Vehicle control device

Abstract

To provide a vehicle control device capable of executing appropriately parking assist control using two power supply systems including a redundant power supply.SOLUTION: The vehicle control device includes: a first power supply system 1 having a main power supply 1a; and a second power supply system 2 having a redundant power supply 2a. The vehicle control device can execute parking assistance control that performs automatic parking operations by controlling each of an electric shift switching device 3, an electric steering device 4, a braking device 5, and a drive device 6 using power supplied from the first power supply system 1 and the second power supply system 2. In the vehicle control device: when a voltage of the redundant power supply 2a is higher than an execution threshold voltage Vf, the execution of the parking assist control is permitted; and when the voltage of the redundant power supply 2a is lower than a stop threshold Vt, which is lower than the execution threshold Vf, the execution of the parking assist control is stopped or prohibited, and a difference between the execution threshold Vf and the stop threshold Vt is set to a potential difference that enables the electric shift switching device 3 to perform shift operation a predetermined number of times or more.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a control device for a vehicle, and more particularly to a control device for a vehicle having an automatic parking function (or remote parking function, parking assistance function) that automatically performs a parking operation.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a control device for a vehicle aimed at performing appropriate processing in response to a power shortage of a second power source (redundant power source) when executing parking assistance control. The vehicle described in this Patent Document 1 includes a first power supply device and a second power supply device. The first power supply device supplies power when executing parking assistance control. The second power supply device supplies power when an abnormality occurs in the first power supply device. That is, the second power supply device is a so-called redundant power source. And the control device for a vehicle described in this Patent Document 1 controls a vehicle equipped with the above two types of power supply devices and executes parking assistance control. In addition, during the execution of parking assistance control, when the power storage amount of the second power supply device (redundant power source) becomes smaller than a predetermined first threshold value, stop control for stopping the vehicle is executed. Further, the above first power supply device is connected to the second power supply device so as to be able to charge the second power supply device. And the control device for a vehicle described in Patent Document 1 charges the second power supply device with the first power supply device. At the same time, when the power storage amount of the second power supply device becomes equal to or greater than a second threshold value that is greater than the above first threshold value, charging of the second power supply device is terminated, and then parking assistance control is performed.

[0003] Note that Patent Document 2 describes a vehicle control device aimed at quickly braking and stopping the vehicle by the auxiliary power supply system even if the main power supply system fails. In the vehicle control device described in this Patent Document 2, when an abnormality occurs in the first power supply system (main power supply system) during the execution of automatic parking (or remote parking), the vehicle can be quickly stopped by the power supplied from the second power supply system (auxiliary power supply system, redundant power supply). Also, during the execution of automatic parking, a state where power can be supplied from the second power supply system is maintained even if no abnormality has occurred in the first power supply system.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In the vehicle control device described in the above Patent Document 1, two power supply devices are provided, and two thresholds with different magnitudes, namely a first threshold and a second threshold, are set, and the execution and cancellation of the above-described parking support control and stop control are determined. Specifically, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 1, a first threshold α and a second threshold β are set for the voltage of the second power supply device (capacitor voltage; corresponding to the power storage amount of the second power supply device). In the vehicle control device described in Patent Document 1, when the voltage of the second power supply device exceeds the second threshold, the parking support control is started, and during the execution of the parking support control, if the voltage of the second power supply device, which is a redundant power supply, becomes smaller than the first threshold, the parking support control is aborted. For example, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 1, when the voltage of the second power supply device reaches the second threshold β at time t1, the execution of the parking support control becomes possible. At the same time, the parking operation by the parking support control is started from that time t1. After that, at time t2, a shift operation from the P range to the D range is performed, and when the power of the second power supply device is consumed during the shift operation, if the voltage of the second power supply device falls below the first threshold α, the stop control is executed and the vehicle stops. That is, the parking support control is terminated halfway.

[0006] As described above, in the vehicle control device described in Patent Document 1 and the conventional control technology, although the vehicle starts a parking operation by the above-described parking support control (or automatic parking control, remote parking control, etc.), there is a possibility that the parking operation may be stopped halfway due to a decrease in the power storage amount of the redundant power supply.

