JP2016055800A - Vehicle control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid a situation in which front wheels cannot ride over an obstacle by backward movement of a vehicle after the front wheels ride over the obstacle by forward movement of the vehicle.SOLUTION: A vehicle control device 130 includes: a ride-over driving force derivation part 182 deriving a backward movement ride-over driving force required for backward movement and riding over in which vehicle front wheels move backward and ride over an obstacle after forward movement and riding over in which the vehicle front wheels move forward and ride over the obstacle before the forward movement and riding over; a backward movement determination part 188 for determining whether or not the backward movement and riding-over is possible based on a backward movement ride-over driving force and a vehicle backward movement driving force; and a processing control part 190 for performing both or either of control of the vehicle and notification of a driving force determination result, on the basis of the driving force determination result in which the determination result of the backward movement determination part is included.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle control device that determines whether or not an obstacle in front of a vehicle can be ridden.

  In recent years, vehicle control devices that detect an obstacle in front of a vehicle and perform braking control of the vehicle according to the detected obstacle have become widespread. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a technique in which a vehicle control device assists over a step (obstacle). In Patent Document 1, it is assumed that the passenger once gives up over the step, and then over the step again. This vehicle control device derives the gradient resistance of the step from the equation of motion when attempting to step over the first time, specifies the driving force required to step over the step based on the gradient resistance, and is necessary for the motor Output a strong driving force.

JP 2007-83993 A

  By the way, for example, when the front wheel gets over an obstacle such as a stop block when moving forward to the parking lot, even if the vehicle is moved backward, depending on the shape of the obstacle and the backward driving force of the vehicle, the front wheel May not be able to output the driving force required to move over obstacles in reverse. In such a case, the vehicle may not be able to leave the obstacle on its own.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device capable of avoiding a situation in which a front wheel cannot get over an obstacle due to a backward movement of the vehicle after a front wheel has passed an obstacle due to a forward movement of the vehicle. To do.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a vehicle control device according to the present invention includes an obstacle detection unit that detects an obstacle in front of a vehicle that the vehicle can ride over, and an advance in which the front wheel of the vehicle moves forward over the obstacle. Passing over the obstacles after passing over, the front wheels of the vehicle move backward and pass over, and the overcoming driving force deriving part that derives the backward driving force required for overpassing before passing forward, and when overcoming the obstacle by overpassing An output driving force deriving unit for deriving a backward driving force of the vehicle that can be output, and a reverse determination unit that determines whether or not the vehicle can reversely travel based on the backward driving force and the backward driving force of the vehicle; And a processing control unit that performs one or both of vehicle running control and driving force determination result notification based on the driving force determination result including the determination result of the reverse determination unit.

  The size of the rear area of the obstacle on the opposite side of the vehicle from the detected obstacle is detected, and the size is such that the vehicle can get on and move forward and the vehicle cannot enter. A space determination unit that determines whether or not, and the processing control unit, based on the driving force determination result and the space determination result that is the determination result of the space determination unit, the vehicle travel control and the driving force determination result or One or both of the notification of the space determination result may be performed.

  The reverse determination unit is configured to perform reverse overriding based on the vehicle inertia force in the reverse transfer estimated from the reverse drive force and the reverse drive force of the vehicle and the size of the rear region detected by the space determination unit. It may be determined whether or not it is possible.

  The overriding driving force deriving unit further derives the forward overcoming driving force required for overriding forward, and the output driving force deriving unit further outputs the forward driving of the vehicle that can be output when overcoming an obstacle by forward overriding. A forward determination unit that derives a force and determines whether or not the vehicle can move forward based on the forward drive force and the forward drive force of the vehicle; The determination result may be included.

  The forward travel determination unit determines whether or not forward travel is possible based on the forward inertia force of the vehicle in forward travel, which is estimated from the forward drive force and forward drive force of the vehicle, and the vehicle speed of the vehicle. May be.

  The overpass driving force deriving unit assumes that the back surface of the obstacle opposite to the front surface facing the vehicle extends perpendicularly to the placement surface on which the obstacle is placed. May be derived.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the front wheels cannot get over an obstacle due to the backward movement of the vehicle after the front wheels get over the obstacle due to the forward movement of the vehicle.

It is a figure which shows the structure of a motor vehicle. It is the functional block diagram which showed the schematic function of the vehicle control apparatus. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating a color image and a distance image. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the overpass of the obstruction in a comparative example. It is a collinear diagram for demonstrating the power transmission at the time of advance and reverse. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the process of a space determination part. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the process of an overpass driving force derivation | leading-out part. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the overpass of the obstacle of this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a vehicle control process.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the vehicle 100. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 100 is a so-called hybrid vehicle having an engine 102, a motor 104, and a generator 106. Here, a hybrid vehicle will be described as an example of the vehicle 100, but an electric vehicle or a motor-free vehicle may be applied as the vehicle 100.

