Vehicle control device, method, program, and vehicle

Abstract

To provide a vehicular control device that enables a user to appropriately grasp an operation state of an electric parking brake.SOLUTION: A vehicular control device equipped in a vehicle includes a communication unit that communicates with a center to which an external terminal of a user of the vehicle is connected, and an acquisition unit that acquires an operation state of an electric parking brake when an ignition of the vehicle is turned off. The communication unit notifies the external terminal of the operation state of the electric parking brake acquired by the acquisition unit, via the center.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a control device that is mounted on a vehicle and controls an electric parking brake. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a control device that constantly monitors the condition of tires attached to a vehicle, and notifies an external terminal such as a smartphone when a predetermined abnormal state is detected in the tire. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-300452 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Some electric parking brakes (EPBs) equipped on vehicles allow the user to manually switch between a locked and unlocked brake state. When the state needs to be switched manually, it is possible that the user may forget to lock the electric parking brake when parking the vehicle and leave the vehicle. In order to check whether the electric parking brake is locked after leaving the vehicle, the user must return to the vehicle, which is very inconvenient for the user.

[0005] Forgetting to lock the electric parking brake when parking, etc., is an inappropriate operating state of the parking brake, but it is not an abnormality in the electric parking brake itself. Therefore, in the method described in Patent Document 1 above of notifying an external terminal in response to the detection of an abnormal state, if the electric parking brake is forgotten to be locked, the user cannot realize this until later. Therefore, a technology that allows the user to properly grasp the operating state of the electric parking brake is desired.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a vehicle control device and the like that allows a user to properly grasp the operating state of an electric parking brake. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, one aspect of the disclosed technology is a vehicle control device mounted on a vehicle, which includes a communication unit that communicates with a center to which an external terminal held by a vehicle user is connected, and an acquisition unit that acquires the operation state of the electric parking brake when the vehicle ignition is turned off, and the communication unit notifies the external terminal via the center of the operation state of the electric parking brake acquired by the acquisition unit. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the vehicle control device and the like disclosed herein, a user or the like can appropriately grasp the operating state of the electric parking brake. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system including a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] A flowchart illustrating a process executed by a vehicle control device. [Diagram 3] A flowchart explaining the process executed by the center. [Figure 4] A flowchart for explaining a process executed by an external terminal. [Diagram 5] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to an application example executed by a vehicle control device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] The vehicle control device disclosed herein notifies an external terminal owned by a vehicle user, manager, etc. of the operation state of an electric parking brake (EPB) when the vehicle ignition is off. This allows the user, manager, etc. to realize that they have forgotten to lock the electric parking brake when parking the vehicle. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0011] <Embodiment> [composition] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system including a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The system 1 illustrated in Fig. 1 includes a vehicle 10, a center 100, and an external terminal 200. The vehicle 10 includes a communication unit 20, an acquisition unit 30, a control unit 40, and an electric parking brake (EPB) 70. The communication unit 20, the acquisition unit 30, the control unit 40, and the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 are communicatively connected via an in-vehicle network such as a controller area network (CAN). The communication unit 20, the acquisition unit 30, and the control unit 40 constitute a vehicle control device 50 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0012] The electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is an actuator that uses an electric motor to press pads against a disc rotor to lock and maintain a braked state of the vehicle 10. Switching between maintaining (locked) and releasing (unlocked: not locked) this braking state is controlled by a control device (not shown).

[0013] The communication unit 20 controls the transmission and reception of information, requests, and the like between the vehicle 10 and the center 100. The communication unit 20 of this embodiment transmits the operation state of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 to the center 100 as information for the center 100. The communication unit 20 of this embodiment also receives from the center 100 a request for operation of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 (hereinafter referred to as an "EPB operation request") transmitted from an external terminal 200 described below as a request from the center 100. The communication between the vehicle 10 and the center 100 is typically performed wirelessly via an external network. This communication unit 20 can be, for example, a data communication module (DCM).

[0014] The acquisition unit 30 acquires the operation state (locked / unlocked) of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 when the ignition of the vehicle 10 is turned off (IG-OFF). This operation state of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is output to the communication unit 20. The acquisition unit 30 can also acquire that the vehicle has entered a parking lock (P lock) state in which the shift range is fixed to the parking position and the parking gear is engaged. When this parking lock state is acquired, it is transmitted to the control unit 40.

