Vehicle component residual life prediction device

Abstract

To improve accuracy of predicting residual life when predicting the residual life of a vehicle component on the basis of life related data acquired through wireless communication.SOLUTION: In a vehicle component residual life prediction device 36, a residual life calculation section 44 predicts a decrement of the life of a vehicle component (cumulative fatigue damage level (deterioration amount) Dc of the day) in a travel section with travel data not yet available Δx (either a travel distance with travel data not yet available Lint or travel time with travel data not yet available Tint) using the travel section with travel data not yet available and vehicle travel data on another vehicle. The residual life of the vehicle component on a vehicle 10 is predicted taking into account the predicted decrement of the residual life of the vehicle component in the travel section with travel data not yet available Δx. Thus, even when the operation state of the vehicle changed in the travel section with travel data not yet available, the vehicle component residual life prediction device can ensure prediction accuracy of the residual life of the vehicle component, that is either a residual travelable distance Lrem or residual travelable time Trem.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a remaining life predicting device for vehicle parts, and more particularly to an improvement in a predicting device that receives life-related data of vehicle parts transmitted from a vehicle and predicts the remaining life of the vehicle parts. [Background technology]

[0002] A vehicle part remaining life prediction device has been proposed that predicts the remaining life of a vehicle part to which a load is applied while the vehicle is traveling, based on various life-related data that affect the remaining life. The device described in Patent Document 1 is one example of such a device, which calculates the clutch deterioration degree based on vehicle traveling data including life-related data such as clutch slippage when the vehicle starts, vehicle acceleration, and clutch temperature that is correlated with oil temperature, estimates the wear amount from the clutch deterioration degree, and predicts the remaining life of the clutch by calculating the correlation (linear approximation line) between the traveling time and traveling distance included in the vehicle traveling data and the wear amount included in the vehicle traveling data. Patent Document 2 also describes a technology that obtains vehicle traveling data such as traveling distance via wireless communication such as the Internet, predicts the remaining life of a vehicle part, and notifies the user of the replacement time, etc. Furthermore, Patent Document 3 proposes a vehicle part remaining life prediction device that predicts the remaining life of a vehicle part by taking into account the life reduction in the traveling distance in the section where the traveling data is not obtained, when there is a period in which the vehicle traveling data cannot be received from the vehicle for some reason such as a temporary interruption in communication due to the communication environment such as traveling in a tunnel. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-135977 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2002-183337 A [Patent Document 3] Patent Publication No. 2021-067594 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] According to the vehicle component remaining life prediction device disclosed in Patent Document 3, when life-related data is acquired via wireless communication, if there is a period during which vehicle driving data cannot be received from the vehicle for some reason, the remaining life of the vehicle component is predicted by taking into account the reduction in life due to the driving distance during the period during which driving data is not acquired, thereby improving the accuracy of the remaining life prediction.

[0005] However, in the vehicle part remaining life prediction device of Patent Document 3, the vehicle driving condition is assumed not to change, and the life reduction in the driving distance in the section where driving data is not acquired using the average deterioration rate of the deterioration index per unit distance is corrected so that it is affected by the ratio of the driving distance in the section where driving data is not acquired to the cumulative driving distance. Therefore, when the driving condition of the vehicle changes in the section where driving data is not acquired, such as temperature fluctuations in the driving area, traffic congestion, and air pressure, which affect the deterioration rate of the vehicle parts, the actual deterioration degree of the vehicle parts is estimated low, and the remaining life prediction accuracy may not be obtained.

[0006] The present invention has been made against the background of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a vehicle component remaining life prediction device that can accurately predict the remaining life of vehicle components even if the driving condition of the vehicle changes during a period when driving data is not acquired. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve this object, the gist of the present invention is (a) a remaining life prediction device for vehicle parts that acquires driving data of a vehicle transmitted from the vehicle via wireless communication and predicts the remaining life of vehicle parts equipped in the vehicle based on the driving data of the vehicle, (b) a driving data no-acquisition section estimation unit that estimates a driving section for which driving data of the vehicle is not acquired when there is a period in which the driving data of the vehicle cannot be received from the vehicle for some reason, (c) a other vehicle driving data acquisition unit that acquires driving data of other vehicles that were traveling in the same area as the vehicle when a section for which driving data is not acquired occurs, and (d) a remaining life calculation unit that predicts the reduction in life of the vehicle parts in the section for which driving data is not acquired using the section for which driving data is not acquired and the driving data of the other vehicles, and predicts the remaining life of the vehicle parts equipped in the vehicle by taking into account the reduction in life of the vehicle parts in the section for which driving data is not acquired. Effect of the Invention