  The engine 102 is adapted to a gasoline engine or a diesel engine, obtains power by burning fuel (gasoline, diesel, etc.) supplied from a fuel tank (not shown), and outputs the obtained power to the damper 128. The engine 102 is connected to the ECU 108 (engine control unit) and is driven based on a control command from the ECU 108.

  The motor 104 is connected to the battery 112 via the inverter 110, receives electric power from the battery 112, and transmits power to the gear mechanism 114. When the power from the motor 104 is transmitted to the front wheel shaft 116, the gear mechanism 114 decelerates and increases the torque. The front wheel 120 rotates integrally with the front wheel shaft 116.

  Thus, the motor 104 functions as an electric motor that assists the driving force of the engine 102. Further, the motor 104 functions as a generator that generates power by regeneration by applying a braking force to the vehicle 100 instead of the brake 118 or together with the brake 118 when the vehicle 100 is decelerated.

  Here, the case where the vehicle 100 is a front wheel drive vehicle driven by the front wheels 120 has been described as an example. However, the vehicle 100 may be a rear wheel drive vehicle driven by the rear wheels 122, or the front wheel 120 may be driven. A four-wheel drive vehicle driven by both the rear wheel 122 and the rear wheel 122 may be applied.

  The generator 106 is connected to the battery 112 via the inverter 110 and causes the battery 112 to store electric power generated by receiving power from the engine 102 via a power split mechanism 124 described later. Further, the generator 106 may supply the generated power to the motor 104. Furthermore, the generator 106 also functions as an electric motor at a timing different from that of power generation, and is driven by electric power supplied from the battery 112 via the inverter 110.

  The power split mechanism 124 is a planetary gear mechanism including a sun gear, a ring gear, a planetary gear, and a carrier. The sun gear is connected to the rotating shaft of the generator 106. The ring gear is connected to the gear mechanism 126. The carrier is connected to the engine 102 via the damper 128.

  The power split mechanism 124 splits the power transmitted from the engine 102 via the damper 128 and transmits the power to the generator 106 and the gear mechanism 126. When the power from the power split mechanism 124 is transmitted to the front wheel shaft 116, the gear mechanism 126 decelerates and increases the torque.

  The vehicle control device 130 is configured by a semiconductor integrated circuit including a central processing unit (CPU), a ROM storing programs, a RAM as a work area, and the like, and comprehensively controls each part of the vehicle 100. The vehicle control device 130 will be described in detail later.

  The vehicle control device 130 is connected to the accelerator pedal sensor 132, the brake pedal sensor 134, the vehicle speed sensor 136, the acceleration sensor 138, and the rotation speed sensors 140 and 142, and a signal indicating a value detected by each sensor is input.

  The vehicle control device 130 is connected to the ECU 108 and the inverter 110, and controls driving or power generation of the engine 102, the motor 104, and the generator 106 via the ECU 108 and the inverter 110 based on signals input from the sensors. . ECU 108 detects the engine speed of engine 102 and outputs a signal indicating the engine speed to vehicle control device 130.

  The accelerator pedal sensor 132 detects an accelerator pedal depression amount (accelerator depression amount) and outputs a signal indicating the accelerator depression amount to the vehicle control device 130. The brake pedal sensor 134 detects the amount of depression of the brake pedal (the amount of depression of the brake), and outputs a signal indicating the amount of depression of the brake to the vehicle control device 130.

  The vehicle speed sensor 136 detects the vehicle speed of the vehicle 100 and outputs a signal indicating the vehicle speed to the vehicle control device 130. The acceleration sensor 138 detects the acceleration of the vehicle 100 and outputs a signal indicating the acceleration to the vehicle control device 130. The rotation speed sensors 140 and 142 are, for example, resolvers, detect the rotation speeds of the motor 104 and the generator 106, respectively, and output a signal indicating the rotation speed to the vehicle control device 130.

  The imaging device 144 includes an imaging element such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS). The vehicle 100 is arranged in a substantially horizontal direction so that the optical axes of the two imaging devices 144 are substantially parallel on the traveling direction side of the vehicle 100.

  The imaging device 144 can capture an environment corresponding to the front of the vehicle 100 and generate a color image based on color values. Here, the color value is from a YUV format color space consisting of one luminance (Y) and two color differences (U, V), and three hues (R (red), G (green), B (blue)). A numerical value group represented by any one of the RGB color space or the HSB color space consisting of hue (H), saturation (S), and brightness (B).

