JP2021044998A - Vehicle group and control system for controlling vehicle group - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicle group and a control system for controlling the same which facilitate the transfer of power between vehicles.SOLUTION: A connected vehicle group 20 includes: a vehicle 21 for generating positive driving force required for traveling; a vehicle 22 for generating negative driving force required for generating regenerative power; and a connection part 23 for connecting the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22. A control system 10 includes: a vehicle selection unit 120 for selecting the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 from a plurality of vehicles; and a control unit 210 for performing connection traveling control which is control to make the vehicle 21 generate the positive driving force required for traveling and to make the vehicle 22 generate the negative driving force required for generating regenerative power, in such a state that the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 are connected with each other by the connection part 23.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle group and a control system for controlling the vehicle group.

In recent years, vehicles that run on electric power have begun to spread. Examples of such a vehicle include an electric vehicle equipped with a storage battery, a fuel cell vehicle, and the like.

When the stored energy of an electric vehicle or the like is insufficient, the vehicle cannot reach the destination as a matter of course. Therefore, before the energy becomes zero, it is necessary to charge the vehicle in a state where the vehicle is stopped, for example, in a facility equipped with a charger. However, since charging takes time, it may not be appropriate to charge the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped as described above in order to reach the destination within the time.

As a system for solving this problem, the following Patent Document 1 proposes an inter-vehicle charging system. The inter-vehicle charging system is a system that enables power transfer between a pair of moving vehicles by equipping each of a plurality of vehicles with a non-contact power receiving / receiving device.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-068051

The non-contact power supply / reception device is a device that supplies and demands electric power in a non-contact manner by electromagnetic induction, magnetic field resonance, or the like with the antennas of the respective antennas facing each other. For this reason, when power is transferred between vehicles by the non-contact power supply / reception device, relatively complicated control for adjusting the inter-vehicle distance is performed so that the distance between the antennas is maintained at an appropriate distance. Need to be done. Further, since it is necessary to equip each vehicle with a non-contact power receiving / receiving device, there is a problem that the cost of the entire system increases.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicle group capable of easily exchanging electric power between vehicles, and a control system for controlling the vehicle group.

The vehicle group (20) according to the present disclosure includes a first vehicle (21) that generates a positive driving force required for traveling and a second vehicle (22) that generates a negative driving force required for generating regenerative electric power. And a joint portion (23) for connecting the first vehicle and the second vehicle.

In such a vehicle group, both the first vehicle and the second vehicle travel by the positive driving force generated by the first vehicle, that is, the driving force in the direction of accelerating toward the front side. At that time, the second vehicle can generate a negative driving force required for generating the regenerative electric power, that is, a driving force in the direction of accelerating toward the rear side, generate the regenerative electric power, and store the regenerative electric power.

In the second vehicle, the energy of the regenerative power generated and stored is a part of the energy obtained by the first vehicle generating a positive driving force. That is, when the first vehicle and the second vehicle are traveling in a state of being coupled to each other, a part of the energy stored in the first vehicle is transferred from the first vehicle to the second vehicle and stored. It will be. In such energy transfer, it is not necessary to equip each of the first vehicle and the second vehicle with a special device such as a non-contact power supply / reception device, and special control for keeping the inter-vehicle distance constant is provided. You don't even have to do it. Therefore, in the above-mentioned vehicle group, electric power can be easily exchanged between vehicles.

Further, the control system according to the present disclosure is a control system (10) that controls a vehicle group composed of a plurality of vehicles, and a first vehicle (21) and a second vehicle (22) are selected from the plurality of vehicles, respectively. In a state where the vehicle selection unit (120) and the first vehicle and the second vehicle are connected to each other by the coupling unit (23), the first vehicle is made to generate a positive driving force required for traveling, and the regenerative power is generated. The control unit (210) is provided with a control unit (210) for performing combined traveling control, which is a control for causing the second vehicle to generate a negative driving force required for generating the above.

According to such a control system, electric power can be easily transferred from the first vehicle to the second vehicle by performing the combined traveling control by the control unit. For example, if a vehicle having a low amount of energy remaining is selected as the second vehicle, a vehicle having a sufficient amount of energy remaining is selected as the first vehicle, and then combined running control is performed, the running is maintained. However, the energy shortage of the second vehicle can be solved and the second vehicle can reach the destination.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided a vehicle group capable of easily exchanging electric power between vehicles, and a control system for controlling the vehicle group.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an overall configuration of a vehicle group and a control system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of vehicles included in the vehicle group. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by the control system. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the variance of acceleration and Pa calculated thereby. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the variance of the gradient and Ps calculated thereby. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the control system. FIG. 7 is a time chart showing an example of changes in the required driving force and the like. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the control system. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the surplus energy at the time of arrival and the required charging power calculated thereby. FIG. 10 is a time chart showing an example of changes in the required driving force and the like. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the control system. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a group of vehicles connected to each other. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a group of vehicles connected to each other.

Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate understanding of the description, the same components are designated by the same reference numerals as much as possible in each drawing, and duplicate description is omitted.

The control system 10 according to the present embodiment is configured as a system for providing a movement service of people and goods by each vehicle by controlling a vehicle group composed of a plurality of vehicles. In FIG. 1, a vehicle 21 and a vehicle 22 are shown as vehicles included in the above vehicle group. The number of vehicles included in the vehicle group to be controlled by the control system 10 may be at least two or more.

In the present embodiment, the vehicles included in the vehicle group, such as the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22, are all configured as electric vehicles that travel by the electric power stored in the storage battery 320 (not shown in FIG. 1, see FIG. 2). Has been done. The electric power energy stored in each storage battery 320 can be said to be the energy required for the vehicle to travel.

