Motion manager, vehicle, vehicle control method, and non-transitory storage medium

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a motion manager, a vehicle, a vehicle control method, and a non-transitory storage medium. The motion manager configured to request a motion of a vehicle according to a motion plan for driving assistance of the vehicle to at least one of a plurality of actuators provided in the vehicle, the motion manager including one or more processors. The one or more processors are configured to arbitrate a plurality of motion plans respectively set in a plurality of applications, calculate a motion request to the vehicle based on an arbitration result of the plurality of motion plans, distribute the motion request to at least one of the plurality of actuators, and when an abnormality occurs in at least one of the plurality of actuators, receive information indicating a function in which the abnormality occurs and information for setting an operation of an application corresponding to the abnormality among the plurality of applications.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a motion manager, a vehicle, a vehicle control method, and a non-transitory storage medium. Background Technology

[0002] A vehicle is known to consist of multiple applications, a motion manager, and an actuator system. The applications set and request motion plans for driving assistance. The motion manager unifies multiple motion plans from the applications and sets motion requests based on the unified motion plan. The actuator system then executes the set motion requests.

[0003] Regarding such vehicles, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2020-032894 discloses a technology for arbitrating information indicating the movement of a vehicle in the longitudinal direction and information indicating the movement of a vehicle in the lateral direction, and for outputting instruction information for driving actuators based on the arbitration result. Summary of the Invention

[0004] When any one of the multiple actuators installed in the vehicle as described above malfunctions, it may be necessary to change the operation of the corresponding application. In this case, instead of the configuration where the application receives the information needed to change its operation directly from the actuator, multiple applications can be configured to receive information from the actuators separately, thus complicating the relationships between the applications, the motion manager, and the actuators. Therefore, performing design changes such as adding or correcting functions in each application may require a significant amount of work or time.

[0005] This disclosure provides a motion manager, vehicle, vehicle control method, and non-transitory storage medium that can easily perform design changes to the operation of the corresponding application when the actuator fails.

[0006] According to a first aspect of this disclosure, a motion manager is configured to request motion of the vehicle from at least one of a plurality of actuators disposed in the vehicle, based on a motion plan for driving assistance of the vehicle. The motion manager includes one or more processors configured to: arbitrate a plurality of motion plans set in a plurality of applications; calculate a motion request for the vehicle based on the arbitration result of the motion plans; distribute the motion request to at least one of the plurality of actuators; and, when an anomaly occurs in at least one of the plurality of actuators, receive information indicating the function in which the anomaly occurred and information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly in the plurality of applications.

[0007] In this way, since the motion manager receives information indicating the function causing the malfunction and information for setting the application's actions corresponding to the malfunction from the actuator that malfunctions, the application can set its actions when an malfunction occurs by receiving this information from the motion manager. Therefore, even when an malfunction occurs in any actuator, an appropriate action (e.g., continue operation, stop operation, maintain function, or restart) can be selected. Furthermore, since the information required by the application when an malfunction occurs in an actuator can be received via the motion manager, the relationship between the application, the motion manager, and the actuator can be kept from becoming too complex.

[0008] In the first scheme, the information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly may include at least one of information indicating the speed range affected by the anomaly, information indicating the part where the anomaly occurred, and information indicating the operation mode after the anomaly occurred.

[0009] In this way, the application can receive at least one of the following via the motion manager: information indicating the speed range affected by the anomaly, information indicating the part where the anomaly occurred, and information indicating the operating mode after the anomaly occurred. Therefore, the application's operation corresponding to the anomaly can be appropriately configured, and the relationship between the application, the motion manager, and the actuator can be kept from becoming too complex.

[0010] In the first scheme, the information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly may include each of the following: information indicating the speed range affected by the anomaly, information indicating the part where the anomaly occurred, and information indicating the operation mode after the anomaly occurred.

[0011] In this way, the application can receive information via the motion manager indicating the range of vehicles affected by the anomaly, the part of the vehicle where the anomaly occurred, and the operating mode following the anomaly. Therefore, the application's operation corresponding to the anomaly can be appropriately configured, and the relationship between the application, the motion manager, and the actuators can be kept from becoming overly complex.

[0012] In the first embodiment, the part where the anomaly occurs may include communication between the plurality of actuators.

[0013] In this way, the application can receive information via the motion manager indicating the range of vehicle speeds affected by the anomaly, the portion of the vehicle experiencing the anomaly, and the operating mode following the anomaly. Therefore, the application's operation corresponding to the anomaly can be appropriately configured, and the relationship between the application, the motion manager, and the actuator can be kept from becoming overly complex.

[0014] In the first scheme, the one or more processors may be configured to send at least the following information to the application corresponding to the exception in the plurality of applications: information indicating the function in which the exception occurred and information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the exception.

[0015] In this way, the relationship between the application, the motion manager, and the actuator can be kept from becoming complicated because the information required by the application in case of an exception in the actuator can be received via the motion manager.

[0016] A vehicle according to a second aspect of this disclosure includes a driving assistance system comprising multiple applications and a motion manager, the multiple applications being configured to independently set each of multiple motion plans for driving assistance of the vehicle. The motion manager is configured to: request movement of the vehicle from at least one of multiple actuators disposed in the vehicle, according to the motion plan set in at least one of the multiple applications; and, when an anomaly occurs in at least one of the multiple actuators, receive information indicating the function in which the anomaly occurred and information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly among the multiple applications.

[0017] In the second approach, the information used to set the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly may include at least one of information indicating the speed range affected by the anomaly, information indicating the part where the anomaly occurred, and information indicating the operation mode after the anomaly occurred.

[0018] In the second scheme, the information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly may include each of the following: information indicating the speed range affected by the anomaly, information indicating the part where the anomaly occurred, and information indicating the operation mode after the anomaly occurred.

[0019] In the second embodiment, the portion where the anomaly occurs may include communication between the plurality of actuators.

[0020] In the second embodiment, the motion manager can be configured to send, at least to the application corresponding to the exception among the plurality of applications, the received information indicating the function in which the exception occurred and the received information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the exception.

