Driving control system and information processing device

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a driving control system and an information processing apparatus. The driving control system includes: an information processing apparatus having a first control section; and a plurality of control apparatuses each having a second control section mounted on a plurality of vehicles. The second control section acquires, as first information, information of a set temperature of an air conditioning apparatus and acquires, as second information, information of an accelerator opening degree detected by an accelerator sensor, for each occupant of the vehicle. The first control section calculates, for each occupant of each vehicle, a first suppression control value corresponding to a suppression rate of an output of the air conditioning apparatus and a second suppression control value corresponding to a suppression rate of an acceleration output, based on the first information and the second information acquired from the control apparatuses. When one of the vehicles mounted with the second control section is in an energy-saving driving mode, the second control section performs suppression control of the air conditioning apparatus mounted on the one vehicle and the acceleration output, based on the first suppression control value and the second suppression control value acquired from the information processing apparatus.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to driving control systems and information processing devices. Background Technology

[0002] An air conditioning control system is proposed that can appropriately control the air conditioning unit installed in the vehicle according to the user's preferences related to energy-saving driving (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-64523). Summary of the Invention

[0003] The air conditioning control system described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-64523 is limited to the air conditioning unit, therefore, it does not take into account the control of adjusting the acceleration output during fuel-efficient driving.

[0004] The purpose of this disclosure, made in view of the above, is to provide a driving control system and an information processing device that can appropriately control the air conditioning unit and acceleration output according to the passenger's preferences.

[0005] The driving control system of this disclosure, which solves the above-mentioned problems, includes an information processing device having a first control unit and multiple control devices respectively mounted on multiple vehicles and each having a second control unit. The driving control system is characterized in that...

[0006] The second control unit acquires, for each passenger in the vehicle equipped with the control device, information about the set temperature of the air conditioning system as the first information, and information about the accelerometer opening detected by the accelerometer sensor as the second information.

[0007] Based on the first information and the second information obtained from the control device, the first control unit calculates a first suppression control value corresponding to the suppression rate of the air conditioning unit's output and a second suppression control value corresponding to the suppression rate of acceleration output for each passenger in each of the vehicles.

[0008] When a vehicle equipped with the second control unit is in energy-saving driving mode, the second control unit performs suppression control on the air conditioning unit and the acceleration output of the vehicle based on the first suppression control value and the second suppression control value related to the passenger obtained from the information processing device.

[0009] The information processing apparatus of this disclosure, which solves the above-mentioned problems, is characterized by comprising: a first communication unit that acquires first information related to the operation of the air conditioning unit by the occupants of each vehicle and second information related to the operation of the accelerator by the occupants of the vehicle from multiple vehicles; and a first control unit that, based on the first information and the second information, calculates a first suppression control value used in the suppression control of the air conditioning unit and a second suppression control value used in the suppression control of acceleration output for each occupant of each vehicle.

[0010] According to this disclosure, a driving control system and an information processing device are provided that can appropriately control the air conditioning and acceleration output according to the passenger's preferences. Attached Figure Description

[0011] 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, in which the same reference numerals denote the same elements, and wherein:

[0012] Figure 1 This is a block diagram illustrating the general structure of a driving control system according to one embodiment;

[0013] Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in acquiring and processing historical information by the vehicle's control devices during normal driving.

[0014] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating the process of calculating the suppression control value performed by the information processing device;

[0015] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the process of adjusting the suppression control value performed by the information processing device. Detailed Implementation

[0016] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the driving control system 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0017] like Figure 1 As shown, the driving control system 1 includes an information processing unit 10 and multiple control units 21 mounted on multiple vehicles 20. The information processing unit 10 and each control unit 21 are configured to communicate with each other via a communication network 40.

[0018] The information processing device 10 is a computer belonging to a cloud computing system or other computing system. The information processing device 10 includes a first communication unit 11, a first control unit 12, and a first storage unit 13. The first communication unit 11 includes at least one external communication interface connected to the network 40. The first controller 12 includes a processor and / or dedicated circuitry. The first control unit 12 performs various calculations based on information obtained from the vehicle 20. The first storage unit 13 includes at least one of semiconductor memory, magnetic memory, and optical memory. The storage unit 13 stores information obtained from the vehicle 20 and information calculated by the information processing device 10.

[0019] Vehicle 20 is, for example, a car, but is not limited to, and can be any vehicle. A car can be, for example, a gasoline car or a battery electric vehicle (BEV), but is not limited to these. Vehicle 20 can operate in either a normal driving mode or an energy-saving driving mode. The energy-saving driving mode is a mode that reduces energy consumption and improves fuel economy or electricity economy compared to the normal driving mode.