In the state shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 are connected to each other via the connecting portion 23. The joint portion 23 is, for example, a rod-shaped member made of a highly rigid material. In such a state, if at least one of the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 generates a driving force, both the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 will travel by the driving force.

The control system 10 may select two vehicles from a plurality of vehicles included in the vehicle group to be controlled and run them in a state of being connected to each other as shown in FIG. However, such control is performed only when the energy required for traveling is insufficient in some vehicles. In the normal state, each vehicle included in the vehicle group travels independently toward each destination without being connected to each other. The reason for running the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 in a state of being connected to each other as shown in FIG. 1 will be described later.

Prior to the description of the control system 10, the configurations of the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 will be described first. In the present embodiment, the configurations of the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 are the same as each other. Therefore, only the configuration of the vehicle 21 will be described here, and specific illustration and description of the configuration of the vehicle 22 will be omitted. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that each of the plurality of vehicles controlled by the control system 10 has the same configuration as the vehicle 21 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle 21 includes a storage battery 320, an inverter 330, a motor generator 340, and an MGECU 310. Further, the vehicle 21 also includes a vehicle control device 200 which is a part of the control system 10.

The storage battery 320 is a main battery for storing energy required for traveling of the vehicle 21 which is an electric vehicle, and is, for example, a lithium ion battery. By connecting the vehicle 21 to a cable (not shown) while the vehicle is stopped at the charging facility, the electric power supplied via the cable can be stored in the storage battery 320.

The inverter 330 is a power converter for converting the DC power output from the storage battery 320 into AC power and supplying the DC power to the motor generator 340. Further, the inverter 330 can also convert the AC power output from the motor generator 340 into DC power and supply it to the storage battery 320 to charge it. In this way, the inverter 330 is configured as a bidirectional power converter. The operation of the inverter 330 is controlled by the MGECU 310 described later.

The motor generator 340 is a rotary electric machine that receives electric power from the inverter 330 to generate a driving force. The driving force generated by the motor generator 340 is transmitted to the driving wheels 343 of the vehicle 21 via the rotating shaft 341 and the clutch 342.

Further, the motor generator 340 can also convert the energy generated by the rotation of the drive wheels 343 into electric power and output the electric power to the inverter 330. As described above, the electric power is converted into DC electric power by the inverter 330 and then charged in the storage battery 320. In this way, the vehicle 21 can generate so-called regenerative power by the motor generator 340. At that time, as is well known, the motor generator 340 generates a force for decelerating the vehicle 21. As a result, a part of the kinetic energy of the vehicle 21 is converted into electric power energy and stored in the storage battery 320.

The MGECU 310 is a computer system having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The MGECU 310 is configured as a device for controlling the operation of the inverter 330. By the control performed by the MGECU 310, the magnitude of the electric power supplied from the storage battery 320 to the motor generator 340 and the magnitude of the regenerative electric power generated by the motor generator 340 are adjusted. The control is performed based on a command value from the vehicle control device 200 described later.

For example, when a command value indicating a target acceleration is transmitted from the vehicle control device 200 to the MGECU 310, the MGECU 310 adjusts the magnitude of the electric power supplied to the motor generator 340 so as to realize the target acceleration. Further, when a command value indicating the target deceleration is transmitted from the vehicle control device 200 to the MGECU 310, the MGECU 310 adjusts the magnitude of the regenerative power generated by the motor generator 340 so as to realize the target deceleration.

The vehicle control device 200 is a computer system having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, similar to the MGECU 310 described above. The vehicle control device 200 is configured as a device for controlling the entire vehicle 21 including the MGECU 310. As described above, the vehicle control device 200 functions as a part of the control system 10 that controls the vehicle group.

The vehicle control device 200 calculates a target acceleration and a target deceleration based on a driving operation performed by the vehicle 21, specifically, an operation of an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, or the like, and outputs these to the MGECU 310.

The vehicle control device 200 includes a control unit 210 and a driving force calculation unit 220 as functional control blocks.

The control unit 210 is a part that performs combined traveling control. Here, the combined traveling control will be described. The combined traveling control is a control for traveling the two vehicles together in a state where the two vehicles are connected to each other by the coupling unit 23 as shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 21 on the front side generates the positive driving force required for traveling. On the other hand, the vehicle 22 on the rear side generates a negative driving force necessary for generating regenerative electric power.

The "positive driving force" in the above is a driving force in the direction of accelerating the vehicle toward the front side. The "negative driving force" is a driving force in the direction of accelerating toward the rear side. In the following, the positive and negative of the driving force will be defined and described as described above.

As in the example of FIG. 1, when the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 are traveling together while the vehicle 21 generates a positive driving force and the vehicle 22 generates a negative driving force, the energy output by the vehicle 21 is output. A part of the above will be stored in the storage battery 320 of the vehicle 22 as regenerative power. That is, a part of the energy stored in the vehicle 21 is passed from the vehicle 21 to the vehicle 22 and stored. The above-mentioned "combined running control" means that the first vehicle, which is one of the vehicles, has a positive driving force required for running in a state where the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 are connected to each other by the connecting portion 23 in this way. It is a control that causes the vehicle 21 to generate a negative driving force required for generating regenerative power to the other vehicle, the vehicle 22. The "generation" in the above means that a positive or negative driving force is actually generated in the vehicle 21 or the like.