[0008] In the vehicle component remaining life prediction device configured in this manner, the reduction in life of the vehicle parts in the driving sections where driving data is not obtained is predicted using the sections where driving data is not obtained and the vehicle driving data of the other vehicle, and the remaining life of the vehicle parts installed in the vehicle is predicted taking into account the predicted reduction in life of the vehicle parts in the sections where vehicle driving data is not obtained.Therefore, even if the driving conditions of the vehicle in the sections where driving data is not obtained change, prediction accuracy of the remaining life of the vehicle parts can be obtained. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration of a vehicle component remaining life predicting device to which the present invention is applied; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the load distribution and life SN line of actual data shown in two-dimensional coordinates of frequency (total rotation speed) and load life (transmission torque), which are used to calculate the fatigue damage degree in the vehicle component remaining life calculation device of FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the average deterioration rate method of FIG. 2. [Figure 4] 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of calculating a group average deterioration speed A in FIG. 2. FIG. [Diagram 5] 2 is a flowchart illustrating a main part of the control operation of the vehicle component remaining life calculation device of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. EXAMPLES

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 illustrates a system configuration of a vehicle component remaining life prediction device to which the present invention is applied. A vehicle 10 is equipped with devices including vehicle components to be subjected to remaining life estimation, such as an automatic transmission and other vehicle components such as a power transmission device, an engine, an electric motor, a damper device, a clutch for connecting and disconnecting a power source, a differential device, various gears, bearings such as bearings, a suspension device, and a cushion device. An automatic transmission is equipped with multiple components on which loads act, such as a planetary gear device, a clutch, a brake, an oil pump, and a bearing, each of which has a different remaining life. For vehicle components having multiple components in this way, the remaining life of each of the multiple components may be predicted, but the remaining life of the component with the shortest remaining life set in advance among the multiple components may be set as the remaining life of the entire vehicle components (such as an automatic transmission). The driving data of the vehicle 10 includes, for example, in the case of an automatic transmission, data that affects the remaining life, i.e., the load and durability, of vehicle parts having the above-mentioned components, such as the lubricating oil temperature, the gear rotation speed and the output rotation speed corresponding to the vehicle speed, the acceleration of the vehicle 10 related to the transmission torque, the mileage of the vehicle 10, and maintenance information of the vehicle 10 including whether or not the lubricating oil has been changed.

[0012] The vehicle 10 is equipped with a vehicle control device 14 including various microcomputers that control the engine, automatic transmission, braking system, and brake device based on signals from vehicle sensors 12 that detect various information, a vehicle position sensor 16 that detects the position of the vehicle 10 based on GPS information, and a wireless transmitting device 18 that receives vehicle position information from the vehicle position sensor 16 and vehicle information required for predicting the remaining life of parts from the vehicle control device 14 and transmits it wirelessly.

[0013] The vehicle sensors 12 include, for example, an engine rotation speed sensor, an input shaft rotation speed sensor, an output shaft rotation speed sensor, an accelerator opening sensor related to required acceleration, a throttle valve opening sensor related to actual acceleration, a brake pedal sensor, a steering sensor, a driver condition sensor, a yaw rate sensor, a battery sensor, an oil temperature sensor, an intake air temperature sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, a rainfall sensor, a shift position sensor, and a vehicle surrounding information sensor.

[0014] A vehicle part remaining lifespan management center 30 is provided at a location where communication with the vehicle 10 is possible via the relay station 20. The vehicle part remaining lifespan management center 30 is provided with a vehicle part remaining lifespan prediction device 36 having a vehicle data accumulation server 32 that accumulates (stores) driving data (vehicle information such as detection information and control information detected by the vehicle sensors 12) acquired from the vehicle 10 via wireless communication, and a remaining lifespan calculation device 34 that calculates the remaining lifespan of the vehicle parts based on the driving data (vehicle information) accumulated in the vehicle data accumulation server 32, and the remaining lifespan of the vehicle parts calculated by the remaining lifespan calculation device 34 is transmitted to a user's terminal device 38.