[0021] The vehicle control method according to the third aspect of this disclosure is executed by a computer. The vehicle control method includes: receiving multiple motion plans from multiple applications configured to set the multiple motion plans for driving assistance related to the vehicle; arbitrating the received multiple motion plans; calculating a motion request for the vehicle based on the arbitration result of the multiple motion plans; distributing the motion request to at least one of multiple actuators disposed in the vehicle; and, when an anomaly occurs in at least one of the multiple actuators, further receiving information indicating the function that caused the anomaly and information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly among the multiple applications.

[0022] The fourth aspect of this disclosure is a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions executable by a computer to perform functions. These functions include: receiving multiple motion plans from multiple applications configured to set the multiple motion plans for driving assistance related to the vehicle; arbitrating the received multiple motion plans; calculating a motion request for the vehicle based on the arbitration result of the multiple motion plans; distributing the motion request to at least one of multiple actuators disposed in the vehicle; and, when an anomaly occurs in at least one of the multiple actuators, further receiving information indicating the function that caused the anomaly and information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly among the multiple applications.

[0023] Using the various solutions disclosed herein, motion managers, vehicles, vehicle control methods, and non-transitory storage media can be provided that allow for easy execution of design changes in the operation of the corresponding applications when actuators fail. Attached Figure Description

[0024] The features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements, and wherein:

[0025] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating an example of vehicle configuration;

[0026] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating an example of how the motion manager operates;

[0027] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating a comparative example of the flow of information between the actuator system and the driver assistance system;

[0028] Figure 4 It is a diagram used to describe examples of various fault categories;

[0029] Figure 5 This is a diagram used to describe examples of additional information included in the fault category; and

[0030] Figure 6 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing performed in the motion manager. Detailed Implementation

[0031] In the following description, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Identical or corresponding portions in the drawings are indicated by the same reference numerals and will not be described again.

[0032] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of vehicle 1. (As shown...) Figure 1 As shown, vehicle 1 includes ADAS electronic control unit (ECU) 10, brake ECU 20, actuator system 30 and central ECU 40.

[0033] Vehicle 1 may be a vehicle configured to perform the functions of the following driving assistance systems, and may be, for example, a vehicle with an engine as a drive source, a battery electric vehicle with an electric motor as a drive source, or a hybrid electric vehicle with an engine and an electric motor mounted thereon and using at least one of them as a drive source.

[0034] ADAS-ECU 10, Braking ECU 20, and Central ECU 40 are all computers, each with a processor (such as a central processing unit (CPU)) for executing programs, memory, and input / output interfaces. The memory includes a non-transitory storage medium containing the programs.

[0035] The ADAS-ECU 10 includes a driver assistance system 100 with driver assistance functions for the vehicle 1. The driver assistance system 100 is configured to perform various functions for assisting the driving of the vehicle 1 by executing applications installed on the driver assistance system 100, including at least one of steering control, driving control, and braking control of the vehicle 1. Examples of applications installed on the driver assistance system 100 include applications that implement the functions of an autonomous driving system (AD), applications that implement the functions of an autonomous parking system, and applications that implement the functions of an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) (ADAS applications), etc.

[0036] Examples of ADAS applications include at least one of the following applications: applications that enable a following function (such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)) to maintain a stable distance from the vehicle in front while driving; applications that enable an Automatic Speed ​​Limiter (ASL) function to recognize speed limits and maintain the speed limit of the target vehicle; applications that enable lane keeping assist (such as Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) and Lane Tracing Assist (ASL)) to maintain the vehicle's lane; applications that enable collision damage mitigation braking (such as Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and Pre-Collision Safety (PCS)) to perform autonomous braking to mitigate damage from a collision; and applications that enable lane departure warning (such as Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Lane Departure Alert (LDA)) to warn the vehicle 1 of deviating from its lane.

[0037] The various applications of the driver assistance system 100, based on information about the vehicle's surroundings acquired (input) from multiple sensors (not shown), driver assistance requests, etc., output requests for motion plans to the braking ECU 20 (more specifically, the motion manager 200) to ensure the commercial value (functionality) of each application. Examples of multiple sensors include vision sensors such as forward-looking cameras, radar, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), position detection devices, etc.

[0038] A forward-facing camera is positioned behind, for example, the rearview mirror in the passenger compartment and is used to capture images of the area in front of the vehicle. Radar is a distance measuring device that emits radio waves of short wavelengths towards an object, detects the radio waves returning from the object, and measures the distance or direction to the object. LiDAR is a distance measuring device that emits a pulse-shaped laser beam (light, such as infrared) towards an object and measures the distance until it is reflected back by the object. Position detection devices consist of, for example, a Global Positioning System (GPS), which uses information received from multiple satellites orbiting the Earth to detect the position of vehicle 1.

[0039] Each application acquires information about the vehicle's surroundings from the combined detection results of one or more sensors as identification sensor information, and obtains driver assistance requests through a user interface (not shown), such as a switch. For example, each application can identify other vehicles, obstacles, or people around the vehicle by using artificial intelligence (AI) or an image processing processor to process images or videos of the vehicle's surroundings acquired by multiple sensors.

[0040] In addition, the motion plan includes, for example, requests for longitudinal acceleration / deceleration generated in vehicle 1, requests for steering angle of vehicle 1, and requests to keep vehicle 1 stopped.

[0041] Examples of requests for longitudinal acceleration / deceleration generated in vehicle 1 include requests for operation of powertrain system 302 or braking system 304.

[0042] Examples of requests to keep vehicle 1 stopped include requests to allow and prohibit operation of at least one of the electric parking brake and parking lock mechanism (both not shown).

[0043] An electric parking brake limits the rotation of the wheels of vehicle 1 by, for example, operating an actuator. The electric parking brake can be configured to limit wheel rotation by, for example, operating a brake for using an actuator to operate a parking brake on a portion of a plurality of wheels disposed on vehicle 1. Alternatively, the electric parking brake can limit wheel rotation by operating an actuator for parking braking, arbitrarily arbitrarily supplying hydraulic pressure to the braking device of braking system 304, and operating the braking device.

