Control device for vehicle

Abstract

To make it possible to perform vehicle control suitable for a driver even if there is no or little driver information.SOLUTION: A control device 6 for a vehicle 100 sets a recommended value of a control parameter having an influence on vehicle behavior or in-vehicle environment so that the vehicle behavior or in-vehicle environment becomes suitable for a driver, on the basis of a learning result obtained by learning a feature of vehicle operation by the driver. When the driver is an unlearned driver with less than a prescribed amount of learning data, the control device detects a specific vehicle operation by the unlearned driver, and sets a vehicle mode to a recommended vehicle mode selected from among a plurality of vehicle modes, on the basis of a result of the detected specific vehicle operation. When the vehicle mode is set to the recommended vehicle mode, the control device sets the control parameter to a prescribed set value according to the recommended vehicle mode.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle control device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional vehicle control system that performs vehicle control suited to the driver based on driver information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-118425 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the above-mentioned conventional vehicle control system has a problem in that when there is no driver information or when there is only a small amount of driver information, it is not possible to perform vehicle control suitable for the driver.

[0005] The present invention has been made in response to such problems, and has an object to make it possible to perform vehicle control suitable for the driver even when there is no driver information or when there is little driver information. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, a vehicle control device according to one embodiment of the present invention is configured to set recommended values ​​of control parameters that affect the vehicle behavior or in-vehicle environment based on the learning results of learning the characteristics of the driver's vehicle operation so that the vehicle behavior or in-vehicle environment is suitable for the driver, and when the driver is an unlearned driver with less than a predetermined amount of learning data, to detect a specific vehicle operation of the unlearned driver, and based on the result of the detected specific vehicle operation, to set the vehicle mode to a recommended vehicle mode selected from a plurality of vehicle modes, and when the vehicle mode is set to the recommended vehicle mode, to set the control parameters to a predetermined setting value corresponding to the recommended vehicle mode. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to this aspect of the present invention, even if a driver has no or little driver information and has not been able to fully learn the characteristics of vehicle operation, vehicle control suitable for the driver can be performed based on the specific vehicle operations performed by the driver. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic system configuration diagram of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process performed by a control device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, like components are designated by like reference numerals.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a schematic system configuration diagram of a vehicle 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] The vehicle 100 includes an external environment sensor 1, an occupant sensor 2, a vehicle sensor 3, a human machine interface (HMI) 4, an actuator 5, and a control device 6. The external environment sensor 1, the occupant sensor 2, the vehicle sensor 3, the HMI 4, the actuator 5, and the control device 6 are communicatively connected to each other via an in-vehicle network 110 that complies with a standard such as a controller area network.

[0012] The external environment sensor 1 is a sensor for generating external environment data related to the environment around the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the vehicle 100 includes, as the external environment sensor 1, one or more external cameras 11 for capturing images of the surroundings of the vehicle 100. Note that, in addition to the external camera 11, the external environment sensor 1 may include a distance measurement sensor (e.g., a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) or a millimeter wave radar sensor) for measuring distances to targets such as other vehicles, pedestrians, and buildings around the vehicle 100.

[0013] The occupant sensor 2 is a sensor for generating occupant data related to a vehicle occupant. In this embodiment, the vehicle 100 includes, as the occupant sensor 2, a driver monitor camera 21 for capturing an image of the driver's appearance including the driver's face, and one or more internal cameras 22 for capturing images of occupants in the vehicle.

[0014] The vehicle sensor 3 is a sensor for generating vehicle data related to the state of the vehicle 100 such as the vehicle's traveling speed, acceleration, jerk (jerk), lateral acceleration, speed of change of steering angle, current position, etc. In this embodiment, the vehicle 100 includes, as the vehicle sensors 3, a speed sensor 31, an acceleration sensor 32, a yaw rate sensor 33, a steering angle sensor 34, a GNSS receiver 35, etc.