The control unit 210 performs a process of determining the magnitude of the positive driving force to be generated by the vehicle 21 and the magnitude of the negative driving force to be generated by the vehicle 22 in the combined traveling control. Further, the control unit 210 performs a process of controlling the MGECU 310 in each of the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 so as to realize the determined driving force. The combined traveling control is performed by the vehicle control devices 200 mounted on the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 while communicating with each other. The specific contents of the combined traveling control will be described later.

In combined driving control, a vehicle that transfers energy to another vehicle by generating a positive driving force is also referred to as a "first vehicle" below. Further, a vehicle that receives energy from the first vehicle by generating a negative driving force required for generating regenerative power is also referred to as a "second vehicle" below. In the example of FIG. 1, the vehicle 21 corresponds to the first vehicle and the vehicle 22 corresponds to the second vehicle. These vehicle groups, that is, the vehicle group including the entire vehicle 21 and vehicle 22 coupled to each other via the coupling portion 23, will be referred to as "combined vehicle group 20" below.

When the combined traveling control is performed, the energy required for traveling is transferred from the vehicle 21 to the vehicle 22 as described above. Therefore, for example, when the energy stored in the vehicle 22 is insufficient, if the combined traveling control is performed, the energy shortage of the vehicle 22 is solved while maintaining the traveling of the vehicle 22, and then the vehicle 22 is moved. It is possible to reach the destination.

In addition, in performing the energy transfer by the combined traveling control, the first vehicle may be an electric vehicle like the vehicle 21 of the present embodiment, but it is a vehicle traveling by the driving force of the internal combustion engine. You may. The first vehicle may be any type as long as it can generate a positive driving force.

On the other hand, the second vehicle needs to be a vehicle capable of generating at least regenerative power. The second vehicle may be an electric vehicle like the vehicle 22 of the present embodiment, but may be, for example, a fuel cell vehicle. Further, the regenerative power generated in the second vehicle may be stored in the storage battery 320 as in the present embodiment, but may be stored as hydrogen energy, for example.

The driving force calculation unit 220 performs a process of calculating the driving force to be generated in the entire first vehicle and the second vehicle coupled to each other during the execution of the combined traveling control. The driving force is also referred to as "required driving force" below.

As described above, the process of determining the magnitude of the positive driving force to be generated by the vehicle 21 and the magnitude of the negative driving force to be generated by the vehicle 22 during the execution of the combined traveling control is performed. In this embodiment, the control unit 210 performs the operation. Instead of such an embodiment, the driving force calculation unit 220 may perform the processing.

The vehicle control device 200 is provided with a server communication unit 230 and an inter-vehicle communication unit 240. The server communication unit 230 is a device for bidirectional wireless communication between the server 100 shown in FIG. 1 and the vehicle control device 200. The inter-vehicle communication unit 240 is a device for bidirectional wireless communication with other vehicles included in the vehicle group. As shown in FIG. 1, in a state where the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 are connected to each other, these vehicles perform two-way wireless communication by the inter-vehicle communication unit 240.

The vehicle control device 200 is further provided with a position acquisition unit 250 and a remaining amount acquisition unit 260. The position acquisition unit 250 is a device that acquires the current position in which the vehicle 21 is traveling by GPS. The remaining amount acquisition unit 260 is a part that acquires the remaining amount of energy required for traveling of the vehicle 21. The remaining amount is the remaining amount of electric power energy stored in the storage battery 320 in the present embodiment.

The current position acquired by the remaining amount acquisition unit 260 and the remaining amount of energy acquired by the remaining amount acquisition unit 260 are periodically transmitted to the server 100 by the server communication unit 230.

In addition to this information, the vehicle control device 200 periodically transmits the destination to which the vehicle 21 is currently heading and the travel route to be traveled toward the destination to the server 100. To do.

The configuration of the control system 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 again. As described above, the control system 10 includes a vehicle control device 200 mounted on each vehicle of the vehicle group. In addition to this, the control system 10 includes the server 100 shown in FIG. The server 100 is a computer system having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The server 100 is configured as a device for controlling the entire vehicle group in order to realize an appropriate service.

The server 100 is installed at a position different from that of each vehicle included in the vehicle group, specifically, indoors of a specific building. Instead of such a mode, the server 100 may be mounted on any vehicle included in the vehicle group. Further, the function of the server 100, which will be described later, may be realized by the cooperation of a part or all of the vehicle control devices 200 mounted on each vehicle. On the contrary, a part or all of the functions of the vehicle control device 200 described above are realized by a server 100 installed at a position different from the vehicle, for example, indoors of the building. May be good. As described above, the physical configuration and arrangement of the devices constituting the control system 10 are not limited in any way.

The server 100 includes an information acquisition unit 110, a vehicle selection unit 120, a route selection unit 130, and a communication unit 140 as functional control blocks.

The information acquisition unit 110 is a unit that performs a process of acquiring information from each vehicle included in the vehicle group via the communication unit 140 described later. The acquired information includes the current position acquired by the remaining amount acquisition unit 260, the remaining amount of energy acquired by the remaining amount acquisition unit 260, and the like.

The vehicle selection unit 120 is a portion that performs a process of selecting a first vehicle and a second vehicle to be combined traveling control from a plurality of vehicles to be controlled by the control system. The route selection unit 130 is a part that performs a process of selecting a route to be traveled by the first vehicle and the second vehicle coupled to each other in the combined travel control. The communication unit 140 is a portion that performs two-way wireless communication with a plurality of vehicles controlled by the control system.

The flow of processing executed by the control system 10 in order to realize the combined traveling control will be described. The series of processes shown in FIG. 3 is a process that is repeatedly executed by the server 100 each time a predetermined control cycle elapses.

