JPH09159472A - Estimation device for gear position, prediction device for vehicle speed and navigation apparatus for moving body using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect a gear position by a method wherein a change, in terms of time, in the rotational speed of an engine detected from an alternator noise superposed on a power supply is stored temporarily, its change waveform is referred to and whether the gear position is changed or not is judged. SOLUTION: A noise detection part 20 is connected to a power supply 18 via a cigar plug 29 and a capacitor 28, it rectifies the output of an alternator 19 directly coupled to an engine, and a remaining AC portion which is taken out by a filter 30 is pulse-shaped by a binarization circuit 31 so as to be counted by a counter 32. A rotational-speed detection part 21 at an auxiliary computing part 8 always monitors its output, and a change, in terms of time, in the rotational speed is stored temporarily in a waveform storage part 23. A gear-position judgment part 24 refers to its change waveform, and it judges whether a change rate is larger than a definite reference value or not on the basis of a positive or a negative and whether the gear is shifted up or shifted down. A gear position which is found is stored in a gear-position memory 25. Therefore, a mechanical switch is not required, and a mounting operation becomes easy.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gear position estimating device for a moving body such as a vehicle, a vehicle speed predicting device, and a navigation device for a moving body using the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a navigation device is known as a device which is mounted on a moving body such as a vehicle and displays the position of the vehicle on a map of a display moment by moment to guide a road. It is being used. This type of navigation device is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 4-34082, and the basic function of this device is to detect the position of the vehicle on a map displayed on the display, and to move it when the vehicle moves. Detects the moving direction and moving distance,
Correspondingly, dots are entered on the map to sequentially display the vehicle position and the traveling locus.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing the configuration of such a general navigation device. This device uses GPS (Golbal Position) as a vehicle position measuring means.
Ionizing System) 2 and receives signals from a plurality of artificial satellites (not shown) via the antenna 3 to set the position of the own vehicle. Further, in consideration of the case where the receiver 2 cannot receive the signal, a vehicle speed sensor 5 is provided on the axle of the wheel 4 as an assisting means for self-contained navigation, and the output pulse from the sensor 5 is output to the vehicle speed pulse detecting section 6. The counter 7 counts, and the count value is processed by an auxiliary calculator 8 such as a microcomputer to obtain the vehicle speed and input it to the main calculator 9.

Further, the main arithmetic unit 9 is connected with a turning detecting means 10 such as a gyro and a geomagnetic sensor for detecting the turning motion of the vehicle when the vehicle turns, and a CD-ROM driving unit for reading map information. 11 is also connected. Further, a keyboard 12 for inputting a command for designating operation switching, a liquid crystal monitor 13 for displaying the captured map information and the position of the vehicle, and an intersection name and the like are voice-guided to the main arithmetic unit 9. The speakers 14 and the like are connected to each other.

In such a device, when the GPS 2 receives a signal from an artificial satellite and can normally perform positioning,
Most of the vehicle position is calculated using the data from GPS2, but if the vehicle enters a building, under a guard, a tunnel, etc. and cannot receive signals from satellites, it becomes impossible to perform positioning. Will not be able to obtain speed information or the like from GPS2. Therefore, in consideration of such a situation, the vehicle speed pulse detection section 6 counts the pulses from the vehicle speed sensor 5 to calculate the speed of the vehicle, and reports the calculation result to the main calculation section 9. . The main calculation unit 9 is G
The speed information from the vehicle speed pulse detector 6 is replaced with the speed information from the PS2, and the positioning is continued even in the tunnel or the like.

[0006]

By the way, in the above-mentioned structure, since the vehicle speed sensor 5 dedicated to the navigation device must be provided, this vehicle speed sensor 5 is required.
Not only was the cost of these parts increased, but also a cumbersome operation was required to install the navigation device. Note that it is conceivable to obtain the information from a speedometer or the like provided in the vehicle itself at the time of shipment, but this is not practical because it requires a more complicated mounting work.

In order to construct the navigation device, the vehicle speed must be obtained as described above, and the vehicle position and the traveling locus cannot be specified without the vehicle speed. As a method of obtaining the vehicle speed, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-2
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 53979 discloses a vehicle speed detection device that detects engine rotation speed and gear position, and also considers tire slip and the like. Since a mechanical switch means for closing the switch is used, the number of parts is increased and the cost is increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems and to solve them effectively. A first object of the present invention is to provide a gear position estimating device that can detect the gear position of a vehicle. Second of the present invention
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle speed prediction device that can easily detect the speed of the vehicle. A third object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device for a moving body using a vehicle speed prediction device.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first invention is a noise detector for detecting an alternator noise superimposed on a power source of a vehicle, and a rotation speed detector for detecting an engine rotation speed from an output of the noise detector. And a waveform storage unit for temporarily storing the temporal change of the rotation speed obtained by the detection unit, and a gear for determining whether or not the gear position is changed by referring to the change waveform of the waveform storage unit. The position determining unit is provided.

