JP2007191066A - Behavior controller for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To operate an actuator which is able to change the behavior of a vehicle in a proper control timing, corresponding to the road characteristic information. <P>SOLUTION: A navigation ECU 11 calculates traveling distance L1 of a vehicle from the point of time, when the distance between the detected current location of own vehicle and the start position of a bumpy road at the destination of traveling stored in a storage device 14 becomes a predetermined distance L0. Also, the ECU 11 calculates a variation distance L3 of the location of own vehicle as the total sum of the errors of the distance to the forward and backward directional distances, where the vehicle has actually traveled, and calculates a response distance L4 as the distance where the vehicle travels within an operation response delay time T0 of an actuator 21e. Then, the ECU 11 compares the residual distance L1*, as a value calculated by subtracting the variation distance L3 and the response distance L4 or the like from a predetermined distance L0 with the traveling distance L1; and when the traveling distance L1 becomes larger than the residual distance L1*, the ECU 11 supplies the preliminary control start information of the actuator 21e to a suspension ECU 23. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a behavior control device, and more particularly to a vehicle behavior control device capable of changing the behavior of a vehicle according to road characteristic information ahead in the traveling direction acquired based on the current position of the host vehicle.

As this type of vehicle behavior control device, a storage means for storing road characteristic information together with map information, a current position detection means for detecting the current position of the host vehicle, and an own vehicle detected by the current position detection means. Road characteristic information acquisition means for acquiring road characteristic information within a predetermined distance from the storage means in front of the traveling direction of the vehicle based on the current position of the vehicle, and when the road characteristic information acquisition means acquires the road characteristic information And a control means for specifying the operation start timing of the actuator that can change the behavior of the vehicle.
JP 2000-318634 A

  In the vehicle behavior control apparatus described in Patent Document 1, road characteristic information within a predetermined distance is acquired from the storage unit in front of the traveling direction of the vehicle based on the detected current position of the host vehicle. Then, depending on this road characteristic information, that is, whether the destination road surface is a flat road or an uneven road, an actuator that can change the behavior of the vehicle (the damping force of the shock absorber constituting the suspension device can be changed). The operation start time of the actuator) is specified, and the damping force of the shock absorber is set to “hard” or “soft” at the control timing in accordance with the arrival time on the traveling road surface.

  However, in the vehicle behavior control device described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, when setting the operation start timing of the actuator, no consideration is given to the current position accuracy of the host vehicle or the response delay of the actuator operation. May not operate at the correct control timing.

  The present invention has been made in order to cope with the above problem, and its purpose is to consider the current position accuracy of the host vehicle when setting the operation start time of the actuator that can change the behavior of the vehicle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a behavior control device in which the actuator can be operated at an appropriate control timing.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized by storage means for storing road characteristic information together with map information, current position detection means for detecting the current position of the host vehicle, and detection by the current position detection means. Road characteristic information acquisition means for acquiring road characteristic information within a predetermined distance from the storage means in front of the traveling direction of the vehicle based on the current position of the host vehicle, and the road characteristic information acquisition means acquires the road characteristic information. In the vehicle behavior control device comprising the present control means for specifying the operation start timing of the actuator that can change the behavior of the vehicle at the time of acquisition, from the time when the road characteristic information acquisition means acquires the road characteristic information The operation of the actuator is started before the main control start time until the main control start time when the main control means starts the operation of the actuator. In that the previous control means.

  In this behavior control apparatus, the operation of the actuator is started by the prior control means from the time when the road characteristic information is acquired by the road characteristic information acquisition means until the operation of the actuator is started by the control means. Therefore, it is possible to set the operation state of the actuator to an operation state (for example, a standby state) that can accurately change the behavior of the vehicle at the start of the main control of the actuator. For this reason, compared with the case where the prior control means is not provided, the effect of the actuator at the time of starting the present control can be obtained, and the behavior of the vehicle can be appropriately changed.

  Another feature of the present invention is that the pre-control start time point at which the pre-control unit starts the operation of the actuator is based on the start point of the main control by the main control unit according to a delay in the response of the actuator. It is in being set to. Here, the actuation response delay of the actuator means a total response delay time such as a mechanical response delay time of the actuator, an electrical response delay time, a dead time for sensing the system, and can be set in advance. It is a possible predetermined value.

