Vehicle control device

Abstract

Provided is a vehicle control device 21 that can automatically start quiet electric travel when approaching a base even if a driver does not perform a switching operation or set a destination for a navigation device when a hybrid vehicle travels near the base. The vehicle control device 21 is installed in a vehicle 100 that switches between a first travel state in which the driving force of an electric motor 107 supplied with power from a battery 105 is transmitted to drive wheels 109 to drive the vehicle 100, and a second travel state in which the vehicle 100 is driven with an engine 102 running. The vehicle control device 21 comprises: a determination value storage unit 27 that assigns and stores a determination value for each of a plurality of designated points, the determination value being obtained from a battery consumption required for the vehicle 100 to travel in the first travel state from a designated point to bases 31, 31A, and 31B, and a target battery level for the time of arrival at the bases 31, 31A, and 31B; and a travel state deciding unit 28 that starts travel in the first travel state when the current battery charge of vehicle 100 exceeds the determination value corresponding to the current location of vehicle 100.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a control device mounted on a hybrid vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Hybrid vehicles are known that include drive wheels for propelling the vehicle, a drive motor for driving the drive wheels, a battery for storing electricity, a generator for charging the battery, and an engine that can drive either the generator, the drive wheels, or both the generator and the drive wheels.

[0003] Hybrid vehicles have been proposed that can switch between electric driving, in which the vehicle runs without operating the engine by using only the electricity stored in the battery to drive the drive wheels with the drive motor, and hybrid driving, in which the engine is operated to directly drive the generator or the drive wheels, and the vehicle runs with at least the engine operating.

[0004] One advantage of hybrid vehicles is that they are quiet because they do not generate engine noise when driven electrically. For example, when a vehicle is returning home late at night or leaving early in the morning, it is desirable to run the vehicle electrically so that noise that could disturb nearby residents' rest is not generated.

[0005] However, conventional hybrid vehicles require the driver to manually switch to electric driving. In addition, depending on the remaining battery charge, electric driving may end before the vehicle reaches its destination, such as home, and electric driving is not always possible.

[0006] Patent Document 1 describes an in-vehicle device that enables a hybrid vehicle to travel with low noise while suppressing deterioration in fuel economy when traveling in a residential area, near a home, etc. In the technology described in Patent Document 1, when the vehicle is traveling in an electric driving area, the navigation device determines whether the time zone to which the current time belongs is a time zone for low-noise driving, and further determines whether the road on which the vehicle is traveling is a road on which low-noise driving is required. If both of these determinations result in a positive determination, the navigation device stops the vehicle's engine and instructs the hybrid ECU to perform electric driving, which is driving using only the motor as a power source. This allows electric driving to be performed without the driver performing a switching operation. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-280139 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] However, the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 starts electric driving based on whether the vehicle is traveling in a location where electric driving is desirable or whether the vehicle is traveling during a time period when electric driving is desirable, and we believe that there is room for consideration as to whether the vehicle can arrive at a base or other location while still traveling on electric driving.

[0009] The vehicle also includes a minimum power specifying means for specifying a route with the minimum amount of power required for traveling in an area where electric driving is desirable, and a means for providing route guidance based on the minimum power route specified by the minimum power specifying means. While this allows for consideration of reaching a base or the like while still using electric driving, the driver must still set the destination in a navigation device or the like and must still travel according to the route guidance.

[0010] Although switching to electric driving may not be necessary, it will be necessary to set a destination. In other words, it would be desirable to realize a means for the vehicle to reach a base or other location in electric driving mode without the driver having to perform a switching operation or set a destination.

[0011] The object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device that enables a hybrid vehicle to automatically start quiet electric driving when approaching a base such as a home, without the driver having to perform a switching operation or set a destination on a navigation device, etc. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

[0013] The vehicle control device is mounted on a vehicle that can switch between a first driving state in which the vehicle is driven by transmitting the driving force of an electric motor supplied with power from a battery to drive wheels, and a second driving state in which the vehicle is driven with at least an engine running. The vehicle control device includes: a judgment value storage unit that stores judgment values ​​calculated from a battery consumption required for the vehicle to travel from a predetermined point to a base in the first driving state and a target battery remaining amount upon arrival at the base, and assigns the judgment values ​​to each of a plurality of predetermined points; and a driving state determination unit that starts the vehicle in the first driving state when the current battery charge amount of the vehicle exceeds the judgment value corresponding to the current point of the vehicle. a map information acquisition unit that acquires map information; a driving record accumulation unit that accumulates driving records of the vehicle in association with the map information; and a target state of charge setting unit that corrects a target state of charge; Equipped with The target state of charge setting unit corrects the target state of charge of the battery based on the driving history of the vehicle accumulated in the driving history accumulation unit, and at a point not stored in the judgment value memory unit, operates the engine to drive the generator or directly drives the drive wheels, setting up a second driving state in which the vehicle runs while the engine is running, and corrects the target state of charge of the battery in the second driving state to a higher charging side.

