Abnormal noise detection device
The abnormal noise detection device addresses the inaccuracy of existing systems by using vehicle information and user input to determine engine noise based on dynamic vehicle conditions, improving noise suppression.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK
- Filing Date
- 2024-12-10
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-22
AI Technical Summary
Existing vehicle control systems fail to accurately identify engine noise as abnormal noise due to relying on vehicle speed as a fixed condition, rather than dynamically changing variables like vehicle speed and acceleration.
An abnormal noise detection device that utilizes vehicle information acquisition, user operation input, and map creation to determine the presence of engine noise by comparing vehicle speed, acceleration, and engine output against predefined threshold values.
Accurately identifies engine noise as abnormal sound, enhancing the ability to suppress such noise effectively.
Smart Images
Figure 2026101057000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a foreign noise determination device that determines whether engine noise is included in the sound generated from a vehicle having an engine and a motor generator as power sources.
Background Art
[0002] In a vehicle equipped with an engine and a motor generator as drive sources, the output torque of the entire drive source is controlled by distributing the torque of the engine (hereinafter referred to as engine torque) and the torque of the motor generator (hereinafter referred to as motor torque) according to the operating state. In such a vehicle, noise caused by vibrations in the engine or the power transmission system from the engine to the drive wheels, so-called stuffy noise, may occur in the vehicle interior. This stuffy noise increases as the engine torque increases.
[0003] Regarding the above-described stuffy noise, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle control device that suppresses the perception of stuffy noise by a vehicle driver or the like. This vehicle control device has a low-speed map for calculating an allowable value of stuffy noise according to the acceleration at low speeds and a high-speed map for calculating an allowable value of stuffy noise according to the acceleration at high speeds. Further, the vehicle control device has a threshold setting map in which a threshold value, which is the upper limit value of the engine torque at which the stuffy noise becomes below the allowable value, is defined for each engine speed.
[0004] The vehicle control device selects a low-speed map or a high-speed map according to the vehicle speed, calculates an allowable value of stuffy noise according to the acceleration, and calculates a threshold value of the engine torque according to the engine speed based on the threshold setting map.
[0005] The vehicle's control system calculates target engine torque and target motor torque based on the driving conditions, and then compares the target engine torque with a threshold. If the target engine torque exceeds the threshold, the vehicle's control system controls the target engine torque to be below the threshold while increasing the target motor torque by the amount of the decrease in target engine torque, thereby ensuring the overall output torque of the drive source while suppressing booming noise. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]
[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-17842 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]
[0007] The vehicle control device described in Patent Document 1 calculates an acceptable level of booming noise according to low speed or high speed, and then sets an engine torque threshold according to that acceptable level. In other words, the vehicle control device uses vehicle speed as a pattern for determining the engine torque threshold, and does not use the constantly changing vehicle speed as a variable condition. [Means for solving the problem]
[0008] The abnormal noise detection device that solves the above problem determines the presence or absence of engine noise. The abnormal noise detection device comprises: a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information including vehicle speed, vehicle acceleration, and engine output over a certain period of time; an operation unit that is operated by the user when the user perceives an abnormal noise during the certain period of time; a map creation unit that creates a vehicle information map in which the operation status of the operation unit is added to the vehicle information; and a determination unit that maintains an ambient noise map in which threshold values for engine output indicating that the abnormal noise is engine noise are defined for vehicle speed and vehicle acceleration, and determines whether or not the abnormal noise is engine noise based on the result of comparing the vehicle information map and the ambient noise map. [Effects of the Invention]
[0009] According to this disclosure, engine noise can be accurately identified as an abnormal sound. [Brief explanation of the drawing]
[0010] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of a vehicle equipped with one embodiment of an abnormal noise detection device. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an ambient noise map. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the abnormal sound detection process. [Modes for carrying out the invention]
[0011] An embodiment of the abnormal noise detection device will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3. As shown in Figure 1, the abnormal noise detection device 20 is mounted on a vehicle 10 which has an engine and a motor generator as its drive source. The abnormal noise detection device 20 determines whether or not engine noise is included in the sound generated from the vehicle 10.
[0012] The abnormal noise detection device 20 is mounted on a vehicle 10 equipped with a vehicle speed sensor 11, an acceleration sensor 12, an engine speed sensor 13, and a torque sensor 14. The abnormal noise detection device 20 is mainly composed of an information processing device. The information processing device includes a communication device, an input device, a display device, a storage device, a processor, etc. Note that this hardware configuration is just an example, and other hardware may be included.
[0013] A communication device is an interface that transmits and receives data by establishing a communication path with other devices. An input device is a device that receives input from a user or other party. Examples of input devices include a mouse and a keyboard. A display device is a display or touch panel that displays various information. A storage device is a storage device that stores data and programs for executing various functions. Examples of storage devices include ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), and hard disks.
