JP2016060259A - Vehicle control device, and vehicle control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method capable of minimizing occurrence of wrong collision predictions.SOLUTION: A vehicle control system predicting a possibility of a rear-end collision of a vehicle and controlling respective parts of the vehicle according to a result of the prediction comprises: prediction means (Pre-crash ECU10) predicting the possibility of collision of the vehicle; transformation means (Booster part 14) transforming an electric power; and supply means (Selection part 15) temporarily supplying the electric power with a voltage higher than the one at a normal time, which is generated by the transformation means, to a device to reduce an impact of the collision when the prediction means predicts an occurrence of the collision.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method.

  In recent years, predicting the possibility of a collision of the own vehicle based on the traveling state of the own vehicle and surrounding traffic conditions, etc., and predicting that there is a possibility of collision, decelerate by operating the braking device of the own vehicle, Board the seat belt by rolling it up so that it can be prepared for an impact at the time of a collision, or, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the movable part provided in the seating part of the seat protrudes upward by an electric drive means. A so-called pre-crash safety system has been developed and put into practical use, which prevents a person from slipping forward through a seat belt.

  In such a pre-crash safety system, for example, a millimeter wave radar, a laser radar, or a stereo camera is provided in the front part of the vehicle, and the possibility of collision of the own vehicle based on data detected by the radar, the camera, etc. When there is a possibility of a collision, the brake is operated, the seat belt is wound up, and the movable part is protruded upward.

JP 2009-045963 A

  However, in the conventional technology, the possibility of a collision is predicted, and the brake, the seat belt, and the movable part are controlled and operated based on the predicted result. It is necessary to judge the possibility. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, when it is predicted that there is a possibility of a collision at time T1, communication and control are executed during the period T1 to T2, and the operation of the motor or the like is performed during the period T2 to T3. After the operation and the operation of the motor and the like are completed, a collision with an obstacle occurs through a period of T3 to T4 (WAIT period). Alternatively, collisions are avoided when the driver notices. For this reason, it is necessary to reliably secure T2 to T3 which are communication and control periods and T3 to T4 which are operation periods of the motor and the like. Further, in the case of a system related to safety, it is necessary to make a judgment on the safety side even when the probability of collision is low, and to operate a brake or the like. For this reason, there is a problem that an erroneous collision prediction occurs because the determination is made in a short time and the determination is made on the safety side.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method capable of reducing the occurrence of erroneous collision prediction.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention predicts the possibility of a rear-end collision of a vehicle and controls the presence or absence of a collision of the vehicle in a vehicle control device that controls each part of the vehicle based on a prediction result. Predicting means for predicting power, transforming means for transforming the power supply, and if the predicting means predicts that there is a possibility of collision, the transforming means for the device for reducing the impact at the time of the collision And a supply means for temporarily supplying a power supply power having a voltage higher than that of the normal time generated by the above.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of erroneous collision prediction.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the transformer means starts generating power supply power having a voltage higher than that in a normal state when it is determined by the predicting means that there is a possibility of a collision.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent an increase in power consumption by making the boosting operation temporary.

The present invention is characterized in that the device for reducing the impact at the time of the collision is a device that is operated by an electric motor.
According to such a configuration, an electric motor that takes time to operate is operated at a high speed by supplying a power supply power of a voltage higher than normal, and sufficient time is allocated for prediction of a collision, so that misprediction occurs. Can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, the device for reducing the impact at the time of the collision includes a braking device for braking the vehicle, a moving device for moving a headrest holding the head of the occupant forward, and an impact on the occupant's body. It is at least one of a winding device that winds up a seat belt for reducing the above and a restoring device that restores a reclining seat to its original position.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to secure sufficient time for prediction of the presence or absence of a collision by improving the operation speed of the braking device, the headrest moving device, the seat belt winding device, and the reclining restoring device. The occurrence of misprediction can be reduced.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that a high-voltage power supply is always supplied to the restoration device that restores the reclining seat to its original position.
According to such a configuration, by always applying a high voltage to the reclining restoration apparatus that requires time for operation, it is possible to quickly perform not only a collision but also a normal operation.

Further, the present invention has a function of stopping the engine at the time of idling of the vehicle and starting the engine at the start of traveling, and compensating for a voltage drop at the time of starting the engine at the start of traveling. A booster is used as the transformer.
According to such a configuration, the cost of the apparatus can be reduced by diverting the boosting means already provided.