  According to this, there is no delay in the main control due to the delay in the operation response of the actuator, and in the main control, it is possible to obtain the desired operation and effect described above at an appropriate timing.

  Another feature of the present invention is that the pre-control start time at which the pre-control means starts the operation of the actuator is based on the main control start time by the control means according to the current position accuracy of the host vehicle. It is in being set to. Here, the current position accuracy of the host vehicle includes the position accuracy between the actual vehicle position and the detected vehicle position, the position accuracy between the detected vehicle position and the vehicle position on the map stored in the storage means, and the like. means.

  According to this, since the position error caused by the current position accuracy of the host vehicle can be canceled out, there is no delay in this control, and in this control, it is possible to obtain the expected operation and effect described above at an appropriate timing. It is. In particular, when taking into consideration the delay in the response of the actuator, this control can obtain the desired operation and effect described above at the optimum timing.

  Another feature of the present invention is that the operation control amount of the actuator by the prior control means is set smaller than the operation control amount of the actuator by the control means.

  According to this, it is possible to suppress unnecessary change in the behavior of the vehicle due to the operation of the actuator by the prior control means, and it is possible to accurately change the behavior of the vehicle by the operation of the actuator by the original control means.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the entire vehicle behavior control device according to the present embodiment. In this behavior control device, a navigation device 10 and a suspension device 20 are built in a gateway computer 30 and a vehicle. Are connected to each other via a LAN 40 (Local Area Network). Here, the gateway computer 30 is a computer that comprehensively controls the flow of various data shared between the navigation device 10 and the suspension device 20 and the flow of control signals for controlling the cooperation between the devices 10 and 20.

  The navigation device 10 is capable of detecting the current position of the host vehicle and supplying various event information relating to the characteristics of the road according to the current position of the host vehicle to the suspension device 20. Simply referred to as a navigation ECU 11).

  The navigation ECU 11 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a timer, and the like as main components. The pre-control start time setting program shown in FIG. 2 and the pre-control end time shown in FIG. 3 are set every predetermined time after the ignition switch is turned on. The setting program is repeatedly executed and the operation of the navigation device 10 is comprehensively controlled. A GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 12, a gyroscope 13, a storage device 14 as storage means, and a LAN interface 15 are connected to the navigation ECU 11.

  The GPS receiver 12 receives a radio wave for detecting the current position of the host vehicle from a satellite, and detects the detected current position of the host vehicle as, for example, coordinate data. The gyroscope 13 detects the turning speed of the vehicle for detecting the traveling direction of the host vehicle. And navigation ECU11 detects the present position of the own vehicle based on each detected value detected by the GPS receiver 12, the gyroscope 13, and the vehicle speed sensor 24 mentioned later.

  The storage device 14 includes a rewritable storage medium such as a hard disk, a CD-RW, a DVD-RAM, and a DVD-RW, a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM, and a drive device for these recording media. It is configured to include. The storage device 14 stores various programs executed by the navigation ECU 11, road type data indicating expressways, national roads, prefectural roads, road shape data indicating the number of lanes, curve radii, and the like, and the degree of unevenness of the road surface. In addition, road characteristic data representing steps and the like are stored in association with map information.

  The LAN interface 15 is connected to the LAN 40 and enables communication between the navigation ECU 11 and the gateway computer 30. The LAN interface 15 supplies various information from the navigation ECU 11 to the gateway computer 30 via the LAN 40, and acquires various information from the suspension ECU 23 from the gateway computer 30 via the LAN interface 26 described later to the navigation ECU 11. Supply.

  The suspension device 20 includes a shock absorber 21, a coil spring 22, and a lower arm LA (unsprung member) between the vehicle body BD (sprung member) and each wheel W. The shock absorber 21 is interposed between the lower arm LA connected to each wheel W and the vehicle body BD, is connected to the lower arm LA at the lower end of the cylinder 21a, and is inserted into the cylinder 21a so as to be vertically movable. The piston rod 21b is fixed to the vehicle body BD at the upper end. The coil spring 22 is provided in parallel with the shock absorber 21.