[0015] The control unit 40 activates a control device (not shown) of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 and controls the operation state of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 based on the EPB operation request of the external terminal 200 received by the communication unit 20 from the center 100 and the parking lock state acquired by the acquisition unit 30.

[0016] A part or all of the above-mentioned communication unit 20, acquisition unit 30, and control unit 40 can be configured as an electronic control unit (ECU) that typically includes a processor, a memory, an input / output interface, etc. The electronic control unit can perform the above-mentioned various controls by having the processor read and execute a program stored in the memory.

[0017] The center 100 can communicate with the communication unit 20 of the vehicle 10, and executes transmission and reception of information, requests, and the like. The center 100 of this embodiment receives the operation state of an electric parking brake (EPB) 70 of the vehicle 10 from the communication unit 20 as information from the vehicle 10. Furthermore, the center 100 of this embodiment transmits an EPB operation request transmitted from the external terminal 200 as a request to the vehicle 10 to the communication unit 20 of the vehicle 10 linked to the external terminal 200. Furthermore, the center 100 can communicate with the external terminal 200, and executes notification (transmission) and reception of information, requests, and the like. The center 100 of this embodiment receives an EPB operation request from the external terminal 200 as a request from the external terminal 200. Furthermore, the center 100 of this embodiment notifies (transmits) to the external terminal 200 the operating state of an electric parking brake (EPB) 70 of the vehicle 10 linked to the external terminal 200 as information for the external terminal 200. The communication between the center 100 and the vehicle 10 and the communication between the center 100 and the external terminal 200 are typically performed wirelessly via an external network.

[0018] The external terminal 200 is an information terminal device such as a smartphone or a personal computer owned by a user or an administrator of the vehicle 10. The external terminal 200 can communicate with the center 100 and transmits and receives (notifies) information, requests, and the like. The external terminal 200 of this embodiment receives (receives notification of) the operation state of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 of the vehicle 10 from the center 100 as information from the center 100. In addition, the external terminal 200 of this embodiment transmits an EPB operation request to the center 100 as a request to the center 100. Furthermore, a dedicated application related to the EPB operation request can be installed in the external terminal 200, and the user can specify the operation state (locked / unlocked) of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 through this dedicated application. When the dedicated application is installed, the operation state of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 from the center 100 is notified to the dedicated application. This external terminal 200 is associated with the vehicle 10 by being registered and managed by the vehicle 10. The number of external terminals 200 associated with the vehicle 10 is not limited to one, and may be multiple.

[0019] [control] Further referring to Figs. 2 to 5, the control performed by the system 1 including the vehicle control device 50 according to this embodiment will be described. Fig. 2 is a flowchart explaining the processing executed by the vehicle control device 50. Fig. 3 is a flowchart explaining the processing executed by the center 100. Fig. 4 is a flowchart explaining the processing executed by the external terminal 200. Fig. 5 is a flowchart explaining the processing related to an application example executed by the vehicle control device 50.

[0020] (1) Processing of vehicle control devices The process of the vehicle control device 50 illustrated in FIG. 2 is started, for example, when the ignition of the vehicle 10 is turned off (IG-OFF).

[0021] (Step S201) The acquisition unit 30 of the vehicle control device 50 acquires the operation state of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 when the ignition is off (IG-OFF) (hereinafter referred to as the "EPB operation state"). This EPB operation state is either a state in which the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is locked or a state in which the EPB is not locked (unlocked). The EPB operation state can be acquired via a CAN signal. The EPB operation state may also be stored in the communication unit 20. When the EPB operation state is acquired, the process proceeds to step S202.

[0022] (Step S202) The communication unit 20 of the vehicle control device 50 transmits the EPB operation status acquired by the acquisition unit 30 to the center 100. This transmission may be performed only once, or may be performed repeatedly at a predetermined cycle. Repeated transmission can prevent the center 100 from being unable to receive the EPB operation status. Once the EPB operation status has been transmitted to the center 100, the process proceeds to step S203.