[0020] Vehicle 20 includes a control unit 21, an air conditioning ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 22, an air conditioning unit 23, an accelerometer sensor 24, a prime mover ECU 25, a prime mover 26, an interior temperature sensor 27, and an exterior temperature sensor 28. Vehicle 20 may also include a camera 29 for capturing images of occupants and / or a seat sensor 30 for detecting occupants seated in their seats.

[0021] The control device 21 is an electronic device such as a computer mounted on the vehicle. The control device 21 includes a second communication unit 21a, a second control unit 21b, a second storage unit 21c, and an input / output unit 21d.

[0022] The second communication unit 21a includes an external communication interface that connects to the network 40 wirelessly. The second control unit 21b, like the first control unit 12, includes a processor and / or dedicated circuitry. The second control unit 21b is capable of acquiring information about the set temperature of the air conditioning unit 23 and the accelerator opening detected by the accelerator sensor 24. The second control unit 21b can control the outputs of the air conditioning unit 23 and the prime mover 26 via the air conditioning ECU 22 and the prime mover ECU 25. The second storage unit 21c, like the first storage unit 13, includes at least one of semiconductor memory, magnetic memory, and optical memory. The input / output unit 21d may be, for example, a touch panel. The occupant can instruct the control unit 21 to switch between an energy-saving driving mode and a normal driving mode via the input / output unit 21d.

[0023] The air conditioning unit 23 receives power and / or heat from the vehicle 20's battery and / or prime mover 26, functioning as a cooling and / or heating device. The air conditioning ECU 22 controls the operation of the air conditioning unit 23. In normal driving mode, the occupant can operate the air conditioning panel inside the vehicle 20 to set the cooling or heating temperature. The air conditioning ECU 22 transmits the set cooling or heating temperature as first information to the control unit 21. The air conditioning ECU 22 controls the air conditioning unit 23 to bring the interior temperature of the vehicle 20 to the set temperature. In eco-driving mode, the air conditioning ECU 22, based on the air conditioning output specified by the control unit 21, suppresses the air conditioning unit 23 compared to normal driving mode.

[0024] Accelerator sensor 24 detects the amount of accelerator pedal depressed, i.e., accelerator opening. Control device 21 acquires the accelerator opening information and generates second information. The second information may include the accelerator opening and jerk during acceleration. Accelerator opening is expressed as a percentage of the amount of accelerator pedal depressed. Jerk is the time derivative of accelerator opening. Prime mover 26 converts fuel or electricity into mechanical energy to drive vehicle 20. Prime mover 26 includes an engine and a motor. Prime mover ECU 25 controls the output of prime mover 26 based on the accelerator opening detected by accelerator sensor 24. In eco-driving mode, prime mover ECU 25 suppresses the acceleration output of prime mover 26 compared to normal driving mode by using acceleration output specified by control device 21.

[0025] Next, refer to Figures 2 to 4 The flowchart illustrates the processing performed by the driving control system 1.

[0026] like Figure 2 As shown, in the normal driving mode of vehicle 20, the second control unit 21b determines the passenger riding in vehicle 20 (S101). The second storage unit 21c can store information about passengers who may ride in vehicle 20. The control device 21 can determine the actual passenger from the passenger candidates stored in the second storage unit 21c based on the image obtained by the camera 29 and / or the passenger information obtained by the seat sensor 30.

[0027] The second control unit 21b executes the processing of S102 to S107 and the processing of S108 to S109 in parallel or sequentially.

[0028] In S102, the second control unit 21b determines the number of passengers based on information obtained from the camera 29 or the seat sensor 30. The second control unit 21b obtains information about the interior temperature of the vehicle 20 from the interior temperature sensor 27. If the interior temperature is not within the range of 0 to 30 degrees Celsius (S103: No), it controls the air conditioning unit 23 to operate normally and maintain the interior temperature within the range of 0 to 30 degrees Celsius. If the interior temperature is within the range of 0 to 30 degrees Celsius (S103: Yes), the second control unit 21b proceeds to S104. Next, when the outside temperature is less than 15 degrees Celsius (S104: Yes), the second control unit 21b stores the heating setting temperature set by the passenger in the second storage unit 21c (S105). On the other hand, when the outside temperature is above 28 degrees Celsius (S106: Yes), the second control unit 21b stores the cooling setting temperature set by the passenger in the second storage unit 21c (S107).

[0029] In S108, when the vehicle 20 is stopped (S108: Yes), the second control unit 21b obtains information on the accelerator opening and acceleration when driving resumes. The obtained accelerator opening and acceleration may be, for example, the maximum value during acceleration. The second control unit 21b causes the second storage unit 21c to store the accelerator opening and acceleration (S109).

[0030] The second control unit 21b periodically sends the set temperature during heating or cooling (first information) and the information on the accelerator opening and speed (second information) as historical record information to the information processing device 10 (S110).

