JP2022030479A - Control device for electric automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a control device for an electric automobile capable of setting a traveling mode according to driving preference of a driver simultaneously with the start of a vehicle.SOLUTION: In a control device for an electric automobile capable of setting at least two traveling modes of a manual mode in which torque of a rotary machine is set in response to the operation of a clutch device and a shift device done by a driver and a normal mode in which torque of the rotary machine is set without operating the clutch device and the shift device, a driving preference determination unit determines which of the manual mode or the normal mode is preferred by the driver (Step 2), a start determination unit determines the absence/presence of a start request of the electric automobile (Step 1), and the manual mode is set to start the electric automobile when the driving preference determination unit determines that the manual mode is preferred by the driver and the start determination unit determines that there is a request for starting the electric automobile (Step 4).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a control device for an electric vehicle traveling by the power of a rotating machine.

Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 describe a control device that produces a pseudo shift change in an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle using a motor as a driving force source. These control devices temporarily reduce the torque of the motor in response to a predetermined trigger that produces a pseudo shift change such as vehicle speed, accelerator opening, accelerator opening speed, and brake depression amount, and then again. It is configured to increase or change the carrier frequency of the inverter connected to the motor. The control device described in Patent Document 2 switches between a standard mode in which the carrier frequency is fixed to a specified value by operating an operation unit and a shift mode in which the carrier frequency is changed by a predetermined trigger as described above. It is configured to be.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-166386 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-191366

The control device for an electric vehicle described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 is configured to produce a pseudo shift change so that the driver feels a shift. Therefore, as described in Patent Document 2, such a control device for an electric vehicle switches between a standard mode that does not produce a pseudo shift change as described above and a shift mode described above. It is considered common to configure it so that it can be done. However, if the vehicle that can switch between the shift mode that produces a pseudo shift change and the standard mode as described above has a configuration in which the standard mode is selected when the vehicle is started, the driver who prefers the shift mode When boarding, the mode switching operation is performed after the vehicle is started, which may increase the operational burden on the driver or increase the time from the start to the start of the vehicle.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to the above technical problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a control device for an electric vehicle capable of setting a driving mode according to a driver's driving preference at the same time as starting a vehicle. It is a thing.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a rotary machine connected to at least a pair of drive wheels, a clutch device operated by a driver, and a shift device operated by the driver. At least a manual mode in which the torque of the rotary machine is determined according to the operation of the clutch device and the shift device by the driver, and a normal mode in which the torque of the rotary machine is determined without operating the clutch device and the shift device. A control device for an electric vehicle capable of setting two driving modes includes a controller for selecting the driving mode, and the controller is a driver who prefers either the manual mode or the normal mode. The driving preference determination unit that determines whether or not the vehicle has a start request, the start determination unit that determines whether or not there is a start request for the electric vehicle, and the driving preference determination unit determine that the driver prefers the manual mode. When the start determination unit determines that there is a request to start the electric vehicle, the manual mode is set to start the electric vehicle.

According to the present invention, the driving preference determination unit determines the driving preference of the driver, and the starting determination unit determines whether or not there is a request to start the electric vehicle. Then, when it is determined by the driving preference determination unit that the driver prefers the manual mode and the start determination unit determines that there is a request to start the electric vehicle, the manual mode is set. Therefore, the driving mode according to the driver's preference can be set at the same time as the start of the electric vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to suppress an increase in the operation load of the driver such as switching the driving mode after starting the electric vehicle, and it is also possible to suppress a long time from the start to the start of the electric vehicle.

It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating an example of the electric vehicle in embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating an example of the control apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the control example of the control apparatus in Embodiment of this invention.

The present invention will be described with reference to the embodiments shown in the figure. It should be noted that the embodiments described below are merely examples of cases where the present invention is embodied, and do not limit the present invention.

