JP2009234483A - Motion control device of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a motion control device of a vehicle capable of performing a motion control such as a suspension control according to a road surface state, etc. in even a vehicle equipped with no navigation device and reducing cost without specially requiring a complicated road surface detection device. <P>SOLUTION: This motion control device is provided with: a memory 52 for dividing a region where the vehicle 10 travels into a plurality of areas and storing each area information on the plurality of areas; a one's own vehicle position detection means 53 for detecting one's own vehicle position of the vehicle; and a control device 51 for controlling a traveling motion of the vehicle based on the area information stored in the memory 52 and information on the one's own vehicle position detected by the one's own vehicle position detection means 53. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle motion control device, and more particularly to a device for controlling vehicle motion based on area information and GPS data created by dividing each region in which the vehicle travels into a predetermined range of areas. .

The vehicle limit determination device described in Patent Literature 1 detects whether the vehicle is unstable in a traveling vehicle or the like, and whether or not the unstable traveling state exceeds the limit state. This is a vehicle limit determination device for determining According to this vehicle limit determination device, it is determined whether or not the vehicle can be safely traveled on the planned travel route, and the driver is provided with accurate information suitable for the travel state of the vehicle or the road surface condition. Make a donation. This limit determination device detects the vehicle position by GPS (Grobal Positioning System), and searches the road condition of the planned travel route from the road map data prepared in the navigation device. Then, the road condition of the scheduled road is further searched from the searched road map data, and a threshold value S corresponding to a limit value at which the vehicle can safely travel is obtained from the road condition. The vehicle limit determination device described above realizes a required function in cooperation with a navigation device mounted on the vehicle. Based on accurate information related to the vehicle running state or road surface condition provided to the driver by the limit determination device, for example, a suspension control device mounted on the vehicle executes necessary control that matches the road surface state and the like. . Thus, an apparatus for controlling the motion state of the traveling vehicle is realized.
JP-A-6-80046

  Conventional devices that control the motion state of a vehicle are known that are configured to be linked and emphasized with a navigation device mounted on the vehicle. However, some vehicles are not equipped with a navigation device. In such a vehicle, it is extremely difficult to grasp the road surface condition (curving road, uphill road, city road, etc.). For this reason, for example, when suspension control is performed in accordance with the road surface condition in these vehicles, a highly accurate and expensive sensor is required to obtain the vehicle position, and a complicated control program is required.

  Also, even if a vehicle is equipped with a navigation device, weather information cannot be grasped, so road surface information related to the weather information cannot be obtained, and control corresponding only to road surface conditions stored in the navigation device to the last. There was also a problem that could only be done.

  Further, in the case of the conventional configuration using the navigation device, it is necessary to include information on the road surface condition in the navigation information, which causes a problem that the capacity of the recording medium becomes extremely large.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a complex road surface detection device that can perform motion control such as suspension control according to road surface conditions even in a vehicle that is not equipped with a navigation device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle motion control device that can reduce costs, can automatically determine a travel area, and saves the driver from having to select a control mode.

  In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle motion control apparatus according to the present invention is configured as follows.

  A vehicle motion control apparatus according to the present invention divides a region where a vehicle travels into a plurality of areas, stores a memory for storing area information of each of the plurality of areas, and a vehicle position for detecting a vehicle position of the vehicle. And a control means for controlling the traveling motion of the vehicle based on the detection means, the area information stored in the memory, and the information on the vehicle position detected by the vehicle position detection means. .

  According to the above configuration, the vehicle position information detected by the vehicle position detection unit and the area information including the vehicle position are extracted from the memory, and the vehicle travels such as suspension control based on the extracted area information. Perform motion control.

  In the above-described vehicle motion control device, preferably, the own vehicle position detecting means is a GPS, and the memory further includes information on a reference position set in each of the plurality of areas and each environment of the plurality of areas. The control means is characterized in that an environment in an area close to the own vehicle position is set as a running environment of the own vehicle from a plurality of reference positions, and the running motion of the vehicle is controlled.

