JP2012137332A - Vehicle evaluation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle evaluation system in which control performance in a virtual vehicle constituted of an actual machine and a simulator is visualized.SOLUTION: By an operation PC, condition values of a plurality of testing conditions for evaluation test against the virtual vehicle composed of the simulator and a frame car which is the actual machine are set in the simulator (S200), and the value of the control parameter for controlling actuation of the virtual vehicle is set in an ECU of the frame car (S202). When the evaluation test is executed (S204), the operation PC processes the resultant data of the evaluation test by the evaluation function (S206), extracts two test conditions obtained by changing the condition value (S208), and a three-dimensional graph is created by two extracted test conditions and the control performance (S210). When the control performance is evaluated after all values are set in the control parameter (S212: Yes), the operation PC creates the difference in the control performance due to the control parameters having different values by using the three-dimensional graph (S216).

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle evaluation system that evaluates the control performance of a vehicle.

  Conventionally, when developing a vehicle, it is known to set a vehicle model that defines the mechanical configuration of the vehicle and predict the mechanical behavior characteristics of the vehicle based on the set vehicle model (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).

  In Patent Document 1, the behavioral characteristics of a vehicle when the mechanical configuration is changed are predicted by a mechanical combination of members and parts constituting the vehicle, for example, a vehicle model in which a combination of suspensions of front wheels and rear wheels is changed. The result is visualized by a graph or the like.

JP 2004-45379 A

  In addition to the mechanical behavior characteristics of the vehicle, as an electronic device mounted on the vehicle, for example, an electronic control unit (also referred to as an ECU) that controls the behavior of an actuator or the like, or a plurality of ECUs There is a demand to evaluate the control performance of a vehicle by a control system.

However, there is a problem that the evaluation test of the ECU cannot be executed until the prototype vehicle is completed in the system in which the ECU is mounted on the prototype vehicle for evaluation.
Furthermore, when executing an ECU evaluation test on a prototype vehicle, in order to execute the evaluation test under a wide variety of test conditions such as the air temperature, remaining battery level, and failure conditions representing the driving and running conditions of the vehicle There are problems that many man-hours are required and there are many difficult evaluations in terms of safety.

  Therefore, instead of manufacturing a prototype vehicle, a virtual vehicle is realized by a real machine unit that includes an actual electronic device mounted on the vehicle, and a simulator that simulates the behavior of the vehicle based on a vehicle model set according to the real machine unit. It is conceivable that various test conditions and control parameters for controlling the virtual vehicle are set for the virtual vehicle, and the control performance of the virtual vehicle is evaluated.

  In this case as well, it is conceivable to visualize the control performance in the virtual vehicle, but Patent Document 1 is a technique for visualizing the mechanical behavior characteristics of the vehicle, and is not applicable to the request for visualizing the control performance.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle evaluation system that visualizes control performance in a virtual vehicle including a real machine unit and a simulator.

  According to the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, an actual machine unit having a plurality of electronic devices mounted on a vehicle, and a simulator that simulates the behavior of the vehicle based on a vehicle model set in accordance with the actual machine unit. A virtual vehicle corresponding to the vehicle is configured.

  As described above, since the virtual vehicle is configured by the real machine unit and the simulator, not the actual vehicle, the test condition setting unit is configured to operate the driving state and the traveling environment of the virtual vehicle when the evaluation test for the operation of the virtual vehicle is automatically executed. Can be easily set, and the condition value of at least one test condition among the plurality of test conditions can be easily changed.

Further, the parameter setting means can easily set the value of the control parameter for controlling the operation of the virtual vehicle.
Then, the evaluation means evaluates the operation result obtained by operating the virtual vehicle based on a plurality of test conditions and control parameters by using an evaluation function that defines a criterion for quantifying the control performance of the virtual vehicle. Thus, since the control performance is digitized by the evaluation function, the visualization means can easily visualize the control performance in the virtual vehicle. And by visualizing the control performance, the tendency of the change in the control performance when the condition value of the test condition is changed can be easily visually confirmed.

The visualization of the control performance means that the digitized control performance is graphed and displayed on a display or the like.
According to the invention described in claim 2, the visualization means controls in three dimensions the two test conditions set by changing the condition values by the test condition setting means and the control performance digitized by the evaluation means. Visualize performance.

  Thus, by visualizing the control performance in the three dimensions of the two test conditions and the control performance, rather than visualizing the control performance in the two dimensions of the two test conditions and the control performance, respectively. The tendency of the change in the control performance when the condition values of the two test conditions change can be easily visually confirmed.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the parameter setting means changes and sets the value of the control parameter, and the visualization means visualizes the difference in control performance in the virtual vehicle caused by the change of the value of the control parameter. .

