JP2020117085A - Vehicular posture control device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicular posture control device configured to reduce accumulation of fatigue of an occupant by reducing a posture change of the occupant with respect to a seat or the like.SOLUTION: A vehicular posture control device 10 controls the posture of a vehicle body by controlling force acting between each wheel 12FL to 12RR and a vehicle body 14. The vehicular posture control device includes: a camera 20 which captures an occupant of a vehicle; and an electronic control device 24. The electronic control device estimates a skeleton posture of the occupant on the basis of an image captured by the camera, estimates at least one of muscle force of the occupant and seat reaction force on the basis of a difference from the skeleton posture estimated as an ideal skeleton posture and controls suspensions 22FL to 22RL so that the posture of the occupant is close to the ideal posture on the basis of the estimation result, thereby being configured to correct the posture of the vehicle body 14 so that excessive muscle force and seat reaction force are reduced.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle attitude control device that controls the attitude of a vehicle by controlling the force that acts between each wheel and the vehicle body.

In a vehicle such as an automobile running on a road, when the vehicle makes a running motion such as acceleration or deceleration or turning to generate acceleration, inertial force acts on the vehicle and an occupant. As a result, the vehicle body undergoes posture changes such as pitching and rolling, and the occupant changes its posture with respect to the seat and the like. Therefore, the occupant tries to secure his original posture as much as possible by working his muscles so that the posture of the seat does not change excessively. Therefore, if the posture is secured by the action of this muscle repeatedly, fatigue is accumulated in the occupant.

JP, 10-264681, A

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]
It is conceivable to increase the degree of restraint of the occupant on the seat by the seat belt in order to reduce the accumulation of fatigue of the occupant by reducing the change in the occupant's posture with respect to the seat or the like. However, in that case, it is inevitable that the occupant feels uncomfortable during normal traveling in which no inertial force acts on the vehicle and the occupant.

Further, it is conceivable to control the attitude of the vehicle body so that the change in the attitude of the vehicle body is reduced, as in a conventionally known vehicle attitude control device. However, even if the attitude of the vehicle body is controlled so as to reduce the attitude change of the vehicle body, the inertial force acting on the occupant does not decrease, so the attitude change of the occupant with respect to the seat and the like becomes rather large, and the accumulation of fatigue of the occupant is avoided. Getting worse.

On the other hand, if the attitude of the vehicle body is corrected so that a force that at least partially opposes the inertial force that acts on the occupant due to the traveling of the vehicle acts on the occupant, the posture change of the occupant with respect to the seat or the like can be reduced. It is considered that the accumulation of fatigue of the occupant can be reduced.

The above-mentioned Patent Document 1 describes a vehicle control device that controls a posture of a vehicle body by capturing an image of a passenger's longitudinal movement or lateral movement with an in-vehicle camera and controlling an active suspension during turning based on the imaged result. ing. However, this vehicle control device is not designed to correct the posture of the vehicle body so that the force that opposes the inertial force acting on the occupant due to the traveling of the vehicle acts on the occupant. It is not possible to reduce the change in posture of the passenger and reduce the accumulation of fatigue of the occupant.

An object of the present invention is to provide an attitude control device for a vehicle configured so as to reduce changes in the attitude of an occupant with respect to a seat or the like and reduce accumulation of fatigue of the occupant.

[Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention]
According to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle attitude control device (10) for controlling the attitude of a vehicle (16) by controlling a force acting between each wheel (12FL to 12RR) and a vehicle body (14). Of the vehicle occupant (18) of the vehicle, and the skeleton posture (56) of the occupant estimated based on the image captured by the camera to determine the ideal skeleton posture (58). At least one of the occupant's muscle force and seat reaction force is estimated based on the difference, and the posture of the vehicle body (14) is adjusted so that the occupant's posture approaches an ideal posture based on at least one of the occupant's muscle force and seat reaction force. A vehicle attitude control system is provided that includes a control unit (24) configured to modify.

According to the above configuration, the skeletal posture of the occupant is estimated based on the image captured by the camera, and at least one of the muscular force of the occupant and the seat reaction force is estimated based on the skeletal posture of the occupant. The posture of the vehicle body is corrected so that the posture of the occupant approaches the ideal posture based on at least one of the reaction forces.