[0015] The remaining life calculation device 34 is configured by a so-called microcomputer, and functionally comprises a travel data unobtained section estimation unit 40, an other vehicle travel data acquisition unit 42, and a remaining life calculation unit 44.

[0016] When a section where the vehicle 10's travel data cannot be received from the vehicle 10 occurs due to some reason such as a degraded communication environment, such as travelling through a tunnel, the travel data no-acquisition section estimation unit 40 determines (estimates) the occurrence of a travel section Δx where the vehicle 10's travel data is not acquired, for example, based on the difference in discontinuous parts of the travel distance information of the vehicle 10 obtained from the travel data acquired from the vehicle 10 by wireless communication, or the difference between the integral value of the instantaneous vehicle speed and the cumulative increase in the odometer. This travel section Δx where the vehicle 10's travel data is not acquired is represented by the travel distance Lint where the vehicle data is not acquired or the travel time Tint where the vehicle data is not acquired.

[0017] When the driving data no-obtained section estimation unit 40 determines (estimates) the occurrence of a driving section Δx for which driving data no-obtained has been obtained (driving distance Lint or driving time Tint for which driving data no-obtained has been obtained), the other vehicle driving data acquisition unit 42 acquires driving data of other vehicles that have been traveling in the same area as the vehicle 10 within the driving section Δx for which driving data no-obtained has been obtained, preferably other vehicles among multiple other vehicles that have vehicle component structures similar to those of the vehicle 10.

[0018] The remaining life calculation unit 44 basically predicts the reduction in life of vehicle parts in the driving section Δx where no driving data is obtained using the driving section Δx where no driving data is obtained and the driving data of the other vehicle, and predicts the remaining life, i.e., the remaining driving distance Lrem or remaining driving time Trem, of a specific vehicle part equipped on the vehicle, taking into account the reduction in life of the vehicle parts in the driving section Δx where no driving data is obtained.

[0019] The remaining life calculation unit 44, for example, compares the accumulated fatigue damage degree Dc with predetermined strength information (life SN line) that is a load distribution that satisfies durability, calculates the accumulated fatigue damage degree Dc according to Miner's rule or the like, and predicts the remaining life in a predetermined unit of time or mileage, for example, in units of one day, based on the accumulated fatigue damage degree Dc.

[0020] For example, when the vehicle part is a bearing, the remaining life calculation unit 44 calculates the fatigue damage degree (amount of deterioration) Dci per day (today) in the small load region Si by dividing the frequency (total number of revolutions) nfi in each small load region Si of the load distribution of the actual data of the mileage per day (today) by the frequency Nfi, as shown in the following formula (1), in the relationship between the frequency (total number of revolutions) N and the load life (transmission torque) S in Fig. 2. Next, as shown in the following formula (2), the fatigue damage degrees Dci of all the small load regions Si are integrated to calculate the cumulative fatigue damage degree (amount of deterioration) Dc per day (today). When the cumulative fatigue damage degree ΣDc of the mileage for the total number of days up to the present (today) becomes 1 (ΣDc = 1), it means the fatigue limit, that is, the life of the component. Therefore, (1-ΣDc) corresponds to the remaining life, and the remaining mileage Lrem can be calculated according to the following formula (3) using the cumulative mileage Lc, which is the total mileage up to now. The remaining mileage Lrem corresponds to the remaining distance that the vehicle part can travel before it reaches the end of its life. In addition, the remaining mileage Trem, which is the remaining time that the vehicle part can travel before it reaches the end of its life, can be calculated according to the following formula (4) using the cumulative mileage up to now ΣTc, which is the total mileage time.