An example of an electric vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The electric vehicle Ve shown in FIG. 1 is a front drive type vehicle that travels by transmitting torque from a motor (MG) 1 as a driving force source to a pair of front wheels (driving wheels) 2. This motor 1 has a function as a motor that outputs drive torque by being supplied with power from a power storage device (BATT) 3, like a motor provided in a conventionally known electric vehicle or hybrid vehicle. , It has a function as a generator that converts the kinetic energy of the output shaft 4 (that is, the kinetic energy of the front wheels 2) into electrical energy by outputting torque so as to reduce the rotation speed of the output shaft 4 of the motor 1. It can also be configured by a so-called motor generator. Specifically, it can be configured by a synchronous motor, an induction motor, or the like. This motor 1 corresponds to the "rotating machine" in the embodiment of the present invention.

One end of the propeller shaft 6 is connected to the output shaft 4 of the motor 1 via a gear mechanism 5, and the differential gear mechanism 7 is connected to the other end of the propeller shaft 6. The output torque of the motor 1 is distributed to the left and right drive shafts 8 via the differential gear mechanism 7 and transmitted to the pair of front wheels 2 connected to the drive shafts 8. Although the vehicle Ve shown in FIG. 1 is a front drive type vehicle, it may be a four-wheel drive vehicle provided with a transfer so that torque can be transmitted from the motor 1 to the pair of rear wheels 9.

The motor 1 is provided with an inverter (INV) 10 for controlling the magnitude of the current energized in the motor 1 and the frequency of the current energized in each phase, and the inverter 10 outputs a direct current. The power storage device (BATT) 3 is connected. In addition to the inverter 10, other electric devices such as a converter for amplifying the voltage output from the power storage device 3 may be provided, and the power storage device 3 may be a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery. In addition, it may be equipped with electronic components such as capacitors.

An electronic control device (hereinafter referred to as an ECU) 11 for controlling the switch element of the inverter 10 is provided. The ECU 11 corresponds to the "controller" in the embodiment of the present invention, and is mainly composed of a microcomputer like the ECU provided in a conventionally known vehicle, and signals are transmitted from various sensors. It is configured to obtain an output signal based on the input signal, a pre-stored arithmetic expression, a map, etc., and output the output signal to a device that controls each device such as the inverter 10. ing.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the accelerator opening sensor 13 that detects the depression amount of the accelerator pedal 12, the brake sensor 15 that detects the depression amount of the brake pedal 14 and its depression force, and the rotation speed (that is, vehicle speed) of the propeller shaft 6 are determined. A vehicle speed sensor 16 for detecting, a sensor 18 for detecting an on or off state of an ignition switch (hereinafter referred to as an IG switch) 17 for activating various devices of the vehicle Ve, and an acceleration (not shown) for detecting a slope of a traveling path. A signal is input to the ECU 11 from a sensor, a navigation system (not shown) provided in the vehicle Ve, and a GPS receiving unit (not shown) that receives a signal of GPS transmitted from the outside.

Further, the vehicle Ve shown in FIG. 1 is configured to be able to realize the same behavior as a conventionally known manual transmission vehicle (hereinafter referred to as an MT vehicle) provided with a manual shift lever and a clutch mechanism. Therefore, in the vehicle Ve shown in FIG. 1, for example, a manual shift lever for selecting each virtual gear stage from the first forward speed stage to the sixth forward speed stage, the first reverse speed stage, and the neutral speed stage (hereinafter referred to as a manual shift lever). A shift lever (simply referred to as a shift lever) 19 and a clutch pedal 20 are provided. The shift lever 19 corresponds to the "shift device" in the embodiment of the present invention, and the clutch pedal 20 corresponds to the "clutch device" in the embodiment of the present invention. Then, a signal is input to the ECU 11 from the respective sensors 21 and 22 that detect the operation position of the shift lever 19 and the depression amount of the clutch pedal 20. In addition to the above sensors, the signal input to the ECU 11 may be another signal such as a signal of a sensor that detects the operation amount of the steering wheel (not shown), and is output from the ECU 11. The signal may be output to another actuator or device such as a steering motor for supplementing the steering torque of a steering wheel (not shown), in addition to the inverter 10.

In the vehicle Ve described above, the driver operates the accelerator pedal 12 and the brake pedal 14 without operating the shift lever 19, thereby generating driving force and braking force according to the operation amount of the pedals 12 and 14. It is configured to be able to switch between the normal mode in which the vehicle is driven and the manual mode in which the vehicle is driven by generating the driving force and the braking force according to the virtual gear stage according to the position of the shift lever 19 operated by the driver. ing.

