Patent Grant
10974706
This application is a U.S. National Stage Application which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/JP2016/061179, filed Apr. 5, 2016, which claims the foreign priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Japanese patent application No. 2015-082309, filed Apr. 14, 2015, the entire disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference as a part of this application.
The present invention relates to a vehicle orientation control device designed to stabilize vehicle orientation by properly allocating the braking and driving force to be applied to left and right front wheels and left and right rear wheels all employed in an automotive vehicle with a four wheel drive system, i.e., in a four wheel drive vehicle.
The conventional vehicle orientation control device is so designed as to determine a target yaw rate from various state quantities of the automotive vehicle such as vehicle speed and/or steering angle, then generating a target yaw moment on the basis of the deviation between the target yaw rate and an actual yaw rate, and applying a necessary braking and driving force to each of the left and right front and rear wheels in order to realize the target yaw moment. By so doing, the stabilized vehicle behavior can be secured. In this respect, see Patent Document 1 referred to below.
The four wheel drive vehicle is also known which control is made based on the deviation between the target yaw rate and the actual yaw rate to thereby change the ratios of distribution of the driving force to the front wheels and the rear wheels, respectively, to enable the actual yaw rate to coincide with or approximate to the target yaw rate. For example, the technique in which, in the event that the actual yaw rate is higher than the target yaw rate, the torque distribution to the front wheel side is increased, but in the event that the actual yaw rate is lower than the target yaw rate, the torque distribution to the rear wheel side is increased, is known. In this respect, see Patent Document 2 referred to below.
In an automotive vehicle, such as an automotive vehicle with a four wheel independent drive system, in which front and rear driving forces are separately controllable, or an automotive vehicle in which the driving force to all of the four wheels can be distributed, if the front and rear driving forces necessitated to enable the target yaw moment based on the deviation between the target yaw rate and the actual yaw rate, such as employed in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 referred to above, are distributed to the front and rear wheels on the basis of the deviation between the target yaw rate and the actual yaw rate such as employed in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 referred to above, the distribution of the driving forces to the front wheel and the rear wheel changes when the sign of the actual yaw rate inverts. For this reason, the torques on the front and rear wheels may change discontinuously and, therefore, there is a possibility that the vehicle driver may have a sense of discomfort.
In view of the foregoing, the present invention has an essential object to provide a vehicle orientation control device for use in a four wheel drive vehicle of a type in which the braking and driving force are individually applied to each of the four wheels, which device is capable of stabilizing the vehicle orientation without allowing the vehicle driver to have a sense of discomfort.
Hereinafter, for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the present invention, the following description is made with the use of reference symbols used in the description of an embodiment of the present invention.
A vehicle orientation control device 24 of the present invention is a vehicle orientation control device provided in a vehicle control device 10 configured to control a four wheel drive vehicle equipped with a braking and driving force generating unit 4 designed to individually apply braking and driving force to each of front left and right wheels 3 and 3 and rear left and right wheels 2 and 2, which device 24 includes:
a standard yaw rate calculating unit 25 configured to determine a standard yaw rate from a vehicle speed and a steering angle;
a yaw rate sensor 22 configured to detect an actual yaw rate of the automotive vehicle;
a target yaw moment calculating unit 26 configured to calculate a target yaw moment on the basis of a yaw rate deviation between the standard yaw rate, determined by the standard yaw rate calculating unit 25, and the actual yaw rate, detected by the yaw rate sensor 22;
a braking and driving force commanding unit 15 configured to generate a command input torque of the braking and driving force to be distributed to each of the wheels 3 and 2 on the basis of state quantities outputted respectively from operating units 17 and 18 of the braking and driving force; and
a yaw moment control unit 27 configured to add a yaw moment control torque, which is necessary to realize the target yaw moment calculated by the target yaw moment calculating unit 26, to the command input torque of the braking and driving force generated by the braking and driving force commanding unit 15.
