JP2019064352A - Electronic control device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an electronic control device for restraining disturbance of force generated by an actuator when an input indication value is uncertain.SOLUTION: An electronic control device is an electronic control device having a plurality of micro-controllers and outputting a control value for controlling an occurrence of force by an actuator included in a vehicle in response to an indication value output from an indication value output device included in the vehicle. At least one of the plurality of micro-controllers comprises a determination unit that determines reliability of the indication value, and a restraint control unit that calculates a restraint control value for causing the actuator to generate opposite force to force that is to be generated by the actuator in response to the indication value and outputs the restraint control value to the actuator during a period for which it has been determined that the reliability of the indication value is lost by at least the determination part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic control unit that controls an actuator provided in a vehicle.

  For example, as disclosed in JP-A-2015-81013, an electronic control device for controlling an actuator such as an electric motor provided in an electric power steering or the like is disposed in a vehicle such as an automobile. The electronic control device controls the force generated by the actuator in accordance with an instruction value input from the outside.

  The electronic control unit disclosed in JP-A-2015-81013 includes two microcomputers, a main microcomputer and a sub-microcomputer, and can continue control of the electric motor even when one microcomputer has an abnormality.

JP, 2015-81013, A

  In general, when an abnormality occurs in the indicated value output device, the electronic control device stops control of the actuator according to the indicated value. However, it may take a little while for the electronic control unit to stop control of the actuator according to the indicated value after occurrence of an abnormality in the indicated value output device. During this time, the indication value outputted by the indication value output device may be in an uncertain state, and the force generated by the actuator may be disturbed.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic control device that suppresses the disturbance of the force generated by the actuator when the input instruction value becomes uncertain.

  An electronic control device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of microcontrollers, and each of the plurality of microcontrollers receives a force of an actuator provided in the vehicle according to an indicated value output from an indicated value output device provided in the vehicle. An electronic control unit that outputs a control value for controlling occurrence, wherein at least one of the plurality of microcontrollers determines a reliability of the indication value, and the indication value is determined by at least the determination unit. Calculating a suppression control value for causing the actuator to generate a force in a direction opposite to a force to be generated by the actuator according to the instruction value during a period in which it is determined that the reliability of And a suppression control unit that outputs the suppression control value to the actuator.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electronic control device that suppresses the disturbance of the force generated by the actuator when the input instruction value becomes uncertain.

It is a figure showing composition of an electronic control unit of a 1st embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process by the determination part. It is a figure which shows the structure of the electronic control unit of 2nd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings used in the following description, the scale of each component is different in order to make each component have a size that can be recognized in the drawings, and the present invention is not limited to these drawings. The present invention is not limited only to the number of components described in the above, the shape of the components, the ratio of the size of the components, and the relative positional relationship between the components.

First Embodiment
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an electronic control device of a vehicle such as a car, which operates based on a predetermined program and implements operation control of an actuator 20 provided in the vehicle. The type of the actuator 20 controlled by the electronic control unit 1 of the present embodiment is not particularly limited. In the present embodiment, as an example, the actuator 20 is an electric motor that is included in the electric power steering apparatus and generates a force that changes the steering angle of the vehicle. The actuator 20 may be, for example, an electric actuator that controls the hydraulic pressure of a hydraulic brake.

  The electronic control unit 1 is connected to a communication network 10 provided in a vehicle, and can exchange signals with the communication network 10. Connected to the communication network 10 are electronic devices such as other electronic control devices and sensors provided in the vehicle. The communication network 10 is for performing data communication between a plurality of electronic devices provided in a vehicle, and is a known technique. The electronic control unit 1 can perform an operation coordinated with other electronic devices provided in the vehicle by data communication via the communication network 10. Although FIG. 1 shows that the communication network 10 is in the bus connection mode, the communication network 10 may be in the star connection mode.

  Connected to the communication network 10 are an instruction value output device 21 which is an electronic device provided in a vehicle, a map information output device 22, a positioning device 23, and an external environment recognition device 24. Some or all of the instruction value output device 21, the map information output device 22, the positioning device 23, and the external environment recognition device 24 may be configured as the same electronic device.

  The positioning device 23 detects the current position (latitude, longitude) of the vehicle using at least one of a satellite positioning system, an inertial navigation device, and a road-vehicle communication.