As described later, the ideal posture is a posture in which the extra muscle force of the occupant and the seat reaction force acting on the occupant are minimized. Therefore, according to the above configuration, the posture of the vehicle body is corrected so that the extra muscular force of the occupant and the seat reaction force acting on the occupant are reduced, so that the accumulation of fatigue of the occupant can be reduced. It should be noted that the excessive muscle force of the occupant and the seat reaction force acting on the occupant become small because the inertia force acting on the occupant due to the traveling of the vehicle is at least partly due to the correction of the posture of the vehicle body as described above. It is conceivable that the opposing force is applied to the occupant to reduce the extra muscle force of the occupant and the seat reaction force acting on the occupant.

In the posture control device of the present invention, the "ideal posture" is a posture in which the excessive muscle force of the occupant and the seat reaction force acting on the occupant are minimized. In addition, "passenger muscular strength" may be the force generated by the main muscles of the occupant, and "seat reaction force" is a concept that includes not only the reaction force of the seat itself but also the reaction force from the seat belt or the like. is there.

In the above description, in order to help understanding of the present invention, the reference numerals used in the embodiments are attached in parentheses to the configurations of the invention corresponding to the embodiments to be described later. However, each component of the present invention is not limited to the component of the embodiment corresponding to the reference numeral in parentheses. Other objects, other features and attendant advantages of the present invention will be easily understood from the description of the embodiments of the present invention described with reference to the following drawings.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a vehicle attitude control device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a passenger compartment of a vehicle equipped with an attitude control device according to an embodiment as viewed in a forward direction of the vehicle. It is a figure which shows the situation which the camera in embodiment image|photographs an occupant seeing in the lateral direction of a vehicle. 3 is a flowchart showing a main routine of attitude control in the embodiment. 9 is a flowchart showing a posture correction subroutine executed in step 90 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 4. It is a flow chart which shows a warning control routine in an embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the front image of an occupant. It is a figure which shows an example of a skeleton image of an occupant. It is a figure which shows an example of a body surface posture and a skeleton posture when seeing in the lateral direction of a vehicle about an occupant of a standard body type. It is a figure which shows an example of a body surface posture and a skeleton posture when it sees in the lateral direction of a vehicle about an occupant of an obese body type. It is a figure which shows an example of an ideal skeleton image of a passenger. It is a figure which shows the muscular strength of the main muscles of an occupant. It is a figure which shows the seat reaction force which acts on an occupant. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a relationship between a difference between an ideal skeletal posture and a predicted skeletal posture and a roll posture correction amount Δθr of a vehicle body for a head, a neck, a right shoulder, a left shoulder, and a waist. It is a figure which shows an example of the change of the amount of fatigue accumulation Ea1-Ea3 regarding the muscle force of the trapezius muscle, the abdominal oblique muscle, and the lumbar quadrilateral muscle.

[Embodiment]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The attitude control device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention mainly applies a vertical force acting between the left and right front wheels 12FL, 12FR and the left and right rear wheels 12RL, 12RR and the vehicle body 14, as will be described later. By controlling, the posture of the vehicle 16 is controlled. Although not shown in detail in FIG. 1, the front wheels 12FL and 12FR are steered wheels, and the rear wheels 12RL and 12RR are non-steered wheels.

The attitude control device 10 includes a camera 20 that images the occupant 18 of the vehicle 16, and an electronic control device 24 that is a control unit that controls the suspensions 22FL, 22FR, 22RL, and 22RR of the wheels 12FL, 12FR, 12RL, and 12RR. I'm out. The camera 20 may be, for example, a CCD camera, an infrared camera, or the like that can image the driver and the passenger in the passenger seat. It should be noted that the camera 20 may be attached to the inner surface of the windshield 6 or the roof panel 8 above the room mirror 4 in the vehicle interior 2 as shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front wheel suspensions 22FL and 22FR include suspension arms 26FL and 26FR, respectively, and the rear wheel suspensions 22RL and 22RR include suspension arms 26RL and 26RR, respectively. Although only one suspension arm 26FL to 26RR is shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of these arms may be provided.

