Patent Application
20200369261
The present invention relates to a control method for a vehicle, a vehicle system, and a vehicle controller controlling a vehicle posture.
Conventionally, a technique (for example, a sideslip prevention device) of controlling behavior of a vehicle for safety at the time when the behavior of the vehicle becomes unstable due to a slip or the like has been known. More specifically, a technique of detecting that the behavior such as understeer or oversteer occurs to the vehicle during cornering of the vehicle or the like and applying appropriate deceleration to wheels in order to prevent the understeer or the oversteer has been known.
Meanwhile, a vehicle motion controller has been known. Instead of the control to improve the safety in such a travel condition that the behavior of the vehicle becomes unstable as described above, the vehicle motion controller adjusts the deceleration during cornering so that a series of operations (braking, turning of a steering wheel, acceleration, returning of the steering wheel, and the like) by a driver during cornering of the vehicle in a normal travel condition becomes natural and stable.
Furthermore, a vehicle behavior controller has been proposed. The vehicle behavior controller reduces generated torque by an engine or a motor according to a yaw-rate related amount (for example, yaw acceleration) that corresponds to the steering operation by the driver, so as to promptly generate the deceleration on the vehicle at the time when the driver starts the steering operation (for example, PTL 1). According to this controller, turnability of the vehicle at an initial stage of entry to a curve is improved, and responsiveness to the turning operation of the steering wheel (that is, steering stability) is improved. As a result, it is possible to realize control for a vehicle posture that meets the driver's intention. Hereinafter, such control will appropriately be referred to as “vehicle posture control”.
PTL 1: Japanese Patent No. 6112304
In the vehicle posture control as described above, such a vehicle posture that a vehicle front portion in a space of a vehicle body (a portion above suspensions) is lowered is assumed when the deceleration is added to the vehicle in response to the turning operation of the steering wheel. In this way, vehicle turning performance is improved. However, in the conventional vehicle posture control, there is a case where the vehicle turning performance cannot be improved by the vehicle posture control when the vehicle is decelerated. A reason therefor is as follows.
During the deceleration of the vehicle, the vehicle front portion in the space of the vehicle body is brought into a lowered state (a state where a lowered amount of the vehicle front portion is larger than that of a vehicle rear portion) in comparison with a time when the vehicle travels at a constant speed or a time when the vehicle is accelerated. In this state, rigidity of suspensions in the vehicle front portion, that is, rigidity of compression of springs in the suspensions is increased. Accordingly, during the deceleration of the vehicle, each of the springs of the suspensions in the vehicle front portion is already in a compressed state. Thus, in the case where the vehicle posture control is executed in this state, the vehicle front portion is not sufficiently lowered when the deceleration is added by such control. As a result, there is a case where the vehicle turning performance cannot sufficiently be improved.
The present invention has been made to solve the problem of the above-described related art and therefore has a purpose of appropriately securing an improvement effect on vehicle turning performance by vehicle posture control during deceleration of a vehicle in a control method for a vehicle, a vehicle system, and a vehicle controller executing the vehicle posture control for adding the deceleration to the vehicle when a turning operation of a steering system is performed.
In order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention is a control method for a vehicle having: a wheel; a generator that is driven by this wheel to generate regenerative power; a suspension that includes an elastic member; and a steering angle sensor that detects a steering angle of a steering system. The control method for the vehicle has: a step of determining whether a turning operation of the steering system is performed on the basis of the steering angle that is detected by the steering angle sensor; a step of causing the generator to generate the regenerative power and adding deceleration to the vehicle so as to control a vehicle posture when it is determined that the turning operation of the steering system is performed; and a step of increasing the deceleration, which is added to the vehicle in order to control the vehicle posture, to be higher when the deceleration generated on the vehicle has a first value than when the deceleration generated on the vehicle has a second value that is lower than the first value.