In the first step S01 of the process, the information acquisition unit 110 performs a process of acquiring information from each of the plurality of vehicles to be controlled. Here, information including the current position acquired by the remaining amount acquisition unit 260 and the remaining amount of energy acquired by the remaining amount acquisition unit 260 is acquired from each vehicle. Further, the destination and the traveling route of each vehicle are also acquired by the information acquisition unit 110.

In step S02 following step S01, it is determined whether or not each vehicle stores sufficient energy to reach its destination. The amount of energy that is predicted to be surplus when the vehicle reaches the destination is defined as "surplus energy at the time of arrival". The surplus energy at the time of arrival simulates the running of the vehicle in the future, and then subtracts the energy estimated to be consumed before the vehicle reaches the destination from the energy currently stored in the vehicle. It is calculated by.

If there is no vehicle whose surplus energy at the time of arrival is predicted to be less than a predetermined value, that is, a vehicle that runs out of energy before reaching the destination, the series of processes shown in FIG. 3 is terminated. If there is a vehicle that runs out of energy, the process proceeds to step S03.

In step S03, a process of selecting a vehicle whose surplus energy at the time of arrival is predicted to be less than a predetermined value as a second vehicle in the combined traveling control is performed. The process is performed by the vehicle selection unit 120. Here, as in the example described above, the vehicle 22 of FIG. 1 will be described as being selected as the second vehicle.

In step S04 following step S03, a process of selecting the first vehicle in the combined traveling control is performed. The process is performed by the vehicle selection unit 120. Here, one of the vehicles traveling near the second vehicle specified in step S03 is selected as the first vehicle. Specifically, a vehicle that is traveling within a predetermined radius from the traveling position of the second vehicle and whose surplus energy at the time of arrival exceeds the above-mentioned predetermined value is selected as the first vehicle. Radius. If such a vehicle does not exist, the vehicle traveling at the position closest to the second vehicle among the plurality of vehicles whose surplus energy at the time of arrival exceeds the above predetermined value is the first vehicle. Is selected as. Here, as in the example described above, the vehicle 21 of FIG. 1 will be described as being selected as the first vehicle.

As a result of the above processing, the arrival surplus energy of the vehicle 21 selected as the first vehicle is larger than the arrival surplus energy of the vehicle 22 selected as the second vehicle. In other words, the vehicle selection unit 120 selects the vehicle having the larger surplus energy at the time of arrival as the first vehicle, and selects the vehicle having the smaller surplus energy at the time of arrival as the second vehicle.

Instead of such an embodiment, the first vehicle and the second vehicle may be selected based on the magnitude of the residual energy currently stored in the vehicle instead of the surplus energy at the time of arrival. That is, the vehicle selection unit 120 may select the vehicle having the larger residual energy stored as the first vehicle and the vehicle having the smaller residual energy stored as the second vehicle. In this case, in step S03, a vehicle having a residual energy smaller than the predetermined value may be selected as the second vehicle, and in step S04, a vehicle having a residual energy larger than the predetermined value may be selected as the first vehicle. ..

In step S05 following step S04, in the combined travel control, a process of extracting candidates for the vehicle 21 and the route on which the vehicle 22 that has become the combined vehicle group 20 should be traveled is performed. The process is performed by the route selection unit 130. Here, first, the appropriate degree points are calculated for all the routes existing within a predetermined radius centering on the current position of the vehicle 22. The "appropriate degree score" is a numerical value indicating the degree of appropriateness for the execution of combined driving control from the viewpoint of securing opportunities for energy transfer between vehicles, and the higher the route is, the higher the value is. It is a score calculated as. After that, a predetermined number of routes are extracted as candidates for routes to be driven by the combined vehicle group 20 in order from the route having the highest appropriate score.

The appropriate score is calculated by, for example, the following formula (1).
Appropriate score = k1 x Pa + k2 x Ps ... (1)

“Pa” on the right side of the equation (1) is a score set according to the dispersion of acceleration when the combined vehicle group 20 travels along the route. The "acceleration variance" is a variance calculated for each value of the income earned when the change in the acceleration of the combined vehicle group 20 traveling along the route is periodically acquired. FIG. 4 shows the correspondence between the dispersion of acceleration and the above-mentioned Pa. As shown in the figure, the larger the variance of the acceleration, the larger the calculated Pa value. The correspondence shown in FIG. 4 is stored in a storage device (not shown) included in the server 100. The route selection unit 130 calculates Pa for the route by referring to the correspondence relationship in FIG. 4 and the variance of the acceleration obtained by the simulation. In equation (1), k1 multiplied by Pa is a predetermined weighting coefficient.

“Ps” on the right side of the equation (1) is a score set according to the dispersion of the gradient when the combined vehicle group 20 travels along the route. "Gradient variance" is the variance calculated for each value of the income gradient when the change in the slope of the road surface is periodically acquired when the combined vehicle group 20 travels along the route. Is. FIG. 5 shows the correspondence between the variance of the gradient and the above Ps. As shown in the figure, the larger the variance of the gradient, the larger the calculated value of Ps. The correspondence shown in FIG. 5 is stored in a storage device (not shown) included in the server 100. The route selection unit 130 calculates Ps for the route by referring to the correspondence relationship in FIG. 5 and the variance of the gradient obtained by the simulation. In equation (1), k2 multiplied by Ps is a predetermined weighting coefficient.

