JP2001013865A - Mechanism for generating steering reactive force for simulated operation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mechanism for generating steering reactive force for a simulated operation device which has a simple constitution and can faithfully simulate the reactive force. SOLUTION: A steering shaft 103 is connected with a stepping motor 106 via an elastic body, the difference of rotation angle between of the steering shaft 103 and the stepping motor 106 is converted to torque and controlled, and, thereby, the steering reactive force is generated. When a steering wheel 104 is subjected to rotational operation in accordance with the conditions of the simulated operation, the stepping motor 106 is rotated so as to apply the torque to be generated to the steering shaft 103. At this time, the torque applied to the steering shaft 103 depends on the product of the difference of rotation angle between the steering shaft 103 and the stepping motor 106, and the torsional spring constant of the elastic body, therefore, the rotation angle of the stepping motor 106 for obtaining the target torque can be obtained and the stepping motor 106 is rotated at this angle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering reaction force generating mechanism that allows a driver to feel a steering reaction force in a simulated driving device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a steering reaction force generating mechanism for a simulated driving device, for example, there is one as shown in FIG. Steering shaft 2 supported by chassis not shown
One end of one of the springs, for example, one end of a spring 22 is connected, and the other end of the spring 22 is connected to a chassis (not shown). The steering wheel 23 attached to the other end of the steering shaft 21 according to the simulation situation
Is rotated, a reaction force is applied to the steering wheel 23 via the steering shaft 21 by the spring 22 in proportion to the rotation angle.

In this steering reaction force generating mechanism, the reaction force is given in proportion to the displacement of the spring 22, and the reaction force cannot be controlled.

[0004] As another example of the above-mentioned steering reaction force generating mechanism for a simulated driving device, there is one as shown in FIG.
A steering shaft 32 is connected to a rotation drive shaft of a servo motor 31, and an angle detector 34 for detecting the rotation angle is attached to an axis of the steering shaft 32 rotated by the operation rotation of the steering wheel 33. The signal is fed back to the servo circuit 35, and the servo circuit 35 outputs a new operation signal in accordance with the fed back angle signal, and the servo driver 36 that receives the signal drives the sabo motor 31 so that the target angle is obtained. For example, since the rotation of the servomotor 31 is slightly delayed with respect to the operation rotation of the steering wheel 33, the reaction force of the servomotor 31 is applied to the steering wheel 33.

The construction of the servo circuit 35 is expensive, and when an AC motor is used as the servomotor 31, an analog circuit is present, which makes signal processing difficult.

[0006]

As described above, the reaction force cannot be controlled by using a spring, or signal processing is difficult by using an AC servomotor and a feedback circuit. I was

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a steering reaction force generating mechanism for a simulated driving device capable of faithfully simulating a reaction force with a simple structure.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a steering reaction force generating mechanism for a simulated driving device according to the present invention comprises a steering shaft and a stepping motor connected to each other via an elastic body. A steering reaction force is generated by converting a rotational angle difference with a motor into a torque and controlling the torque.

[0009]

When the steering wheel is rotated in a simulated driving situation, a desired torque is not generated while the stepping motor is stopped, and a reaction force corresponding to the force applied to simply rotate the steering wheel is applied. Therefore, the stepping motor is rotated so that the torque to be generated in the simulation situation is given to the steering shaft. At this time, the torque given to the steering shaft is obtained by multiplying the rotation angle difference between the steering shaft and the stepping motor and the torsion spring constant of the elastic body, so that the rotation angle of the stepping motor for obtaining the target torque is obtained. The stepping motor is rotated at this angle.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a base; 102, a frame to be attached to the base 101; 103, a steering shaft having one end positioned inside the frame 102 and the other end arranged outside the frame 102; Is the steering shaft 10
3 is a steering wheel attached to the other end. Reference numeral 105 denotes an elastic body, which is formed of, for example, a coupling having a twist constant, and has one end connected to one end of the steering shaft 103. 106 is a stepping motor connected to the other end of the elastic body 105 for transmitting rotation. A gear 107 is mounted on the steering shaft 103 in the frame 102. 10
Reference numeral 8 denotes a photoelectric rotary encoder serving as an angle detection sensor mounted in the frame, and reference numeral 109 denotes a belt that connects the gear 107 and the rotation shaft of the rotary encoder 108 to transmit the rotation of the steering shaft 103.
Reference numeral 110 denotes a computer, which calculates a rotation angle based on an output pulse of the rotary encoder 108, and inputs a target torque to be generated according to a simulation situation,
An operation signal is output from the difference between the rotation angle of the steering shaft 103 and the rotation angle of the stepping motor 106 so that the target torque is obtained. 111 is the computer 11
A motor driver that drives the stepping motor 106 so as to receive a target torque from an operation signal from 0.

When the steering wheel 104 is rotated in a simulated driving condition, the steering shaft 103 is slightly rotated by the elasticity of the elastic body 105. At this time, the rotary encoder 108 detects this rotation angle and gives it to the computer 110. The computer 110 is provided with a target torque to be given according to this driving situation. Now, torque is T, torsion spring constant is k, θ1
Is the rotation angle detected by the rotary encoder 108,
When θ2 is the rotation angle of the stepping motor 106, the torque is obtained by the following equation (1).

[0012]

T = (θ1−θ2) × k (N · m) (1)

Accordingly, in order to apply the desired torque T to the steering shaft 103, the computer 110 inputs the rotation angle θ1 detected by the rotary encoder 108 and calculates θ2 from equation (1). Computer 110
The operation signal of the pulse calculated by
, And the motor driver 111 drives the stepping motor 106 in accordance with the operation signal so that the stepping motor 106 makes a rotation angle of θ2. When the stepping motor 106 rotates in the same direction as the operation direction of the steering wheel 104, the steering shaft 1 to which a rotational force is applied by the operator.
03 receives a reaction force due to a target torque by the elasticity of the elastic body 105 (torsion spring constant k) and the stepping motor 106 while further rotating. If the steering wheel 104 is further operated in the same direction depending on the driving situation,
With this rotation, the computer 108 further controls the stepping motor 106 to maintain the torque T at the target value.
To calculate the rotation angle. When the target torque changes depending on the situation, the rotation angle of the stepping motor 106 is calculated by the computer 108 as described above, and a reaction force based on the desired target torque can be applied to the steering shaft 103.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, the current torque is converted from the difference between the angle detected by the rotary encoder and the rotation angle of the stepping motor, and the motor is controlled so as to reach the target torque. Therefore, it is possible to provide a system that can be configured at a low cost and that can digitally process all of them, and it is possible to simulate a faithful reaction force with a target torque.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of one embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of a configuration diagram of a conventional spring reaction force generating mechanism for a simulated driving device using a spring system.

FIG. 3 is an example of a configuration diagram of a conventional steering reaction force generating mechanism for a simulated driving device using a motor.

[Explanation of symbols]

101: Base, 102: Frame, 103: Steering shaft, 104: Steering wheel, 105: Elastic body, 106: Stepping motor, 107: Gear, 10
8 ... Rotary encoder, 109 ... Belt, 110 ...
Computer, 111 ... motor driver.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A simulated driving device for generating a steering reaction force by connecting a steering shaft and a stepping motor via an elastic body, converting a rotational angle difference between the steering shaft and the stepping motor into torque, and controlling the torque. Steering reaction force generation mechanism.