[0007] The present invention has been conceived by paying attention to the above technical problems, and aims to provide a vehicle control device that enables a vehicle that executes parking support control using two power supplies to perform a predetermined number of shift operations and appropriately execute the parking support control.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle control device capable of executing parking assistance control for automatically performing a parking operation by controlling at least the electric shift switching device, the electric steering device, the braking device, and the driving device using the electric power supplied from the first power supply system having a main power supply and the second power supply system having a redundant power supply. The vehicle control device includes a control unit that controls the vehicle and executes the parking assistance control. When the voltage of the redundant power supply is higher than a predetermined execution threshold value, the control unit permits the execution of the parking assistance control. When the voltage of the redundant power supply is lower than a predetermined stop threshold value that is smaller than the execution threshold value, the control unit stops or prohibits the execution of the parking assistance control, and the difference between the execution threshold value and the stop threshold value is set to a potential difference that enables a shift operation by the electric shift switching device a predetermined number of times or more.

Effect of the Invention

[0009] The present invention relates to a vehicle having an automatic parking function, a remote parking function, or a parking assist function that performs parking assist control to automatically perform parking operations, and is equipped with a redundant power supply to ensure the safety of the vehicle in the event of a power supply failure. The vehicle control device of the present invention executes parking assist control when the voltage of the redundant power supply is higher than a preset execution threshold. When executing parking assist control, for example, power from the redundant power supply is consumed to operate an electric shift-switching device, causing the voltage of the redundant power supply to drop. If the voltage of the redundant power supply falls below a preset stop threshold, execution of the parking assist control is prohibited. If parking assist control is currently being executed, the parking assist control is stopped. In the vehicle control device of the present invention, the difference (i.e., potential difference, voltage) between the execution threshold (potential) and stop threshold (potential) for the voltage of the redundant power supply is set to a potential difference that enables a predetermined number of shift operations by the electric shift-switching device. The predetermined number is set, for example, to the number of shift operations required to complete parking operations by the parking assist control. By providing these upper and lower thresholds to determine whether to execute or stop the parking assist control, the vehicle control device of the present invention performs automatic parking using the parking assist control when the voltage of the redundant power supply is sufficiently high, i.e., when the redundant power supply has a sufficient amount of stored power. Therefore, when the parking assist control is executed, automatic parking can be completed without interrupting the parking operation using the parking assist control midway.

[0010] Therefore, according to the vehicle control device of the present invention, for vehicles that use two power systems to perform parking assist control, it is possible to perform a predetermined number of shift operations to complete parking during parking operations using parking assist control, thereby making it possible to properly perform parking assist control. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

[0012] Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiments shown below are merely examples in the case of embodying the present invention, and do not limit the present invention.

[0013] The vehicle to be controlled in the embodiments of the present invention may be a conventional engine vehicle equipped only with an engine (not shown) as a driving force source. Alternatively, it may be a hybrid vehicle equipped with an engine and a motor (not shown) as driving force sources. Alternatively, it may be an electric vehicle equipped only with a motor (not shown) as a driving force source. And the vehicle to be controlled in the embodiments of the present invention is configured to be able to execute parking support control (or automatic parking control, remote parking control, etc.) for automatically performing a parking operation. FIG. 2 shows an example of the vehicle to be controlled in the embodiments of the present invention, particularly, an overview of its control system and power supply system.

[0014] The vehicle Ve shown in FIG. 2 includes two power supply systems, a first power supply system 1 and a second power supply system 2. Further, in order to execute parking support control, it includes an electric shift switching device 3, an electric steering device 4, a braking device 5, a driving device 6, and a control unit 7.

[0015] The first power supply system 1 is the main power supply system of the vehicle Ve, and mainly includes a battery (lead battery) 1a serving as a "main power supply" and a DC-DC converter (main unit DC / DC) 1b.

[0016] The second power supply system 2 is a so-called redundant power supply system that supplies power in place of the first power supply system 1 in the event of an abnormality in the first power supply system 1, and is mainly composed of a capacitor 2a that stores power as a ``redundant power supply,'' a DC-DC converter (DC / DC) 2b, an open / close relay (or open / close switch) 2c, and a control unit 2d that determines the voltage of the ``redundant power supply'' (i.e., capacitor 2a).

[0017] The electric shift switching device 3, the electric steering device 4, the braking device 5, and the drive device 6 all have, for example, an electric actuator (not shown), or an actuator (not shown) or operating device (not shown) of another configuration. The electric shift switching device 3, the electric steering device 4, the braking device 5, and the drive device 6 are all connected to a control unit 7 (described later) by a so-called by-wire system, and their operations are electrically controlled by the control unit 7.

