JP2020021706A - Vehicular control device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicular control device that can avoid a situation in which a failure operation cannot be performed during automatic operation of a vehicle and can prevent unexpected transfer of an operating right to a driver.SOLUTION: A vehicular control device comprises: a stored power quantity detection unit that detects a quantity of power stored in a sub-battery; a power estimation unit that, on the basis of map information, extracts a curve on a travel route of an automatic operation and estimates power consumed in a curve travel from entry in the extracted curve to exit from it; a stored power quantity estimation unit that, on the basis of the quantity of power stored in the sub-battery and power consumed in the curve travel, estimates whether a quantity of power stored in the sub-battery after the curve travel is equal to or larger than a threshold at which a predetermined failure operation is possible; and a charging control unit that, in a case where it is estimated that the quantity of power stored in the sub-battery after the curve travel is smaller than the threshold, charges the sub-battery before the entry in the curve so that the quantity of power stored in the sub-battery after the curve travel is equal to or larger than the threshold.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device mounted on a vehicle.

  For vehicles that support autonomous driving, if the main battery that supplies power to the autonomous driving system fails during autonomous driving, the sub-operation is required to continue autonomous driving until the driver is safely transferred to the driver. Some devices are equipped with a device that performs backup control of an automatic driving system by switching to power supply from a battery. Such a control device is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 and the like.

JP-A-2017-218111 JP-A-2006-118124 International Publication No. 2013/153659

  The sub-battery, which is also used as a backup power supply, maintains a low state of charge (SOC) enough to supply power that can bend a short curve or a gentle curve from the viewpoint of preventing fuel consumption deterioration and battery deterioration. Some are controlled as follows. In a long curve or a sharp curve, power consumption by the electric power steering (EPS) during automatic driving is larger than in a short curve, a gentle curve, and a straight road. Therefore, when the sub-battery is controlled to maintain a low state of charge SOC, if the vehicle travels on a long curve or a sharp curve during automatic operation and consumes more power than expected, the state of charge of the sub-battery may increase. If the SOC falls below a level at which a predetermined fail operation can be performed, automatic operation may not be continued. If automatic driving cannot be continued during automatic driving of the vehicle, it is necessary to immediately switch to manual driving by the driver, and unexpected transfer of driving authority to the driver will occur. Here, the fail operation refers to an act of continuing the automatic traveling to a safe place without the vehicle becoming uncontrollable in an emergency such as an abnormality in the automatic driving system.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and can prevent a failure operation from being disabled during automatic driving of a vehicle, and can prevent an unexpected transfer of driving authority to a driver from occurring. It is an object to provide a vehicle control device.

  In order to solve the above problems, one embodiment of the present invention is a vehicular control device that controls a storage amount of a sub-battery, based on a storage amount detection unit that detects the storage amount of a sub-battery, and map information. A power estimating unit that extracts a curve on the traveling route of the automatic driving, estimates the power consumed in the curve traveling from entering the extracted curve to exiting the curve, and a power storage amount of the sub-battery and consumed in the curve traveling. A power storage amount prediction unit that predicts whether or not the storage amount of the sub-battery after the curve traveling is equal to or more than a threshold value that allows a predetermined fail operation, based on the power that A charge control unit that charges the sub-battery before entering the curve so that the amount of power stored in the sub-battery after the curve travel is equal to or greater than the threshold when predicted to be less than the threshold Equipped with a.

  According to the above-described vehicle control device, it is possible to prevent the failure operation from being disabled during the automatic driving of the vehicle, and to prevent an unexpected transfer of the driving authority to the driver.

Schematic configuration diagram of a redundant power supply system including a vehicle control device according to the present embodiment Diagram showing an example of a section of a curve running Flowchart for explaining a procedure of charging control executed by the vehicle control device

[Embodiment]
Hereinafter, an embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The vehicle control device according to the present embodiment estimates the power consumed by traveling on a curve existing on the traveling route of the automatic driving, and calculates the current power storage amount of the sub-battery that is also used as a backup power source and consumption by the curve traveling. Based on the electric power, the sub-battery is charged before the vehicle enters the curve such that the amount of power stored in the sub-battery after traveling on the curve is equal to or more than the amount of power that allows the fail operation. As a result, it is possible to prevent the failure operation from being disabled during the automatic driving of the vehicle, and to prevent an unexpected transfer of the driving authority to the driver.

<Structure>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a redundant power supply system 1 including a vehicle control device 40 according to the present embodiment. The redundant power supply system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a power supply device (primary system) including a first DCDC converter (DDC) 11, a first battery 12, and a first automatic driving system 13, and a second power supply system. A power supply device (secondary system) including a DCDC converter (DDC) 21, a second battery 22, a second automatic driving system 23, and a relay device 24, a power supply unit 30, a vehicle control device 40, It has.

  The redundant power supply system 1 is mounted on, for example, a vehicle that can be automatically driven by a vehicle device. The redundant power supply system 1 uses both the first battery 12 of the primary system and the second battery 22 of the secondary system during automatic operation, and uses the second battery 12 when the first battery 12 fails. A redundant configuration in which the battery 22 can be used as a backup power supply is employed.

