JP2002109685A - Vehicle control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform a vehicle control which takes into consideration environmental protection or safety, on the basis of externally gained information. SOLUTION: The information, related to traveling environment such as the present position of the vehicle or the weather state of a traveling zone, is gained by a navigation unit 55 or an ITS unit 56 through the communication with external facilities. When the present location of the vehicle is a specified zone, the engine stop page in idling is executed, and the vehicle speed during traveling is limited to a set vehicle speed or lower, to establish the environmental protection and safety. In a poor weather, the drive torque distribution of the vehicle is controlled, to ensure traveling safety.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle control device capable of controlling a vehicle in consideration of environmental protection and safety based on information obtained from outside the vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a navigation device mounted on a vehicle, there is known a technology for performing facility guidance and controlling various on-vehicle devices in addition to mere route guidance. For example, JP
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 0-272913 discloses that when the navigation device determines that the vehicle is in a specific facility such as a parking lot or a gas station, the vehicle is controlled in accordance with the facility so that each operation of the driver can be performed. A system for assisting is disclosed.

[0003]

However, since the above-mentioned prior art is effective only in a specific facility, it cannot be said that it is a system on a social scale, and vehicle control in consideration of environmental protection and safety is not possible. Have difficulty.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device capable of controlling a vehicle in consideration of environmental protection and safety based on information obtained from outside the vehicle.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 comprises means for acquiring information relating to the traveling environment of the vehicle by communication with equipment outside the vehicle, and information relating to the traveling environment. Means for determining whether or not the current position of the host vehicle is within a specific area based on the above, and stopping the engine during idle operation where the set conditions are satisfied when determining that the position of the host vehicle is within the specific area And means for causing it to be provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle speed limiting means for limiting the vehicle speed of the own vehicle to a set vehicle speed or less when it is determined that the position of the own vehicle is within a specific area. It is characterized by having.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided means for acquiring information relating to the traveling environment of the host vehicle through communication with equipment outside the vehicle, and determining a weather condition of an area in which the host vehicle travels based on the information relating to the traveling environment. It is characterized by comprising means for determining and means for controlling the distribution of the driving torque of the vehicle based on the result of the determination of the weather condition in the area where the vehicle travels.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, information on the traveling environment of the own vehicle is obtained by communication with the equipment outside the vehicle, and based on the obtained information, whether the current position of the own vehicle is in a specific area or not. Determine whether or not. Then, when it is determined that the position of the host vehicle is in the specific area, the engine is stopped during the idling operation in which the set condition is satisfied, thereby suppressing exhaust gas emission and contributing to environmental conservation.

In this case, according to the present invention, in addition to stopping the engine during idling, the vehicle speed during traveling is limited to a set vehicle speed or less, thereby contributing to environmental conservation and reducing the impact on the host vehicle and pedestrians. Improve safety.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, information relating to the traveling environment of the own vehicle is obtained by communication with the equipment outside the vehicle, and the weather condition of the area where the own vehicle runs is determined based on the obtained information. The driving safety of the vehicle is controlled by controlling the distribution of the driving torque of the vehicle based on the determination result of the weather condition in the area where the vehicle travels.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 relate to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall view of a vehicle control system, FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a vehicle control routine, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an idle stop control routine, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a control routine, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a weather adaptive control routine.

First, a control system of the whole vehicle will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the vehicle 1 is a four-wheel drive vehicle (4WD vehicle), and the output of a transmission 3 connected to the engine 2 is transmitted to a center differential device 4, and from the center differential device 4, the rear differential device The transmission is transmitted to the rear wheels 6 via the transmission gear 5 and from the reduction gears 7 and 8 (transfer drive gears 7 and the transfer driven gears 8) connected to the center differential device 4 to the front wheels 10 via the front differential device 9. .

The center differential device 4 is a composite planetary gear type differential device in the figure, and is differentially limited by a transfer clutch 11 composed of a hydraulic multi-plate clutch or the like. That is, in a state where the transfer clutch 11 is released, the torque distribution by the center differential device 4 is output as it is, and when the transfer clutch 11 is completely pressed, the torque distribution is stopped and the front and rear wheels are directly connected.

