Patent Grant
11845437
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0122897, filed on Sep. 23, 2020, which application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a vehicle and an acceleration limit control method therefor.
A speed limit control system is a driving safety system for limiting acceleration so that the driving speed does not exceed the speed limit set by the driver in order to prevent speeding. A representative example of a speed limit control system is a manual speed limit assist (MSLA) system.
In general, because the MSLA system does not perform braking control for deceleration, a vehicle may accelerate above the set speed on a downhill road. Unlike a smart cruise control (SCC) system, the MSLA system does not take into account the relative position or the speed of a preceding vehicle, so the driver needs to keep an eye on the situation ahead.
Recently, a camera-based SLA (CSLA) system, which uses speed limit information recognized by a front camera, and an intelligent SLA (ISLA) system, which further uses speed limit information acquired by a navigation system, have been developed and used.
These speed limit control systems are defined in “SAFETY ASSIST-SPEED ASSIST SYSTEM-SPEED CONTROL FUNCTION”, among the evaluation items of The European New Car Assessment Programme (EURO NCAP).
When the speed limit control function is executed, acceleration needs to be taken into account. For example, the ACSF regulations require that lateral acceleration be controlled to be 3 m/s2 or less during autonomous driving or cruise control driving. This acceleration limit is very important, particularly when the vehicle is equipped with a car seat.
When a passenger is younger than 1 year old, it is recommended to keep the passenger in a rear-facing car seat. However, the rear-facing car seat is more problematic when the vehicle accelerates than when the vehicle brakes. Therefore, some models of vehicles are equipped with a function of applying scaling so as to reduce an input value of the accelerator pedal in consideration of the direction that a car seat faces, thereby minimizing jerking of the passenger's body due to acceleration.
However, when the vehicle travels on a sloped road, the scaling control may be problematic. For example, when a vehicle in which a rear-facing car seat is installed is traveling on an uphill road, the body of a passenger in the rear-facing car seat is in the state of leaning in the forward direction of the passenger due to the slope, regardless of the driving state of the vehicle. In this state, if scaling control is performed, it may be possible to minimize additional leaning of the passenger's body due to acceleration, but the vehicle may not be capable of climbing the uphill road, and may roll back. Further, when the vehicle rolls back, the driver may depress the accelerator pedal more deeply, and thus the scaling effect may be degraded.
The present disclosure relates to a vehicle and an acceleration limit control method therefor. Particular embodiments relate to a vehicle capable of controlling acceleration in consideration of a passenger and an acceleration limit control method therefor.
Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention provide a vehicle and an acceleration limit control method therefor that substantially obviate one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a vehicle capable of providing a further improved acceleration limit control function and an acceleration limit control method therefor.
Particularly, embodiments of the present invention provide a vehicle capable of implementing acceleration limit control in consideration of information on a passenger and a slope and an acceleration limit control method therefor.
However, the objects to be accomplished by the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned herein will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.
In order to accomplish the above and other objects, an acceleration limit control method according to an embodiment of the present invention may include determining an acceleration limit based on information on a passenger, determining disturbance torque due to a disturbance, other than a drive source of a vehicle, based on at least a slope, determining a torque limit satisfying the acceleration limit based on the disturbance torque, and determining output torque generated by the drive source based on the torque limit and the driver's requested torque.
In addition, a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a torque calculation controller, configured to determine an acceleration limit based on information on a passenger, to determine disturbance torque due to a disturbance, other than a drive source of a vehicle, based on at least a slope, to determine a torque limit satisfying the acceleration limit based on the disturbance torque, and to determine output torque generated by the drive source based on the torque limit and the driver's requested torque, and a drive source controller, configured to control the drive source based on the output torque.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily carry out the embodiments. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms, and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description of the present invention will be omitted for clarity. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.
Throughout the specification, when a certain part “includes” or “comprises” a certain component, this indicates that other components are not excluded, and may be further included unless otherwise noted. The same reference numerals used throughout the specification refer to the same constituent elements.
An embodiment of the present invention proposes a method of limiting the acceleration of a vehicle when the vehicle travels on an uphill road so as to prevent the vehicle from rolling back and to reduce the influence of acceleration according to the drive force of the vehicle on the body of a passenger based on information on the passenger.
Here, the information on the passenger may include information pertaining to whether the passenger is an infant, and may further include information on the direction that a car seat faces when the passenger is an infant.
Referring to
Here, the drive source may be an internal combustion engine, a motor, or a combination of an internal combustion engine and a motor (for use in, for example, a hybrid electric vehicle). However, this is merely given by way of example, and the embodiments are not limited to any specific type of drive source, so long as the drive source is capable of transmitting drive force to wheels.