[0023] (Step S203) After transmitting the EPB operation state to the center 100, the communication unit 20 of the vehicle control device 50 judges whether or not a request for operation of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 by the external terminal 200 (hereinafter referred to as "EPB operation request") has been received from the center 100. Specifically, this EPB operation request is a request to lock the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 (or a request to unlock the electric parking brake (EPB) 70). If an EPB operation request of the external terminal 200 has been received from the center 100 (step S203, Yes), the process proceeds to step S204. On the other hand, if an EPB operation request of the external terminal 200 has not been received from the center 100 (step S203, No), the process of the vehicle control device 50 ends.

[0024] (Step S204) The control unit 40 of the vehicle control device 50 controls the EPB operation state based on the EPB operation request from the external terminal 200. This control can be performed by the control unit 40 transmitting a CAN signal corresponding to the EPB operation request to a predetermined control device that controls the electric parking brake (EPB) 70. For example, if the EPB operation request from the external terminal 200 is a request to lock the electric parking brake (EPB) 70, a CAN signal that activates the predetermined control device and locks the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is transmitted to the in-vehicle network. When the EPB operation state is controlled based on the EPB operation request from the external terminal 200, the processing of the vehicle control device 50 ends.

[0025] (2) Center processing The process of the center 100 illustrated in FIG. 3 is repeatedly executed while the center 100 is in operation.

[0026] (Step S301) The center 100 judges whether or not the EPB operation state has been received from the vehicle 10 (the communication unit 20 thereof). This EPB operation state is either a state in which the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is locked or a state in which it is not locked (unlocked). If the EPB operation state has been received from the vehicle 10 (step S301, Yes), the process proceeds to step S302. On the other hand, if the EPB operation state has not been received from the vehicle 10 (step S301, No), the process proceeds to step S303.

[0027] (Step S302) The center 100 notifies (transmits) the external terminal 200 of the EPB operation status received from the vehicle 10. This notification may be performed only once, or may be performed repeatedly at a predetermined interval. Repeated notification can prevent the external terminal 200 from being unable to receive the EPB operation status. When the EPB operation status is transmitted to the external terminal 200, the process proceeds to step S303.

[0028] (Step S303) The center 100 judges whether or not an EPB operation request has been received from the external terminal 200. This EPB operation request is typically a request to lock the electric parking brake (EPB) 70, which is a response to forgetting to lock the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 when the vehicle is stopped or parked. Note that the EPB operation request may also be a request to unlock the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 that is in a locked state. If an EPB operation request has been received from the external terminal 200 (step S303, Yes), the process proceeds to step S304. On the other hand, if an EPB operation request has not been received from the external terminal 200 (step S303, No), the process proceeds to step S301.

[0029] (Step S304) The center 100 transmits the EPB activation request received from the external terminal 200 to the vehicle 10 (the communication unit 20 thereof). This transmission may be performed only once, or may be performed repeatedly at a predetermined interval. Repeated transmission can prevent the vehicle 10 from failing to receive the EPB activation request. When the EPB activation request is transmitted to the vehicle 10, processing proceeds to step S301.

[0030] (3) Processing of external terminals The process of the external terminal 200 illustrated in FIG. 4 is repeatedly executed while the power of the external terminal 200 is turned on.

[0031] (Step S401) The external terminal 200 judges whether the EPB operation state has been notified from the center 100 (whether the EPB operation state has been received). This EPB operation state is either a state in which the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is locked or a state in which it is not locked (unlocked). If the EPB operation state has been notified from the center 100 (step S401, Yes), the process proceeds to step S402. On the other hand, if the EPB operation state has not been notified from the center 100 (step S401, No), the process of step S401 is repeated.

[0032] (Step S402) The external terminal 200 judges whether or not the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is in a locked state based on the EPB operation state notified from the center 100. The electric parking brake (EPB) 70 to be judged is the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 of the vehicle 10 linked to its own external terminal 200. If the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is in a locked state (step S402, Yes), the process proceeds to step S403. On the other hand, if the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is not in a locked state (lock is not activated) (step S402, No), the process proceeds to step S401.

