Controller

Abstract

To provide a technique capable of assembling a first target component and a second target component to a vehicle by self-propelling the vehicle in a state where some components are not assembled.SOLUTION: A controller is configured to be able to selectively execute one of a normal mode, a factory mode, and a fail-safe mode. The controller causes a vehicle to self-travel to a first place using process information during execution of the factory mode, receives an assembly signal indicating that assembly of a first target component to the vehicle has been executed from a factory-side facility, determines, upon receiving the assembly signal from the factory-side facility, whether or not the first target component has been normally assembled using diagnosis information in a memory, transmits, upon determining that the first target component has been normally assembled, completion information to the factory-side facility, and upon determining that the first target component has been normally assembled, causes the vehicle to self-travel to a second place using the process information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The technology disclosed in this specification relates to a control device mounted on a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle that can move within a factory. The vehicle moves within the factory to a manufacturing location indicated by information received from the factory equipment. After the vehicle moves to the manufacturing location, parts are assembled onto the vehicle. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] US Patent Publication No. 2022 / 080955 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Among the control devices installed in a vehicle, there is a control device that determines whether or not an abnormality has occurred in a part assembled to the vehicle. When a part is not assembled to the vehicle, this control device determines that an abnormality has occurred in the part. Then, when the control device determines that an abnormality has occurred in the part, it executes a so-called fail-safe mode. In the fail-safe mode, the vehicle may be prohibited from traveling. That is, before all parts have been completely assembled to the vehicle, the fail-safe mode may be executed, and the vehicle may be prohibited from traveling. For this reason, a vehicle with some parts missing cannot be driven around the factory.

[0005] This specification provides a technique that allows a vehicle with some parts not yet assembled to be driven by itself, and allows a first target part and a second target part to be assembled to the vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In a first aspect disclosed in the present specification, a control device mounted on a vehicle is configured to be able to selectively execute any one of a normal mode, a factory mode, and a fail-safe mode, and when an abnormality is detected in a part mounted on the vehicle while the normal mode is being executed, the control device executes the fail-safe mode, and when the abnormality is detected while the factory mode is being executed, the control device does not execute the fail-safe mode, and the control device includes a memory that stores diagnostic information corresponding to a plurality of parts assembled to the vehicle, a first receiving unit that receives a startup instruction from factory equipment, a second receiving unit that receives process information from the factory equipment, a mode executing unit that executes the factory mode when the startup instruction is received from the factory equipment, and a first target using the process information while the factory mode is being executed. The system includes a first self-propelled unit that self-propels the vehicle to a first location where a part is to be assembled to the vehicle; a third receiving unit that receives an assembly signal from the factory equipment after the vehicle has self-propelled to the first location, the assembly signal indicating that the first target part has been assembled to the vehicle; a determining unit that, when the assembly signal is received from the factory equipment, determines whether the first target part has been assembled normally using the diag information in the memory; a transmitting unit that, when it is determined that the first target part has been assembled normally, transmits completion information indicating that the first target part has been assembled normally to the factory equipment; and a second self-propelled unit that, when it is determined that the first target part has been assembled normally, self-propels the vehicle to a second location where a second target part is to be assembled to the vehicle using the process information.

[0007] According to the above configuration, the control device can execute the factory mode, so the vehicle can move independently within the factory even when the first target part and the second target part are not yet assembled to the vehicle. Therefore, the first target part and the second target part can be assembled to the vehicle by moving the vehicle independently. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a vehicle production system 2. [Figure 2] 4 is a flowchart of an assembly process executed by the control device 20 of the vehicle 10. FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a specific case. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Vehicle production system 2 will be described with reference to Figure 1. Vehicle production system 2 is a system used in factory 4 and is a system for producing vehicles. Vehicle production system 2 includes vehicle 10 and factory equipment 100. As an example, vehicle 10 is a battery electric vehicle, a hybrid electric vehicle, a fuel cell electric vehicle, or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

[0010] The vehicle 10 includes a control device 20, a first component 30, a second component 32, and a third component 34. The control device 20 is a so-called ECU. The control device 20 includes a CPU (not shown) and a memory 22. The memory 22 stores diagnostic information 24 corresponding to the first component 30 to the third component 34. The diagnostic information 24 is information for determining whether or not an abnormality has been detected in the first component 30 to the third component 34.