[0014] A processor controls various processes using programs and data stored in memory. Examples of processors include CPUs (Central Processing Units) and MPUs (Micro Processor Units). This processor executes various processes corresponding to various tasks by loading programs stored in ROM (ROM, etc.) into RAM (RAM). For example, when a specific application program is launched, the processor runs the processes that execute each task.
[0015] A processor is not limited to performing all of its operations through software processing. For example, a processor may have dedicated hardware circuits (e.g., application-specific integrated circuits: ASICs) that perform hardware processing for at least some of the operations it performs.
[0016] A processor includes the CPU and memory such as RAM and ROM. Memory stores program code or instructions configured to cause the CPU to perform processing. Memory, or non-temporary computer-readable media, includes any available media accessible by a general-purpose or dedicated computer.
[0017] The vehicle speed sensor 11 detects the vehicle speed v of the vehicle 10 at a predetermined interval. The vehicle speed sensor 11 outputs a signal indicating the detected vehicle speed v to the in-vehicle network 15. The acceleration sensor 12 detects the vehicle acceleration a, which is the acceleration of the vehicle 10, at a predetermined period. The acceleration sensor 12 outputs a signal indicating the detected vehicle acceleration a to the in-vehicle network 15.
[0018] The engine speed sensor 13 detects the engine speed Ne, which is the rotational speed of the engine, at a predetermined period. The engine speed sensor 13 outputs a signal indicating the detected engine speed Ne to the in-vehicle network 15.
[0019] The torque sensor 14 detects the engine torque T, which is the torque of the crankshaft rotated by the engine, at a predetermined period. The torque sensor 14 outputs the detected engine torque T to the in-vehicle network 15.
[0020] The abnormal noise determination device 20 includes a vehicle information collection unit 21, a map creation unit 22, and a determination unit 23 as functional units that function by executing a program. The abnormal noise determination device 20 also includes an operation unit 24 that is operated by a user such as the driver or passengers of the vehicle 10.
[0021] The vehicle information collection unit 21 functions as a vehicle information acquisition unit. The vehicle information collection unit 21 collects vehicle information indicating the driving state of the vehicle 10 for a certain period via the in-vehicle network 15. The vehicle information collection unit 21 acquires the vehicle speed v, the vehicle acceleration a, the engine speed Ne, and the engine torque T as the driving state at each acquisition timing. The vehicle information collection unit 21 calculates the engine output P based on the multiplication value of the engine speed Ne and the engine torque T for each acquisition timing. The vehicle information collection unit 21 collects the vehicle speed v, the vehicle acceleration a, and the engine output P as vehicle information.
[0022] The operation unit 24 is operated by a user such as the driver or passengers of the vehicle 10. When the user determines that an abnormal noise is occurring during the vehicle information collection period, the user turns on the operation unit 24. The operation unit 24 outputs an operation signal to the abnormal noise determination device 20 while the on-operation is being performed.
[0023] The map creation unit 22 creates a vehicle information map 31 based on the vehicle information collected by the vehicle information collection unit 21. The vehicle information map 31 is a three-dimensional map showing the relationship between vehicle speed v, vehicle acceleration a, and engine output P for each acquisition timing. The map creation unit 22 creates the vehicle information map 31 by associating engine output P with vehicle speed v and vehicle acceleration a. The map creation unit 22 adds operation information to the vehicle information map 31 that shows the operation status of the operation unit 24 at the acquisition timing. The map creation unit 22 may add only ON operations of the operation unit 24 as operation information, or it may add ON or OFF operations of the operation unit 24 as operation information for each acquisition timing. The map creation unit 22 stores the vehicle information map 31 with the added operation information in a predetermined memory area. In the vehicle information map 31, the vehicle information (vehicle speed v, vehicle acceleration a, and engine output P) with the ON operation of the operation unit 24 added is called the abnormal noise generation condition.
[0024] The determination unit 23 determines whether the abnormal noise heard when the operation unit 24 is turned ON is an abnormal noise caused by engine operation, i.e., engine noise. The determination unit 23 stores an ambient noise map 32 in a predetermined memory area. Based on the result of comparing the ambient noise map 32 with the abnormal noise determination conditions, the determination unit 23 determines whether the abnormal noise is engine noise. Here, the sounds generated from the vehicle 10 while it is in operation include not only sounds caused by engine operation but also sounds caused by the motor generator operation, etc. Ambient noise here refers to sounds generated from the vehicle 10 while it is in operation, excluding sounds caused by engine operation.
[0025] As shown in Figure 2, the background noise map 32 defines a threshold P1 for engine output P corresponding to vehicle speed v and vehicle acceleration a. This threshold P1 is the engine output P at which a user can determine that an abnormal noise perceived by the user is engine noise, depending on the magnitude of the background noise in the vehicle 10 while it is in motion. Background noise increases with increasing vehicle speed v, even at the same vehicle acceleration a, and also increases with increasing vehicle acceleration a, even at the same vehicle speed v. In Figure 2, the background noise grade lines, which indicate the magnitude of background noise for each predetermined sound level, are shown as dashed lines. Therefore, the background noise grade line for each sound level is represented as a straight line sloping downwards to the right.