According to this configuration, the tendency of the difference in the change in control performance caused by the change in the value of the control parameter can be easily visually confirmed.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the virtual vehicle has a plurality of control systems that control the operation of the virtual vehicle, and the evaluation unit sets the evaluation function according to each of the at least two control systems, and the visualization unit Visualizes the digitized control performance of each control system for which the evaluation function is set by the evaluation means.

According to this configuration, the tendency of change in control performance in at least two control systems of the virtual vehicle can be easily visually confirmed.
According to the invention described in claim 5, in the invention described in claim 4, when the visualization means has the same test condition value and control parameter value for at least two control systems in which the evaluation function is set, Visualize the numerical control performance in.

  Thereby, it is possible to easily compare the control performance when the condition value of the test condition and the value of the control parameter are the same for at least two control systems in which the evaluation function is set. As a result, when the condition values of the test conditions change, it is possible to easily visually recognize the influence of the control parameters common to at least two control systems on the control performance of each control system.

The block diagram which shows the vehicle evaluation system of this embodiment. The flowchart which shows the visualization process of control performance. The schematic diagram which shows the other vehicle which interrupts ahead of the own vehicle. (A) and (B) are three-dimensional graphs showing the control performance of the virtual vehicle for different values of control parameters, and (C) is a three-dimensional graph showing the difference in control performance between (A) and (B).

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a vehicle evaluation system 2 of the present embodiment.
(Vehicle evaluation system 2)
The vehicle evaluation system 2 includes an operation PC (personal computer) 10, a simulator 20, and a frame car 40. A virtual vehicle 4 is configured by the simulator 20 and the frame car 40.

  The operation PC 10 is electrically connected to the simulator 20 and stores setting data such as a vehicle model executed by the simulator 20 and an evaluation test scenario for the electronic device and the virtual vehicle 4 mounted on the frame car 40. is doing.

  The simulator 20 uses a HILS comprising a body system simulator 22, a powertrain system simulator 24, and a chassis system simulator 26. The simulator 20 simulates a vehicle model other than the electronic device mounted on the frame car 40 by setting software. The body system simulator 22, the powertrain system simulator 24, and the chassis system simulator 26 are connected by a harness 38, and data is transmitted and received between the simulators via the harness 38.

  The body system simulator 22 simulates the behavior of doors, power windows, lights, and the like, the powertrain system simulator 24 simulates the behavior of injectors, transmissions, and the like, and the chassis system simulator 26 performs the behavior of brakes, handles, and the like. To simulate.

  The vehicle model simulated by the simulator 20 is an interface (I / F) model 30, an ECU model 32, and a sensor model 34, which are realized by the body system simulator 22, the powertrain system simulator 24, and the chassis system simulator 26 in cooperation. , And a calculation model 28 including a plant model 36. When a vehicle model is set from the operation PC 10, an arithmetic model 28 including an I / F model 30, an ECU model 32, a sensor model 34, and a plant model 36 is set according to the set vehicle model.

  The I / F model 30 includes an ECU and an actuator (ACT) mounted on the frame car 40, an ECU model 32 in the simulator 20, a sensor model 34, and a plant model 36. The I / F model 30 receives data, analog signals, and digital signals. It is a model for sending and receiving.

  The ECU model 32 and the sensor model 34 are models that simulate the behavior of the ECU and the sensor that are mounted on the vehicle model simulated by the simulator 20 but are not mounted on the frame car 40.

The plant model 36 is a model for simulating the operation of the engine, transmission, battery, etc. of the vehicle model to be simulated.
In addition to this, an environment model for simulating a vehicle environment such as temperature and road condition is also set.

  The simulator 20 outputs a control signal from the ECU model 32 and a detection signal from the sensor model 34 for detecting the behavior of the vehicle based on the vehicle model set by the operation PC 10, and the control signal and sensor from the frame car 40. The detection signal is input and the vehicle model is simulated.

  The frame car 40 includes a terminal block 42, a body system 50, a powertrain system 60, a chassis system 70, a dip switch 80, and a dedicated harness 82.

  The terminal block 42 is electrically connected to the electronic device in the frame car 40 by the dedicated harness 82, and is electrically connected to the simulator 20 by the general-purpose harness 100. The terminal block 42, the dedicated harness 82, and the general-purpose harness 100 can be attached and detached using a connector or the like. Even if the configuration of the electronic device in the frame car 40 changes, the terminal arrangement on the simulator 20 side of the terminal block 42 does not change, but the arrangement on the electronic device side of the terminal block 42 may change.