  In the above-described vehicle motion control device, preferably, based on the environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition unit, the environmental information acquisition unit that acquires environmental information received from the VICS broadcast signal for the traveling area while the vehicle is traveling. And control means for controlling the running motion of the vehicle.

  In the above-described vehicle motion control device, preferably, the vehicle travel motion controlled by the control means is a travel motion based on suspension control of the suspension device.

  According to the vehicle motion control apparatus of the present invention, a travel area is divided into a plurality of areas, a memory for storing each area information, a vehicle position detection means such as GPS, area information, and vehicle position information. Control means for controlling the running movement of the vehicle based on the vehicle, so that even a vehicle not equipped with a navigation device can perform movement control such as suspension control according to the road surface condition, etc. There is no need to provide a specific detection device, the cost can be reduced, and the traveling area can be automatically determined, so that the driver can save time and effort to select the control mode.

  Furthermore, according to the vehicle motion control apparatus of the present invention, the environment information acquisition means for acquiring the environment information received from the VICS broadcast signal for the travel area, and the vehicle travel motion are controlled based on the acquired environment information. Since the control means is provided, it is possible to perform vehicle motion control such as suspension control even in a vehicle not equipped with a navigation device.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments (examples) of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  In the description of the embodiment of the vehicle operation control apparatus according to the present invention, an example of suspension control of the suspension apparatus will be described. In the vehicle operation control device according to this embodiment, suspension control suitable for traveling in the area is executed by obtaining information on which area the vehicle is traveling. The determination of which area the vehicle is traveling is performed using information provided from GPS or VICS. In this embodiment, an example of suspension control by a suspension device will be described as an example of vehicle operation control, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  First, the configuration of a suspension device and a suspension control device in a vehicle will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an arrangement configuration of four wheels in a vehicle, an independent suspension type suspension device for each wheel, and a suspension control device for controlling the expansion and contraction operation of each suspension device, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the vehicle. FIG. 3 shows an example of the structure of the suspension device.

  1 and 2, reference numerals 11L and 11R in the vehicle 10 indicate left and right front wheels, and reference numerals 12L and 12R indicate left and right rear wheels. In each figure, it is assumed that the direction indicated by the arrow A is the traveling direction of the vehicle 10, and the travel path along which the vehicle 10 travels follows the arrow A. The line of sight of the driver driving the traveling vehicle 10 is directed in the direction of arrow A.

  In the vehicle 10, a suspension device 13 is provided between the axle portions of the four wheels 11 </ b> L, 11 </ b> R, 12 </ b> L, and 12 </ b> R and the vehicle body of the vehicle 10. Each of the four suspension devices 13 is provided for a corresponding wheel and has a function of independently suspending the corresponding wheel. The four suspension devices 13 are so-called active suspension devices and basically have the same structure and function. The structure and function of each suspension device 13 to which the active suspension control is applied is already known (for example, JP-A-2006-213119).

  FIG. 3 shows a structural example of the suspension device 13. The suspension device 13 normally includes a coil spring 21 that absorbs vibration and shock between the vehicle body and the wheels, and a shock absorber 22 that generates a damping force by oil flow resistance. The coil spring 21 is disposed on the outer periphery of the cylinder tube 23 and is supported on the vehicle body side and the wheel side via an upper spring seat 24 and a lower spring seat 25. The shock absorber 22 includes the above-described cylinder tube 23 that is positioned on the lower side and filled with oil, and a piston rod 26 that is positioned on the upper side and is inserted and fitted in the cylinder tube 23 so as to be movable forward and backward. The lower end of the cylinder tube 23 is coupled to the wheel side via a suspension arm (not shown), and the upper end of the piston rod 26 is coupled to the vehicle body side together with the upper spring seat 24.