The yaw moment control unit 27 referred to above includes an allocation ratio varying unit 27a for continuously changing a front and rear allocation ratio of the yaw moment control torque to be distributed to the front and rear wheels 3 and 2 in dependence on the actual yaw rate, which is determined or detected as discussed above, in the event that the actual yaw rate, which has been detected by the yaw rate sensor 22, is within a predetermined region in which positive and negative of the sign change to each other. The meaning of the braking and driving force contains a braking force or a driving force. The meaning of the braking and driving acceleration contains a braking acceleration or a driving acceleration.
The predetermined region referred above is determined by, for example, results of tests and/or simulations conducted separately.
According to the construction referred to above, the target yaw moment calculating unit 26 referred to above calculates the target yaw moment Mt on the basis of the yaw rate deviation Δγ between the determined standard yaw rate and the detected actual yaw rate. The yaw moment control unit 27 referred to above adds the yaw moment control torque, which is necessary to realize the calculated target yaw moment Mt, to the command input torque of the braking and driving force generated by the braking and driving force commanding unit 15.
The allocation ratio varying unit 27a of the yaw moment control unit 27 referred to above is operable to continuously change the front and rear allocation ratios of the yaw moment control torque to be distributed to the front and rear wheels 3 and 2 in dependence on the actual yaw rate γ, detected as hereinabove described, in the event that the actual yaw rate γ so detected is within the predetermined region (−γ2≤γ≤γ1) in which positive and negative of the sign invert. When the sign of the actual yaw rate γ inverts in the way as discussed above, the front and rear allocation ratios of the yaw rate moment control torques to be distributed to the front and rear wheels 3 and 2 change continuously and, therefore, the vehicle orientation can be stabilized without allowing the vehicle driver to have a sense of discomfort. Also, by setting and adjusting parameters of the front and rear allocation ratios in dependence on the vehicle characteristics, the front and rear acceleration rates and other factors, the response of the yaw rate can be improved. It is to be noted that the term “continuously” referred to hereinbefore and hereinafter is intended to encompass not only a linear change, but also a quadric curve or the like in which the front and rear allocation ratio changes differentiably.
The yaw moment control unit 27 referred to above may be so designed as to operate;
to add the yaw moment control torque, which is necessary to realize the target yaw moment, only to the front wheel 3 in response to the command input torque from the braking and driving force commanding unit 15 in the event that the target yaw moment referred to above is negative and the actual yaw rate is higher than the preset yaw rate γ1 (wherein γ1>0), and
to add the yaw moment control torque, which is necessary to realize the target yaw moment, only to the rear wheel 2 in response to the command input torque from the braking and driving force commanding unit 15 in the event that the target yaw moment referred to above is negative and the actual yaw rate is lower than the separately preset yaw rate −γ2 (wherein γ2>0), which is preset separately of the preset yaw rate γ1.
The yaw moment control unit 27 referred to above, when generating a right-hand yaw moment, determines the occurrence of an over steering when the target yaw moment is negative (with Mt<0) and the actual yaw rate is high than the yaw rate γ1 (wherein γ1>0), and then adds the yaw moment control torque only to the front wheel 3 in response to the command input torque. Accordingly, the vehicle orientation can be stabilized during the occurrence of the over steering with the vehicle being steered clockwise. The yaw moment control unit 27, when generating the right-hand yaw moment, determines the occurrence of an under steering, when the actual yaw rate is lower than the yaw rate −γ2 (wherein γ2>0), and then adds the yaw moment control torque only to the rear wheel 2 in response to the command input torque. Accordingly, the vehicle orientation can be stabilized during the under steering with the vehicle being steered clockwise.
The yaw moment control unit 27 referred to above may be so designed that as to operate;
to add the yaw moment control torque, which is necessary to realize the target yaw moment, only to the rear wheel 2 in response to the command input torque from the braking and driving force commanding unit 15 in the event that the target yaw moment referred to above is positive and the actual yaw rate referred to above is higher than the preset yaw rate γ2 (wherein γ2>0), and
to add the yaw moment control torque, which is necessary to realize the target yaw moment, only to the front wheel 3 in response to the command input torque from the braking and driving force commanding unit 15 in the event that the target yaw moment referred to above is positive and the actual yaw rate referred to above is lower than the separately preset yaw rate −γ1 (wherein γ1>0), which is preset separately of the preset yaw rate γ2.
