JP2008164341A - Travel controller for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem wherein control is sometimes exercised to charge a battery discontinuing power assist when a charge in the battery reaches a given value even when traveling a place with little distance left to the head of a slope, since, in the control circuit of a hybrid automobile, charge/discharge control of the hybrid battery is essentially performed according to the present situation. <P>SOLUTION: The travel controller automatically learns patterns of an uphill slope and a downhill slope corresponding to a distance from a travel start point for a vehicle repetitively running between certain points on a regular route, etc. According to the results of the learning, the running conditions subsequent to respective time points are estimated to exercise running control to reduce charging/discharging of the battery and fuel consumption, thereby performing running with reduced fuel consumption as a whole. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is an apparatus mounted on an automobile or other vehicle that travels with liquid fuel, and automatically learns the past travel mode of the vehicle, and the fuel consumption per distance on the road surface (for example, liters) / Km) relates to a device that automatically performs predictive control so that it is economical. The present invention was invented as an apparatus suitable for use in a hybrid vehicle, but can be widely used in vehicles equipped with a general internal combustion engine. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be effectively used particularly for trucks, buses, and other business vehicles that travel repeatedly in a predetermined section (not necessarily between two points).

  Traditionally, a vehicle is basically designed to travel based on the driver's intention at that time, and a single vehicle reciprocates a predetermined section such as a regular bus or a delivery truck. Even if it is used, it does not have a function for learning the road surface and traveling economically.

  Since the vehicle will return to the base for both commercial and private use, record the road surface conditions experienced in the past in the in-vehicle program control device after leaving the base and returning to the base. Thus, it should be possible to execute the predictive control with reference to the record so as to economize the fuel consumption accordingly. If predictive control can be performed from past records, it will be possible to control the vehicle to travel a long distance at a speed close to the economic speed. Further, at each time point during traveling, it is possible to select an optimum transmission gear combination for the road surface condition to be advanced from now on, and to control the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal to reduce the fuel economy.

JP 2000-333305 A

  In recent devices, the driver is traveling on a flat road, traveling on a downhill road, or traveling on an uphill road with the transmission gear position of the driver seat set to drive (D). Yes. At this time, the transmission control device is configured to automatically select and set the optimum gear according to the vehicle speed and accelerator depression amount at that time, and other mechanical conditions and factors. However, if the driver knows the road conditions that he will travel from now on, and properly predicts and interrupts control without setting the shift gear setting and accelerator pedal depression, the fuel consumption per mileage will be reduced. It can be driven to become smaller.

  More specifically, the conventional apparatus is controlled based on microscopic factors only at that time, such as the setting of the transmission gear, the setting of the fuel flow rate with respect to the operation amount of the accelerator pedal. Control based on the current state, such as high load (eg, uphill), low load (eg, running on a flat road), or acceleration without giving power (eg, downhill) There is no element to be controlled based on the prediction of the road surface condition such as a long flat road surface coming soon, approaching an uphill road surface soon, or approaching a downhill road surface soon.

  If it is known that the flat road surface will continue for a long time, the vehicle speed can be controlled so as to approach the economic speed for the flat road surface in a reasonably wide range of the depression amount of the accelerator pedal. If you can expect an uphill road soon, even if you exceed the economic speed for a flat road surface before entering the uphill road, predict that the vehicle will accelerate in advance so that the fuel consumption on the uphill road will be small It is also possible to control. If it is known that the road surface is going downhill soon, even if the vehicle is decelerated within the allowable range of the vehicle speed, predictive control for reducing the fuel supply amount in advance becomes possible. This applies not only to the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal, but also to the selection of the transmission gear. In particular, in an apparatus in which an overdrive (OD) is provided in a transmission gear, it is considered that predictive control can be executed by skillfully using overdrive to reduce fuel consumption.

  Since the hybrid vehicle is controlled by a combination of the supplied fuel and the accumulated electric power, the range in which the predictive control can be performed is significantly widened. In other words, it is considered that the effective effect of making the fuel consumption economical can be increased by the predictive control.