A second aspect of the invention is a vehicle speed predicting apparatus using the gear position estimating apparatus of the first aspect of the invention, wherein a vehicle position measuring means such as GPS and a vehicle movement obtained from the vehicle position measuring means. Coefficients corresponding to each gear position based on the speed, the gear position information output from the gear position measuring device, and the rotation speed obtained by the rotation speed detecting unit are tabulated into a table and stored as updateable coefficients. Storage part,
It is configured to include a vehicle speed predicting unit that obtains a vehicle moving speed by referring to the rotation speed and the coefficient of the coefficient storage unit when an output is not obtained from the vehicle position measuring means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a noise detecting section for detecting alternator noise superimposed on a vehicle power source, a rotational speed detecting section for detecting an engine rotational speed from an output of the noise detecting section, and a vehicle such as GPS. A position measuring unit, a speed storage unit that stores the output of the rotation speed detecting unit and the vehicle speed output from the own vehicle position measuring unit while updating them, a speed range of the vehicle, and the own vehicle position measuring unit performs positioning. A predicted vehicle speed storage unit that stores the engine speed range when possible, the engine speed range when the own vehicle position measuring means cannot measure, and the predicted vehicle speed in advance as a table, and the own vehicle position measuring means. And a predicted vehicle speed determination unit that determines a vehicle moving speed based on the table of the predicted vehicle speed storage unit and the output from the rotation speed detection unit when the output from the vehicle is not obtained. It is.

A fourth invention is the above vehicle speed predicting device,
A vehicle position measuring means such as GPS is provided, and the vehicle position is estimated based on the speed signal from the vehicle speed predicting device when the vehicle speed signal cannot be obtained from the vehicle position measuring means. Navigation device.

According to the first aspect of the invention, the noise detector detects the alternator noise superimposed on the power supply voltage, and the rotation speed detector determines the rotation speed of the engine based on this noise. The waveform storage unit temporarily stores the temporal change in the rotational speed, and based on the stored contents, the gear position determination unit causes the gear position determination unit to change when the change rate exceeds a predetermined value or the rotational speed reaches a predetermined value. It is determined that the gear position has changed when:

According to the second invention, the coefficient storage unit stores the accurate vehicle moving speed obtained from the own vehicle position measuring means, and the gear position information output from the gear position estimating device of the first invention. Coefficients calculated corresponding to each gear position based on the engine rotation speed obtained by the rotation speed detection unit used in the first invention are stored, and the output from the vehicle position measuring means is obtained. If not, the vehicle speed predicting unit can obtain the vehicle moving speed by referring to the engine rotation speed and the coefficient. The contents of the coefficient storage unit are updatable, and are reset when, for example, the vehicle type is changed, and a new coefficient is obtained by running.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the noise detecting section detects alternator noise superimposed on the power supply voltage of the vehicle, and the rotation speed detecting section detects the rotation speed of the engine based on the detection result. The speed storage unit stores the latest value for a certain period of time by storing the output value from the rotation speed detection unit and the vehicle speed output from the own vehicle position measuring unit while updating it, Further, the predicted vehicle speed storage unit stores in advance a table of a vehicle speed range, an engine rotation speed range when positioning is possible by the measuring means, an engine rotation speed range when positioning is not possible, and a predicted vehicle speed. Then, when the output from the measuring means is not obtained, the predictive vehicle determination unit obtains the vehicle moving speed based on the output from the table and the speed detection unit.

In addition to the predictive vehicle speed storage unit, a frequency predictive vehicle speed storage unit is provided in which the frequency when the vehicle speeds actually correspond to a plurality of predicted vehicle speeds, that is, the frequency is added, and the measuring means is provided. In the case where the frequency value (frequency) of the frequency predictive vehicle speed storage unit is not satisfied, the vehicle moving speed is obtained by referring to the predictive vehicle speed storage unit, and the frequency value is satisfied. When it is, the predicted vehicle speed storage unit for frequency is referred to and the predicted vehicle speed corresponding to the maximum frequency is determined as the vehicle moving speed.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, when the speed signal of the vehicle cannot be obtained from the vehicle position measuring means, the speed signal can be obtained from the vehicle speed predicting device and the vehicle position can be estimated based on the speed signal. it can. In this case, by providing turning detection means such as a gyro, it is possible to cope with the turning movement of the own vehicle.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a gear position estimating device, a vehicle speed predicting device and a navigation device for a mobile body using the same according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the vehicle speed predicting apparatus of the second invention defined in claim 2, since the gear position, the engine rotation speed, and the vehicle speed have a certain correlation, the own vehicle position measuring means such as GPS outputs a signal from the artificial satellite. When the GPS is normally received, the coefficient of the above correlation is estimated and stored in memory, and when the GPS cannot receive the signal normally, the estimated coefficient for each gear position is called and the engine is called. Then, the vehicle speed sensor is replaced by calculating the vehicle speed.

Regarding the above-mentioned estimation of the gear position, normally, it is conceivable that a sensor switch may be provided in the mission section to directly detect it, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-253979. Then, it leads to an increase in cost. Therefore, in the present invention, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
As shown in JP-A-1-123042, etc., alternator noise superimposed on the power source is counted to detect the engine rotation speed, and the gear position is estimated based on this. With this method, this work can be included in the power supply connection process included in the original installation process of the navigation device,
The complexity can be eliminated.

Regarding how to estimate the gear position based on the rotation speed of the engine, two types of transmission, a manual transmission (hereinafter referred to as MT) and an automatic transmission (hereinafter referred to as AT), are considered here, and as typical examples. Consider the case when the gear is upshifted or downshifted.

(1) Case of MT Vehicle FIG. 1 shows the characteristics of the engine rotation speed with respect to time of the MT vehicle, when the gear position is shifted up from P1 to P2. When the gear position is P1, the engine rotation speed is r0, but at the time of a gear change, the engine rotation speed falls to idling rotation speed ri, and after a time td, it changes to the P2 gear position and becomes the ru engine rotation speed. The gear position estimating device of the first invention constantly monitors the rotational speed of the engine and calculates the rate of change thereof. When the rotation speed changes from r0 to ri, the engine is temporarily released from the load, and therefore the rotation speed decreases at the same rate of change within a substantially constant time in any running pattern. This rate of change is greater than the rate of decrease in engine speed during deceleration during normal driving (due to the inertia of the vehicle body). Therefore, based on this rate of decrease, gearshift and deceleration during normal driving (with the clutch engaged) Can be distinguished.