  Based on the current position of the vehicle detected by the positioning device 23, the map information output device 22 has a shape on the road on which the vehicle is traveling, a shape within a predetermined distance forward from the vehicle, or Information of a shape within a range that can be reached by a predetermined time later is output as map information. The map information includes information indicating the shape of the road, such as the curvature of the road, the longitudinal cross-sectional gradient, and the state of intersection with other roads.

  The map information output device 22 may be configured to store map information in a predetermined country or region prepared in advance, or one of the map information stored in a server existing outside the vehicle 1 The unit may be received via road-to-vehicle communication, a mobile communication network, or the like according to a route on which the vehicle is to travel, and may be temporarily stored.

The external environment recognition device 24 includes, for example, an imaging device and a radar device, and detects a road shape in front of the vehicle, a relative position of an object present around the vehicle, and the like.

  In the present embodiment, the command value output device 21 is an automatic steering control device that performs automatic steering or steering assist of the vehicle. The steering angle of the vehicle is determined based on at least one of the detection result by the external environment recognition device 24 and the map information output from the map information output device 22 at the time of automatic steering or steering assistance of the vehicle. An instruction value for automatically controlling is output to the electronic control unit 1.

  The electronic control unit 1 receives the command value output from the command value output unit 21 via the communication network 10. The electronic control unit 1 controls the actuator 20 in accordance with the indicated value.

  Further, the instruction value output device 21 has a diagnostic function, and outputs abnormality occurrence information (abnormality flag) when it is determined by the diagnostic function that an abnormality has occurred in its own operation. When the electronic control unit 1 receives abnormality occurrence information from the command value output device 21 during automatic steering or steering assistance of the vehicle, or when communication with the command value output device 21 is broken, Control of the actuator 20 according to the indicated value is stopped. When the indicated value output device 21 outputs the abnormality occurrence information at the time of automatic steering or steering assistance of the vehicle, the vehicle performs a transition operation to manual steering by the driver by a known technique.

  The electronic control unit 1 includes a plurality of microcontrollers. Each microcontroller is a computer provided with a CPU, an input / output device and the like. By providing a plurality of microcontrollers, the electronic control unit 1 can continue the control of driving the actuator 20 even when an abnormality occurs in some of the microcontrollers.

  In the present embodiment, as an example, the electronic control unit 1 includes a first microcontroller (hereinafter referred to as a first microcomputer) 2 and a second microcontroller (hereinafter referred to as a second microcomputer) 3.

  The first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 monitor each other's operation via the internal communication unit 5. Each of the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 receives an instruction value output from the instruction value output device 21 via the communication network 10. The first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 include a control unit 11 that drives the actuator 20 according to the received instruction value. The control unit 11 outputs a control value that causes the actuator 20 to generate a force corresponding to the instruction value. The actuator 20 generates a force having a strength and a direction corresponding to the control value output from the control unit 11. The control value output by the control unit 11 may be a current signal or a voltage signal.

  The first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 control the drive of the actuator 20 in parallel if it is determined that the mutual operation is normal in mutual monitoring. In other words, when the operations of both the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 are normal, the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 share the control of the drive of the actuator 20 at a predetermined ratio . Then, the actuator 20 generates a force of strength and direction according to the total value of the two control values output from the two control units 11 provided in the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3.

  In the present embodiment, as an example, when the operations of both the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 are normal, the respective control units 11 included in the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 receive the indicated value Outputs a control value that causes the actuator 20 to generate a force corresponding to 50% of the

  Then, when an abnormality occurs in the operation of one of the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3, the output of the control value by the one microcontroller is stopped, and 100% of the instruction value received by the other microcontroller And a control value for causing the actuator 20 to generate a force corresponding to

  For example, when an abnormality occurs in the operation of the first microcomputer 2 and the operation of the second microcomputer 3 is normal, the control unit 11 included in the first microcomputer 2 stops the output of the control value, and the second microcomputer 3 The controller 3 outputs a control value that causes the actuator 20 to generate a force corresponding to 100% of the received command value.

  Thus, the electronic control unit 1 of the present embodiment has redundancy by including a plurality of microcontrollers. Since securing of redundancy by providing a plurality of microcontrollers in the electronic control device of a vehicle is a known technique, detailed description will be omitted.