By the above processing, the larger the variance of the acceleration in the path, the larger the appropriate degree score for the path is calculated. Further, the larger the variance of the gradient in the route, the larger the appropriateness score for the route is calculated. As described above, in step S05, a predetermined number of routes are calculated as candidates in order from the route having the highest calculated appropriate degree score. Therefore, the route selection unit 130 of the present embodiment preferentially selects a route having a large acceleration dispersion as a route to be traveled by the first vehicle and the second vehicle, and preferentially selects a route having a large gradient dispersion. Will be selected for.

On a route with a large dispersion of acceleration, the period during which the combined vehicle group 20 accelerates, that is, the period during which energy is transferred from the first vehicle to the second vehicle, and the period during which the combined vehicle group 20 decelerates, that is, in the second vehicle. The period during which regenerative power is efficiently generated is frequently switched. Since there are many opportunities for energy transfer, the energy stored in the second vehicle can be efficiently increased.

Similarly, on a route with a large gradient dispersion, the period of uphill, that is, the period of energy transfer from the first vehicle to the second vehicle, and the period of downhill, that is, the regenerative power efficiently in the second vehicle. The period during which the generation is performed is frequently switched. Since there are many opportunities for energy transfer, the energy stored in the second vehicle can be efficiently increased.

After the predetermined number of routes are extracted in step S05 as described above, the process proceeds to step S6. In step S06, each of the route candidates extracted in step S05 is simulated when the combined vehicle group 20 is driven, and whether or not any of the vehicles included in the combined vehicle group 20 causes energy shortage is determined. Judged. Routes that are determined to be energy deficient are excluded from candidates for combined travel control.

Here, the residual energy of the storage battery 320 of the vehicle 21 and the residual energy of the storage battery 320 of the vehicle 22 when the combined traveling control described later with reference to FIG. 8 is performed are the extracted paths. It is calculated for the candidates of. At this time, if it is obtained that the energy required to travel to the destination is insufficient in either the vehicle 21 or the vehicle 22 when the combined traveling control is completed, the route is excluded from the candidates. Will be done.

In step S07 following step S06, it is determined whether or not there is a route that remains without being excluded. If there is no remaining route, the series of processes shown in FIG. 3 is terminated. If there is a remaining route, the process proceeds to step S08.

In step S08, a process of calculating the evaluation function value is performed for each of the route candidates remaining in step S07. The "evaluation function value" is a numerical value indicating the degree of appropriateness for execution of combined travel control from the viewpoint of energy transfer efficiency, etc., and is calculated as a higher value as the route is more appropriate for combined travel control. It is a score.

The evaluation function value is calculated by, for example, the following equation (2).
Evaluation function value = k3 x Edd + k4 x Tloss ... (2)

“Ead” on the right side of the equation (2) is a value indicating the magnitude of the increase in the required energy due to the combined traveling control. This Edd calculates a value obtained by subtracting the residual energy of the storage battery 320 when the combined traveling control is not executed from the residual energy of the storage battery 320 when the combined traveling control is executed for each of the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22. It is the total. Edd is calculated based on the result of the simulation performed in step S06. In equation (2), k3 multiplied by Edd is a predetermined weighting coefficient.

"Tloss" on the right side of the equation (2) is a value indicating the magnitude of the delay of the arrival time due to the combined traveling control. This Tloss determines the length of the delay time obtained by subtracting the arrival time at the destination when the combined travel control is not executed from the arrival time at the destination when the combined travel control is executed. It is calculated and totaled for each of the vehicle 22 and the vehicle 22. The Tloss is calculated based on the result of the simulation performed in step S06. In equation (2), k4 multiplied by Tloss is a predetermined weighting coefficient.

By the above processing, the smaller the increase in the required energy associated with the combined traveling control is, the larger the evaluation function value for the route is calculated. Further, the smaller the delay of the arrival time due to the combined traveling control, the larger the evaluation function value for the route is calculated.

In step S09 following step S08, a process of determining a route on which the combined vehicle group 20 travels is performed in the combined travel control. Here, among the route candidates remaining in step S07, the one having the largest evaluation function value calculated in step S08 is determined as the final route.

Therefore, the route selection unit 130 of the present embodiment preferentially selects a route in which the amount of increase in the required energy associated with the combined travel control is small as the route to be traveled by the first vehicle and the second vehicle, and also performs combined travel A route with a small delay in arrival time due to control is preferentially selected. As a result, the amount of increase in the required energy due to the combined traveling control is suppressed, so that energy transfer between the first vehicle and the second vehicle can be efficiently performed. Further, since the delay of the arrival time due to the combined traveling control can be suppressed, each vehicle can reach the destination at an early stage.

In step S10 following step S09, a process of transmitting the determined route to each of the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 is performed.

What is shown in FIG. 6 is a process executed by the control unit 210 of the vehicle control device 200 in each of the vehicle 21 selected as the first vehicle and the vehicle 22 selected as the second vehicle.

In the first step S21, it is determined whether or not the route from the server 100 has been received by the server communication unit 230. The route is the route transmitted in step S10 of FIG. If the route from the server 100 is not received, the series of processes shown in step S06 is terminated. When the route from the server 100 is received, the process proceeds to step S22.

In step S22, a process of moving the vehicle 21 or the vehicle 22 to the start point of the received route, that is, the point where the combined traveling control is started is performed. The process is executed by displaying the route to the start point on a navigation system (not shown) included in the vehicle 21 or the like. When both the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 reach the starting point of the combined traveling control, the process proceeds to step S23.

In step S23, a process of starting the combined traveling control is performed. Here, a process of notifying the driver of each vehicle to perform the work of joining the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 by the connecting portion 23 is performed. When the completion of the work is confirmed, the control unit 210 starts the combined traveling control.