[0026] The determination unit 23 determines whether or not the abnormal noise is engine noise based on the result of comparing the background noise map 32 with the abnormal noise determination conditions. Specifically, the determination unit 23 reads a threshold P1 corresponding to the vehicle speed v and vehicle acceleration a of the abnormal noise generation conditions from the background noise map 32, and then compares the threshold P1 with the engine output P of the abnormal noise generation conditions. The determination unit 23 determines that the abnormal noise is a sound other than engine noise when the engine output P is less than or equal to the threshold P1. The determination unit 23 determines that the abnormal noise is engine noise when the engine output P is greater than the threshold P1. In other words, the determination unit 23 determines that the abnormal noise is engine noise when the engine output P is greater than the background noise level.
[0027] Referring to Figure 3, the abnormal noise detection method performed by the abnormal noise detection device 20 will be described. The abnormal noise detection device 20 implements the abnormal noise detection method by performing an abnormal noise detection process. The abnormal noise detection process is a process that determines whether or not an abnormal noise generated from the vehicle 10 while it is in operation is engine noise. The abnormal noise detection process is started when a predetermined operation is performed on the abnormal noise detection device 20 by the user.
[0028] As shown in Figure 3, the abnormal noise detection device 20 first collects vehicle information indicating the operating state of the vehicle 10 for a certain period of time (step S11). Specifically, the abnormal noise detection device 20 collects vehicle speed v, vehicle acceleration a, engine rotation speed Ne, and engine torque T as vehicle information. During this period of time, the user turns on the operation unit 24 when they sense an abnormal noise.
[0029] The abnormal noise detection device 20 creates a vehicle information map 31 based on the vehicle information (step S12). The abnormal noise detection device 20 also adds operation information to the vehicle information map 31 (step S13). In the vehicle information map 31, the vehicle information associated with the ON operation of the operation unit 24 is the abnormal noise generation condition.
[0030] Next, the abnormal noise detection device 20 compares the background noise map 32 with the abnormal noise generation conditions (step S14). If the engine output P of the abnormal noise generation conditions is greater than the threshold P1 of the background noise map 32 (step S15: YES), the abnormal noise detection device 20 determines that the abnormal noise is engine noise (step S16). On the other hand, if the engine output P of the abnormal noise generation conditions is less than or equal to the threshold P1 of the background noise map 32 (step S15: NO), the abnormal noise detection device 20 determines that the abnormal noise is a sound other than engine noise (step S17). Based on the results of the comparison with the background noise map 32, the abnormal noise detection device 20 determines whether the abnormal noise is engine noise for all abnormal occurrence conditions and then terminates the process for this example.
[0031] The operation and effects of this embodiment will now be described. (1) In a vehicle 10 having an engine and a motor generator as power sources, the vehicle speed v and vehicle acceleration a cannot be uniquely determined by the engine speed Ne and engine torque T, and are often not proportional. Therefore, the conditions under which engine noise is generated cannot be specified using the engine speed Ne and engine torque T. In contrast, the abnormal noise detection device 20 determines whether the abnormal noise perceived by the user is engine noise based on the vehicle information map 31, operation information, and background noise map 32. The background noise map 32 defines a threshold P1 of the engine output P corresponding to the vehicle speed v and vehicle acceleration a, according to the magnitude of the background noise in the vehicle 10. That is, the abnormal noise detection device 20 determines whether the abnormal noise perceived by the user is engine noise according to the magnitude of the background noise in the vehicle 10. With this configuration, it is possible to determine with high accuracy whether or not an abnormal noise is engine noise. [Explanation of Symbols]
[0032] 10...Vehicle, 11...Vehicle speed sensor, 12...Accelerometer, 13...Engine speed sensor, 14...Torque sensor, 15...In-vehicle network, 20...Abnormal noise detection device, 21...Vehicle information collection unit, 22...Map creation unit, 23...Determination unit, 24...Operation unit, 31...Vehicle information map, 32...Ambient noise map.
Claims
[Claim 1] An abnormal noise detection device that determines whether or not engine noise is included in the sound emitted from a vehicle, A vehicle information acquisition unit acquires vehicle information including vehicle speed, vehicle acceleration, and engine output over a certain period of time. During the aforementioned period, an operating unit is operated by the user when the user perceives an unusual noise, A map creation unit creates a vehicle information map by adding the operating status of the control unit to the aforementioned vehicle information, The system includes: a background noise map that maintains a background noise map in which a threshold engine output indicating that the abnormal noise is engine noise is defined for the vehicle speed and vehicle acceleration, and a determination unit that determines whether or not the abnormal noise is engine noise based on the result of comparing the vehicle information map and the background noise map. Abnormal noise detection device.