  From this point of view, the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 divides the travel route into a plurality of sections according to the road conditions of the hybrid vehicle traveling on a predetermined route, and reduces fuel consumption for each section. Thus, it has been proposed to set the operation schedule of the engine and the motor based on the running pattern. However, in this patent document 1, although the prediction control itself is proposed, the acquisition of the travel pattern is only described that the driving history is recorded, and how the travel pattern of the same section is recorded. There is no suggestion of learning by acquiring the data.

  In general, using predictive control widely for vehicle operation has various difficult problems in principle. However, route bus vehicles, commuter vehicles, delivery vehicles for specific sections (eg, between two town post offices), transportation vehicles between stations and offices, materials between factories and warehouses Alternatively, the inventor has come to think that this is possible for a vehicle that repeats the same traveling pattern in a predetermined section, such as a vehicle that transports a product. The inventor of the present application, for such a vehicle, learns a driving pattern by a plurality of driving records in a section determined by providing a learning function in an in-vehicle program control device, and in accordance with the learning content, fuel consumption We thought that predictive control could be performed to make the economy more economical.

  In this way, it can be considered that in general, an extremely large number of vehicles are traveling in a regular section for a lot of time. As described above, commercial vehicles are used for transporting materials or products in a certain section, or picking up a designated section, etc., and most of them are considered to have a lot of vehicles operating in a regular section. . In addition, private vehicles are used for commuting from Monday to Friday, and for vehicles that are used for shopping and leisure on Saturday or Sunday, run on regular sections from Monday to Friday. Will be.

  That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle capable of predicting a subsequent driving form from a past driving record and controlling the fuel consumption to be more economical. The present invention provides a function for learning a traveling pattern for a vehicle in which the same traveling pattern is repeatedly used, and, at one point in time when the vehicle is traveling, according to the traveling condition learned in the past, It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of rationally predicting and controlling the fuel supply amount as the vehicle travels in accordance with the content already learned.

  More specifically, a fixed section (not limited to a section between two points but also a section connecting three points or six sections connecting four points to each other) accumulated in an in-vehicle control device may be used. A device that records information such as driving torque, accelerator pedal operation amount, vehicle speed, etc. for a traveling vehicle, and corrects and records the previous traveling pattern when there is a traveling pattern in the same section before that. I will provide a. Further, based on the recorded driving pattern, the driving condition in which the driving of the section has been experienced once or more in the driving section before the same section is repeated, and the subsequent driving state is predicted. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of more economically controlling the fuel supply amount based on the prediction.

  The present invention is applicable to a starting point and an ending point of the driving (the destination of the driving, which may be a point on a map such as a symbol or a place name), a symbol for distinguishing the route when there are a plurality of routes, etc. ), And the information on the accelerator pedal operation amount, the engine speed, the vehicle speed, A means for continuously recording a value corresponding to the gear ratio and the driving torque, and a value obtained by performing statistical processing on a plurality of n times of traveling records for the same route recorded in the recording means Travel pattern holding means for holding as a travel pattern is provided.

  The starting point and the ending point of the traveling may be a destination of the traveling, which may be a point on a map such as a symbol or a place name, or may be a symbol or the like (for example, northward) that distinguishes the route when there are a plurality of routes. . The “engine rotational speed” and “vehicle speed” may be either one (either engine rotational speed or vehicle speed) and the gear ratio used at each time point. The “value corresponding to the driving torque” can be designed to use the fuel flow rate per unit time, or the engine speed and the accelerator opening.

  The above-mentioned “value obtained by performing statistical processing on a plurality of n times of travel records” is a plurality of times of average value calculation, removal of singular records, and other statistical processing for each of the forward travel and the return travel. It means the data passed. This can be set so that the calculation is automatically performed each time the traveling in the same section is repeated, and is automatically stored in the program processing device for each section and for each forward path and return path. As a result, each time a section is repeatedly traveled, the accuracy becomes more reliable. By using this travel record (travel pattern) for predictive travel control, fuel consumption is made economical. There is an effect that more rational traveling control is possible.