In the present invention that is configured as described above, when the turning operation of the steering system is performed, the deceleration is added to the vehicle so as to control the vehicle posture, that is, vehicle posture control is executed. In addition, in the invention of the present application, the deceleration, which is added to the vehicle in the vehicle posture control, is increased to be higher when the deceleration (expressed by an absolute value. The same applies as follows.) generated on the vehicle has the first value than when the deceleration generated on the vehicle has the second value that is lower than the first value. Accordingly, it is possible to promptly generate a yaw rate on the vehicle at initiation of the turning operation of the steering system by solving insufficiency of lowering of a vehicle front portion at the time when the deceleration is added by the vehicle posture control during the deceleration of the vehicle. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately secure an improvement effect on vehicle turning performance by the vehicle posture control during the deceleration of the vehicle.
In another aspect, in order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention is a control method for a vehicle having: a wheel; a braking device that adds a braking force to this wheel; a suspension that includes an elastic member; and a steering angle sensor that detects a steering angle of a steering system. The control method for the vehicle has: a step of determining whether a turning operation of the steering system is performed on the basis of the steering angle that is detected by the steering angle sensor; a step of adding the braking force by the braking device and adding deceleration to the vehicle so as to control a vehicle posture when it is determined that the turning operation of the steering system is performed; and a step of increasing the deceleration, which is added to the vehicle in order to control the vehicle posture, to be higher when the deceleration generated on the vehicle has a first value than when the deceleration generated on the vehicle has a second value that is lower than the first value.
Also with the present invention that is configured as described above, it is possible to appropriately secure the vehicle turning performance by the vehicle posture control during the deceleration of the vehicle.
Preferably, the present invention further includes a step of increasing the deceleration, which is added to the vehicle in order to control the vehicle posture, to be higher when a depression amount of a brake pedal in the vehicle has a first value than when the depression amount of the brake pedal has a second value that is smaller than the first value.
There is a correlation between the depression amount of the brake pedal and the deceleration generated on the vehicle. More specifically, the deceleration generated on the vehicle is increased with an increase in the depression amount of the brake pedal. Therefore, according to the above present invention, it is possible to appropriately set the deceleration, which is added in the vehicle posture control, according to the deceleration corresponding to the depression amount of the brake pedal.
Preferably, the present invention further includes a step of increasing the deceleration, which is added to the vehicle in order to control the vehicle posture, to be higher when a depression amount of an accelerator pedal in the vehicle is substantially 0 than when the depression amount of the accelerator pedal is not substantially 0.
When the depression amount of the accelerator pedal is substantially 0, the deceleration is generated on the vehicle. Therefore, according to the above present invention, it is possible to appropriately set the deceleration, which is added in the vehicle posture control, according to the deceleration that is generated at the time when the depression amount of the accelerator pedal is substantially 0.
Preferably, the present invention further includes a step of increasing the deceleration, which is added to the vehicle in order to control the vehicle posture, to be higher when a transmission of the vehicle is shifted to a deceleration side than when the transmission of the vehicle is not shifted to the deceleration side.
When the transmission is shifted to the deceleration side (that is, during down-shifting), the deceleration is generated on the vehicle. Therefore, according to the above present invention, it is possible to appropriately set the deceleration, which is added in the vehicle posture control, according to the deceleration generated at the time when the transmission is shifted to the deceleration side.
In another aspect, in order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention is a vehicle system that has: a wheel; a generator that is driven by this wheel to generate regenerative power; a suspension that includes an elastic member; a steering angle sensor that detects a steering angle of a steering system; and a processor. The processor is configured to: determine whether a turning operation of the steering system is performed on the basis of the steering angle that is detected by the steering angle sensor; cause the generator to generate the regenerative power and add deceleration to the vehicle so as to control a vehicle posture when it is determined that the turning operation of the steering system is performed; and increase the deceleration, which is added to the vehicle in order to control the vehicle posture, to be higher when the deceleration generated on the vehicle has a first value than when the deceleration generated on the vehicle has a second value that is lower than the first value.
In another aspect, in order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention is a vehicle system that has: a wheel; a braking device that adds a braking force to this wheel; a suspension that includes an elastic member; a steering angle sensor that detects a steering angle of a steering system; and a processor. The processor is configured to: determine whether a turning operation of the steering system is performed on the basis of the steering angle that is detected by the steering angle sensor; add the braking force by the braking device and add deceleration to the vehicle so as to control a vehicle posture when it is determined that the turning operation of the steering system is performed; and increase the deceleration, which is added to the vehicle in order to control the vehicle posture, to be higher when the deceleration generated on the vehicle has a first value than when the deceleration generated on the vehicle has a second value that is lower than the first value.