[0014] The vehicle can be switched between a first running state in which the driving force of the electric motor supplied with power from the battery is transmitted to the drive wheels to drive the vehicle, and a second running state in which the vehicle is driven with at least the engine running. Vehicle control device installed in Vehicle control method Anda battery charge amount plan that plans a charge amount of the battery of the vehicle so that the battery of the vehicle reaches a predetermined charge amount when the vehicle travels from a predetermined point on the route in the first traveling state based on the energy consumption amount and reaches the base; assigns and stores a judgment value calculated from the battery consumption required for the vehicle to travel from the predetermined point to the base in the first traveling state and a target battery remaining amount upon arrival at the base to each of a plurality of predetermined points; associates the charge amount of the battery according to the battery charge amount plan with a point on the route in the map information, and determines whether the vehicle will travel in the first traveling state; and starts traveling in the first traveling state when the current battery charge amount of the vehicle exceeds the judgment value corresponding to the current location of the vehicle. In the vehicle control method, the vehicle control device includes a driving history accumulation unit that accumulates driving history of the vehicle in association with the map information, a target state of charge setting unit that corrects a target state of charge, and a judgment value storage unit that assigns and stores the judgment value calculated from the battery consumption required for the vehicle to travel from a predetermined point to a base in the first driving state and the target remaining battery charge upon arrival at the base, for each of a plurality of predetermined points. , and The target state of charge of the battery is corrected based on the driving history of the vehicle accumulated in the driving history accumulation unit, and at points not stored in the judgment value storage unit, the engine is operated to drive the generator or the drive wheels are driven directly, and a second driving state is established in which the vehicle is driven while the engine is operating, and the target state of charge of the battery in the second driving state is corrected to the high charging side. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle in which a vehicle control device according to a first embodiment is applied to a series hybrid vehicle. [Figure 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of a vehicle control device according to the present invention; [Figure 3A] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a map image showing an example of map data. [Figure 3B] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a connection configuration of links. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of node connection information. [Figure 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a battery SOC planned by a battery charge amount planning unit. [Figure 6A] This is a map image in which bases are located close to each other on the map data. [Figure 6B]10 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a first traveling state execution determination value is expanded in the direction of a route. FIG. [Figure 7] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating an operation when the vehicle speed falls below a first running state execution determination value. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the operating state of the engine in a third traveling state. [Figure 9] 10 is an example of a screen projected onto a display device of the interface device. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an energy consumption calculation unit corresponding to the first energy consumption calculation method. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of scoring for estimating average speed. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an estimation formula for vehicle electricity consumption relative to average speed. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an energy consumption calculation unit 25 corresponding to the second energy consumption calculation method. [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart showing a process of generating a speed pattern in a speed pattern generating unit and a process of calculating an energy consumption in an energy consumption estimating unit. [Figure 15] 10A to 10C are diagrams illustrating a process of generating a speed pattern in a speed pattern generating unit. [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a process for estimating energy consumption. [Figure 17] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a main part of a vehicle control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a main part of a vehicle control device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 19] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a driving record stored in a driving record storage unit. [Figure 20] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of charge target SOC correction. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vehicle control device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0017] In the description of the present invention, the first driving state is a state in which the vehicle is driven with an aim to reduce noise and pollution, such as electric driving in which the vehicle is driven by a drive motor using only the electricity stored in the battery without operating the engine, thereby driving the drive wheels.

[0018] A second running state is defined as a running state in which the engine is operated to drive the generator or the drive wheels are directly driven, and the vehicle is run with the engine operating.

[0019] Then, even if the engine is operating, the engine only drives the generator, and the engine output is reduced to achieve a driving state aiming for low noise as much as possible, which is called the third driving state. [Example]

[0020] Example 1 <Vehicle configuration> FIG. 1 shows a vehicle configuration diagram in which a vehicle control device 21 (shown in FIG. 2) according to the first embodiment is applied to a series hybrid vehicle 100. In FIG.

[0021] 1 burns fuel stored in a fuel tank 101 in an engine 102, converting the chemical energy of the fuel into heat and pressure energy through combustion, and then converting this into rotational force (kinetic energy) via a piston mechanism and a crank mechanism (not shown), thereby driving a generator 103. In the generator 103, a magnet (not shown) rotates due to the rotational force of the engine 102, generating electric power through electromagnetic induction. The electric power generated by the generator 103 is used to charge a battery 105 via a generator inverter 104, and also drives a drive motor (electric motor) 107 via a drive inverter 106.

[0022] When the engine 102 is stopped, the drive motor 107 is driven using only the power of the battery 105. When the engine 102 is stopped and the drive motor 107 requires additional power or when the charge level of the battery 105 is low, the generator inverter 104 is operated using the power of the battery 105 to drive the generator 103 as a motor, thereby starting the engine 102. Alternatively, instead of using the generator 103 to start the engine 102, a starting motor (not shown) for the engine 102 may also be provided.

[0023] The driving force of the drive motor 107 rotates the drive wheels 109 via a reduction / operation mechanism 108, causing the vehicle 100 to move forward or backward.

[0024] Additionally, the vehicle 100 can turn left or right by changing the angle of the drive wheels 109 with the steering device 110, and the brake actuator 111 converts kinetic energy into heat by pressing friction material against a drum or disc that rotates together with the drive wheels 109, thereby braking the vehicle 100. Additionally, in a situation where the drive motor 107 is rotated by the inertial force of the vehicle 100 via the reduction / differential mechanism 108, the vehicle 100 can also be braked by regeneratively driving the drive motor 107 and the drive inverter 106. The electric power generated when the drive motor 107 is regeneratively driven is charged into the battery 104 via the drive inverter 106, and the kinetic energy of the vehicle 100 can be regenerated as electric power.

[0025] An integrated controller 1 including a vehicle control device 21 in the first embodiment of the present invention transmits and receives various commands to an engine controller 3, a generator controller 4, a battery controller 5, a drive motor controller 6, and a brake controller 7 via a communication bus 2.

[0026] The integrated controller 1 determines the target outputs of the engine 102 and the generator 103 so that the generator 103 can achieve the power generation output that it should achieve, and issues commands to the engine controller 3 and the generator controller 4 for the target outputs.

[0027] The engine controller 3 controls the output torque of the engine 102 so that the engine 102 can achieve a target output. Based on the rotation speed and temperature of the engine 102 and the amount of air flowing into the engine 102, the engine controller 3 controls the throttle opening of the engine 102, the amount of fuel injected into the engine 102, and the ignition timing of the engine 102.

[0028] The generator controller 4 adjusts the switching frequency and output voltage of the generator inverter 104 based on the rotation speed and temperature of the generator 103 so as to realize the target output of the generator 103 determined by the integrated controller 1 .

[0029] The battery controller 5 measures the current and voltage charged and discharged by the battery 105, detects the state of charge of the battery (hereinafter referred to as battery SOC or SOC), and transmits it to the integrated controller 1. Based on the SOC and temperature of the battery 105, the battery controller 5 determines the output that the battery 105 can charge and discharge, and transmits it to the integrated controller 1.

[0030] The drive motor controller 6 controls the switching frequency and output voltage of the drive inverter 106 based on the rotation speed and temperature of the drive motor 107 so that the drive motor 107 can achieve the drive force commanded by the integrated controller 1. The integrated controller 1 detects the drive force required by the driver from the amount of operation of the accelerator pedal (not shown) and determines the target torque of the drive motor 106.

