Control device and program

Abstract

This technology provides a way to prevent situations where the motor becomes uncontrollable. [Solution] A control device according to a first aspect of the present disclosure is a control device comprising a first control unit and a second control unit, wherein the first control unit is configured to generate a control command value for a motor mounted on a vehicle and to transmit the generated control command value to the second control unit, the control command value has an upper limit and a lower limit defined, and the second control unit is configured to receive the control command value from the first control unit, control the motor based on the received control command value if the received control command value is within the range of the upper limit and the lower limit, and modify the control command value to be within the upper limit and the lower limit if the received control command value is greater than the upper limit or less than the lower limit, and control the motor based on the modified control command value.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a control device and a program. [Background Art]

[0002] Patent Literature 1 proposes a motor control device that controls two motors of an electric vehicle by one microcomputer and one ASIC. [Prior Art Literature] [Patent Literature]

[0003] [Patent Literature 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2021-035146 [Summary of the Invention] [Problem to be Solved by the Invention]

[0004] One object of the present disclosure is to provide a technique for preventing the occurrence of a situation in which motor control becomes impossible. [Means for Solving the Problem]

[0005] A control device according to a first aspect of the present disclosure is a control device comprising a first control unit and a second control unit, wherein the first control unit is configured to generate a control command value for a motor mounted on a vehicle and to transmit the generated control command value to the second control unit, the control command value has an upper limit and a lower limit defined, and the second control unit is configured to receive the control command value from the first control unit, control the motor based on the received control command value if the received control command value is within the range of the upper limit and the lower limit, and modify the control command value to be within the upper limit and the lower limit if the received control command value is greater than the upper limit or less than the lower limit, and control the motor based on the modified control command value. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to this disclosure, it is possible to prevent situations in which the motor becomes uncontrollable. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] Figure 1 schematically illustrates an example of a scenario in which this disclosure applies. [Figure 2] Figure 2 schematically shows an example of a scenario in which the second control unit modifies the control command value. [Figure 3] Figure 3 schematically shows an example of control command values ​​and their upper and lower limits for controlling a motor. [Figure 4] Figure 4 schematically shows an example of the hardware configuration of the control device of this disclosure. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure related to motor control according to this disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] For example, conventional systems such as those described in Patent Document 1 incorporate an escape driving function into an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), allowing them to maintain a fail-safe function even if the microcomputer fails. Therefore, the two motors of an electric vehicle can be controlled by a single microcomputer. This allows for a more cost-effective motor control system. However, the inventors of this case have found that conventional systems have the following problems... We discovered that, in conventional systems, neither the microcomputer in the ECU nor the ASIC has a mechanism to limit the control values ​​used to control the motor. Therefore, if the input control value is abnormal, the ASIC may not be able to control the motor properly.

[0009] In contrast, the control device according to the first aspect of the present disclosure is a control device comprising a first control unit and a second control unit, wherein the first control unit is configured to generate a control command value for a motor mounted on a vehicle and to transmit the generated control command value to the second control unit, and the control command value has defined upper and lower limits, and the second control unit is configured to receive the control command value from the first control unit, to control the motor based on the received control command value if the received control command value is within the range of the upper and lower limits, and to correct the control command value to be within the upper and lower limits if the received control command value is greater than the upper limit or less than the lower limit, and to control the motor based on the corrected control command value. In this configuration, if a control command value outside the range of the upper and lower limits is received, the second control unit corrects the control command value to an appropriate value. Therefore, this configuration can prevent situations in which the motor becomes uncontrollable.

[0010] Furthermore, as another form of the information processing device relating to the above embodiment, one aspect of this disclosure may be an information processing method that implements all or part of the above components, a program, or a machine-readable storage medium that stores such a program. A machine-readable storage medium is a medium that stores information such as programs by electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanical, or chemical action.