  The cylinder 21a is partitioned into upper and lower chambers R1, R2 by a piston 21c that slides liquid-tightly on the inner peripheral surface thereof. A variable throttle mechanism 21d is assembled to the piston 21c. The variable throttle mechanism 21d is configured to open a communication path that communicates between the upper and lower chambers R1, R2 of the cylinder 21a by changing the throttle amount by the operation of a suspension control actuator 21e (hereinafter simply referred to as the actuator 21e) constituting a part thereof. Switch degrees to multiple levels. In the present embodiment, the opening degree of the communication path is switched to, for example, three stages, and the damping force of the shock absorber 21 is set to “soft” at the maximum position of the opening degree of the communication path. The damping force of the shock absorber 21 is set to “hard” at the minimum position of the opening degree, and the damping force of the shock absorber 21 is set to “normal” at the intermediate position of the opening degree of the communication path. At that time, the damping force of the shock absorber 21 is set to “hard”.

  The suspension device 20 also includes a suspension electronic control unit 23 (hereinafter simply referred to as a suspension ECU 23). The suspension ECU 23 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a timer, and the like as main components, and repeatedly executes the damping force control program shown in FIG. 4 every predetermined time after the ignition switch is turned on to operate the actuator 21e. Overall control. A vehicle speed sensor 24, a longitudinal acceleration sensor 25, and a LAN interface 26 are connected to the suspension ECU 23.

  The vehicle speed sensor 24 detects the vehicle speed V based on the wheel speed. The longitudinal acceleration sensor 25 detects the longitudinal acceleration α in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Similar to the LAN interface 15, the LAN interface 26 is connected to the LAN 40 and enables communication between the suspension ECU 23 and the gateway computer 30. The LAN interface 26 supplies various information from the suspension ECU 23 to the gateway computer 30 via the LAN 40, and acquires various information from the navigation ECU 11 from the gateway computer 30 via the LAN interface 15 and supplies the information to the suspension ECU 23. .

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. When the occupant operates the ignition key to turn on the ignition switch, the navigation ECU 11 repeatedly executes the pre-control start time setting program in FIG. 2 and the pre-control end time setting program in FIG. 3 every predetermined short time.

  First, the prior control start time setting program of FIG. 2 will be described. This pre-control start time setting program operates the actuator 21e that switches the damping force of the shock absorber 21 from “hard” to “normal” in advance before reaching the uneven road when the vehicle destination road surface is an uneven road. A start time, that is, a pre-control start time (pre-control start time) is set (see FIG. 7). When the pre-control start time is reached, the damping force of the shock absorber 21 is switched from “hard” to “normal”, and when the vehicle approaches the uneven road, the damping force of the shock absorber 21 is “normal”. To "soft". As a result, when the vehicle approaches the uneven road, the actuator 21e at the time when the vehicle approaches the uneven road is compared with the case where the damping force of the shock absorber 21 is switched from “hard” to “soft” in one step. Good effectiveness is ensured.

  The above-described advance control start time setting program starts executing in step S10, and determines in step S11 whether the advance control flag PCF is “1”. Since the advance control flag PCF is “0”, there is no uneven road within a predetermined distance L0 (a preset distance until the actual control of the actuator 21e is started) from the current position of the host vehicle. This means that it is not necessary to switch the damping force of the shock absorber 21 from “hard” to “normal”, and “1” indicates that there is an uneven road within a predetermined distance L0 from the current position of the host vehicle to the destination. This indicates that the damping force of the absorber 21 needs to be switched from “hard” to “normal”, and is initially set to “0”. If the advance control flag PCF is maintained and set to “0”, “No” is determined in step S11, and the process proceeds to step S12.

  In step S <b> 12, the navigation ECU 11 detects the current position (coordinate data) of the host vehicle based on the detection values from the GPS receiver 12, the gyroscope 13, and the vehicle speed sensor 24, and is stored in the storage device 14. Enter the start position (coordinate data) of the uneven road of the destination.

  After the process of step S12, in step S13, the detected current position of the host vehicle is compared with the start position of the traveling uneven road stored in the storage device 14, and the distance between the two positions is predetermined. It is determined whether or not the distance L0 has been reached. If the distance between the two positions has not yet reached the predetermined distance L0, “No” is determined in step S13, and the execution of this pre-control start time setting program is temporarily ended in step S25. On the other hand, if “Yes” in step S13, that is, if the distance between the two positions has become the predetermined distance L0, the processes in and after step S14 are executed.

  In step S14, the advance control flag PCF is set to “1”. In step S15, the count value K is initialized to “0”. In step S16, “1” is added to the count value K. Next, in step S17, a variation distance L3 of the own vehicle position is calculated.

