JP5760852B2 - Fuel-saving driving support system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel-saving driving support system that assists a driver of a vehicle to perform fuel-saving driving.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, it is determined how much eco-driving, which is driving in at least one of a state in which exhaust gas emission is suppressed or a state in which energy consumption is suppressed, is performed. An in-vehicle device is disclosed.

  In this in-vehicle device, whether the accelerator opening is appropriate, whether an appropriate gear is used, how much the air conditioner is used, how much the fuel injection amount is 0 when the accelerator is turned off, or less than a predetermined speed The degree of eco-driving is determined from a plurality of different viewpoints such as whether the vehicle has traveled at an appropriate speed or headed to the destination by an optimal route. And based on each determination result, the eco-driving level which is a comprehensive determination result about the degree to which eco-driving was performed is specified.

JP 2010-38647 A

  In the above-described in-vehicle device of Patent Document 1, for example, whether or not the accelerator opening is appropriate is determined based on whether or not the accelerator opening is equal to or less than a predetermined value. It is regarded as the accelerator opening. Further, as to whether or not an appropriate gear is used, if the power mode or the sport mode of the automatic transmission is in an OFF state, it is determined that the used gear is appropriate.

  Here, it is effective to suppress the engine speed as much as possible when attempting to drive with good fuel efficiency. For this purpose, when the vehicle is traveling at a certain speed, it is desirable to use a gear on the high speed side as much as possible rather than a gear on the low speed side. From this point of view, as in Patent Document 1 described above, the vehicle driver can save the vehicle by simply determining whether the accelerator opening is appropriate or determining the mode of the automatic transmission individually. It is difficult to accurately determine whether or not a fuel-efficient driving is being performed.

  Therefore, the present applicant can accurately determine whether or not the driver is performing fuel-saving driving, and if the fuel consumption is considered excessive, fuel-saving driving support that notifies that fact. A system has already been filed (Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-125151).

  In this fuel-saving driving support system of the prior application, the threshold value is determined so that, for example, the upper 5% of the engine speed is determined to be excessive based on the actually detected engine speed and travel speed when the vehicle is traveling. decide. Then, when the vehicle travels, if the actual engine speed exceeds the threshold, the fact is notified to alert the driver.

  However, even if the threshold value is not exceeded, it is not necessarily an operating state in which the fuel consumption is suppressed as long as the engine speed is close to the threshold value. Therefore, it is conceivable to further lower the threshold value in order to further reduce the fuel consumption. However, in this case, since the notification is frequently performed, there is a possibility that the driver may feel troublesome notification or that the driver's willingness to improve fuel efficiency is impaired.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described points, and provides a fuel-saving driving support system that can expect a further effect of suppressing fuel consumption without impairing the driver's willingness to improve fuel efficiency through notification. With the goal.

In order to achieve the above object, a fuel-saving driving support system according to claim 1 is provided.
A rotational speed detection means for detecting the engine rotational speed of the vehicle;
Speed detecting means for detecting the traveling speed of the vehicle;
Recording means for repeatedly recording while associating the engine speed detected by the speed detection means with the traveling speed detected by the speed detection means;
On the graph with the engine speed and the traveling speed as two axes, at least three regions adjacent to each other are defined from the region with good fuel consumption to the region with poor fuel consumption and recorded in association with the recording means. A ratio calculating means for calculating a ratio at which the driving state specified by the engine speed and the traveling speed belongs to each of at least three regions;
Informing means for informing information indicating the level of fuel-saving driving based on the ratio calculated by the ratio calculating means.

  As described above, in the fuel-saving driving support system according to the first aspect, at least three regions that are adjacent to each other are defined from the region where the fuel consumption is good to the region where the fuel economy is bad. Therefore, compared with a case where it is simply determined whether or not the engine speed has exceeded the threshold value, the driving state specified by the engine speed and the traveling speed can be classified more finely in terms of fuel-saving driving. it can. And the ratio which a driving state belongs to each area | region is calculated | required, and the information which shows the level of a fuel-saving driving | operation based on this calculated | required ratio is alert | reported. In this way, by notifying information indicating the level of fuel-saving driving, the driver can be motivated to increase the level. Therefore, according to the fuel-saving driving support system according to the first aspect, it is possible to expect a further effect of suppressing the fuel consumption.

  As described in claim 2, each of the plurality of regions is defined by a constant engine speed regardless of the traveling speed in a low speed region where the traveling speed region of the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed. In the higher high speed range, it is preferable that the boundary is determined by the engine speed that increases as the traveling speed increases. This is because it is possible to switch to a higher speed gear in the low speed range, thereby reducing the engine speed. On the other hand, if it is necessary to increase the vehicle speed when the gear is switched to the highest speed in the high speed range (for example, when the vehicle is traveling on a highway), increase the engine speed. This is because an unavoidable situation occurs.

  As described in claim 3, when the vehicle actually travels, in order to determine a plurality of regions based on the engine speed and the traveling speed recorded in the recording means, a boundary that divides the plurality of regions is determined. It is preferable to provide a boundary determining means. Thus, when the vehicle travels, the boundary is determined in advance by taking into account the engine characteristics of the vehicle by determining the boundary that divides the plurality of regions from the actually recorded engine speed and traveling speed. In addition, an appropriate boundary can be determined according to the state of the vehicle.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the vehicle includes a gradient detection unit that detects a gradient of a road on which the vehicle travels, and the recording unit associates the road gradient detected by the gradient detection unit in addition to the engine speed and the traveling speed. The boundary determining means records and determines at least two kinds of boundaries, a boundary for a flat road and a boundary for an uphill, as a boundary that divides a plurality of regions in consideration of the road gradient detected by the gradient detecting means. Then, the ratio calculation means may use different boundaries for ratio calculation based on the road gradient detected by the gradient detection means.