Further, according to the present invention, the vehicle is driven by the power of both the engine and the motor, and the transformer means steps down and outputs the power supply power supplied to the motor, and the predicting means may cause a collision. When it is predicted that there is a voltage, a voltage higher than the normal time is temporarily output.
According to such a configuration, the cost of the apparatus can be reduced by diverting the step-down means already provided for a vehicle that obtains power from both the engine and the motor.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle control method for predicting the possibility of a rear-end collision of a vehicle and controlling each part of the vehicle on the basis of a prediction result. A transformation step for transforming the power supply, and a normal time generated by the transformation step for a device for reducing the impact at the time of a collision when it is predicted that there is a possibility of a collision in the prediction step. And a supply step for temporarily supplying a power supply power of a higher voltage.
According to such a method, occurrence of erroneous collision prediction can be reduced.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method capable of reducing the occurrence of erroneous collision prediction.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process performed in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the deformation | transformation embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating a prior art.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

(A) Description of Configuration of First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a power system of a vehicle having a vehicle control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the power supply system of the vehicle includes a pre-crash ECU (Electric Control Unit) 10, peripheral monitoring sensors 11 and 12, a secondary battery 13, a booster 14, a selector 15, a brake controller 20, a headrest controller 21, A reclining control unit 22 and a seat belt control unit 23 are provided. In FIG. 1, a solid line indicates a power supply line, and a broken line indicates a signal line.

  Here, the pre-crash ECU 10 predicts the possibility of collision with an obstacle based on the information about the surroundings of the host vehicle obtained by the surrounding monitoring sensors 11 and 12, and if there is a possibility of collision, The brake control unit 20, the headrest control unit 21, the reclining control unit 22, and the seat belt control unit 23 are operated to prepare for a collision. At this time, the pre-crash ECU 10 controls the booster 14 to boost and output the voltage output from the secondary battery 13 and also controls the selector 15 to brake the boosted power supply power. Unit 20, headrest control unit 21, reclining control unit 22, and seat belt control unit 23.

  The peripheral monitoring sensors 11 and 12 irradiate, for example, a millimeter wave radar or a laser radar toward the periphery of the vehicle, analyze the reflected wave to detect an obstacle, distance from the obstacle, and a moving direction of the obstacle. , And the relative speed is detected and supplied to the pre-crash ECU 10. In addition, the periphery monitoring sensors 11 and 12 may be configured by a stereo camera or the like, and an obstacle may be detected with reference to a captured image.

  The secondary battery 13 is composed of, for example, a lead storage battery and is charged by an alternator (not shown), and the brake control unit 20, the headrest control unit 21, the reclining control unit 22, and the seat belt control unit 23 are, for example, A power supply voltage of 12V is supplied.

  The booster unit 14 is configured by, for example, a DC-DC converter or the like, boosts, for example, 12V DC power output from the secondary battery 13 and supplies the boosted voltage to the selection unit 15 as, for example, 16V DC power.

  The selection unit 15 is configured by, for example, a semiconductor switch or an electromagnetic switch, and selects and outputs one of the outputs of the secondary battery 13 or the boosting unit 14 according to the control of the pre-crash ECU 10.

  The brake control unit 20 brakes the vehicle according to the control of the pre-crash ECU 10. The headrest control unit 21 is provided on an upper portion of a backrest of a seat on which a passenger sits, and controls an angle of a headrest that holds the head of the passenger. The reclining control unit 22 controls the angle of the seat back. The seat belt control unit 23 performs control to adjust the length by winding the seat belt that protects the passenger's body from the impact of the collision. In addition, the brake control unit 20, the headrest control unit 21, the reclining control unit 22, and the seat belt control unit 23 have, for example, an electric motor such as a motor, and have a configuration in which a control target is operated by the electric motor. Yes.