This manual mode is a mode in which a vehicle equipped with an engine and a manual transmission is simulated and driven. Specifically, the virtual gear stage can be changed by operating the shift lever 19 with the clutch pedal 20 depressed, and it is based on the set virtual gear stage and the operation amount of the accelerator pedal 12. This is a driving mode in which torque is output from the motor 1, or a virtual engine rotation speed is obtained according to the virtual gear stage and vehicle speed, and a sound corresponding to the virtual engine rotation speed is generated from a device such as a speaker (not shown). ..

Which of the above-mentioned normal mode and manual mode is selected depends on the driving preference of the driver. Further, it can be assumed that the vehicle travels in one of the traveling modes and then travels in the other traveling mode. However, it is preferable to set a driving mode according to the driving preference of the driver when the vehicle Ve is started. Therefore, the control device for the electric vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured so that the driving mode according to the driving preference of the driver can be set at the time of starting (starting) the vehicle Ve.

A block diagram for explaining the control example is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the ECU 11 is provided with a driving preference determination unit 23 for determining a driver's driving preference, a start request determination unit 24 for determining whether or not there is a start (start) request for the vehicle Ve, and a manual mode setting. A prohibition determination unit 25 for prohibiting the vehicle and a driving mode determining unit 26 for setting a driving mode according to the driving preference are provided. The start request determination unit 24 corresponds to the "start determination unit" in the embodiment of the present invention.

The driving preference determination unit 23 may be, for example, sensors 21 or 22 for detecting the amount of operation of a predetermined device provided in the vehicle Ve such as a shift lever 19 or a clutch pedal 20, or an in-vehicle camera (not shown) capable of photographing the interior of the vehicle. A signal is input from the vehicle, and the driver's driving preference is determined according to the signal. The start request determination unit 24 determines, for example, whether or not there is a request to start the vehicle Ve in response to a signal input from the sensor 18 that detects the on or off state of the IG switch 17. For convenience, in FIG. 2, a signal is input to the driving preference determination unit 23 from the sensor 21 that detects the position of the shift lever 19 and the sensor 22 that detects the operation amount of the clutch pedal 20, and the IG switch 17 It is shown that a signal is input to the activation request determination unit 24 from the sensor 18 that detects the on or off state.

On the other hand, since the manual mode is a mode that simulates an MT vehicle, for example, when the clutch pedal 20 is depressed, the drive torque is not output from the motor 1. Therefore, if the manual mode is set when starting the vehicle Ve on an uphill road, the vehicle Ve may unintentionally move backward. Further, when the amount of depression of the clutch pedal 20 is small and the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal 12 is small, the IG switch 17 may be turned off by simulating an engine stall. Therefore, the prohibition determination unit 25 is provided to function as a danger avoidance control, and corresponds to a condition for prohibiting the setting of the manual mode according to the signals input from various sensors provided in the vehicle Ve. Judge whether or not. For convenience, FIG. 2 shows that a signal is input to the prohibition determination unit 25 from the predetermined sensor S.

When the driving preference determination unit 23 determines that the driver prefers the manual mode, and the prohibition determination unit 25 determines that the condition for prohibiting the manual mode is not met, the driving mode determination unit The manual mode is set by 26. On the other hand, when the driving preference determination unit 23 determines that the driver prefers the normal mode, or the driving preference determination unit 23 determines that the driver prefers the manual mode, the prohibition determination is made. When it is determined by the unit 25 that the condition for prohibiting the manual mode is met, the traveling mode determining unit 26 sets the normal mode.

Next, a control example of the control device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the control example. In the control example shown in FIG. 3, first, it is determined whether or not the IG switch 17 is turned on (step S1). This step S1 is a step for determining a request for starting (starting) the vehicle Ve, and can be determined based on a signal input from the sensor 18 to the start request determination unit 24.