  For example, since the running resistance of the vehicle is different between a flat road and an uphill, the engine speed required in each situation is different even if the vehicle is caused to run in the same manner. Accordingly, it is possible to set an area corresponding to the road gradient by determining two types of boundaries in consideration of the gradient of the road on which the vehicle travels and using the two types of boundaries according to the road gradient.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a loading state detecting means for detecting the loading state of the load on the vehicle, and the recording means records the detection result by the loading state detecting means in association with the engine speed and the traveling speed. The boundary determining means determines at least two kinds of boundaries, a boundary for loading and a boundary for non-loading, as boundaries for dividing a plurality of areas in consideration of the detection result by the loading state detecting means, The ratio calculation means may use different boundaries for the ratio calculation based on the loading state detected by the loading state detection means.

  For example, when the vehicle is a vehicle carrying a very heavy load such as a truck or a trailer, the running resistance of the vehicle varies greatly between a loaded state in which the load is loaded and an empty state in which no load is loaded. Therefore, as in the case of the road gradient, the region corresponding to the load state of the load can be set by determining two types of boundaries in consideration of the detection result of the load state of the load and using them appropriately.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the discriminating means for discriminating whether the vehicle is in a braking state or a driving state is provided, the discrimination result by the discriminating means is also recorded in the recording means, and the ratio calculating means It is preferable to exclude the engine speed and the traveling speed detected while the vehicle is determined to be in the braking state by the means from the data for calculating the ratio belonging to each of the plurality of regions. When the vehicle is braked, fuel injection is usually cut off, and the engine speed does not necessarily correspond to the driver's accelerator pedal operation. Therefore, the engine speed and the traveling speed at the time of braking are inappropriate as data for determining how much the driving state corresponds to the fuel-saving driving.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, when the boundary determining means determines the boundary dividing the plurality of regions, the engine speed and the traveling speed detected while the determination means determines that the vehicle is in a braking state. It is preferable to use the engine speed and the traveling speed excluding. The area | region mentioned above is for classifying the driving | running state specified by an engine speed and driving speed from a viewpoint of fuel-saving. However, as described above, at the time of vehicle braking, the engine speed does not necessarily correspond to the driver's accelerator pedal operation. For this reason, if the engine speed and the traveling speed at the time of vehicle braking are used as data for determining the boundary of the above-described region, an appropriate region cannot be determined.

  As described in claim 8, the notifying means multiplies the ratio belonging to each area calculated by the ratio calculating means after multiplying by a predetermined coefficient determined corresponding to each area. The information scored by this may be notified as information indicating the level of fuel-saving driving. By notifying the information that has been scored in this way, it is possible to provide notification that is easy for the driver to understand.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the vehicle is provided with a merging state discriminating unit that discriminates whether or not the vehicle is in a state of merging with the highway main line, and the recording unit also records a discrimination result by the merging state discriminating unit. The ratio calculation means belongs to each of the plurality of regions with the detected engine speed and running speed while the merging state determination means determines that the vehicle is about to join the main highway. It is preferable to exclude from the data for calculating the ratio, or to shift the plurality of regions to the higher engine speed side.

  When a vehicle is about to join the highway main line, the driver needs to match the speed of the vehicle with the speed of the vehicle traveling on the main line with a short travel distance. For this reason, it is necessary to accelerate the vehicle more rapidly than usual, and as a state of the vehicle, the engine has to be rotated at a high speed with a low-speed side gear. The engine speed and traveling speed detected in such a special situation are inappropriate as data for evaluating the level of fuel-saving driving. Therefore, as described above, in order to calculate the ratio of the detected engine speed and traveling speed to each of the plurality of areas while it is determined that the vehicle is about to join the highway main line. Are preferably excluded from the data. Alternatively, while it is determined that the vehicle is about to join the highway main line, considering that the engine speed has to be high, a plurality of areas are shifted to the high engine speed side. Also good.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the vehicle is provided with a merging state discriminating unit that discriminates whether or not the vehicle is in a state of merging with the highway main line. The boundary determination means determines the boundary between the plurality of areas, and determines the engine speed and travel detected while the merging state determination means determines that the vehicle is about to join the highway main line. It is preferable to use the engine speed and traveling speed excluding the speed. As described above, when the vehicle is about to join the highway main line, it is in a special driving situation where the engine speed must be increased. This is because if it is used as data for determining boundaries between a plurality of areas, an appropriate area cannot be determined.

It is a lineblock diagram showing the whole fuel-saving driving support system composition by a 1st embodiment. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of an in-vehicle device 10. 4 is a flowchart showing processing including calculation processing of an evaluation point indicating a level of fuel-saving driving, which is executed in the in-vehicle device 10. It is the graph which plotted the driving | running state of the vehicle specified by the engine speed and the vehicle speed in one operation period until a vehicle starts and stops an engine. It is a figure which shows an example which calculated | required the ratio which belongs to each area | region in a low speed area, and the ratio which belongs to each area | region in a high speed area about the driving | running state specified by an engine speed and a vehicle speed, respectively. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the coefficient e1 previously set corresponding to the area | region of each driving | running state, and used at the time of calculation of an evaluation point. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle equipment 10 of the fuel-saving driving | operation assistance system by 2nd Embodiment. 5 is a time chart showing an example of a transition of a determination state by a drive / braking determination unit 24. It is a flowchart which shows the process performed in order to alert | report the evaluation score etc. which show the level of a fuel-saving driving | operation in the vehicle equipment 10 in the fuel-saving driving | operation assistance system of 2nd Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle equipment 10 of the fuel-saving driving | operation assistance system by 3rd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating a diagnosis stop condition. It is a flowchart which shows the process performed in order to alert | report the evaluation score etc. which show the level of a fuel-saving driving | operation in the vehicle equipment 10 in the fuel-saving driving assistance system of 3rd Embodiment.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a fuel-saving driving support system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of the fuel-saving driving support system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the fuel-saving driving support system is a driving state specified by an engine speed and a vehicle speed based on an in-vehicle device 10 mounted on a vehicle and recorded data recorded in the in-vehicle device 10. The personal computer 20 is configured to display a distribution state of the vehicle and to set a boundary that defines a region of each driving state that is classified from the viewpoint of good and bad fuel consumption.