[0031] The brake controller 7 controls the brake pressure generated by the brake actuator 111 so as to realize the braking force commanded by the integrated controller 1.

[0032] The integrated controller 1 is further connected to a map unit 8, an interface device 9, and a telematics device 10.

[0033] The map unit 8 provides map data corresponding to the current position of the vehicle 100 and the surrounding area obtained by the positioning sensor 112. The map data preferably has a structure in which the shape and connection state of roads are expressed by connections between nodes (points) and links (joints).

[0034] Nodes and links can further include various attribute information such as coordinate information indicating their location, road width, travelable directions, interconnection status, presence or absence of traffic lights, speed limits, average speed, average acceleration, and travel time obtained from traffic surveys, etc., as well as various regulations, altitude, gradient, cant, curvature, etc. Dynamic information such as the current speed, average speed, and average travel time obtained from roadside units and probe information (floating car data) may be updated via the telematics device 10 in any manner.

[0035] The interface device 9 communicates with the integrated controller 1, the engine controller 3, the generator controller 4, the battery controller 5, and the drive motor controller 6, and displays information such as the operating conditions of the engine 102, the generator 103, the battery 105, etc., and the traveling speed of the vehicle 100, through a user interface organized in a format that is easy for the driver to refer to. In addition, a navigation device may be configured that refers to the map information in the map unit 8, superimposes the position of the vehicle 100, and provides route guidance to a destination set by the driver.

[0036] The interface device 9 includes notification means such as meters, displays, speakers, and vibration elements for providing information to the driver, as well as input means such as buttons, volumes, levers, microphones, touch displays, and cameras that can receive instructions from the driver.

[0037] In addition, an external terminal such as a smartphone or tablet terminal may be used to replace the user interface, or may be configured to replace or complement the map data of the map unit 8, or may replace or complement the communication of the telematics device 10.

[0038] 1 shows some elements that are not connected to the communication bus 2, but essentially all elements may be connected in some way to the communication bus 2. Although this does not characterize the present invention, the fact that the integrated controller 1 is connected to elements not shown in the figure in order to execute the processes necessary to operate the vehicle 100 does not limit this, and it is also acceptable for the integrated controller 1 and other controllers, units, and devices to execute processes other than those included in the disclosure of the present invention, the integrated controller 1 may be composed of a group of multiple controllers, some of the processes may be executed by a controller not mounted on the vehicle 100, and another controller not shown may be included in the configuration.

[0039] The integrated controller 1 and other various controllers, units, and devices are composed of a microcomputer or central processing unit (CPU) that performs calculations, a non-volatile memory (Read Only Memory: ROM) that stores programs that describe the calculations, a main memory device (Radom Access Memory: RAM) that stores information during calculations, an A / D converter (Analog-to-Digital Converter) that quantizes the analog amount of the sensor signal and converts it into information that can be used by the program, and a communication port for communicating with other vehicle control devices 21.

[0040] The above-described configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be partially or entirely implemented in hardware, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. Furthermore, the above-described configurations, functions, etc. may be implemented in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that implements each function. Information such as programs, tables, and files that implement each function may be stored in a nonvolatile memory, a storage device such as a hard disk or SSD (Solid State Drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card, SD card, DVD, or tape. Furthermore, the control lines and information lines shown are those considered necessary for explanation, and do not necessarily represent all control lines and information lines in the product. In reality, it can be assumed that almost all components are interconnected.

[0041] Although the above is a simple explanation, the vehicle 100 can realize movements such as running, turning, and stopping according to the driver's requests while providing the driver with information necessary for driving through the above configuration.

[0042] <Configuration of vehicle control device> Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the main parts of a vehicle control device 21 according to the present invention. This vehicle control device 21 may be configured to be included in the integrated controller 1 shown in Fig. 1, or may be configured to combine several controllers.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 2 , the vehicle control device 21 of the first embodiment includes a map information acquisition unit 22 that acquires map data handled by the vehicle control device 21 from the map unit 8 or the like, a base setting unit 23 that associates a base point where the vehicle 100 is mainly used, such as a parking lot at home or at a business, with a point on the map data, a route generation unit 24 that generates a route to reach the base point from the vicinity of the base point, an energy consumption calculation unit 25 that estimates the amount of energy consumption that occurs when the vehicle 100 travels along the route generated by the route generation unit 24, and a calculation unit that calculates the SOC of the battery 105 of the vehicle 100 from the amount of energy consumption calculated by the energy consumption calculation unit 25. a judgment value storage unit 27 that associates the battery charge amount planned by the battery charge amount planning unit 26 with points on the map data and assigns a judgment value for the vehicle 100 to reach the base in a first driving state (a driving state aimed at noise reduction, such as electric driving) to each of a plurality of predetermined points and stores the judgment value as judgment information; and a driving state determination unit 28 that compares the SOC of the battery 105 obtained from the battery controller 5 with the judgment information registered in the judgment value storage unit 27 based on the position of the vehicle 100 obtained from the positioning sensor 112, and determines whether the vehicle 100 will drive in the first driving state or the second driving state.

[0044] The route generation unit 24, the energy consumption calculation unit 25, and the battery charge planning unit 26 constitute a calculation resource 70.

[0045] The determination value is determination information that associates the battery charge amount planned by the battery charge amount planning unit 26 with a point on the route in the map information, and determines whether the vehicle 100 is traveling in the first traveling state.

[0046] The base setting unit 23 displays map information from the map unit 8 on the interface device 9, and the driver specifies any point on the map to set a base such as the driver's home. It is also possible to set a point set as a destination for which route guidance is desired as a base. A home point corresponds to a destination that can be set with fewer operations by pressing a "return to home button" when route guidance is desired. In addition, frequently visited places other than the driver's home, such as a hometown, a hospital or facility where a family member lives separately, a friend's house, or a workplace, can also be considered a base by registering them in advance in the navigation device (not shown) to simplify destination setting, and the base is set based on the registered point information. At this time, it does not matter whether route guidance is being performed to the point registered in the navigation device in advance as a destination candidate.

[0047] The route generation unit 24 searches for and generates multiple routes from the vicinity of the point set as the base by the base setting unit 23 to the base, and generates connection information of links and nodes.

