with the normal motor controller to increase power output.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein notifying the normal motor controller to increase power output comprises:

obtaining a historical torque of a motor coupled to the abnormal motor controller;

obtaining a torque of a motor coupled to the normal motor controller; and

determining the power output to transfer the abnormal motor controller's torque execution to the normal motor controller based on the historical torque and the torque.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a state of the first motor controller and the second motor controller in response to detecting that both the first motor controller and the second motor controller are in a normal communication state.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: and detecting the communication state of the first motor controller and the second motor controller in response to detecting that the vehicle control unit is in a normal state.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: detecting a state of the vehicle control unit in response to the autonomous driving domain controller receiving an effective torque execution state feedback from the vehicle control unit within a predetermined time.

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the autonomous driving domain controller is coupled to the hybrid vehicle controller, the first motor controller, and the second motor controller via a backup network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein a control priority of the standby network is higher than control priorities of the first bus, the second bus, and the third bus.

8. An apparatus for controlling power output of an electric vehicle, the electric vehicle including a vehicle control unit, a first motor controller, a second motor controller, and an autopilot domain controller, the vehicle control unit being coupled to the first motor controller, the second motor controller, and the autopilot domain controller via a first bus, a second bus, and a third bus, respectively, wherein the apparatus comprises:

at least one processing unit;

at least one memory coupled to the at least one processing unit and storing instructions for execution by the at least one processing unit, which when executed by the at least one processing unit, cause the apparatus to perform acts comprising:

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein notifying the normal motor controller to increase power output comprises:

obtaining a torque of a motor coupled to the normal motor controller; and

10. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

means for detecting a state of the first motor controller and the second motor controller in response to detecting that both the first motor controller and the second motor controller are in a normal communication state.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising: means for detecting a communication state of the first motor controller and the second motor controller in response to detecting that the vehicle control unit is in a normal state.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising: means for detecting a state of the vehicle control unit in response to the autonomous driving domain controller receiving valid torque execution state feedback from the vehicle control unit within a predetermined time.

13. The apparatus of any of claims 8-12, wherein the autonomous driving domain controller is coupled to the hybrid vehicle controller, the first motor controller, and the second motor controller via a backup network.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein a control priority of the standby network is higher than control priorities of the first bus, the second bus, and the third bus.

15. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions stored thereon for performing the method of any of claims 1-7.