Further, the front wheel suspensions 22FL and 22FR include shock absorbers 28FL and 28FR and suspension springs 30FL and 30FR, respectively. Similarly, the rear wheel suspensions 22RL and 22RR include shock absorbers 28RL and 28RR and suspension springs 30RL and 30RR, respectively. The damping coefficients of the shock absorbers 28FL to 28RR are constant, but these shock absorbers may be variable damping force type shock absorbers.

In the illustrated embodiment, the shock absorbers 28FL and 28FR are respectively connected to the vehicle body 14 at their upper ends and to the wheel support members 32FL and 32FR at their lower ends.
Similarly, the shock absorbers 28RL and 28RR are connected to the vehicle body 14 at their upper ends, and are connected to the wheel support members 32RL and 32RR at their lower ends.

The suspensions 22FL to 2RR may be suspensions of any type as long as they allow the wheels 12FL to 12RR and the vehicle body 14 to be displaced in the vertical direction with respect to each other, and are independent suspension type suspensions. Is preferred. Further, the suspension springs 30FL to 30RR may be arbitrary springs such as a compression coil spring and an air spring.

As can be understood from the above description, at least the vehicle body 14 constitutes the sprung portion of the vehicle 16, and at least the wheels 12FL to 12RR and the wheel support members 32FL to 32RR constitute the unsprung portion of the vehicle 16.

Further, in the illustrated embodiment, actuators 34FL to 34RR are provided between the vehicle body 14 and the piston rods of the shock absorbers 28FL to 28RR, respectively. The actuators 34FL to 34RR function as actuators that hydraulically or electromagnetically generate a force acting between the vehicle body and the wheels 12FL to 12RR. The actuators 34FL to 34RR cooperate with the shock absorbers 28FL to 28RR, the suspension springs 30FL to 30RR, etc. to form an active suspension. It should be noted that the actuators 34FL to 34RR are actuators having arbitrary configurations known in the art as long as they can control the force acting between the vehicle body and the wheels by being controlled by the electronic control unit 24. You can

As shown in FIG. 3, the camera 20 images the occupant 18 sitting on the seat 36 from diagonally forward and diagonally upward, and outputs the captured image information to the electronic control unit 24. The occupant 18 is a driver when only the driver is in the vehicle, and is a driver and a passenger in the passenger seat when the driver and the passenger in the passenger seat are in the vehicle. The electronic control unit 24 processes the input image information to convert it into front image information in which the occupant 18 is imaged from diagonally above the front.

In addition, the input image information may be converted into side image information in which the occupant 18 is imaged from above and laterally of the vehicle. Further, as indicated by 20' in FIG. 2, two cameras may be provided to obtain a front image by imaging the driver and the passenger in the passenger seat from diagonally above the front.

As will be described later in detail, the electronic control unit 24 estimates the body surface posture of the occupant 18 based on the front image information, and estimates the skeleton posture of the occupant 18 based on the body surface posture. Further, the electronic control unit 24 identifies the occupant by performing face authentication of the occupant 18 based on the front image information.

As is well known, a vehicle such as an automobile running on a road has six degrees of freedom during running. That is, the vehicle moves in the front-rear direction, the lateral direction, the vertical direction, around the pitch axis, around the roll axis, and around the vertical axis. The influence of the longitudinal, lateral, and vertical movements on the posture of the occupant is smaller than the influences of the movements around the pitch axis, the roll axis, and the vertical axis on the posture of the occupant. The movement in the front-back direction is a movement necessary for traveling of the vehicle, and it is difficult to control the posture of the vehicle in order to reduce the change in the posture of the occupant caused by the movement in the front-rear direction and the lateral direction. Further, the vertical movement is reduced by the damping action of the shock absorber and the damping control of the vehicle.