[0044] The parking lock mechanism restricts the rotation of the transmission output shaft by operating an actuator. The parking lock mechanism assembles a protruding unit, for example, located at the top of the parking lock lever, into the teeth of a gear (locking gear). The position of this protruding unit is arbitrated by the actuator, and the gear is configured to connect to a rotating component in the transmission of vehicle 1. In this way, the rotation of the transmission output shaft is restricted, and the rotation of the drive wheels is also restricted.

[0045] The applications installed on the driver assistance system 100 are not specifically limited to those mentioned above. Applications that perform other functions can be added, or existing applications can be omitted, and in particular, there is no limit to the number of applications that can be installed.

[0046] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the ADAS-ECU 10 is described as including a driving assistance system 100 composed of multiple applications. However, for example, the ECU can be configured for each application. For example, the driving assistance system 100 may consist of an ECU on which an application implementing the functions of an autonomous driving system is installed, an ECU on which an application implementing the functions of an autonomous parking system is installed, and an ECU on which an ADAS application is installed.

[0047] The braking ECU 20 includes a motion manager 200. In this embodiment, the braking ECU 20 is described as having a hardware configuration including the motion manager 200 as an example; however, the motion manager 200 may be configured as a separate ECU from the braking ECU 20, or it may be included in another ECU different from the braking ECU 20. The braking ECU 20 is configured to communicate with each of the ADAS-ECU 10, the various ECUs included in the actuator system 30, and the central ECU 40.

[0048] The motion manager 200 requests motion of the vehicle 1 from the actuator system 30 according to a motion plan set in at least one of the multiple applications of the driver assistance system 100. The detailed configuration of the motion manager 200 will be described below.

[0049] The actuator system 30 is configured to fulfill a request for motion of the vehicle 1 output from the motion manager 200. The actuator system 30 includes a plurality of actuators. Figure 1 The actuator system 30 is shown as an example of an actuator, including, for example, a powertrain system 302, a braking system 304, and a steering system 306. The number of actuators serving as the requested destination of the motion manager 200 is not limited to the three mentioned above, but can be four or more, or two or fewer.

[0050] The powertrain system 302 includes a power system capable of generating driving force on the drive wheels of the vehicle 1 and an ECU (both not shown) for controlling the operation of the power system. The power system includes at least one of the following: an internal combustion engine such as a gasoline or diesel engine; a transmission including a gearbox, a differential, etc.; an electric generator as a drive source; an energy storage device for storing the electricity supplied to the electric generator; an energy conversion device for converting electricity between the electric generator and the energy storage device; and a power source such as a fuel cell. The ECU controlling the operation of the powertrain executes control of corresponding devices to fulfill requests for movement from the motion manager 200 to the corresponding devices in the powertrain system 302.

[0051] The braking system 304 includes, for example, multiple braking devices disposed on each wheel of the vehicle 1. The braking devices include, for example, hydraulic brakes such as disc brakes that generate braking force using hydraulic pressure. As a braking device, for example, an electric generator connected to the wheels and generating regenerative torque may be further included. The braking operation of the vehicle 1 using the multiple braking devices is controlled by the braking ECU 20. In addition to the motion manager 200, for example, a control unit (not shown) for controlling the braking system 304 is provided in the braking ECU 20.

[0052] Steering system 306 includes, for example, a steering device capable of changing the steering angle of the steering wheels (e.g., the front wheels) of vehicle 1, and an ECU (both not shown) for controlling the operation of the steering device. The steering device includes, for example, a steering wheel that changes the steering angle according to the amount of operation, and electric power steering (EPS), wherein the steering angle can be arbitrated by actuators in addition to the operation of the steering wheel. The ECU for controlling the operation of the steering device controls the operation of the EPS actuators.

[0053] The central ECU 40 includes a memory 42 capable of updating stored content. The central ECU 40 is configured to communicate with, for example, a brake ECU 20, and is configured to communicate with a device (not shown, such as a server) outside the vehicle 1 via a communication module (not shown). When it receives update information from the server outside the vehicle 1, the central ECU 40 uses the received update information to update the information stored in the memory 42. Predetermined information is stored in the memory 42. This predetermined information includes, for example, information read from various ECUs when the vehicle 1's system is started.

[0054] In this embodiment, it is described that when the system of vehicle 1 is started, the central ECU 40 reads predetermined information from various ECUs, but may have functions such as relaying communication between various ECUs (gateway function).

[0055] In the following text, reference will be made to Figure 2 A detailed example of how the motion manager 200 operates. Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the motion manager 200.

[0056] As an example, Figure 2 The illustration shows a scenario where the driver assistance system 100 includes, for example, AEB 102, LKA 104, ACC 106, and ASL 108 as applications. A request signal PLN1 is sent from the driver assistance system 100 to the motion manager 200 for a motion plan set in at least one of the multiple applications.

[0057] The request signal PLN1 includes, for example, information about a target acceleration set in the ACC, AEB, or ASL as part of the motion plan, and information about a target curvature set in the LKA as part of the motion plan.

[0058] Based on the motion plan request included in the received request signal PLN1, the motion manager 200 sets the requested motion for the vehicle 1 and requests the actuator system 30 to implement the set motion. In other words, the motion manager 200 sends an operation request for the powertrain system 302 to the actuator system 30 as request signal ACL1. The motion manager 200 sends an operation request for the braking system 304 to the actuator system 30 as request signal BRK1. Furthermore, the motion manager 200 sends an operation request for the steering system 306 to the actuator system 30 as request signal STR1.

[0059] The request signal ACL1 includes, for example, information about the requested value of drive torque or drive force, or information about the arbitration method (e.g., choosing between a maximum or minimum value, or whether to change the value step by step or gradually).

[0060] The request signal BRK1 includes, for example, information about the requested value of the braking torque, information about the arbitration method (e.g., whether to change the value gradually or incrementally), or information about the timing of braking (whether to execute immediately, etc.).