  Each system 50, 60, 70 is mainly composed of ECUs 52, 62, 72 and actuators 54, 64, 74. As the actuators 54, 64, and 74, a throttle valve, a power window, and the like are installed. The actuators 54, 64, and 74 include a single actuator or an ECU or an assembly integrated with the ECU and the sensor. Each system 50, 60, 70 and the terminal block 42 are electrically connected by a dedicated harness 82.

  The ECUs 52, 62, 72 and the ECU configured as an assembly integrated with some of the actuators 54, 64, 74 are constituted by a microcomputer having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an input / output interface, and the like. Then, by executing a control program stored in a storage device such as a ROM, behavior control of the actuator to be controlled is executed.

  The dip switch 80 has a different value set as an identifier (ID) for each vehicle type of the frame car 40 specified by the ECU and actuator of the frame car 40 and for each evaluation stage of the ECU and actuator in each vehicle type. .

(Vehicle model setting)
The operation PC 10 can obtain the identifier from the DIP switch 80 of the frame car 40 via the simulator 20, thereby knowing the vehicle type of the frame car 40 and the evaluation stage of the ECU and actuator of the frame car 40. Then, the operation PC 10 automatically sets the vehicle model to be simulated by the simulator 20 by determining the vehicle type of the frame car 40 based on the identifier acquired from the frame car 40, and also includes the ECU and actuator that the frame car 40 has. The results of evaluation tests are managed for each evaluation stage.

(Control performance evaluation process)
Next, the control performance evaluation process in the virtual vehicle 4 executed by the operation PC 10 will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control performance evaluation process. The operation PC 10 may evaluate the operation of an electronic device such as an ECU or an actuator mounted on the frame car 40 based on result data acquired by a vehicle evaluation test scenario for evaluating the control performance of the virtual vehicle 4. However, the evaluation may be performed using result data obtained by a dedicated vehicle evaluation test scenario.

  When the vehicle evaluation system 2 is activated, the operation PC 10 determines the vehicle type of the frame car 40 based on the identifier acquired by the simulator 20 from the DIP switch 80 of the frame car 40, and sets the vehicle model corresponding to the vehicle type to the simulator 20. to download.

  Then, the operation PC 10 sets the condition values of a plurality of test conditions for executing the automatic evaluation test defined in the vehicle evaluation test scenario in the simulator 20 (S200). In a plurality of test conditions, the condition value of at least one test condition is not fixed but is changed.

  The condition value of the test condition for executing the automatic evaluation test represents the driving state and traveling environment of the virtual vehicle 4, and includes, for example, the speed of the host vehicle and the other vehicle, the position of the host vehicle, the host vehicle and the other vehicle, Distance, temperature, road surface condition, etc.

  The operation PC 10 may execute a vehicle evaluation test scenario common to all vehicles regardless of the vehicle type of the frame car 40, or may execute a vehicle evaluation test scenario corresponding to the vehicle type.

  In addition to setting the condition values of the test conditions, the operation PC 10 determines the control parameter values for controlling the operation of the virtual vehicle 4 in order to evaluate the control performance of the virtual vehicle 4. The rewritable storage device and the ECU model set in the simulator 20 are set (S202).

  The control parameter for controlling the operation of the virtual vehicle 4 is a parameter in which the control timing, the control amount, and the like for the virtual vehicle 4 change as the value of the control parameter changes. For example, in the adaptive cruise control (ACC) system, the collision probability between the host vehicle and the other vehicle when the automatic deceleration control is started to avoid the approach between the host vehicle and the other vehicle corresponds to the control parameter.

  When the simulator 20 is instructed to execute a simulation from the operation PC 10, the simulator 20 and the frame car 40 operate as the virtual vehicle 4 based on the condition value and the control parameter value of the set test conditions, whereby an evaluation test is performed. Is automatically executed (S204).

  When the execution of the evaluation test based on the condition values of all the set test conditions is completed, the operation PC 10 uses the result data acquired from the simulator 20 as the operation result of the virtual vehicle 4 in order to evaluate the control performance in the virtual vehicle 4. Then, the processing is automatically performed by the evaluation function set in accordance with a plurality of control systems that control the operation of the virtual vehicle 4 (S206). The evaluation function defines a criterion for quantifying the control performance of the virtual vehicle 4.