  The suspension device 13 having the above-described structure includes a lifting adjustment mechanism 27. The lifting adjustment mechanism 27 is provided on the upper spring seat 24 and is composed of a base member 28 and an annular piston 29. The base member 28 has an annular cylinder hole 30 and is directly fixed to the vehicle body side together with the piston rod 26. The annular piston 29 is slidably fitted into the cylinder hole 30 of the base member 28 to form an operation chamber 31 between the annular piston 29 and the cylinder hole 30. In the lifting adjustment mechanism 27 of the suspension device 13, the hydraulic pressure is supplied / discharged from the external hydraulic supply / discharge device 41 to the working chamber 31 via the supply / discharge port 32, and the hydraulic pressure is appropriately controlled according to the conditions, The axial length of the suspension device 13 is adjusted, the vehicle body is moved up and down, and the height position of the vehicle body is adjusted appropriately.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the above four suspension devices 13 attached to each of the four wheels 11L, 11R, 12L, 12R are required in an independent state from the hydraulic supply / discharge device 41 through the hydraulic supply / discharge pipe 42. Hydraulic pressure is supplied and discharged appropriately. Each of the four wheels 11L, 11R, 12L, and 12R can be lifted and lowered independently to adjust the height of each vehicle body part. Control of the operation of the hydraulic supply / discharge device 41 is performed based on a control command signal from the control device 51.

  The control device 51 is an in-vehicle computer. In the suspension control device according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the control device 51 is provided with the hydraulic supply / discharge device 41 and four suspension devices 13 through the hydraulic supply / discharge device 41 on the output side. .

  Next, the configuration of the vehicle motion control apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The control device 51 has a memory 52 such as a CD-ROM, and is further provided with own vehicle position detecting means 53 for detecting the own vehicle position of the vehicle 10 on its input side. The memory 52 divides an area where the vehicle 10 travels into a plurality of areas, and stores area information 52A for each of the plurality of areas. A plurality of suspension control programs 52B corresponding to the area are also stored.

  When the vehicle position detection unit 53 detects information related to the vehicle position and acquires vehicle position data from the vehicle position information, the control device 51 stores the vehicle position information and the memory 52 in the memory 52. The information on the corresponding area is extracted from the information related to the area, the suspension control program corresponding to the area is executed based on the area information, and the traveling motion of the vehicle is controlled.

  Optimal suspension control according to the travel area is executed. As an example of control, for example, the suspension state of the four suspension devices 13 is made soft when traveling in an urban area, and the suspension state of the four suspension devices 13 is made solid when traveling in a mountain area. .

  According to the above configuration, the vehicle position information detected by the vehicle position detection means 53 and the corresponding area information including the vehicle position are extracted from the memory 52, and the vehicle 10 is based on the extracted area information. The suspension control of the suspension device 13 is performed.

  In the above configuration, a GPS (Grobal Positioning System) 53A is typically used as the vehicle position detecting means 53. In this case, the vehicle 10 includes a receiver that receives radio waves from a plurality of GPS satellites and a plurality of radio waves received by the receiver as specific components of the vehicle position detection unit 52. And a GPS unit having a function of calculating a position.

  As another vehicle position detection means 53, a broadcast signal from a transmission base of a vehicle information and communication system (VICS) 53B can be used. The VICS has a large number of originating base stations arranged along a road or the like. In VICS, a broadcast signal is provided from an originating base station using FM data multiplex broadcasting. This broadcast signal includes information on the location where the originating base station is located, traffic information on the road, environmental information such as the road and area that is running, or environmental information such as the weather and natural conditions at that time It is. Therefore, in the vehicle 10, the vehicle position detection unit 53 can be configured using the position information provided from the VICS. In this case, as a specific component of the own vehicle position detection means 53, the vehicle 10 is positioned from an FM receiver including a receiving antenna, an FM tuner, a demodulation circuit, a decoding circuit, and the like, and a signal output from the FM receiver. Position data extracting means for extracting data. In addition, when using VICS, it can also be used as a means for taking out environmental information of the area as well as a function as a vehicle position detecting means.

