JP2900675B2 - Vehicle running characteristics changing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle driving characteristic changing device,
In particular, the present invention relates to a device that evaluates driving characteristics of a driver from fuel efficiency and automatically adjusts various driving characteristics adjusting means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle is provided with various driving characteristic adjusting means for matching the driving characteristics of the vehicle with the road conditions and the driving characteristics of the driver. Such running characteristics adjusting means include a power steering system for adjusting the weight of the steering, an electronic throttle for adjusting the throttle target opening with respect to the opening of the accelerator pedal, an electronic control transmission ECT for controlling a shift, and traction control. Traction control system TRC
(Registered trademark), 4WS, etc., which make the ratio of the rear wheel turning angle to the front wheel turning angle variable, are known. A vehicle driver sets a mode of each of these running characteristic adjusting means provided in a driver's seat. The operation SW is appropriately operated to select a mode, and the traveling characteristics are manually changed to enable optimal traveling.

However, with the recent diversification of driving preferences and various technological innovations, driving characteristic adjusting means are diversifying, and the number of operation switches to be set is increasing. Under such circumstances, it is complicated or difficult to operate all of these operation switches, and in reality, the excellent functions of these traveling characteristic adjustment means cannot be sufficiently exhibited.

Accordingly, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-289471
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H11-260, a configuration has been proposed in which the road condition ahead of the vehicle is known in advance from a navigation device and the steering ratio of the rear wheels is automatically controlled in accordance with the road condition. ing.

[0005]

However, in such a configuration in which the driving characteristic adjusting means is automatically adjusted only from the road condition, various driving preferences, that is, driving characteristics are not reflected. Not reached. In particular, the weight of the steering is a parameter that is greatly affected by the driving characteristics of the driver, and in the conventional configuration, the weight of the steering must still be manually set by the driver, which avoids complexity. There was a problem that could not be obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has as its object to automatically set various driving characteristic adjusting means provided in a vehicle according to road conditions and driving characteristics to provide comfortable driving. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle running characteristic changing device which enables the following.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle driving characteristic changing apparatus according to the present invention detects a current position of a vehicle and a navigation device which stores road information for guiding the driving of the vehicle in advance. Current position detecting means, reference fuel efficiency calculating means for calculating a reference fuel efficiency from road attributes stored in the navigation device with respect to the planned road ahead of the current position of the vehicle, and fuel efficiency when the vehicle actually travels on the planned road. An actual fuel efficiency calculating means for calculating the reference fuel efficiency and the actual fuel efficiency, and an evaluation means for evaluating the driving characteristics of the vehicle driver, and provided in the vehicle in advance in accordance with the evaluation result by the evaluating means. Control means for controlling the running characteristic adjusting means.

[0008]

The vehicle running characteristic changing apparatus of the present invention has such a structure, evaluates the driving characteristics of the driver from the fuel efficiency, and controls the running characteristics adjusting means based on the evaluation result.
Here, two types of fuel efficiency are calculated: a standard fuel efficiency estimated from the road conditions of the planned traveling road obtained from the nebulization device and an actual fuel consumption when the vehicle actually travels on the planned traveling road.
Since the driving characteristics of the driver are represented by the accelerator work, that is, fuel efficiency, the frequency of the accelerator work is grasped by comparing the magnitude of the reference fuel efficiency with the actual fuel efficiency, and the driving characteristics are adjusted by adjusting the driving characteristic adjusting means. It is possible to automatically change the driving characteristics taking into account.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a vehicle running characteristic changing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of this embodiment. The orbit signal and the transmission time signal transmitted from the GPS satellite are received by two GPS antennas 12a and 12b provided on the front part and the rear part of the vehicle,
The data is demodulated by the navigation receiver 14, and the distance to the GPS satellite and the position of the vehicle are calculated and output to the display computer 10 (diversity reception). In addition, a geomagnetic sensor 16 provided on the reinforcement at the rear of the roof converts the direction of the geomagnetism acting on the vehicle into a voltage and outputs the voltage to the display computer 10. The vehicle speed sensor 18 detects the vehicle speed of the vehicle, and the front right wheel sensor 20a and the front left wheel sensor 20b detect and output the rotation speeds of the right and left wheels, respectively. The steering sensor 22 detects a steering angle of the steering. Furthermore, a CD-ROM disk 2 mounted on the rear of the vehicle
4 also displays the map information stored in the display computer 1.
Output to 0.