  However, in the present embodiment, an example in which a boundary that divides each driving state region is set in the personal computer 20 will be described. However, the boundary that divides each driving state region is determined in advance in consideration of engine characteristics, vehicle weight, and the like. It may be set and stored in the in-vehicle device 10 or may be set and adjusted in the in-vehicle device 10. In such a case, the fuel-saving driving support system is configured only from the in-vehicle device 10.

  With reference to FIG. 2, the structure of the vehicle equipment 10 is demonstrated. The in-vehicle device 10 mainly includes an in-vehicle device body 11, a speaker 14, and a display device 15. Among these, the in-vehicle device body 11 periodically determines the engine speed detected by the engine speed sensor (not shown) and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor (not shown) such as 1 second. The driving state diagnosing unit 12 for diagnosing the driving state of the vehicle from the viewpoint that the fuel consumption is good or bad based on these data.

  The driving state diagnosis unit 12 has a memory 12a that records the engine speed and the vehicle speed that are periodically input in association with each other. And the driving | running state diagnostic part 12 determines the level of fuel-saving driving | operation based on the recording data contained in the one operation period from the time of starting an engine until it stops, for example, and the period which divided | segmented the one operation period into plurality. The evaluation score shown is calculated. This evaluation point calculation method will be described later in detail. In addition, as the evaluation points, an evaluation point in a low speed range where the traveling speed of the vehicle is relatively low and an evaluation point in a relatively high speed range are calculated. The calculated evaluation score is output to the advice generation unit 13 and the diagnosis result recording unit 16 of the in-vehicle device main body 11. The driving state diagnosis unit 12 can also use the diagnosis result recording unit 16 as a memory for recording the engine speed and the vehicle speed.

  The advice generation unit 13 generates an advice corresponding to the evaluation point based on the evaluation point calculated by the driving state diagnosis unit 12. For example, if the evaluation score is relatively high, advice is given that the driver can drive with good fuel efficiency, or if the evaluation score in the low-speed range is low, “early shift up is performed. If the evaluation score in the high speed range is low, advice such as “Let's use the top gear as much as possible when driving at high speed” is generated.

  The advice generated by the advice generation unit 13 is output to the speaker 14 and the display device 15 together with the evaluation score. Accordingly, the evaluation point and advice are notified to the driver by voice and screen display. It should be noted that at least one of the speaker 14 and the display device 15 may be provided in order to notify the evaluation points and advice.

  The notification by the speaker 14 and the display device 15 described above may be performed when the vehicle is traveling, or may be performed after the vehicle is finished. Further, the notification may be performed while the vehicle is traveling, and the notification may be performed after the fact. When notification is made while the vehicle is running, the driving state specified by the engine speed and the vehicle speed changes from a region with good fuel consumption to a region with low fuel consumption. When exceeding (boundary lines A and E to be described later), advice may be given to notify that the engine speed is excessive.

  Further, when notification is made while the vehicle is traveling, the recording data for a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) or the recording data during the traveling of the vehicle for a predetermined distance (for example, 1 km) is read, and Calculation and advice generation may be performed to inform the driver. Thereby, when the driver's driving operation results in a driving state with poor fuel consumption, it is possible to immediately notify an evaluation point indicating that and an advice indicating an improvement point.

  The evaluation points and advice may be updated every time a predetermined time elapses or every predetermined distance traveled, but for a predetermined time or a predetermined distance traveled at a timing earlier than a predetermined time elapses or a predetermined distance traveled. Minute recording data may be read out and the notification content may be updated at shorter intervals. Thereby, the responsiveness of alerting | reporting can be improved. Further, the read recorded data is classified into a plurality of groups according to the recorded time, the latest data group is weighted higher, and the old data group is weighted lower while belonging to each operating state region. You may make it calculate a ratio. In this way, when the driving operation of the driver changes, and as a result, the driving state of the vehicle also changes, it is possible to calculate an evaluation point corresponding to the change with good responsiveness.

  The diagnostic result recording unit 16 includes a memory card 17, and the diagnostic result recording unit 16 records the calculated evaluation score on the memory card 17, and also records the engine recorded in the memory 12a of the driving state diagnostic unit 12 while the vehicle is running. Record the speed and vehicle speed. As described above, the memory card 17 on which the evaluation score, the engine speed and the vehicle speed are recorded can be detached from the in-vehicle device 10 and connected to the personal computer 20.

  The personal computer 20 is installed in an office or home, for example, and acquires and displays data recorded on the memory card 17 by the diagnosis result recording unit 16 of the in-vehicle device 10. For example, in the personal computer 20, it is possible to confirm in which operating state the engine speed is distributed in the low speed range and the high speed range by displaying a distribution map of the engine speed and the vehicle speed. it can. In addition to sharing data using the memory card 17 as described above, for example, the personal computer 20 and the vehicle-mounted device 10 can exchange data with each other by wireless communication. May be.