(B) Description of Operation of First Embodiment Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described. In the following, the outline of the operation of the first embodiment will be described, and then the detailed operation will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  The perimeter monitoring sensors 11 and 12 are arranged at the front or rear of the vehicle, radiate electromagnetic waves, etc., and analyze the reflected waves to detect the position, moving direction, and relative speed of the obstacle and pre-crash. The ECU 10 is notified. Alternatively, the periphery monitoring sensors 11 and 12 are configured by a stereo camera or the like, detect the position, moving direction, and relative speed of the obstacle from the captured image and notify the pre-crash ECU 10 of the detected position. For example, when there is an obstacle in front of or behind the traveling road, the periphery monitoring sensors 11 and 12 detect the position, moving direction, and relative speed of the obstacle and notify the pre-crash ECU 10.

  The pre-crash ECU 10 predicts the possibility of collision with an obstacle based on the information output from the surrounding monitoring sensors 11 and 12, and if it is predicted that there is a possibility of collision, the pre-crash ECU 10 A predicted collision time indicating whether or not to perform is calculated. For example, when another vehicle is stopped in front of the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling and the host vehicle is traveling at a predetermined speed (for example, 36 km / h), the collision occurs if these distances are 50 m. The predicted time is 5 seconds. The pre-crash ECU 10 sequentially predicts the possibility of collision and sequentially calculates the collision prediction time. When the collision prediction time is less than 2 seconds, for example, the pre-crash ECU 10 executes the following operation.

  For example, when the predicted collision time is less than 2 seconds, the pre-crash ECU 10 starts the operation of the booster unit 14. As a result, the booster 14 boosts, for example, a 12V DC voltage supplied from the secondary battery 13 and outputs it as a 16V DC voltage. The pre-crash ECU 10 changes the selection of the selection unit 15 from the secondary battery 13 to the boost unit 14 when a DC voltage of 16 V is output from the boost unit 10. As a result, the DC power output from the selection unit 15 increases from 12V to 16V.

  The DC voltage output from the selection unit 15 is supplied to the brake control unit 20, the headrest control unit 21, the reclining control unit 22, and the seat belt control unit 23. As a result, the power supply voltage supplied to them increases from 12V to 16V.

  When the switching of the selection unit 15 is completed, the pre-crash ECU 10 calculates the collision prediction time again based on the information output from the periphery monitoring sensors 11 and 12. Then, when the predicted collision time is less than 1 second, for example, the brake controller 20 is controlled to start braking the vehicle. In addition, the headrest control unit 21 is controlled to move the headrest forward (the traveling direction of the vehicle) to reduce the burden on the passenger's neck at the time of collision. In addition, when the seat back is tilted backward, the reclining control unit 22 restores the seat back to its original position, thereby bringing the back back into close contact with the occupant and reducing the burden on the occupant during a collision. To do. In addition, the seat belt control unit 23 winds up the seat belt to bring the seat belt into close contact with the occupant's body, and reliably prevents the occupant's body from moving forward in the event of a collision.

  When the operation is completed, the pre-crash ECU 10 controls the selection unit 15 to select the output of the secondary battery 13. The brake control unit 20, the headrest control unit 21, the reclining control unit 22, and the seat belt control unit 23 are all operated by an actuator, but as described above, these are higher than usual from the selection unit 15. A power supply voltage of 16V is supplied. For this reason, since the operating speed of these actuators becomes faster than usual, a desired operation can be completed in a short time.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the time required for each controller to operate by setting the operation completion target timing. Here, FIG. 2A shows the operation time of each control unit when 12V is supplied, and FIG. 2B shows the operation time of each control unit when 16V is supplied. Here, the operation completion target timing indicates the timing at time T3 shown in FIG. 8, and is a timing that is a target for completion of all operations. From the comparison between FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, when 16V is supplied, the time required to complete the operation is shorter than when 12V is supplied. That is, the time T2 to T3 shown in FIG. 8 can be shortened. Thus, by shortening the time of T2 to T3, the timing of the time T1 for predicting the collision possibility can be delayed, and this means that the prediction is performed at a timing closer to the obstacle. The occurrence of erroneous collision prediction can be reduced.

  Next, the detailed operation of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The flowchart shown in FIG. 3 is executed in the pre-crash ECU 10 shown in FIG. When this process is started, the following steps are executed.

  In step S10, the pre-crash ECU 10 refers to the outputs of the surrounding monitoring sensors 11 and 12 and detects the surrounding situation of the host vehicle. For example, the presence / absence of an obstacle around the host vehicle is detected, and if present, the distance to the obstacle, the moving direction of the obstacle, and the relative speed of the obstacle are detected.