In addition, the drive source controller 200 may be an engine management system (EMS), a motor control unit (MCU), or the like depending on the drive source.
In addition, the torque calculation controller 100 may be implemented as a controller that is provided physically separate from the drive source controller 200, or may be implemented as a function of the drive source controller 200. In the case of being implemented as a separate controller, the torque calculation controller 100 may be implemented as an upper-level controller relative to the drive source controller 200, like a hybrid control unit (HCU) or a vehicle control unit (VCU) of an electric vehicle. However, the embodiments are not limited thereto.
Hereinafter, the configuration of the torque calculation controller 100 will be described.
The torque calculation controller 100 may include an acceleration limit calculator 110, a disturbance torque calculator 120, and an acceleration torque limit calculator 130.
The acceleration limit calculator 110 may calculate an acceleration limit alimit, which is a target of the acceleration limit control, based on a slope θ.
The disturbance torque calculator 120 may calculate disturbance torque {circumflex over (d)}({circumflex over (m)}) based on the slope θ, the vehicle speed v, and the drive torque Twheel. Here, the disturbance torque {circumflex over (d)}({circumflex over (m)}) may be torque caused by a disturbance that affects the acceleration of the vehicle, other than the drive torque Twheel output from the drive source and transmitted to the wheels.
The acceleration torque limit calculator 130 may calculate a torque limit Tlimiter, by which the acceleration of the vehicle is limited within the acceleration limit alimit calculated by the acceleration limit calculator 110, based on the disturbance torque {circumflex over (d)}({circumflex over (m)}) calculated by the disturbance torque calculator 120.
The torque calculation controller 100 may output the smaller value between the driver's requested torque Tdemand and the torque limit Tlimiter calculated by the acceleration torque limit calculator 130 as correction torque. Here, the correction torque may be input to the disturbance torque calculator 120 as the drive torque Twheel.
Hereinafter, the components of the torque calculation controller 100 will be described in more detail with reference to
In order to effectively limit acceleration of the vehicle, it is required to calculate the disturbance torque {circumflex over (d)}({circumflex over (m)}). The disturbance torque {circumflex over (d)}({circumflex over (m)}) may be calculated in two methods. The first method is to use rolling resistance and air resistance, which are set in advance according to the vehicle speed v through coasting tests, in a feedforward manner. In some cases, however, this method may be inaccurate because it is not capable of fully applying weather conditions, such as wind, rainfall, or snowfall, a change in the mass of the vehicle, the pneumatic pressure of the tire, and road conditions. The second method is to obtain disturbance in real time in a feedback manner using the output and the acceleration of the vehicle based on the law of force and acceleration (Fwhl−d=ma). Here, the acceleration may be obtained by differentiating the vehicle speed, and an estimated mass {circumflex over (m)} may be used as the mass of the vehicle. The estimated mass {circumflex over (m)} may be estimated by adding a predetermined weight to the weight of an empty vehicle, or may be estimated based on the law of force and acceleration on a flat road, but the embodiments are not limited thereto. In such a feedback method, when the vehicle speed is 0, the output and the disturbance are measured to be the same value, so an error may be large in a stopped state and in a low-speed state.
In order to solve the problems with the two methods described above, the disturbance torque calculator 120 according to the embodiment determines the proportion of the feedforward method and the proportion of the feedback method according to the vehicle speed, and sums the results obtained through the two methods.
To this end, the disturbance torque calculator 120 may include a first gain calculator 121 having a map defining a first gain value k corresponding to the vehicle speed v, a feedback calculator 122 configured to calculate feedback disturbance {circumflex over (d)}FB, a feedforward calculator 123 configured to calculate feedforward disturbance {circumflex over (d)}FF, and a low-pass filter 124.
For example, when the vehicle is stopped, the disturbance torque calculator 120 may set the first gain value k to 0, and may use only the feedforward disturbance {circumflex over (d)}FF. Thereafter, as the vehicle speed increases, the first gain value k may increase to 1 according to the map of the first gain calculator 121, and the proportion of the feedback disturbance {circumflex over (d)}FF may increase. That is, the map of the first gain calculator 121 may have a form in which the first gain value k is 0 when the vehicle is stopped (i.e. when the vehicle speed is 0), increases with an increase in the vehicle speed, and reaches 1 when the vehicle speed reaches a predetermined level or more.
At this time, since the feedforward disturbance {circumflex over (d)}FF is mainly used at a low speed, a disturbance value defined in advance in the form of a map with respect to the slope θ through testing in consideration of climbing/descending resistance and rolling resistance, rather than air resistance, may be used. Accordingly, when starting to travel on an uphill road, the acceleration of the vehicle may be effectively limited by appropriately compensating for disturbance.