  Next, processing including calculation processing of an evaluation point indicating the level of fuel-saving driving, which is executed by the driving state diagnosis unit 12, will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, setting of a region for classifying the driving state specified by the engine speed and the vehicle speed, which is a premise for calculating the evaluation score, from the viewpoint of good and bad fuel efficiency will be described with reference to FIG. This area is set by the personal computer 20.

  FIG. 4 shows a graph in which the driving state of the vehicle specified by the engine speed and the vehicle speed is plotted in one operation period until the vehicle starts and stops. In the graph of FIG. 4, the vertical axis represents the engine speed, and the horizontal axis represents the vehicle speed.

  In FIG. 4, it appears that several thick lines extend radially from the lower left of the figure. These lines represent the travel in each gear of the transmission, and the rightmost line is due to travel by the top gear (for example, a 7th gear if the vehicle has a 7-speed gear transmission). .

  Here, in order to perform an operation with good fuel efficiency, it is effective to suppress the engine speed as much as possible. Therefore, when driving with good fuel efficiency, when the driving state of the vehicle is plotted in the graph as shown in FIG. 4, it is distributed in the region of low engine speed as a whole in the low speed range, and on the high stage side in the high speed range. Will be distributed along the gears.

  In the fuel-saving driving support system according to the present embodiment, a higher evaluation score is calculated when the engine speed is suppressed in the low speed range and a higher gear is used in the high speed range. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, at least three regions adjacent to each other from a region with good fuel consumption to a region with poor fuel consumption are plotted on a graph with the engine speed and the vehicle speed as two axes. Determine. However, in the example shown in FIG. 4, “operating state area with good fuel efficiency”, “operating condition area with slightly high fuel efficiency”, “operating condition area with slightly low fuel efficiency”, and “operating condition area with poor fuel efficiency”. , And “region of driving state with very poor fuel consumption” are defined.

  The boundaries of these areas can be set by the personal computer 20 as follows, for example. First, the driving state specified by the engine speed and the vehicle speed measured when the vehicle actually travels is plotted on the graph shown in FIG. In this graph, a boundary line A is determined so as to divide the engine speed at a predetermined ratio (for example, 5%). In this case, the target engine speed may be only for driving by a low-speed gear, or may be data for all gears. Further, the boundary A may be adjusted by the operation manager or the like on the personal computer 20. The boundary line A thus determined is a boundary line that divides the “region of the driving state with slightly good fuel efficiency” and the “region of the driving state with slightly low fuel consumption”. In other words, the boundary line A is the upper limit of the “slightly fuel-efficient driving state region” and the lower limit of the “slightly fuel-efficient driving state region”. Such a boundary line A indicates a 100% operation state in a low speed region.

  Next, a boundary line E indicating 100% operation state in the high speed range is set. As shown in FIG. 3, the boundary line E of the high speed region indicates the engine speed when the vehicle transmission is in the high gear position in the two-dimensional coordinate graph composed of the engine speed and the vehicle speed. In order to allow an increase in the vehicle speed, the inclination is set according to the ratio of the engine speed and the speed (engine speed / speed) by the gear on the high gear side so as to increase as the vehicle speed increases.

  More specifically, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the boundary line E is set to an inclination according to the ratio of the engine speed and the speed by the second highest gear, not the highest gear, and the second The inclination start speed (high speed / low speed determination speed) of the boundary line E is set so as not to cross the boundary line E when the engine speed increases as the speed increases with a high gear. However, with respect to the boundary line E, for example, when it is divided into three regions, even if the engine speed increases due to the highest gear, the inclination and the inclination start speed may be set so as not to cross the boundary line E. good.

  Next, a boundary line B indicating the upper limit of the region of the driving state with good fuel consumption is set in the low speed region. This boundary line B is set to a value of a predetermined ratio (50 to 80%) smaller than 100% with respect to the boundary line A. For example, the operation manager may instruct how much ratio is set. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, the boundary line B is set to a value that is 80% of the boundary line A. Then, in the high speed range, the boundary line F indicating the upper limit of the driving state with good fuel efficiency, when the engine speed is increased by the highest gear, the inclination and the inclination start so as not to cross the boundary line F. Set the speed. In FIG. 3, the boundary line B and the boundary line F are in contact with each other at the high speed / low speed determination speed.

  Further, in the low speed range, the boundary line C indicating the upper limit of the driving state region with slightly poor fuel consumption and the boundary line D indicating the upper limit of the driving state region with poor fuel consumption are more than 100% with respect to the boundary line A. A large predetermined ratio (120% and 150% in FIG. 3) is set. And, in the high speed range, the boundary line G indicating the upper limit of the driving condition region with slightly poor fuel consumption and the boundary line H indicating the upper limit of the driving condition region with poor fuel consumption are more than 100% with respect to the boundary line E. A large predetermined ratio (120% and 150% in FIG. 3) is set. However, regarding the boundary line G, when the engine speed is increased by the third highest gear, the inclination and the inclination start angle may be set so as not to cross the boundary line G.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the boundary line is determined so that the engine speed is constant regardless of the vehicle speed in the low speed range, and the boundary is determined by the engine speed that increases as the vehicle speed increases in the high speed range. A line is defined. This is because, in the low speed range, it is possible to switch to a higher speed gear, thereby reducing the engine speed. On the other hand, when the vehicle speed needs to be increased when the gear is switched to the high speed side in the high speed range (for example, when the vehicle is traveling on a highway), the engine speed must be increased. This is because there is a situation in which it is not obtained.