  In step S11, the pre-crash ECU 10 predicts the possibility of collision with the obstacle detected in step S10. For example, it is predicted whether the moving direction of the obstacle matches the moving direction of the host vehicle. Moreover, the collision prediction time estimated that the own vehicle and the obstacle collide is calculated together.

  In step S12, based on the determination result in step S11, the pre-crash ECU 10 proceeds to step S13 when there is a possibility of collision (step S12: Yes), and otherwise (step S12: No). Proceed to step S20. More specifically, for example, if the predicted collision time is less than 2 seconds, the determination is Yes and the process proceeds to step S13.

  In step S <b> 13, the pre-crash ECU 10 controls the booster 14 to start an operation for boosting the DC voltage output from the secondary battery 13. As a result, for example, 16V obtained by boosting 12V, which is the output voltage of the secondary battery 13, is output from the boosting unit 14.

  In step S14, the pre-crash ECU 10 controls the selection unit 15 to switch the selection on the secondary battery 13 side to the boosting unit 14 side. As a result, the DC voltage output from the selection unit 15 increases from 12V to 16V, for example.

  In step S15, the pre-crash ECU 10 determines whether or not to start the operation of each control unit. If it is determined to start the operation (step S15: Yes), the process proceeds to step S16, and otherwise (step S15). In S15: No), the same processing is repeated. More specifically, for example, if the predicted collision time is less than 1 second, the determination is Yes and the process proceeds to step S16.

  In step S <b> 16, the pre-crash ECU 10 starts the operations of the brake control unit 20, the headrest control unit 21, the reclining control unit 22, and the seat belt control unit 23. Thus, by applying braking to the vehicle by the brake control unit 20, the collision can be avoided or the impact at the time of the collision can be reduced, and the headrest control unit 21, the reclining control unit 22, and the seat belt control unit 23 can be operated. The impact on the passenger at the time of collision can be reduced.

  In step S17, the pre-crash ECU 10 determines whether or not the operations of the brake control unit 20, the headrest control unit 21, the reclining control unit 22, and the seat belt control unit 23 are completed, and determines that the operation is completed. In the case (step S17: Yes), the process proceeds to step S18. In other cases (step S17: No), the same process is repeated. For example, when the operations of all the control units are completed, it is determined as Yes and the process proceeds to step S18.

  In step S18, the pre-crash ECU 10 controls the selection unit 15 to switch the selection on the boosting unit 14 side to the secondary battery 13 side. As a result, the DC voltage output from the selection unit 15 decreases from 16V to 12V, for example.

  In step S <b> 19, the pre-crash ECU 10 controls the booster 14 to stop the operation of boosting the DC voltage output from the secondary battery 13.

  In step S20, the pre-crash ECU 10 determines whether or not to end the process. If it is determined that the process is to be continued (step S20: No), the process returns to step S10 and repeats the same process as described above. In other cases (step S20: Yes), the process ends. For example, when the vehicle is running, it can be determined No and return to Step S10.

  According to the above processing, when it is predicted that there is a possibility of a collision, the power supply voltage boosted by the boosting unit 14 is supplied to each control unit. The operating speed of the actuator can be improved. For this reason, since the time from T2 to T3 shown in FIG. 8 can be shortened, it is possible to predict the possibility of collision at a later timing as compared with the case where the pressure is not increased. As a result, more time can be spent for prediction, so that the occurrence of erroneous collision prediction can be reduced.

(C) Description of Configuration of Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the second embodiment. In FIG. 4, parts corresponding to those in FIG. In FIG. 4, compared to FIG. 1, the booster 14 is replaced with an idling stop booster 30, and a selector 31 and an audio 32 are newly added. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG.

  Here, the idling stop boosting unit 30 is a so-called idling stop function that stops the operation of the engine and restarts the engine when the vehicle starts running when the vehicle is stopped due to a signal or the like and is in an idling state. It is the pressure | voltage rise part for vehicles which has these. The idling stop boosting unit 30 reduces the terminal voltage of the secondary battery 13 when power is supplied to the starter motor when the engine is restarted after the engine is stopped. In the case of a device that is not highly resistant to noise, audio and video playback may be interrupted or noise may be generated. For this reason, when the engine is restarted, the voltage of the secondary battery 13 is boosted to a predetermined voltage (for example, 12V) by the idling stop booster 30 to reproduce sound and video. To prevent disruption and noise.