On the other hand, reference numeral 50 denotes a vehicle control device comprising a microcomputer or the like, which controls the vehicle 1 in an integrated manner. A display unit 51 for displaying various information, an idle stop changeover switch 52 for switching execution / non-execution of engine stop (idle stop) during idling, and a microcomputer are connected to the vehicle control device 50. Are connected. That is, the vehicle control device 50 includes an engine control unit (E / G_ECU) 53, a transmission control unit (T / M_ECU) 54, a navigation unit 55, and an ITS (Intelligent Transportation System).
The unit 56 is connected, transmits and receives various control data to and from each unit, and transmits a control command to each unit.

The E / G_ECU 53 has a function of controlling the engine system. Based on signals from various switches (SW) and sensors 57 such as a vehicle speed sensor, an idle switch, a brake switch, an engine speed sensor, etc. A control amount such as a fuel injection amount and an ignition timing is calculated, and a drive circuit 58 of various actuators such as an injector drive circuit and a starter drive circuit is controlled.

The T / M_ECU 54 has a function of controlling a transmission system. In the present embodiment, the T / M_ECU 54 controls the pressing force (fastening torque) of the transfer clutch 11 for limiting the differential of the center differential device 4. For example, assuming that the reference torque distribution of the center differential device 4 is front wheel 35: rear wheel 65 with rear wheel bias, the torque distribution ratio obtained from the front wheel 35: rear wheel 65 directly connected to the front and rear wheels, for example, 50:50.
The torque distribution is controlled between.

The navigation unit 55 performs various operations for navigation, such as searching for an optimal route from the current position to the destination and outputting route guidance for a set route, and performs a GPS (Global Positioning Sys- tem).
tem) and a map information database (not shown) centered on a position detection unit 55a for detecting its own current position by receiving radio waves emitted from a satellite such as a satellite.

The ITS unit 56 is for acquiring various information for an intelligent transportation system, such as traffic congestion information, weather information, and traffic regulation information for a specific area, by communicating with equipment outside the vehicle. In, the weather information acquisition unit 56a that receives light or radio wave beacons from road-related equipment to acquire weather information, and information for recognizing that the current position of the vehicle is in a specific area such as an urban area. A specific area information acquisition unit 56b to be acquired is provided.

In the vehicle 1 having the above-described control system, the navigation unit 55 and the ITS unit 56 acquire information relating to the traveling environment such as the current position of the vehicle and the weather condition of the traveling area through communication with the external equipment. When the current position of the own vehicle is within the specific area, the engine is stopped during idling operation, the vehicle speed during traveling is limited to a set vehicle speed or less, and environmental protection and safety are established, In the case of bad weather, the driving torque distribution of the vehicle is controlled to ensure traveling safety.

Hereinafter, the control of the vehicle 1 centered on the vehicle control device 50 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a vehicle control routine executed at predetermined intervals in the vehicle control device 50. First, in step S1, the current vehicle position detected by the position detection unit 55a of the navigation unit 55 is determined. In step S2, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle is currently traveling in a specific area. Whether or not the vehicle is traveling in a specific area is determined by the ITS information if ITS information is available.
If the ITS information cannot be used although it can be easily determined based on the data from the unit 56, it is determined whether or not the area is within the specific area by comparing with the map information database in the navigation unit 55.

As a result, if the vehicle is currently traveling in a specific area, the process proceeds from step S2 to step S3 and thereafter, and in steps S3 and S4, the E / G_ECU 53 is instructed to execute idle stop control and vehicle speed limit control. E / G_EC
At U53, a control command is received from the vehicle control device 50,
The engine is stopped when the set conditions are satisfied during the idling operation by the idle stop control routine of FIG. 3, and the vehicle speed during traveling is limited to the set vehicle speed or less by the vehicle speed restriction control routine of FIG.

First, the idle stop control will be described. In this idle stop control, the engine is stopped when the idle switch ON and the brake switch are ON and the vehicle stop condition is satisfied. That is,
In the first step S10 of the idle stop control routine of FIG. 3, it is checked whether or not the idle switch is ON.
In step S11, fuel injection under normal engine control is performed, and the routine exits. If the idle switch is ON and the engine is in an idle operation state, it is checked in step S12 whether the brake switch is ON.