[0048] The energy consumption calculation unit 25 estimates the amount of energy consumption that occurs when the vehicle 100 travels along the route set by the route generation unit 24 .

[0049] The battery charge amount planning unit 26 plans the amount of charge of the battery 105 required for the vehicle 100 to arrive at the base in the first traveling state when the vehicle 100 heads towards the base from the vicinity of the base set by the base setting unit 23.

[0050] The process of planning the battery charge amount when home 31 is set as the base will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B.

[0051] 3A is a map image showing an example of map data of the area around home 31, where home 31 has been set as a base. When home 31 is set by base setting unit 23, a virtual circle 32 is generated to separate points within a predetermined distance range from home 31 from points outside of that range. For the nodes and links on the map included within virtual circle 32, route generation unit 24 lists node connections that can reach home 31, and generates connection information for nodes to be calculated by energy consumption calculation unit 25.

[0052] 3B shows an example of a link connection configuration by enlarging the area around home 31 in FIG. 3A, in which a virtual base node 34 is generated on the link that is the closest point to home 31, and nodes that can be connected to this base node 34 as the starting point are sequentially enumerated, and the search continues up to the node at the end of the link that intersects with virtual circle 32, such as intersection 33 shown as a filled triangle (▲) in FIG. 3A. Therefore, the node at the end of the link where intersection 33 exists is located outside virtual circle 32.

[0053] The virtual circle 32 can be generated, for example, with a radius of 1 km, 3 km, or 10 km from a base point, or it can be set by increasing the radius of the virtual circle 32 until the vehicle 100 can no longer reach home 31 in the first driving state alone, taking into account the battery charge amount plan described below, and performing iterative calculations while increasing the number of links to be calculated.

[0054] An enumeration algorithm such as a so-called breadth-first search can be suitably used to search for and generate connection information for nodes that are the calculation targets of the energy consumption calculation unit 25. In a breadth-first search, nodes can be enumerated in order of proximity to the base node 34, and when performing iterative calculations to determine the virtual circle 32, it is possible to perform a search in which the nodes that have been searched and the outer nodes connected to the links are sequentially enumerated.

[0055] FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the node connection information thus obtained, with the circles in FIG. 4 corresponding to the nodes on the map data, and the solid arrows connecting them corresponding to the links on the map data. Nodes C, N, and O, which are not connected to any links beyond them, are either links where the search has ended or are dead ends. Nodes (G, K, I, J, P) that are only partially connected to links still have links beyond them within the virtual circle 32, but these are omitted as they are not relevant to the explanation. At this time, the route generation unit 24 generates connection information of route nodes that can reach the base node 34 (hereinafter referred to as return route node information).

[0056] The energy consumption calculation unit 25 calculates the energy consumption of the link corresponding to the return route node information generated by the route generation unit 24. The detailed method of calculating the energy consumption will be described later, but the energy consumption calculation unit 25 calculates the energy consumption for each link constituting the node connection information, and associates the node with the amount of energy required to reach the base node 34. For example, the amount of energy required to reach the base node 34 from node I is the sum of the energy consumptions of link B-32, link EB, and link IE.

[0057] 4, if the base node 34 is considered to be upstream, the energy consumption when the vehicle 100 travels from any node to the base node 34 can be obtained by adding up the energy consumption from upstream to downstream. In addition, since the node connection information is generated in a form that also includes the direction in which the link connects to the node, i.e., the traveling direction, it is possible to determine whether the vehicle is proceeding toward the base by checking the order in which the nodes and links are passed through.

[0058] Note that there are two routes from node K to the base node 34: one that passes through node G and one that passes through node H. The route with the shorter travel distance is adopted as the energy consumption when traveling from node K to the base node 34. Alternatively, a route with less energy consumption can be adopted. That is, by determining and storing the energy consumption for each link such as link A-32 and link DA, and storing the total energy consumption from the base node 34 to the target node for nodes such as node A and node K, it is possible to predict how much energy will be consumed at a certain node until reaching the base node 34.

[0059] The battery charge amount planning unit 26 plans the SOC of the battery 105 of the vehicle 100 that allows the vehicle 100 to reach the first driving state toward the home 31 based on the energy consumption calculation result of the energy consumption calculation unit 25, which corresponds to the node connection information generated by the route generation unit 24.

[0060] First, the SOC that should be maintained in the battery 105 of the vehicle 100 when the vehicle 100 arrives at home 31 is determined. When the vehicle 100 departs from home 31, it is not preferable to set a value that completely uses up the battery 105 so that the vehicle can travel in the highly quiet first traveling state, but it is preferable to set a value that leaves the battery 105 charged to a certain extent. For example, it is preferable to select a charge amount that is halfway between the charge amount at which the battery 105 is fully charged (in terms of control) and the charge amount at which the battery 105 needs to be charged, or an appropriate charge amount that is set when the vehicle 100 charges the battery 105 in the second traveling state.

[0061] Alternatively, when vehicle 100 arrives at home 31 in the first traveling state and leaves home 31 in the first traveling state, the traveling distances in each first traveling state may be allocated to be approximately the same. Also, since base node 34 is different from the location where vehicle 100 is parked or stored, the SOC to be maintained in battery 105 of vehicle 100 is determined taking into account the energy consumption associated with traveling from base node 34 to the location where vehicle 100 is parked or stored and the amount of energy consumed for parking. For simplicity, the explanation will continue using an example in which the charge amount is set to be halfway between the charge amount at which battery 105 is (control-wise) fully charged and the charge amount at which battery 105 needs to be charged.

[0062] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the battery SOC planned by the battery charge amount planning unit 26 based on the return route node information shown in Fig. 4. In Fig. 5, the target SOC when arriving at the base node 34 is set to 50%, and since the battery SOC needs to be on the charging side to ensure energy consumption as the vehicle proceeds to downstream nodes, the battery SOC has a higher value the further downstream the node.

[0063] Battery charge SOC at any node n in the node connection information from the amount of consumed energy n For example, the following formula (1) can be used to find the above.