Among the movements about the axis, the movements about the pitch axis (pitching) and the movements about the roll axis (rolling) are caused by the load movement in the front-rear direction accompanying the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle and the load movement in the lateral direction accompanying the turning, respectively. Occurs. On the other hand, the motion about the vertical axis (yawing) is a motion required for running the vehicle such as turning the vehicle and changing the traveling direction. Therefore, in the embodiment, the posture of the vehicle is controlled so that the posture change of the occupant mainly caused by pitching and rolling is reduced.

The vehicle 16 detects the longitudinal acceleration Gx and the lateral acceleration Gy of the vehicle 16 as the motion state quantities of the vehicle 16 for estimating the pitch angle θp and the roll angle θr of the vehicle body 14, which are index values for pitching and rolling, respectively. An acceleration sensor 40 and a lateral acceleration sensor 42 are provided. Signals indicating the longitudinal acceleration Gx and the lateral acceleration Gy are input to the electronic control unit 24. The electronic control unit 24 estimates the pitch angle θp and the roll angle θr of the vehicle body 14 based on the longitudinal acceleration Gx and the lateral acceleration Gy of the vehicle in a manner known in the art.

Although not shown in detail in FIG. 1, the electronic control unit 24 includes a microcomputer and a driving circuit. The microcomputer has a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and an input/output port device, and has a general configuration in which these are connected to each other by a bidirectional common bus. The ROM stores data on the ideal skeleton posture for each of several physiques of the driver and the passenger in the passenger seat.

The CPU estimates the muscular force of the occupant's main muscles and the seat reaction force based on the difference between the ideal skeletal posture and the estimated skeletal posture and the pitch angle θp and the roll angle θr of the vehicle body 14. The CPU calculates target correction amounts Δθpt and Δθrt of the pitch angle θp and the roll angle θr of the vehicle body 14 as target posture correction amounts for making the posture of the passenger close to an ideal posture based on the muscular force of the occupant and the seat reaction force. .. Further, the CPU controls the attitude of the vehicle body by controlling the actuators 34FL to 34RR of the wheels so that the pitch angle θp and the roll angle θr of the vehicle body 14 are corrected by the target correction amounts Δθpt and Δθrt, respectively. To bring the occupant's posture closer to the ideal posture. The ideal skeletal posture is a posture in which unnecessary muscle force and seat reaction force are minimized, like the ideal posture.

An attitude control program corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 for the CPU to perform the above control is stored in the ROM, and the attitude of the vehicle body is controlled by the CPU in accordance with the control program. An alarm control program corresponding to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 is also stored in the ROM. The RAM temporarily stores data necessary for the processing performed by the CPU according to the control program. The electronic control device 24 communicates with the navigation device 44 as necessary and activates the alarm device 46 as necessary, as described later.

<Main routine of vehicle attitude control (Fig. 4)>
Next, the main routine of the attitude control of the vehicle in the embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The attitude control according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is repeatedly executed at predetermined time intervals by the electronic control unit 24 when an ignition switch (not shown) is turned on.

First, in step 10, the signal indicating the image information captured by the camera 20 and the signals indicating the longitudinal acceleration Gx and the lateral acceleration Gy detected by the longitudinal acceleration sensor 40 and the lateral acceleration sensor 42, respectively, are read.

In step 20, the read image information is subjected to image processing to be converted into information of the front image 50 of the occupant 18 as shown in FIG. 7. Furthermore, by performing face recognition of the occupant based on the information of the front image 50, it is determined whether or not the occupant is an already-identified occupant. For example, it is determined whether the occupant is Mr. P1 or Mr. P2.... When the affirmative determination is made, the posture control proceeds to step 40, and when the negative determination is made, the posture control proceeds to step 30.

The occupant is identified by identifying the positions of the head C1, neck C2, right shoulder C3, left shoulder C4 and waist C5 of the occupant 18, as shown in FIG. 7, and based on the relationship between these positions. It may be performed based on both the face recognition and the positional relationship.

In step 30, in order that the occupant identified in step 20 be registered as a new occupant Pn (n is a positive integer), face authentication information of occupant Pn (and/or the positional relationship of each body part). Information) is written in the ROM.

In step 40, as shown in FIG. 7, as positions of the head C1, neck C2, right shoulder C3, left shoulder C4, and waist C5 of the occupant 18 and lines connecting them, based on the front image information 50. , The body surface posture 52 of the occupant 18 is estimated.