  The power supply unit 30 can supply power in parallel to the first DCDC converter 11 included in the primary system and the second DCDC converter 21 included in the secondary system. The power supply unit 30 may be, for example, a high-voltage battery configured to be chargeable and dischargeable, such as a lithium ion battery.

  The first DCDC converter 11 is configured to convert power supplied from the power supply unit 30 and output the converted power to the first battery 12 and the first automatic driving system 13. Specifically, the first DCDC converter 11 reduces the high-voltage power supplied from the power supply unit 30 to low-voltage power, and outputs the low-voltage power to the first battery 12 and the first automatic operation system 13. .

  The first battery 12 is a chargeable / dischargeable power storage element such as a lead battery or a nickel hydride battery. The first battery 12 is capable of storing (charging) power output from the first DCDC converter 11 and configured to output the power stored therein to the first automatic driving system 13. Have been. The first battery 12 functions as a main battery in a redundant power supply configuration during automatic operation of the vehicle.

  The first automatic driving system 13 is a system including a predetermined load device necessary for automatically driving the vehicle. Examples of the load device include devices such as an electric power steering, an electric brake, and automatic driving support.

  The second DCDC converter 21 is configured to convert the power supplied from the power supply unit 30 and output the converted power to the second battery 22 and the second automatic driving system 23. Specifically, the second DCDC converter 21 reduces the high-voltage power supplied from the power supply unit 30 to low-voltage power, and outputs the low-voltage power to the second battery 22 and the second automatic driving system 23. .

  In addition, the second DCDC converter 21 performs a predetermined charging process on the second battery 22 based on an instruction from the vehicle control device 40 to increase the state of charge SOC of the second battery 22. . FIG. 2 illustrates how the state of charge SOC of the second battery 22 changes by the charging process. This predetermined charging process will be described later.

  The second battery 22 is, for example, a chargeable / dischargeable power storage element such as a lithium ion battery. The second battery 22 is connected to a second DCDC converter 21 and a second automatic operation system 23 via a relay device 24. The second battery 22 is capable of storing (charging) power output from the second DCDC converter 21 via a relay device 24, and also stores the power stored therein in a second automatic driving system. 23. The second battery 22 functions as a sub-battery in a redundant power supply configuration during automatic operation of the vehicle. Further, the second battery 22 plays a role as a backup battery that can back up the power supply when the first battery 12 fails during the automatic driving of the vehicle. The second battery 22 is controlled so as to maintain a low state of charge SOC (for example, 50%) from the viewpoint of preventing fuel consumption deterioration and battery deterioration.

  The second automatic driving system 23 is provided with the same system as the first automatic driving system 13 redundantly, and is necessary for automatically driving the vehicle similarly to the first automatic driving system 13. This is a system including a predetermined load device. Examples of the load device include devices such as an electric power steering, an electric brake, and automatic driving support.

  The relay device 24 is provided between the second battery 22 and the second DCDC converter 21 and the second automatic operation system 23 for the purpose of protecting the second battery 22 (preventing overdischarge / overcharge). Has been inserted. The open / close state of the relay device 24 is controlled by the vehicle control device 40.

  At the time of automatic driving, the vehicle control device 40 acquires map information on a traveling route of automatic driving from a navigation device or the like (not shown), and based on the acquired map information, the amount of charge SOC of the second battery 22. Can be controlled. The vehicle control device 40 includes a charged amount detection unit 41, a power estimation unit 42, a charged amount prediction unit 43, and a charge control unit 44.

  The storage amount detection unit 41 detects the storage amount SOC of the second battery 22. The state of charge SOC can be detected by a known method such as using an SOC-OCV curve as an example.

  The power estimating unit 42 extracts a curve present on the traveling route of the automatic driving based on the map information, and travels from the time the vehicle enters the extracted curve to the time it exits (hereinafter referred to as “curve traveling”). Estimate the power consumed. The electric power consumed in the curve running can be estimated from the curvature of the curve obtained from the map information, the steering angle of the steering in the curve, the brake operation amount, and the like. One or more curves may be extracted. When a plurality of curves are extracted, the section of the curve traveling for estimating the power may be a section for each curve or a section in which several curves are put together. FIG. 2 shows an example of a section of a curve running composed of three consecutive curves.

  The power storage amount predicting unit 43 performs the after-curve driving based on the power storage amount SOC of the second battery 22 detected by the power storage amount detecting unit 41 and the power consumed in the curve driving estimated by the power estimating unit 42. Is predicted, and it is determined whether the predicted state of charge SOC is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold Th. The predetermined threshold value Th is set based on the state of charge SOC of the second battery 22 capable of performing the above-described fail operation.