The display computer 10 detects the position of the vehicle based on a signal from the navigation receiver 14, and determines the traveling distance of the vehicle based on a signal from the vehicle speed sensor 18 or a signal from the front right wheel sensor 20a and the front left wheel sensor 20b. calculate. The traveling direction of the own vehicle is detected by a signal from the front right wheel sensor 20a, the front left wheel sensor 20b, a signal from the steering sensor 22, and a signal from the geomagnetic sensor 16, and the signal of the own vehicle is detected by a signal from the geomagnetic sensor 16. Detect orientation. Then, while displaying the own vehicle position and the route to the destination on the display 26, the calculated trajectory is compared with the map data, and the current position of the own vehicle is corrected by always correcting the own vehicle on the road. Is displayed with high accuracy (map matching). On the other hand, various running characteristic adjusting means are also connected to the display computer 10. In the present embodiment, the following computer is provided as the traveling characteristic adjusting means.

(1) EFI (registered trademark) computer 3
0 Input signals such as intake air amount, engine speed, water temperature, intake air temperature, throttle opening, oxygen concentration in exhaust gas, etc., and calculate and output the optimal fuel injection amount according to the running state.

(2) ECT computer 32 Inputs signals such as throttle opening, vehicle speed, water temperature, etc., and performs optimal shift control according to the running state.

(3) Air suspension computer 3
4. Control the front and rear absorber damping force and adjust the spring constant, damping force, vehicle height, etc. of the four wheels according to the running conditions.

(4) 4WS computer 36 Inputs signals such as vehicle speed, steering angle, and steering force.
The ratio of the rear wheel turning angle to the front wheel turning angle is changed.

(5) TRC (registered trademark) computer 3
8 Input the engine output and braking force to change the driving force.

(6) 4WD computer 40 Controls distribution of driving force to four wheels.

(7) ABS computer 42 The rotation state of the wheels is detected, and the brake fluid pressure is controlled according to various road surface conditions. (8) Electronic control throttle computer 44 Adjusts the throttle target opening with respect to the accelerator pedal opening.

(9) PS computer 46 Adjusts the weight of the steering.

The display computer 10 automatically adjusts a threshold value between a plurality of modes set in advance in the running characteristic adjusting means according to the driving characteristics of the driver.

Hereinafter, the processing contents of the display computer 10 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the entire processing of the display computer 10. As described above, the navigation receiver 14 diversity-receives signals from GPS satellites to detect the position of the own vehicle (S101). This position signal is supplied to the display computer 10, and similarly supplied from the CD-ROM 24. The traveling route on which the host vehicle is currently traveling is determined by collating with the map data to be executed (S102). That is, GPS
The position data obtained from the satellite, the position data calculated from the vehicle speed and direction obtained from the vehicle speed sensor 18 and the geomagnetic sensor 16 are collated with the map data, map matching is performed, the current position is determined, and the display 26 is displayed. indicate.

Next, the display computer 10 calculates two types of fuel economy in order to evaluate the driving characteristics of the driver, and shifts to a process of comparing these (S103-).
S105). The two types of fuel efficiency are a reference fuel efficiency calculated from the road attribute of the travel road determined in S102 (such as whether it is an expressway or an urban area) and an actual fuel efficiency obtained by actually driving. 3 and 4 show flowcharts for calculating the reference fuel efficiency.

In FIG. 3, first, a road attribute is determined (S201). The following type codes are assigned in advance as road attributes and stored in the map data of the CD-ROM 24.

Highway Expressway 1 Urban Expressway 2 Speed limit 60 km / h or more Road 3 Urban Road 4 Suburban Road 5 Mountain Road 6 Long Slope... 7 Others... 8 Then, it is determined which of these road attributes the attribute of the determined runway belongs to. As a result of the judgment, expressway or city expressway or speed regulation 60 km / h
As described above, in the case of the road (type code is 1, 2, 3), the reference fuel efficiency is temporarily set to 10 km / h (S202). Also,
If the road attribute is a road in a city area or the like (type code is 4, 8), the reference fuel consumption is temporarily set to 6 km / h (S20).
3). Hereinafter, similarly, the suburban road (type code 5)
Is set to 8 km / h (S204), and to mountain road (type code 6) is set to 4 km / h (S205).

