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Vehicle control device

  • US 8,271,175 B2
  • Filed: 08/07/2006
  • Issued: 09/18/2012
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2005
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A vehicle control device comprising:

  • an operating device with which a driver of a vehicle having a plurality of wheels drives the vehicle;

    a drive manipulated variable detecting means which detects a drive manipulated variable expressing an operation state of the operating device by the driver;

    an actuator provided in the vehicle so as to permit a motion of the vehicle to be made in response to an operation command;

    an actuator controlling means which sequentially determines the operation command to the actuator on the basis of at least the drive manipulated variable and controls the operation of the actuator according to the determined operation command; and

    an actual state amount grasping means which detects or estimates an actual state amount, which is a first state amount related to an actual motion of the vehicle,wherein the actuator controlling means comprises;

    a vehicle model which includes at least a friction model showing a relationship between slippage of the wheels and road surface reaction forces acting on the wheels, a dynamic model showing a relationship between motions of the vehicle and the road surface reaction forces, and a model showing the operating characteristics of the actuator;

    a vehicle model initializing means which defines at least a first model state amount related to a motion of the vehicle on the vehicle model as a state amount to be initialized, and initializes a value of the state amount to be initialized at a current time or at a predetermined time in the vicinity thereof to a value determined on the basis of at least the actual state amount before the current time;

    a future drive manipulated variable determining means which determines a time series of a future drive manipulated variable after the current time on the basis of at least the drive manipulated variable before the current time;

    a first future vehicle behavior determining means which determines a future vehicle behavior, which is a future time series after the current time of a set of the operation command to the actuator of the vehicle model, the motion of the vehicle on the vehicle model to which the operation command has been given, a road surface reaction force, and the slippage of wheels, according to a predetermined first control law by using an initialized vehicle model, which is the vehicle model wherein at least the values of the determined time series of the future drive manipulated variable and the state amount to be initialized have been initialized; and

    an evaluating means which selects, as an evaluation object, at least one of the motion of the vehicle, a road surface reaction force, and the slippage of wheels in the future vehicle behavior, and evaluates whether the evaluation object satisfies a predetermined restrictive condition,wherein, when determining the operation command anew, the processing by the vehicle model initializing means, the future drive manipulated variable determining means, and the first future vehicle behavior determining means is carried out to determine the future vehicle behavior, and the processing by the evaluating means is also carried out on the evaluation object of the determined future vehicle behavior so as to determine a new operation command for the actuator on the basis of at least an evaluation result given by the evaluating means, andwherein the actuator controlling means comprises a second future vehicle behavior determining means which defines a first future vehicle behavior as the future vehicle behavior determined by the first future vehicle behavior determining means, the second future vehicle behavior determining means determining a second future vehicle behavior when the first future vehicle behavior evaluation object does not satisfy the predetermined restrictive condition, the second future vehicle behavior determined according to a predetermined second control law by using at least the initialized vehicle model, the second future vehicle behavior having a time series of the operation command with a pattern different from that of the time series of the operation command in the first future vehicle behavior, andwhen determining the operation command anew the new operation command is determined as the operation command at the current time in the first future vehicle behavior when the first future vehicle behavior evaluation object satisfies the predetermined restrictive condition, and the new operation command is determined on the basis of at least the evaluation result of the evaluation object of the second future vehicle behavior by processing carried out by the evaluating means on the second future vehicle behavior evaluation object when the first future vehicle behavior evaluation object does not satisfy the predetermined restrictive condition.

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