[0061] The request signal STR1 includes, for example, information about the target steering angle, information about whether the target steering angle is valid, or information about the upper and lower limits of the assist torque for steering wheel operation.

[0062] Among the multiple actuators constituting the actuator system 30, the actuators that have received the corresponding request signals are controlled to implement the operation request included in the request signals.

[0063] The following section will describe an example of configuring the motion manager 200. For example... Figure 2 As shown, the motion manager 200 includes a first receiving unit 202, an arbitration unit 204, a calculation unit 206, and a distribution unit 208.

[0064] The first receiving unit 202 receives motion plan requests output by one or more applications of the driving assistance system 100. Details of the motion plan in this embodiment will be described below.

[0065] Arbitration unit 204 arbitrates motion plan requests received from the corresponding application via first receiving unit 202. An example of this arbitration process could be selecting a motion plan from multiple motion plans based on predetermined selection criteria. Alternatively, another example of the arbitration process could be setting a new motion plan based on the existing motion plan. Arbitration unit 204 may further incorporate predetermined information received from actuator system 30 and arbitrate motion plan requests. Furthermore, arbitration unit 204 may determine whether to temporarily prioritize the motion of vehicle 1 required based on driver and vehicle states over the motion of vehicle 1 corresponding to the motion plan determined based on the arbitration result.

[0066] The calculation unit 206 calculates a motion request based on the arbitration result of the motion plan request in the arbitration unit 204 and the motion of the vehicle 1 determined based on the arbitration result. The motion request is a physical quantity used to control at least one actuator in the actuator system 30, and includes physical quantities different from the physical quantity requested in the motion plan. For example, when the motion plan request (first request) is longitudinal acceleration, the calculation unit 206 calculates a value obtained by converting the acceleration into driving force or driving torque as the motion request (second request).

[0067] The distribution unit 208 distributes motion requests calculated by the calculation unit 206 to at least one actuator in the actuator system 30. For example, when an acceleration of vehicle 1 is requested, the distribution unit 208 distributes the motion request only to the powertrain system 302. Alternatively, when a deceleration of vehicle 1 is requested, the distribution unit 208 appropriately distributes motion requests to the powertrain system 302 and the braking system 304 to achieve a target deceleration.

[0068] The motion manager 200 further includes a second receiving unit 210, a generating unit 212, and a sending unit 214.

[0069] The second receiving unit 210 receives signals ACL2, BRK2, STR2, and VSS2, which include predetermined information, from the actuator system 30. The predetermined information received by the second receiving unit 210 will be described below.

[0070] The generation unit 212 uses the signal received by the second receiving unit 210 to generate predetermined information to be sent to the application of the driving assistance system 100. The predetermined information generated in the generation unit 212 will be described below.

[0071] The sending unit 214 sends a signal as signal PLN2 to the driving assistance system 100, which indicates the predetermined information generated in the generation unit 212.

[0072] The powertrain system 302 of the actuator system 30 sends information about the status of the powertrain system 302 to the motion manager 200 as a signal ACL2. Examples of information about the status of the powertrain system 302 include information about the operation of the accelerator pedal, information about the actual drive torque or actual drive force of the powertrain system 302, actual gear range information, information about the upper and lower limits of the drive torque, information about the upper and lower limits of the drive force, or information about the reliability of the powertrain system 302.

[0073] The braking system 304 of the actuator system 30 sends information about the status of the braking system 304 to the motion manager 200 as a signal BRK2. Examples of information about the status of the braking system 304 include information about the operation of the brake pedal, information about the braking torque requested by the driver, information about the requested value of the braking torque after arbitration, information about the actual braking torque after arbitration, or information about the reliability of the braking system 304.

[0074] The steering system 306 of the actuator system 30 sends information about the state of the steering system 306 to the motion manager 200 as a signal STR2. Examples of information about the state of the steering system 306 include information about the reliability of the steering system 306, information about whether the driver is holding the steering wheel, information about the torque used to operate the steering wheel, or information about the rotation angle of the steering wheel.

[0075] In addition to the aforementioned powertrain system 302, braking system 304, and steering system 306, the actuator system 30 also includes a sensor group 308.

[0076] Sensor group 308 includes multiple sensors for detecting the behavior of vehicle 1. Sensor group 308 includes, for example, a longitudinal G-sensor that detects the vehicle body acceleration in the longitudinal direction, a lateral G-sensor that detects the vehicle body acceleration in the lateral direction, wheel speed sensors mounted on each wheel and detecting wheel speed, and a yaw rate sensor that detects the angular velocity of the rotation angle (yaw angle) in the yaw direction. Sensor group 308 sends information including the detection results of multiple sensors as a signal VSS2 to motion manager 200. In other words, signal VSS2 includes, for example, the detection values ​​of the longitudinal G-sensor, the detection values ​​of the lateral G-sensor, the detection values ​​of the wheel speed sensors of each wheel, the detection values ​​of the yaw rate sensor, and information about the reliability of each sensor.

[0077] The configuration of the devices installed on vehicle 1 and the configuration of motion manager 200 described above are examples, and can be added, replaced, modified, omitted, etc., as appropriate. Furthermore, the functions of each device can be appropriately integrated into one device or distributed across multiple devices and executed.

[0078] In vehicle 1 with the above configuration, when one of the actuators included in actuator system 30 malfunctions, it may be necessary to change the operation of the corresponding application among multiple applications included in driver assistance system 100. In this case, in a configuration where the application receives the information required to change the application's operation directly from the actuator system 30 side, multiple applications can be configured to independently receive information from one actuator in actuator system 30, and thus the relationship between driver assistance system 100, motion manager 200, and actuator system 30 may become complicated.

[0079] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating a comparative example of the flow of information between the actuator system 30 and the driver assistance system 100. Figure 3 In this context, it is assumed that the driving assistance system 100 includes, for example, application (1) 100A and application (2) 100B. Application (1) 100A and application (2) 100B correspond to those included in the above-mentioned... Figure 1Any of the various applications in the driving assistance system 100 shown.