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a schematic function of the vehicle control device 130. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the vehicle control device 130 functions as an obstacle detection unit 162 that detects an obstacle based on a color image captured by the imaging device 144. The obstacle detection unit 162 includes an image processing unit 164, a three-dimensional position information generation unit 166, and a three-dimensional object specifying unit 168. Hereinafter, detailed operations of the functional unit of the obstacle detection unit 162 will be described in the order of image processing and three-dimensional object identification processing.

(Image processing)
The image processing unit 164 acquires image data from each of the two imaging devices 144, and selects a block corresponding to a block arbitrarily extracted from one image data (for example, an array of horizontal 4 pixels × vertical 4 pixels) as the other image data. The parallax is derived using so-called pattern matching that is searched from the above. Here, “horizontal” indicates the horizontal direction of the captured color image, and “vertical” indicates the vertical direction of the captured color image.

  As this pattern matching, it is conceivable to compare the luminance (Y color difference signal) in units of blocks indicating an arbitrary image position between two pieces of image data. For example, SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference) that takes the difference in luminance, SSD (Sum of Squared Intensity Difference) that uses the difference squared, or NCC that takes the similarity of the variance value obtained by subtracting the average value from the luminance of each pixel There are methods such as (Normalized Cross Correlation). The image processing unit 164 performs such block-based parallax derivation processing for all blocks displayed in the detection region (for example, horizontal 600 pixels × vertical 180 pixels). Here, the block is assumed to be horizontal 4 pixels × vertical 4 pixels, but the number of pixels in the block can be arbitrarily set.

  However, the image processing unit 164 can derive the parallax for each block, which is a unit of detection resolution, but cannot recognize what kind of three-dimensional object the block is. Therefore, the parallax information is independently derived not in units of solid objects but in units of detection resolution (for example, blocks) in the detection region. Here, an image in which the parallax information derived in this way (corresponding to a relative distance described later) is associated with image data is referred to as a distance image.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the color image 170 and the distance image 172. For example, it is assumed that a color image 170 as shown in FIG. 3A is generated for the detection region 174 through the two imaging devices 144. However, only one of the two color images 170 is schematically shown here for easy understanding. In the present embodiment, the image processing unit 164 obtains the parallax for each block from such a color image 170, and forms a distance image 172 as shown in FIG. Each block in the distance image 172 is associated with the parallax of the block. Here, for convenience of description, blocks from which parallax is derived are represented by black dots.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the three-dimensional position information generation unit 166 uses the so-called stereo method to calculate disparity information for each block in the detection region 174 based on the distance image 172 generated by the image processing unit 164. Convert into 3D position information including horizontal distance, height and relative distance. Here, the stereo method is a method of deriving the relative distance of the three-dimensional object from the imaging device 144 from the parallax of the three-dimensional object by using a triangulation method. At this time, the three-dimensional position information generation unit 166 determines the target based on the relative distance of the target part and the detected distance on the distance image 172 between the point on the road surface and the target part at the same relative distance as the target part. The height of the part from the road surface is derived. Since various known techniques can be applied to the relative distance deriving process and the three-dimensional position specifying process, description thereof is omitted here.

(3D object identification processing)
The three-dimensional object specifying unit 168 uses an arbitrary target part as a base point, the target part, the difference in horizontal distance and the difference in height (may include a difference in relative distance) within a predetermined range, and the same Group target parts that are considered to correspond to a three-dimensional object. Here, the predetermined range is represented by a distance in the real space, and can be set to an arbitrary value (for example, 1.0 m). In addition, the three-dimensional object specifying unit 168 also applies to the target part newly added by the grouping, the three-dimensional object having the same horizontal part difference and the height difference within the predetermined range from the target part. Group parts. As a result, if the distance between the target parts is within a predetermined range, all the target parts are grouped.

  Then, the three-dimensional object specifying unit 168 uses the three-dimensional position information derived by the three-dimensional position information generating unit 166 to specify which three-dimensional object the grouped target portion corresponds to.

  In accordance with the three-dimensional object specified by the three-dimensional object specifying process, a steering mechanism that changes the orientation of the front wheels 120 and the rear wheels 122 and a braking mechanism that regenerates the brake 118 and the motor 104 are controlled. In this way, the vehicle control device 130 performs cruise control for keeping the distance between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle at a safe distance, speed control processing based on the speed limit indicated on the road sign, and the like.