In another aspect, in order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention is a vehicle controller having a suspension that includes an elastic member, and has vehicle posture control means that adds deceleration to the vehicle so as to control a vehicle posture when a turning operation of a steering system is performed. This vehicle posture control means increases the deceleration, which is added to the vehicle in order to control the vehicle posture, to be higher when the deceleration generated on the vehicle has a first value than when the deceleration generated on the vehicle has a second value that is lower than the first value.
Also with the vehicle system and the vehicle controller according to the present invention that is configured as described above, it is possible to appropriately secure the vehicle turning performance by the vehicle posture control during the deceleration of the vehicle.
According to the present invention, in the control method for the vehicle, the vehicle system, and the vehicle controller executing the vehicle posture control for adding the deceleration to the vehicle when the turning operation of the steering system is performed, it is possible to appropriately secure the improvement effect on the vehicle turning performance by such control during the deceleration of the vehicle.
A description will hereinafter be made on a vehicle controller according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, a description will be made on a first embodiment of the present invention. First, a description will be made on a system configuration of a vehicle, on which a vehicle controller according to the first embodiment of the present invention is mounted, with reference to
In
The vehicle 1 includes: a steering system (a steering wheel 6 and the like) for steering the vehicle 1; a steering angle sensor 8 that detects a rotation angle of a steering column (not illustrated) coupled to the steering wheel 6 in this steering system; an accelerator operation amount sensor that detects an accelerator pedal depression amount corresponding to an operation amount of an accelerator pedal; a brake depression amount sensor 11 that detects a depression amount of a brake pedal; a vehicle speed sensor 12 that detects a vehicle speed; and an acceleration sensor 13 that detects acceleration (also including deceleration) generated on the vehicle 1. Each of these sensors outputs a detection value to the controller 14. This controller 14 is configured to include a power-train control module (PCM) and the like, for example. Furthermore, each of the wheels of the vehicle 1 is suspended to a vehicle body via a suspension 30 that includes an elastic member (typically, a spring), a suspension arm, and the like.
The vehicle 1 further includes a brake control system 18 that supplies a brake hydraulic pressure to a brake caliper in a brake system (a braking device) 16 provided to each of the wheels. The brake control system 18 includes: a hydraulic pump 20 that generates the brake hydraulic pressure required to generate a braking force in the brake system 16 provided to each of the wheels; a valve unit 22 (more specifically, a solenoid valve) that is provided in a hydraulic pressure supply line to the brake system 16 for each of the wheels and controls the hydraulic pressure to be supplied from the hydraulic pump 20 to the brake system 16 for each of the wheels; and a hydraulic pressure sensor 24 that detects the hydraulic pressure supplied from the hydraulic pump 20 to the brake system 16 for each of the wheels. For example, the hydraulic pressure sensor 24 is arranged in a connected portion between each of the valve units 22 and the hydraulic pressure supply line on a downstream side thereof, detects the hydraulic pressure on the downstream side of each of the valve units 22, and outputs a detection value to the controller 14.
Next, a description will be made on an electric configuration of the vehicle controller according to the first embodiment of the present invention with reference to
The controller 14 (the vehicle controller) according to this embodiment controls the motor generator 4 and the brake control system 18 on the basis of detection signals that are output by various sensors for detecting an operation state of the vehicle 1 in addition to detection signals of the above-described sensors 8, 10, 11, 12, 13. More specifically, when the vehicle 1 is driven, the controller 14 calculates target torque (drive torque) to be applied to the vehicle 1, and outputs a control signal to the inverter 3 such that the motor generator 4 generates this target torque. Meanwhile, when the vehicle 1 brakes, the controller 14 calculates target regenerative torque to be applied to the vehicle 1, and outputs a control signal to the inverter 3 such that the motor generator 4 generates this target regenerative torque. Alternatively, when the vehicle 1 brakes, instead of using such regenerative torque or in addition to use of the regenerative torque, the controller 14 may calculate a target braking force to be applied to the vehicle 1, and may output a control signal to the brake control system 18 so as to generate this target braking force. In this case, the controller 14 causes the brake system 16 to generate a desired braking force by controlling the hydraulic pump 20 and the valve units 22 in the brake control system 18.