Here, the evaluation of the control performance in the virtual vehicle 4 will be described using the ACC system as an example.
The ACC system keeps the distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle constant by automatically controlling the fuel injection amount that generates the driving torque of the vehicle, the energization amount to the motor, or the braking force of the brake. It is a system that avoids the approach. In the ACC system, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the other vehicle 310 enters the front of the host vehicle 300, the brake is automatically operated to execute the deceleration control, and the distance from the other vehicle 310 that has been interrupted. To a predetermined distance.

  The operation PC 10 evaluates the control performance of the ACC system in the virtual vehicle 4 based on the acceleration acquired from the acceleration sensor of the sensor model 34 in the result data acquired from the simulator 20. The operation PC 10 determines that the ACC system has started the deceleration control for the other vehicle 310 that has interrupted in front of the host vehicle 300 when the negative acceleration caused by the deceleration becomes smaller than a predetermined value.

  When the acceleration determination value when determining that the ACC system has started deceleration control is k, and the acceleration of the host vehicle 300 acquired by the operation PC 10 is G, the inequality represented by G <k indicates that the ACC system performs deceleration control. It is an evaluation function that is a determination criterion for determining that it has started.

  For example, the ACC system starts the deceleration control when the collision probability between the other vehicle 310 and the own vehicle 300 that enter the front of the own vehicle 300 becomes a predetermined value or more. When evaluating the control performance of the deceleration control of the ACC system, the operation PC 10 sets the collision probability to a predetermined value as a control parameter of the ACC system in S202.

  The operation PC 10 acquires the lateral position of the other vehicle 310 when the acceleration G of the host vehicle 300 satisfies G <k, which is an evaluation function, from the simulator 20 that simulates the behavior of the other vehicle 310. The lateral position of the other vehicle 310 relative to the host vehicle 300 when the ACC system starts deceleration control represents the control performance of the ACC system. The operation PC 10 determines that the responsiveness indicating the control performance of the ACC system is higher as the lateral position of the other vehicle 310 when the ACC system starts the deceleration control is further away from the host vehicle 300.

  In S208, the operation PC 10 extracts two test conditions set by changing the condition value in relation to the control performance determined by the evaluation function in order to visualize the control performance by the plurality of control systems in a three-dimensional graph. To do.

  Taking the ACC system when the other vehicle 310 enters the front of the own vehicle 300 as an example, the speed of the own vehicle 300 and the relative speed of the other vehicle 310 that enters the host vehicle 300 visualize the control performance. Are two test conditions to be extracted.

  Then, a three-dimensional graph is created with the extracted two test conditions and control performance (S210). In the case of the ACC system, as shown in FIG. 4A, the interrupted vehicle when the own vehicle speed, the relative speed of the interrupted vehicle, and the deceleration control of the ACC system for decelerating the own vehicle speed is started. A three-dimensional graph 400 is created with the horizontal position of.

  The three-dimensional graph shown in FIG. 4 schematically shows the control performance of the ACC system. The vehicle speed actually evaluated by the vehicle evaluation system 2, the relative speed of the interrupted vehicle, It does not represent the relationship with control performance.

  In the three-dimensional graph 400, when the collision probability that the own vehicle 300 and the other vehicle 310 collide is set to a predetermined value as a control parameter, the own vehicle speed that is the test condition and the relative speed of the interrupted vehicle are changed. It shows the tendency of change of control performance. From this three-dimensional graph 400, the tendency of change in the control performance of the ACC system when the collision probability is set to a predetermined value can be easily visually confirmed.

  In S208, when two identical test conditions are extracted in a plurality of control systems, a plurality of three-dimensional graphs created in S210 are used in a state where the test condition condition value and the control parameter value are set to the same set value. The control performance trends in control systems can be compared.

  In S212, the operation PC 10 determines whether all values for which the control performance is to be evaluated have been set for each control parameter. This is to evaluate how the control performance changes when the control parameter changes. If it is an ACC system, it is determined whether or not all collision probability values for which control performance is to be evaluated have been set in advance.

  When there is a value not set in the control parameter (S212: No), the operation PC 10 changes the control parameter stored in the ECU mounted on the frame car 40, for example (S214), and performs the processes of S200 to S212. Try again. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4B, the different control performance of the ACC system when the collision probability is changed is visualized in the three-dimensional graph 402.

  When all the values are set in the control parameters and the control performance is evaluated (S212: Yes), the operation PC 10 changes the control parameters and visualizes the three-dimensional graph of the control performance as shown in FIG. Are superposed (S216). Thereby, the difference in control performance caused by changing the control parameter can be visualized.

  Further, in a plurality of control systems, when the value of the control parameter is changed with the condition value of the test condition set to the same set value, the change tendency of the difference in control performance can be easily compared.