In this way, the reference fuel efficiency is provisionally set according to the road attributes, and it is then determined whether or not these roads are long hills (S206). This determination is made based on whether or not 7 is included in the type code of the road attribute. If the road is a long slope, it is further determined whether or not the vehicle is climbing (S20).
7). Whether the vehicle is climbing is determined from the relationship between the throttle opening and the engine speed when the vehicle is traveling at a constant speed for a certain period. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, the correspondence between the engine speed (NE) and the reference throttle opening (θ) is stored in a memory in the display computer 10 in advance, and the vehicle is driven at a constant speed for a certain period. If the throttle opening VTA at this time satisfies VTA ≧ θ (NE) +5, it is determined to be an uphill slope, and if it satisfies θ (NE) + 5 ≦ VTA ≦ θ (NE) -5, it is determined to be a flat road. , VTA ≦ θ (NE) −5, it can be determined that the vehicle is going downhill. Then, in the case of an uphill, the fuel efficiency is degraded by about 20%, and the tentative reference fuel efficiency set in S202-S205 is corrected by multiplying by 0.8 (S208). Assuming a 20% improvement, the provisional reference fuel economy is 1.2
(S209).

As described above, the fuel efficiency changes depending on the slope, so that the correction based on the slope is necessary. However, the factors affecting the fuel efficiency include not only such a road gradient but also the on / off of the air conditioner, and the electronic control. Control transmission initialization mode (Power / Normal / Economy)
It also depends on the presence or absence of traffic. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of correcting the fuel efficiency based on these factors. First, it is determined whether the air conditioner is on or off (S210). This determination is made based on an operation signal supplied from the air conditioner switch 28 to the display computer 10. If the air conditioner is turned on, the fuel efficiency is degraded by 10% and the reference fuel efficiency is corrected by multiplying by 0.9 (S211).

Then, the process shifts to the correction of the fuel efficiency in the ECT select mode (S212). As described above, the select mode is provided with the power mode, the normal mode, and the economy mode. In the case of the power mode, the fuel efficiency is degraded by 5%, and the reference fuel efficiency is multiplied by 0.95 (S213). 5% fuel economy
It multiplies by 1.05 as improving (S214).

After the correction in the ECT select mode is completed, the correction is further performed based on the presence or absence of traffic congestion (S2).
15). The presence or absence of this traffic jam is determined for a predetermined time, for example, 300 seconds.
(c) (the average vehicle speed is 20 km / h or less) and (the maximum vehicle speed is 30 km / h or less) and ｛(the brake depression time is 60 sec or more) or the number of brake depressions is 6
If the condition (1 or more times) or (idle on / off is 6 or more times) is satisfied, it can be determined that traffic congestion has occurred. Then, in the case of traffic congestion, the fuel efficiency is deteriorated by 5%, and the reference fuel efficiency is corrected by multiplying by 0.95 (S216). In this way, the correction based on the factor that will affect the fuel efficiency is performed, and the reference fuel efficiency is finally determined (S217). The determined reference fuel efficiency is stored in the memory of the display computer 10.

After the calculation of the reference fuel consumption estimated from the road environment is completed (S103), the actual fuel consumption when the vehicle actually travels is calculated (S104). This actual fuel efficiency calculation is obtained from the injector energizing time. The injector energizing time TTAUINJ includes an effective injection time TAUE and an invalid time TAUV, and the invalid time TAUV depends on the power supply voltage. FIG. 6 shows an example of the relationship between the power supply voltage and the invalid time TAUV. Therefore, by monitoring the power supply voltage, the invalid time can be uniquely determined, and the valid time TAUE of the injector energizing time can be calculated.

Then, the injection amount is calculated from the effective injection time TAUE per minute using the characteristics of the injector.
Fuel efficiency per minute is calculated from the travel distance per minute calculated from the wheel sensors 20a and 20b. Then, in order to smooth these fuel efficiencies, they are converted into fuel efficiencies per 10 minutes (average value calculation) and stored in the memory as actual fuel efficiencies.