  Data (boundary line data) related to the boundary lines A to H set in this way is given from the personal computer 20 to the in-vehicle device 10 through the memory card 17 or communication. And this boundary line data is utilized in the driving | running state diagnostic part 12, when classifying the driving | running state specified by an engine speed and a vehicle speed into the area divided by each boundary line. As described above, when the vehicle travels, the boundary line that divides the plurality of regions from the actually recorded engine speed and vehicle speed is determined, so that the boundary line is determined in advance while considering the engine characteristics of the vehicle. It is not necessary to decide, and an appropriate boundary line can be decided according to the state of the vehicle.

  However, the method for setting each boundary line described above is an example, and the boundary line can be set by another method. For example, as described above, the characteristics shown in FIG. 3 may be determined in advance in consideration of engine characteristics and stored in the in-vehicle device body 11.

  Next, the process performed in the vehicle equipment 10 is demonstrated, referring the flowchart of FIG.

  First, as described above, the driving state diagnosis unit 12 periodically records the engine speed of the vehicle and the vehicle speed in the memory 12a in association with each other. In step S110 of the flowchart of FIG. 3, regarding the engine speed and the vehicle speed of the vehicle that are regularly recorded in this way, the recorded data in one operating period or a period specified by a predetermined time or a predetermined traveling distance is read.

  In subsequent step S120, based on the read record data, it is determined whether the vehicle state specified by the engine speed and the vehicle speed belongs to which region is divided by the boundary data described with reference to FIG. Meanwhile, the ratio belonging to each region is calculated. In the calculation of this ratio, as shown in FIG. 5, the ratio belonging to each area is calculated by dividing into a low speed area and a high speed area. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the ratio is obtained from the time (stay time) that the vehicle traveled in the driving state included in each area, but the ratio may be obtained simply from the number of data included in each area.

In subsequent step S130, the evaluation score is calculated based on the ratio calculated in step S120. At this time, the evaluation score for the low speed region and the evaluation score for the high speed region are calculated separately. Specifically, the evaluation score in the low speed range is calculated by the following formula 1, and the evaluation score in the high speed range is calculated by the following formula 2.

  In Equations 1 and 2 above, ei is a coefficient, which is set in advance corresponding to each operating state region as shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the coefficient for the region of the driving state with good fuel efficiency is set to “1”. For this reason, if the ratio belonging to the region of the driving state with good fuel consumption is 100%, the evaluation score is 100 points. On the other hand, “0.5” is set for the driving state region with slightly higher fuel efficiency, and “0” is set for the driving state region with slightly lower fuel consumption. The higher the value, the lower the evaluation score.

  Further, in the example shown in FIG. 6, a negative value is set as a coefficient corresponding to the region of the driving state with poor fuel consumption or the driving state with very poor fuel consumption. In other words, driving where fuel consumption deteriorates is targeted for deduction. In this case, a negative score may be calculated as the evaluation score, but the lower limit may be determined by uniformly setting the negative score to “0 points”.

  Note that the coefficient setting shown in FIG. 6 is merely an example, and other coefficient sets may be used.

  In this way, when the evaluation score is calculated, advice is generated in the process of step S140, and is notified together with the evaluation score by the speaker 14 and the display device 15. The evaluation score is also output and recorded in the diagnosis result recording unit 16.

  As described above, according to the fuel-saving driving support system of the present embodiment, at least three regions that are adjacent to each other are defined from a region with good fuel consumption to a region with poor fuel consumption. Therefore, it is possible to classify the driving state specified by the engine speed and the vehicle speed more finely in terms of fuel-saving driving as compared with the case of simply determining whether or not the engine speed exceeds the threshold value. it can. And the driving | running state specified by an engine speed and a vehicle speed calculates | requires the ratio which belongs to each area | region, Based on this calculated | required ratio, the evaluation point which shows the level of fuel-saving driving | operation is alert | reported. For this reason, the driver's willingness to increase the level can be evoked, and a further suppression effect of fuel consumption can be expected.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a fuel-saving driving support system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the in-vehicle device of the fuel-saving driving support system according to the present embodiment.

  The fuel-saving driving support system according to the present embodiment calculates an evaluation score from a ratio in which the vehicle state specified by the engine speed and the vehicle speed belongs to each region on a graph having the engine speed and the vehicle speed as two axes. In this respect, it is common with the fuel-saving driving support system of the first embodiment.

  Here, when the slope of the road on which the vehicle travels changes, or when the vehicle is a cargo transport vehicle such as a truck or a trailer, the loaded state is loaded and the empty state is not loaded. The running resistance changes greatly. In such a case, if an area divided by the same boundary line is used as an area according to the fuel efficiency, it becomes difficult to calculate an appropriate evaluation score.

  Further, when the vehicle is in a braking state, fuel injection is usually cut off, and the engine speed does not necessarily correspond to the driver's accelerator pedal operation. Therefore, even when the vehicle state based on the engine speed and the vehicle speed during vehicle braking is used as data for calculating the evaluation score, it is difficult to calculate an appropriate evaluation score.

  In view of this, the fuel-saving driving support system according to the present embodiment is capable of reducing the error factor when calculating the evaluation score generated for the reason described above. Hereinafter, a configuration unique to the fuel-saving driving support system of the present embodiment will be mainly described.

  First, the in-vehicle device body 11 includes an acceleration sensor 21 as shown in FIG. The acceleration sensor 21 detects acceleration acting in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The longitudinal acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 21 and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor are input to the gradient calculation unit 22.