[0080] In addition, Figure 3 In this system, actuator system 30 includes, for example, actuator (1) 300A, actuator (2) 300B, and actuator (3) 300C. Actuators (1) 300A to (3) 300C correspond to those included in the above-mentioned... Figure 1 and Figure 2 Any of the various actuators in the actuator system 30 shown.

[0081] For example, suppose that actuator (1) 300A is to operate according to a motion plan set by application (1) 100A. Then, when an abnormality occurs in actuator (1) 300A, the motion plan set by application (1) 100A is changed.

[0082] At this time, since application (1) 100A obtains predetermined information from other actuators (2) 300B and (3) 300C besides actuator (1) 300A, application (1) 100A is configured to communicate with each of actuators (1) 300A, actuator (2) 300B and actuator (3) 300C.

[0083] Similarly, assume that actuator (2) 300B will operate according to the motion plan set by application (2) 100B. Then, when an abnormality occurs in actuator (2) 300B, the motion plan set by application (2) 100B is changed.

[0084] At this time, since application (2) 100B obtains predetermined information from another actuator (3) 300C besides actuator (2) 300B, it is configured to communicate with each of actuator (2) 300B and actuator (3) 300C.

[0085] In this way, the relationship between the driver assistance system 100, motion manager 200, and actuator system 30, which include multiple applications, can become complex when each application is independently configured to obtain information from at least one of the actuators included in actuator system 30. Therefore, significant work or time may be required when performing design changes such as adding or correcting functions within the applications.

[0086] Therefore, in this embodiment, when an abnormality occurs in at least one actuator of the actuator system 30, the motion manager 200 receives information indicating the function that has malfunctioned and information for setting the operation of the application in the driver assistance system 100 corresponding to the abnormality.

[0087] In this way, since the motion manager 200 receives information indicating the malfunctioning function and information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the malfunction from the actuator that has malfunctioned, the application can set the operation when an malfunction occurs by receiving information from the motion manager 200. Therefore, even when an malfunction occurs in any actuator, an appropriate operation (e.g., continue operation, stop operation, maintain function, or restart) can be selected. Therefore, since the information required by the application when an malfunction occurs in the actuator can be received via the motion manager 200, the relationship between the driver assistance system 100, the motion manager 200, and the actuator system 30 can be kept from becoming complicated.

[0088] In this embodiment, the second receiving unit 210 receives signals such as ACL2, BRK2, STR2 and VSS2 from the actuator system 30, and receives information indicating that a function has been abnormal when an abnormality has occurred in any actuator, and information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the abnormality in the driving assistance system 100.

[0089] In the following text, reference will be made to Figure 4 and Figure 5 The motion manager 200 receives information from the actuator system 30 and sends information from the motion manager 200 to the driver assistance system 100 in detail.

[0090] In this embodiment, the information indicating that the function has malfunctioned and the information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the malfunction are included in the information contained in the various signals sent from the actuator system 30 to the motion manager 200.

[0091] For example, information about the state of the powertrain system 302 is sent from the powertrain system 302 to the motion manager 200 as signal ACL2. Examples of information about the state of the powertrain system 302 include information about the reliability of the powertrain system 302. Information about the reliability of the powertrain system 302, as information indicating that an abnormality has occurred, includes at least one of the following: a first ACL indicating that the target actuator (e.g., drive source or shift mechanism) is operating normally; a second ACL indicating that the state is under protective control with limited auxiliary or operating amounts; a third ACL indicating that the state is abnormal and the control is ineffective (the actuator does not operate even when a control command is present), although no fault has been confirmed; and a fourth ACL indicating that a fault state has been confirmed. In other words, information about the reliability of the powertrain system 302 includes, for example, information associated with values ​​(e.g., values ​​of 1 to 4 or two-digit binary values) corresponding to the first to fourth ACL information, respectively, and multiple identification messages used to identify the target actuator. Since there are two types of drive force requests (i.e., upper limit requests and lower limit requests), the information on the reliability of the powertrain system 302 includes information divided into upper limit and lower limit information of the drive force, each of which includes identification information associated with the numerical values.

[0092] Furthermore, in this embodiment, as information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly, the information about the powertrain system 302 includes information indicating the vehicle speed range affected when the target actuator fails, information indicating the part that has already experienced an anomaly (hereinafter referred to as the faulty part), and information indicating the operating mode after the anomaly occurs.

[0093] Furthermore, information regarding the status of the braking system 304 is sent from the braking system 304 to the motion manager 200 as a signal BRK2. Examples of information regarding the status of the braking system 304 include information regarding the reliability of the braking system 304. This information includes at least one of the following: a first BRK message indicating that the target actuator (e.g., the actuator of a hydraulic brake) is operating normally; a second BRK message indicating that the state is under protective control; a third BRK message indicating that the state is abnormal but the fault has not yet been confirmed and the control is ineffective; and a fourth BRK message indicating a fault state where the fault has been confirmed. In other words, the information regarding the reliability of the braking system 304 includes, for example, information corresponding to the values ​​of the first to fourth BRK messages, respectively, associated with multiple identification messages used to identify the target actuator.

[0094] Furthermore, in this embodiment, as information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly, the information about the braking system 304 includes information indicating the range of vehicle speeds affected when the target actuator fails, information indicating the faulty part, and information indicating the operating mode after the anomaly occurs.

[0095] Furthermore, information regarding the state of the steering system 306 is sent from the steering system 306 to the motion manager 200 as signal STR2. Examples of information regarding the state of the steering system 306 include information regarding the reliability of the steering system 306. Information regarding the reliability of the steering system 306 includes at least one of the following: a first STR indicating that the target actuator (e.g., the actuator of the EPS) is operating normally; a second STR indicating that the state is under protective control; a third STR indicating that the state is abnormal but the fault has not yet been confirmed and the control is ineffective; and a fourth STR indicating a fault state in which the fault has been confirmed. In other words, information regarding the reliability of the steering system 306 includes, for example, information in which the values ​​corresponding to the first to fourth STR information are associated with multiple identification messages used to identify the target actuator.