Utilizing this property, when the engine rotation speed falls below the idling rotation speed ri, the time is traced back for a short time ti, and if the rate of change of this rotation speed is a predetermined value, for example, th or less. For example, you can recognize that the gear has been shifted. Furthermore, the rotation speed of the engine is ri
Wait for td time until the shift is completed from the time when it becomes the following, find the difference Δru between the rotational speeds before and after the gear shift, and if it is negative, the engine rotational speed after the shift is lower, so shift up. Recognize that. FIG. 2 shows the state when downshifted. The shift is detected as described above, and since the change Δrd in the rotation speed of the engine is positive, the rotation speed after the shift is higher than that before the shift, and it can be recognized that the shift is down. In this case, rd is the rotation speed after downshifting.

(2) In the case of an AT vehicle FIG. 3 shows the characteristics of the engine rotation speed with respect to the time of an AT vehicle, in which the gear position is shifted up from P1 to P2 (Reference: Automotive Engineering Complete 9 Automotive Engineering). Zensho-do Editorial Committee Sankaido p245-251). The rotation speed of the engine at the time of gear shift changes from r0 to ru as indicated by the solid line L1, but the gear position estimation device constantly monitors this engine rotation speed and calculates the rate of change thereof. Here, Q1 to Q5 are sampled to obtain the rate of change. A
In the case of the T car, the same change rate Δr can be obtained within a substantially constant time because the load is temporarily released in any driving pattern.
The rotation decreases at / Δt. This rate of change is larger than the rate of decrease of the engine rotation speed during deceleration of normal traveling (due to the inertia of the vehicle body) as indicated by the one-dot chain line L2 in FIG. The deceleration can be distinguished. That is, during gear shift, the rate of change is a certain value or more, and if the rate of change is negative, it can be recognized as upshift.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the characteristics of the engine rotation speed with respect to the time of the AT vehicle when downshifting. The detection of the gear shift is as described above, and since the rate of change Δt / Δr of the engine rotation speed is positive, it can be recognized that the shift is down. In this case, rd is the engine speed after the downshift. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a navigation device for a mobile body including a gear position estimation device and a vehicle speed prediction device of the present invention. The same parts as those of the device shown in FIG. 21 are designated by the same reference numerals. The navigation device 15 includes a vehicle position measuring unit that identifies the position of the vehicle, for example, the GPS 2, a gear position estimation device 16 that estimates the gear position, and a vehicle speed that predicts the vehicle speed when the GPS output cannot be obtained. It has a prediction device 17 and a main calculation unit 9 which controls the overall operation of the navigation device 15 and is composed of, for example, a microcomputer.

The vehicle is provided with a DC power source 18 and an alternator (AC generator) 19 for charging the DC power source 18, and alternator noise is superimposed on the voltage from the power source 18 during traveling. The gear position estimation device 16 includes a noise detection unit 20 that detects the alternator noise, a rotation speed detection unit 21 that detects the rotation speed of the engine from the output of the detection unit 20, and an engine obtained by the detection unit 21. The waveform storage unit 23, which is composed of, for example, a RAM, which temporarily stores the latest temporal change in the rotation speed of the gear, and a gear which determines whether or not the gear position has changed by referring to the stored change waveform. Mainly composed of the position determination unit 24,
The obtained gear position is stored in the gear position memory 25 including, for example, a RAM.

The vehicle speed predicting device 17 is a GPS device.
The coefficient obtained in correspondence with each gear position based on the vehicle moving speed from No. 2, the gear position information output from the gear position estimating device 16 and the engine rotation speed obtained by the rotation speed detecting unit 21. And a coefficient storage unit 26 including a RAM, which stores the table in an updatable manner,
It is mainly configured by a vehicle speed predicting section 26 that obtains by predicting the vehicle moving speed by referring to the rotation speed and the tabulated coefficient when the output from the GPS 2 cannot be obtained.
The rotation speed detection unit 21, the speed change detection unit 22, the gear position determination unit 23, and the vehicle speed prediction unit 27 are incorporated as a program in the auxiliary calculation unit 8 including a CPU and are processed by software.

The noise detecting section 20 includes a cigar plug 2
8 and a coupling capacitor 29 are connected to the power source 18, and the noise detecting unit 20 shapes the AC component remaining after rectifying the output of the alternator 19 directly connected to the engine into a pulse and counts this pulse. Specifically, it comprises a filter 30 for extracting the AC component, a binarization circuit 31 for binarizing the AC component thus taken out to generate a pulse, and a counter 32 for counting the output pulse. Such a noise detecting unit is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 51-123042 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-26.
Various types are disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2062.

Now, in such a configuration, in the rotation speed detecting section 21 of the auxiliary calculating section 8, the noise detecting section 20 is used.
The rotation speed of the engine is constantly monitored by counting the output of the counter 32, and the temporal change in the rotation speed obtained here is temporarily stored in the waveform storage unit 23. For example, the obtained rotation speed is sampled at a predetermined timing cycle defined by the timer 33, the values at that time are plotted, and sequentially stored in the waveform storage unit 23. In this case, only the latest plurality of sampling values required for obtaining the change in vehicle speed need to be temporarily stored, and old sampling values are sequentially erased. The storage state of the sampling value at this time is, for example, as shown in FIG.
4 to FIG. 4, the change waveform of the rotation speed is shown.