  The gradient calculation unit 22 calculates the travel acceleration of the vehicle based on the input vehicle speed. Then, based on the longitudinal acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 21 and the vehicle travel acceleration obtained by the calculation, the gradient angle of the road on which the vehicle travels is calculated from the difference between the longitudinal acceleration and the vehicle travel acceleration. When the vehicle travels on a flat road, the vehicle travel acceleration calculated from the vehicle speed matches the longitudinal acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 21. However, when the vehicle is traveling uphill or downhill, the vehicle travel acceleration calculated from the vehicle speed does not coincide with the longitudinal acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 21 due to the influence of gravity. The difference between these two accelerations depends on the influence of gravity, that is, the gradient angle of the road on which the vehicle is traveling. Therefore, the gradient angle of the road on which the vehicle is traveling can be calculated based on the aforementioned difference.

  Note that the gradient angle can also be detected using a sensor other than the sensors described above. For example, a road gradient may be calculated by installing a gyro sensor in the pitch direction of the vehicle and detecting an angular velocity in the pitch direction.

  The load / empty switch 23 has a switch position that indicates an empty state in which no load is loaded on the vehicle, and a switch position that indicates a load state in which the load is loaded on the vehicle. A user such as a vehicle driver operates the loading / empty switch 23 to input loading / empty information indicating whether the vehicle is in a loaded state or an empty state to the driving state diagnosis unit 12. Can do.

  In order to detect whether the vehicle is in a loaded state or an empty vehicle state, in addition to the above-described loading / empty vehicle switch 23, for example, a weight sensor that detects the weight of the cargo compartment of the vehicle is provided. The loading / empty vehicle information may be obtained from the detection result.

  The driving / braking determination unit 24 determines whether the vehicle is in a driving state or a braking state based on the longitudinal acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 21. That is, when a positive acceleration is detected with the traveling direction of the vehicle as a positive direction, it is determined that the vehicle is in a driving state, and when a negative acceleration is detected, the vehicle is in a braking state.

  FIG. 8 is a time chart showing the transition of the determination state by the driving / braking determination unit 24. As shown in FIG. 8, when the vehicle speed decreases due to braking and the longitudinal acceleration crosses the braking determination threshold value on the negative side, it is determined that the vehicle is in a braking state. This determination of the braking state is maintained until the longitudinal acceleration exceeds the positive drive determination threshold. Further, the driving / braking determination unit 24 determines that the vehicle is in a stopped state when the speed of the vehicle becomes equal to or less than the stop determination speed.

  In order to determine the driving / braking state with higher accuracy, as described in the prior application (Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-125151), it acts in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle by gravity according to the road gradient angle (θ). The driving / braking state may be determined in consideration of the acceleration (gsin θ).

  The engine speed and the vehicle speed, the gradient angle calculated by the gradient calculation unit 22, the loading / empty vehicle information from the loading / empty vehicle switch 23, and the driving / braking state determined by the driving / braking determination unit 24 are the driving state. The data is input to the diagnosis unit 12 and periodically recorded in the memory 12a. At this time, each piece of information is associated with each other and recorded in the memory 12a. Thus, for example, whether the engine speed and vehicle speed are obtained in a loaded state or an empty vehicle state, obtained when the gradient angle is any number of times, or in a braking state or a driving state. It is possible to identify whether it was obtained.

  Next, a description will be given of the setting of a region for classifying the driving state specified by the engine speed and the vehicle speed from the viewpoint of good and bad fuel consumption based on the recorded data recorded as described above.

  The personal computer 20 reads out the recording data recorded in the memory card 17, and in the read out recording data, first, the engine speed obtained when the braking state is determined based on the data relating to the driving / braking state. The vehicle speed is specified based on the association of the information described above. Then, the specified engine speed and vehicle speed are excluded from the engine speed and vehicle speed that are to be processed later. As a result, the engine speed and vehicle speed data obtained when the vehicle is determined to be in the drive state remain as the engine speed and the vehicle speed to be processed.

  Here, the area | region mentioned above is for classifying the driving | running state specified by an engine speed and a vehicle speed from a viewpoint of fuel saving. However, during vehicle braking, as described above, the engine speed does not necessarily correspond to the driver's accelerator pedal operation. For this reason, if the engine speed and the traveling speed at the time of vehicle braking are used as data for setting the boundary of the above-described region, an appropriate region cannot be determined.

  Next, the engine speed and the vehicle speed remaining as a processing target are classified using the loading / empty vehicle information and the gradient angle. In addition, an angle range to be determined as a flat road is determined in advance as the gradient angle, and when it belongs to the angle range, it is determined as a flat road, and when it exceeds the angle range, it is determined as an uphill or a downhill. The

  In this embodiment, when the vehicle is empty and flat (case 1), when it is empty and uphill (case 2), loaded and flat (case 3), and loaded and uphill. The engine speed and vehicle speed are classified into four cases (case 4). In other words, in the present embodiment, the engine speed and the vehicle speed when it is determined as a downhill are excluded from the engine speed and the vehicle speed for setting the boundary line.

  Then, boundary lines A to H for each case are determined from the engine speed and the vehicle speed classified for each case. Specifically, boundary lines A to H for the empty flat road are determined based on the engine speed and the vehicle speed when the vehicle can be regarded as traveling on a flat road in the empty state, and the vehicle is ascending in the empty state. The boundary lines A to H for the empty vehicle uphill are determined based on the engine speed when it can be considered that the vehicle is traveling. Further, boundary lines A to H for the load flat road are determined based on the engine speed when it can be considered that the vehicle is traveling on the flat road in the loaded state, and the vehicle is traveling on the uphill in the loaded state. Boundary lines A to H for loading uphill are determined based on the engine speed and the vehicle speed at which it can be considered.

  In this way, by using the boundary lines A to H determined for each case, in each situation corresponding to each case, it is specified by the engine speed and the vehicle speed detected when the vehicle actually travels. The driving state can be appropriately classified into each region. Note that the setting of the boundary line of each case is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment described above.