  Further, when the GPS 53A is used as the vehicle position detection means 53 as described above, the memory 52 of the control device 51 of the vehicle 10 stores information on the reference position set in each of the plurality of areas and the plurality of areas. It is configured to store information relating to each environment. When acquiring the position information from the own vehicle position detecting means 53, the control device 51 selects an area close to the own vehicle position from among a plurality of reference positions based on the information related to the area stored in the memory 52. The environment is set as the traveling environment of the host vehicle, and the traveling motion of the vehicle 10 is controlled.

  In the case where the VICS 53B is used as the vehicle position detecting means 53, the control device 51 acquires the environmental information obtained from the VICS broadcast signal for the travel area while the vehicle is traveling. And a control means for controlling the traveling motion of the vehicle based on the environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition means.

  As described above, when the current position of the traveling vehicle 10 is determined by the own vehicle position detecting means 53, the area information corresponding to the own vehicle position is acquired from the memory 52, and the suspension control program corresponding to the area is extracted. Then, a control command is generated, and suspension control corresponding to the area is executed by the hydraulic supply / discharge device 41 and the suspension device 13.

  In addition, in a configuration in which weather information and the like can be acquired with respect to area information, when it is determined that the condition is an adverse condition such as snow, so-called understeer control can be performed so as to increase stability in traveling of the vehicle 10.

  The configurations, shapes, sizes, and arrangement relationships described in the above embodiments are merely schematically shown to the extent that the present invention can be understood and implemented, and the numerical values and the compositions (materials) of the respective components Is just an example. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, and can be variously modified without departing from the scope of the technical idea shown in the claims.

  The vehicle operation control device according to the present invention includes an own vehicle position detection means and a memory for storing area information, even if the vehicle is not equipped with a navigation device, thereby performing optimum suspension control or the like according to the area. Available to:

FIG. 2 is a plan view conceptually showing the outline of a vehicle such as a four-wheeled vehicle, and includes an arrangement configuration of four wheels, an independent suspension type suspension device for each wheel, and a suspension control device that controls expansion and contraction operations of each suspension device. It is a top view which shows a layout. It is a side view of the vehicle shown in FIG. It is a fragmentary sectional view showing an example of the structure of a suspension device. It is a figure which shows the structure of the control system of the driving control apparatus of the vehicle which concerns on this invention. It is

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle 11L, 11R Front wheel 12L, 12R Rear wheel 13 Suspension device 21 Coil spring 22 Shock absorber 23 Cylinder tube 26 Piston rod 27 Lifting adjustment mechanism 28 Base member 29 Annular piston 30 Cylinder hole 31 Working chamber 41 Hydraulic supply / exhaust device 51 Control device 52 memory 52A area information 52B suspension control program 53 own vehicle position detection means 53A GPS
53B VICS

Claims (4)

A memory that divides an area where the vehicle travels into a plurality of areas and stores area information of each of the plurality of areas;
Vehicle position detection means for detecting the vehicle position of the vehicle;
Control means for controlling the running motion of the vehicle based on the area information stored in the memory and information on the vehicle position detected by the vehicle position detection means;
A vehicle motion control device comprising: The vehicle position detecting means is GPS,
The memory further stores information related to a reference position set in each of the plurality of areas and information related to the environment of each of the plurality of areas,
The control means sets the environment of the area close to the host vehicle position from the plurality of reference positions as the driving environment of the host vehicle, and controls the driving movement of the vehicle.
The vehicle motion control apparatus according to claim 1. Environmental information acquisition means for acquiring environmental information received from a VICS broadcast signal for a traveling area while the vehicle is traveling;
Control means for controlling the running motion of the vehicle based on the environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition means;
A vehicle motion control device comprising:   4. The vehicle motion control device according to claim 1, wherein the travel motion of the vehicle controlled by the control means is a travel motion based on suspension control of a suspension device. 5.

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