[0011] [1. Application Examples] Figure 1 schematically shows an example of a scenario to which this disclosure applies. The control device 1 according to this embodiment is mounted on a vehicle M. The control device 1 comprises a first control unit 100 and a second control unit 200. The first control unit 100 generates a control command value 3 for a control target T mounted on the vehicle M and transmits the generated control command value 3 to the second control unit 200. The control command value 3 has an upper limit and a lower limit defined. The second control unit 200 receives the control command value 3 from the first control unit 100 and determines whether the received control command value 3 is within the range of the upper limit and lower limit. If it is determined that the control command value 3 is within the range, the second control unit 200 controls the control target T based on the control command value 3. On the other hand, if the control command value 3 is greater than the upper limit or less than the lower limit, the second control unit 200 modifies the control command value 3 to be within the upper limit and lower limit. The second control unit 200 controls the controlled object T based on the modified control command value 3. The controlled object T includes the motor M. The controlled object T may also include any equipment other than the motor M that is mounted on the vehicle M.

[0012] (vehicle) The type of vehicle M may be appropriately selected depending on the embodiment. For example, the type of vehicle M may include electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles. Electric vehicles may include vehicles driven only by an electric motor, such as BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles) and FCEVs (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles). Hybrid vehicles may include vehicles driven by an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, such as HEVs (Hybrid Electric Vehicles) and PHEVs (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles). The number of wheels and size of vehicle M may be arbitrarily selected. Vehicle M may be selected from, for example, two-wheeled vehicles, three-wheeled vehicles, four-wheeled vehicles, etc. If vehicle M is an automobile, the size of vehicle M may be selected from large, medium, semi-medium, regular, large special, small special, etc. If vehicle M is a two-wheeled vehicle, the size of vehicle M may be selected from large, regular, etc. That's fine.

[0013] (Control unit) Each control unit (100, 200) may be a computer for controlling vehicle M. Typically, each control unit (100, 200) is an ECU (Electronic Control Unit). The control device 1 may consist of a first control unit 100 and a second control unit. The system may include multiple control units, including the KIT 200. In one example, the multiple control units (control device 1) may include a higher-level control unit and lower-level control units. The higher-level control unit may be configured to monitor the overall vehicle behavior and, based on the monitoring results, perform coordination between systems and output commands to the lower-level control units. On the other hand, the lower-level control units may be configured to perform control processing specific to a particular system (module) based on commands from the higher-level control unit.

[0014] (First control unit) The first control unit 100 may be an upper-level control unit. The first control unit 100 may be configured to integrally control a group of lower-level control units (such as the second control unit 200). The method of integrated control is not particularly limited, and may be appropriately determined according to the embodiment. In one example, the integrated control may be configured by collecting data of a controlled object T of a plurality of lower-level control units, generating a control command value 3 for a target lower-level control unit, and transmitting the generated control command value 3 to the target lower-level control unit. The first control unit 100 may collect data related to the controlled object T from the sensor S, or may collect data related to the controlled object T from a lower-level control unit.

[0015] (Control Command Value) The control command value 3 is transmitted from the first control unit 100 to the second control unit 200. The second control unit 200 may appropriately control the operation of the controlled object T based on the given control command value 3. As long as the controlled object T can be controlled, the configuration of the control command value 3 is not particularly limited, and may be appropriately determined according to the embodiment. In one example, the control command value 3 may be a controlled variable of the controlled object T. The controlled variable is a target value of a physical quantity output as a result of controlling the controlled object T. The controlled variable may be prescribed in advance according to the controlled object T.

[0016] In another example, the control command value 3 may be a manipulated variable for the controlled object T. The manipulated variable is a physical quantity directly input to the controlled object T by the second control unit 200. The second control unit 200 controls the controlled object T according to the manipulated variable, and brings the output physical quantity closer to the controlled variable. Note that the output physical quantity may be measured by the sensor S. The sensor S may be selected according to the physical quantity to be measured.

[0017] The method for generating control command value 3 is not particularly limited, and may be appropriately determined according to the embodiment. Note that the first control unit 100 may continuously generate the control command value 3 and transmit it to the second control unit 200. In response to receiving the control command value 3, the second control unit 200 may continuously perform control on the controlled object T.