The low-pass filter 124 may prevent a sudden change in disturbance torque from being transmitted to the acceleration torque limit calculator 130.
Referring to
If the estimated mass {circumflex over (m)} is accurate and there is no disturbance, the vehicle may be capable of accelerating to the acceleration limit alimit when the acceleration torque is output. However, since a disturbance is present in practice and the estimated mass {circumflex over (m)} may be different from the actual mass, it is difficult for the vehicle to accelerate to the set acceleration limit. In order to solve this problem, the acceleration torque is compensated with the disturbance torque {circumflex over (d)}({circumflex over (m)}). Accordingly, the vehicle is capable of accelerating to the set acceleration limit alimit irrespective of disturbance or an error in the estimated mass m.
Since the acceleration torque limit calculator 130 calculates the acceleration torque limit Tlimiter by compensating the acceleration torque with the disturbance torque, the torque calculation controller 100 may select the minimum value MIN between the amount of operation of the accelerator pedal by the driver, i.e., the driver's requested torque Tdemand, corresponding to the value of an accelerator pedal position sensor (APS), and the acceleration torque limit Tlimiter to output final correction torque.
Accordingly, the torque is limited only when the vehicle accelerates above the set acceleration limit alimit according to the driver's requested torque Tdemand, making it possible to effectively limit acceleration while preventing the vehicle from rolling back on an uphill road.
The acceleration limit calculator 110 according to the embodiment may determine the acceleration limit alimit according to the slope θ in a manner of referring to a table established in advance with respect to the slope θ (for example, through testing). Alternatively, as shown in
Specifically, when the vehicle travels on an uphill road, an infant seated in a rear-facing car seat is influenced simultaneously by the acceleration of the vehicle and the acceleration of gravity g sin θ, and thus the acceleration limit calculator 110 may calculate the acceleration limit based thereon. For example, the maximum acceleration limit that can be obtained in consideration of the acceleration limit alimit,flat, which is set in consideration of the influence of the acceleration on the infant on a flat road, and the slope θ is “alimit,flat−g sin θ”. At this time, in order to secure the acceleration of the vehicle and perception of the driver with respect to climbing of the vehicle, compensation may be performed by multiplying the influence of the acceleration of gravity by the second gain k′. In this case, k′ may have a value ranging from 0 to 1. Alternatively, k′ may be determined through testing for each vehicle model (e.g., ranging from 0.2 to 0.8), or may be set by the user through a user setting menu (USM). However, the embodiments are not limited thereto.
The calculated acceleration limit alimit may be finally determined by selecting the saturation value (i.e. MAX) between the “alimit,flat−g sin θ” value and the minimum value alimit,min preset to prevent rollback and secure acceleration performance. For example, the preset minimum value alimit,min may range from 0.5 to 2 m/s2, but the embodiments are not limited thereto.
The torque calculation process will be described below with reference to
Referring to
The acceleration torque limit calculator 130 may calculate an acceleration torque limit Tlimiter based on the acceleration limit alimit and disturbance torque {circumflex over (d)}({circumflex over (m)}) calculated by the disturbance torque calculator 120 (S560).
The torque calculation controller 100 outputs the smaller value between the driver's requested torque Tdemand and an acceleration torque limit Tlimiter. When the driver's requested torque Tdemand is greater than the acceleration torque limit Tlimiter (Yes in S570), the acceleration torque limit Tlimiter may be finally output to the drive source controller 200 (S580). On the other hand, when the driver's requested torque Tdemand is not greater than the acceleration torque limit Tlimiter, the driver's requested torque Tdemand may be finally output (S590).
Meanwhile, when the infant assist function is not activated (No in S510), or when the infant assist function is activated (Yes in S510) but when the rear-facing setting is not selected (No in S520), the driver's requested torque Tdemand may be the output torque of the drive source (S590).
Alternatively, when the infant assist function and the rear-facing setting are applied (Yes in S510 and Yes in S520) but when the acceleration limit control function is not activated (No in S530), scaling may be performed on rear-facing-based requested torque (S540). The specific process of performing the rear-facing-based requested torque scaling will be described later with reference to
Referring to
In addition, in the state in which the acceleration limit control function according to the embodiment is applied, when the vehicle descends a downhill road, the flat-road-based acceleration limit alimit,flat may be applied as it is, but when the vehicle climbs an uphill road, the acceleration limit may be reduced by “g sin θ”.