  When the vehicle is a hybrid vehicle, the value corresponding to the driving torque is the value of the current supplied to the motor generator (eg, ampere) and the amount of fuel supplied per hour (eg, liters / second) supplied to the internal combustion engine. It can be.

  Further, the device of the present invention is more specifically based on the start and end points input to the input means and the travel pattern for the route when the travel pattern holding means is already held in the travel pattern. And a means for predicting and controlling the driving torque of the vehicle.

  With this configuration, the fuel consumption per mileage can be further economicalized.

  The predictive control means may include means for controlling the fuel supply amount to the internal combustion engine, the selection of the transmission gear, or the share of the fuel flow rate and power.

  The means for predictive control is means for executing a combustion regeneration timing of a DPF (diesel exhaust particulate filter) when the value corresponding to the driving torque has a negative value (or a negative direction) based on the traveling pattern. It can be set as the structure containing.

  When the vehicle is a hybrid vehicle, the means for predictive control includes means for temporarily expanding upper and lower limits of charge / discharge based on the travel pattern or changing a torque sharing ratio between the internal combustion engine and the motor generator. It can be set as the structure containing.

  The automobile according to the present invention can hold a traveling pattern that has traveled in the past by learning and control the traveling state by performing so-called “look ahead” while referring to the traveling pattern. Thereby, fuel consumption can be made economical. In particular, when the present invention is applied to a hybrid vehicle, the charge / discharge control can be matched to the driving state, so that the opportunity for assist driving by the battery is expanded and the fuel consumption is greatly made economical. be able to.

(First Example)
(Example of an internal combustion engine vehicle)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In this first embodiment, the present invention is applied to a freight vehicle equipped with a diesel engine as an internal combustion engine. This vehicle is not equipped with an electric travel device, that is, this device is not a hybrid vehicle.

  The output shaft of the internal combustion engine 1 is connected to the input shaft of the clutch 3, and the output shaft of the clutch 3 is connected to the axle of the drive wheel via the transmission 5 and a differential gear (not shown). The transmission 3 is provided with a gear position sensor 6, and a set combination of gears is output as an electrical signal. A rotation sensor 7 is provided on the rotation shaft of the internal combustion engine 1, and the rotation of the internal combustion engine is detected and output as an electrical signal. A vehicle speed sensor 8 is provided on the output shaft of the transmission, and rotation of the propeller shaft is detected as an electric signal.

  The output of each sensor is supplied as an input signal for control to the program control means 10 via the interface circuit 11. Further, an accelerator sensor 13 is connected to the accelerator pedal 12 operated by the driver, and the sensor output is input to the electronic governor 15 as an electric signal, and this is also controlled by the program control means via the interface circuit 11. 10 is taken in. The electronic governor 15 controls the fuel flow rate of the fuel injection pump 14 that supplies fuel to the internal combustion engine 1. The program control means 10 includes a control map and control software for executing the characteristic control of the present invention. The program control means 10 includes a display operation panel 20 as hardware. The display / operation panel 20 is arranged in the driver's seat so that the driver can read the display and perform an input operation.

  The program control means as means for learning the running pattern of the running section continuously records the data of the accelerator pedal operation amount, the engine speed, the vehicle speed, the gear ratio, and the driving torque, and runs multiple times. For example, the data is subjected to statistical processing such as taking a moving average and is recorded in the storage device as data of a running pattern of the section. Further, every time the vehicle travels, a new travel data is taken in and the accumulated travel pattern data is corrected.

FIG. 2 shows a display example of the display operation surface of the display operation panel 20. In this embodiment, the display / operation panel 20 is prepared by a small personal computer, and a screen as shown in FIG. 2A is created. There are four points, A, B, C, and D, and now A Headquarters warehouse B XX company YY factory C JJ company KK factory D (not set)
And That is, this vehicle is to carry delivery materials at the head office warehouse A, deliver the materials to the YY factory at the B point and the KK factory at the C point, and return to the departure head office warehouse A. The screen shown in FIG. 2A is displayed by the operation (operation on the touch panel). In order to record the location name in an easy-to-understand manner, this can be used by switching the screen mode as shown in FIG.