Then, the gear position determination unit refers to this change waveform and refers to a reference value with a constant change rate, for example, FIGS.
Is larger than the intermediate value tho or thd of the inclination between the straight line L1 and the straight line L2 in (in the case of an AT vehicle), whether or not the gear shift is made based on whether it is positive or negative, and if the gear shift is made, the shift is made Determine whether it is up or downshift. Further, in the case of the MT vehicle, when the rotation speed changes to some extent during the [ti + td] time in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rotation speed becomes smaller than the reference value ri indicating the idling rotation speed and is short. It is determined whether or not the gear shift is performed depending on whether or not the change rate corresponding to the tilt reference value th exists within the time ti.
In this case, at the time of shift up, the rotation speed continuously decreases (see FIG. 1), and at the time of shift down, the rotation speed increases (see FIG. 2). As a result of the determination, the obtained gear position is stored in the gear position memory 25.

Assuming that the gear position can be determined in this way,
Next, a case where the vehicle speed is obtained from this will be described.
FIG. 6 is a characteristic showing the relationship between the engine speed and the vehicle speed in the case of an MT vehicle (reference: JASO {(company)
Automotive Engineering Society} Standard Z003-90 [Form of automobile driving performance diagram]]. In the case of an MT vehicle, the engine shaft and the axle are directly connected to each other, and thus are represented by a straight line passing through the origin. Then, if the vehicle speed is obtained from the engine rotation speed r, the gear position, and the vehicle position measuring means such as GPS by the gear position estimation device, the point p which is the intersection with the gear straight line is obtained, and the inclination of the characteristic is v. / R (unit is km / h / rpm), and this is stored as a coefficient. After that, if the gear position and the engine rotation speed are known, this coefficient is called and the vehicle speed can be obtained by the following equation. Vehicle speed = coefficient of the gear position × engine rotation speed When the vehicle is an AT vehicle, the above characteristic becomes a curve, but the engine rotation speed may be divided to approximate a polygonal line. Later processing is MT
It is the same as when driving.

The coefficients a1 to a5 for the gear positions are stored in the coefficient storage unit 26 in a table as shown in FIG. 7, for example. The above-mentioned coefficient is determined by the gear ratio of the vehicle, the tire diameter, etc., and is different for each vehicle type, so it is necessary to learn by running. The CPU, which is the auxiliary calculation unit 8, calculates the coefficient in advance by the above-mentioned method and stores it in the coefficient storage unit 26 when the vehicle position measuring means such as GPS is effective during traveling, and the vehicle is hidden behind the building. If the vehicle speed cannot be detected by GPS after entering, the vehicle speed predicting unit 27 calls this coefficient, predicts the vehicle speed only by the engine rotation speed and the gear position, and reports the result to the main calculating unit 9. To do so. When the navigation device is newly installed or the vehicle type is changed, the table shown in FIG. 7 is cleared by resetting it, and the vehicle is run to obtain new coefficients and store them in the table. This is shown in FIG. In this example, the gear positions are obtained up to the third speed, but not up to the fourth and fifth speeds. In this way, when the coefficient is not yet obtained and the new gear position can be detected, the coefficient is calculated and written in the table.

If this coefficient table is stored in a non-volatile memory and is stored until it is reset, the coefficient once learned can be used continuously, so that the vehicle can be used even when starting in the shade of a building where there is no learning time. Velocity can be predicted, and it works without positioning failure. FIG. 9 shows an operation flow of the CPU (auxiliary calculation unit 8) of the gear position estimation device. When the navigation device is shipped or when the type of vehicle to be mounted is changed (S1), some flag is reset, and at that time, whether the gear is an MT vehicle or an AT vehicle is input with a key or the like (S2). After this, the flag is set and stored in the non-volatile memory so that it will not be input from the next time. Since this navigation routine is started when the navigation device is powered on and when the vehicle engine is started, the gear position is initialized to the first speed on the assumption that the vehicle will start at the first speed (S3).

In the case of an MT vehicle (the gear is, for example, 5th speed) (S4), the engine speed and its change rate are calculated (S5, S6), and the change rate is less than or equal to th (S7), that is, constant. When the rotation speed decreases below and the engine rotation speed reaches the idle rotation speed ri (S8), it is assumed that the gear has shifted and the engine rotation speed is obtained after the time td (S9) (S10). And Δr
If is a positive value, downshift is recognized, and if it is a negative value, upshift is recognized (S11). In the case of upshifting, if the fifth speed has already been reached, the gear position is not changed, and if the fourth speed or lower, the gear position is updated by one (S12, S1).
3). In the case of downshifting, the gear position is not changed if it is already in the first speed, and one gear position is updated if it is in the second speed or higher (S14, S15).

In the case of an AT vehicle (gear is, for example, 4th gear), similarly, the engine speed and its change rate are calculated (S16, S17), and if the change rate is less than or equal to thu (S1
8), the gear position is updated as the shift is up (S19,
S20), if it is thd or more (S21), the gear position is changed because the gear is downshifted (S22, S23). FIG.
0 shows an operation flow of the CPU (auxiliary calculation unit 8) of the vehicle speed prediction device.

The engine rotation speed (S31), the gear position obtained from the gear position estimating device are acquired (S32), and when GPS positioning is possible (S33), the vehicle speed data from the GPS is the main operation of the host CPU. Report to section 9 (S3
4). If the table of the coefficient storage unit 26 is not filled (S35), the coefficient is calculated from the above data (S36) and the table is created (S37). If the table was previously written and filled, leave it alone. When the GPS cannot be positioned (S33), the coefficient table of the coefficient storage unit 26 stored so far is referred to from the gear position (S38), and the engine speed is multiplied to this to predict the vehicle speed (S39). . Next, the predicted data is replaced with the vehicle speed from GPS and reported to the host CPU (S40).