After the reference fuel consumption R1 calculated from the roadway environment and the actual fuel consumption R2 obtained by actually driving are calculated, the process proceeds to a process for evaluating the driving characteristics (driving pleasure) of the driver (S105). ). The driving characteristic DPR is evaluated based on the magnitude relationship of the difference DP = R1−R2 between the calculated reference fuel consumption R1 and actual fuel consumption R2, and an example of the evaluation result is shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, for example, when DP is 5 or more, that is, the reference fuel efficiency is 5 km from the actual fuel efficiency.
If it is larger than this, it means that the accelerator work has been performed frequently, so it is determined that the vehicle is of the power traveling type, and the driving characteristic DPR is set to 0. On the other hand, when the DP is -5 or less, that is, when the reference fuel efficiency is smaller than the actual fuel efficiency by 5 km or more, it means that the vehicle has traveled very economically. DPR
Is set to 6. Similarly, the DPR is evaluated in seven stages from 0 to 6 according to the magnitude of DP. The actual fuel efficiency is calculated per 10 minutes. If the road attribute changes during 10 minutes, it is assumed that learning is being performed for 10 minutes immediately thereafter, and the number of samples at the time of calculating the actual fuel efficiency is reduced from 10 to, for example. The actual fuel efficiency is calculated and evaluated by thinning out to four. Then, the value of the DPR, which is the evaluation result, is transmitted to the computer of each of the driving characteristic adjusting means described above (S106). Each computer receives DPR from display computer 10
Is received (S107), and a control map for mode control prepared in advance is changed according to the DPR value (S108). In the present embodiment, the control map change by the electronic control throttle computer 44 and the PS computer 46 among the driving characteristic adjusting computers will be described as an example.
This will be described below.

FIG. 8 shows a control map of the electronic control throttle computer 44 using DPR as a parameter. The horizontal axis represents the accelerator pedal opening, and the vertical axis represents the throttle target opening. Then, as the DPR value increases, the value of the throttle target opening degree with respect to the pedal opening degree is sequentially set downward. This means that the more the DPR value is, the more the economy is of the traveling type, so that the target opening is set smaller even with the same pedal opening.

FIG. 9 shows a control map of the PS computer 46 using DPR as a parameter. The horizontal axis represents the vehicle speed, and the vertical axis represents the lightness of the steering. Then, as the DPR value increases, the lightness of the steering with respect to the vehicle speed is sequentially set upward. This means that as the value of DPR decreases, the vehicle is more power-driven, and therefore the steering becomes heavier and more stable at the same vehicle speed.

In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the control maps of the electronic control throttle computer 44 and the PS computer 46 are changed in accordance with the DPR.
Control maps of other computers can be set in the same manner. For example, in the case of the TRC computer 38 or the ABS computer 42, the reference vehicle speed can be set higher as the DPR value increases.

[0036]

As described above, according to the vehicle running characteristics changing apparatus of the present invention, various running characteristics adjusting means provided in the vehicle are automatically set in accordance with road conditions and driving characteristics, so that comfortable running can be achieved. There is an effect that enables.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall processing flowchart of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a reference fuel consumption calculation of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a reference fuel consumption calculation of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a reference throttle opening with respect to an engine speed in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a relationship between a power supply voltage and an invalid injection time according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of evaluation of driving characteristics (driving pleasure) of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing a control map of the electronically controlled throttle computer of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing a control map of the PS computer of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 display computer 12 GPS antenna 14 navigation receiver 16 geomagnetic sensor 18 vehicle speed sensor 20 wheel sensor 22 steering sensor 24 CD-ROM 30 EFI (registered trademark) computer 32 ECT computer 34 air suspension computer 36 4WS computer 38 TRC (registered trademark) computer 40 4WD computer 42 ABS computer 44 Electronic control throttle computer 46 PS computer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G08G 1/0969 F02D 29/02 F02D 45/00 326

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A navigation device for storing road information for guiding the traveling of a vehicle in advance, a current position detecting means for detecting a current position of the vehicle, and a navigation device for a planned road ahead of the current position of the vehicle. A reference fuel efficiency calculating means for calculating a reference fuel efficiency from the stored road attributes; an actual fuel efficiency calculating means for calculating a fuel efficiency when the vehicle actually travels on the planned road; and comparing the reference fuel efficiency with the actual fuel efficiency. Evaluation means for evaluating the driving characteristics of the vehicle driver, and control means for controlling driving characteristic adjustment means provided in the vehicle in advance in accordance with the evaluation result by the evaluation means. Change device.