The controller 14 (the same applies to the brake control system 18) is constructed of a computer that includes: one or more processors; various programs (including a basic control program such as an OS and an application program that is activated on the OS to implement a particular function), each of which is run interpretatively on the processor; and internal memory such as ROM and RAM for storing the programs and various types of data.
Although a detail will be described later, the controller 14 corresponds to the vehicle controller according to the present invention. The controller 14 also functions as the vehicle posture control means according to the present invention. Furthermore, a system that at least includes the controller 14, the wheels (the front wheels 2 and rear wheels), the motor generator 4, the steering angle sensor 8, and the suspensions 30 corresponds to the vehicle system according to the present invention.
Next, a description will be made on vehicle posture control according to the first embodiment of the present invention. First, a description will be made on an overall flow of vehicle posture control processing that is executed by the vehicle controller according to the first embodiment of the present invention with reference to
When an ignition of the vehicle 1 is turned on and the electric power is supplied to the vehicle controller, the vehicle posture control processing in
When the vehicle posture control processing is initiated, in step S1, the controller 14 acquires various types of sensor information on the operation state of the vehicle 1. More specifically, the controller 14 acquires the detection signals that are output by the above-described various sensors as the information on the operation state. The detection signals include the steering angle detected by the steering angle sensor 8, the accelerator pedal depression amount (the accelerator pedal operation amount) detected by the accelerator operation amount sensor 10, the brake pedal depression amount detected by the brake depression amount sensor 11, the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 12, and the like.
Next, in step S2, the controller 14 sets target deceleration to be added to the vehicle 1 on the basis of the operation state of the vehicle 1 that is acquired in step S1. Typically, the controller 14 sets the target deceleration on the basis of the brake pedal depression amount. Here, a description will be made on one example of a method for setting the target deceleration according to the embodiment of the present invention with reference to
Next, in step S3, the controller 14 sets basic target regenerative torque of the motor generator 4 so as to generate the target deceleration set in step S2.
In parallel with the processing in steps S2 and S3, in step S4, the controller 14 executes additional deceleration setting processing and determines a torque reduction amount on the basis of a steering speed of the steering system. The torque reduction amount is required to control a vehicle posture by generating the deceleration on the vehicle 1. A detailed description on this additional deceleration setting processing will be made later.
Next, in step S5, the controller 14 determines final target regenerative torque on the basis of the basic target regenerative torque determined in step S3 and the torque reduction amount determined in step S4. More specifically, the controller 14 sets a value that is acquired by adding the torque reduction amount to the basic target regenerative torque as the final target regenerative torque (in principle, the basic target regenerative torque and the torque reduction amount are expressed by positive values). That is, the controller 14 increases the regenerative torque (braking torque) that is applied to the vehicle 1. In the case where the torque reduction amount is not determined (that is, in the case where the torque reduction amount is 0) in step S4, the controller 14 adopts the basic target regenerative torque as is as the final target regenerative torque.
Next, in step S6, the controller 14 sets a command value for the inverter 3 (an inverter command value) so as to generate the final target regenerative torque determined in step S5. That is, the controller 14 sets the inverter command value (a control signal) that causes the motor generator 4 to generate the final target regenerative torque. Then, in step S7, the controller 14 outputs the inverter command value, which is set in step S6, to the inverter 3. After this step S7, the controller 14 terminates the vehicle posture control processing.
Next, a description will be made on the additional deceleration setting processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention with reference to
When the additional deceleration setting processing in
As a result, if the turning operation is currently performed (step S21: Yes), the processing proceeds to step S22. Then, the controller 14 calculates the steering speed on the basis of the steering angle that is acquired from the steering angle sensor 8 in step S1 of the vehicle posture control processing illustrated in
Next, in step S23, the controller 14 determines whether the steering speed is equal to or higher than a specified threshold S1. As a result, if the steering speed is equal to or higher than the threshold S1 (step S23: Yes), the processing proceeds step S24, and the controller 14 sets the additional deceleration on the basis of the steering speed. This additional deceleration is deceleration that should be added to the vehicle 1 according to a steering operation in order to control the vehicle posture along with a driver's intention.