  That is, when this vehicle is going to circulate three points A, B, and C in that order, the screen shown in FIG. 2 (2) is displayed by operation, and each destination name is input. Furthermore, the arrow is activated and the direction of circulation is specified and displayed. An image indicated by a broken line can be set, but is not set and does not appear on the screen. For example, the point D is not set, and the setting for traveling in the direction from the point B to the point A is not set. Although it can be set to travel between the point B and the point D, this route is not currently set. If the screen is allowed to be complicated, in principle, the number of points can be set without being limited to four points.

  And this vehicle is operated like A-> B-> C-> A. The device is activated at the departure point A, and when the point B is reached, the engine key is turned off and the execution of the software is terminated. It is re-enabled when leaving point B, and the engine key is turned off when it reaches point C, and once again ends. The device is then activated again at point C, and the engine key is turned off again when returning to point A. Thereby, the traveling data of route A-> B-> C-> A can be collected individually. The vehicle travels along the route A → B → C → A repeatedly with the on / off operation of the engine key. Every time this travel is repeated, statistical processing is performed, and the data of the route is gradually refined.

  For example, a graph as shown in FIG. 3 is obtained when the graph is shown with A → B → C → A on the horizontal axis and drive torque on the vertical axis. It can be understood that a location where the drive torque is positive (or a positive direction) is an uphill, and a negative location (or a negative direction) is a downhill location. This traveling pattern can also be regarded as representing the gradient of the road surface, and can be viewed as representing a road surface pattern. If such data is held and the data is compared with the current traveling location, the situation of the preceding road surface can be grasped, so that predictive control is possible.

  For example, for the route A → B → C → A, the road surface with a large amount of fuel used with respect to the travel distance is probably a road surface including many uphills, and the road surface with a small amount of fuel used is a road surface including many downhills. Let's go. When the sign of the slope and the degree of the slope are stored as records in this apparatus, it is possible to perform predictive control using the stored records. This is not performed by the driver performing a fine operation, but is merely performed autonomously and automatically by the device. For example, when it is predicted that an uphill is approaching with reference to past records while traveling on a route B → C, the vehicle can be accelerated in advance before approaching the uphill. When the vehicle approaches the uphill, the vehicle speed can be controlled to an economical speed that minimizes the amount of fuel used according to the slope and the length of the uphill.

  The vehicle speed when operating on a general road, not a closed road for vehicle testing, is not always determined only by the convenience of the vehicle. There is also a relationship with other vehicles, and if the traffic light is installed, you cannot drive against the instructions. Therefore, it is necessary to set so that the driver can interrupt the control when necessary. That is, this device can execute the interrupt control according to the operation of the driver according to the driving scene. As a result, operations such as accelerating or decelerating the vehicle and stopping the vehicle can be performed. When such an interruption operation is performed, the fuel consumption amount is not necessarily ideal, but the economy as a whole can be made economically.

(Second embodiment)
(Example of hybrid vehicle)
FIG. 4 shows an example in which the present invention is implemented in a hybrid vehicle. When implemented in a hybrid vehicle, the power to be used can be differentiated between electric power and internal combustion engine power, and electric energy can be charged and accumulated during deceleration such as downhill. This increases the effect of fuel economy.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a hybrid power unit including the internal combustion engine of the embodiment of the present invention. The internal combustion engine 1 is a main power engine of a vehicle, and is a diesel engine in this example. One end of the rotating shaft of the three-phase AC rotating machine 2 is fixedly connected to the output shaft of the internal combustion engine 1. The other end of the rotating shaft of the three-phase AC rotating machine 2 is connected to the input shaft of the transmission 5 via the clutch 3. The output shaft of the transmission 5 is connected to the drive axle via a differential gear outside the figure. Three-phase alternating current is supplied from the inverter 4 to the stator electric windings of the three-phase alternating current rotating machine 2. This three-phase alternating current generates a rotating magnetic field around the rotating shaft. A direct current is supplied from the battery 9 to the inverter 4.