As described above, when the acceleration limit control function, rather than APS scale correction, is implemented to limit acceleration, it is possible to prevent rollback of the vehicle and excessive operation of the APS by the driver, thus effectively protecting an infant.
Meanwhile, in the above-described embodiments, the infant assist function, the orientation of the car seat, and the degree of correction of the acceleration limit may be set and changed through manipulation of predetermined menus by the user. This will be described with reference to
The upper diagram in
As shown in the lower diagram in
Hereinafter, various modifications of torque calculation controllers according to other embodiments of the present invention, which are configured differently from the torque calculation controller shown in
Referring to
Referring to
In the case of a 9-month-old infant, the weight of the head accounts for 25% of the total body weight on average. In the case of a female adult, the weight of the head accounts for only 6% of the total body weight. That is, as the age in months of an infant increases, the proportion of total weight accounted for by the head decreases, and the neck bones become harder. Therefore, it can be seen that the lower the age in months of an infant, the greater the influence of acceleration on the infant. Thus, the acceleration limit calculator 110-2 may receive information on the infant's age in months, weight, and height, and may further enhance correction of the acceleration when the values included in the received information are smaller.
Referring to
After a vehicle is manufactured, a certain period of driving is required so that components of the vehicle are settled properly and engaged portions thereof operate smoothly. Therefore, the initial driving greatly influences the lifespan and the performance of a new vehicle, and it is essential to break in a new vehicle. According to the manual, it is recommended to avoid sudden acceleration and deceleration before having traveled a total distance of 1000 km and to drive a new vehicle at a number of revolutions per minute of an engine ranging from 2000 to 4000 rpm in order to break in the new vehicle. In addition to not driving the vehicle engine at a high rpm, it is recommended to smoothly increase and decrease the rpm of the engine and to drive the vehicle engine over the entire rpm range, rather than at a fixed rpm. A method of setting an acceleration limit according to the total trip distance may be used for a break-in mode. For example, the acceleration limit calculator 110-3 may further enhance correction of the acceleration when the total trip distance is shorter.
Referring to
In the case in which the driver is a beginner or drives a new vehicle, the driver may feel a greater than expected sense of acceleration due to improper operation until the driver gets used to the accelerator pedal. In order to prevent this, the acceleration may be limited according to the speed of the vehicle based on a value manually set by the driver or a value preset by the vehicle manufacturer. For example, the acceleration limit calculator 110-4 may further enhance correction of the acceleration when the speed of the vehicle is lower.
Referring to
For example, after the preceding vehicle starts as a traffic light turns from red to green, when the distance to the preceding vehicle is long, the acceleration limit calculator 110-5 may reduce correction of the acceleration limit in order to maintain a smooth traffic situation. On the other hand, when the distance to the preceding vehicle is short, the acceleration limit calculator 110-5 may enhance correction of the acceleration limit.
As another example, a fixed acceleration limit value may be applied without an acceleration limit calculator. For example, in the case of a rental car, which is shared by many unspecified persons, many users have little or no sense of ownership over a rental car, and thus drive the vehicle roughly, for example, accelerate suddenly, which leads to deterioration in the performance of the vehicle. In this case, it is possible to increase the lifespan of the vehicle by setting an acceleration limit. The acceleration limit may be directly set by a shared car service provider, or may be set based on a value recommended by a vehicle manufacturer.
Meanwhile, the acceleration limit control process according to the embodiments described so far may be temporarily inactivated depending on a situation. For example, an emergency light lighting situation, a turn indicator lighting situation, a blind spot warning output situation, a shock detection situation, or a sports mode operation situation corresponds to an emergency situation, an overtaking situation, or a situation requiring high drive force. In this situation, the acceleration limit control process may be inactivated.
Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented as code that can be written on a computer-readable recording medium and thus read by a computer system. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that may be read by a computer system are stored. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include a Hard Disk Drive (HDD), a Solid-State Disk (SSD), a Silicon Disk Drive (SDD), Read-Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), Compact Disk ROM (CD-ROM), a magnetic tape, a floppy disc, and an optical data storage.
As is apparent from the above description, the vehicle according to at least one embodiment of the present invention configured as described above is capable of more effectively providing an acceleration limit control function.
Particularly, embodiments of the present invention are capable of controlling acceleration so as to minimize a bad influence of the acceleration on the body of a passenger in consideration of information on the passenger and a slope.
However, the effects achievable through embodiments of the invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned herein will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the above description.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention set forth herein. Accordingly, the above detailed description is not intended to be construed to limit the invention in any aspect and is to be considered by way of example. The scope of the invention should be determined by reasonable interpretation of the appended claims and all equivalent modifications made without departing from the invention should be included in the following claims.
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