  The variation distance L3 of the own vehicle position is the error of the distance caused by the positional accuracy between the actual vehicle position and the detected vehicle position from when the vehicle starts to travel until it reaches the uneven road. This is a value obtained by estimating the total sum of the distance error with respect to the distance traveled in the front-rear direction, such as the distance error caused by the positional accuracy between the vehicle position and the vehicle position on the map stored in the storage device 14.

  The vehicle position on the map is corrected so as to coincide with the actual vehicle position by, for example, a curved road correction when turning left or right at an intersection, corner correction during cornering, position correction by GPS, and the like. . However, the error with respect to the longitudinal distance in which the vehicle actually traveled accumulates at a predetermined rate in proportion to the travel distance as the travel of a straight road such as an expressway continues longer. Therefore, if the time for starting the pre-control of the actuator 21e is not set in consideration of the error of the distance, the effect of the actuator 21e may not be obtained when the vehicle approaches the uneven road. For this reason, while the vehicle travels the estimated variation distance L3, the actuator 21e is controlled in advance so that the delay of the control due to the variation distance L3 does not occur (FIG. 7). reference).

  In calculating the variation distance L3, the variation distance table provided in the ROM of the navigation ECU 11 is referred to until the distance between the vehicle and the start position of the uneven road reaches a predetermined distance L0 (in step S13). From the time when the distance between the vehicle and the starting position of the uneven road reaches a predetermined distance L0. The variation distance according to the travel distance (L (K · ΔT)) is also taken into consideration. Here, the time ΔT represents the calculation cycle of the prior control start time setting program.

  The variation distance table stores a variation distance L3 with respect to the travel distance (L (K · ΔT)) of the vehicle, and as shown in FIG. 5, the travel distance (L A plurality of variation distances L3 linearly increasing as (K · ΔT)) increases are stored. The magnitude of the variation distance L3 is larger as the already traveled distance L is longer. In addition to or instead of using this variation distance table, a variation distance L3 that changes according to the existing travel distance L and the travel distance (L (K · ΔT)) is defined in advance by a function. The variation distance L3 may be calculated using a function. The variation distance L3 may be a value obtained by calculating an error with respect to the distance in the front-rear direction when the navigation ECU 11 actually travels and transmitting the error amount at the (K · ΔT) time to the suspension ECU 23.

In step S18, using the operation response delay time T0 of the actuator 21e and the longitudinal acceleration α of the vehicle, a response distance L4 as a distance traveled by the vehicle within the operation response delay time T0 is calculated by the following equation 1.
L4 = V (K · ΔT) · T0 + (α · T0 ² ) / 2 Formula 1
Here, the actuation response delay time T0 of the actuator 21e is the sum of the mechanical response delay time and the electrical response delay time of the actuator 21e, and is a predetermined value set in advance. This operation response delay time T0 includes, for example, a dead time for sensing the system according to the type of actuator. In Equation 1, V (K · ΔT) represents the vehicle speed detected for each count value, and α represents the maximum value on the acceleration side among the longitudinal accelerations detected after the vehicle started running. . Further, as α, the maximum acceleration of the vehicle may be used.

  The vehicle is traveling even while the operation response delay time T0 of the actuator 21e has elapsed. Therefore, if the advance control start time of the actuator 21e is not set in consideration of the travel distance during which the operation response delay time T0 has elapsed, the effect of the operation of the actuator 21e can be obtained when the actuator 21e is approached. There is a risk of not. For this reason, while the vehicle is traveling the response distance L4, the actuator 21e is controlled in advance so as not to cause a delay in the main control due to the actuation response delay of the actuator 21e (FIG. 7).

  In step S19, the current travel distance L1new (L1new = V (K · ΔT) · ΔT) for each count value is calculated. In step S20, the current travel distance L1new is added to the cumulative travel distance L1old up to the previous time, and this added value is set as the travel distance L1 after the count is started. The cumulative travel distance L1old is initially set to “0”. In step S21, the travel distance L1 up to this time is updated to the cumulative travel distance L1old in order to calculate the next travel distance L1.