  The phase rotation speed (that is, the frequency) of the three-phase AC supplied from the inverter 4 to the three-phase AC rotating machine 2 is controlled by the program control means 10. When the phase rotation speed of the three-phase alternating current becomes larger than the mechanical rotation speed of the three-phase alternating current rotating machine 2, the three-phase alternating current rotating machine 2 acts as an electric motor and an auxiliary rotational acceleration is applied to the output rotation shaft of the internal combustion engine 1. give. When the phase rotation speed of the three-phase alternating current becomes smaller than the mechanical rotation speed of the three-phase alternating current rotating machine 2, the three-phase alternating current rotating machine 2 acts as a generator, and the vehicle is connected to the vehicle via the clutch 3 and the transmission 5. A braking force is generated for the drive axle (not shown). When the three-phase AC rotating machine 2 is acting as a generator, the driver who drives the vehicle recognizes the same feeling as when a so-called engine brake is acting. At this time, the alternating current generated from the three-phase alternating current rotating machine 2 is converted into a direct current by the inverter 4 to charge the battery 9. The current supplied from the battery 9 drives the three-phase AC rotating machine 2 via the inverter 4, and the energy generated by the braking force is regenerated as driving power for the vehicle.

  Here, the feature of the present invention resides in hybrid control when the vehicle is used as a vehicle operated in a predetermined section. Software for this purpose is installed in the program control means 10. The program control means 10 is connected to a display operation panel 20 for operation by the driver. The display operation panel 20 is arranged at a position where the driver can easily see the vehicle while driving the vehicle. This display screen is the same as the display screen used in the description of the first embodiment, which is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a screen for setting the travel route of the vehicle before the travel, and can be understood in the same manner as the above-described first embodiment device, and thus further detailed description is omitted. In the case of a hybrid vehicle, the phase angle of the three-phase AC applied to the field winding with respect to the mode change of the motor generator (electric or power generation) and the mechanical rotation speed is not limited to the control of the fuel supply amount. Therefore, the energy required for traveling can be more rationally controlled and supplied. Therefore, the effect of implementing the present invention is excellent in the case of a hybrid vehicle.

  Also, in the travel control in hybrid vehicles, the road surface condition of the travel route can be prefetched based on the retained travel pattern, so the motor generator mode can be controlled to reduce fuel consumption. It is. That is, when an uphill is predicted on the road surface from which the vehicle travels, control is performed so that the amount of charge of the hybrid battery is increased. And when approaching the uphill, the energy accumulate | stored in the battery corresponding to the pattern of the road surface can be supplied. When a downhill is predicted on the road surface to be traveled, control is performed so that the amount of charge of the hybrid battery is reduced. As a result, when the vehicle approaches the downhill, the hybrid engine can be controlled to brake charging, and the battery can be charged with the energy generated by braking as electric energy.

  In addition, even when the battery discharge lower limit is set to 20% of the remaining capacity and the charge upper limit is set to 80% of the remaining capacity, When it is predicted that the uphill will end in a little more with the stored driving pattern, even if it is the lower limit of the remaining capacity of the battery, the lower limit set value is temporarily reduced by, for example, 5%. Allow and control to charge on the following downhill or flat road. Similarly, when driving while regenerating downhill, when the downhill ends with a memorized road surface pattern, and there is an uphill beyond that, the motor-assisted acceleration travels on that uphill. Since it can be predicted that electricity will be used, the upper limit capacity for charging by normal regeneration is temporarily controlled, for example, by increasing the upper limit value by 5%, and charging is controlled.

  In this way, even if the upper limit value and lower limit value of the charge / discharge of the battery are changed temporarily, charging or discharging is performed so as to eliminate the discharging or charging continuously in the stored traveling pattern, The battery is not overdischarged or overcharged, and the useful life of the battery is not shortened. As a result, the electric energy can be effectively regenerated or used in accordance with the running pattern, so that the effect of reducing fuel consumption is great.