In step 50, it is not the situation where it is determined whether or not the posture of the occupant is a steady posture, that is, the auxiliary device such as the navigation device 44 is operated or the luggage or the like is moved in the passenger compartment 2. Whether or not it is determined. Note that this determination may be performed based on, for example, the degree of difference between the body surface posture of the occupant 18 identified in the previous cycle and the body surface posture of the occupant 18 determined in the current cycle. When the negative determination is made, the posture control returns to step 10, and when the positive determination is made, the posture control proceeds to step 60.

In step 60, as shown in FIG. 8, the head C1', the neck C2', the right shoulder C3', the left shoulder C4', and the waist C5' of the skeleton 54 of the occupant 18 are based on the body surface posture 52. Is specified, and the skeleton posture 56 of the occupant 18 is estimated as a line connecting these positions. The skeleton posture 56 of the occupant 18 is estimated rather than the body surface posture in order to accurately calculate the posture correction amount of the vehicle body for reducing the driver's unnecessary muscle force and seat reaction force. This is because the calculation based on the skeletal posture is preferable.

For example, FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 show a body surface posture 52 and a skeleton posture 56 when the occupant 18A of the standard body type and the occupant 18B of the obese body type are viewed in the lateral direction of the vehicle, respectively. From the comparison between FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, it is understood that the posture correction amount of the vehicle body is preferably calculated based on the skeleton posture rather than the body surface posture.

In step 70, information on the ideal skeleton posture 58 corresponding to the physique of the occupant 18 is read from the ROM based on the estimated skeleton posture 56. As shown in FIG. 11, the ROM stores information on the ideal skeleton posture 58 as a standard posture of the occupant when the posture change such as rolling of the vehicle does not occur for the occupants of various body types. I remember. Furthermore, the difference between the ideal skeleton posture 58 and the estimated skeleton posture 56 is calculated as the amount of difference in the positions of the head C1', the neck C2', the right shoulder C3', the left shoulder C4', and the waist C5', for example. ..

The ROM stores the permissible value of the difference in position for each of the head C1', the neck C2', the right shoulder C3', the left shoulder C4', and the waist C5'. In step 80, it is judged whether or not at least one of the difference amounts of the positions of the plurality of parts is larger than the corresponding allowable value. When the negative determination is made, it is not necessary to correct the posture of the vehicle body, so the posture control returns to step 10, and when the positive determination is made, the posture control proceeds to step 90.

In step 90, the posture of the vehicle body 14 is corrected according to the subroutine shown in FIG. 5 so as to reduce unnecessary muscular force and seat reaction force of the occupant. When the passenger is in the passenger seat, steps 20 to 80 are executed for each of the driver and the passenger, and based on the difference between the larger position of the driver and the passenger. Step 90 is executed.

Although not shown in the figure, the read image information is converted into side image information of the occupant 18 by image processing, and the body surface posture, skeleton posture, etc. viewed in the lateral direction of the vehicle based on the side image information. May also be required. Further, the difference between the ideal skeleton shape and the skeleton posture may be calculated based on the body surface posture, the skeleton posture, and the like viewed in the lateral direction of the vehicle.

<Vehicle posture control subroutine (Fig. 5)>
In step 95, the attitude of the vehicle body 14 is estimated by estimating the pitch angle θp and the roll angle θr of the vehicle body 14 based on the longitudinal acceleration Gx and the lateral acceleration Gy of the vehicle, respectively. Furthermore, by referring to the map stored in the ROM based on the skeleton posture 56 of the occupant 18 and the posture of the vehicle body 14, the muscle force of the main muscles of the occupant and the seat reaction force acting on the occupant are estimated. ..