[0096] Furthermore, in this embodiment, as information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly, the information about the steering system 306 includes information indicating the range of vehicle speeds affected when the target actuator fails, information indicating the faulty part, and information indicating the operating mode after the anomaly occurs.

[0097] The generation unit 212 of the motion manager 200 uses signals received from various actuators to generate a signal PLN2 that includes predetermined information. The predetermined information includes fault categories indicating the operational state, which includes the presence or absence of anomalies in the various actuators. The generation unit 212 uses, for example, reliability information received from the various actuators to generate the various fault categories.

[0098] The fault category has the following data structure: additional information can be added, such as information about the presence or absence of anomalies in various functions. This additional information is used to set the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly, and includes the affected vehicle speed range (hereinafter referred to as the affected speed range) when the target actuator fails, the fault portion, and the operating mode of the target actuator after the anomaly occurs (hereinafter referred to as the operating mode). In addition to the faulty actuator, the fault portion also includes communication between actuators. Communication between actuators includes, for example, communication between powertrain system 302 and braking system 304, between powertrain system 302 and steering system 306, or between braking system 304 and steering system 306.

[0099] Figure 4 This is a diagram used to describe examples of various fault categories. Figure 4 This illustrates, for example, various fault categories and the data length set for information regarding the presence or absence of anomalies in various functions. Examples of fault categories set in vehicle 1 include lateral control system fault categories, driver brake input fault categories, autonomous braking fault categories (primary), autonomous braking fault categories (secondary), drive system fault categories, and shift control fault categories. Examples of fault categories are not limited to... Figure 4 The type of fault category shown.

[0100] For example, various fault categories are constructed by associating multiple pieces of identification information (e.g., tags) used to identify the type of fault category with numerical values ​​indicating the presence or absence of a functional abnormality. As the numerical values ​​associated with the multiple pieces of identification information for various fault categories, for example, a 4-bit data length is set for the drive system fault category, and for example, a 2-bit data length is set for fault categories other than the drive system fault category. This is because the drive system fault category has two types (upper limit and lower limit) of drive torque (drive force) requests, and twice the information of other fault categories.

[0101] In the lateral control system fault category, information indicating whether the lateral control system (e.g., LKS or LKA) is in a normal state, a protection control state, an invalid state where an anomaly has occurred but the fault has not been confirmed, or a fault state where the fault has been confirmed is set to a value (e.g., a two-digit binary value) associated with the identification information.

[0102] In the driver brake input fault category, information such as whether the brake control function input by the driver is in a normal state, a protection control state, an invalid state where an abnormality has occurred but the fault has not been confirmed, or a fault state where the fault has been confirmed is set to a value associated with the identification information.

[0103] In the autonomous braking fault category (main), for example, information indicating whether the function of the braking control (e.g., AEB) during autonomous driving is in a normal state, a protection control state, an invalid state where an anomaly has occurred but the fault has not been confirmed, or a fault state where the fault has been confirmed is set to a value associated with the identification information.

[0104] The autonomous braking fault category (sub) includes the same information as the autonomous braking fault category (primary). The autonomous braking fault category (sub) is set up as a redundancy backup to ensure autonomous braking control.

[0105] In drive system fault categories, for example, information indicating whether the drive system used for ACC, ASL, etc., is in a normal state, a protection control state, an invalid state where an abnormality has occurred but the fault has not been confirmed, or a fault state where the fault has been confirmed is set to a value associated with the identification information.

[0106] In shift control fault categories, information such as whether the function of operating the transmission is in a normal state, a protection control state, an invalid state where an abnormality has occurred but the fault has not been confirmed, or a fault state where the fault has been confirmed is set to a value associated with the identification information.

[0107] The above additional information can be added to the above fault categories. Figure 5 This is a diagram used to describe examples of additional information included in the fault category. For example... Figure 5 As shown above, as additional information, this includes (A) the affected vehicle speed range, (B) the faulty component, and (C) the operating mode.

[0108] (A) as Figure 5 The examples in the text include information about the affected speed ranges, including a first speed range indicating that the speed range is the entire range, a second speed range exceeding speed V(0) km / h, a third speed range equal to or lower than speed V(0) km / h and higher than speed V(1) (< V(0)) km / h, and a fourth speed range for a stationary state (speed equal to or lower than V(1) km / h). The above classification of speed ranges is an example, and examples of classification are not limited to this.

[0109] Each of the first to fourth speed ranges is associated with a binary and a two-digit value. For example, "00" is associated with the first speed range. "01" is associated with the second speed range. "10" is associated with the third speed range. Then, "11" is associated with the fourth speed range.

[0110] (B) as Figure 5 The example provided includes information on the faulty section, such as: a first faulty section indicating "normal" with no faulty component; a second faulty section indicating a faulty component is the hydraulic brake; a third faulty section indicating a faulty component is the parking brake; a fourth faulty section indicating a faulty component is the parking lock mechanism; a fifth faulty section indicating a faulty component is the communication between the powertrain system 302 and the braking system 304; and a sixth faulty section indicating a faulty component is the communication between the steering system 306 and the braking system 304. These faulty sections are examples, and the examples are not limited to these. Furthermore, a faulty section may only include sections related to the type of fault category.

[0111] Each of the first through sixth fault sections is associated with a binary or three-digit value. For example, "000" is associated with the first fault section. Furthermore, "001" is associated with the second fault section. Furthermore, "010" is associated with the third fault section. Furthermore, "011" is associated with the fourth fault section. Furthermore, "100" is associated with the fifth fault section. Furthermore, "111" is associated with the sixth fault section.

[0112] (C) as Figure 5 The example provided includes information about the operating mode, such as: a first mode indicating that the operating mode is in a normal state; a second mode indicating that the operating mode is a predetermined fixed mode (e.g., an operating mode in which the mode will not change thereafter); or a third mode indicating that the operating mode has been moved from a backup mode to a stop state. The above operating modes are examples, and the examples are not limited thereto. Furthermore, the predetermined fixed mode can be set as, for example, the operating mode of the entire actuator system 30, or it can include multiple types of fixed modes set for individual actuators or devices.