  In the present embodiment, the three-dimensional object specifying unit 168 specifies, as a three-dimensional object, an obstacle (step) that the vehicle 100 can get over, such as a car stop block, whose height is a predetermined value (for example, 20 cm) or less. To do. Based on the obstacle specified by the three-dimensional object specifying process, drive control and notification processing by a process control unit described later are performed.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining overcoming of the obstacle B in the comparative example. As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, it is assumed that, for example, the front wheel Ta passes over an obstacle B (step) such as a car stop block when moving forward to a parking lot and stopping.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 4 (d), even if the vehicle V is moved backward, depending on the shape of the obstacle B and the backward driving force of the vehicle V, the driving required for the front wheel Ta to pass over the obstacle B in the backward direction. Force may not be output. In addition, since the vehicle 100 of the present embodiment includes the power split mechanism 124, such a problem is likely to occur. The reason will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a collinear diagram for explaining power transmission during forward travel and reverse travel. FIG. 5A shows an example of power transmission of the engine 102 by the power split mechanism 124 when the vehicle 100 travels forward. FIG. 5B shows an example of power transmission of the engine 102 by the power split mechanism 124 when the vehicle 100 moves backward.

5A and 5B, the upper side with respect to 0 rpm indicates the rotational speed in the direction in which the motor 104 advances the vehicle 100, and the lower side with respect to 0 rpm indicates the rotation with which the motor 104 moves the vehicle 100 backward. Indicates a number. In FIGS. 5A and 5B, a solid line legend E ₀ indicates the rotational speeds of the generator 106, the engine 102, and the motor 104 when the engine 102 is stopped. On the other hand, it dashed legend _{E 1} is equal legend _{E 0} and the vehicle speed (i.e., equal rotation speed of the motor 104), the generator 106 when the engine 102 operation, the engine 102, represents the rotation speed of the motor 104. In FIGS. 5A and 5B, the white arrow indicates the torque of the engine 102, and the black arrow indicates the torque of the motor 104.

  When the vehicle 100 moves forward, the torque of the engine 102 is divided into the motor 104 and the generator 106 as indicated by white arrows in FIG. As a result, the vehicle 100 can exhibit a driving force that combines the torques of the motor 104 and the engine 102.

  On the other hand, even when the vehicle 100 is moving backward, as shown in FIG. 5B, the engine 102 rotates in the direction in which the vehicle 100 moves forward. As a result, when the torque of the engine 102 is divided into the motor 104 and the generator 106, it acts in a direction that cancels out the torque to the reverse side by the motor 104.

  As described above, when the vehicle 100 is moving backward, the engine 102 is stopped except when the battery 112 needs to be charged because the driving force to the backward side is larger when the engine 102 is stopped.

  That is, the vehicle 100 is compared with the driving force obtained by combining the torques of the motor 104 and the engine 102 when the engine 102 is operating when moving forward, whether the engine 102 is operating or stopped when moving backward. As a result, the driving force exerted becomes smaller.

  In general, the drive mechanism on the reverse side is often simplified for cost reduction as compared with the drive mechanism on the forward side, and the drive force at the time of reverse movement is often smaller than the drive force at the time of forward movement. . In particular, this tendency becomes remarkable in a torque split type vehicle that divides and transmits torque to the front wheel 120 and the rear wheel 122.

  Therefore, after moving forward and overcoming the obstacle B as in the comparative example described above, there is a possibility that the driving force on the reverse side is insufficient and the vehicle cannot move backward and get over the obstacle B.

  In order to avoid such a situation, the vehicle control device 130 shown in FIG. 2 includes a space determination unit 180, an overpass driving force deriving unit 182, an output driving force deriving unit 184, a forward determination unit 186, a reverse determination unit 188, and process control. It also functions as the unit 190.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining processing of the space determination unit 180. As shown in FIG. 6A, it is assumed that an obstacle B is present in front of the vehicle 100 and a wall W is further provided in front.

  In this case, if the distance from the obstacle B to the wall W is sufficient, the vehicle 100 as a whole passes over the obstacle B as shown in FIG. 6B, and then the vehicle 100 as shown in FIG. Can be moved away from the obstacle B.

  On the other hand, when the distance from the obstacle B to the wall W is insufficient, the entire vehicle 100 cannot turn over the obstacle B depending on the area around the obstacle B. At this time, if the driving force on the reverse side is insufficient, the vehicle cannot be separated from the obstacle B as in the vehicle V of the comparative example.

  Therefore, when the obstacle detection unit 162 detects the obstacle B in front of the vehicle 100, the space determination unit 180 is located behind the obstacle B on the opposite side of the vehicle 100 with respect to the detected obstacle B. Detect the size of. Then, the space determination unit 180 determines whether or not a preset space determination condition is satisfied.

  Here, the space determination condition is such that the rear area of the obstacle B has such a size that the front wheel 120 of the vehicle 100 can pass over the obstacle B in a forward direction (hereinafter referred to as a forward ride), and the vehicle 100 as a whole. Is a size that cannot be entered.

  For example, when the wall W is provided behind the obstacle B, the space determination unit 180 derives the distance X from the obstacle B to the wall W. This derivation process is performed based on the three-dimensional position information of the obstacle B and the wall W specified by the obstacle detection unit 162, for example.