The primary muscles may be, but are not limited to, the trapezius muscle 60, the oblique oblique muscle 62 and the lumbar quadrilateral muscle 64, as shown in FIG. When the distance between both ends of each muscle is larger or smaller than the standard value determined according to each body type, the muscle force is the muscle force of contraction and the muscle force of extension, and the larger the difference between the distance and the standard value is, the larger the difference is. Also has great muscle strength. As shown in FIG. 13, the seat reaction force is estimated as forces Fsr1, Fsr2, and Fsr3 that the occupant 18 receives from the seat 36 and the seat belt 66 at, for example, the scoliosis, abdomen, and buttocks. When the pitch attitude of the vehicle body 14 is changed from the standard attitude, the above steps are executed in the same manner as the above-described change of the vehicle body roll attitude.

In step 100, the posture correction amount in the direction to reduce the pitch angle θp and the roll angle θr of the vehicle body 14 based on the skeleton posture 56 of the occupant 18, the muscle force and the seat reaction force, and the posture correction amount are obtained when the posture is corrected. The predicted skeletal posture (not shown) of the occupant 18 is estimated.

In step 105, the relationship between the difference between the ideal skeleton posture 58 of the occupant 18 and the predicted skeleton posture, and the vehicle body pitch posture correction amount Δθp and roll posture correction amount Δθr is calculated. For example, the broken line in FIG. 14 shows an example of the relationship between the difference between the ideal skeleton posture 58 and the predicted skeleton posture and the roll posture correction amount Δθr of the vehicle body for the head, neck, right shoulder, left shoulder, and waist. .. In FIG. 14, the solid line indicates the sum of the differences between the ideal skeleton posture and the predicted skeleton posture of each part, and the alternate long and short dash line indicates the allowable value of the difference between the ideal skeleton posture 58 and the predicted skeleton posture.

In step 110, the target pitch posture correction amount Δθp and the target roll posture correction amount Δθr of the vehicle body for which the total difference between the ideal skeleton posture and the predicted skeleton posture is 0 are set as the target correction amount Δθpt of the pitch angle and the roll angle, respectively. The target correction amount Δθrt is calculated. For example, in FIG. 14, the value at the intersection of the solid line and the horizontal axis (indicated by x) is the target correction amount Δθrt of the roll angle.

In step 115, based on the traveling history information input from the navigation device 44, it is determined whether or not the road and the traveling direction in which the vehicle 16 is currently traveling are the road and the traveling direction that have been traveled once. Be seen. When the negative determination is made, the posture control proceeds to step 130, and when the positive determination is made, the posture control proceeds to step 120.

In step 120, it is determined whether or not the difference between the current vehicle body posture and the vehicle body posture stored in the ROM when the vehicle has traveled in the same direction on the same road previously is within an allowable range. This determination is made, for example, by determining the difference Δθpm and Δθrm between the current pitch angle θp and roll angle θr of the vehicle body and the vehicle body pitch angle θpm and roll angle θrm stored in the ROM as reference values Δθpm and Δθrm (positive values, respectively). It may be a determination as to whether or not When the negative determination is made, the posture control proceeds to step 130, and when the positive determination is made, the posture control proceeds to step 125.

In step 125, the target correction amount Δθpt of the pitch angle and the target correction amount Δθrt of the roll angle stored in the ROM when the vehicle has traveled the same road in the same direction before are read. Furthermore, the actuators 34FL to 34RR of the wheels are controlled based on the target correction amount Δθpt and the target correction amount Δθrt, so that the pitch attitude and the roll attitude of the vehicle body are controlled to the target pitch attitude and the target roll attitude, respectively. ..

In step 130, the actuators 34FL to 34RR of the wheels are controlled based on the target correction amount Δθpt of the pitch angle and the target correction amount Δθrt of the roll angle calculated in step 110, whereby the pitch posture and the roll posture of the vehicle body are changed. The target pitch attitude and the target roll attitude are controlled respectively.

In step 135, the skeleton posture 56 of the occupant 18 is estimated by the same processing as in steps 10, 40 and 50, and as in step 70, the difference between the ideal skeleton posture 58 and the estimated skeleton posture 56 is calculated. To be done. Further, it is determined whether the difference between the ideal skeleton posture 58 and the estimated skeleton posture 56 is within the allowable range. When the positive determination is made, the posture control proceeds to step 145, and when the negative determination is made, the posture control proceeds to step 140. In addition, in step 135, when the negative determination is continuously performed a preset number of times, the posture control may be returned to step 10.