An example of a change in driving force in the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 during execution of the combined traveling control will be described with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7A shows an example of a change in the driving force to be generated, that is, the required driving force in the entire first vehicle and the second vehicle coupled to each other. The required driving force is a driving force calculated each time by the driving force calculation unit 220 according to the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal or the brake pedal. In the present embodiment, the required driving force is calculated by the driving force calculation unit 220 of the vehicle 21 which is the first vehicle.

In the example of FIG. 7, a positive driving force is calculated as a required driving force in the period up to the time t0, and is generated in the entire combined vehicle group 20. On the other hand, in the period after the time t0, a negative driving force is calculated as a required driving force and is generated in the entire combined vehicle group 20.

FIG. 7B shows an example of a change in the driving force generated from the vehicle 21 which is the first vehicle. FIG. 7C shows an example of a change in the driving force generated from the vehicle 22 which is the second vehicle. In each of FIGS. 7 (B) and 7 (C), an example of the change in the required driving force shown in FIG. 7 (A) is shown by the dotted line DL1.

During the period up to time t0, that is, during the period when a positive driving force is generated as the required driving force, a substantially constant negative driving force is generated from the vehicle 22 as shown in FIG. 7 (C). .. Further, as shown in FIG. 7B, a positive driving force larger than the required driving force is generated from the vehicle 21. The value of this positive driving force is a value obtained by subtracting the negative driving force shown in FIG. 7 (C) from the required driving force. Therefore, the driving force obtained by adding the positive driving force shown in FIG. 7 (B) and the negative driving force shown in FIG. 7 (C), that is, generated from the entire combined vehicle group 20. The value of the driving force at each time corresponds to the value of the required driving force at each time shown in FIG. 7 (A).

In the period up to time t0, a part of the positive driving force generated by the vehicle 21 is used to generate regenerative power in the vehicle 22. Therefore, as described above, the energy required for traveling is transferred from the vehicle 21 to the vehicle 22.

In the period after the time t0, that is, in the period in which a negative driving force is generated as the required driving force, the driving force generated from the vehicle 21 becomes 0 as shown in FIG. 7 (B). Further, as shown in FIG. 7C, a negative driving force having the same value as the required driving force is generated from the vehicle 22. Therefore, the value of each time of the driving force generated from the entire combined vehicle group 20 matches the value of each time of the required driving force shown in FIG. 7A even in the period after the time t0.

In the period after the time t0, the regenerative power is generated only in the vehicle 22. Therefore, the regenerative power is efficiently generated and charged by one motor generator 340 by utilizing the total mass of the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 coupled to each other.

The process executed by the vehicle control device 200 in order to realize the above-mentioned change in driving force will be described with reference to FIG. The series of processes shown in FIG. 8 is a process that is repeatedly executed by the vehicle control device 200 of the vehicle 21, which is the first vehicle, during the period in which the combined traveling control is executed. Unless otherwise specified, the process is performed by the control unit 210 included in the vehicle control device 200 of the vehicle 21.

In the first step S31, a process of calculating the surplus energy at the time of arrival of the vehicle 22 which is the second vehicle is performed. The process is calculated each time by performing a simulation based on the energy stored in the storage battery 320 of the vehicle 22 at the present time. Therefore, the arrival surplus energy of the vehicle 22 calculated here may be different from the arrival surplus energy of the vehicle 22 calculated in step S02 of FIG. The surplus energy at the time of arrival of the vehicle 22 may be calculated by the vehicle control device 200 of the vehicle 22 and acquired by the vehicle control device 200 of the vehicle 21 by inter-vehicle communication.

In step S32 following step S31, a process of calculating the required charging power is performed. The "required charging power" is set as a target value of the power (unit: kW) to be charged at the present time with respect to the storage battery 320 of the vehicle 22. This required charging power corresponds to the value of the power charged to the storage battery 320 of the vehicle 22 in the period before the time t0 in the example of FIG. 7C.

The required charging power is calculated based on the surplus energy at the time of arrival of the vehicle 22 obtained in step S31. FIG. 9 shows the relationship between the surplus energy at the time of arrival (horizontal axis) and the calculated required charging power (vertical axis). As shown in the figure, the smaller the surplus energy at the time of arrival, the larger the required charging power is calculated. When the surplus energy at the time of arrival becomes a predetermined value α or more, which is larger than 0, the calculated required charging power becomes 0. As the value of α, for example, a value of 30% of the stored amount at the time of full charge is set.

The explanation will be continued by returning to FIG. After the required charging power is calculated in step S32, the process proceeds to step S33. In step S33, a process of calculating the charging driving force is performed. The "charging driving force" is a negative driving force corresponding to the magnitude of the regenerative power to be generated in the vehicle 22 which is the second vehicle. That is, it is a negative driving force that should be generated by the motor generator 340 in order to obtain the required charging power calculated in step S32. The correspondence between the required charging power and the driving force for charging is stored in advance as a map. The control unit 210 calculates the charging driving force based on the map and the required charging power calculated in step S32.

In step S34 following step S33, the driving force calculation unit 220 performs a process of calculating the required driving force. As described above, the required driving force is the driving force to be generated in the entire first vehicle and the second vehicle coupled to each other. The required driving force is calculated by the driving force calculation unit 220 according to the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal, independently of the values calculated in each of steps S31 to S33.

In step S35 following step S34, it is determined whether or not the calculated required driving force value is larger than 0. If the value of the required driving force is 0 or less, the process proceeds to step S36. If the value of the required driving force is larger than 0, the process proceeds to step S37. In each of step S36 and step S37, a process of setting a target value of the driving force to be generated is performed for each of the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22.