[0033] (Step S403) When the EPB operation state notified from the center 100 is not a locked state (locked non-operated state), the external terminal 200 judges whether or not to lock the electric parking brake (EPB) 70. This judgment can be made, for example, by a user who has learned through a dedicated application that the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is not locked. When the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is to be locked (step S403, Yes), the process proceeds to step S404. On the other hand, when the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is not to be locked (step S403, No), the process proceeds to step S401.

[0034] (Step S404) The external terminal 200 transmits a request (EPB activation request) to lock the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 to the center 100. This transmission can be performed, for example, by a user or the like instructing through a dedicated application. This transmission can be performed only once, or can be performed repeatedly at a predetermined cycle. Repeated transmission can prevent the center 100 from failing to receive the EPB activation request. When the EPB activation request to lock the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is transmitted to the center 100, the process proceeds to step S401.

[0035] Through the above-mentioned coordinated processing by the vehicle control device 50, the center 100, and the external terminal 200, the user or manager of the vehicle 10 can easily notice that the user or manager has forgotten to lock the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 when stopping or parking the vehicle. Furthermore, if the user or manager of the vehicle 10 notices that the user has forgotten to lock the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 when stopping or parking the vehicle, the user or manager can lock the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 by remote control via the center 100.

[0036] (4) Application example of processing for vehicle control devices The process of the vehicle control device 50 according to the application example illustrated in FIG. 5 is started, for example, when the ignition of the vehicle 10 is turned off (IG-OFF).

[0037] (Step S501) The acquisition unit 30 of the vehicle control device 50 acquires the EPB operation state when the IG is OFF. This EPB operation state is either a state in which the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is locked or a state in which it is not locked (unlocked). The EPB operation state can be acquired via a CAN signal. The EPB operation state may also be stored in the communication unit 20. When the EPB operation state is acquired, the process proceeds to step S502.

[0038] (Step S502) The control unit 40 of the vehicle control device 50 judges whether or not the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is in a locked state based on the EPB operation state acquired by the acquisition unit 30. If the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is in a locked state (step S502, Yes), the processing of the vehicle control device 50 according to this application example ends. On the other hand, if the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is not in a locked state (lock is not activated) (step S502, No), the processing proceeds to step S503.

[0039] (Step S503) The communication unit 20 of the vehicle control device 50 transmits the EPB operation status acquired by the acquisition unit 30 to the center 100. This transmission may be performed only once, or may be performed repeatedly at a predetermined interval. Repeated transmission can prevent the center 100 from being unable to receive the EPB operation status. Once the EPB operation status has been transmitted to the center 100, the process proceeds to step S504.

[0040] (Step S504) After transmitting the EPB operation state to the center 100, the communication unit 20 of the vehicle control device 50 judges whether or not an EPB operation request for locking the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 by the external terminal 200 has been received from the center 100. If an EPB operation request for locking the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 of the external terminal 200 has been received from the center 100 (step S504, Yes), the process proceeds to step S505. On the other hand, if an EPB operation request for locking the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 of the external terminal 200 has not been received from the center 100 (step S504, No), the process of the vehicle control device 50 according to this application example ends.

[0041] (Step S505) The control unit 40 of the vehicle control device 50 judges whether the shift range is fixed at the parking position and the parking gear is engaged. That is, this judgement confirms whether the vehicle 10 is in a state where it is difficult to start moving. If the parking gear is engaged (step S505, Yes), the processing of the vehicle control device 50 according to this application example ends. On the other hand, if the parking gear is not engaged (step S505, No), the processing proceeds to step S506.

[0042] (Step S506) The control unit 40 of the vehicle control device 50 locks the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 based on an EPB operation request for locking the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 from the external terminal 200. For example, this can be implemented by the control unit 40 transmitting, via a network, a CAN signal for locking the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 to a predetermined control device that controls the electric parking brake (EPB) 70. When the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is locked based on the EPB operation request from the external terminal 200, the processing of the vehicle control device 50 according to this application example ends.

[0043] By processing the vehicle control device 50 according to the application example described above, even if the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is not locked, if the vehicle 10 with the parking gear engaged is in a P-lock state in which it is difficult to start moving, the EPB operation state is not notified to the external terminal 200 via the center 100, thereby reducing the inconvenience of notifications to the user.