[0018] When providing the control command value 3, or separately from the control command value 3, the first control unit 100 may transmit the upper limit value and lower limit value of the control command value 3 to the second control unit 200. The upper limit value and the lower limit value may be defined in advance for each control command value 3 (controlled variable or manipulated variable). In this case, the upper limit value and lower limit value may be stored in the memory resources of the first control unit 100 (such as the RAM, ROM, and storage unit 12 of the control unit 11 described later).

[0019] (Second Control Unit) The second control unit 200 may be a lower-level control unit. The second control unit 20 0 may be configured to perform specialized control for a specific system (controlled object T). Control on the controlled object T may be performed based on the control command value 3 received from the first control unit 100. The controlled object T includes a motor system (motor M). In addition, the controlled object T may include any system mounted on a vehicle M, such as a battery system, a brake system, a transmission system, and a steering system. The second control unit 200 may transmit data related to the controlled object T to the first control unit 100 continuously during control of the controlled object T, or after the control is completed. When the first control unit 100 collects data related to the controlled object T from the sensor S, the transmission of data related to the controlled object T from the second control unit 200 to the first control unit 100 may be omitted.

[0020] When the control command value 3 is composed of a controlled variable of the controlled object T, the control of the controlled object T by the second control unit 200 may consist of calculating an manipulated variable from the controlled variable and driving the controlled object T based on the calculated manipulated variable. The method for calculating the manipulated variable from the controlled variable is not particularly limited and may be appropriately defined depending on the embodiment. When the control command value 3 is composed of an manipulated variable, the control of the controlled object T by the second control unit 200 may consist of driving the controlled object T based on the manipulated variable. The control method for the controlled object T is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the embodiment. For example, known methods such as feedback control, feedforward control, state feedback control, and adaptive control may be adopted as the control method for the controlled object T. Feedback control may include proportional control, integral control, differential control, PID control, etc.

[0021] The second control unit 200 may determine whether the received control command value 3 is within the range of the upper and lower limits. In one example, the upper and lower limits may be specified by the first control unit 100. That is, the second control unit 200 may obtain the upper and lower limits from the first control unit 100. In another example, the upper and lower limits may be predetermined in the second control unit 200. In this case, the upper and lower limits may be stored in advance in the memory resources of the second control unit 200 (RAM, ROM, storage unit 22, etc. of the control unit 21 described later).

[0022] Figure 2 schematically shows an example of a scenario in which the second control unit 200 modifies the control command value 3. If the control command value 3 is within the range of the upper and lower limits, the second control unit 200 may use the received control command value 3 as is to control the controlled object T. On the other hand, if the control command value 3 is greater than the upper limit or less than the lower limit, the second control unit 200 may modify the control command value 3 and control the controlled object T based on the modified control command value 3. Modifying the control command value 3 may be done by replacing the control command value 3 with any value that is greater than or equal to the lower limit and less than or equal to the upper limit. If the control command value 3 is greater than the upper limit, the second control unit 200 may replace the control command value 3 with the first command value 31. If the control command value 3 is less than the lower limit, the second control unit 200 may replace the control command value 3 with the second command value 32.

[0023] Each command value (31, 32) is an example of the modified control command value 3. Each command value (31, 32) can be arbitrarily determined as long as it is within the range of being greater than or equal to the lower limit and less than or equal to the upper limit. However, from the viewpoint of suppressing deviation from the control content determined by the first control unit 100, it is preferable that the modified control command value 3 is close to the original control command value 3. For this reason, it is preferable that the first command value 31 is a value near the upper limit. Also, it is preferable that the second command value 32 is a value near the lower limit. In one example, the first command value 31 may be the upper limit. That is, modifying the control command value 3 may include replacing the control command value 3 with the upper limit if the control command value 3 is greater than the upper limit. Also, in one example, the second command value 32 may be the lower limit. That is, modifying the control command value 3 may include replacing the control command value 3 with the lower limit if the control command value 3 is less than the lower limit.