In step 140, the correction amounts Δθpta and Δθrta of the target correction amount Δθpt and the target correction amount Δθrt are calculated based on the difference between the ideal skeleton posture 58 and the estimated skeleton posture 56, respectively. The sum of the target correction amount Δθpt and the correction amount Δθpta is calculated as the corrected target correction amount Δθptt, and the sum of the target correction amount Δθrt and the correction amount Δθrta is calculated as the corrected target correction amount Δθrtt. Further, the pitch attitude and the roll attitude of the vehicle body are controlled by controlling the actuators 34FL to 34RR of each wheel based on the corrected target correction amount Δθptt and the corrected target correction amount Δθrtt.

In step 145, the data of the body surface posture 52 and the skeleton posture 56 of the occupant 18, the muscular strength of the driver, the seat reaction force data, and the like are stored in the RAM in preparation for the posture control of the next cycle. Further, the relationship between the target correction amount Δθpt of the pitch angle and the target correction amount Δθrt of the roll angle and the road and the traveling direction is stored in the ROM. Note that necessary data and the like may not be stored in the ROM, but at least part of them may be stored in the cloud via the communication device.

If there is a large difference between the target posture correction amount of the vehicle body for the driver and the target posture correction amount of the vehicle body for the passenger when there is a driver and a passenger in the passenger seat, the one with a larger body posture is used. It may be controlled based on the target posture correction amount.

<Alarm control routine (Fig. 6)>
Next, the alarm control routine in the embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The alarm control according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 is also repeatedly executed at predetermined time intervals by the electronic control unit 24 when an ignition switch (not shown) is turned on.

First, in step 210, data on the difference between the ideal skeletal posture 58 calculated in step 70 and the estimated skeleton posture 56, and the trapezius muscle 60, the abdominal oblique muscle 62, and the hips calculated in step 95 are described. The muscle force data of the square muscle 64 is read.

At step 220, the product of the difference between the muscle strength and the posture of the trapezius muscle 60, the abdominal oblique muscle 62, and the lumbar quadrilateral muscle 64 is calculated as the fatigue accumulation amounts Ea1 to Ea3 of each muscle and stored in the RAM. FIG. 15 shows an example of changes in the fatigue accumulation amounts Ea1 to Ea3.

In step 230, it is determined whether or not the fatigue accumulation amounts Ea1 to Ea3 are within the allowable range by determining whether or not all the fatigue accumulation amounts Ea1 to Ea3 are equal to or less than the reference value Eac (a positive constant). Done. If the affirmative determination is made, the alarm control returns to step 210, and if the negative determination is made, the alarm control proceeds to step 240. In this case, as indicated by x in FIG. 15, when any one of the fatigue accumulation amounts Ea1 to Ea3 exceeds the reference value Eac, it is determined that the fatigue accumulation amount is not within the allowable range. ..

In step 240, the alarm device 46 is activated to issue an alarm prompting the occupant, especially the driver, to take a break. The alert may be an audible alert, a visual alert, or a combination thereof.

Although not shown in FIG. 6, when the vehicle has finished traveling and the ignition switch has been turned off, the function of the electronic control unit 24 is maintained for a predetermined time by the relay circuit and is stored in the RAM. The data of the accumulated fatigue amounts Ea1 to Ea3 are erased.

As can be understood from the above description, according to the embodiment, the skeleton posture 56 of the occupant 18 is estimated based on the image captured by the camera 20, and the muscular force and the seat reaction force of the occupant are estimated based on the skeleton posture of the occupant. Then, the posture of the vehicle body 14 is corrected so that the skeleton posture of the occupant approaches the ideal skeleton posture 58 based on the muscular force of the occupant and the seat reaction force.

Therefore, according to the embodiment, it is possible to correct the posture of the vehicle body so as to reduce the extra muscular force of the occupant and the seat reaction force acting on the occupant, and reduce the accumulation of fatigue of the occupant. It should be noted that the excess muscle force of the occupant and the seat reaction force acting on the occupant become small because at least the inertial force acting on the occupant due to the traveling of the vehicle 16 is corrected by correcting the posture of the vehicle body as described above. This is because it is possible to partially apply opposing forces to the occupant and reduce the extra muscular force of the occupant and the seat reaction force that acts on the occupant.