[0064] SOC n =SOC0+U n / (3600 V bat C bat )···(1) In equation (1), SOC0 is the battery SOC corresponding to the charge amount that should be secured for the battery 105 of the vehicle 100 at the base node 34, and U n is the energy consumption [J] at any node n in the node connection information, Vbat is the rated voltage [V] of the battery 105, C bat is the rated capacity [Ah] of the battery 105. 3600 in the formula (1) indicates 3600 seconds.

[0065] 5, the battery SOC at node P is 106%. The fact that the SOC of battery 105 required for vehicle 100 to arrive at base node 34 in the first running state exceeds 100% means that even if vehicle 100 is run in the first running state from the position of node P, recharging will be necessary before arriving at base node 34. In this case, it is not appropriate to run vehicle 100 in the first running state at the point of node P.

[0066] Furthermore, since there is no need to calculate the battery SOC for nodes beyond (downstream from) node P, the calculation may be terminated here. Once the calculation is terminated, it is advisable to set an invalid value or 100% as a temporary value for nodes for which the battery SOC has not been set, so that it can be determined that it is not appropriate to switch to the first driving state.

[0067] As described above, the SOC of the battery 105 required for the vehicle 100 to arrive at the base set by the base setting unit 23 in the first traveling state is set for the node corresponding to the end of the link within the virtual circle 32 and intersecting with the virtual circle 32.

[0068] The judgment value memory unit 27 stores and retains a first traveling state execution judgment value indicating the SOC of the battery 105 required for the vehicle 100 corresponding to the return route node information to arrive at a base such as base 31, 31A or 31B in the first traveling state for the base set by the base setting unit 23.

[0069] Based on the position of the vehicle 100 measured by the positioning sensor 112, the driving state determination unit 28 acquires from the determination value storage unit 27 the first driving state execution determination value of the destination node of the link on the map data corresponding to the road on which the vehicle 100 is traveling, and compares it with the current SOC (for example, if the vehicle 100 is traveling on the road corresponding to link J-F in FIG. 4, the value of node F is referenced). If the SOC of the battery 105 is on the charging side (the SOC of the battery 105 is higher) than the first driving state execution determination value corresponding to the destination node, the driving state determination unit 28 determines that the vehicle 100 will travel in the first driving state, and outputs a first driving state travel request to the integrated controller 1.

[0070] 3A , in order for vehicle 100 to travel in the first traveling state toward home 31, which serves as a base, with respect to its surroundings (the area inside imaginary circle 32), determination value storage unit 27 stores what state the SOC of battery 105 of vehicle 100 should be in. Thus, even if home 31 is not set as a destination or the like in route guidance by navigation, when the driver is traveling vehicle 100 toward home 31, vehicle 100 can be traveling in the first traveling state toward home 31, arrive at home 31, and travel in the first traveling state when departing from home 31 in the next drive.

[0071] In the above description, an example has been shown in which one virtual circle 32 is generated for home 31, but it is also possible that bases are located in close proximity to each other on the map data. As shown in Fig. 6A, when there is an area 35 in which an area included in virtual circle 32A for one base 31A overlaps with an area included in virtual circle 32B for another base 31B, traveling state determination unit 28 determines whether to switch to the first traveling state based on the determination value with the higher SOC.

[0072] 6A, when vehicle 100 arrives at node 36 and the navigation device of vehicle 100 is not performing route guidance (a destination has not been set), vehicle 100 is assumed to head to either base 31A or base 31B. Route 37A is assumed as the route to base 31A, and route 37B is assumed as the route to base 31B, and it is determined at node 38 that the destinations are different.

[0073] At node 36, it is not known whether vehicle 100 is heading to base 31A or base 31B, but since it is entering virtual circle 32A or virtual circle 32B, it is expected that the vehicle will switch to the first driving state, which is quieter, toward the base in accordance with the vehicle control device 21 according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

[0074] In such a case, as described above, the running state determination unit 28 determines whether to switch to the first running state based on the first running state execution determination value having the higher SOC.

[0075] FIG. 6B is a graph in which the first traveling state execution determination value is plotted in the direction of the route from node 36 to site 31A or site 31B.

[0076] In Figure 6B, since the distances from node 36 to base point 31A and base point 31B are different, if the battery SOC is planned so that the SOC is the same at base point 31A or base point 31B, the battery SOC value that serves as the first driving state execution determination value at the same location, for example, nodes 36 and 38, will be different, such as plan 39A for base point 31A and plan 39B for base point 31B.

[0077] In Figure 6A, route 37A, which is intended to head to the first base station 31A, and route 37B, which is intended to head to the second base station 31B, overlap from node 36 to node 38, so the driving state determination unit 28 determines the route that requires a high state of charge of battery 105 (the SOC of battery 105 is greater) based on the first driving state execution determination value based on plan 39A, and decides to switch vehicle 100 to the first driving state.

[0078] After that, the vehicle 100 passes through node 38 and travels along a link heading towards node 40 or a link heading towards node 41. If heading towards node 40, the first driving state execution judgment value based on plan 39A continues to be used to determine whether to switch to the first driving state. If heading towards node 41, the first driving state execution judgment value based on plan 39B is changed to be used.

[0079] By doing this, for example, if the vehicle 100 refers to the first driving state execution judgment value based on plan 39B while traveling from node 36 to node 38 and drives in the first driving state, but after passing node 38 changes to refer to the first driving state execution judgment based on plan 39A, it will become necessary for the battery 105 to be more charged, making it difficult to continue in the first driving state at this point, and there is a risk that the vehicle 100 will not be able to arrive at base 31A in the quieter first driving state.

[0080] In other words, for the area 35 created by the overlap of the virtual circle 32A or the virtual circle 32B for the base point 31A or the base point 31B, the driving state determination unit 28 can refer to the first driving state execution judgment value, which is closer to the charging side, thereby preventing the first driving state from becoming difficult to continue during driving.

[0081] From here, using Figure 7, we will explain the operation when the SOC of battery 105 decreases and falls below the first driving state execution judgment value after vehicle 100 automatically starts control to continue the first driving state while driving inside imaginary circle 32 in Figure 3.

[0082] 7, after the vehicle 100 automatically starts the first driving state, the SOC falls below the first driving state execution determination value at position x1, and the vehicle 100 is no longer able to continue the first driving state. At position x1, the driving state determination unit 28 commands the engine 102 of the vehicle 100 to drive in the third driving state, which is oriented toward noise reduction.