  Further, the temperature control of the battery, the inverter, and the motor generator can also be controlled by performing predictive control based on the running pattern similarly to the charge / discharge control and allowing the upper limit value to be temporarily exceeded.

  Furthermore, each time the traveling pattern by hybrid control is corrected, a past record can be corrected by statistical processing, for example, by taking a moving average, so that highly accurate traveling pattern data can be accumulated.

(Third embodiment)
Another example in which predictive control is performed based on a running pattern will be described. Currently, DPF (diesel exhaust particulate filter) accumulates particulates, and therefore, a regeneration process is performed by periodically blowing excess fuel and combusting the combustible particulates accumulated inside. Since the regeneration operation of the DPF consumes fuel, if possible, it should be performed when the load on the internal combustion engine is small, that is, when the fuel injection amount of the internal combustion engine is low or on a flat road. Is preferred. For this reason, even if a signal to start the DPF regeneration operation is issued while traveling on an uphill, if the uphill ends and then a downhill arrives, the DPF regeneration operation is waited for. Predictive control is possible. When driving uphill, or when going uphill from a flat road, a lot of fuel is consumed for acceleration. Therefore, predictive control is performed so that the DPF regeneration timing is performed when driving downhill or flat road. By doing so, it is possible to reduce fuel consumption.

  In the above description, the vehicle in which the present invention is implemented is described as repeatedly operating between a small number of points such as two or three points, but this is expanded to a mode in which one vehicle operates between a large number of points. The present invention can be implemented. In addition, although it has been described as an example where the driver inputs a point as an example, a point identification signal is generated by some method, for example, a radio wave signal or an ultrasonic signal at each point, and the vehicle side identifies and receives this. For example, a device that does not depend on the driver's operation can be provided.

The block block diagram of the apparatus of the first embodiment of the present invention. The figure explaining the example of a display of an Example of this invention. A figure showing an example of a running pattern The block block diagram of 2nd Example apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Internal combustion engine 2 Three-phase alternating current rotating machine 3 Clutch 4 Inverter 5 Transmission 6 Gear position sensor 7 Rotation sensor 8 Vehicle speed sensor 9 Battery 10 Program control means 11 Interface circuit 12 Accelerator pedal 13 Accelerator sensor 14 Fuel injection pump 15 Electronic governor 16 Charge amount detection means 17 Current detection means 18 DC-DC converter 19 Capacitor 20 Display operation panel

Claims (5)

Means for inputting information including the start and end points of the driving prior to the vehicle driving;
Means for continuously recording values corresponding to the operation amount of the accelerator pedal, the engine rotation speed, the vehicle speed, and the driving torque corresponding to the travel distance during travel from the input start point to the end point;
And a travel pattern holding means for holding, as a travel pattern of the route, a value obtained by performing statistical processing on a plurality of n times of travel records for the same route recorded in the recording means. Travel control device.   When the vehicle is a hybrid vehicle, the value corresponding to the driving torque is the value of the current supplied to the motor generator (eg, ampere) and the amount of fuel supplied per hour (eg, liters / second) supplied to the internal combustion engine. The vehicle travel control apparatus according to claim 1.   Provided with a means for predicting and controlling the driving torque of the vehicle based on the travel pattern when the travel pattern for the start point and end point and the route input to the input means is already held in the travel pattern holding means. The travel control device for a vehicle according to claim 1 or 2.   4. The predictive control means includes means for controlling a fuel supply amount to an internal combustion engine, selection of a transmission gear, or a share ratio of fuel flow rate (eg, liter / second) and electric power (eg, kW). Vehicle travel control device.   The means for predictive control is means for executing a combustion regeneration timing of a DPF (diesel exhaust particulate filter) when the value corresponding to the driving torque has a negative value (or a negative direction) based on the traveling pattern. The vehicle travel control apparatus according to claim 3, comprising:

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