[0011] The control device 20 is configured to be able to selectively execute one of a normal mode, a factory mode, and a fail-safe mode. The normal mode is a mode that is executed after the vehicle 10 is completed. The factory mode is a mode that is executed before the vehicle 10 is completed, i.e., in the factory 4. The fail-safe mode is a mode that is executed when an abnormality occurs in a part installed in the vehicle 10. The control device 20 executes the fail-safe mode when an abnormality is detected in a part installed in the vehicle 10 while executing the normal mode. On the other hand, the control device 20 does not execute the fail-safe mode even if the abnormality is detected while executing the factory mode.

[0012] (Assembly process; Figure 2) The assembly process executed by the control device 20 of the vehicle 10 will be described with reference to Figure 2. The control device 20 starts the process of Figure 2 when a start-up instruction is received from the factory facility 100. Note that in the initial state of Figure 2, components for self-propelling the vehicle 10 (e.g., a battery, a traction motor, an inverter, the control device 20, etc.) have been assembled to the vehicle 10, but the first part 30 to the third part 34 have not been assembled to the vehicle 10.

[0013] At S10, the control device 20 executes the factory mode. At the time of S10, the control device 20 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the first component 30 to the third component 34, using the diagnostic information 24 in the memory 22. In this case, the control device 20 stores in the memory 22 the abnormality information corresponding to each of the first component 30 to the third component 34.

[0014] In S12, the control device 20 receives process information from the factory facility 100. The process information includes information regarding the order in which the first part 30 to the third part 34 are to be assembled to the vehicle 10, and information indicating the location to which the first part 30 to the third part 34 should be moved in order to assemble them to the vehicle 10. In a modified example, the control device 20 may simultaneously receive the start-up instruction and the process information from the factory facility 100.

[0015] In S20, the control device 20 uses the received process information to identify a destination to which the vehicle 10 should be moved. For example, if the first part 30 to the third part 34 have not been assembled, the control device 20 identifies the first assembly location where the first part 30 will be assembled as the destination.

[0016] In S22, the control device 20 performs autonomous driving and executes a self-propelled process to move the vehicle 10 to the destination. The control device 20 executes the self-propelled process by using a camera installed in the factory 4, a camera installed in the vehicle 10, etc.

[0017] When the movement to the destination is completed, the control device 20 monitors in S30 whether an assembly signal is received from the factory facility 100. The assembly signal is information indicating that the assembly of the target part into the vehicle 10 has been completed. When the control device 20 receives an assembly signal from the factory facility 100, the control device 20 determines YES in S30 and proceeds to S32.

[0018] In S32, the control device 20 uses the diagnostic information 24 to determine whether the target part has been assembled correctly. If the control device 20 determines that the target part has been assembled correctly (YES in S32), the process proceeds to S34. On the other hand, if the control device 20 determines that the target part has not been assembled correctly (NO in S32), the process proceeds to S40.

[0019] In S34, the control device 20 erases the abnormality information corresponding to the target part from the memory 22. The control device 20 also transmits completion information to the factory equipment 100 indicating that the target part has been assembled normally.

[0020] In S36, the control device 20 determines whether the current assembly process is the final process. If the current assembly process is the final process (YES in S36), the control device 20 ends the processing in Fig. 2. On the other hand, if the assembly process executed in S32 is not the final process (NO in S36), the control device 20 returns to S20.

[0021] Furthermore, in S40, the control device 20 notifies that an abnormality in the target component has been detected. When S40 ends, the control device 20 ends the processing of FIG.

[0022] (Specific case) Specific processing performed by vehicle production system 2 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0023] When the control device 20 receives a start-up instruction from the factory facility 100, it executes the factory mode (S10 in FIG. 2). Next, the control device 20 receives process information from the factory facility 100 (S12). The control device 20 identifies a first assembly location where the first part 30 is to be assembled as the destination (S20), and executes a self-propelled process to move the vehicle 10 to the first assembly location (S22). Next, when the control device 20 receives an assembly signal from the factory facility 100 (YES in S30), it determines using the diagnostic information 24 that the first part 30 has been assembled normally (YES in S32), erases the abnormality information corresponding to the first part 30 from the memory 22, and transmits completion information to the factory facility 100 (S34). Next, the control device 20 determines that the current assembly process is not the final process (NO in S36).