[0083] Furthermore, the traveling state determination unit 28 determines, for the energy consumption calculation unit 25 and the battery charge amount planning unit 26, a charge amount change amount ΔSOC corresponding to the insufficient energy consumption for the route from the position x1 to the position x2 where the first traveling state execution determination value is updated. lack and instructs the upstream node from position x2 to calculate δSOC lack The first running state execution determination value stored in the determination value storage unit 27 is updated to the corrected SOC plan to which the above value has been added.

[0084] In other words, when the vehicle 100 is no longer able to continue the first driving state, the driving state determination unit 28 stores the point where the first driving state ended in the judgment value memory unit 27, and corrects the execution judgment value of the section where the execution judgment value existed on the driving route up to that point to the charging side.

[0085] 8 is a diagram illustrating the operating state of the engine 102 in the third driving state. When the rotation speed of the engine 102 is plotted on the horizontal axis and the torque achieved mainly by adjusting the throttle opening and fuel injection amount of the engine 102 is plotted on the vertical axis, it is known that the fuel consumption rate of the engine 102, i.e., fuel efficiency, is plotted on a contour line as shown as the fuel efficiency contour line.

[0086] At this time, there is an optimum fuel consumption point where the efficiency of the engine 102 is maximized, and normally, when charging the battery 105 of the vehicle 100, the integrated controller 1 determines the output of the generator 103 and the engine 102 and issues commands to the generator controller 4 and the engine controller 3 so that the engine 102 operates at this operating point (optimum fuel consumption point). Also, when the vehicle 100 requires a large driving force, in addition to the power from the battery 105, the power generated by the generator 103 is input to the drive inverter 106 and the drive motor 107, and in this case, the operating point of the engine 102, which is mainly in the output adjustment region, is used.

[0087] Also, immediately after starting the engine 102, the operating point of the engine 102 may exist at the idling point. Here, in the third running state, a third running state operating point is set, which is on the best fuel efficiency line where efficiency is highest at each engine speed and is an operating point where the output of the engine 102 is lower than the best fuel efficiency point and the output adjustment region, and the engine 102 and further the generator 103 are driven at this operating point to charge the battery 105. The third running state operating point has a lower speed than the best fuel efficiency point and the output adjustment region, and in addition, the torque is also lower, so that although the output of the engine 102 is reduced, noise can be reduced and therefore the third running state operating point is appropriate as an operating point for the third running state which is oriented towards low noise.

[0088] As described above, when the SOC of battery 105 drops and falls below the judgment for continuing the first driving state after vehicle 100 automatically starts control to continue the first driving state while driving inside imaginary circle 32 in Figure 3A, as long as vehicle 100 continues driving toward the base, the driving state determination unit 28 will command the third driving state, so that even if engine 102 is in an operating state, the driving state will be one that aims for as low noise as possible, and a corrected SOC plan will be generated to prevent a similar SOC shortage from occurring again.

[0089] From here on, the operation of the interface device 9 related to the vehicle control device 21 of the present invention will be described.

[0090] 9 is a schematic diagram of an example of a screen projected on the display device of the interface device 9. The interface device 9 superimposes the current position of the vehicle 100 on a map image 50 and displays it as a vehicle icon 51 based on the map data registered in the map unit 8 and the measurement results of the positioning sensor 112. This screen allows the driver to check the positional relationship between the current position and the destination, as well as surrounding facilities and road shapes at the current position of the vehicle. Functions constituting a so-called navigation device, such as buttons corresponding to operations such as changing the scale of the map image and returning the screen to the current position, a function for displaying different screens for controlling the air conditioning, audio equipment, etc. of the vehicle 100, and a function for notifying the driver of the status of the engine 102 and battery 105 of the vehicle 100, are achieved by known technologies.

[0091] When the vehicle control device 21 of the present invention automatically starts the first driving state, it notifies the driver through the screen of the interface device 9 as described above, for example, by an icon 52 or text 53, that the first driving state (automatic low noise mode) has automatically started.

[0092] By configuring in this manner, the driver can confirm that control is being implemented to automatically continue the first driving state when the vehicle approaches a base point, even if the driver has not set a destination or the like in the navigation device.

[0093] Furthermore, the interface device 9 can notify the driver that the first driving state has been automatically started, as well as provide the driver with information to make it easier to continue the first driving state. For example, the interface device 9 can notify the driver of information relating to the base, such as an expected route to the base, an SOC that is a determination value for executing the first driving state planned by the battery charge amount planning unit 26, and the battery SOC at the base, based on the node connection information, by superimposing the information on the map image 50.

[0094] If the driver does not want the first driving state that has been automatically initiated, the driver can terminate it at his / her will by pressing the cancel button 54 or the like.

[0095] Although an example of displaying a button on the interface device 9 has been shown here, other methods can be used to terminate the first driving state if the driver does not wish to continue the state automatically. At this time, if the control to automatically switch to the first driving state is interrupted at the driver's discretion, the driving state determination unit 28 prohibits the control to automatically switch to the first driving state until the vehicle 100 arrives at a base or the like and an operation to terminate driving of the vehicle 100 is executed, the driver requests that control be resumed, or the vehicle 100 is located outside the imaginary circle 32 or the like.

[0096] In this way, the function can be stopped for drivers who do not want to automatically switch to the first driving state. Furthermore, after the vehicle 100 has moved outside the virtual circle 32 or the like, when the vehicle 100 moves again inside the virtual circle 32 or the like for the base point, control to automatically switch to the first driving state is started. In this way, even if the driver has forgotten that he or she intentionally canceled switching to the first driving state, it is possible to attempt to switch to the first driving state again, and it is possible to prevent a decrease in opportunities to provide the highly quiet first driving state by switching to the first driving state.

[0097] In the above explanation of the energy consumption calculation unit 25, an example was shown in which one energy consumption amount for each link is obtained, but for example, it is also possible for the electrical component energy estimation unit 68B (shown in FIG. 13) described later to calculate energy consumption amounts for a plurality of states, such as a state in which power consumption is high and a state in which power consumption is low, by changing the combination of the air conditioner, lighting, and driving state, and for the battery charge amount planning unit 26 to plan the SOCs of a plurality of batteries 105. In such a case, when referring to the determination value, the traveling state determination unit 28 refers to a determination value that is planned assuming a configuration that is closer to the current configuration based on the usage status of the air conditioner and lighting of the vehicle 100, thereby more accurately grasping the timing at which the SOC of the battery 105 that allows the vehicle 100 to travel in the first traveling state can be secured.