[0031] Next, we will refer to Figure 3 This describes the suppression control value calculation process performed by the first control unit 12 of the information processing device 10. Figure 3 In this process, the processes S202 to S203, S204 to S205, and S206 to S207 can be executed in parallel or sequentially.

[0032] First, the first control unit 12 obtains the historical information of each passenger from each vehicle 20 included in the driving control system 1 and stores it in the first storage unit 13 (S201).

[0033] At an appropriate time, the first control unit 12 calculates the average and standard deviation of the heating set temperature for all passengers, as contained in historical information collected from multiple vehicles 20, and stores it in the first storage unit 13 (S202). The first control unit 12 calculates a first suppression control value α1 for each passenger, based on the deviation of that passenger's heating set temperature from the high-temperature side of the average value calculated in S202 (S203). In heating mode, the first suppression control value α1 is a value greater than 0 and less than 1. The higher the heating set temperature is than the average value, the smaller the first suppression control value α1. As an example, when the passenger's heating set temperature deviates from the average value towards the higher temperature side within 1σ, greater than 1σ but within 2σ, and greater than 2σ but within 3σ, the first control unit 12 sets the first suppression control value α1 for heating to 0.5, 0.25, and 0.1, respectively. 1σ, 2σ, and 3σ represent 1, 2, and 3 times the standard deviation, respectively. When the passenger's heating set temperature is lower than the average value, the first suppression control value α1 is set to 0.5. Since a smaller first suppression control value α1 for heating results in a higher heating set temperature, passengers tend to feel colder.

[0034] The first control unit 12 calculates the first suppression control value α2 during cooling using S204 and S205. S204 and S205 are similar to S202 and S203, so their description is omitted.

[0035] The first control unit 12 calculates the average accelerator opening, standard deviation, and average jerkiness of all passengers included in the historical information collected from multiple vehicles 20, and stores them in the first storage unit 13 (S206). For each passenger, the first control unit 12 calculates a second suppression control value β based on the deviation of that passenger's accelerator opening from the average accelerator opening calculated in S206, and a comparison of the average jerkiness with the passenger's jerkiness value (S207). The second suppression control value β is a value between 0 and 1. As an example, when the passenger's accelerator opening deviates from the average value by less than 1σ, and when it deviates from 1σ but less than 2σ, the first control unit 12 sets the second suppression control value β to 0.5 and 0.25, respectively. Furthermore, when the passenger's jerkiness is greater than the average value, the first control unit 12 sets the value obtained by subtracting 0.1 from the aforementioned second suppression control value β as the second suppression control value β. The smaller the second inhibition control value β, the more likely the rider is to prefer rapid acceleration.

[0036] On the vehicle 20 side, the first suppression control value α1 during heating and the first suppression control value α2 during cooling are not used simultaneously. In the following text, the first suppression control value α1 during heating and the first suppression control value α2 during cooling will be collectively referred to as the first suppression control value α. The first suppression control value α is a parameter set to be smaller the more the passenger prefers the air conditioning temperature. The first suppression control value α corresponds to the suppression rate of the output of the air conditioning unit 23. The second suppression control value β is a parameter set to be smaller the more the passenger prefers acceleration performance. The second suppression control value β corresponds to the output suppression rate of the prime mover 26 during acceleration.

[0037] Figure 4 This describes the adjustment process performed by the first control unit 12 of the information processing device 10 to adjust the suppression control values ​​for each passenger. Figure 4 The processing can continue Figure 3 The processing can also be performed when the information processing device 10 receives information from the vehicle 20 indicating that the vehicle is in an energy-saving driving mode. The latter case will be explained below.

[0038] First, the first control unit 12 obtains information from the control device 21 of the vehicle 20 and determines the passenger riding in the vehicle 20 (S301). Next, the first control unit 12 obtains the first suppression control value α and the second suppression control value β of the passenger stored in the second storage unit (S302). The first control unit 12 calculates a total suppression value r based on the first suppression control value α and the second suppression control value β (S303). For example, the total suppression value r is calculated using equation (1).

[0039] r = w1 × α + w2 × β (1)

[0040] w1 and w2 are weights determined based on the contribution of the output suppression of the air conditioning unit 23 and the output suppression of the prime mover 26 during acceleration to the overall energy suppression. w1 and w2 can be determined such that the average value is 1.

[0041] If the total suppression value r is less than 0.5 (S304: Yes), the first control unit 12 increases the larger of the first suppression control value α and the second suppression control value β, so that the total suppression value r is 0.5 or more (S305). If the total suppression value r is 0.5 or more in S304 (S304: No) and after S305, the first control unit 12 sends the first suppression control value α and the second suppression control value β to the control device 21 of the vehicle 20 via the first communication unit (S306). Figure 4 The processing can be performed by the control device 21 of the vehicle 20.