  Next, in the vehicle-mounted device 10 in the fuel-saving driving support system according to the second embodiment, a process executed to notify an evaluation point indicating the level of the fuel-saving driving will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. .

  First, in step S210, the record data in one operation period or a period defined by a predetermined time or a predetermined travel distance is read from the record data such as the engine speed and the vehicle speed of the vehicle that are periodically recorded in the memory 12a. .

  In the subsequent step S220, the engine speed and the vehicle speed obtained when it is determined that the vehicle is in the braking state are specified based on the data relating to the driving / braking state in the read recording data. Then, the specified engine speed and vehicle speed are excluded from the engine speed and vehicle speed as data for calculating the evaluation score. As a result, the engine speed and vehicle speed data obtained when the vehicle is determined to be in the driving state remain as data for calculating the evaluation score. As described above, during vehicle braking, the engine speed does not necessarily correspond to the driver's accelerator pedal operation. Therefore, the engine speed and traveling speed at the time of braking are inappropriate as data for determining how much the driving state corresponds to fuel-saving driving.

  Next, in step S230, the engine speed and the vehicle speed that are left as a processing target are classified into cases 1 to 4 described above using the loading / empty vehicle information and the gradient angle. In step S240, the ratio belonging to each region is calculated using the boundary lines A to H corresponding to the classified cases.

  In this way, when the running resistance of the vehicle changes depending on the road gradient or the load state of the load by setting the region of the driving state corresponding to the fuel efficiency using the boundary lines A to H that are different for each case Even so, it is possible to set an appropriate region in accordance with the change in running resistance.

  In subsequent step S250, based on the ratio calculated in step S240, an evaluation point for the low speed region and an evaluation point for the high speed region are calculated. In this embodiment, regions are divided using different boundary lines for each case. However, when calculating the evaluation points, the evaluation points of each case are not calculated separately, but the whole is simply put together. One evaluation score is calculated. However, the evaluation score for each case may be calculated individually.

  In step S260, advice is generated based on the calculated evaluation score, and is notified by the speaker 14 and the display device 15 together with the evaluation score. The evaluation score is also output and recorded in the diagnosis result recording unit 16.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a fuel-saving driving support system according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of the fuel-saving driving support system according to the present embodiment. In addition, about the structure similar to the fuel-saving driving assistance system in each embodiment mentioned above, description is abbreviate | omitted by providing the same reference number.

  When a vehicle joins the main highway from a highway entrance, a ramp that connects the highways together at a junction, a service area (SA) or a parking area (PA), a driver is provided for the merge While traveling on the connecting road, it is necessary to adjust the speed of the vehicle to the speed of the vehicle traveling on the main line. For this reason, it is necessary to accelerate the vehicle more rapidly than usual, and as a state of the vehicle, the engine has to be rotated at a high speed with a low-speed side gear. The engine speed and traveling speed detected in such a special situation are inappropriate as data for evaluating the level of fuel-saving driving.

  Therefore, the fuel-saving driving support system in the present embodiment uses the engine speed and traveling speed detected while it is determined that the vehicle is about to join the highway main line as an evaluation point for fuel-saving driving. Is excluded from the data for calculating.

  Hereinafter, the fuel-saving driving support system according to the present embodiment will be described in detail based on the drawings. As shown in FIG. 10, the vehicle-mounted device 10 of the fuel-saving driving support system in the present embodiment is equipped with navigation mounted on the vehicle in order to determine whether or not the vehicle is about to join the highway main line. The device 30 is connected. The in-vehicle device 10 acquires information such as the current position of the vehicle and the type and attribute of the road on which the vehicle is traveling from the navigation device 30.

  The vehicle-mounted device 10 is provided with a detector (such as a GPS receiver) for detecting the current position of the vehicle and a storage medium storing road map data, from which the current position of the vehicle and the road on which the vehicle is traveling You may comprise so that the information regarding may be acquired.

  The in-vehicle device 10 determines whether or not the vehicle is about to join the highway main line based on the acquired current position of the vehicle and information on the road on which the vehicle is traveling. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the four cases shown in FIG. The first case is a case where the type of road on which the vehicle is traveling is a highway and the road attribute is a connecting road to the main highway. The second case is a case where the type of road on which the vehicle is traveling is a highway, and the current position of the vehicle is within X (m) after entering the main road from the connecting road. The third case is a case where the type of road on which the vehicle is traveling is a highway and the road attribute is a road in SA or a road in PA. The SA internal road and the PA internal road include a connecting road for joining the highway from the SA or PA. In the fourth case, the type of road on which the vehicle is traveling is an expressway, and the current position of the vehicle is within X (m) after entering the main road from the SA road or PA road. Is the case.

  Here, in the second case and the fourth case, the vehicle is already running on the highway main line, but when merging from the connecting road, the engine speed is high for a while after merging with the main line. It is intended to continue.

  In the fuel-saving driving support system according to the present embodiment, when one of the four cases shown in FIG. 11 corresponds, it is determined that the vehicle is in a state of joining the expressway main line. Then, the engine speed and the vehicle traveling speed detected when such a determination is made are regarded as corresponding to the evaluation stop condition, and are excluded from the data for evaluating the level of fuel-saving driving. That is, as shown in step S320 of the flowchart of FIG. 12, the engine speed and the vehicle speed corresponding to the evaluation stop condition are excluded from the recording data for a predetermined period. Accordingly, the level of fuel-saving driving is not evaluated based on the engine speed and the vehicle speed in a situation where the engine speed has to be increased, and the evaluation can be performed appropriately. Note that the processing in the other steps of the flowchart of FIG. 12 is the same as the processing of each step in the flowchart of FIG.