  In the second embodiment, the existing idling stop booster 30 is diverted, and a function of boosting the voltage to a voltage (for example, 16V) higher than the voltage (for example, 12V) of the secondary battery 13 is added thereto. When it is predicted that there is a possibility, the power supply voltage boosted to a voltage higher than the power supply voltage is supplied to each control unit. In addition, as a method of outputting two types of voltages, for example, it can be realized by changing the reference voltage of the DC-DC converter. That is, the DC-DC converter constituting the booster unit may have a configuration that outputs a voltage obtained by multiplying a predetermined reference voltage by a predetermined value. In that case, two types of reference voltages are prepared, and the reference voltage is set as necessary. Change it. For example, 12V (= 4 × 3V) and 16V (= 4 × 4V) can be obtained by preparing reference voltages of 3V and 4V, and outputting the reference voltage multiplied by four. Of course, the reference voltage may be fixed and the magnification may be switched.

  For example, the selection unit 31 is controlled by an idling stop ECU (not shown). When the engine is restarted after idling stop, the output of the idling stop boosting unit 30 is selected and supplied to the audio 32. The output of the secondary battery 13 is selected and supplied to the audio 32. The audio 32 operates with power supply power supplied from the selection unit 31. Note that the audio 32 is an example, and other than this, for example, a car navigation system or the like may be connected.

(D) Description of Operation of Second Embodiment Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, after the idling stop is executed and the engine is stopped, immediately before the engine is restarted (for example, at a timing when the foot is released from the brake pedal), the idling stop boosting unit 30 It operates so as to keep the voltage output from the battery 13 at a constant voltage (for example, 12V). In addition, since the idling stop ECU (not shown) controls the selection unit 31 to select the output of the idling stop boosting unit 30, the power supply voltage supplied to the audio 32 immediately before the engine is restarted is a voltage drop. A constant voltage is maintained without generating Thereby, it is possible to prevent the sound or video reproduced by the audio 32 from being interrupted or causing noise. When the engine is restarted, an idling stop ECU (not shown) controls the selector 31 to select the output of the secondary battery 13.

  After the selection unit 31 selects the output of the secondary battery 13, the idling stop boosting unit 30 is controlled by the pre-crash ECU 10. Similar to the first embodiment, the pre-crash ECU 10 predicts that there is a possibility of collision with an obstacle, and when it is determined that the collision prediction time is less than 2 seconds, the idling stop booster 30 is controlled to perform idling. A voltage (for example, 16 V) higher than that at the time of stop is output. Further, the selector 15 is controlled to select the output of the idling stop booster 30. As a result, a voltage (16 V) higher than the normal voltage (12 V) is supplied to each control unit. When the predicted rear-end collision time is less than a predetermined time (for example, less than 1 second), the pre-crash ECU 10 starts the operation of each control unit. In this way, by supplying a voltage higher than usual to each control unit, the actuator to be controlled can be operated at high speed. As a result, the occurrence of erroneous collision prediction can be reduced by shortening the time T2 to T3 in FIG. 8 and extending the time devoted to collision prediction.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, when it is predicted that there is a possibility of a collision, the power supply voltage boosted by the idling stop booster 30 is supplied to each controller. The operating speed of the actuator that is the control target of each control unit can be improved. For this reason, since the time of T2 to T3 shown in FIG. 8 can be shortened and more time can be spent for prediction, the occurrence of erroneous collision prediction can be reduced. In the second embodiment, since the existing idling stop booster 30 is used, the configuration of the apparatus can be simplified, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

(E) Description of Configuration of Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the third embodiment. In FIG. 5, parts corresponding to those in FIG. In FIG. 5, compared to FIG. 1, the secondary battery 13 is replaced with a hybrid high-voltage power supply 40, and the booster unit 14 is replaced with a step-down unit 41. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG.

  Here, the hybrid high-voltage power supply 40 is a so-called hybrid vehicle power supply that has both an engine and an electric motor as power sources, and uses these power sources in consideration of fuel efficiency, for example, about 288V. DC voltage is output.

