Mobile body

• US 10,207,762 B2
• Filed: 06/16/2016
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Takenaka, Toru, Akimoto, Kazushi, Uebayashi, Yuichi, Shirokura, Shinya, Kawakami, Tomohiro, Araki, Makoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Condra, Darlene P
• Application Number:
  US15/184,397
• Publication Number:
  US 20160375948A1
• Time in Patent Office: 978 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/0162 mainly during a motion involving steering operation, e.g. cornering, overtaking B60G17/0164 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/018 characterised by the use of a specific signal treatment or control method
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/0511 Roll angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/25 Stroke; Height; Displacement
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2800/0124 Roll-over conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 11/00 Arrangement in connection with cooling of propulsion units heating the interior space B60H; cooling internal combustion engines per se F01P
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0033 Single-track, 2D vehicle model, i.e. two-wheel bicycle model
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/202 Steering torque
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/18 Roll
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/207 Steering angle of wheels
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/18 Roll
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/02 Control of vehicle driving stability
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/025 related to comfort of drivers or passengers
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/12 Motorcycles, Trikes; Quads; Scooters
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 9/02 combined with means for inwardly inclining vehicle body on bends
• CPC Class Codes: B62J 45/4151 for sensing lateral inclination of the cycle
• CPC Class Codes: B62K 5/01 Motorcycles with four or more wheels specially adapted for disabled riders B62K5/003
• CPC Class Codes: B62K 5/05 characterised by a single rear wheel
• CPC Class Codes: B62K 5/08 with steering devices acting on two or more wheels
• CPC Class Codes: B62K 5/10 : with means for inwardly inclining the vehicle body on bends
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 2210/18 : Specially developed for using with motorbikes or other two-wheeled vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0891 : specially adapted for land vehicles

Abstract

A control device (60) of a mobile body (1) calculates a center-of-gravity displacement degree index value representing an estimate of the degree of displacement of the center of gravity of the operator in the lateral direction of a vehicle body (2) from a predetermined reference position with respect to the vehicle body (2), and determines a control input for an actuator (15), which can cause a moment in the roll direction to act on the vehicle body (2), so as to increase the degree of displacement of the center of gravity of the operator indicated by the center-of-gravity displacement degree index value in a state of presence of such displacement. The control device (60) controls the actuator (15) in accordance with the control input.

Claims

1. A mobile body including a vehicle body having a boarding section for an operator and freely tiltable in a roll direction with respect to a road surface, front and rear wheels disposed spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, an actuator capable of causing a moment in the roll direction to act on the vehicle body, and a control device configured to control the actuator, the control device comprising:

a center-of-gravity displacement degree index value determining section which determines a center-of-gravity displacement degree index value using an observed value of a motional state of the mobile body, the center-of-gravity displacement degree index value representing an estimate of a degree of displacement of a center of gravity of the operator boarded on the boarding section in a lateral direction of the vehicle body from a predetermined reference position with respect to the vehicle body; and

a control input determining section which determines a control input for controlling the actuator in accordance with the determined center-of-gravity displacement degree index value in such a way as to increase the degree of displacement of the center of gravity of the operator indicated by the determined center-of-gravity displacement degree index value in a state where the center of gravity of the operator boarded on the boarding section is displaced from the predetermined reference position,

wherein

the control device is configured to control the actuator in accordance with the determined control input,

the observed value of the motional state used in the center-of-gravity displacement degree index value determining section includes an observed value of an inclination state quantity representing a state of inclination of the vehicle body,

the center-of-gravity displacement degree index value determining section is configured to sequentially determine the center-of-gravity displacement degree index value, and also includes a section which calculates an estimate of the inclination state quantity through a dynamics computation using the determined center-of-gravity displacement degree index value, and the center-of-gravity displacement degree index value determining section is configured to update the center-of-gravity displacement degree index value based on a deviation between the calculated value of the inclination state quantity and the observed value of the inclination state quantity.

2. The mobile body according to claim 1, wherein the actuator is an actuator which steers a steered wheel, among the front and rear wheels, so as to cause a ground contact point of the steered wheel to move laterally.

3. The mobile body according to claim 1, wherein the actuator is an actuator which moves a center of gravity of the vehicle body so as to cause a moment in the roll direction to act on the vehicle body by a gravitational force acting on the vehicle body.

4. The mobile body according to claim 1, wherein the actuator is an actuator which causes the vehicle body to swing in the roll direction with respect to the road surface.

5. The mobile body according to claim 4, wherein

the control device further comprises a steering force estimating section which estimates a steering force applied to a steered wheel, among the front and rear wheels, as the operator boarded on the boarding section manipulates a handle for steering the steered wheel, and

the control input determining section is configured to determine the control input in accordance with the center-of-gravity displacement degree index value and the estimated steering force.

6. The mobile body according to claim 1, wherein the control input determining section is configured to determine the control input for controlling the actuator in such a way as to increase the degree of displacement of the center of gravity of the operator on a condition that a magnitude of the degree of displacement of the center of gravity of the operator indicated by the determined center-of-gravity displacement degree index value is a predetermined value or greater.

7. The mobile body according to claim 1, wherein the dynamics computation carried out by the center-of-gravity displacement degree index value determining section is a dynamics computation based on a dynamic model which expresses dynamics of the mobile body by dynamics of a mass point system formed of an inverted pendulum mass point and a ground surface mass point, the inverted pendulum mass point moving in a horizontal direction above a contact ground surface of the mobile body, in accordance with a change of an inclination angle in the roll direction of the vehicle body and a change of a steering angle of a steered wheel among the front and rear wheels, the ground surface mass point moving horizontally on the contact ground surface of the mobile body, in accordance with the change of the steering angle of the steered wheel and independently of the change of the inclination angle in the roll direction of the vehicle body.

8. The mobile body according to claim 1, wherein the dynamics computation carried out by the center-of-gravity displacement degree index value determining section is a dynamics computation based on a dynamic model which expresses dynamics of the mobile body by dynamics of a system formed of a mass point located at an overall center of gravity of the mobile body and inertia in a direction about an axis in the longitudinal direction of the mobile body.

9. The mobile body according to claim 1, wherein the control input determining section is configured to determine the control input such that sensitivity of a change in the control input with respect to a change in the center-of-gravity displacement degree index value varies in accordance with a traveling speed of the mobile body.