If it is negatively determined in step S1 because the IG switch 17 is off, this routine is temporarily terminated as it is. On the contrary, when it is positively determined in step S1 because the IG switch 17 is turned on, it is determined whether or not the depression amount of the clutch pedal 20 is larger than a predetermined predetermined amount (step). S2). This step S2 is a step for determining whether or not the driver has a preference for driving by selecting the manual mode, and makes a determination based on a signal input from the sensor 22 to the driving preference determination unit 23. Can be done. The predetermined amount in step S2 can be set to an amount that allows the driver to determine whether or not the clutch pedal 20 is intentionally depressed.

If it is positively determined in step S2 because the amount of depression of the clutch pedal 20 is larger than the predetermined amount, it is determined whether or not the condition for prohibiting the setting of the manual mode is satisfied (step S3). .. In this step S3, for example, a condition in which it is not preferable to set a manual mode such as whether or not the vehicle Ve is stopped in an uphill road, an intersection, or a railroad crossing is set in advance, and whether or not the condition is satisfied. To judge. This step S3 can be determined based on the signal input to the prohibition determination unit 25 from the navigation system, the acceleration sensor, or the like. Further, the condition for prohibiting the manual mode in step S3 may include prohibiting the manual mode when the shift lever 19 is not in the neutral position. If the backup control can be executed when the prohibition condition is satisfied, such as applying a braking force by a brake device (not shown) so that the vehicle Ve can be maintained in a stopped state regardless of the operation amount of the brake pedal 14. It is not necessary to execute step S3.

If a positive judgment is made in step S3 because the condition for prohibiting the setting of the manual mode is not satisfied, the manual mode is set (step S4), and this routine is temporarily terminated. On the other hand, if it is negatively determined in step S2 because the amount of depression of the clutch pedal 20 is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, or because the condition for prohibiting the setting of the manual mode is satisfied, it is negative in step S3. If it is determined, the normal mode is set (step S5), and this routine is temporarily terminated.

As described above, by determining the driving preference of the driver at the time of starting the vehicle Ve, it is possible to set the driving mode according to the driving preference of the driver at the same time as starting the vehicle Ve. Therefore, it is possible to suppress an increase in the operation load of the driver such as switching the traveling mode after starting the vehicle Ve, and it is possible to suppress a long time from the start of the vehicle to the start. Further, by prohibiting the start-up in the manual mode when the prohibition condition is satisfied, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a situation such as the vehicle Ve retreating unintentionally.

The driving preference determination unit in the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the one that determines the driving preference of the driver based on the depression amount of the clutch pedal 20, and is not limited to, for example, the operation of the manual mode switch and the clutch pedal 20. It may be determined whether the brake pedal 14 is depressed or the shift lever is operated once. Further, regardless of whether or not the driver operates the device provided in the vehicle Ve as described above, for example, an image of the driver who drives by setting the manual mode is stored in the ECU 11 in advance and mounted on the vehicle. The driver's driving preference may be determined by collating the driver's image obtained by the camera with the image stored in the ECU 11. Further, when a voice for setting the manual mode is received from the driver, it may be configured to determine that the driver prefers the manual mode.

1 Motor 2 Front wheel 11 Electronic control unit (ECU)
12 Accelerator pedal 14 Brake pedal 17 IG switch 19 Shift lever 20 Clutch pedal 23 Driving preference judgment unit 24 Start request judgment unit 25 Prohibition judgment unit 26 Driving mode determination unit Ve Vehicle

Claims (1)

A rotary machine connected to at least a pair of drive wheels, a clutch device operated by the driver, and a shift device operated by the driver are provided for the operation of the clutch device and the shift device by the driver. A control device for an electric vehicle that can set at least two driving modes, a manual mode that determines the torque of the rotary machine and a normal mode that determines the torque of the rotary machine without operating the clutch device and the shift device. In
A controller for selecting the driving mode is provided.
The controller
A driving preference determination unit that determines whether the driver prefers the manual mode or the normal mode.
A start determination unit that determines whether or not there is a start request for the electric vehicle, and a start determination unit.
The manual mode is set when it is determined by the driving preference determination unit that the driver prefers the manual mode and the start determination unit determines that there is a request to start the electric vehicle. A control device for an electric vehicle, which comprises starting the electric vehicle.

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