As described above, according to the vehicle speed predicting apparatus of the present invention, the vehicle speed can be detected only by the work of pulling out the power from the vehicle, which is included in the original mounting work, and the number of mounting steps for pulling out the wire from the vehicle speed pulse sensor is reduced. it can.
Also, the cost increase of the vehicle speed sensor is eliminated. In addition, the vehicle speed sensor cannot often be installed later,
This device can be attached to such a vehicle type later, and the availability of the entire device is expanded. Dedicated sensors are generally used for the engine rotation speed and gear position, but in the present invention, they are completed by the power drawing operation, so there is no cost increase. Further, generally, the circuit amount of the noise detecting unit as shown in FIG. 5 is small, and the cost increase for this is very small. Further, since the coefficient of engine rotation speed-vehicle speed is learned for each gear position, the optimum coefficient for the vehicle type is obtained, and the vehicle speed can be predicted with high accuracy.

In the invention described above, the gear position is estimated and the vehicle speed is predicted based on the gear position as a method for obtaining the vehicle speed. However, the present invention is not limited to this. By continuously monitoring and storing the speed, the vehicle speed may be predicted even when the signal from the GPS cannot be obtained. The vehicle speed prediction device of the third invention is based on the above idea. That is, without using a vehicle speed sensor that has a problem such as an increase in cost, the vehicle speed is predicted from the engine speed by utilizing the fact that there is a certain degree of correlation between the engine speed and the vehicle speed. It is designed to replace the sensor.

The above correlation means that the known vehicle speed (immediately before the time when positioning is impossible) does not significantly change the vehicle speed thereafter, and if the engine speed increases, the vehicle speed increases. It shows basic vehicle characteristics such as a decrease in vehicle speed if it decreases. The relationship between the engine speed and the vehicle speed has a wide speed range as shown in FIG. 6, but the frequency that is frequently used is limited in consideration of the actual traveling pattern, and the gear position at that time is also determined. It turns out that can be roughly estimated. That is, the running state of the vehicle can be almost estimated from the vehicle speed and the engine rotation speed immediately before the time when positioning is impossible, and if the current engine rotation speed is known, the vehicle speed can be predicted assuming that the running state is continued.

FIG. 11 shows the position, speed and engine speed of the vehicle. Now, it is assumed that the vehicle m is at the position of x0 and that the central portion cannot be positioned under the guard or the like, that is, the positioning cannot be performed. The vehicle speed is v1 and the engine rotation speed e1 at the position x1 immediately before the positioning cannot be performed, and x2, v2, and e2 are immediately after the positioning cannot be performed, respectively. x
1, v1 can be obtained from GPS, but cannot be obtained when positioning is impossible, so v2 is predicted by e1 and e2. That is, the running state of the vehicle can be known from the known speed v1 and the engine rotation speed e1 at that time, and the change in the state can be predicted from the subsequent engine rotation speed e2.

For example, at the position of x1, v1 is 2-3 Km /
If h and e1 are idle rotations and v2 is also idle rotations, it can be predicted that the vehicle is stopped due to traffic jam, etc.
It can be set to 2 = 0 Km / h. If the vehicle speed can be predicted in this way, the unknown position x2 can be calculated from the predicted position v2 and the predicted position v2.
Can be predicted and positioning can be continued. In this example, although the vehicle has a linear motion, if the turning information is obtained by the turning detection means such as a gyro even if the vehicle turns, the position can be estimated in the same manner even if the GPS cannot perform positioning. When the vehicle reaches the position x4 where it can be positioned, x4, v
Since 4 is obtained, the value is adopted and positioning is continued.

FIG. 12 shows a table of concrete vehicle speed states. Here, the speed immediately before the time when the positioning becomes impossible is variously classified as vg1, vg2, ....
This speed value is obtained from GPS when positioning is possible. For example, a range of 0 to 10 km / h such as traffic congestion is applied to vg1, and 10 to 40 km / h such as city driving is applied to vg2. The following continues up to about 100 km / h. Here, the engine rotation speed is simply set to a certain range such as idle rotation ei0 and higher rotation speed er0. The subscript 0 indicates immediately before positioning is impossible,
1 indicates immediately after the positioning becomes impossible.

The state of the vehicle is predicted by three inputs of the vehicle speed, the engine rotation speed when positioning is possible, and the engine rotation speed when positioning is not possible, and a plurality of predicted vehicle speeds v1, v2, v3 are obtained. ... is applied. v1 is, for example, 0 km / h, v2 is 20 km / h, and v3 is vg1-1K.
m / h (previous value -1) and v4 are set to vg1Km / h (previous value hold) and the like. The state of the vehicle is attached to the right side of the table for reference. The speed table described above is stored in a semiconductor ROM or the like with preset values, and the table values are fixed. When the semiconductor ROM is used in this way, the table is simple and the memory amount can be made relatively small. Further, in order to improve the prediction accuracy of the vehicle speed, there is also a method of storing a past traveling pattern and outputting the vehicle speed having the highest frequency of the past vehicle speed.