  Furthermore, the space determination unit 180 also derives the height H of the obstacle B, the depth length Y, and the distance L from the contact point of the front wheel 120 to the obstacle B. These derived values are used for processing of an overpass driving force deriving unit 182, an output driving force deriving unit 184, a forward determination unit 186, and a reverse determination unit 188, which will be described later.

  Then, the space determination unit 180 determines whether or not the rear region of the obstacle B is large enough to be able to ride forward, for example, based on whether the distance X is half or more of the total length of the vehicle 100. In addition, the space determination unit 180 determines whether the rear area of the obstacle B has a size that the entire vehicle 100 cannot enter, for example, based on whether it is less than the total length of the vehicle 100.

  That is, the space determination unit 180 determines that the space determination condition is satisfied when the distance X is within a predetermined range (for example, not less than half of the total length of the vehicle 100 and less than the total length).

  If the space judgment condition is satisfied, after passing forward, it is impossible to get back (the front wheel 120 of the vehicle 100 gets over the obstacle B in reverse), and it may not be possible to leave the obstacle B. Processing by other functional units such as the unit 182 is performed.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the processing of the overpass driving force deriving unit 182. FIG. 7A is a diagram for explaining the derivation of the forward overtaking driving force Fa, which is the driving force required for overriding forward. FIG. 7B is a diagram for explaining the derivation of the reverse drive force Fb, which is the drive force required for reverse drive. 7 (a) and 7 (b), the front wheel 120 when it first gets in contact with the obstacle B is shown by a solid line, and the front wheel 120 when it gets on the obstacle B is shown by a broken line.

  As shown by cross hatching in FIG. 7A, axial weight Ft to which a part of the weight of the vehicle 100 is distributed acts on the front wheel 120 downward in the vertical direction. Of the axle load Ft, the tangential force component Fta (shown by a solid arrow in FIG. 7A) at the contact point A with the obstacle B on the front wheel 120 is Ft · sin α.

…（数式１）
ここで、長さｂは、前輪１２０の半径ｃから障害物Ｂの高さＨを減算した値となり、長さａは、パスカルの定理から長さｂ、半径ｃで求められる。すなわち、角αおよび力の成分Ｆｔａは、検出された障害物Ｂの高さＨ、および、既知の前輪１２０の半径ｃから導出される。 This angle α is derived from the cosine theorem by the following formula 1.

... (Formula 1)
Here, the length b is a value obtained by subtracting the height H of the obstacle B from the radius c of the front wheel 120, and the length a is obtained by the length b and the radius c from Pascal's theorem. That is, the angle α and the force component Fta are derived from the detected height H of the obstacle B and the known radius c of the front wheel 120.

…（数式２） Further, the following Expression 2 is derived from the relational expression of cos α = b / c and b = c−H. Even using Equation 2, the angle α and the force component Fta are derived from the detected height H of the obstacle B and the known radius c of the front wheel 120.

... (Formula 2)

  This force component Fta becomes a resistance when moving forward. The angle α gradually decreases as the front wheel 120 rides on the obstacle B, and the force component Fta continuously decreases as the angle α changes.

  A traveling resistance (for example, rolling resistance that is not affected by the vehicle speed) acting on the entire vehicle 100 at the vehicle speed is defined as a traveling resistance R. That is, Ft · sin α + R is the total resistance. The vehicle 100 can pass forward if it can at least generate a driving force equal to this resistance. That is, the forward drive force Fa = Ft · sin α + R.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7 (b), the reversely overriding driving force Fb is equal to the forward overcoming driving force Fa because the balance of the force is substantially the same as that of the forward overriding. However, since the obstacle detection unit 162 detects the obstacle B from the color image 170 of the imaging device 144, the shape of the obstacle B on the back surface Bb side opposite to the front surface Ba facing the vehicle 100. Cannot be determined.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7B, the overpass driving force deriving unit 182 extends the back surface Bb of the obstacle B perpendicularly to the placement surface S (road surface or the like) on which the obstacle B is placed. Assuming that the vehicle is present, the backward drive force Fb is derived.

  As a result, the reverse overpass driving force Fb is derived with the largest value among the shapes assumed as the back surface Bb of the obstacle B. For this reason, it is possible to avoid a situation in which, in the determination of whether or not to allow reverse travel, which will be described later, it is impossible to reverse travel, it is erroneously determined that reverse travel is possible.

  Then, the overpass driving force deriving unit 182 determines whether or not an obstacle proximity condition set in advance for specifying the proximity to the obstacle B is satisfied. The obstacle proximity condition includes, for example, whether the movement distance of the vehicle 100 in the direction of approaching the obstacle B has reached a predetermined error range from the distance L to the obstacle B estimated by the space determination unit 180. It is done. The moving distance of the vehicle 100 in the direction approaching the obstacle B is estimated from, for example, the rotational speed of the front wheels 120 and the rear wheels 122, the rotational speed of the motor 104, ODO (ODOmeter), the color image 170, and the like.