More specifically, the controller 14 sets the additional deceleration that corresponds to the steering speed calculated in step S22 on the basis of the relationship between the additional deceleration and the steering speed illustrated in the map in
On the other hand, in the case where the steering speed is equal to or higher than the threshold S1, the additional deceleration that corresponds to this steering speed gradually approximates a specified upper limit value Dmax along with an increase in the steering speed. That is, as the steering speed is increased, the additional deceleration is increased, and an increase rate of an increase amount thereof is reduced. This upper limit value Dmax is set to the deceleration of such a magnitude that the driver does not consider that control intervention occurs even when the deceleration is added to the vehicle 1 according to the steering operation (for example, 0.5 m/s2≈0.05 G). Furthermore, in the case where the steering speed is equal to or higher than a threshold S2 that is higher than the threshold S1, the additional deceleration is maintained at the upper limit value Dmax.
Next, in step S25, the controller 14 corrects the additional deceleration set in step S24 by the additional deceleration gain that corresponds to the deceleration (vehicle deceleration) generated on the vehicle 1. More specifically, on the basis of the map illustrated in
In
In step S25, the controller 14 refers to
Next, in step S26, the controller 14 determines the torque reduction amount on the basis of the additional deceleration that is corrected in step S25. More specifically, the controller 14 determines a torque amount that is required to generate the additional deceleration by an increase in the regenerative torque from the motor generator 4. After step S26, the controller 14 terminates the additional deceleration setting processing, and the processing returns to a main routine.
Meanwhile, in step S21, if the turning operation of the steering wheel 6 is not currently performed (step S21: No), or in step S23, if the steering speed is lower than the threshold S1 (step S23: No), the controller 14 terminates the additional deceleration setting processing without setting the additional deceleration, and the processing returns to the main routine. In this case, the torque reduction amount becomes 0.
In the above step S25, the additional deceleration, which is set on the basis of the steering speed, is corrected by the additional deceleration gain corresponding to the vehicle deceleration. In another example, the additional deceleration may be set on the basis of the steering speed and the vehicle deceleration without making the correction using the additional deceleration gain. For example, a map defining the additional deceleration that should be set with respect to the steering speed and the vehicle deceleration may be prepared. Then, by using such a map, the additional deceleration that corresponds to the current steering speed and the current vehicle deceleration may be set.
Next, a description will be made on operational effects of the vehicle controller according to the first embodiment of the present invention with reference to
In
A description will herein be made on the changes in the various parameters related to the vehicle posture control by using two examples that are a first example and a second example. More specifically, in each of
In a situation as described above, as illustrated in FIG. 8(c), the turning operation of the steering wheel 6 is performed from time t11. In this case, in a period from the time t11 to time t12, as illustrated in
As described in the section of “Technical Problem”, during the deceleration of the vehicle, a vehicle front portion in a space of a vehicle body is brought into a lowered state (a state where a lowered amount of the vehicle front portion is larger than that of a vehicle rear portion) in comparison with a time when the vehicle travels at a constant speed or a time when the vehicle is accelerated. In this state, rigidity of the suspensions 30 in the vehicle front portion, that is, rigidity of compression of the springs in the suspensions 30 is increased. Accordingly, during the deceleration of the vehicle, each of the springs of the suspensions 30 in the vehicle front portion is already in a compressed state. Thus, in the case where the vehicle posture control is executed in this state, the vehicle front portion tends not to be sufficiently lowered when the deceleration is added by such control. That is, since the springs of the suspensions 30 in the vehicle front portion are in the compressed states during the deceleration of the vehicle, a large force is required to compress each of the springs in comparison with a state where the springs are not compressed (the time when the vehicle travels at the constant speed or the when the vehicle is accelerated). Thus, it is desired to increase the additional deceleration in the vehicle posture control.