  A part or all of the plurality of microcontrollers included in the electronic control unit 1 of the present embodiment includes the determination unit 12 and the suppression control unit 13.

  In the present embodiment, as an example, the second microcomputer 3 includes the determination unit 12 and the suppression control unit 13.

  The determination unit 12 determines the reliability of the instruction value to be received. The determination unit 12 includes a behavior prediction unit 12a, a road shape recognition unit 12b, and a communication state monitoring unit 12c.

  The road shape recognition unit 12b detects a road on which the vehicle is traveling based on one or both of the map information output from the map information output device 22 and the road shape information output from the external environment recognition device 24. Recognize the shape of the road. More specifically, the road shape recognized by the road shape recognition unit 12b includes information indicating the curvature of the road on which the vehicle is traveling and the turning direction (right or left).

  The behavior prediction unit 12a predicts the behavior of the vehicle based on the road shape recognized by the road shape recognition unit 12b. The behavior of the vehicle predicted by the behavior prediction unit 12a includes information on whether the vehicle is turning or not and information on the turning direction (right turn or left turn) of the vehicle.

  If, for example, the behavior prediction unit 12a determines that the current position of the vehicle is on a road that turns to the right with a curvature equal to or greater than a predetermined value, based on the road shape recognized by the road shape recognition unit 12b, the vehicle Is predicted to be turning to the right.

  The communication state monitoring unit 12 c detects the occurrence of a communication error with the designated value output device 21 via the communication network 10. The method of detecting a communication error by the communication state monitoring unit 12c is not particularly limited, and a known error detection technique in data communication is used.

  In the present embodiment, the communication state monitoring unit 12c counts the number of occurrences of communication errors, and when the frequency of occurrence of communication errors exceeds a predetermined threshold, communication with the indicated value output device 21 is disturbed. It is determined that

  A flowchart of processing of determining the reliability of the received instruction value by the determination unit 12 is shown in FIG.

  As shown in step S10, if the communication state monitoring unit 12c determines that the communication between the electronic control device 1 and the indicated value output device 21 is disturbed, the determination unit 12 proceeds to step S20 and subsequent steps. Execute the process of

  In step S20, the direction of the force to be generated by the actuator 20 according to the instruction value received from the instruction value output device 21 is compared with the behavior of the vehicle predicted by the behavior prediction unit 12a.

  If there is no contradiction between the direction of the force to be generated by the actuator 20 according to the indicated value and the behavior of the vehicle predicted by the behavior prediction unit 12a as a result of comparison in step S20 (YES in step S30) The determination unit 12 determines that the received instruction value has reliability (step S40).

  On the other hand, as a result of the comparison in step S20, when the direction of the force to be generated by the actuator 20 according to the command value contradicts with the behavior of the vehicle predicted by the behavior prediction unit 12a (NO in step S30), The determination unit 12 determines that the reliability of the received instruction value is lost (step S50).

  The actuator 20 of the present embodiment generates a force that changes the steering angle included in the electric power steering of the vehicle. Therefore, the force that the electronic control unit 1 should cause the actuator 20 to generate in accordance with the indicated value is either a force in the direction of changing the steering angle of the vehicle to the right or a force in the direction of changing to the left.

  In step S20, the determination unit 12 determines the change direction (right or left) of the steering angle according to the instruction value and the turning direction (right turn or left turn) of the vehicle predicted by the behavior prediction unit 12a. Compare. Then, when the change direction of the steering angle according to the instruction value matches the predicted turning direction of the vehicle (YES in step S30), the determination unit 12 has the reliability of the received instruction value. It is determined that In addition, when the change direction of the steering angle according to the instruction value and the predicted turning direction of the vehicle do not match (NO in step S30), the determination unit 12 determines that the received instruction value is It determines that the reliability has been lost.

  The suppression control unit 13 controls the force in the direction opposite to the force to be generated by the actuator 20 according to the instruction value, at least during the period when the determination unit 12 determines that the reliability of the instruction value is lost. The suppression control value to be generated at 20 is calculated. In the present embodiment, the suppression control value causes the actuator 20 to generate a force that changes the steering angle in the direction opposite to the control value output by the control unit 11 according to the instruction value. For example, when the control value and the suppression control value are current signals, the suppression control value is a reverse current to the control value. The absolute value of the suppression control value may be the same as or different from the absolute value of the control value.

