Fuel-saving driving diagnostic device, fuel-saving driving diagnostic system, travel control device, fuel-saving driving rating device, and fuel-saving driving diagnostic method

• US 8,548,670 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2009
• Issued: 10/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.), Fujitsu Ten Limited (DENSO Corporation), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.), Fujitsu Ten Limited (DENSO Corporation), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Harumoto, Satoshi, Kiyo, Kouei, Takeuchi, Shojiro, Miura, Naoki, Nakamura, Masaki, Sugiura, Hiroaki, Yamatani, Yoshio, Nonomura, Junichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Jen, Ian
• Application Number:
  US13/056,896
• Publication Number:
  US 20110137512A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,524 Days
• Field of Search: 701/29, 701/103, 701/31.4, 701/51, 701/52, 701/54, 701/62, 701/64, 701/65, 477/109, 477/111, 477/120, 477/124, 477/78, 477/80, 440/1, 440/84, 440/86, 123/480, 123/493
• US Class Current: 701/29.1
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2061/0015 Transmission control for optimising fuel consumptions
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2061/022 Calculation or estimation of optimal gear ratio, e.g. best ratio for economy drive or performance according driver preference, or to optimise exhaust emissions
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2063/426 with means for advising the driver for proper shift action, e.g. prompting the driver with allowable selection range of ratios
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 59/02 Selector apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 63/42 Ratio indicator devices

Abstract

A shift lever position determining unit determines whether a shift lever position of a vehicle satisfies predetermined conditions. If the shift lever position is determined to satisfy the predetermined conditions, a travel distance adding-up unit adds up an optimum shift lever position travel distance. If the shift lever position is determined not to satisfy the predetermined conditions, the travel distance adding-up unit adds up an inappropriate shift lever position travel distance. A fuel-saving driving rating unit rates driving by a driver based on each added-up value added up by the travel distance adding-up unit. A fuel-saving driving advice generating unit notifies the driver of fuel-saving driving advice together with a rating result in accordance with the rating result. Therefore, it is possible to encourage the driver to select an optimum shift lever position with high fuel efficiency and thereby to improve the driver'"'"'s knowledge and awareness of the fuel-saving driving.

Claims

1. A fuel-saving driving diagnostic device, comprising:

a condition managing unit that manages shift lever selection conditions, which are conditions of a shift lever selection position for determining that a vehicle is performing fuel-saving driving;

a shift lever selection condition determining unit that determines whether the shift lever selection position in the vehicle satisfies the shift lever selection conditions managed by the condition managing unit;

a travel situation determining unit that determines whether a travel situation of the vehicle is a predetermined travel situation based on road conditions, traffic conditions of a road on which the vehicle is traveling, speed limit information and information acquired by a travel control device; and

a fuel-saving driving diagnostic unit that diagnoses fuel-saving driving by determining whether to execute a determination by the shift lever selection condition determining unit in accordance with a determination result by the travel situation determining unit.

2. The fuel-saving driving diagnostic device according to claim 1, wherein the shift lever selection conditions are changed in accordance with road conditions or traffic conditions acquired by a road/traffic condition acquisition unit that acquires the road conditions or the traffic conditions.

3. The fuel-saving driving diagnostic device according to claim 1, wherein the determination by the shift lever selection condition determining unit is canceled in accordance with road conditions or traffic conditions acquired by a road/traffic condition acquisition unit that acquires the road conditions or the traffic conditions.

4. The fuel-saving driving diagnostic device according to claim 1, further comprising a fuel-saving driving rating unit that rates fuel-saving driving based on a determination target travel distance, which is a travel distance of the vehicle selected as a target for the determination by the shift lever selection condition determining unit, and a travel distance included in the determination target travel distance for which the shift lever selection condition determining unit determines that the shift lever selection position in the vehicle satisfies the shift lever selection conditions.

5. The fuel-saving driving diagnostic device according to claim 4, further comprising an advice generating unit that generates fuel-saving driving advice based on a rating result by the fuel-saving driving rating unit.

6. The fuel-saving driving diagnostic device according to claim 5, further comprising a notifying unit that notifies a driver of at least one of the rating result by the fuel-saving driving rating unit and the fuel-saving driving advice generated by the advice generating unit.

11. The fuel-saving driving diagnostic device according to claim 1, wherein the information acquired by the travel control device includes at least a current value of a vehicle speed, a current value of an accelerator opening, a shift lever position and a shift mode state in an eco-lamp lighting determining condition table.

7. A fuel-saving driving diagnostic system that diagnoses fuel-saving driving of a vehicle, comprising:

a travel control device of the vehicle having a condition managing unit that manages shift lever selection conditions, which are conditions of a shift lever selection position for determining that a vehicle is performing fuel-saving driving, a shift lever selection condition determining unit that determines whether the shift lever selection position in the vehicle satisfies the shift lever selection conditions managed by the condition managing unit, a travel situation determining unit that determines whether a travel situation of the vehicle is a predetermined travel situation based on road conditions, traffic conditions of a road on which the vehicle is traveling, speed limit information and information acquired by the travel control device, and a fuel-saving driving diagnostic unit that diagnoses fuel-saving driving by determining whether to execute a determination by the shift lever selection condition determining unit in accordance with a determination result by the travel situation determining unit; and

a fuel-saving driving rating device having a fuel-saving driving rating unit that rates fuel-saving driving based on a determination target travel distance, which is a travel distance of the vehicle selected as a target for the determination by the shift lever selection condition determining unit, and a travel distance included in the determination target travel distance for which the shift lever selection condition determining unit determines that the shift lever selection position in the vehicle satisfies the shift lever selection conditions.

8. The fuel-saving driving diagnostic system according to claim 7, wherein the shift lever selection conditions are changed in accordance with road conditions or traffic conditions acquired by a road/traffic condition acquisition unit that acquires the road conditions or the traffic conditions.

9. A fuel-saving driving diagnostic system according to claim 7, wherein the determination by the shift lever selection condition determining unit is canceled in accordance with road conditions or traffic conditions acquired by a road/traffic condition acquisition unit that acquires the road conditions or the traffic conditions.

12. The fuel-saving driving diagnostic system according to claim 7, wherein the information acquired by the travel control device includes at least a current value of a vehicle speed, a current value of an accelerator opening, a shift lever position and a shift mode state in an eco-lamp lighting determining condition table.

10. A fuel-saving driving diagnostic method executed by a fuel-saving driving diagnostic system that diagnoses fuel-saving driving of a vehicle, comprising:

firstly determining whether a shift lever selection position in the vehicle satisfies shift lever selection conditions, which are conditions of the shift lever selection position for determining that the vehicle is performing fuel-saving driving;

secondly determining whether a travel situation of the vehicle is a predetermined travel situation based on road conditions, traffic conditions of a road on which the vehicle is traveling, speed limit information and information acquired by a travel control device;

diagnosing the fuel-saving driving by determining whether to execute a determination in the firstly determining in accordance with a determination result in the secondly determining; and

rating the fuel-saving driving based on a determination target travel distance, which is a travel distance of the vehicle selected as a target for the determination in the firstly determining, and a travel distance included in the determination target travel distance for which it is determined in the firstly determining that the shift lever selection position in the vehicle satisfies the shift lever selection conditions.

13. The fuel-saving driving diagnostic method according to claim 10, wherein the information acquired by the travel control device includes at least a current value of a vehicle speed, a current value of an accelerator opening, a shift lever position and a shift mode state in an eco-lamp lighting determining condition table.