As a result, if the brake switch is OFF, the routine exits from the routine through the above-described step S11.
When the brake switch is in the ON brake operation state, the process proceeds from step 12 to step S13 to check whether or not the vehicle speed V is approximately 0 Km / h (within a set range). If V ≠ 0 Km / h and it is determined that the vehicle is not stopped, the fuel injection is continued in step S11, and if it is determined that V ≒ 0 Km / h, the vehicle is stopped. Proceeding to S14, the engine is stopped by turning off the injector valve opening signal or as a valve opening signal lower than the injector response limit to perform fuel cut. As a result, the amount of exhaust gas emission in the specific area can be suppressed, and environmental conservation can be achieved.

Then, in a state where the engine has been stopped by the idle stop, a step S10,
When the idle stop condition is released in either S12 or S13, in step S11 the starter is started by the starter drive circuit to restart the engine by fuel injection at the start, and thereafter, the fuel in the normal engine control is started. Shift to injection.

In the vehicle speed limiting control, in the first step S20 of the vehicle speed limiting control routine shown in FIG. 4, it is checked whether or not the vehicle speed V has exceeded a set vehicle speed (for example, 60 km / h). If V ≦ 60 km / h, step S
In step 21, fuel injection under normal engine control is executed, and the routine exits. If V> 60 km / h, step S22
To limit the increase in vehicle speed and exit the routine. In other words, by limiting the vehicle speed so as to strictly adhere to slow running in a specific area such as an urban area, it is possible to improve the safety for the host vehicle and pedestrians.

Next, in step S3 of the vehicle control routine,
After executing the idle stop control and the vehicle speed limit control in S4, the vehicle control routine proceeds to step 8 where T / T
The M_ECU 54 is instructed to execute the weather adaptive control. T /
The weather adaptive control in the M_ECU 54 is performed by the weather adaptive control routine of FIG.

In the weather adaptive control, in the first step 30, the weather information from the ITS unit 56 is obtained,
In step S31, it is determined whether or not information of bad weather such as heavy rain or snow has been received. As a result, if there is no bad weather information, it is determined that there is no obstacle to driving with normal control,
The process exits from the step S31. When the bad weather information is received, the process proceeds from step S31 to step S32, in which the transfer clutch 11 is engaged to perform 4WD control of the front and rear wheels directly connected, thereby differentially limiting the center differential device 4 and performing front-rear control. Distribute the torque approximately evenly to the wheels. That is, the driving torque is distributed in accordance with the road surface condition, and the running stability is ensured even when the road surface friction coefficient is reduced due to rainy weather, snow cover, or the like.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 of the vehicle control routine that the vehicle is traveling outside the specific area, the process proceeds from step S2 to step S5 to execute normal traveling control.
In step S6, it is checked whether or not the idle stop switch 52 is ON. If the idle stop changeover switch 52 is OFF, step S
8 to execute the above-described weather adaptive control, and when the idle stop changeover switch 52 is ON, step S
After performing the above-mentioned idle stop control by proceeding to 5,
In step S8, the above-mentioned weather adaptive control is executed.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to control a vehicle in consideration of environmental conservation and safety based on information obtained from outside the vehicle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a vehicle control system.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a traveling control routine.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an idle stop control routine.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a vehicle speed limit control routine.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a weather adaptive control routine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 vehicle 50 vehicle control device 53 engine control unit 54 shift control unit 56 ITS unit 56a weather information acquisition unit 56b specific area information acquisition unit

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Claims (3)

[Claims] A means for acquiring information relating to the traveling environment of the vehicle by communication with equipment outside the vehicle; and determining whether the current position of the vehicle is in a specific area based on the information relating to the traveling environment. A vehicle control device comprising: a determination unit; and a unit that stops an engine during an idle operation in which a set condition is satisfied when the position of the host vehicle is determined to be within a specific area. 2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, further comprising a vehicle speed limiter that limits a vehicle speed of the own vehicle to a set vehicle speed or less when it is determined that the position of the own vehicle is within a specific area. . 3. A means for acquiring information relating to the traveling environment of the own vehicle through communication with equipment outside the vehicle, a means for determining a weather condition in an area where the own vehicle travels based on the information relating to the traveling environment, Means for controlling the distribution of the driving torque of the vehicle based on the result of determination of the weather condition of the area in which the vehicle travels.