[0098] Next, an example of calculating the energy consumption for each link will be described.

[0099] The first method is to calculate the energy consumption amount based on the link length and the average power consumption when the vehicle 100 runs in the first running state.

[0100] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the energy consumption calculation unit 25 corresponding to the first energy consumption calculation method.

[0101] 10, a node link attribute information reference unit 61 references the speed limit, average speed, and link length corresponding to the link from the map unit 8. An average electricity consumption calculation unit 62 calculates the average electricity consumption for the traveling speed of the vehicle 100 detected by the speed sensor 69 from the distance traveled by the vehicle 100 in the first traveling state and the amount of change in battery SOC. An average electricity consumption database 63 associates the average electricity consumption for the traveling speed of the vehicle 100 with the speed limit and average speed to create a database. An inter-link energy consumption estimation unit 64 estimates the energy consumption of the link to be calculated from the link length and the average electricity consumption of the vehicle 100.

[0102] The node link attribute information reference unit 61 may estimate the missing attribute information when sufficient attribute information is not available. For example, when only the link length and speed limit or average speed are available and the link travel time is not available, the estimated travel time T EST is calculated from the link length and link speed limit using the following equation (2).

[0103] T EST =L LINK / V REG ···(2) In equation (2), L LINK is the link length of the target link [m], and V REG is the link speed limit [m / s]. V REG The average speed may be used.

[0104] If the average speed is not available, the speed limit is multiplied by a value between 0.2 and 0.8, and this value is used as the average speed. The value between 0.2 and 0.8 may be changed based on the number of lanes on the link, the road type, and whether traffic lights are present at the connecting nodes.

[0105] Fig. 11 shows an example of scoring for estimating average speed, where score values ​​are set for each road type, number of lanes, traffic lights, and number of connected links. Links are scored based on the speed limit and number of lanes of the target link, whether or not there are traffic lights, and the number of connected links, and the coefficients are determined based on the scores, but scoring may also be based on other factors.

[0106] The average electricity consumption calculation unit 62 calculates the distance L traveled by the vehicle 100 in the first traveling state by using the following equations (3), (4), and (5). EV and the battery SOC change amount δSOC during that time, the power change amount δW p and calculate the electricity cost per unit distance as follows: LINK The link energy consumption is calculated by using the calculated link length for each link.

[0107] δSOC=SOC ST -SOC EN ···(3) δW p =δSOC·C B E B ···(4) p LINK =δW p / L EV ···(5) ΔSOC in equation (3) is the amount of change in SOC before and after the vehicle 100 starts running in the first running state, and is the SOC at the time the vehicle 100 starts running in the first running state. ST and SOC at the time when the vehicle 100 ends the first running state. EN The difference between C in Equation (4) B is the rated capacity of the battery 105, E Bis the rated voltage of the battery 105. From equation (5), the change in the amount of electric power per unit distance traveled in the first traveling state, that is, the electric power consumption p LINK Calculate the electricity cost p LINK SOC ST and SOC EN The energy consumption rate per unit distance traveled, P, is calculated by recording the average of multiple times, for example, 10 times or 100 times, using equation (6). LINK It can be said that:

[0108] P LINK =(p LINK(1) +p LINK(2) +···+p LINK(n-1) +p LINK(n) ) / n ···(6) In equation (6), p LINK(1) The number following the subscript is the energy consumption per unit distance traveled n times before, and equation (6) is an example of calculating the average for n times.

[0109] P LINK Using the above, the energy consumption of the target link U is calculated by the following equation (7). LINK can be obtained.

[0110] U LINK =P LINK L LINK ···(7) L in Equation (7) LINK is the link length of the link for which the energy consumption is to be calculated.

[0111] In the process of these calculations, the average speed in the first running state is also calculated, and the vehicle power consumption p LINK By obtaining the estimation formula (6A) above, it is possible to estimate the energy consumption corresponding to the driving state in which the vehicle 100 has driven in the past by referring to the average speed of the link to be calculated.

[0112] p LINK =a·(Va) 2 +b·Va+c ···(6A) In equation (6A), Va is the average velocity, and a, b, and c are constants.

[0113] The second method is to estimate the balance of conservative forces acting on the vehicle 100 and thereby calculate the amount of energy consumed per unit time.

[0114] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the energy consumption calculation unit 25 corresponding to the second energy consumption calculation method.

[0115] 13, a node link attribute information reference unit 65 and a host vehicle information reference unit 66 have substantially the same functions as the node link attribute information reference unit 61 and the host vehicle information reference unit 62 shown in the energy consumption calculation unit 25 in Fig. 10, which correspond to the first energy consumption calculation method. The node link attribute information reference unit 65 acquires attribute information of the link and node corresponding to the return route node information from the map unit 8 or the like. In this example, it acquires at least the length of the link, the speed limit of the link, the travel time of the link, the average speed of vehicles traveling on the link, the average acceleration of vehicles traveling on the link, the gradient of the link, or the altitude of the node, and whether or not there is a traffic light at the intersection corresponding to the node.

[0116] The host vehicle information reference unit 66 references the design specifications and driving history of the vehicle 100, as well as information from other controllers via the communication bus 2. Examples of the design specifications include the dry weight and inertial weight of the vehicle 100, the number of passengers, maximum load capacity, frontal projection area, air resistance coefficient, and tire rolling resistance coefficient. Examples of the driving history include the average energy consumption rate and average acceleration during acceleration or deceleration, as described above. Examples of information referenced via the communication bus 2 include the vehicle 100's driving speed and remaining fuel level, the occupant detection status and seat belt fastening status by the seat occupancy sensor, the SOC of the battery 105, the current and voltage of the battery 105 measured by the battery controller 5, and the operating status of the air conditioner of the vehicle 100, but the information referenced by the host vehicle information reference unit 63 is not limited to these.