In step S22, using the predetermined distance L0, the prior control distance L2, and the current travel distance L1new until the start of the present control, the remaining distance from the start of the count according to the following equation 2 to the start of the prior control. Calculate L1 *.
L1 * = L0- (L2 + L1new)
= L0− (L3 + L4 + L1new) Equation 2

  In step S23, it is determined whether or not the travel distance L1 of the vehicle is greater than the remaining distance L1 *. If the travel distance L1 of the vehicle is not greater than the remaining distance L1 *, “No” is determined in step S23, and the execution of this pre-control start time setting program is temporarily terminated in step S25. Here, the remaining distance L1 * until the preliminary control is started in steps S22 and S23 is not set as (L0− (L3 + L4)), but the travel distance L1 of the vehicle and the distance (L0− (L3 + L4)) are compared. There was no reason for the following reasons.

That is, when the added value of the variation distance L3 of the own vehicle position and the response distance L4 is set to the prior control distance L2 (see FIG. 7), as shown in FIG. 6, the minimum count that satisfies L1> L0− (L3 + L4) When the value is n, the control delay with respect to the start position of the pre-control distance L2 does not occur by starting the pre-control of the actuator 21e when the count value is (n-1). The elapsed time T1 from the start of counting to the start of pre-control is expressed by the following equation 3.
(N−1) · ΔT ≦ T1 <n · ΔT Equation 3

  However, since the time point when the count value is (n−1) is a time point that cannot be specified unless the count value is n, after all, the advance control of the actuator 21e must be started after the count value becomes n. As a result, a control delay occurs for a time ΔT that is one calculation cycle. In order to eliminate this control delay, as shown in the above equation 2, the current travel distance L1new at time ΔT is taken into consideration, and when L1> L0− (L3 + L4 + L1new) is satisfied, the actuator 21e is controlled in advance. By making it start, the control delay with respect to the start position of the prior control distance L2 does not arise.

  Returning to the description of step S23, the processes of steps S10, S11, S16 to S23, and S25 are repeatedly executed as long as the vehicle travel distance L1 continues to be smaller than the remaining distance L1 *. Then, when “Yes”, that is, the travel distance L1 of the vehicle becomes larger than the remaining distance L1 * in step S23, the process of step S24 is executed.

  In step S24, a suspension control flag SCF, which is control information of the actuator 21e, is set to “1”. The suspension control flag SCF indicates that the actuator 21e is pre-controlled by “1”, and is initially set to “0”. Then, the navigation ECU 11 supplies advance control information (SCF = “1”) to the suspension ECU 23 via the LAN interface 15, the gateway computer 30 and the LAN 40. After the process of step S24, the execution of the pre-control start time point program is temporarily ended in step S25.

  Next, the prior control end point setting program of FIG. 3 will be described. This pre-control end time setting program sets the pre-control end time of the actuator 21e and sets the main control start time of the actuator 21e. The execution is started in step S50, and the pre-control is performed in step S51. It is determined whether or not the flag PCF is “1”.

  Since the distance between the detected current position of the host vehicle and the start position of the traveling uneven road stored in the storage device 14 is not the predetermined distance L0, the advance control flag is set in step S14 of FIG. If PCF is not set to “1”, “No” is determined in step S51, and execution of the pre-control end point setting program is temporarily ended in step S55. On the other hand, if “Yes”, that is, the advance control flag PCF is set to “1” in step S51, the process proceeds to step S52.

  In step S52, it is determined whether or not the travel distance L1 calculated in step S20 of FIG. 2 is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance L0. If the travel distance L1 is still less than the predetermined distance L0, “No” is determined in step S52, and the execution of the pre-control end point setting program is temporarily ended in step S55. On the other hand, when the travel distance L1 is equal to or greater than the predetermined distance L0, “Yes” is determined in step S52, and the processes after step S53 are executed.

  In step S53, the advance control flag PCF is set to “0”. In step S54, the suspension control flag SCF which is the control information of the actuator 21e is set to “2”. The suspension control flag SCF indicates that the actuator 21e is fully controlled by “2”. The navigation ECU 11 supplies the control information (SCF = “2”) to the suspension ECU 23 via the LAN interface 15, the gateway computer 30 and the LAN 40. After the process of step S54, the execution of this pre-control end point setting program is temporarily ended in step S55.

  In parallel with the navigation ECU 11 executing the pre-control start time setting program of FIG. 2 and the pre-control end time setting program of FIG. 3, the suspension ECU 23 repeatedly executes the damping force control program of FIG. Yes.