[0113] Each of the first through third mode information is associated with a binary and a two-digit value. For example, "00" is associated with the first mode information. Furthermore, "01" is associated with the second mode information. Additionally, "11" is associated with the third mode information.

[0114] As mentioned above, in various fault categories, information such as (A) the affected speed range, (B) the faulty part, and (C) the operating mode can be added as supplementary information to the existing information.

[0115] For example, the generation unit 212 of the motion manager 200 uses information received from the actuator system 30 to generate fault categories, and adds additional information to the fault category when an actuator is determined to be malfunctioning.

[0116] The sending unit 214 of the motion manager 200 sends various generated fault categories to each application. The motion manager 200 can send all fault categories to each application together, or it can send only the corresponding fault category from multiple fault categories to each application. For example, the types of fault categories corresponding to each application can be preset.

[0117] In the following text, reference will be made to Figure 6 Describe an example of the processing performed in Motion Manager 200. Figure 6 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processes performed in the motion manager 200. The series of processes shown in this flowchart are repeatedly executed at predetermined control cycles.

[0118] In step (hereinafter referred to as S) 100, the motion manager 200 determines whether it has received information regarding reliability. When it receives various signals such as ACL2, BRK2, STR2, and VSS2 from the actuator system 30, the motion manager 200 can determine that it has received information regarding reliability. When it is determined that the motion manager 200 has received information regarding reliability ("Yes" in S100), the process moves to S102.

[0119] In S102, the motion manager 200 uses the received information about reliability to generate various fault categories.

[0120] In S104, the motion manager 200 determines whether an anomaly has occurred in any actuator of the actuator system 30. The motion manager 200 uses the received reliability information to determine whether an anomaly has occurred in each actuator. When it is determined that an anomaly has occurred in any actuator ("Yes" in S104), the process moves to S106.

[0121] In S106, the motion manager 200 adds additional information to various fault categories. The motion manager 200 uses information from the actuator system 30 to set the additional information. For example, when the information regarding the reliability of an actuator in the actuator system 30 includes information indicating a fault state, the motion manager 200 adds binary and seven-digit values ​​as additional information to various fault categories. In these binary and seven-digit values, a value indicating the speed range affected by the operation of the faulty actuator, a value indicating the faulty part of the faulty actuator, and a value indicating the operating mode of the faulty actuator after the fault are combined. When it is determined that no abnormality has occurred in any actuator ("No" in S104), the process proceeds to S108.

[0122] In S108, the motion manager 200 sends various fault categories to the various applications of the driver assistance system 100. When it is determined that the motion manager 200 has not received any information about reliability ("No" in S100), the process ends.

[0123] The operation of the motion manager 200 based on the above structure and flowchart will be described.

[0124] When reliability information is received from actuator system 30 ("Yes" in S100), motion manager 200 generates various fault categories (S102). Then, motion manager 200 uses the received reliability information to determine whether an anomaly has occurred in any actuator (S104). When it is determined that an anomaly has occurred in any actuator ("Yes" in S104), motion manager 200 adds additional information, including (A) the affected vehicle speed range, (B) the faulty component, and (C) the operating mode, to various fault categories (S106) and sends the various fault categories to the respective applications (S108). In this case, the motion plan can be changed so that the respective applications stop their functions, the system of vehicle 1 is restarted, the faulty actuator is removed using the additional information, or minimal functionality is retained by using other actuators, or a backup of the faulty actuator is performed.

[0125] In this way, utilizing the motion manager 200 according to this embodiment, since the motion manager 200 receives information indicating the malfunctioning function and information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the malfunction from the actuator that has malfunctioned, the application can set the operation when an malfunction occurs by receiving information from the motion manager 200. Therefore, even when an malfunction occurs in any actuator, an appropriate operation (e.g., continue operation, stop operation, maintain function, or restart) can be selected. At this time, since the information required by the application when an malfunction occurs in the actuator can be received via the motion manager 200, the relationship between the driver assistance system 100, the motion manager 200, and the actuator system 30 can be kept from becoming complicated. Therefore, a motion manager, vehicle, vehicle control method, and non-transitory storage medium can be provided that allows for easy execution of the operation of the corresponding application when an actuator fails.

[0126] Furthermore, additional information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly includes information on the affected vehicle speed range, the faulty component, and the operating mode after the anomaly occurs. Therefore, by receiving the information on the affected vehicle speed range, the faulty component, and the operating mode after the anomaly occurs via the motion manager 200, the application can appropriately set the operation when the anomaly occurs. Moreover, since direct information exchange between the driver assistance system 100 and the actuator system 30 is not required, the relationship between the driver assistance system 100, the motion manager 200, and the actuator system 30 can be kept from becoming complex.

[0127] In the following sections, variant examples will be described. In the above embodiment, the motion manager 200 adds additional information to various fault categories when an abnormality occurs in any actuator of the actuator system 30, as an example. However, for example, additional information may be added to various fault categories even when all actuators are functioning normally. In this case, the motion manager 200 performs the processing shown in the flowchart, where details are omitted. Figure 6 The processing of S104 in the flowchart. Except for omitting the processing of S104, the processing is the same as... Figure 6 The process shown in the flowchart is the same, and its detailed description will not be repeated.

[0128] Furthermore, in the above embodiments, such as Figure 5 As shown, an example is given describing additional information including (A) the affected speed range, (B) the faulty component, and (C) the operating mode. However, as... Figure 5 As shown, the additional information may include at least one of, for example, (A) the affected vehicle speed range, (B) the faulty component, and (C) the operating mode. In this way, since direct information exchange between the driver assistance system 100 and the actuator system 30 is not required, the relationship between the driver assistance system 100, the motion manager 200, and the actuator system 30 can be kept from becoming complicated.

[0129] Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the case where information about the affected vehicle speed range, the faulty component, and the operating mode is sent from the actuator system 30 to the motion manager 200 is described as an example. However, the information about the vehicle speed range corresponding to the faulty actuator can be pre-stored, for example, in the memory of the motion manager 200.