[0024] Furthermore, when the control command value 3 is composed of a controlled variable, the upper and lower limits may be specified for either the controlled variable or the manipulated variable. When the upper and lower limits are specified for the controlled variable, the control command value 3 may be modified with respect to the controlled variable that constitutes the control command value 3. When the control command value 3 is composed of a controlled variable and the upper and lower limits are specified for the manipulated variable, the control command value 3 may be modified with respect to the manipulated variable calculated from the controlled variable that constitutes the control command value 3. In other words, modifying the control command value 3 to a value between the upper and lower limits may be done by modifying the manipulated variable calculated from the controlled variable that constitutes the control command value 3 to a value between the upper and lower limits. When the control command value 3 is composed of a manipulated variable, the upper and lower limits may be specified for the manipulated variable. In this case, the control command value 3 may be modified with respect to the manipulated variable that constitutes the control command value 3.

[0025] (motor) In this embodiment, the controlled object T includes a motor M. The number of motors M may be arbitrarily selected. The type of motor M is not particularly limited and may be determined as appropriate depending on the embodiment. In one example, the motor M may include DC motors and AC motors. The motor M may be any motor mounted on the vehicle M. For example, the motor M may be used to drive the vehicle M. Also, for example, if the vehicle M is a hybrid vehicle, the motor M may be used as a generator. Any device such as a motor driver or inverter may be used to control the motor M.

[0026] Figure 3 schematically shows an example of a control command value 3 and its upper and lower limits (4, 5) for controlling a motor M. In one example, the control command value 3 for motor M may be the control variable 6 of motor M. For example, the control variable 6 of motor M may include physical quantities such as torque value 61 and rotational speed 62. In this case, the sensor S may include sensors such as a torque sensor TS and a rotational speed sensor RS in order to measure these physical quantities. The upper limit 4 may include an upper limit of torque value 461 and an upper limit of rotational speed 462. The lower limit 5 may include a lower limit of torque value 561 and a lower limit of rotational speed 562. In one example, the first control unit 100 may transmit these upper limits (461, 462) and lower limits (561, 562) to the second control unit 200 together with the control command value 3 or separately from the control command value 3.

[0027] In another example, the control command value 3 for motor M may be the manipulated variable 7 for motor M. The manipulated variable 7 may be appropriately defined according to the control variable 6 for motor M.

[0028] In one example, if the controlled variable 6 is the torque value 61 of the motor M, the manipulated variable 7 for the motor M may be the voltage 71 supplied to the motor M. The second control unit 200 may increase the torque value 61 of the motor M by increasing the voltage 71 supplied to the motor M. Alternatively, the second control unit 200 may decrease the torque value 61 of the motor M by decreasing the voltage 71 supplied to the motor M. Accordingly, the upper limit 4 may include the upper limit 471 of the voltage supplied to the motor M, and the lower limit 5 may include the lower limit 571 of the voltage supplied to the motor M. When the manipulated variable 7 for the motor M includes voltage 71, in one example, the first control unit 100 may transmit the upper limit 471 and the lower limit 571 of the voltage supplied to the motor M to the second control unit 200, either together with or separately from the control command value 3.

[0029] For example, if the controlled variable 6 is the rotational speed of motor M at 62, the manipulated variable 7 for motor M may be the inverter output frequency at 72. The second control unit 200 may increase the rotational speed of motor M at 62 by increasing the inverter output frequency at 72. Alternatively, the second control unit 200 may decrease the rotational speed of motor M at 62 by decreasing the inverter output frequency at 72. Accordingly, the upper limit value 4 is the upper limit value of the inverter frequency at 47. It may include 2, and the lower limit 5 may include the lower limit 572 of the inverter frequency. If the manipulated amount 7 of the motor M includes the inverter output frequency 72, in one example, the first control unit 100 may transmit the upper limit 472 and the lower limit 572 of the inverter frequency to the second control unit 200 together with or separately from the control command value 3.