When the process proceeds to step S36, the respective target values are set so that the driving force of the vehicle 21 which is the first vehicle becomes 0 and the driving force of the vehicle 22 which is the second vehicle becomes the required driving force. .. As a result, the same processing as the period after the time t0 in the example described with reference to FIG. 7 is performed.

When the process proceeds to step S37, the target value of the driving force of the vehicle 21 which is the first vehicle is set to be the driving force obtained by subtracting the charging driving force from the required driving force. Since the charging driving force is a negative value, the driving force is larger than the required driving force. The target value of the driving force of the vehicle 22 which is the second vehicle is set to be the driving force for charging. As a result, the same processing as the period up to time t0 in the example described with reference to FIG. 7 is performed.

In step S38 following step S36 and step S37, a process of transmitting the target value of the driving force of the vehicle 22 to the vehicle control device 200 of the vehicle 22 is performed. In step S39 following step S38, a process of matching the driving force of the vehicle 21 with the target value of the driving force is performed. Further, the vehicle control device 200 of the vehicle 22 that has received the target value transmitted in step S38 controls to match the driving force of the vehicle 22 with the target value. As a result, the combined traveling control described above is realized.

The required driving force in step S34 may be calculated in advance at a timing different from the above, for example, at a time before step S31. Further, the processing of steps S31 to S33 may be performed at a timing immediately before the processing of step S36 or step S37 is performed after the processing of step S35 is performed.

As described above, when the required driving force is calculated as a positive value when the combined traveling control is performed, the control unit 210 determines the magnitude of the regenerative power to be generated in the second vehicle. After calculating the charging driving force, which is the negative driving force corresponding to, the first vehicle is made to generate the driving force obtained by subtracting the charging driving force from the required driving force, and the second vehicle is made to drive for charging. A process for generating force is performed (step S37). As a result, a process of transferring a part of the energy stored in the first vehicle to the second vehicle can be performed while each vehicle is running.

Further, when the required driving force is calculated as a negative value when the combined traveling control is being performed, the control unit 210 performs a process of causing the second vehicle to generate the required driving force (step S36). .. As a result, the total mass of each vehicle can be used to efficiently generate regenerative power by one motor generator 340, which can be stored in the storage battery 320 of the vehicle 22.

By the way, when the energy stored in the vehicle 22 which is the second vehicle becomes large to some extent when the combined traveling control is performed, the necessity of generating the regenerative power becomes small. In such a case, the generation of the regenerative power in the vehicle 22 may be temporarily stopped. That is, in the combined traveling control, it is not always necessary to generate the regenerative power in the vehicle 22.

An example of control in the case of temporarily stopping the generation of regenerative power will be described with reference to FIG. The items shown in (A), (B), and (C) of FIG. 10 are the same as the items shown in (A), (B), and (C) of FIG. 7, respectively. The waveform of the change in the required driving force shown in FIG. 10 (A) is the same as the waveform of the change in the required driving force shown in FIG. 7 (A).

As shown in FIG. 10 (B), in the period until the time t0, that is, the period in which a positive driving force is generated as the required driving force, in this example, the vehicle 21 is shown in FIG. 10 (A). The same driving force as the required driving force is generated. On the other hand, in the period after the time t0, that is, in the period in which a negative driving force is generated as the required driving force, the driving force generated from the vehicle 21 is 0 in this example.

As shown in FIG. 10C, in the period up to time t0, that is, during the period when a positive driving force is generated as the required driving force, the driving force generated from the vehicle 22 is 0 in this example. .. On the other hand, in the period after the time t0, that is, during the period when a negative driving force is generated as the required driving force, in this example, the same driving force as the required driving force shown in FIG. 10A is generated from the vehicle 22. Will be done.

As described above, in the example of FIG. 10, when the required driving force is calculated as a positive value when the combined traveling control is performed, the control unit 210 generates the required driving force for the first vehicle. (Step S370 described later). In this case, the generation of regenerative power is stopped during the period when a positive driving force is generated as the required driving force. During this period, the combined vehicle group 20 travels by the driving force of only the vehicle 21, so that the energy consumption of the vehicle 22 is suppressed. As a result, the vehicle 22 can be reliably reached to the destination.

The process executed by the vehicle control device 200 in order to realize the above-mentioned change in driving force will be described with reference to FIG. The series of processes shown in FIG. 11 is temporarily executed in place of the series of processes shown in FIG. In this process, step S37 in FIG. 8 is replaced with step S370. In the following, only the points different from the processing of FIG. 8 will be described.

When the process proceeds to step S370, that is, when the value of the required driving force is larger than 0, the target value of the driving force of the vehicle 21, which is the first vehicle, is set to be the required driving force. Further, the target value of the driving force of the vehicle 22 which is the second vehicle is set to 0. As a result, the combined traveling control described with reference to FIG. 10 is realized.

In the above, an example in which the vehicle control device 200 of the vehicle 21, which is the first vehicle, executes most of the processing required for the combined traveling control has been described. Instead of such an embodiment, most of the processing required for the combined traveling control may be executed by the vehicle control device 200 of the vehicle 22 which is the second vehicle. How the processing required for the combined traveling control is shared by each vehicle control device 200 can be appropriately changed from the above example.

In performing the combined traveling control, various modes can be adopted without being limited to the mode shown in FIG. 1 as a specific mode in which the vehicle 21 and the vehicle 22 are coupled to each other. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the rear side portion of the vehicle 21 and the front side portion of the vehicle 22 may be entirely covered with the hood 25. Further, as shown in FIG. 13, a part of the roof 26 extending from the upper part of the vehicle 21 toward the rear side may extend to the upper part of the vehicle 22. If the combined vehicle group 20 is configured as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the air resistance that the combined vehicle group 20 receives during traveling can be reduced.