  The charge control unit 44 controls the charge of the second battery 22 based on the state of charge SOC of the second battery 22 after traveling on the curve and the power consumed by the curve traveling estimated by the power estimation unit 42. carry out. Specifically, the charge control unit 44 determines that the charge of the second battery 22 is to be stopped when the charge amount prediction unit 43 predicts that the charge amount SOC of the second battery 22 after the curve traveling will be less than the threshold Th. Will be implemented. The charging of the second battery 22 is performed when a predetermined instruction is given from the charging control unit 44 to the second DCDC converter 21. This charging is performed before the vehicle enters the curve so that the state of charge SOC of the second battery 22 after traveling on the curve is equal to or greater than the threshold Th.

  Note that a part or all of the configuration of the above-described storage amount detection unit 41, power estimation unit 42, storage amount prediction unit 43, and charging control unit 44 typically includes a processor, a memory, an input / output interface, and the like. It can be configured as an electronic control unit (ECU). In this electronic control unit, the functions of the above-described components are realized by the processor reading and executing a predetermined program stored in the memory.

<Charge control>
Next, the control performed in the redundant power supply system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with further reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of the charging control executed by the vehicle control device 40.

  The charging control shown in FIG. 3 is started, for example, when the driving mode of the vehicle is switched from manual driving by the driver to automatic driving by the automatic driving system, and is repeatedly performed for each section of the curve traveling extracted from the traveling route. Is done.

(Step S301)
The storage amount detection unit 41 detects the storage amount SOC of the second battery 22.

(Step S302)
The power estimating unit 42 estimates power consumption due to running on a curve in a target section.

(Step S303)
The power storage amount prediction unit 43 determines the second battery after the curve traveling based on the power storage amount SOC of the second battery 22 detected in step S301 and the power consumed in the curve traveling estimated in step S302. Then, it is determined whether the predicted state of charge SOC is equal to or greater than the threshold Th or less.

  If the predicted state of charge SOC of the second battery 22 is equal to or greater than the threshold Th, the process returns to step S301. If the predicted state of charge SOC of the second battery 22 is less than the threshold Th, the flow returns to step S304. Processing proceeds.

(Step S304)
The charge control unit 44 determines whether or not the second battery 22 has traveled after the curve traveling based on the state of charge SOC of the second battery 22 after the curve traveling predicted in step S303 and the power consumed in the curve traveling estimated in step S302. The power required for the state of charge SOC of the second battery 22 to be equal to or greater than the threshold Th is calculated.

(Step S305)
The charge control unit 44 performs charge control for storing the necessary power calculated in step S304 in the second battery 22. As an example, as shown in FIG. 2, the charge control for increasing the state of charge SOC of the second battery 22 to the required power is started before entering the curve. Thus, even after the vehicle escapes from the curve, the state of charge SOC of the second battery 22 can be maintained at the threshold Th or more.

(Step S306)
The vehicle operation mode is determined by the vehicle control device 40. If the driving mode of the vehicle is automatic driving, the process returns to step S301 to execute the above-described processing for curve running in the next target section. If the driving mode of the vehicle is manual driving, this charging control finish.

[Action / Effect]
As described above, according to the control device for a vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention, the curve existing on the traveling route of the automatic driving is extracted, and the extracted curve is consumed when the vehicle is traveling. Estimated power. Then, based on the current storage amount of the sub-battery (the second battery 22) also used as a backup power supply and the power consumption during the curve running, the storage amount of the sub-battery after the curve running is a storage amount at which the fail operation is possible. (Threshold) or more is controlled to charge the sub-battery before entering the curve.

  With this control, even if the vehicle travels on a long curve or a sharp curve that consumes a large amount of power during automatic driving, the amount of power stored in the sub-battery after traveling on that curve is always reduced to the amount of energy that can be used for fail operation. Can be maintained. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the failure operation from being disabled during the automatic driving of the vehicle, and to prevent an unexpected transfer of the driving authority to the driver.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The vehicle control device according to the present invention can be used for a vehicle having two power supply systems for automatic driving by the vehicle device.

1 Redundant power supply system 11, 21 DCDC converter (DDC)
12, 22 Battery 13, 23 Automatic driving system 24 Relay device 30 Power supply unit 40 Vehicle control unit 41 Electric storage amount detection unit 42 Electric power estimation unit 43 Electric storage amount prediction unit 44 Charge control unit

Claims (1)

A vehicle control device that controls the amount of power stored in a sub-battery,
A charged amount detection unit that detects the charged amount of the sub-battery,
A power estimating unit that extracts a curve on the traveling route of the automatic driving based on the map information and estimates power consumed in the curve traveling from entering the extracted curve to exiting the curve;
Based on the amount of power stored in the sub-battery and the power consumed during the curve running, the power storage for predicting whether or not the amount of power stored in the sub-battery after the curve running is equal to or greater than a threshold value for performing a predetermined fail operation A quantity predictor,
If it is predicted that the storage amount of the sub-battery after traveling on the curve will be less than the threshold, the sub-battery before entering the curve so that the storage amount of the sub-battery after traveling on the curve is not less than the threshold. A charge control unit for charging the battery,
Vehicle control device.

Images