As in the case shown in FIG. 12, the vehicle speed immediately before a certain sample, the engine rotation speed at that time, the current engine rotation speed, and the current vehicle speed are measured in advance.
The frequency distribution of the current vehicle speed at the time of the person's value is stored as a table. FIG. 13 shows the table. V in the figure
Symbols such as g1, ei0, and er0 are the same as those in FIG. Here, the velocity range is set to vr for simplification of description.
1, vr2, vr3, vr4 are classified into four types, and for example, vr1 has a certain range such as 0 to 20 Km / h. h1, h2, h3 ... Are the frequencies of the samples that fall within this velocity range. Actually, the speed range is 100km
There are many types up to over / h. For example, if the frequency h1 is the maximum frequency among the frequencies h1 to h4, the predicted vehicle speed vr1 is adopted and applied as 10 Km / h.

Since this table constantly rewrites the value of the frequency h during traveling, it is preferable to use a semiconductor RAM. In addition, the data sample for making this table is GPS
Is performed regardless of whether positioning is possible or not. By using such a speed table, past traveling patterns are reflected in the speed table, more realistic vehicle speed prediction can be performed, and prediction accuracy can be improved. FIG. 14 is a table when the two tables of FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are used together. The ROM table portion in the figure is the same as that in FIG. 12,
In the case of the table for calculating the frequency distribution of vehicle speeds, the predicted vehicle speeds output are replaced by the speeds vr1 and vr2 having the highest frequencies instead of v1 and v2. This is a RAM table that dynamically changes only this part.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a navigation device using the vehicle speed predicting device of the third invention. The same parts as those of the device shown in FIG. 5 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. The vehicle speed prediction device 34 according to the third aspect of the invention includes a noise detection unit 20 that detects alternator noise, a rotation speed detection unit 21 that detects the rotation speed of the engine from the output of the detection unit 20, and vehicle position measurement such as GPS. Means 2, speed storage unit 40 for storing the output of the measuring unit 2 and the rotation speed detection unit 21 while updating the latest output for a certain period, the speed range of the vehicle and the rotation speed range of the engine when GPS can measure the position. And a predicted vehicle speed storage unit 35 including, for example, a ROM that stores in advance a table of the engine rotation speed range and the predicted vehicle speed when GPS cannot determine the position, and the predicted vehicle speed storage unit 3 when no output is obtained from the GPS.
5 and a predicted vehicle speed determination unit 36 that predicts the moving speed of the vehicle based on the output from the rotation speed detection unit 21. The table shown in FIG. 12 is stored in advance in the predicted vehicle speed storage unit 35 including a ROM.

As a modified example, in addition to the predicted vehicle speed storage unit 35, a vehicle speed range, an engine rotation speed range when GPS positioning is possible, and an engine rotation speed range when GPS positioning is not possible Predicted vehicle speeds and the frequency (frequency) of actual vehicle speeds corresponding to these predicted vehicle speeds
And rewritable table are stored in a rewritable manner, for example, RA
The frequency predictive vehicle speed storage unit 37 may be provided which includes M or a memory in which RAM and ROM are combined.
The storage unit 37 stores the table as shown in FIG. 13 or FIG. In such a configuration, when only the predicted vehicle speed storage unit 35 is used as the predicted vehicle speed table, the auxiliary calculation unit 8 including the CPU constantly monitors the data from the GPS 2 as in the case of the above invention. When positioning is possible, this data is adopted, and data such as vehicle position and vehicle speed is reported to the main arithmetic unit 9 which is the host CPU. The latest data and the latest engine rotation speed from the rotation speed detection unit 21 are updated and stored in the speed storage unit 35 for a certain period.

If the GPS becomes unable to perform positioning, the vehicle speed data vg from the GPS immediately before the positioning becomes impossible and the immediately preceding engine rotation speed data ei0 or er0 from the speed storage section 40. At the same time as withdrawing these data, the current (immediately after) engine speed ei
1 or er1 is used as an input parameter of the predicted vehicle speed storage unit 35 to obtain the corresponding predicted vehicle speed v. Then, the calculated value is reported to the main calculation unit 9 as the vehicle speed. This prediction operation is performed until positioning by GPS becomes possible again, and when positioning becomes possible again, the vehicle speed data from GPS is returned to the main operation unit 9 as before.
Report to

Next, the operation when the estimated vehicle speed storage unit 35 and the frequency estimated vehicle speed storage unit 37 are provided together will be described. For example, the engine is started, and when the main power of the navigation device is turned on, the number of data samples filling the table is initialized. While running, the engine speed and vehicle speed are sampled as described above, but the number of samples is counted and if the number is less than a certain number, the frequency table is still insufficient because the parameter is insufficient and the reliability of the data is low. The estimated vehicle speed storage unit 37 is not used, and the estimated vehicle speed is obtained by referring to the estimated vehicle speed storage unit 35 having a fixed value. If the sampled number becomes a certain number or more while traveling, the parameter predictive vehicle speed storage unit 37 can be used assuming that the population parameter has become sufficiently large, and the reliability of the data is high. The speed is calculated by referring to the table of the frequency vehicle speed storage unit 37 to which the speed based on the frequency table created up to now is applied.

As described above, the above table reference is when the GPS cannot be positioned. Further, this table switching method is not limited to the above, and the table type may be displayed on the monitor and the table may be selected by the keyboard. The operation result of the predicted vehicle speed obtained as described above will be described based on FIGS. 16 to 18. As shown in FIG. 16, when the vehicle speed is constant, t1
Consider the case where the positioning could not be performed only during the time of, and the case where the positioning could not be performed during the time of t2 when the vehicle speed was accelerated.