[0021] Dci=nfi / Nfi (1) Dc = ΣDci (2) Lrem = [(1-ΣDc ) / ΣDc ]×Lc ···(3) Trem = [(1-ΣDc ) / ΣDc ]×Tc ···(4)

[0022] When the travel data unacquired section estimation unit 40 determines that the vehicle 10 has a travel section Δx for which travel data has not been acquired (travel distance Lint for which travel data has not been acquired or travel time Tint for which travel data has not been acquired), the remaining life calculation unit 44 calculates a daily cumulative fatigue damage level Dc from the travel data obtained on that day (excluding the travel data unacquired travel section Δx), and calculates the daily cumulative fatigue damage level Dc for that day using the travel data of other vehicles that have traveled in the same area as the vehicle 10, which is obtained by the other vehicle travel data acquisition unit 42. The corrected cumulative fatigue damage level Dc (= Dc + ΔDc) for that day is obtained by performing a correction using the correction amount ΔDc (= k·a·Δx) for that day obtained using the following equation (5) or (6), thereby obtaining the corrected cumulative fatigue damage level Dc (= Dc + ΔDc) for that day.Then, from the cumulative fatigue damage level ΣDc which includes the corrected cumulative fatigue damage level Dc for that day and the cumulative fatigue damage level Dca up to that day, the remaining life of the vehicle parts, i.e., the remaining driving distance Lrem or the remaining driving time Trem, taking into account the reduction in life of the vehicle parts in the driving section Δx where driving data has not been obtained, is calculated using equation (3) or equation (4).

[0023] Correction amount ΔDc=k·a·Lint ···(5) Correction amount ΔDc=k·a·Tint ···(6)

[0024] In equation (5) or (6), a is the average deterioration rate (fatigue damage progression rate) of the vehicle (the vehicle in question) 10, and is determined, for example, from the slope of the relationship between the cumulative travel distance or cumulative travel time of the vehicle 10 and the deterioration degree (fatigue damage degree) of the vehicle parts, as shown in Fig. 3. The dashed line in Fig. 3 shows a method for determining a from the slope of the regression line of past cumulative data, and the solid line shows a method for determining a from the slope of the line showing the latest data.

[0025] Furthermore, k in formula (5) or formula (6) is the correction coefficient for the day (k=A' / A) obtained by dividing the group average deterioration speed A' on the day by the group average deterioration speed A. As shown in FIG. 4, A is the average deterioration speed of each vehicle group calculated in advance by extracting factors that affect the deterioration of vehicle parts, such as the vehicle type, driving area, daily operating time, and average vehicle speed, mapping vehicle groups in which these factors are used in the same way as the vehicle parts installed in the vehicle 10, and averaging the average deterioration speeds a1, a2, a3, etc. of each vehicle group. A' is the average deterioration speed of the vehicle group on the day on which the driving section Δx where driving data has not been acquired is determined. The average deterioration speed A' of the vehicle group on the day is estimated to be caused by the deterioration of the vehicle parts of other vehicles whose driving data has been acquired in the driving section Δx where driving data has not been acquired on the day being affected by the weather and traffic on the day, similar to the vehicle parts of the vehicle 10.

[0026] FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the control operation of the remaining life calculation device 34, which is executed, for example, at the end of each day's driving. In FIG. 5, in step S1 (hereinafter, "step" will be omitted), driving data of the vehicle 10 on the day is acquired. Next, in S2 corresponding to the driving data unacquired section estimation unit 40, it is determined whether there is a shortage (unacquired) of driving data transmitted from the vehicle 10. If the determination in S2 is negative (if there is no driving section Δx for which driving data has not been acquired), in S9, the cumulative fatigue damage level (deterioration amount) Dc for today is calculated from the acquired driving data using equation (2), and then in S8, the remaining driving distance Lrem or remaining driving time Trem corresponding to the remaining life of the vehicle part is calculated according to the following equation (3) or (4).

[0027] However, if the determination in S2 is positive (if there is a travel section Δx for which travel data has not been acquired), S3 to S8 corresponding to the remaining life calculation unit 44 are executed. First, in S3, the cumulative fatigue damage level (deterioration amount) Dc of the vehicle part on the day is calculated from the travel data of the section for which travel data was acquired. Next, in S4, the average deterioration rate a of the vehicle 10 is calculated as shown by the slope of the dashed or solid line in FIG. 3. Next, in S5, the correction rate k (=A' / A) for the day is calculated, and then in S6, the correction amount ΔDc (=k·a·Δx) for the day is calculated. Next, in S7, the corrected cumulative fatigue damage level Dc (=Dc+ΔDc), which is the deterioration amount for today, is calculated (corrected). Then, in S8, the remaining life of the vehicle part, that is, the remaining travel distance Lrem or the remaining travel time Trem, taking into account the life reduction of the vehicle part in the travel section Δx where travel data has not been acquired, is calculated from the cumulative fatigue damage level ΣDc including the corrected cumulative fatigue damage level Dc of the relevant day and the cumulative fatigue damage level Dca up to the relevant day, using equation (3) or equation (4). The remaining life of the vehicle part calculated in this way is transmitted to the user's terminal device 38 in a step not shown.