[0024] Next, the control device 20 identifies a second assembly location where the second part 32 will be assembled as the destination (S20), and executes a self-propelled process to move the vehicle 10 to the second assembly location (S22). Next, when the control device 20 receives an assembly signal from the factory facility 100 (YES in S30), it determines using the diagnostic information 24 that the second part 32 has been assembled normally (YES in S32), erases the abnormality information corresponding to the second part 32 from the memory 22, and transmits completion information to the factory facility 100 (S34). Next, the control device 20 determines that the current assembly process is not the final process (NO in S36).

[0025] Next, the control device 20 identifies a third assembly location where the third part 34 will be assembled as the destination (S20), and executes a self-propelled process to move the vehicle 10 to the third assembly location (S22). Next, when the control device 20 receives an assembly signal from the factory equipment 100 (YES in S30), it determines using the diagnostic information 24 that the third part 34 has been assembled normally (YES in S32), and erases the abnormality information corresponding to the third part 34 from the memory 22. Next, the control device 20 determines that the current assembly process is the final process (YES in S36). In this way, the first part 30 to the third part 34 are assembled to the vehicle 10 as the vehicle 10 self-propels within the factory 4.

[0026] As described above, the control device 20 mounted on the vehicle 10 is configured to be able to selectively execute any one of the normal mode, factory mode, and fail-safe mode, and is configured to execute the fail-safe mode if an abnormality is detected in a part mounted on the vehicle 10 while the normal mode is being executed, and not to execute the fail-safe mode even if the abnormality is detected while the factory mode is being executed. The control device 20 includes a memory 22 that stores diagnostic information 24 corresponding to a plurality of parts assembled on the vehicle 10. The control device 20 receives a start-up instruction from the factory facility 100, receives process information from the factory facility 100 (S12 in FIG. 2 ), and when the start-up instruction is received from the factory facility 100, executes the factory mode (S10), and while executing the factory mode, uses the process information to drive the vehicle 10 to a first assembly location (an example of a "first location") for assembling a first part 30 (an example of a "first target part") to the vehicle 10 (S22), and after the vehicle 10 has driven to the first assembly location, receives an assembly signal from the factory facility 100 indicating that the assembly of the first part 30 to the vehicle 10 has been completed ( When an assembly signal is received from the factory equipment 100 (YES in S30), the diagnostic information 24 in the memory 22 is used to determine whether the first part 30 has been assembled correctly (S32), and when it is determined that the first part 30 has been assembled correctly (YES in S32), completion information indicating that the first part 30 has been assembled correctly is sent to the factory equipment 100 (S34), and the process information is used to drive the vehicle 10 to a second assembly location (an example of a "second location") for assembling the second part 32 (an example of a "second target part") to the vehicle 10 (S22).

[0027] According to the above configuration, because the control device 20 can execute the factory mode, the vehicle 10 can move independently within the factory even when the first component 30 and the second component 32 are not yet assembled to the vehicle 10. Therefore, the first component 30 and the second component 32 can be assembled to the vehicle 10 by moving the vehicle 10 independently. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 2: Vehicle production system, 4: Factory, 10: Vehicle, 20: Control device, 22: Memory, 24: Diagnostic information, 30: First part, 32: Second part, 34: Third part, 100: Factory equipment

Claims

[Claim 1] A control device mounted on a vehicle, The device is configured to be able to selectively execute one of a normal mode, a factory mode, and a fail-safe mode, the fail-safe mode is executed when an abnormality in a part mounted on the vehicle is detected during execution of the normal mode, and the fail-safe mode is not executed even when the abnormality is detected during execution of the factory mode, a memory that stores diagnostic information corresponding to a plurality of parts to be assembled to the vehicle; a first receiving unit that receives a start-up instruction from the factory equipment; a second receiving unit that receives process information from the factory-side equipment; a mode execution unit that executes the factory mode when the activation instruction is received from the factory-side facility; a first autonomous driving unit that, while executing the factory mode, uses the process information to autonomously drive the vehicle to a first location for assembling a first target part to the vehicle; a third receiving unit that receives, after the vehicle has driven to the first location, from the factory-side facility, an assembly signal indicating that the first target part has been assembled onto the vehicle; a determination unit that, when the assembly signal is received from the factory-side facility, determines whether the first target part has been normally assembled by using the diagnostic information in the memory; a transmitting unit that, when it is determined that the first target part has been properly assembled, transmits completion information indicating that the first target part has been properly assembled to the factory-side facility; a second self-propelled unit that, when it is determined that the first target part has been properly assembled, uses the process information to self-propel the vehicle to a second location where a second target part is to be assembled on the vehicle; A control device comprising:

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