Since the speed is constant during the time t1, and the engine rotation speed is constant both immediately before and after the time t1, the speed is judged to be constant without changing from the speed immediately before by the table. The speed and the predicted vehicle speed match. Since the vehicle is accelerating during the time t2, the engine speed immediately after the time t2 is larger than immediately before the time t2, and it is determined that the engine is accelerating by the table. Then, the predicted vehicle speed as indicated by the dotted line is obtained. When this is represented by a two-dimensional position, it becomes as shown in FIG. 17 at the time t1. In the figure, white circles indicate actual traveling positions, and black circles indicate predicted traveling positions.
During the time t1, the actual traveling positions P2 to P5 are
The predicted traveling positions of Pt2 to Pt5 match the actual traveling position. Further, at the time t2, as shown in FIG. 18, the predicted traveling positions Pt3 to Pt6 are set to have a higher speed than the actual traveling positions P2 to P8, so that the actual traveling positions are plotted before Pt7 to Pt9. Are plotted behind.

Here, the flow in the case of using the predicted vehicle speed storage unit 35 including, for example, a ROM will be described with reference to FIG. First, GPS data is input and captured (S51), and it is determined from this whether or not positioning is possible (S52). When the positioning is possible, the data from the GPS is used as the vehicle speed v (S53), and the speed v and the engine rotation speed e0 at this time are stored (S54). That is,
The latest data is constantly updated and stored in case the GPS positioning becomes impossible. At the same time, the previous GP
The vehicle speed v from S is reported to the host CPU (S5
5). When GPS positioning becomes impossible in S52, the engine rotation speed e1 immediately after that is measured and stored (S56), and a table ROM, that is, a prediction is made by three parameters of vg, e0, and e1. Vehicle speed storage unit 35
The predicted vehicle speed v is obtained by referring to (S57). The predicted vehicle speed thus obtained is used as the vehicle speed, and the host CPU
(S55).

FIG. 20 shows a flow when the predicted vehicle speed storage unit and the frequency-use predicted vehicle speed storage unit are used. In the illustrated example, since the frequency and the value of the sample value counter in the frequency table are finite, an overflow flag is provided to take a measure to return the sample value counter value to 0 when the sample value counter value reaches a certain number hm. In this flow, the engine rotation speed and the vehicle speed are sampled regardless of whether GPS positioning is possible or not, a vehicle speed frequency distribution table is created, and the number of samples is counted. That is, when starting, both the sample counter value and the overflow flag are set to "0" (S61), and then it is determined whether the sample counter value has reached a predetermined population value hm (S62). When the counter value reaches the predetermined population value hm, the table is filled and further sample data is unnecessary, so the overflow flag is set to "1" (S63) and the GPS output is input (S64).
Also, when the counter value has not reached the predetermined value hm,
The process shifts to S64 as it is.

Next, the frequency distribution table (predicted vehicle speed storage unit for frequency) 37 is entered, and the sample counter is incremented by 1 (S65). Then, it is determined whether the GPS can perform positioning (S66). If the positioning is possible, the data from the GPS is set as the vehicle speed v (S67), the engine rotation speed at that time is stored (S68), and the vehicle speed v is set. To the host CPU (S69). Then, next, the state of the overflow flag is judged (S70), and this is "0".
If so, the process directly returns to S62, and if "1", the sample counter value is set to zero (S71), and then the process returns to S62.
If GPS positioning is not possible in S66, the state of the overflow flag is next determined (S72). If this is "1", the RAM table has already been filled, so the frequency prediction vehicle speed storage unit 37 stores it. The predicted vehicle speed is obtained by referring to the RAM table (S73), and the predicted vehicle speed is calculated by the host PC.
Report to U (S69).

If the overflow flag is "0", it is then determined whether the sample counter value is larger than ho (ho <hm) (S74). Since it is completed to some extent, the predicted vehicle speed is obtained by referring to the RAM table in this case as well (S73). If the counter value is smaller than ho in S74, the RAM table is in an incomplete state for use, so the ROM table (predicted vehicle speed storage unit) 35
The predicted vehicle speed is obtained by referring to (S75). And
The calculated predicted vehicle speed is reported to the host CPU as the vehicle speed as described above (S69).

As described above, according to the vehicle speed predicting apparatus of the present invention, the vehicle speed can be detected only by the work of pulling out the power source from the vehicle, which is included in the original mounting work, and the number of mounting steps to be pulled out from the vehicle speed pulse sensor can be reduced. Also, the cost increase of the vehicle speed sensor is eliminated. In addition, the vehicle speed sensor cannot be attached later in many cases, and the present apparatus can be attached even in such a vehicle type, and the availability of the entire apparatus is expanded. When the table is referred to, for example, a storage unit including a ROM and a storage unit including, for example, a RAM, the past traveling pattern is reflected by the predicted vehicle speed in the ROM, which is a fixed value, and the predicted vehicle is more predicted. The speed accuracy can be increased.