[0015] The HMI 4 is a user interface for exchanging information between the vehicle 100 and its occupants. The HMI 4 includes an output device 41, such as a center display, for notifying the vehicle occupant through the vehicle occupant's bodily senses (for example, vision, hearing, touch, etc.), and an input device 42, such as a touch panel or operation buttons, for the vehicle occupant to perform input operations and response operations.

[0016] The actuator 5 is various control components that are driven to make the vehicle 100 run, and includes, for example, a drive device (e.g., at least one of an internal combustion engine and a motor) required for accelerating the vehicle 100, a braking device (e.g., a brake actuator) required for braking the vehicle 100, and a steering device (e.g., a steering motor) required for steering the vehicle 100.

[0017] The control device 6 is an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) including an in-vehicle communication interface 61, a storage unit 62, and a processing unit 63.

[0018] The in-vehicle communication interface 61 includes an interface circuit for connecting the control device 6 to the in-vehicle network 110 .

[0019] The storage unit 62 has a storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid disk drive (SSD), or a semiconductor memory, and stores various computer programs and data used for processing in the processing unit 63.

[0020] The processing unit 63 has one or more central processing units (CPUs) and their peripheral circuits. The processing unit 63 executes various computer programs stored in the storage unit 62 and performs overall control of the vehicle 100, and is, for example, a processor.

[0021] As an example of the processing performed by the processing unit 63, for example, the processing unit 63 learns the vehicle operation characteristics of each driver of the vehicle 100, and automatically changes various control parameters that affect the vehicle behavior and the in-vehicle environment (e.g., upper and lower limits of acceleration, upper and lower limits of jerk, upper limit of lateral acceleration, upper limit of the rate of change of steering angle, setting value of inter-vehicle distance, setting value of air conditioner air volume, setting value of seat / steering heater and seat / steering cooler, etc.) to recommended settings, or performs personalized control in which the recommended settings of the control parameters are proposed to each driver via the HMI 4.

[0022] This allows the vehicle 100 to be appropriately controlled for each driver so that the vehicle behavior and the in-vehicle environment match the driver's preferences. However, if the driver is a driver who has not acquired sufficient learning data required to learn the characteristics of vehicle operation (hereinafter referred to as an "unlearned driver"), it is not possible to derive recommended settings for the control parameters.

[0023] Therefore, in this embodiment, if the driver is an unlearned driver, a specific vehicle operation of the driver is detected, and based on the result of the detected specific vehicle operation, a vehicle mode that best matches the driver's preferences is selected from among a plurality of vehicle modes and proposed as a recommended vehicle mode.

[0024] Specific vehicle operations include, for example, an operation to set the driving control mode of vehicle 100 (for example, an ECO mode that emphasizes economy such as fuel efficiency, a COMFORT mode that emphasizes comfort such as ride comfort, a SPORT mode that emphasizes driving performance such as acceleration, and an electricity efficiency priority mode in which control is performed in an electric vehicle (BEV) by strengthening regenerative braking to suppress the decrease in battery charge), an operation to switch the air conditioner limiting function (ECO air conditioner) that limits the maximum air volume of the air conditioner from off to on, an air conditioner remote operation to activate the air conditioner in advance by remote control, an operation to activate the seat / steering wheel heater and seat / steering wheel cooler, and an operation to switch relaxation functions such as seat massage from off to on.

[0025] In addition, vehicle modes that are selected when the driver is an unlearned driver include, for example, an ECO mode that emphasizes economy such as fuel efficiency, a COMFORT mode that emphasizes ride comfort and comfort inside the vehicle, and a SPORT mode that emphasizes driving performance, similar to the driving control mode that is set.

[0026] 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing performed by the processing unit 63 and, in turn, the control device 6. The control device 6 performs this routine at a predetermined calculation cycle, for example.

[0027] In step S1, the control device 6 identifies the driver based on an external image of the driver captured by the driver monitor camera 21.