[0042] The second control unit 21b of the controller 21, which receives the first suppression control value α and the second suppression control value β, determines the output of the air conditioner 23 of the vehicle 20 and the acceleration output of the prime mover 26. The output of the air conditioning unit 23 is suppressed to the value obtained by multiplying the output value of the normal driving mode by 1-α. The acceleration output of the prime mover 26 is suppressed to the value obtained by multiplying the output value of the normal driving mode by 1-β. In step S305, the larger of the first suppression control value α and the second suppression control value β is increased, based on the judgment that the passenger prefers the air conditioning temperature or acceleration performance corresponding to the smaller of these suppression control values.

[0043] The following is an example including numerical values. It is assumed that the average set temperature for heating is 23 degrees Celsius with a standard deviation of 2 degrees Celsius. Additionally, it is assumed that the average accelerator opening is 50% with a standard deviation of 10%. Furthermore, it is assumed that the weights w1 and w2 are w1 = w2 = 1. Here, it is assumed that the set temperature for heating for a specific passenger is 26 degrees Celsius, the accelerator opening is 70%, and the jerk is greater than the average. In this case, the first suppression control value α corresponding to the passenger is 0.25, and the second suppression control value β is 0.15. Since the first suppression control value α > the second suppression control value β, the passenger tends to prefer or value acceleration performance more than the air conditioning temperature. Therefore, the first control unit 12 increases the first suppression control value α to 0.35 to set the total suppression value r to 0.5. By doing so, the second control unit 21b, having obtained the first suppression control value α and the second suppression control value β, maintains the amount of suppression of the acceleration output of the vehicle 20, which is more valued by the passenger, while further suppressing the output of the air conditioning unit 23. As a result, the sum of the suppression amount of the air conditioning unit 23's output and the suppression amount of the acceleration output reaches or exceeds the specified value, thus achieving the energy suppression performance that is the target of the energy-saving driving mode.

[0044] As described above, according to this embodiment, the information processing device 10 determines the first suppression control value α and the second suppression control value β based on the set temperature of the air conditioning 23 set by the passenger and information on accelerator operation detected by the accelerator sensor 24. Furthermore, the information processing device 10 adjusts the first suppression control value α or the second suppression control value β based on the passenger's preference to obtain a predetermined energy suppression amount. In energy-saving driving mode, the vehicle 20's control device 21 controls the air conditioning unit 23 and the prime mover 26 according to the adjusted first suppression control value α and second suppression control value β, corresponding to the passenger's preference, thus improving the energy-saving driving performance of the vehicle 20.

[0045] This invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and several modifications or alterations are possible. For example, the first suppression control value α can be set to different values ​​depending on the number of passengers in the vehicle 20. The numerical information such as temperature, accelerator opening, jerk, suppression control value, total suppression value, and threshold values ​​for these parameters used in the above embodiments are merely examples. In actual systems, these values ​​can be appropriately set.

Claims

1. A driving control system, comprising an information processing device having a first control unit, and a plurality of control devices respectively mounted on a plurality of vehicles and each having a second control unit, wherein, The second control unit acquires information about the set temperature of the air conditioning system as first information for each passenger in the vehicle equipped with the control device, and acquires information about the accelerometer opening detected by the accelerometer sensor as second information. Based on the first information and the second information obtained from the control device, the first control unit calculates a first suppression control value corresponding to the suppression rate of the air conditioning unit's output and a second suppression control value corresponding to the suppression rate of acceleration output for each passenger in each of the vehicles. When a vehicle equipped with the second control unit is in energy-saving driving mode, the second control unit performs suppression control on the air conditioning unit and the acceleration output of the vehicle based on the first suppression control value and the second suppression control value related to the passenger obtained from the information processing device.

2. An information processing device, wherein, The information processing device includes: The first communication unit acquires first information related to the operation of the air conditioning system by the occupants of each vehicle, and second information related to the operation of the accelerator by the occupants of the vehicle, from multiple vehicles; and The first control unit, based on the first information and the second information, calculates a first suppression control value corresponding to the suppression rate of the output of the air conditioning device and a second suppression control value corresponding to the suppression rate of the acceleration output for each passenger in each of the vehicles.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, The first suppression control value is a parameter that is set to be smaller the more the passenger prefers the air conditioning temperature, and the second suppression control value is a parameter that is set to be smaller the more the passenger prefers acceleration performance. The first control unit increases the value of the larger of the first suppression control value and the second suppression control value so that the sum of the first suppression control value and the second suppression control value is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, The first piece of information includes the set temperature, and the second piece of information includes the accelerator opening and jerk.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, The first control unit determines the first suppression control value based on the deviation of each of the first information from the average value of the first information, and determines the second suppression control value based on the deviation of each of the second information from the average value of the second information.

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