  If the front wheel 120 and the rear wheel 122 are locked while the motor 104 is outputting torque, the rotation of the front wheel 120 and the rear wheel 122 temporarily stops (decelerates) in order to get over the obstacle B. It is estimated that Therefore, whether or not the front wheel 120 and the rear wheel 122 are locked in a state where the motor 104 is outputting torque also includes the obstacle proximity condition. When the two conditions listed here are satisfied, it is determined that the obstacle proximity condition is satisfied.

  When the obstacle proximity condition is not satisfied, the overpass driving force deriving unit 182 determines whether or not the obstacle separation condition set in advance to specify the separation from the obstacle B is satisfied. The obstacle separation condition includes, for example, whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the obstacle B was detected. This is because when the passage of time since the obstacle B is detected is large, it is estimated that the obstacle B is not headed.

  Further, whether or not the moving distance of the vehicle 100 in the direction approaching the obstacle B exceeds the distance L to the obstacle B is also mentioned as the obstacle separation condition. This is because if the moving distance of the vehicle 100 in the direction approaching the obstacle B exceeds the distance L to the obstacle B, it is estimated that the vehicle 100 has traveled avoiding the obstacle B. When the two conditions listed here are satisfied, it is determined that the obstacle separation condition is satisfied.

  The obstacle proximity condition and the obstacle separation condition described above are examples, and any other condition may be set as long as the proximity or separation to the obstacle B can be estimated.

  When the obstacle separation condition is satisfied, the detected obstacle B is not controlled with respect to overpass. Until the obstacle separation condition is satisfied, the overpass driving force deriving unit 182 repeatedly determines whether or not the obstacle proximity condition is satisfied. If the obstacle proximity condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to the derivation process of the output driving force deriving unit 184.

  The output driving force deriving unit 184 derives the forward driving force of the vehicle 100 that can be output when overcoming an obstacle by moving forward, and the backward driving force of the vehicle 100 that can be output when getting over an obstacle by moving backward. .

  Here, the forward driving force and the backward driving force of the vehicle 100 change as needed due to the influence of the temperature of the battery 112 and the inverter 110, the SOC (State Of Charge) of the battery 112, and the like. Therefore, the output driving force deriving unit 184 derives the latest forward driving force and backward driving force, thereby improving the accuracy of the determination processing of the forward determination unit 186 and the backward determination unit 188.

  Further, as described above, during forward movement, vehicle 100 can exert a driving force that combines the torques of motor 104 and engine 102. Therefore, the output driving force deriving unit 184 derives torque that can be output from the engine 102, and combines the torque of the engine 102 allocated to the motor 104 and the torque of the motor 104 by the power split mechanism 124 to obtain the forward driving force. To derive.

  The forward determination unit 186 compares the forward drive force Fa and the forward drive force of the vehicle 100 to determine whether or not forward travel is possible. At this time, the forward determination unit 186 derives the inertial force of the vehicle 100 over the forward travel that is estimated from the vehicle speed of the vehicle 100.

  The inertial force of the vehicle 100 acts in a direction that supplements the forward driving force of the vehicle 100. That is, the forward drive force Fa required for overpass is corrected by the inertial force of the vehicle 100 and is subtracted by the amount of the inertial force. Assuming that the vehicle speed Va of the vehicle 100 and the predetermined coefficient K are expressed by a correction term KVa due to inertial force.

  Assuming that the forward advancing drive force Fa ′ is corrected, the forward advancing drive force Fa ′ is derived by the formula Fa ′ = Ft · sin α + R−KVa. When the forward drive force of the vehicle 100 is greater than or equal to the forward forward drive force Fa ′ after the correction, the forward determination unit 186 determines that the forward drive can be performed.

  As described above, the forward determination unit 186 determines whether or not forward traveling is possible based on the inertia force of the vehicle 100 in addition to the forward driving force Fa and the forward driving force of the vehicle 100.

  The reverse determination unit 188 is based on the inertia force of the vehicle 100 in reverse overriding estimated from the reverse drive force Fb and the reverse drive force of the vehicle 100, as well as the size of the rear region detected by the space determination unit 180. Then, it is determined whether or not reverse travel is possible.

  The reverse determination unit 188 estimates the maximum speed Vb at which the vehicle 100 can reversely accelerate in reverse traveling from the size of the rear region detected by the space determination unit 180 (for example, the distance X shown in FIG. 6). For example, the greater the distance X, the greater the distance that the vehicle can move backward and accelerate, so the estimated maximum speed Vb increases.