  The switching unit 14 performs switching so that one of the control value and the suppression control value is output from the second microcomputer 3 to the actuator 20. The switching unit 14 outputs the control value from the second microcomputer 3 to the actuator 20 when it is determined by the determination unit 12 that the instruction value has reliability. In addition, the switching unit 14 outputs the suppression control value from the second microcomputer 3 to the actuator 20 when the determination unit 12 determines that the reliability of the instruction value is lost.

  Next, the operation of the electronic control unit 1 having the configuration described above will be described.

  As described above, when an abnormality occurs in the operation of the indicated value output device 21, the electronic control unit 1 loses communication with the indicated value output device 21 or an abnormality output from the indicated value output device 21. Control of the actuator 20 according to the instruction value is stopped based on the generation information. After an abnormality occurs in the operation of the indicated value output device 21, it may take several milliseconds to several hundreds of milliseconds until the electronic control unit 1 stops controlling the actuator 20 according to the indicated value. is there.

  Hereinafter, a period after an abnormality occurs in the operation of the indicated value output device 21 and until the electronic control device 1 stops the control of the actuator 20 according to the indicated value is referred to as an abnormality unconfirmed period. The electronic control unit 1 continues to receive the instruction value from the instruction value output device 21 during the abnormality unconfirmed period. During the abnormality unconfirmed period, there may be a disturbance in the indication value output by the indication value output device 21.

  The electronic control unit 1 according to the present embodiment determines the reliability of the instruction value in the abnormality unconfirmed period to the second microcomputer 3 which is one of the plurality of microcomputers provided for redundancy. Equipped with As described above, the determination unit 12 is a case where the communication between the electronic control unit 1 and the indicated value output unit 21 is disturbed, and the change direction of the steering angle and the road according to the indicated value. If the turning direction of the vehicle predicted from the shape does not match, it is determined that the reliability of the indicated value is lost.

  When it is determined by the determination unit 12 that the reliability of the instruction value is lost, the first microcomputer 2 outputs a control value corresponding to the instruction value to the actuator 20, and the second microcomputer 3 outputs the control value. And a suppression control value for causing the actuator 20 to output a force in the opposite direction.

  For example, in the case where it is determined by the determination unit 12 that the reliability of the instruction value is lost, if the change direction of the steering angle according to the instruction value is right, the first microcomputer 2 sends The control value for generating a force for changing the steering angle to the right is output, and the second microcomputer 3 outputs a suppression control value for generating a force for changing the steering angle to the left to the actuator 20. Therefore, when it is determined by the determination unit 12 that the reliability of the instruction value is lost, the force generated by the actuator 20 according to the control value is opposite to the force generated by the actuator 20 according to the suppression control value. Suppressed or counteracted by directional forces.

  According to the electronic control device 1 described above, when disturbance occurs in the indicated value output from the indicated value output device 21 in the abnormality unconfirmed period, the force to be generated in the actuator 20 according to the indicated value is suppressed or Since cancellation is possible, it is possible to suppress the disturbance of the force generated by the actuator 20 when the input command value becomes uncertain.

Second Embodiment
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Hereinafter, only differences from the first embodiment will be described, and the same components as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be appropriately omitted.

  The electronic control unit 1 of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is characterized in that both the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 include the determination unit 12, the suppression control unit 13 and the switching unit 14 in the first embodiment It is different.

  In the present embodiment, the switching unit 14 included in each of the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 performs communication via the internal communication unit 5. Then, the switching unit 14 outputs the suppression control value from the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 when the determination unit 12 determines that the reliability of the instruction value is lost. select. If one of the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 which is not selected by the switching unit 14 outputs the control value when the determination unit 12 determines that the reliability of the instruction value is lost .

  The switching unit 14 monitors at least one of the temperatures of the first and second microcomputers 2 and 3, the CPU load, and the number of times of error occurrence, and performs the above-described selection based on the monitoring result.

  In the present embodiment, as an example, the switching unit 14 monitors the temperatures of the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 and outputs the suppression control value whichever of the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 is higher. Choose one.