  In the present embodiment described above, since the virtual vehicle 4 is configured by the simulator 20 and the frame car 40, the virtual vehicle 4 is evaluated when the control performance of the virtual vehicle 4 is evaluated rather than the control performance of the actual vehicle. It is possible to easily set condition values of a plurality of test conditions representing the driving state and the driving environment, and it is possible to easily set control parameter values for controlling the virtual vehicle.

  Further, the operation result of the virtual vehicle 4 operating according to the test condition is determined by the evaluation function, and the control performance in the virtual vehicle 4 is digitized based on the determination result, so that the digitized control performance can be easily visualized. . Then, by visualizing the control performance, the tendency of the change in the control performance can be easily visually confirmed.

  In the above embodiment, the vehicle evaluation system 2 corresponds to the vehicle evaluation system of the present invention, the virtual vehicle 4 corresponds to the virtual vehicle of the present invention, the simulator 20 corresponds to the simulator of the present invention, and the frame car 40 corresponds to the present invention. In the frame car 40, the ECUs 52, 62, 72 and the actuators 54, 64, 74 of the systems 50, 60, 70 correspond to the electronic device of the present invention.

Further, the operation PC 10 functions as a test condition setting unit, a parameter setting unit, an evaluation unit, and a visualization unit of the present invention.
2 corresponds to the function executed by the test condition setting means of the present invention, the process of S202 corresponds to the function executed by the parameter setting means of the present invention, and the process of S204 corresponds to the simulator of the present invention. The processing of S206 corresponds to the function executed by the evaluation means of the present invention, and the processing of S208 to S216 corresponds to the function executed by the visualization means of the present invention.

[Other Embodiments]
In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the control performance of the ACC system is evaluated has been described. However, the object for which the vehicle evaluation system of the present invention evaluates the control performance is to evaluate the control performance in a virtual vehicle including a simulator and a real machine unit. Any control system or electronic device may be used if required. In this case, the operation PC 10 sets an evaluation function corresponding to the control system or the electronic device in order to evaluate the control performance of the control system or the electronic device.

  Further, a plurality of evaluation functions may be set according to each control system or each electronic device. In this case, a plurality of control performances in each control system or each electronic device can be visualized by a plurality of evaluation functions.

Further, when visualizing the control performance, it is desirable that the graph is a three-dimensional graph, but depending on the evaluation object of the control performance, it may be represented by a two-dimensional graph of the control performance and one test condition.
As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be applied to various embodiments without departing from the gist thereof.

2: vehicle evaluation system, 4: virtual vehicle, 10: operation PC (test condition setting means, parameter setting means, evaluation means, visualization means), 20: simulator, 40: frame car (real machine part), 52, 62, 72 : ECU (electronic device), 54, 64, 74: Actuator (electronic device)

Claims (5)

An actual machine unit having a plurality of electronic devices mounted on a vehicle;
A simulator for simulating the behavior of the vehicle based on a vehicle model set according to the real machine part, and configuring a virtual vehicle according to the vehicle together with the real machine part;
A plurality of test conditions representing a driving state and a travel environment of the virtual vehicle when executing an evaluation test for the operation of the virtual vehicle are set, and a condition value of at least one of the test conditions is set among the plurality of test conditions. Changing test condition setting means;
Parameter setting means for setting a value of a control parameter for controlling the operation of the virtual vehicle;
An evaluation unit that evaluates an operation result of the operation of the virtual vehicle based on a plurality of the test conditions and the control parameter, using an evaluation function that defines a criterion for quantifying the control performance of the virtual vehicle;
Visualization means for visualizing the control performance of the virtual vehicle digitized by the evaluation means;
A vehicle evaluation system comprising:   The visualization means visualizes the control performance in three dimensions of the two test conditions set by changing the condition value by the test condition setting means and the control performance quantified by the evaluation means. The vehicle evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein: The parameter setting means changes and sets the value of the control parameter,
3. The vehicle evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein the visualization unit visualizes a difference in the control performance in the virtual vehicle caused by a change in the value of the control parameter. 4. The virtual vehicle has a plurality of control systems that control the operation of the virtual vehicle;
The evaluation means sets the evaluation function in accordance with each of the at least two control systems;
The visualization means visualizes the control performance that is digitized of each control system in which the evaluation function is set by the evaluation means.
The vehicle evaluation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:   The visualization means visualizes the digitized control performance when the condition value of the test condition and the value of the control parameter are the same for at least two of the control systems in which the evaluation function is set. The vehicle evaluation system according to claim 4, wherein