[0056]

As described above, according to the gear position estimating device, the vehicle speed predicting device and the navigation device for a mobile body using the same of the present invention, the following excellent operational effects can be exhibited. it can. According to the gear position estimating device defined in claim 1, since the gear position is determined based on the alternator noise, the mechanical switch used conventionally becomes unnecessary, which not only contributes to cost reduction, but also The mounting operation can be easily performed. According to the vehicle speed predicting device defined in claim 2, the vehicle speed is predicted by referring to the gear position by referring to the gear position information from the estimating device. Therefore, the conventional vehicle speed sensor can be eliminated, and therefore the mounting process can be performed. The number can be reduced and the cost can be reduced. According to the vehicle speed predicting device defined in claim 3, the engine speed is obtained from the alternator noise, and the vehicle speed is predicted by referring to a storage unit that stores this and other parameters in a table in advance. Similarly to the apparatus of claim 2, the conventional vehicle speed sensor can be eliminated, so that the number of mounting steps can be reduced and the cost can be reduced. According to the navigation device defined in claim 5, since the vehicle speed predicting device is used, the mounting operation can be facilitated as a whole and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a graph showing a change in engine rotation speed when an MT vehicle is upshifted.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a change in engine rotation speed when an MT vehicle is downshifted.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a change in engine speed when an AT vehicle is upshifted.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a change in engine speed when an AT vehicle is downshifted.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a navigation device for a mobile body including a gear position estimation device and a vehicle speed prediction device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between engine speed and vehicle speed for each gear position.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a general relationship between a gear position and a coefficient.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a relationship between a gear position and an actual coefficient.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a gear position estimating step.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a vehicle speed prediction process of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state of vehicle position, speed, and engine rotation speed.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a table of specific vehicle speed states.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another table of specific vehicle speed states.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing still another table of specific vehicle speed states.

FIG. 15 is a book diagram showing a navigation device for a mobile body including a vehicle speed prediction device of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a graph showing changes in vehicle speed.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a relationship between an actual traveling position and a predicted traveling position of a vehicle.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a relationship between an actual traveling position and a predicted traveling position of a vehicle.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a vehicle speed prediction process when using a predicted vehicle speed storage unit.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a vehicle speed prediction process when the predicted vehicle speed storage unit and the frequency-use predicted vehicle speed storage unit are used.

FIG. 21 is a book diagram showing a conventional navigation device for a mobile body.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... GPS (vehicle position measuring means), 8 ... Auxiliary calculation unit, 9
... main calculation unit, 10 ... turning detection unit, 15 ... navigation device, 16 ... gear position estimation device, 17 ... vehicle speed prediction device, 18 ... power supply, 19 ... alternator, 20 ... noise detection unit, 21 ... rotation speed detection unit , 23 ... Waveform storage unit, 24
... Gear position determination unit, 25 ... Gear position memory, 26 ... Coefficient storage unit, 27 ... Vehicle speed prediction unit, 34 ... Vehicle speed prediction device,
35 ... Predicted vehicle speed storage unit, 36 ... Predicted vehicle speed determination unit, 37 ...
Predicted vehicle speed storage unit for frequency, 40 ... Speed storage unit, m ... Vehicle.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A noise detector for detecting alternator noise superimposed on a power supply of a vehicle, a rotation speed detector for detecting an engine rotation speed from an output of the noise detector, and the noise detector obtained by the detector. The present invention is characterized by including a waveform storage unit that temporarily stores a temporal change in rotational speed, and a gear position determination unit that determines whether or not the gear position has changed by referring to the change waveform of the waveform storage unit. Gear position estimating device. 2. A vehicle speed predicting apparatus using the gear position estimating apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein a vehicle position measuring means such as GPS, a vehicle moving speed obtained from the vehicle position measuring means, and the gear. A coefficient storage unit that stores updatable and stores a table of coefficients obtained corresponding to each gear position based on the gear position information output from the position measurement device and the rotation speed obtained by the rotation speed detection unit, A vehicle speed predicting apparatus comprising: a vehicle speed predicting unit that obtains a vehicle moving speed by referring to the rotational speed and the coefficient of the coefficient storing unit when an output is not obtained from the vehicle position measuring unit. 3. A noise detecting section for detecting alternator noise superimposed on a vehicle power supply, and a rotational speed detecting section for detecting the rotational speed of the engine from the output of the noise detecting section.
A vehicle position measuring means such as GPS, a speed storage section for updating and storing the output of the rotation speed detecting section and the vehicle speed output from the vehicle position measuring means, a vehicle speed range, and the vehicle A predicted vehicle speed storage unit that stores in advance a table of the engine rotation speed range when the position measurement means can measure the position, the engine rotation speed range when the vehicle position measurement means cannot measure the position, and the predicted vehicle speed; A predicted vehicle speed determination unit that determines a vehicle moving speed based on the table of the predicted vehicle speed storage unit and the output from the rotation speed detection unit when the output from the vehicle position measuring means is not obtained. Vehicle speed prediction device. 4. A vehicle speed range, an engine rotation speed range when the own vehicle position measuring means can measure, an engine rotation speed range when the own vehicle position measuring means cannot measure, and a plurality of predicted vehicle speeds. And the frequency of the actual vehicle speed corresponding to the plurality of predicted vehicle speeds are rewritably tabulated and stored, and the predicted vehicle speed storage unit for frequency is provided. When no output is obtained from the means, when the frequency value of the predicted vehicle speed storage unit is not satisfied, the vehicle moving speed is obtained by referring to the predicted vehicle speed storage unit, and when the frequency value is satisfied, the frequency 4. The vehicle speed prediction device according to claim 3, wherein the predicted vehicle speed corresponding to the maximum frequency is determined as the vehicle moving speed by referring to the predicted vehicle speed storage unit. 5. A vehicle speed predicting device as defined in claim 2 and a vehicle position measuring means such as GPS, and the vehicle when the vehicle speed signal cannot be obtained from the vehicle position measuring means. A navigation device for a moving body, characterized in that the position of the vehicle is estimated based on a speed signal from a speed prediction device. 6. The vehicle has a turning detection means for the own vehicle, and when the speed signal of the vehicle from the own vehicle position measuring means is not obtained, the own vehicle position is estimated by also referring to the output from the turning detection means. The navigation device for a mobile body according to claim 5, wherein the navigation device is configured as described above.