Hybrid Vehicle Controller

• US 20090030568A1
• Filed: 02/21/2007
• Published: 01/29/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Yoshida, Hiroshi, Amano, Yasushi, Umeno, Takaji, Ishikawa, Tetsuhiro, Tomura, Shuji, Kanada, Naoya
• Granted Patent: US 8,340,849 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/22
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/445 Differential gearing distribution type
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2210/40 DC to AC converters
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/441 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/443 Torque
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/622 by satellite navigation
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/50 by future state prediction
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/52 drive range estimation, e.g. of estimation of available travel distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/54 Energy consumption estimation
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/16 with provision for separate direct mechanical propulsion
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/61 by batteries charged by engine-driven generators, e.g. series hybrid electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/12 responding to state of charge [SoC]
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 7/14 for vehicles propelled by ac motors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/08 including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/00 Control systems specially adapted for hybrid vehicles hybrid vehicle design, B60K6/00; electric vehicles B60L
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/12 using control strategies taking into account route information estimation or calculation of non-directly measurable driving parameters B60W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/0666 Engine power
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/188 Controlling power parameters of the driveline, e.g. determining the required power
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/0625 Fuel consumption, e.g. measured in fuel liters per 100 kms or miles per gallon
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/701 Information about vehicle position, e.g. from navigation system or GPS signal
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 29/02 : peculiar to engines driving vehicles; peculiar to engines driving variable pitch propellers
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 29/06 : peculiar to engines driving electric generators
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/021 : Introducing corrections for particular conditions exterior to the engine conjoint control of vehicle sub-units for propelling the vehicle B60W30/18
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 : specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/62 : Hybrid vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 : Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 : Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 : Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 : Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

A power frequency distribution predicting unit predicts the power frequency distribution of a vehicle in a case where the vehicle travels a route with reference to the history of the vehicle power Pv when the vehicle traveled the route in the past. An operation condition setting unit sets the range of the required vehicle power Pv0 to operate the engine as an engine operation condition for controlling the energy balance between generated power and generated electric power of an electric rotating machine in a case where the vehicle travels the route to be at a preset value according to the power frequency distribution predicted by the power frequency distribution predicting unit. An operation control unit controls the operation of the engine according to the range of the required vehicle power Pv0 to operate the engine set by the operation condition setting unit.

Claims

1. A hybrid vehicle controller used in a hybrid vehicle capable of driving drive wheels using power generated by at least one of an engine and an electric rotating machine and capable of generating electric power of the electric rotating machine using the power generated by the engine, comprising:

an operation control unit that controls operations of the engine and the electric rotating machine according to required vehicle power;

a power frequency distribution predicting unit that predicts a power frequency distribution of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle travels a route, the power frequency distribution of the vehicle being expressed by a frequency included in each of a plurality of power bandwidths into which a vehicle power is divided in advance; and

an operation condition setting unit that sets an engine operation condition to control an energy balance between generated power and generated electric power of the electric rotating machine in a case where the vehicle travels the route, so as to fall within a preset range according to the power frequency distribution predicted by the power frequency distribution predicting unit,

wherein the operation control unit controls an operation of the engine according to the engine operation condition set by the operation condition setting unit.

2. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 1, wherein:

the operation condition setting unit sets the engine operation condition to control the energy balance between the generated power and the generated electric power of the electric rotating machine so as to fall within the preset range and to substantially minimize fuel consumption of the engine in a case where the vehicle travels the route according to the power frequency distribution predicted by the power frequency distribution predicting unit.

3. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 1, wherein:

the operation condition setting unit sets a range of the required vehicle power to operate the engine as the engine operation condition; and

the operation control unit controls the engine to operate when the required vehicle power falls within the range set by the operation condition setting unit.

4. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 1, wherein:

the operation condition setting unit sets a lower limit value of the range of the required vehicle power to operate the engine as the engine operation condition; and

the operation control unit controls the engine to operate when the required vehicle power is equal to or larger than the lower limit value of the range set by the operation condition setting unit, and stops the operation of the engine and controls an operation of the electric rotating machine for the electric rotating machine to generate power when the required vehicle power is larger than 0 and smaller than the lower limit value of the range set by the operation condition setting unit.

5. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 3, wherein:

the operation condition setting unit repetitively performs tentative setting processing to tentatively set the range of the required vehicle power to operate the engine, and determination processing to determine whether it is possible to set engine power and generated electric power of the electric rotating machine in the range of the required vehicle power so that the energy balance falls within the preset range in a case where the vehicle travels the route under a condition of the tentatively set range of the required vehicle power using the power frequency distribution predicted by the power frequency distribution predicting unit while changing the range of the required vehicle power that is set tentatively, and sets the range of the required vehicle power to operate the engine according to a determination result of the determination processing.

6. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 5, wherein:

the operation condition setting unit performs computation processing to compute a fuel consumption amount of the engine in a case where the vehicle travels the route using the engine power and the power frequency distribution predicted by the power frequency distribution predicting unit in a case where it is determined that it is possible to set the engine power and the generated electric power of the electric rotating machine in the range of the required vehicle power tentatively set in the determination processing, and sets the range of the required vehicle power tentatively set in a case where the fuel consumption amount becomes minimum among fuel consumption amounts computed in the computation processing as the range of the required vehicle power to operate the engine.

7. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 1, wherein:

the electric rotating machine is capable of sending electric power to, and receiving electric power from, an electric energy storage device that stores electric energy;

the hybrid vehicle controller further comprises an electric energy storage state acquiring unit that acquires an electric energy storage state of the electric energy storage device; and

the operation control unit controls the engine to operate regardless of the engine operation condition set by the operation condition setting unit when the electric energy storage state of the electric energy storage device acquired by the electric energy storage state acquiring unit is lower than a specified value.

8. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 1, wherein:

the power frequency distribution predicting unit predicts the power frequency distribution of the vehicle in each travel zone for the route divided into plural travel zones; and

in a case where it is determined that the energy balance falls outside the preset range in a case where the vehicle travels in a given travel zone under the engine operation condition currently set, the operation condition setting unit sets the engine operation condition again for the energy balance to fall within the preset range in a case where the vehicle travels in the travel zone according to the power frequency distribution in each travel zone predicted by the power frequency distribution predicting unit.

17. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 1, further comprising:

a power acquiring unit that acquires vehicle power in a case where the vehicle travels the route,

wherein the power frequency distribution predicting unit predicts the power frequency distribution of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle travels the route with reference to a history of the vehicle power acquired by the power acquiring unit.

18. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 17, further comprising:

a power frequency distribution storage unit that stores the power frequency distribution of the vehicle with reference to the history of the vehicle power acquired by the power acquiring unit,

wherein the power frequency distribution predicting unit uses the power frequency distribution of the vehicle stored in the power frequency distribution storage unit as the power frequency distribution of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle travels the route.

21. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 5, further comprising:

a power acquiring unit that acquires vehicle power in a case where the vehicle travels the route together with at least one of a torque or a rotational speed of the engine and the electric rotating machine; and

a power frequency distribution storage unit that stores the power frequency distribution of the vehicle with reference to a history of the vehicle power acquired by the power acquiring unit,

wherein;

the power frequency distribution predicting unit uses the power frequency distribution of the vehicle stored in the power frequency distribution storage unit as the power frequency distribution of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle travels the route;

the power frequency distribution storage unit stores at least one of the torque or the rotational speed of the engine and the electric rotating machine in correlation with a power bandwidth in which the vehicle power acquired together therewith is included; and

the determination processing is processing to compute the engine power and the generated electric power of the electric rotating machine according to at least one of the torque or the rotational speed of the engine and the electric rotating machine stored in correlation with each power bandwidth in such a manner that the rotational speed of the engine and the rotational speed or the torque of the electric rotating machine become equal to or lower than corresponding limit values in each power bandwidth included within the range of the required vehicle power tentatively set, and to determine whether the energy balance falls within the preset range under a condition of the engine power and the generated electric power of the electric rotating machine that have been computed.

22. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 5, further comprising:

a power acquiring unit that acquires vehicle power in a case where the vehicle travels the route together with a physical amount relative to an in-vehicle sound; and

a power frequency distribution storage unit that stores the power frequency distribution of the vehicle with reference to a history of the vehicle power acquired by the power acquiring unit,

wherein;

the power frequency distribution predicting unit uses the power frequency distribution of the vehicle stored in the power frequency distribution storage unit as the power frequency distribution of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle travels the route;

the power frequency distribution storage unit stores the physical amount relative to the in-vehicle sound in correlation with the power bandwidth in which the vehicle power acquired together therewith is included; and

the determination processing is processing to compute the engine power and the generated electric power of the electric rotating machine for the physical amount relative to the in-vehicle sound to be equal to or lower than a limit value in each power bandwidth included in the range of the required vehicle power tentatively set, and to determine whether the energy balance falls within the preset range under a condition of the engine power and the generated electric power of the electric rotating machine that have been computed.

25. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 1, further comprising:

a route predicting unit that predicts the route of the vehicle,

wherein the power frequency distribution predicting unit predicts the power frequency distribution of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle travels the route according to the route of the vehicle predicted by the route predicting unit.

27. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 1, wherein:

an electric motor capable of driving the drive wheels and an electric generator capable of generating electric power using the power generated by the engine are provided as the electric rotating machine.

9. A hybrid vehicle controller used in a hybrid vehicle capable of driving drive wheels using power generated by at least one of an engine and an electric rotating machine and capable of generating electric power of the electric rotating machine using the power generated by the engine, wherein

the electric rotating machine is capable of sending electric power to, and receiving electric power from, an electric energy storage device that stores electric energy, and wherein

the hybrid vehicle controller comprises:

an operation control unit that controls operations of the engine and the electric rotating machine according to required vehicle power;

a power frequency distribution predicting unit that predicts a power frequency distribution of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle travels along a route, the power frequency distribution of the vehicle being expressed by a frequency included in each of a plurality of power bandwidths into which a vehicle power is divided in advance;

an electric energy storage state acquiring unit that acquires an electric energy storage state of the electric energy storage device; and

an operation condition setting unit that sets an engine operation condition for the electric energy storage state of the electric energy storage device after the vehicle has traveled the route so as to fall within a preset range according to the power frequency distribution predicted by the power frequency distribution predicting unit and the electric energy storage state of the electric energy storage device acquired by the electric energy storage state acquiring unit,

wherein the operation condition unit controls an operation of the engine according to the engine operation condition set by the operation condition setting unit.

10. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 9, wherein:

the operation condition setting unit sets the engine operation condition for the electric energy storage state of the electric energy storage device after the vehicle has traveled the route so as to fall within the preset range and for fuel consumption of the engine to be substantially minimum according to the power frequency distribution predicted by the power frequency distribution predicting unit and the electric energy storage state of the electric energy storage device acquired by the electric energy storage state acquiring unit.

11. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 9, wherein:

the operation condition setting unit sets a range of the required vehicle power to operate the engine as the engine operation condition; and

the operation control unit controls the engine to operate when the required vehicle power falls within the range set by the operation condition setting unit.

12. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 9, wherein:

the operation condition setting unit sets a lower limit value of a range of the required vehicle power to operate the engine as the engine operation condition; and

the operation control unit controls the engine to operate when the required vehicle power is equal to or larger than the lower limit value of the range set by the operation condition setting unit, and stops the operation of the engine and controls an operation of the electric rotating machine for the electric rotating machine to generate power when the required vehicle power is larger than 0 and smaller than the lower limit value of the range set by the operation condition setting unit.

13. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 11, wherein:

the operation condition setting unit repetitively performs tentative setting processing to tentatively set the range of the required vehicle power to operate the engine and determination processing to determine whether it is possible to set engine power and generated electric power of the electric rotating machine in the range of the required vehicle power so that the electric energy storage state of the electric energy storage device after the vehicle has traveled the route falls within the preset range under a condition of the tentatively set range of the required vehicle power using the power frequency distribution predicted by the power frequency distribution predicting unit while changing the range of the required vehicle power that is set tentatively, and sets the range of the required vehicle power to operate the engine according to a determination result of the determination processing.

14. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 13, wherein:

the operation condition setting unit performs computation processing to compute a fuel consumption amount of the engine in a case where the vehicle travels the route using the engine power and the power frequency distribution predicted by the power frequency distribution predicting unit in a case where it is determined that it is possible to set the engine power and the generated electric power of the electric rotating machine in the range of the required vehicle power tentatively set in the determination processing, and sets the range of the required vehicle power tentatively set in a case where the fuel consumption amount becomes minimum among fuel consumption amounts computed in the computation processing as the range of the required vehicle power to operate the engine.

15. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 9, wherein:

the operation control unit controls the engine to operate regardless of the engine operation condition set by the operation condition setting unit when the electric energy storage state of the electric energy storage device acquired by the electric energy storage state acquiring unit is lower than a specified value.

16. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 9, wherein:

the power frequency distribution predicting unit predicts the power frequency distribution of the vehicle in each travel zone for the route divided into plural travel zones; and

in a case where it is determined that the electric energy storage state of the electric energy storage device falls outside the preset range after the vehicle has traveled a given travel zone under the engine operation condition currently set, the operation condition setting unit sets the engine operation condition again for the electric energy storage state of the electric energy storage device to fall within the preset range after the vehicle traveled the travel zone according to the power frequency distribution in each travel zone predicted by the power frequency distribution predicting unit.

19. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 9, further comprising:

a power acquiring unit that acquires vehicle power in a case where the vehicle travels the route,

wherein the power frequency distribution predicting unit predicts the power frequency distribution of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle travels the route with reference to a history of the vehicle power acquired by the power acquiring unit.

20. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 19, further comprising:

a power frequency distribution storage unit that stores the power frequency distribution of the vehicle with reference to the history of the vehicle power acquired by the power acquiring unit,

wherein the power frequency distribution predicting unit uses the power frequency distribution of the vehicle stored in the power frequency distribution storage unit as the power frequency distribution of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle travels the route.

23. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 13, further comprising:

a power acquiring unit that acquires vehicle power in a case where the vehicle travels the route together with at least one of a torque or a rotational speed of the engine and the electric rotating machine; and

a power frequency distribution storage unit that stores the power frequency distribution of the vehicle with reference to a history of the vehicle power acquired by the power acquiring unit,

wherein;

the power frequency distribution predicting unit uses the power frequency distribution of the vehicle stored in the power frequency distribution storage unit as the power frequency distribution of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle travels the route;

the power frequency distribution storage unit stores at least one of the torque or the rotational speed of the engine and the electric rotating machine in correlation with the power bandwidth in which the vehicle power acquired together therewith is included; and

the determination processing is processing to compute the engine power and the generated electric power of the electric rotating machine according to at least one of the torque or the rotational speed of the engine and the electric rotating machine stored in correlation with each power bandwidth in such a manner that the rotational speed of the engine and the rotational speed or the torque of the electric rotating machine become equal to or lower than corresponding limit values in each power bandwidth included in the range of the required vehicle power tentatively set, and to determine whether the electric energy storage state of the electric energy storage device after the vehicle traveled the route falls within the preset range under a condition of the engine power and the generated electric power of the electric rotating machine that have been computed.

24. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 13, further comprising:

a power acquiring unit that acquires vehicle power in a case where the vehicle travels the route together with a physical amount relative to an in-vehicle sound; and

a power frequency distribution storage unit that stores the power frequency distribution of the vehicle with reference to a history of the vehicle power acquired by the power acquiring unit,

wherein;

the power frequency distribution predicting unit uses the power frequency distribution of the vehicle stored in the power frequency distribution storage unit as the power frequency distribution of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle travels the route;

the power frequency distribution storage unit stores the physical amount relative to the in-vehicle sound in correlation with a power bandwidth in which the vehicle power acquired together therewith is included; and

the determination processing is processing to compute the engine power and the generated electric power of the electric rotating machine for the physical amount relative to the in-vehicle sound to be equal to or lower than a limit value in each power bandwidth included in the range of the required vehicle power tentatively set, and to determine whether the electric energy storage state of the electric energy storage device after the vehicle has traveled the route falls within the preset range under a condition of the engine power and the generated electric power of the electric rotating machine that have been computed.

26. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 9, further comprising:

a route predicting unit that predicts the route of the vehicle,

wherein the power frequency distribution predicting unit predicts the power frequency distribution of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle travels the route according to the route of the vehicle predicted by the route predicting unit.

28. The hybrid vehicle controller according to claim 9, wherein:

an electric motor capable of driving the drive wheels and an electric generator capable of generating electric power using the power generated by the engine are provided as the electric rotating machine.