The yaw moment control unit 27 referred to above, when generating a left hand yaw moment, determines the occurrence of an under steering when the target yaw moment is positive (wherein Mt>0) and the actual yaw rate is high than the yaw rate γ2 (wherein γ2>0), and then adds the yaw moment control torque only to the rear wheel 2 in response to the command input torque. Accordingly, the vehicle orientation can be stabilized during the occurrence of the under steering with the vehicle being steered counterclockwise. The yaw moment control unit 27 referred to above, when generating the left hand yaw moment, determines the occurrence of an over steering when the actual yaw rate is lower than the yaw rate −γ1 (wherein γ1>0), and then adds the yaw moment control torque only to the front wheel 3 in response to the command input torque. Accordingly, the vehicle orientation can be stabilized during the occurrence of the over steering with the vehicle being steered counterclockwise.
The yaw moment control unit 27 referred to above may be so designed as to be operated such that the yaw rate γ1 is set to be higher than the yaw rate γ2. Respective preset yaw rate values γ1 and γ2 are determined and set in dependence on vehicle characteristics such as the position of the center of gravity of the automotive vehicle, cornering power and/or other factors. In such case, during the straight run at which the actual yaw rate approximates to zero, the front and rear allocation ratio of the braking and driving force for the rear wheel 2 can be increased to a value higher than that for the front wheel 3. Accordingly, the tendency of understeering at the period from the straight run to the start of steering can be suppressed and the response of the yaw rate can be improved.
Provision of a front and rear acceleration sensor 23 for detecting the front and rear acceleration of the automotive vehicle discussed above may be made and the yaw moment control unit 27 may be so designed that the yaw rate γ1 is increased and the yaw rate γ2 is decreased, with increase of the front and rear acceleration detected by the front and rear acceleration sensor 23. In this case, as the acceleration with which the automotive vehicle forward driven increases, the yaw rate γ1 is increased and the yaw rate γ2 is lowered. In other words, the yaw rates γ1 and −γ2 are increased while the yaw rates γ2 and −γ1 are lowered, thereby increasing the front and rear allocation ratio of the braking and driving force for the rear wheel 2. By so doing, influences which are brought about by lowering of the grip force with decrease of the load on the front wheel 3 can be reduced and, hence, the vehicle behavior can be stabilized.
The yaw moment control unit 27 referred to hereinabove may be so designed that:
the yaw moment control unit adds the yaw moment control torque, necessary to realize the target yaw moment, to a contra-wheel which is on the side opposite to a wheel of interest with respect to the front and rear, but on the same side of the wheel of interest with respect to the left and right, in the event that the yaw moment control torque necessary to realize the target yaw moment in the wheel of interest has a sign different from that of the command input torque from the braking and driving force commanding unit on the contra-wheel;
and wherein, when the sum of the command input torque, from the braking and driving force commanding unit 15, and the yaw moment control torque, required to realize the target yaw moment, does not exceed over zero, the value thereof is rendered to be a braking and driving force (command output torque) to be distributed to such contra-wheel;
and, when the sum of the command input torque, from the braking and driving force commanding unit 15, and the yaw moment control torque, required to realize the target yaw moment, exceeds over zero, the braking and driving force (command output torque) to be distributed to such contra-wheel is rendered to be zero and the increment over zero is added to the wheel of interest.
According to the above construction, the magnitude of the absolute value of the torque of the contra-wheel on the side opposite to wheel of interest, to which the yaw moment control torque is applied, with respect to the front and rear, can be lowered. Accordingly, the vehicle characteristics such as understeering and oversteering can be reduced.
Any combination of at least two constructions, disclosed in the appended claims and/or the specification and/or the accompanying drawings should be construed as included within the scope of the present invention. In particular, any combination of two or more of the appended claims should be equally construed as included within the scope of the present invention.