  The electronic control unit 1 of the present embodiment outputs the control value from the lower one of the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 and outputs the suppression control value from the higher one. In general, microcomputers have a protection function that reduces the processing speed when a predetermined temperature is exceeded. In the present embodiment, the temperature of one of the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 is low, and the control function according to the indicated value is controlled according to the indicated value according to the one where the protection function is less operable. Control of the actuator 20 can be ensured for a longer time.

  The switching unit 14 may monitor CPU loads of the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3. In the present modification, the switching unit 14 selects one of the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 which outputs the suppression control value, whichever is lower in CPU load. In the electronic control unit 1 of the present modification, the time to calculate the suppression control value is shortened by outputting the suppression control value from the lower one of the CPU load of the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3, and the indication value The response speed of the output of the suppression control value can be increased according to the change of. In this modification, the response speed of the output of the suppression control value according to the change of the instruction value is increased, whereby the suppression of the disturbance of the force generated by the actuator 20 is more accurate when the input instruction value becomes uncertain. Can be done.

  Also, the switching unit 14 may monitor the number of times of error occurrence in the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3. In the present modification, the switching unit 14 selects one of the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3 which outputs the suppression control value, whichever has a smaller number of errors. In the electronic control unit 1 of the present modification, the reliability of calculation of the suppression control value is improved by outputting the suppression control value from the one with the smaller number of occurrences of the error among the first microcomputer 2 and the second microcomputer 3. be able to. In the present modification, by improving the reliability of calculation of the suppression control value, it is possible to more reliably suppress the disturbance of the force generated by the actuator 20 when the input instruction value becomes uncertain.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention which can be read from the claims and the specification as a whole. Moreover, it is contained in the technical scope of this invention.

1 Electronic control unit,
2 1st microcontroller (1st microcomputer),
3 2nd microcontroller (2nd microcomputer),
5 Internal communication unit,
10 communication network,
11 control unit,
12 judgment units,
12a Behavior prediction unit,
12b Road shape recognition unit,
12c Communication status monitoring unit,
13 Suppression control unit,
14 switching unit,
20 actuators,
21 indicated value output device,
22 map information output device,
23 positioning devices,
24 External environment recognition device.

Claims (7)

Electronic control provided with a plurality of microcontrollers, each of the plurality of microcontrollers outputting a control value for controlling the generation of force by an actuator provided in the vehicle according to the indicated value output from the indicated value output device provided in the vehicle A device,
At least one of the plurality of microcontrollers is
A determination unit that determines the reliability of the indication value;
A force in the opposite direction to the force to be generated by the actuator is generated in the actuator according to the indicated value, at least during a period in which the determination unit determines that the reliability of the indicated value is lost. A suppression control unit that calculates a suppression control value to be controlled and outputs the suppression control value to the actuator;
An electronic control unit comprising: The determination unit includes a behavior prediction unit that predicts the behavior of the vehicle,
The reliability of the indication value is lost when the direction of the force to be generated by the actuator according to the indication value is not appropriate for the behavior of the vehicle predicted by the behavior prediction unit. The electronic control device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined that The determination unit includes a road shape recognition unit that recognizes a road shape that is a shape of a road on which the vehicle is traveling;
The electronic control unit according to claim 2, wherein the behavior prediction unit predicts the behavior of the vehicle based on the road shape. 4. The electronic control device according to claim 3, wherein the road shape recognition unit recognizes the road shape based on map information output from the vehicle or a map information storage device provided in the electronic control device. The actuator generates a force that changes the steering angle of the vehicle.
The determination unit loses the reliability of the indicated value when the turning direction of the vehicle predicted from the road shape does not coincide with the change direction of the steering angle according to the indicated value. 5. The electronic control unit according to claim 4, wherein the electronic control unit is determined to be present. A plurality of the microcontrollers including the determination unit and the suppression control unit;
The suppression control value is output during a period in which the determination unit determines that the reliability of the indication value is lost among the plurality of microcontrollers including the determination unit and the suppression control unit. The electronic control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: a switching unit that selects one. 7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the switching unit monitors at least one of temperatures of a plurality of the microcontrollers, CPU load, and the number of times of error occurrence, and performs the selection based on the monitoring result. Electronic control unit.

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