[0028] In this way, according to the vehicle component remaining life prediction device 36 of this embodiment, the reduction in life (the cumulative fatigue damage level (deterioration amount) Dc for the day) of the vehicle component in the driving section Δx where driving data is not obtained (driving distance Lint or driving time Tint where driving data is not obtained) is predicted in the remaining life calculation unit 44 using the section where driving data is not obtained and the vehicle driving data of other vehicles, and the remaining life of the vehicle components equipped in the vehicle 10 is predicted taking into account the predicted reduction in life of the vehicle component in the driving section Δx where driving data is not obtained. Therefore, even if the driving condition of the vehicle in the driving section Δx where driving data is not obtained changes, the prediction accuracy of the remaining life of the vehicle component, i.e., the remaining driving distance Lrem or the remaining driving time Trem, can be obtained.

[0029] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, this is merely one embodiment, and the present invention can be implemented in various forms with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[0030] The travel data unacquired section estimation unit 40 can also determine, for example, a section in which the GPS position information of the vehicle included in the travel data changes discontinuously as the data unacquired travel section Δx.

[0031] The remaining life calculation unit 44 preferably obtains a load distribution, which is a relationship between the magnitude and frequency (total rotation speed, total time, total rotation speed, etc.) of the load (torque, rotation speed, etc.) applied to the vehicle parts based on the life-related data of the vehicle parts included in the driving data, compares the load distribution with predetermined strength information (fatigue limit, etc.) as a load distribution that satisfies durability, calculates the cumulative fatigue damage degree, and predicts the remaining life based on the cumulative fatigue damage degree. The cumulative fatigue damage degree is a value obtained by accumulating the fatigue damage degree in each load range, and is calculated according to, for example, Miner's rule or modified Miner's rule. When predicting the remaining life, it is not necessary to use the load distribution, and various modes are possible depending on the cause of damage to the target vehicle parts, such as predicting the remaining life only based on the mileage or mileage time based on predetermined life characteristics, etc. For power transmission devices such as automatic transmissions, the remaining life can also be predicted only based on the mileage or mileage time, and only the cumulative mileage or mileage time may be transmitted to the data management center as the life-related data. The remaining life can also be predicted using the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

[0032] The vehicle component remaining life prediction device 36 functionally comprises, for example, a driving data not yet acquired section estimation unit 40 and a remaining life calculation unit 44, but the driving data not yet acquired section estimation unit 40 and the remaining life calculation unit 44 may also be provided in a control device of the vehicle 10 or a terminal of a dealer (sales company), etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] 10: vehicle, 12: vehicle sensor, 14: vehicle control device, 16: vehicle position sensor, 18: wireless transmission device, 20: relay station, 30: vehicle part remaining life management center, 32: vehicle data storage server, 34: remaining life calculation device, 36: vehicle part remaining life prediction device, 38: terminal device, 40: driving data unacquired section estimation unit, 42: other vehicle driving data acquisition unit, 44: remaining life calculation unit

Claims

[Claim 1] A vehicle component remaining life prediction device that acquires vehicle travel data transmitted from a vehicle via wireless communication and predicts a remaining life of a vehicle component provided in the vehicle based on the vehicle travel data, a travel data non-acquired section estimation unit that estimates a section of the vehicle where travel data is not acquired when there is a period in which the travel data of the vehicle cannot be received from the vehicle for some reason; an other vehicle travel data acquisition unit that acquires travel data of other vehicles that have traveled in the same area as the vehicle when a section where travel data has not been acquired occurs; a remaining life calculation unit that uses the travel data no-acquisition section and the travel data of the other vehicle to predict a reduction in life of the vehicle parts in the travel data no-acquisition section, and predicts a remaining life of the vehicle parts provided in the vehicle by taking into account the reduction in life of the vehicle parts in the travel data no-acquisition section. A vehicle component remaining life prediction device comprising:

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