In any event, the present invention will become more clearly understood from the following description of embodiments thereof, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the embodiments and the drawings are given only for the purpose of illustration and explanation, and are not to be taken as limiting the scope of the present invention in any way whatsoever, which scope is to be determined by the appended claims. In the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals are used to denote like parts throughout the several views, and:
A vehicle orientation control device designed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with particular reference to
Each of the motors 4 forms, for example, an in-wheel motor drive device IWM in the practice of the embodiment herein referred to. As shown in
A control system will now be described with particular reference to
As shown in
Each of the inverter devices 12 converts a direct electric power of a battery, not shown, to an alternating electric power necessary to drive the motors 4, includes a control section (not shown) for controlling outputs thereof, and is operable to control the relevant motor 4 in accordance with the command output torque so distributed as discussed above. The inverter device 12 is, in the instance as shown, employed one for each of the front and rear pairs of the two motors 4, but each of the front and rear inverter devices 12 has a structure incorporated therein for controlling the left and right motors 4 and 4 individually. By way of example, each of the inverter devices 12 is of such a design that a power circuit section (not shown) such as a gate circuit for a switching element used to convert the direct power into the alternating power may be separately provided for the left and right motors 4 and 4 and that one control section alone of the power circuit section may control the left and right power control sections on the basis of, for example, time sharing. The inverter device 12 referred to above, which has been shown and described as employed in two, may be employed one for each motor 4 totaling to the use of the four inverter devices.
ECU 11 is made up of a computer having a processor such as a microcomputer, a read only memory (ROM) having a software program that can be executed by the processor, and various electronic circuits including, for example, a random access memory (RAM) and a Co-Processor. ECU 11 and each of the inverter devices 12 are connected with each other by means of an in-car communication network such as CAN (Control Area Network). ECU 11 referred to above is provided with an orientation control device main body 19. Also, the automotive vehicle is provided with a vehicle speed detecting unit 20 configured to detect the speed of movement of the automotive vehicle, a steering angle sensor 21 configured to detect the steering angle, a yaw rate sensor 22 configured to detect the yaw rate and a front and rear acceleration sensor 23 configured to detect the front and rear acceleration, as sensors 13. The steering angle sensor 21 may be employed in the form of a sensor configured to detect the steering angle of the steering portion such as a steering wheel not shown or a sensor configured to detect the steering angle from a steering device configured to steer the wheels 2 and 3 not shown.
The vehicle orientation control device 24 is made up of at least the orientation control device main body 19 and the sensors 13 referred to previously. The orientation control device main body 19 is made up of the braking and driving force commanding unit 15, the standard yaw rate calculating unit 25, the target yaw moment calculating unit 26 and the braking and driving force allocating unit 16.
In the formula set forth above, Gδr(0) represents the yaw rate gain constant, ωn represents the natural vibration frequency of the automotive vehicle, ζ represents the damping ratio, Tr represents the constant, and S represents Laplace Operator. It is to be noted that the counterclockwise yaw rate as viewed from top of the automobile vehicle is assumed to be positive. The vehicle speed is acquired from the vehicle speed detecting unit 20 and the steering angle is acquired from the steering angle sensor 21.
A target yaw moment calculating unit 26 is constituted by a software function on a processor (not shown) or a hardware circuit capable of calculating and outputting the target yaw moment Mt in the following manner, on the basis of the yaw rate deviation Δγ (Δγ=γref−γ) between the standard yaw rate γref, which is determined by the standard yaw rate calculating unit 25, and the actual yaw rate γ detected by the yaw rate sensor 22, specifically, with the use of, for example, the above described realization model or the multiplying function or hardware that is a coprocessor equivalent thereto.
Mt=KpΔγ
wherein Kp represents the gain constant.