Particularly, according to the embodiment, the alarm control is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6, and the alarm device 46 is activated when any of the accumulated fatigue amounts Ea1 to Ea3 is not within the allowable range. As a result, a warning is issued that prompts the occupant, especially the driver, to take a break, so that the occupant, especially the driver, can be urged to take a break.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment, the posture of the vehicle body 14 is corrected so that the skeleton posture of the occupant approaches the ideal skeleton posture 58 based on the occupant's muscle force and the seat reaction force. Therefore, as compared with the case where the posture of the vehicle body 14 is corrected so that the skeleton posture of the occupant approaches the ideal skeleton posture based on only one of the muscle force of the occupant and the seat reaction force, the posture of the vehicle body is appropriately corrected. You can

Although the present invention has been described above in detail with respect to specific embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various other embodiments are possible within the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, in correcting the attitude of the vehicle body, the forces acting between the wheels 12FL to 12RL and the vehicle body 14 are controlled by controlling the suspensions 22FL to 22RL functioning as active suspensions. It is done by However, at least a part of the force acting between each wheel and the vehicle body may be controlled by the active stabilizer device, and a part of the braking/driving force of the wheel is converted into a vertical force by the suspension. May be controlled.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the occupant's muscle force and seat reaction force are estimated based on the occupant's skeletal posture 56, and the occupant's posture is approximated to an ideal posture based on the occupant's muscular force and seat reaction force. The target posture correction amount is calculated. However, at least one of the occupant's muscle force and the seat reaction force may be omitted.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the camera is a camera that captures an occupant in the front seat, but a camera that captures an occupant in the rear seat may be provided. There is also a camera that captures the image of the passenger in the rear seat.If there is a passenger in the rear seat, priority is set in advance for the driver, passenger in the passenger seat, and passengers in the rear seat. The control may be performed based on a high target posture correction amount of the occupant.

In addition, when the control content of the other vehicle control such as the behavior control that controls the traveling behavior of the vehicle and the driving support control that assists the driver's driving conflicts with the control content of the attitude control, the control of the attitude control is performed. Other vehicle control control may be executed with priority.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the attitude control of the vehicle body is performed for pitching and rolling. However, for example, the attitude control of the vehicle body for pitching may be omitted. Attitude control of the vehicle body regarding modes may be added.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the occupant of the vehicle is identified and the new occupant is registered in steps 20 and 30, but these steps may be omitted.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, in step 115, it is determined whether or not the road and the traveling direction in which the vehicle is currently traveling are the road and the traveling direction in which the vehicle has ever traveled. It is determined whether or not the difference between the posture of the vehicle body and the posture of the vehicle body during the previous traveling is within the allowable range. However, these steps 115, 120 and step 125 may be omitted.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the warning control routine is executed as a control routine different from the attitude control routine. However, the warning control routine may be executed as part of the attitude control routine, and the warning control routine may be omitted.

10... Attitude control device, 12FL-12RL... Wheels, 24... Electronic braking device, 14... Car body, 16... Vehicle, 18... Occupant, 20... Camera, 22FL-22RL... Suspension, 40... Longitudinal acceleration sensor, 42... Lateral acceleration Sensor, 44... Navigation device, 46... Warning device, 50... Front image, 52... Body surface posture, 56... Skeleton posture, 58... Ideal skeleton posture

Claims (1)

A posture control device for a vehicle, which controls a posture of a vehicle by controlling a force acting between each wheel and a vehicle body, comprising: a camera for capturing an image of an occupant of the vehicle; and an image captured by the camera. Estimate the occupant's skeletal posture, and estimate at least one of the occupant's muscle force and seat reaction force based on the difference between the ideal skeletal posture and the estimated skeletal posture, and based on at least one of the occupant's muscle force and seat reaction force. A posture control device for a vehicle, comprising: a control unit configured to correct the posture of the vehicle body so that the posture of the occupant approaches an ideal posture.

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