[0028] In step S2, the control device 6 judges whether the learning data of the identified driver is less than a predetermined amount. If the learning data of the identified driver is less than the predetermined amount, the control device 6 judges that the driver is an unlearned driver who has not acquired sufficient learning data required to learn the characteristics of vehicle operation, and proceeds to the process of step S3. On the other hand, if the learning data of the identified driver is equal to or greater than the predetermined amount, the control device 6 judges that the characteristics of the vehicle operation of the driver have been sufficiently learned, and proceeds to the process of step S5.

[0029] In step S3, the control device 6 determines whether or not a specific vehicle operation has been performed. If a specific vehicle operation has been performed, the control device 6 proceeds to processing in step S4. On the other hand, if a specific vehicle operation has not been performed, the control device 6 ends this processing.

[0030] In step S4, the control device 6 selects a recommended vehicle mode from among a plurality of vehicle modes according to the content of the vehicle operation, and performs vehicle control according to the selected recommended vehicle mode.

[0031] For example, when the driving control mode is set to the ECO mode or the power consumption priority mode, or when the air conditioner limiting function is switched on, the control device 6 determines that the driver is likely to be a driver who wants to drive with emphasis on economy, and selects the ECO mode as the recommended vehicle mode. When the driving control mode is set to the COMFORT mode, the air conditioner is remotely operated, the seat / steering wheel heater or the seat / steering wheel cooler is activated, or the relaxation function is switched on, the control device 6 determines that the driver is likely to be a driver who wants to drive with emphasis on comfort, and selects the COMFORT mode as the recommended vehicle mode. When the driving control mode is set to the SPORT mode, the control device 6 determines that the driver is likely to be a driver who wants to drive with emphasis on driving performance, and selects the SPORT mode as the recommended vehicle mode. Then, the control device 6 sets various control parameters that affect the vehicle behavior and the in-vehicle environment described above to predetermined setting values ​​corresponding to the recommended vehicle mode.

[0032] In step S5, the control device 6 sets the various control parameters described above based on the learning results of the vehicle operation characteristics of the identified driver.

[0033] The control device 6 of the vehicle 100 according to the present embodiment described above is configured to set recommended values ​​of control parameters that affect the vehicle behavior or in-vehicle environment based on the learning results of learning the characteristics of the vehicle operation by the driver, so that the vehicle behavior or in-vehicle environment is suitable for the driver, and when the driver is an unlearned driver with less than a predetermined amount of learning data, to detect a specific vehicle operation of the unlearned driver and set the vehicle mode to a recommended vehicle mode selected from a plurality of vehicle modes based on the result of the detected specific vehicle operation, and when the vehicle mode is set to the recommended vehicle mode, to set the control parameters to a predetermined setting value corresponding to the recommended vehicle mode.

[0034] As a result, even if a driver has not yet fully learned the characteristics of vehicle operation, vehicle control suited to that driver can be performed based on the specific vehicle operation performed by that driver.

[0035] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above-mentioned embodiments merely show some of the application examples of the present invention, and it is not intended that the technical scope of the present invention be limited to the specific configurations of the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0036] For example, in the above embodiment, the computer program executed in the control device 6 may be provided in a form recorded on a computer-readable portable recording medium, such as a semiconductor memory, a magnetic recording medium, or an optical recording medium. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 6. Control device 100 vehicles

Claims

[Claim 1] A control device for a vehicle, Based on a learning result of the characteristics of the vehicle operation by the driver, a recommended value of a control parameter that affects the vehicle behavior or the in-vehicle environment is set so that the vehicle behavior or the in-vehicle environment is suitable for the driver; When the driver is an unlearned driver having less than a predetermined amount of learning data, a specific vehicle operation of the unlearned driver is detected, and based on the result of the detected specific vehicle operation, a vehicle mode is set to a recommended vehicle mode selected from a plurality of vehicle modes; When the vehicle mode is set to the recommended vehicle mode, the control parameters are set to predetermined setting values ​​corresponding to the recommended vehicle mode. Vehicle control device.

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