[0030] [2 Example Configurations] Figure 4 schematically shows an example of the hardware configuration of the first control unit 100 and the second control unit 200 of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 4, the first control unit 100 according to this embodiment is a computer in which a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, an external interface 13, and a communication interface 14 are electrically connected. The control unit 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. , configured to perform arbitrary information processing. The storage unit 12 may be composed of, for example, a semiconductor memory. In this embodiment, the storage unit 12 stores a program 81. The program 81 is a program that causes the first control unit 100 to execute the information processing according to this embodiment. The program 81 includes a series of instructions for the information processing. The external interface 13 may be, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, a dedicated port, etc., and is configured to connect to an external device by wire or wireless. In one example, the first control unit 100 may be connected to an external sensor S via the external interface 13. The communication interface 14 is configured to perform wired or wireless data communication over a network. The type of network may be arbitrarily selected. The network may be, for example, a CAN (Controller Area Network). In this embodiment, the first control unit The 100 may use the communication interface 14 to perform data communication with other computers (for example, the second control unit 200, etc.) via a network.

[0031] The control unit 21, storage unit 22, external interface 23, and communication interface 24 of the second control unit 200 may be configured in the same way as the control unit 11, storage unit 12, external interface 13, and communication interface 14 of the first control unit 100. Program 82 is a program for causing the second control unit 200 to execute information processing according to this embodiment. Program 82 includes a series of instructions for said information processing. In one example, the second control unit 200 may be connected to a controlled object T (motor M, etc.) via the external interface 23.

[0032] Regarding the specific hardware configuration of each control unit (100, 200), components can be omitted, replaced, and added as appropriate depending on the embodiment. For example, the control units (11, 21) may include multiple hardware processors. Hardware processors may consist of microprocessors, FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays), DSPs (digital signal processors), GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits), etc. Each control unit (100, 200) may consist of one or more microcomputers. In one example, the control unit 11 of the first control unit 100 may be composed of an ECU, and the control unit 21 of the second control unit 200 may be composed of an ASIC.

[0033] [3 Examples of operation] Figure 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure related to motor control according to this disclosure. The control unit 11 of the first control unit 100 executes instructions included in program 81 using the CPU. The control unit 21 of the second control unit 200 also executes instructions included in program 82 using the CPU. As a result, the first control unit 100 and the second control unit 200 each operate as computers capable of executing the information processing shown in Figure 4 below. The following processing procedure of at least one of the first control unit 100 and the second control unit 200 is an example of an information processing method executed by a computer. However, the following processing procedure is merely an example. Furthermore, each step may be modified as much as possible. In addition, depending on the embodiment, steps in the following processing procedure may be omitted, replaced, or added as appropriate.

[0034] In step S101, the control unit 11 generates a control command value 3 for motor control. The content of the control command value 3 is not particularly limited and may be determined as appropriate. The control command value 3 may be a control amount 6 for the motor M, or an manipulated amount 7. In step S102, the control unit 11 transmits the generated control command value 3 to the second control unit 200. In one example, the control unit 11 may transmit an upper limit value 4 and a lower limit value 5 of the control command value 3 to the second control unit 200 at any timing before the processing in step S102.

[0035] In step S201, the control unit 21 receives a control command value 3 from the first control unit 100. In step S202, the control unit 21 determines whether the control command value 3 is within the range of the upper limit value 4 and the lower limit value 5. In one example, the upper limit value 4 and the lower limit value 5 may be stored in advance in the storage unit 22. In another example, the upper limit value 4 and the lower limit value 5 may be provided by the first control unit 100. If the control command value 3 is greater than the upper limit value 4 or less than the lower limit value 5, the control unit 21 proceeds to step S203. Otherwise, the control unit 21 proceeds to step S204.

[0036] In step S203, the control unit 21 modifies the control command value 3. The control unit 21 replaces the control command value 3 with any value that is greater than or equal to the lower limit of 5 and less than or equal to the upper limit of 4. For example, if the control command value 3 is greater than the upper limit of 4, the control unit 21 may replace the control command value 3 with the first command value 31. The first command value 31 may be equal to the upper limit of 4. Also, if the control command value 3 is less than the lower limit of 5, the control unit 21 may replace the control command value 3 with the second command value 32. The second command value 32 may be equal to the lower limit of 5.