  After estimating the speed Vb, the reverse determination unit 188 derives the inertial force of the vehicle 100 in the reverse travel. Here, the correction term due to the inertial force in reverse riding is the correction term KVb.

  Then, the corrected backward drive force Fb ′ after correction is derived by the following equation: Fb ′ = Ft · sin α + R−KVb. The reverse determination unit 188 determines that the reverse drive is possible if the reverse drive force of the vehicle 100 is greater than or equal to the corrected reverse drive force Fb ′.

  As described above, the reverse determination unit 188 determines whether or not reverse overriding is possible based on the backward driving force Fb and the reverse driving force of the vehicle 100 as well as the inertial force of the vehicle 100 during reverse traveling. To do.

  The processing control unit 190 controls the vehicle 100 or reports the driving force determination result based on the driving force determination result indicating whether the vehicle can move forward and can move backward.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining overcoming of the obstacle B according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8A, it is assumed that the vehicle 100 attempts to get over the vehicle in a situation where the obstacle B is detected and the space determination condition is satisfied.

  At this time, when a driving force determination result indicating that both forward and backward travel is possible is obtained, the processing control unit 190, for example, outputs the outputs of the engine 102 and the motor 104 as shown in FIG. A control process for assisting overpassing, such as raising the driving force of the vehicle 100 and raising it, is performed. Other examples of the process for assisting the user to move forward include temporarily changing the motor lock torque threshold value of the motor 104.

  Further, when a driving force determination result indicating that either forward overtaking or reverse overriding is impossible is output, the processing control unit 190, for example, outputs the engine 102 and the motor 104 as shown in FIG. 8C. The vehicle 100 is decelerated and the control process for assisting in avoiding the overpass is performed by lowering the speed or controlling the brake mechanism by the regeneration of the brake 118 or the motor 104.

  In addition, the process control unit 190 displays a warning text for avoiding a forward ride on a display unit of a car navigation or a vehicle-mounted display, or a warning for avoiding a forward ride from a vehicle-mounted speaker, for example. Output audio.

  As described above, the process control unit 190 controls the vehicle 100 or the driving force determination result or the space determination result based on the driving force determination result and the space determination result indicating whether or not the space determination condition is satisfied. Notification.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of the vehicle control process. The vehicle control process shown in FIG. 9 is repeatedly executed at predetermined intervals. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the obstacle detection unit 162 determines whether or not an obstacle B (for example, a step) that is a target of the vehicle 100 is detected (S200). When the obstacle B to be overridden is not detected (NO in S200), the vehicle control process is terminated.

  When the obstacle B to be moved over is detected (YES in S200), the space determination unit 180 determines whether or not the space determination condition is satisfied (S202). When the space determination condition is not satisfied (NO in S202), the vehicle control process ends. In this case, drive control and braking control are performed by a control flow different from the vehicle control process.

  When the space determination condition is satisfied (YES in S202), the overpass driving force deriving unit 182 derives the forward overpass driving force Fa ′ corrected by the inertial force (S204), and subsequently the reverse overpass corrected by the inertial force. The driving force Fb ′ is derived (S206).

  Then, the overpass driving force deriving unit 182 determines whether or not an obstacle proximity condition set in advance for specifying the proximity to the obstacle B is satisfied (S208). When the obstacle proximity condition is not satisfied (NO in S208), the overpass driving force deriving unit 182 determines whether or not the obstacle separation condition set in advance for specifying the separation from the obstacle B is satisfied ( S210).

  When the obstacle separation condition is satisfied (YES in S210), the vehicle control process is terminated. If the obstacle separation condition is not satisfied (NO in S210), the process returns to the proximity determination processing step S208.

  In the proximity determination processing step S208, when the obstacle proximity condition is satisfied (YES in S208), the output driving force deriving unit 184 derives the forward driving force of the vehicle 100 and the backward driving force of the vehicle 100 (S212). Subsequently, the reverse determination unit 188 determines whether or not reverse reverse is possible based on the reverse drive force Fb ′ and the reverse drive force (S214). If reverse riding is possible (YES in S214), the forward determination unit 186 determines whether forward riding is possible based on the forward driving force Fa 'and the forward driving force (S216).

  If the forward ride is possible (YES in S216), the process control unit 190 performs a process for assisting the forward ride (S218). On the other hand, when it is determined that the reverse ride is not possible (NO in S214) or the forward ride is not possible (NO in S216), the process control unit 190 performs a process for assisting in avoiding the forward ride ( S220).

  As described above, since the vehicle control device 130 performs control and notification of the vehicle 100 based on the driving force determination result, the vehicle control device 130 falls into a situation where the driving force is insufficient and the vehicle cannot get over the vehicle after performing the forward riding. This can be avoided.