  The damping force control program sets the damping force generated by the shock absorber 21 to any one mode of “hard”, “normal”, and “soft” based on the control information supplied from the navigation ECU 11. In step S100, execution is started. In step S101, it is determined whether or not the suspension control flag SCF is "1". In step S102, whether or not the suspension control flag SCF is "2". Determine whether or not.

  If the advance control flag PCF is not set to “1” in step S14 of FIG. 2, the suspension control flag SCF is still set to “0”, so that “No” is set in steps S101 and S102. ”And the execution of this damping force control program is once terminated in step S105. In this state, the damping force generated by the shock absorber 21 is maintained and set to “hard”.

  From this state, when the advance control flag PCF is set to “1” in step S14 of FIG. 2 and the suspension control flag SCF is set to “1” in step S24, “Yes” is set in step S101. And the process of step S103 is executed. In step S103, the actuator 21e is controlled in advance, that is, the damping force of the shock absorber 21 is switched from “hard” to “normal”. After the process of step S103, the execution of the damping force control program is temporarily ended in step S105. As long as the state in which the suspension control flag SCF is set to “1” continues, the processes of steps S100, S101, S103, and S105 are repeatedly executed, and the damping force of the shock absorber 21 is maintained and set to “normal”. The

  From this state, if the suspension control flag SCF is set to “2” in step S54 of FIG. 3, it is determined as “No” in step S101 and “Yes” in step S102. The process of S104 is executed. In step S104, the actuator 21e is switched to the main control, that is, the damping force of the shock absorber 21 is changed from “normal” to “soft”. After the process of step S104, the execution of the damping force control program is temporarily ended in step S105.

  The damping force of the shock absorber 21 is determined by executing a program (not shown) and the current position (coordinate data) of the own vehicle detected and the end position (coordinate data) of the uneven road stored in the storage device 14. When the detected current position of the host vehicle exceeds the end position of the uneven road by a predetermined distance, it is switched from “soft” to “hard”. At the same time, the suspension control flag SCF is set to “0”. Is set to "".

  As is clear from the above description, in the above-described embodiment, the suspension ECU 11 starts from the point in time when the uneven road is detected within the predetermined distance L0 of the destination of the vehicle by the processing of step S12 and step S13 in FIG. Before the main control of the actuator 21e is started by the processing of step S104 in FIG. 4 by the ECU 23, the pre-control of the actuator 21e is started at the pre-control start time T1, as shown in FIG. The damping force 21 is switched from “hard” to “normal”. Therefore, the damping force of the shock absorber 21 can be immediately switched to “soft” at the main control start time T2 of the actuator 21e. Thereby, compared with the prior art, the effect of the actuator 21e at the present control start time T2 can be obtained, and the vertical vibration generated in the vehicle can be accurately attenuated to improve the riding comfort of the vehicle.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the pre-control start time point T1 for starting the operation of the actuator is controlled according to the pre-control distance L2 (L2 = L3 + L4) obtained by adding the variation distance L3 of the own vehicle position and the response distance L4. It is set based on the start time T2, and the actuator 21e is pre-controlled while the vehicle is traveling the pre-control distance L2. As a result, the delay in the main control due to the actuation response delay of the actuator 21e is eliminated, and the position error due to the current position accuracy of the host vehicle can be offset to eliminate the delay in the main control. Then, the desired operation and effect can be obtained at the right time.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the operation control amount at the time of the prior control of the actuator 21e is a control amount necessary for switching the damping force from “hard” to “normal”. The actuator 21e is set to be smaller than the operation control amount during the main control necessary for switching from “hard” to “soft” in one stage. Thereby, the useless change of the damping characteristic accompanying the prior control of the actuator 21e can be suppressed.

  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the object of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to the suspension device including the shock absorber 21 including the actuator 21e that can switch the damping force in three stages. The present invention can also be applied to a suspension apparatus including a shock absorber that includes an actuator that can be switched in a plurality of stages as described above.

  In the above embodiment, the preliminary control start time T1 at which the actuator 21e is started is set based on the control start time T2 according to the distance obtained by adding the variation distance L3 of the own vehicle position and the response distance L4. However, the prior control start time point T1 is set based on this control start time point T2 according to only one of the variation distance L3 of the own vehicle position and the response distance L4. It is also possible to do.