Further, the combined traveling control may be performed in a state where these vehicles are connected to each other so that the vehicle 21 which is the first vehicle is on the rear side and the vehicle 22 which is the second vehicle is on the front side.

A device for transferring electric power from the first vehicle to the second vehicle may be separately provided. For example, a non-contact power receiving / receiving device for receiving electric power by mutual dielectric may be provided in each of the first vehicle and the second vehicle. The efficiency of power transmission by the non-contact power receiving device is relatively low. Therefore, the electric power to be transferred by the non-contact power receiving / receiving device may be supplementarily performed only when the electric power to be transferred is relatively large and the combined traveling control in the present embodiment is not sufficient.

Further, for example, even if a device for physically connecting the first vehicle and the second vehicle by a cable or the like to supply and demand electric power is provided in each of the first vehicle and the second vehicle. Good. The efficiency of power transmission via cable is relatively high. Therefore, in the normal state, the electric power is transferred via the cable, and the electric power by the combined traveling control of the present embodiment is obtained only when the electric power to be transferred is relatively large and the power transmission via the cable is not sufficient. It may be possible to carry out the delivery of the power as an auxiliary.

The present embodiment has been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these specific examples. Those skilled in the art with appropriate design changes to these specific examples are also included in the scope of the present disclosure as long as they have the features of the present disclosure. Each element included in each of the above-mentioned specific examples, its arrangement, conditions, shape, and the like are not limited to those illustrated, and can be changed as appropriate. The combinations of the elements included in each of the above-mentioned specific examples can be appropriately changed as long as there is no technical contradiction.

The controls and methods described in the present disclosure are provided by configuring a processor and memory programmed to perform one or more functions embodied by a computer program. It may be realized by a computer. The control device and control method described in the present disclosure may be realized by a dedicated computer provided by configuring a processor including one or more dedicated hardware logic circuits. The control device and control method described in the present disclosure comprises a combination of a processor and memory programmed to perform one or more functions and a processor including one or more hardware logic circuits. It may be realized by one or more dedicated computers. The computer program may be stored on a computer-readable non-transitional tangible recording medium as an instruction executed by the computer. The dedicated hardware logic circuit and the hardware logic circuit may be realized by a digital circuit including a plurality of logic circuits or an analog circuit.

10: Control system 120: Vehicle selection unit 210: Control unit 20: Combined vehicle group 21 and 22: Vehicle 23: Combined unit

Claims (13)

The first vehicle (21), which generates the positive driving force required for driving, and
The second vehicle (22), which generates the negative driving force required to generate regenerative power, and
A group of vehicles including a joint portion (23) that connects the first vehicle and the second vehicle. A control system (10) that controls a group of vehicles including a plurality of vehicles.
A vehicle selection unit (120) that selects the first vehicle (21) and the second vehicle (22) from the plurality of vehicles, respectively.
With the first vehicle and the second vehicle coupled to each other by the coupling portion (23), the first vehicle is made to generate a positive driving force required for traveling, and a negative force required for generating regenerative power is generated. A control system including a control unit (210) that performs combined traveling control, which is a control for generating the driving force of the second vehicle. When the amount of energy predicted to be surplus when the vehicle reaches the destination is taken as the surplus energy at the time of arrival,
The vehicle selection unit
The vehicle having the larger surplus energy at the time of arrival is selected as the first vehicle.
The control system according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle having the smaller surplus energy at the time of arrival is selected as the second vehicle. The vehicle selection unit
The vehicle having the larger residual energy is selected as the first vehicle, and the vehicle is selected.
The control system according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle having the smaller residual energy is selected as the second vehicle. Any of claims 2 to 4, further comprising a driving force calculation unit (220) for calculating a required driving force, which is a driving force to be generated in the first vehicle and the second vehicle as a whole coupled to each other. The control system according to item 1. When the required driving force is calculated as a positive value when the combined traveling control is performed,
The control unit
The control system according to claim 5, wherein the first vehicle generates the required driving force. When the required driving force is calculated as a negative value when the combined traveling control is performed,
The control unit
The control system according to claim 5, wherein the second vehicle generates the required driving force. When the required driving force is calculated as a positive value when the combined traveling control is performed,
The control unit
The charging driving force, which is a negative driving force corresponding to the magnitude of the regenerative power to be generated in the second vehicle, is calculated.
The first vehicle is made to generate a driving force obtained by subtracting the charging driving force from the required driving force.
The control system according to claim 5, wherein the second vehicle generates the charging driving force. The control system according to any one of claims 2 to 8, further comprising a route selection unit (130) for selecting a route for the first vehicle and the second vehicle to travel in the combined travel control. The route selection unit
The control system according to claim 9, wherein a route having a large gradient dispersion is preferentially selected as a route to be traveled by the first vehicle and the second vehicle. The route selection unit
The control system according to claim 9, wherein a route having a large acceleration dispersion is preferentially selected as a route to be traveled by the first vehicle and the second vehicle. The route selection unit
The control system according to claim 9, wherein a route having a small increase in required energy associated with the combined traveling control is preferentially selected as a route to be traveled by the first vehicle and the second vehicle. The route selection unit
The control system according to claim 9, wherein a route having a small delay in arrival time associated with the combined traveling control is preferentially selected as a route to be traveled by the first vehicle and the second vehicle.

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