For the above reason, in this embodiment, the controller 14 increases the additional deceleration (the absolute value) during the deceleration of the vehicle. In particular, in this embodiment, the controller 14 makes the correction using the additional deceleration gain such that the additional deceleration (the absolute value) is increased with the increase in the vehicle deceleration (see
As it has been described so far, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to promptly generate the yaw rate on the vehicle 1 at the initiation of the turning operation of the steering wheel 6 by solving the insufficiency of lowering of the vehicle front portion at the time when the deceleration is added by the vehicle posture control during the deceleration of the vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately secure an improvement effect on the vehicle turning performance by the vehicle posture control during the deceleration of the vehicle.
A description will hereinafter be made on modified examples of the first embodiment described above.
In the above embodiment, in an entire region of the vehicle deceleration, the additional deceleration gain is increased with the increase in the vehicle deceleration (see
In the above-described embodiment, the additional deceleration that is used in the vehicle posture control is set on the basis of the vehicle deceleration (the target deceleration determined in step S2 of
In yet another example, instead of using the vehicle deceleration as described above or in addition to use the vehicle deceleration, the additional deceleration may be set on the basis of the accelerator pedal depression amount detected by the accelerator operation amount sensor 10 (the accelerator pedal operation amount). In this example, the additional deceleration (the absolute value) only needs to become larger when the accelerator pedal depression amount is substantially 0 than when the accelerator pedal depression amount is equal to or larger than 0. In addition, in the case where the vehicle 1 as an EV vehicle is configured that the motor generator 4 generates the regenerative power when the accelerator pedal depression amount is substantially 0 and that a regeneration amount at this time can be changed, the additional deceleration may be set according to this regeneration amount. For example, in the case where the vehicle 1 is configured to be able to select one mode of plural regeneration modes (a high regeneration mode, a low regeneration mode, and the like), the additional deceleration may be set according to the selected regeneration mode.
Next, a description will be made on a second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment described above, the example in which the present invention is applied to the vehicle 1 (the EV vehicle) that is driven by the motor generator 4 has been described. In the second embodiment, the present invention is applied to a general vehicle that is driven by an engine. In addition, in the first embodiment, in the vehicle posture control, the motor generator 4 generates the regenerative power such that the additional deceleration is generated on the vehicle 1 (see
Hereinafter, a description on a similar configuration (including the control and the processing) to that in the first embodiment will appropriately be omitted. That is, the configuration that will not particularly be described is the same as that in the first embodiment.
Next,
In step S33, the controller 14 sets a basic target braking force by the brake system 16 so as to generate the target deceleration set in step S32.
In parallel with the processing in steps S32 and S33, in step S34, the controller 14 executes the additional deceleration setting processing (see
Next, in step S35, the controller 14 determines a final target braking force on the basis of the basic target braking force determined in step S33 and the torque reduction amount determined in step S34. More specifically, the controller 14 sets a value that is acquired by subtracting the torque reduction amount (a positive value) from the basic target braking force (a negative value) as the final target braking force (a negative value). That is, the controller 14 increases the braking force that is applied to the vehicle 1a. In the case where the torque reduction amount is not determined (that is, in the case where the torque reduction amount is 0) in step S34, the controller 14 adopts the basic target braking force as is as the final target braking force.
Next, in step S36, the controller 14 sets command values for the hydraulic pump 20 and the valve units 22 of the brake control system 18 so as to generate the final target braking force determined in step S35. That is, the controller 14 sets the command values (control signals) for the hydraulic pump 20 and the valve units 22 that cause the brake system 16 to generate the final target braking force. Then, in step S37, the controller 14 outputs the command values, which are set in step S36, to the hydraulic pump 20 and the valve units 22. After this step S37, the controller 14 terminates the vehicle posture control processing.
Next, a description will be made on operational effects of the vehicle controller according to the second embodiment of the present invention with reference to
In
As it is apparent from
In the case where the vehicle 1a is equipped with the transmission (an automatic transmission) 33 as in the second embodiment, the additional deceleration, which is applied in the vehicle posture control, may be set according to gear shifting in the transmission 33. More specifically, when the transmission 33 is shifted to a deceleration side (only needs to be detected by a range sensor or the like), that is, during shift-down of the transmission 33, the additional deceleration (the absolute value), which is applied in the vehicle posture control, only needs to be increased.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-025657 | Feb 2018 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2019/005270 | 2/14/2019 | WO | 00 |