[0018] The control unit 7 is an electronic control device mainly composed of, for example, a microcomputer, and as described above, mainly controls the operations of the electric shift switching device 3, the electric steering device 4, the braking device 5, the drive device 6, and the DC-DC converters 1b and 2b. Various data detected or calculated by various sensors, devices, etc. (not shown) are input to the control unit 7. The control unit 7 performs calculations using the input various data, pre-stored data, calculation formulas, etc. The control unit 7 then outputs the calculation results as control command signals and is configured to control the operations of the various devices described above.

[0019] Although only one control unit 7 is shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of control units 7 may be provided for each device or equipment to be controlled or for each control content.

[0020] As described above, the control unit 7 controls the vehicle Ve having the two power supply systems and the control system as described above, and executes parking support control. In other words, the parking support control is automatic parking control or remote parking control, and at least automatically controls the electric shift switching device 3, the electric steering device 4, the braking device 5, and the driving device 6 to automatically perform the parking operation of the vehicle Ve.

[0021] Furthermore, when executing the parking support control as described above, the control unit 7 provides two thresholds (execution threshold and stop threshold) for the voltage of the capacitor 2a, that is, "redundant power supply".

[0022] The execution threshold is a threshold for determining whether or not to execute the parking support control. The control unit 7 permits the execution of the above-described parking support control when the voltage of the capacitor 2a is higher than the execution threshold. The stop threshold is a threshold set to a value (electric potential) smaller than the above-described execution threshold, and is a threshold for determining the stop or prohibition of the parking support control. The control unit 7 stops or prohibits the execution of the above-described parking support control when the voltage of the capacitor 2a is lower than the stop threshold.

[0023] And in the vehicle control device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the difference (that is, the potential difference, voltage) between the execution threshold (electric potential) and the stop threshold (electric potential) for the voltage of the capacitor 2a is set to a potential difference that enables a shift operation a predetermined number of times or more by the electric shift switching device 3. The predetermined number of times in this case is the number of shift operations when the parking operation by the parking support control is completed. The predetermined number of times is set in advance based on the results of running experiments or simulations using an actual machine, for example.

[0024] Specifically, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 3, when the voltage of the capacitor 2a reaches the execution threshold value Vf at time t11, the execution of the parking support control becomes possible. At the same time, the parking operation by the parking support control is started from that time t11. After that, for example, at least a predetermined number of shift operations are performed, such as a shift operation from the P range to the D range or a shift operation from the D range to the R range. As the power of the capacitor 2a is consumed during such a shift operation, when the voltage of the capacitor 2a falls below the stop threshold value Vt at time t12, the parking support control stops.

[0025] As described above, in the vehicle control device according to the embodiment of the present invention, by providing two upper and lower threshold values, namely the execution threshold value and the stop threshold value, to determine the execution and stop of the parking support control, the voltage of the capacitor 2a is in a sufficiently high state, that is, the automatic parking by the parking support control is performed in a state where the power storage amount of the "redundant power supply" is sufficient. Therefore, when executing the parking support control, the automatic parking can be completed without stopping the parking operation by the parking support control halfway.

[0026] Therefore, according to the vehicle control device in the embodiment of the present invention, for a vehicle Ve that executes the parking support control using two power supply systems including a "redundant power supply", in the parking operation by the parking support control, a predetermined number of shift operations for completing parking are enabled, and the parking support control can be appropriately executed.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0027] 1 First power supply system 1a Battery (main power supply; lead battery) of the first power supply system 1b DC-DC converter (main unit DC / DC) of the first power supply system 2 Second power supply system 2a Battery (redundant power supply; capacitor) of the second power supply system 2b DC-DC converter (DC / DC) of the second power supply system 2c Open / close relay (or open / close switch) of the second power supply system 2d (Second power supply system) control section 3. Electric shifting device 4 Electric steering device 5 Braking device 6. Drive unit 7 Control Unit Vehicle

Claims

【Claim 1】 A vehicle control device including a first power supply system having a main power supply, a second power supply system having a redundant power supply, an electric shift switching device, an electric steering device, a braking device, and a driving device, and automatically performing a parking operation by controlling at least the electric shift switching device, the electric steering device, the braking device, and the driving device using the electric power supplied from the first power supply system and the second power supply system, comprising a control unit that controls the vehicle and executes the parking assist control, wherein the control unit permits execution of the parking assist control when the voltage of the redundant power supply is higher than a predetermined execution threshold value, and stops or prohibits execution of the parking assist control when the voltage of the redundant power supply is lower than a predetermined stop threshold value that is smaller than the execution threshold value, and a potential difference between the execution threshold value and the stop threshold value is set to a potential difference that enables a shift operation by the electric shift switching device a predetermined number of times or more. A vehicle control device characterized by the above.

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