  In addition, since the vehicle control device 130 includes the space determination unit 180, when the entire vehicle 100 can get over the obstacle B and leave the obstacle B, a control process is performed to assist in avoiding a forward ride. Absent. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the vehicle 100 is meaninglessly avoided overpassing forward.

  Further, since the forward determination unit 186 and the reverse determination unit 188 determine whether or not the vehicle can move forward and reverse, taking into account the influence of the inertial force of the vehicle 100, the determination accuracy can be improved.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Is done.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the obstacle detection unit 162 detects the obstacle B based on the color image 170 has been described. However, for example, the obstacle detection unit 162 detects the obstacle B by other means such as an infrared sensor. Also good.

  In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle control device 130 includes the forward determination unit 186, the overpass driving force deriving unit 182 derives the forward overcoming driving force, and the output driving force deriving unit 184 derives the forward driving force. And the case where the determination result of the advance determination part 186 was included in the driving force determination result was demonstrated. However, the forward determination unit 186 is not an essential configuration, and the forward overpass driving force and the forward driving force are not derived, and the determination result of the forward determination unit 186 may not be included in the driving force determination result. However, by performing the determination process by the forward determination unit 186 and including the determination result in the driving force determination result, the process control unit 190 can perform traveling control and notification based on whether or not the vehicle can move forward. As a result, the process control unit 190 performs a process for assisting the avoidance of the forward ride when, for example, the backward ride is possible and the forward ride is impossible, and the forward ride is attempted. Vibrations can be avoided.

  Moreover, although vehicle control device 130 demonstrated the case provided with the space determination part 180 in embodiment mentioned above, the space determination part 180 is not an essential structure.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the forward determination unit 186 and the reverse determination unit 188 determine whether or not the vehicle can move forward and reverse is also considered in consideration of the influence of the inertial force of the vehicle 100. It may be determined whether or not to pass forward and reverse without considering the influence.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the overpass driving force deriving unit 182 derives the reverse overpass driving force on the assumption that the back surface Bb of the obstacle B extends perpendicularly to the placement surface S has been described. However, the reverse drive force may be derived assuming that the back surface Bb has another shape.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a vehicle control device that determines whether or not an obstacle ahead of a vehicle can be ridden.

B Obstacle Ba Front surface Bb Back surface S Placement surface 100 Vehicle 120 Front wheel 130 Vehicle control device 144 Imaging device 162 Obstacle detection unit 180 Space determination unit 182 Passing drive force deriving unit 184 Output driving force deriving unit 186 Advance determination unit 188 Reverse determination Unit 190 Processing control unit

Claims (6)

An obstacle detection unit that detects an obstacle in front of the vehicle that the vehicle can pass over;
Deriving the reverse overriding driving force required for reverse overriding, in which the front wheel of the vehicle reverses over the obstacle after the forward overriding in which the front wheel of the vehicle advances over the obstacle A driving force deriving unit for
An output driving force deriving unit for deriving a backward driving force of the vehicle that can be output when the obstacle is passed over by the reverse riding;
A reverse determination unit that determines whether or not the reverse drive is possible based on the reverse drive force and the reverse drive force of the vehicle;
A process control unit that performs one or both of the travel control of the vehicle and the notification of the driving force determination result based on the driving force determination result including the determination result of the reverse determination unit;
A vehicle control device comprising: The size of the rear area of the obstacle that is opposite to the vehicle with respect to the detected obstacle is detected, and the size is such that the vehicle can move forward and the entire vehicle cannot enter. A space determination unit for determining whether or not the size is;
The processing control unit, based on the driving force determination result and the space determination result that is the determination result of the space determination unit, travel control of the vehicle, notification of the driving force determination result or the space determination result, The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein one or both of the above is performed.   In addition to the reverse drive force and the reverse drive force of the vehicle, the reverse determination unit is estimated from the size of the rear region detected by the space determination unit, and the inertia force of the vehicle in the reverse transfer The vehicle control device according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle control device determines whether or not the vehicle can get over the vehicle on the basis of the vehicle. The overpass driving force deriving unit further derives a forward overpass driving force required for the forward overriding,
The output driving force deriving unit further derives a forward driving force of the vehicle that can be output when the obstacle is overridden by the forward riding.
A forward determination unit for determining whether or not the vehicle can move forward based on the forward drive force and the forward drive force of the vehicle;
The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driving force determination result includes a determination result of the forward determination unit.   The forward determination unit is capable of moving forward based on an inertial force of the vehicle in forward traveling estimated from a vehicle speed of the vehicle in addition to the forward driving force and forward driving force of the vehicle. The vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein it is determined whether or not.   The overpass driving force deriving unit assumes that, among the obstacles, the back surface opposite to the front surface facing the vehicle extends perpendicular to the placement surface on which the obstacle is placed, The vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the reverse drive force is derived.

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