[0044] <Actions and Effects> As described above, according to the vehicle control device 50 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the operation state of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 when the ignition of the vehicle 10 is off (IG-OFF) is notified to the external terminal 200 linked to the vehicle 10 via the center 100. This allows a user or manager who possesses the external terminal 200 to easily notice an inappropriate operation state of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 of the vehicle 10, for example, when the user forgets to lock the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 when stopping or parking the vehicle. This provides a sense of security to the user or manager.

[0045] Furthermore, according to the vehicle control device 50 of this embodiment, a user or manager of the vehicle 10 can request the operation state of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 from the external terminal 200 to the vehicle 10 via the center 100. This allows the user or manager to remotely control the lock / unlock state of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70, which has been in an inappropriate operation state, to an appropriate operation state even if the user or manager is located away from the vehicle 10. This improves convenience for the user or manager.

[0046] Furthermore, according to the vehicle control device 50 of this embodiment, even if the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 of the vehicle 10 that is stopped or parked is in a non-locked state, if the parking gear is in a parking lock (P lock) state where it is activated, the operation state of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 is not notified to the external terminal 200 via the center 100. This makes it possible to reduce the inconvenience of notifying the user, manager, etc. of the operation state of the electric parking brake (EPB) 70 even when the vehicle 10 that is stopped or parked is in a state where it is difficult to start moving.

[0047] In addition to the operating state of the parking gear, other information such as the road surface conditions (slope, wetness, etc.) where the vehicle 10 is stopped or parked and the load weight of the vehicle 10 may be used as factors for determining whether the vehicle 10 is in a difficult state to start moving.

[0048] The above describes one embodiment of the disclosed technology, but the present disclosure can be understood as not only a control device mounted on a vehicle, but also a system including a control device, a method executed by a control device having a processor and memory, a program, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium storing a program, or a vehicle equipped with a control device. [Industrial Applicability]

[0049] The control device of the present disclosure can be used as a control device for an electric parking brake equipped in a vehicle. [Explanation of symbols]

[0050] 1 System 10 Vehicles 20 Communications Department 30 Acquisition Department 40 Control section 50 Vehicle control device 70 Electric Parking Brake (EPB) 100 Center 200 External terminal

Claims

1. A vehicle control device mounted on a vehicle, a communication unit that communicates with a center to which an external terminal owned by a user of the vehicle is connected; An acquisition unit that acquires an operation state of an electric parking brake when an ignition of the vehicle is turned off, When the operation state acquired by the acquisition unit indicates that the electric parking brake is unlocked, If the shift range of the vehicle is in a parking position in which a parking gear is activated, the external terminal is not notified via the center that the electric parking brake is not activated; If the shift range is other than the parking lock position, the external terminal is notified via the center that the electric parking brake is not in operation. Vehicle control device.

2. The communication unit receives a request for actuation of the electric parking brake from the external terminal via the center, A control unit is further provided that activates a control device of the electric parking brake based on the request received by the communication unit and controls an operation state of the electric parking brake. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 .

3. A predetermined application is installed on the external terminal, The communication unit notifies the application of the external terminal of the operation state of the electric parking brake via the center. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. A method performed by a vehicle control device mounted on a vehicle, comprising: acquiring an operation state of an electric parking brake when an ignition of the vehicle is turned off; When the operation state indicates that the electric parking brake is unlocked, if the shift range of the vehicle is in a parking position where a parking gear is operated, notifying an external terminal carried by a user of the vehicle via a center that the electric parking brake is not in operation, and if the shift range is other than the parking lock position, notifying the external terminal via the center that the electric parking brake is not in operation. A method comprising:

5. A program executed by a computer of a vehicle control device that is mounted on a vehicle and has a processor and a memory, acquiring an operation state of an electric parking brake when an ignition of the vehicle is turned off; When the operation state indicates that the electric parking brake is unlocked, if the shift range of the vehicle is in a parking position where a parking gear is operated, notifying an external terminal carried by a user of the vehicle via a center that the electric parking brake is not in operation, and if the shift range is other than the parking lock position, notifying the external terminal via the center that the electric parking brake is not in operation. Including, the program.

6. A vehicle equipped with the vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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