The yaw moment calculating unit 26 calculates the yaw moment control torque TM for each of the wheels from the target yaw moment Mt, calculated as hereinabove, in the following manner. At the outset, from the target yaw moment Mt, the magnitude TM_ALL of the yaw moment control torques in the automotive vehicle in its entirety with the use of the following formula. It is to be noted that TM_ALL is the sum of the yaw moment control torques TM(TMi) for the whole of the wheels and positive and negative of the sign represents the direction of rotation. Here, the yaw moment control torque TMi (i=1, . . . , and 4) for each of the wheels is expressed by the following equations if the front wheel allocation ratio α defined by the front and rear allocation ratio (in which 0≤α≤1 and which the front and rear allocation ratio equal to 100:0 makes γ1 and the front and rear allocation ratio equal to 50:50 makes α 0.5) later is used:
TM1=TM2=TM_ALL×α/2 for each of the front wheels 3
TM3=TM4=TM_ALL×(1−α)/2 for each of the rear wheels 2.
wherein d represents the tread of the vehicle and ro represents the tire radius. If the target yaw moment is negative (Mt<0), the braking torque is applied to the right wheel and the driving torque is applied to the left wheel, but if the target yaw moment is positive (Mt>0), the driving torque is applied to the right wheel and the braking torque is applied to the left wheel.
Also, distribution is made to the front and rear wheels according to the front and rear allocation ratio which has been calculated and the yaw moment control torques TM of each wheel is calculated.
The braking and driving force allocating unit 16 includes a yaw moment control unit 27. This yaw moment control unit 27 is constituted specifically by the previously described software function on a processor (not shown) or a hardware circuit capable of calculating and outputting the commend output torque T (
Ti=Ti*+TMi (wherein i=1, . . . , and 4)
It is to be noted that the foregoing equation is expressed for each of the automobile wheels, and i represent the numerical descriptive of each of the four wheels (For example, i=1, . . . , and 4 represent the front left wheel, the front right wheel, the rear left wheel and the rear right wheel, respectively). Also, the yaw moment control unit 27 in this example is constituted as a part of the braking and driving force allocating unit 16, but it may be provided separately from the braking and driving force allocating unit 16.
The yaw moment control unit 27 determines the occurrence of understeering in the event that the target yaw moment is negative (that is, Mt<0) and the actual yaw rate γ is lower than the predetermined yaw rate −γ2 (γ2>0, however) (that is, γ<−γ2), and then add the yaw moment control torque, required to realize the target yaw moment, only to the rear wheel 2. In other words, the front and rear allocation ratio of the yaw moment control torque is rendered to be 0% at the front wheel and 100% at the rear wheel. Accordingly, in the event of the understeering with the automotive vehicle turning rightwards, the course tracing property of the automotive vehicle can be improved. Also, the yaw moment control unit 27 is operated such that the yaw rate γ1 is set to a value higher than the yaw rate γ2 (the same applies even when the target yaw moment as described later is positive). The preset values γ1 and γ2 of those yaw rates are set in dependence on vehicle characteristics such as the position of the center of gravity of the automotive vehicle and/or the cornering power.
A allocation ratio varying unit 27a (
As shown in the graph (b) in
The yaw moment control unit 27 adds the yaw moment control torque, which is required to realize the target yaw moment, only to the front wheel 3 in the event that the target yaw moment is positive (that is Mt>0) and the actual yaw rate γ is lower than the predetermined yaw rate −γ1. Accordingly, the vehicle orientation can be stabilized under the oversteering with the vehicle being turned leftwards.
The allocation ratio varying unit 27a (
The yaw moment control unit 27 varies the preset values γ1 and γ2 of the yaw rate in dependence on the front and rear acceleration detected by the front and rear acceleration sensor 23 shown in
Assuming here that the yaw moment control torque to be applied to a certain wheel (hereinafter referred to as a wheel A) is different from the command input torque of the wheel on the frontward and rearward opposite but on the same side with respect to left and right (hereinafter referred to as a wheel B) as for the sign thereof, the yaw moment control unit 27 executes the following procedure. At the outset, the yaw moment control torque ought to be applied to the wheel A is applied to the wheel B (i.e., the yaw moment control torque to be originally applied to the wheel A is reduced if the yaw moment control torque is negative and the command input torque is positive). In the event that the sum of the command input torque of the wheel B and the yaw moment control torque to be originally applied to the wheel A does not exceed zero, the procedure are terminated.