  The step-down unit 41 is controlled by the pre-crash ECU 10 and is output from the high-voltage power supply 40 for hybrid, for example, a voltage of 288 V is stepped down to a voltage of about 12 V in normal times, and there is a possibility of a collision. Is predicted, it is stepped down to a voltage of about 16V and output. As described above, the method for changing the output voltage includes a direction for adjusting the reference voltage and the magnification. Of course, other methods may be used.

(F) Description of Operation of Third Embodiment Next, the operation of the third embodiment will be described. The pre-crash ECU 10 controls the step-down unit 41 during normal times (when there is no possibility of a collision), and outputs the output of the hybrid high-voltage power supply 40 to, for example, 12V. The 12V power supply voltage output from the step-down unit 41 is supplied to each control unit, and each control unit can operate using 12V as a power source.

  With reference to the outputs of the surrounding monitoring sensors 11 and 12, the pre-crash ECU 10 predicts that there is a possibility of a collision with an obstacle, and when the collision prediction time is less than 2 seconds, the pre-crash ECU 10 41 is controlled to change the output voltage from 12V to 16V. As a result, the power supply voltage supplied to each control unit increases from 12V to 16V. And when the collision prediction time with an obstacle becomes less than 1 second, for example, the pre-crash ECU 10 starts the operation of each control unit. As a result, braking is applied by the brake control unit 20, and preparations for reducing the impact at the time of collision are made by the headrest control unit 21, the reclining control unit 22, and the seat belt control unit 23.

  As described above, in the third embodiment, when it is predicted that there is a possibility of a collision, the rate of step-down by the step-down unit 41 is reduced and a higher power supply voltage than usual is supplied to each control unit. As a result, the operating speed of the actuator to be controlled by each control unit can be improved. For this reason, since the time of T2 to T3 shown in FIG. 8 can be shortened and more time can be used for collision prediction, the occurrence of erroneous collision prediction can be reduced. In the third embodiment, since the existing step-down unit 41 is used, the configuration of the apparatus can be simplified, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

(G) Description of Configuration of Fourth Embodiment Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the fourth embodiment. In FIG. 6, parts corresponding to those in FIG. In FIG. 6, compared to FIG. 1, the booster 14 is replaced with a booster 50 having two types of outputs of 16 V and 42 V, and the output of 42 V is supplied to the reclining controller 22. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG.

  Here, the booster 50 boosts, for example, a DC voltage of 12V output from the secondary battery 13 to 16V and 42V, supplies 16V to the selector 15, and supplies 42V to the reclining controller 22. Supply directly.

(H) Description of Operation of Fourth Embodiment Next, operation of the fourth embodiment will be described. The fourth embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that 42 V is always supplied to the reclining control unit 22. That is, the boosting unit 50 always performs an operation of converting the output of the secondary battery 13 to 42V, and the reclining control unit 22 operates using 42V as a power source regardless of the possibility of collision. On the other hand, the brake control unit 20, the headrest control unit 21, and the seat belt control unit 23 are operated by a 12V power supply in the normal state, and there is a possibility of a collision by the pre-crash ECU 10 as in the first embodiment. 16V is supplied, and when the collision prediction time is less than 1 second, for example, the pre-crash ECU 10 and the reclining control unit 22 together with the brake control unit 20 and the headrest control unit 21 and the operation of the seat belt control unit 23 are started.

  As described above, in the fourth embodiment, the brake control unit 20, the headrest control unit 21, and the seat belt control unit 23, as in the first embodiment, are more than usual when there is a possibility of a collision. Since a high 16V power supply is supplied, the time required to complete the operation is shortened, and thereby sufficient time for judging the possibility of collision is secured, thereby reducing the occurrence of erroneous collision prediction. be able to. Further, in the fourth embodiment, the reclining control unit 22 is always supplied with 42V power, so that reclining control that requires power for operation can be performed quickly even during normal operation and a collision is possible. If there is a possibility, it is possible to ensure the time for determining the possibility of collision and to reduce the occurrence of an erroneous collision prediction by quickly moving to a predetermined position.

(I) Description of Modified Embodiment It goes without saying that the above-described embodiment is an example, and the present invention is not limited to the case described above. For example, in each of the embodiments described above, the voltage boosted by the booster and the output voltage of the secondary battery are selected by the selector. For example, as shown in FIG. There is a bypass switch 60b connected in parallel with the booster circuit 60a, and during normal operation, the bypass switch 60b is controlled to be in an ON state, and the output voltage of the secondary battery 13 is output as it is, which may cause a collision. Is predicted, the bypass switch 60b is turned off and the operation of the booster circuit 60a is started to output a voltage (for example, 16V) obtained by boosting the output of the secondary battery 13. .