  In the above embodiment, the operation control amount at the time of the prior control of the actuator 21e is set to a control amount necessary for switching the damping force from “hard” to “normal”. The operation control amount at the time of the prior control is set to the control amount necessary for switching the damping force from “hard” to “soft” in one step, that is, the same as the operation control amount at the actual control of the actuator 21e. It is also possible to implement.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, when calculating the variation distance L3 of the own vehicle position, the existing travel distance L that the vehicle has traveled until the distance between the vehicle position and the start position of the uneven road of the travel destination becomes the predetermined distance L0. In addition, the variation distance according to the travel distance from the time when the distance between the vehicle and the start position of the uneven road becomes the predetermined distance L0 is also taken into consideration, The variation distance may be calculated based on the existing travel distance L that the vehicle has traveled until the distance between the start positions of the uneven roads reaches the predetermined distance L0.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although implemented about the case where road characteristic information is an uneven road, in addition to this, road characteristic information is information regarding the level | step difference which exists on a road, for example, the information regarding a corner, etc. In some cases, the damping force of the shock absorber can be changed in the same manner as in the above embodiment.

  In the above embodiment, the damping force of the shock absorber is changed in advance according to the road characteristic information. In addition to or in place of this, for example, a stabilizer bar whose twist angle can be changed by an actuator is used. Thus, before the vehicle reaches the corner, the torsional rigidity of the stabilizer bar may be changed to be high in advance.

  In the above embodiment, the behavior control device includes the suspension device having the shock absorber that can change the damping force. However, the behavior control device is not limited to this, for example, a brake device, a power steering device, or the like of the vehicle. The present invention can be applied to various behavior control devices provided with a device capable of changing the behavior. When the behavior control device is equipped with a brake device, the brake device is set to operate to decelerate the vehicle speed when approaching a downhill, for example, and is installed in a pressure accumulator as a brake hydraulic pressure increase actuator. The hydraulic pressure is set so as to increase in advance to a predetermined level before reaching the downhill. When the behavior control device is equipped with a power steering device, the power steering device is set to operate to increase the steering force by a predetermined amount, for example, when entering a highway or before a corner. Then, the drive torque of the electric motor as the steering force assist actuator is set so as to decrease as the vehicle speed increases.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing an entire vehicle behavior change control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the prior control start time setting program performed by navigation ECU of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the prior control completion | finish time setting program performed by navigation ECU of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the damping force control program performed by suspension ECU of FIG. 3 is a graph showing variation characteristics of variation distance with respect to travel distance stored in a variation distance table provided in the navigation ECU of FIG. 1. It is explanatory drawing which shows the control timing with which the prior control of an actuator is started by execution of the prior control start time point setting program of FIG. FIG. 2 is a time chart showing an actuator pre-control start time, a pre-control end time, and the like executed by the suspension ECU of FIG. 1; FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Navigation apparatus, 11 ... Navigation ECU, 12 ... GPS receiver, 14 ... Memory | storage device, 20 ... Suspension apparatus, 21 ... Shock absorber, 21d ... Variable throttle mechanism, 21e ... Suspension control actuator, 23 ... Suspension ECU, 24 ... Vehicle speed sensor, 25 ... longitudinal acceleration sensor

Claims (4)

Storage means for storing road characteristic information together with map information, current position detection means for detecting the current position of the own vehicle, and vehicle progress based on the current position of the own vehicle detected by the current position detection means Road characteristic information acquisition means for acquiring road characteristic information within a predetermined distance in the forward direction from the storage means, and an actuator capable of changing the behavior of the vehicle when the road characteristic information acquisition means acquires the road characteristic information. In a vehicle behavior control device comprising this control means for specifying the operation start time,
The actuator is operated before the main control start time from the time when the road characteristic information acquisition means acquires the road characteristic information to the main control start time when the main control means starts the operation of the actuator. A vehicle behavior control device characterized in that pre-control means for starting the vehicle is provided. In the vehicle behavior control device according to claim 1,
The pre-control start time point at which the pre-control unit starts the operation of the actuator is set based on the main control start point by the main control unit according to a delay in the response of the actuator. Vehicle behavior control device. In the vehicle behavior control device according to claim 1 or 2,
The pre-control start time point at which the pre-control unit starts the operation of the actuator is set based on the main control start point by the main control unit according to the current position accuracy of the host vehicle. Vehicle behavior control device. In the vehicle behavior control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The behavior control apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein an operation control amount of the actuator by the prior control means is set smaller than an operation control amount of the actuator by the main control means.

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