[0130] Furthermore, in the above embodiments, a configuration of the motion manager 200 including a first receiving unit 202, an arbitration unit 204, a calculation unit 206, a distribution unit 208, a second receiving unit 210, a generation unit 212, and a sending unit 214 is described as an example. However, the motion manager 200 may be configured to include, for example, a first motion manager including at least the first receiving unit 202 and the sending unit 214, and a second motion manager capable of communicating with the first motion manager and including at least the second receiving unit 210. In this case, the functions of the arbitration unit 204, the calculation unit 206, the distribution unit 208, and the generation unit 212 can be implemented by either the first motion manager or the second motion manager.

[0131] Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the case where the motion manager 200 generates fault categories was described. However, for example, the actuator system 30 may generate fault categories and add additional information, or the motion manager 200 may add additional information to the fault categories generated by the actuator system 30.

[0132] The above-described variations are implemented by appropriate combinations of all or part of them. The embodiments disclosed in this invention should be considered illustrative, not restrictive. The scope of this invention is defined by the claims, not by the foregoing description, and is intended to include all variations with the same meaning and scope as the claims.

Claims

1. A motion manager configured to request, to at least one of a plurality of actuators disposed in a vehicle, motion of the vehicle according to a motion plan for driving assistance relating to the vehicle, the motion manager being characterized in that it includes one or more processors configured to: Arbitration is used to set up multiple exercise plans in multiple applications; Based on the arbitration results of the multiple motion plans, a motion request for the vehicle is calculated; Distribute the motion request to at least one of the plurality of actuators; as well as Multiple fault categories indicating the operational state of the multiple actuators are sent to each of the multiple applications, respectively. These multiple fault categories are constructed by associating multiple pieces of identification information used to identify the type of the multiple fault categories with numerical values ​​indicating the presence or absence of a functional anomaly. When the anomaly occurs in at least one of the plurality of actuators, the plurality of fault categories sent to each of the plurality of applications include additional information sent from the actuator where the anomaly occurred, the additional information being used to set the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly in the plurality of applications, and including at least one of information indicating the speed range affected by the anomaly, information indicating the part where the anomaly occurred, and information indicating the operating mode after the anomaly occurred.

2. The motion manager according to claim 1, characterized in that, The part where the anomaly occurs includes communication between the plurality of actuators.

3. The motion manager according to claim 1, characterized in that, The one or more processors are configured to send, at least to the application corresponding to the exception in the plurality of applications, information indicating the function in which the exception occurred and additional information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the exception.

4. A vehicle, characterized in that, include: A driving assistance system comprising multiple applications configured to independently set various motion plans among multiple motion plans for driving assistance of the vehicle; as well as A motion manager, comprising one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: To at least one of a plurality of actuators disposed in the vehicle, a request is made for movement of the vehicle according to the motion plan set in at least one of the plurality of applications; and Multiple fault categories indicating the operational state of the multiple actuators are sent to each of the multiple applications, respectively. These multiple fault categories are constructed by associating multiple pieces of identification information used to identify the type of the multiple fault categories with numerical values ​​indicating the presence or absence of a functional anomaly. When the anomaly occurs in at least one of the plurality of actuators, the plurality of fault categories sent to each of the plurality of applications include additional information sent from the actuator where the anomaly occurred, the additional information being used to set the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly in the plurality of applications, and including at least one of information indicating the speed range affected by the anomaly, information indicating the part where the anomaly occurred, and information indicating the operating mode after the anomaly occurred.

5. The vehicle according to claim 4, characterized in that, The part where the anomaly occurs includes communication between the plurality of actuators.

6. The vehicle according to claim 4, characterized in that, The motion manager is configured to send information indicating the function that caused the exception and additional information for setting the operation of the application corresponding to the exception to at least the applications among the plurality of applications.

7. A vehicle control method executed by a computer, characterized in that it comprises: Receive the multiple motion plans from multiple applications configured to set multiple motion plans for driving assistance with the vehicle; The arbitration received the aforementioned multiple sports plans; Based on the arbitration results of the multiple motion plans, a motion request for the vehicle is calculated; Distribute the motion request to at least one of a plurality of actuators disposed in the vehicle; as well as Multiple fault categories indicating the operational state of the multiple actuators are sent to each of the multiple applications, respectively. These multiple fault categories are constructed by associating multiple pieces of identification information used to identify the type of the multiple fault categories with numerical values ​​indicating the presence or absence of a functional anomaly. When the anomaly occurs in at least one of the plurality of actuators, the plurality of fault categories sent to each of the plurality of applications include additional information sent from the actuator where the anomaly occurred, the additional information being used to set the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly in the plurality of applications, and including at least one of information indicating the speed range affected by the anomaly, information indicating the part where the anomaly occurred, and information indicating the operating mode after the anomaly occurred.

8. A non-transitory storage medium storing instructions that are executed by a computer and cause the computer to perform a function, the function being characterized by comprising: Receive the multiple motion plans from multiple applications configured to set multiple motion plans for driving assistance with the vehicle; The arbitration received the aforementioned multiple sports plans; Based on the arbitration results of the multiple motion plans, a motion request for the vehicle is calculated; Distribute the motion request to at least one of a plurality of actuators disposed in the vehicle; as well as Multiple fault categories indicating the operational state of the multiple actuators are sent to each of the multiple applications, respectively. These multiple fault categories are constructed by associating multiple pieces of identification information used to identify the type of the multiple fault categories with numerical values ​​indicating the presence or absence of a functional anomaly. When the anomaly occurs in at least one of the plurality of actuators, the plurality of fault categories sent to each of the plurality of applications include additional information sent from the actuator where the anomaly occurred, the additional information being used to set the operation of the application corresponding to the anomaly in the plurality of applications, and including at least one of information indicating the speed range affected by the anomaly, information indicating the part where the anomaly occurred, and information indicating the operating mode after the anomaly occurred.

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