On the other hand, in the event that the sum of the command input torque of the wheel B and the yaw moment control torque to be originally applied to the wheel A exceeds zero, the command output torque of the wheel B is rendered zero. Subsequently, the increment, over zero, of the sum of the command input torque of the wheel B and the yaw moment control torque to be originally applied to the wheel A is added to the command input torque of the wheel A, which is rendered to be a command output torque of the wheel A. The procedure discussed above is executed for each of the whole wheels. By so doing, the magnitude of the absolute value of the torque of the wheel (the wheel A then intended), to which the yaw moment control torque is applied, and that of the wheel (the opposite wheel B) on the front and rear opposite side can be lowered and, hence, the vehicle characteristics during the understeering and oversteering can be reduced respectively.
With the conventional example to which the vehicle orientation control device of the embodiment now under discussion is not applied, when, as shown in the graph (A) of
With the yaw moment control to which the vehicle orientation control device according to the embodiment now under discussion shown in an explanatory diagram (c) of
According to the vehicle orientation control device hereinabove described, the allocation ratio varying unit 27a of the yaw moment control unit 27, when the detected actual yaw rate γ is within the predetermined range (−γ2≤γ≤γ1) in which the positive and negative of the sign inverts, continuously change the front and rear allocation ratio of the yaw moment control torque to be allocated to the front and rear wheels 3 and 2 in dependence on the detected yaw rate γ. Thus, since the front and rear allocation ratio of the yaw moment control torque to be allocated to the front and rear wheels 3 and 2 varies continuously at the time of inversion of the sign of the actual yaw rate, the vehicle orientation can be stabilized without allowing the vehicle driver to feel discomfort. Also, by setting and adjusting parameters of the front and rear allocation ratio in dependence on the vehicle characteristic, the front and rear acceleration and/or other factors, the response of the yaw rate can be increased.
The yaw moment control unit 27, since the yew rate γ1 is set to a value higher than the yaw rate γ2, can increase the front and rear allocation ratio of the braking and driving force of the rear wheel 2 higher than that of the front wheel 3 during the straight run when the actual yaw rate γ is in proximity to “0”. Accordingly, the understeering tendency from the time of straight run to that of start of the steering can be suppressed, and the yaw rate response can be improved.
Another embodiment of the present invention will now be descried. In the in-wheel motor drive device IWM, any of various speed reducing gears such as a cycloid type speed reducer, a planetary speed reducer, a dual axle speed reducer can be employed, and may be a so-called direct motor type in which no speed reducing gear is employed. Provision of a radar or an imaging unit (a radar or the like) capable of detecting obstacle or other matter may be made in the automotive vehicle, and the braking and driving force commanding unit 15 may be designed so as to generate the command input torque on the basis of data given from the radar or the like.
In the description hereinabove set forth, reference has been made to the use of the four wheel drive vehicle of a type utilizing the in-wheel motor system, the present invention can be equally applied to, for example, such a four wheel drive vehicle having incorporated therein a mechanism in which output of the motor 4 mounted on the vehicle body in correspondence with each of the front and rear wheels 3 and 2 are transmitted to the front and rear wheels 3 and 2 through respective drive shafts 28 to independently control the respective drive torques of the front and rear wheels 3 and 2 show in
Although in the foregoing description the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the embodiments of the present invention herein shown and described are only for the purpose of illustration and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way whatsoever. The scope of the present invention should rather be construed based on and in reference to the accompanying claims, not the foregoing description made. Those skilled in the art will readily conceive numerous changes and modifications within the framework of obviousness upon the reading of the specification herein presented of the present invention. Accordingly, such changes and modifications are, unless they depart from the scope of the present invention as delivered from the claims annexed hereto and the scope equivalent thereto, to be construed as included therein.
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| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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| PCT/JP2016/061179 | 4/5/2016 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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| WO2016/167162 | 10/20/2016 | WO | A |
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