  Further, in the above-described example, when the four cases shown in FIG. 11 are applicable, it is excluded from the data for calculating the evaluation score of the fuel-saving driving. However, during the uphill traveling and the loading state in the second embodiment described above. As in the case of, the setting of the boundary line of each region may be changed. At that time, the boundary line may be set based on data when actually traveling on the connecting road for joining the highway main line, or already set boundary lines for flat roads Each region may be moved by a predetermined value so that the region transitions to the high engine speed side.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described second embodiment, the description has been given by taking as an example a vehicle for transporting goods such as a truck and a trailer. However, the fuel-saving driving support system according to the present invention can be applied to a normal passenger car or the like. . In this case, the boundary line may be properly used according to the number of passengers and the load capacity of the load. However, if the effect is minor compared to a load carrying vehicle, the boundary according to the empty vehicle / load state The boundary line may be used properly only by the gradient angle of the road without using the line properly.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which an uphill boundary line is determined based on an engine speed and a vehicle speed on the uphill when the gradient angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle is regarded as an uphill. However, if the gradient angle changes, the running resistance also changes. Therefore, the gradient angle indicating the uphill may be divided into a plurality, and different boundary lines may be set for each divided range.

  Furthermore, the fuel-saving driving support system in the third embodiment described above may be implemented in combination with the fuel-saving driving support system described in the second embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... In-vehicle apparatus 11 ... In-vehicle apparatus main body 12 ... Operation state diagnosis part 13 ... Advice generation part 14 ... Speaker 15 ... Display apparatus 16 ... Diagnosis result recording part 17 ... Memory card

Claims (10)

A rotational speed detection means for detecting the engine rotational speed of the vehicle;
Speed detecting means for detecting the traveling speed of the vehicle;
Recording means for repeatedly recording while associating the engine speed detected by the speed detection means with the traveling speed detected by the speed detection means;
On the graph having the engine speed and the traveling speed as two axes, at least three regions adjacent to each other are determined from the region where the fuel consumption is good to the region where the fuel economy is bad, and is recorded in association with the recording means. A ratio calculating means for calculating a ratio in which the driving state specified by the engine speed and the traveling speed is included in each of at least three regions;
A fuel-saving driving support system comprising: an informing means for informing information indicating the level of fuel-saving driving based on the ratio calculated by the ratio calculating means.   Each of the plurality of regions is defined by a constant engine speed regardless of the traveling speed in a low speed region where the traveling speed range of the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed, and in a high speed region higher than the predetermined speed. The fuel-saving driving support system according to claim 1, wherein the boundary is defined by an engine speed that increases with the traveling speed.   Boundary determining means for determining boundaries that divide the plurality of areas in order to determine the plurality of areas based on the engine speed and traveling speed recorded in the recording means when the vehicle actually travels. The fuel-saving driving support system according to claim 2, further comprising: Comprising a slope detecting means for detecting a slope of a road on which the vehicle travels;
The recording means records the road gradient detected by the gradient detecting means in association with the engine speed and the traveling speed,
The boundary determination unit determines at least two types of boundaries, a flat road boundary and an uphill boundary, as the boundary that divides the plurality of regions in consideration of the road gradient detected by the gradient detection unit. And
4. The fuel-saving driving support system according to claim 3, wherein the ratio calculation unit selectively uses a boundary used for ratio calculation based on the road gradient detected by the gradient detection unit. A loading state detection means for detecting a loading state of the load in the vehicle;
The recording means records in association with the detection result by the loading state detection means in addition to the engine speed and traveling speed,
The boundary determining unit determines at least two types of boundaries, a boundary for loading and a boundary for non-loading, as the boundary for dividing the plurality of regions in consideration of the detection result by the loading state detecting unit. And
5. The fuel-saving driving support system according to claim 3, wherein the ratio calculation unit selectively uses a boundary used for ratio calculation based on the loading state detected by the loading state detection unit. A determination means for determining whether the vehicle is in a braking state or a driving state;
In the recording means, the discrimination result by the discrimination means is also recorded,
The ratio calculating means is a data for calculating a ratio belonging to each of the plurality of regions, the engine speed and the running speed detected while the vehicle is determined to be in a braking state by the determining means. The fuel-saving driving support system according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the fuel-saving driving support system is excluded from the above.   The boundary determining means determines the engine speed and traveling speed excluding the engine speed and traveling speed detected while the vehicle is determined to be in a braking state by the determining means when determining the boundary. The fuel-saving driving support system according to claim 6, wherein the fuel-saving driving support system is used.   The notifying means multiplies the ratio belonging to each area calculated by the ratio calculating means by multiplying by a predetermined coefficient determined corresponding to each area, and adding the scored information. The fuel-saving driving support system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein information indicating the level of the fuel-saving driving is reported.   A merging state determining means for determining whether or not the vehicle is in a state of merging with the main highway,
  In the recording means, the determination result by the merging state determination means is also recorded,
  The ratio calculation means is configured to set the detected engine speed and traveling speed to each of the plurality of areas while the merging state determination means determines that the vehicle is about to join the main highway. The fuel-saving driving support system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the ratio is excluded from data for calculating the belonging ratio, or a plurality of regions are shifted to a higher engine speed side. A merging state determining means for determining whether or not the vehicle is in a state of merging with the main highway,
In the recording means, the determination result by the merging state determination means is also recorded,
When the boundary determining means determines the boundaries that divide the plurality of regions, the engine speed detected while the merging state determining means determines that the vehicle is about to join the highway main line. 8. The fuel-saving driving support system according to claim 3, wherein the engine speed and the traveling speed excluding the traveling speed are used.

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