  In each of the above embodiments, when it is determined that there is a possibility of a collision, the step-up operation or the step-down operation is started. For example, the step-up or step-down operation is started when the vehicle starts running. You may make it do. Of course, the operation may be started when the vehicle speed exceeds a predetermined threshold. According to such a configuration, when a certain time is required from the start of voltage boosting or stepping down until the voltage becomes stable, the time can be shortened.

  Further, in each of the embodiments described above, the case where each control unit starts the operation at the same time has been described as an example. However, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, all operations are completed by a predetermined operation completion target timing. As such, the operation may be started at different timings. According to such a configuration, the actuator consumes a large amount of electric power at the time of activation. Therefore, by shifting the activation timing for each control unit, it is possible to prevent the supply power from being insufficient and to compare with the case where the supply is started at the same time. Thus, the supply capacity of the boosting unit can be reduced, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  In each of the above embodiments, the brake control unit 20, the headrest control unit 21, the reclining control unit 22, and the seat belt control unit 23 have been described as examples. However, the power supply voltage supplied to other control units May be boosted. Further, for example, for a load that requires a large amount of electric power, such as a defogger or a seat heater, when the pre-crash ECU 10 predicts the possibility of a collision, the electric power supplied to these may be reduced or the operation By stopping the operation, the power consumption may be reduced, and each control unit described above may be reliably operated.

  Needless to say, the first to fourth embodiments described above may be combined as appropriate.

  Also, the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 is an example, and other processes may be executed.

10 Pre-crash ECU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11, 12 Perimeter monitoring sensor 13 Secondary battery 14, 50, 60 Boosting part 15,31 Selection part 20 Brake control part 21 Headrest control part 22 Reclining control part 23 Seat belt control part 30 Idling stop boosting part 32 Audio 40 For hybrid High-voltage power supply 41 Step-down unit 60a Bypass switch 60b Booster circuit

Claims (8)

In the vehicle control device that predicts the possibility of a rear-end collision of the vehicle and controls each part of the vehicle based on the prediction result,
Predicting means for predicting the possibility of collision of the vehicle;
Transform means for transforming power supply power,
When it is predicted by the prediction means that there is a possibility of a collision, a power supply power having a voltage higher than the normal time generated by the transformation means is temporarily supplied to the device for reducing the impact at the time of the collision. Supply means for supplying to,
A vehicle control device comprising:   2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein when the predicting unit determines that there is a possibility of a collision, the transformer unit starts generation of power supply power having a voltage higher than that in a normal time.   The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the device for reducing the impact at the time of the collision is a device that is operated by an electric motor.   The device for reducing the impact at the time of the collision includes a braking device for braking the vehicle, a moving device for moving the headrest holding the head of the occupant forward, and a seat for reducing the impact on the occupant's body. The vehicle control device according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle control device is at least one of a winding device that winds the belt and a restoring device that restores the reclining seat to its original position.   5. The vehicle control device according to claim 4, wherein a power supply power of a high voltage is always supplied to a restoration device that restores the reclining seat to an original position. The vehicle has a function of stopping the engine at idling of the vehicle and starting the engine at the start of running,
6. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein a voltage boosting unit for compensating for a voltage drop when starting the engine at the start of traveling is used as the voltage transforming unit. The vehicle is driven by the power of both the engine and the motor,
The transformer means steps down and outputs the power supplied to the motor, and temporarily outputs a higher voltage than normal when it is predicted by the predicting means that there is a possibility of a collision. To
The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle control device is a vehicle control device. In a vehicle control method for predicting the possibility of a rear-end collision of a vehicle and controlling each part of the vehicle based on a prediction result,
A prediction step for predicting the possibility of collision of the vehicle;
A transformation step for transforming the power supply; and
If it is predicted that there is a possibility of a collision in the prediction step, a power supply power having a higher voltage than that in the normal time generated by the transformation step is temporarily supplied to the device for reducing the impact at the time of the collision. Supplying steps to supply to,
A vehicle control method comprising:

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