[0037] In step S204, the control unit 21 controls the controlled object T (motor M, etc.) based on the control command value 3 received in step S201, or the control command value 3 modified in step S203. If the control command value 3 is a controlled quantity 6, the control unit 21 may calculate an manipulated quantity 7 from the control command value 3. By applying the manipulated quantity 7 obtained by the calculation to the controlled object T, the control unit 21 may control the controlled object T. Once the control of the controlled object T is complete, the control unit 21 terminates the processing procedure related to this example of operation.

[0038] [Features] In this embodiment, the process in steps S202 to S203 corrects the value of the received control command value 3 if it falls outside the range of the upper limit value 4 and the lower limit value 5. This prevents control based on abnormal values, thus preventing situations in which the motor becomes uncontrollable.

[0039] [4. Variant] While embodiments of this disclosure have been described in detail above, the above description is merely illustrative in all respects of this disclosure. Needless to say, various improvements or modifications can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. The processes and means described in this disclosure can be freely combined and implemented, as long as no technical inconsistencies arise.

[0040] (Other controlled objects) In this embodiment, the details were described in the case where the controlled object T is a motor M and the second control unit 200 is a motor control unit. However, the controlled object T and the second control unit 200 are not limited to this example and may be appropriately determined depending on the embodiment.

[0041] In one example, the second control unit 200 may be a battery control unit. In this case, the controlled object T is the battery. In this case, the control command value 3 may be the battery control quantity 6. For example, the control command value 3 for the battery may include physical quantities such as battery charge and battery temperature. Alternatively, the control command value 3 for the battery may be an manipulated quantity 7 for the battery. This manipulated quantity 7 may be defined according to the battery control quantity 6.

[0042] In one example, the second control unit 200 may be a brake control unit. In this case, the controlled object T is the brake system. In this case, the control command value 3 may be the controlled quantity 6 of the brake system. For example, the control command value 3 for the brake system may include physical quantities such as brake pressure. Alternatively, the control command value 3 for the brake system may be an manipulated quantity 7 for the brake system. This manipulated quantity 7 may be defined according to the controlled quantity 6 of the brake system. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0043] M...vehicle, 1...control device, 100...First control unit, 200...Second control unit 11, 21... Control unit, 12, 22... Memory unit, 13, 23...External interfaces, 14, 24...Communication interfaces, 81, 82...Program, 3...Control command value, 4. Upper limit, 5. Lower limit, 6. Controlled variable, 7. Manipulated variable, T: Controlled object, M: Motor, S: Sensor

Claims

1. First control unit, and Second control unit A control device comprising, The first control unit is, To generate control command values ​​for motors mounted on a vehicle, and To transmit the generated control command value to the second control unit, It is configured to perform, The aforementioned control command value has defined upper and lower limits. The second control unit is, Receiving the control command value from the first control unit, If the received control command value is within the range of the upper limit and the lower limit, the motor is controlled based on the received control command value, and If the received control command value is greater than the upper limit value, or if the received control command value is less than the lower limit value, Modify the control command value to fall within the upper and lower limits, and Controlling the motor based on the modified control command value, Configured to perform, Control device.

2. Modifying the control command value includes replacing the control command value with the upper limit value if the control command value is greater than the upper limit value. The control device according to claim 1.

3. Modifying the control command value includes, if the control command value is smaller than the lower limit value, replacing the control command value with the lower limit value. The control device according to claim 1.

4. The control command value relates to the torque value of the motor, The control device according to claim 1.

5. A program that causes a computer to execute an information processing method, The aforementioned information processing method is Receiving control command values, If the received control command value is within the range of the upper and lower limits, the motor is controlled based on the received control command value, and If the received control command value is greater than the upper limit value, or if the received control command value is less than the lower limit value, Modify the control command value to fall within the upper and lower limits, and Controlling the motor based on the modified control command value, Configured to perform, program.

Images