[0117] To approximate the actual weight of the vehicle 100, a value that takes into account the passengers, fuel, and cargo may be set in addition to a value based on the design specifications of the vehicle 100, or the vehicle weight may be estimated from the change in acceleration between the acceleration expected from the driving force commanded by the integrated controller 1 and the acceleration actually occurring in the vehicle 100. The value to be added to the value based on the design specifications may be an appropriate value selected from the vehicle's passenger capacity and maximum load capacity acquired by the vehicle information reference unit 66. For example, the weight equivalent to the passengers may be 100 kg or 130 kg, or 0.5 times the maximum load capacity, assuming two passengers. The number of passengers may be detected from the seat belt fastening status of the passengers in the vehicle 100 or from the results of detection by a seating sensor, and the weight equivalent to the passengers may be calculated by multiplying the weight by a predetermined weight, such as 50 kg or 65 kg per person. Alternatively, the weight of the fuel may be estimated by multiplying the remaining amount of fuel by its density. The inertial weight can also be set by referring to the design specifications. Of course, the weight of the vehicle 100 may be obtained by a known method for measuring or estimating the weight of the vehicle.

[0118] The speed pattern generation unit 67 generates a virtual change in speed when the vehicle 100 travels along a link for which energy consumption is to be calculated. For example, the speed may be planned at predetermined time intervals over the travel time of the link for which calculation is to be performed, or the link length for which calculation is to be performed may be divided into predetermined distances and the speed may be planned for each divided position. Examples of such divisions include dividing the link into intervals of 50 m or 100 m, or dividing it into an acceleration region, a cruising region, and a deceleration region.

[0119] The energy consumption estimation unit 68 references the planned speed and various information from the node ring attribute information reference unit 65 and the vehicle information reference unit 66, and estimates the energy consumption when the vehicle 100 travels on the target link. The energy consumption estimation unit 68 is made up of a kinetic energy estimation unit 68A and an electrical energy estimation unit 68B. The assumptions for the calculations will be explained below with reference to Figs. 14, 15, and 16.

[0120] 14 is a flowchart showing the generation of speed patterns in the speed pattern generation unit 67 and the calculation of energy consumption in the energy consumption estimation unit 68. First, the links to be calculated are held in a queue.

[0121] 14, step S71 is a step for checking whether there is a link to be calculated in the queue. If there is no link to be calculated, the calculation result of the energy consumption is output in step S72 and the process ends. If not, the subsequent processes are repeated until there are no more links to be calculated in the queue.

[0122] In step S73, attribute information of the link to be calculated is obtained from the node link attribute information reference unit 61 or the node link attribute information estimation unit 65.

[0123] In step S74, the attribute information of the nodes before and after the link to be calculated is obtained from the node link attribute information reference unit 61 and the node link attribute information estimation unit 65.

[0124] In step S75, the attribute information of the nodes before and after the link to be calculated is used to determine whether the link has a traffic light or a base node at its end node, and if the link does not have a traffic light or a base node at its end node, step S76A or S76B determines whether the start node has a traffic light. Steps S75 and S76A or S76B select a basic speed pattern for the link to be calculated based on whether there is a traffic light before or after the link to be calculated, or whether the link to be calculated connects to a base node.

[0125] The basic speed patterns are one of the following four types: cruise only (pattern A), acceleration and cruise (pattern B), cruise and deceleration (pattern C), and acceleration, cruise, and deceleration (pattern D).

[0126] Patterns A, B, C, and D differ in the combination of acceleration pattern generation in step S77A or S77B, deceleration pattern generation in step S78A or S78B, and cruising pattern generation in steps S79A to S79D, but the calculation procedures for acceleration pattern generation, deceleration pattern generation, and cruising pattern generation are the same. Therefore, the process of generating speed patterns in the speed pattern generation unit 67 will be explained here using FIG. 15 as an example of pattern D, which includes all of acceleration, cruising, and deceleration.

[0127] Pattern D assumes a trapezoidal velocity pattern as shown in Fig. 15. That is, from time T0 to time T1, τ 0-1 Between speed V m (corresponding to the acceleration pattern), and τ 1-2 Speed ​​V over time m After traveling at a speed of 100km / h (corresponding to the cruising pattern), from time T2 to T τ τ up to 2-τ The area of ​​the trapezoid corresponds to the length of the link. The length of the link to be calculated is D LINK Let the average travel time be τ and the absolute value of the average acceleration during acceleration be α a , the absolute value of the average acceleration during deceleration is α d Then, the following equation (8) is obtained.

[0128] D LINK =1 / 2 τ 0-1 ·V m +(τ-(τ 0-1 +τ 2-τ ))·V m +1 / 2·τ 2-τ ·V m ···(8) α in Equation (8) a , α d are the following equations (9) and (10).

[0129] α a =V m / τ 0-1 ···(9) α d =V m / τ 2-τ···(10) From equations (9) and (10), τ 0-1 and τ 2-τ By eliminating, the following equation (11) is obtained.

[0130] (1 / α a +1 / α d )·V m 2 -2 τ V m +2·D LINK =0 (11) The measure Vm is shown in the following equation (11A).

[0131] Vm=(2·τ±√(4·τ 2 -8·(1 / α a +1 / α d )·D LINK )) / (2·(1 / α a +1 / α d )) ···(11A) From the formula for solving the quadratic equation in equation (11), the velocity V m The formula for the solution gives two solutions, but here we find the slower non-negative velocity V m The resulting velocity V m From τ 0-1 , τ 2-τ By calculating each of these, a time series velocity pattern V(t) can be generated.

[0132] In step S77B, the τ obtained as described above is 0-1 and α a The velocity pattern during acceleration is generated from the following equation (12):

[0133] V(t)=α a ·t ···(12) In equation (12), t is the elapsed time from time T0, which corresponds to the time from T0 to T1.

[0134] In step S78B, the speed V m and T 2-τ and α dThen, the speed pattern during deceleration is generated by the following equation (13).

[0135] V(t)=V m -α d (t-T2) (13) (t-T2) in equation (13) is the time from T2 to T τ This corresponds to the elapsed time from T2 to the time

[0136] In step S79D, the velocity V obtained as described above is m The cruise pattern is generated as shown in the following equation (14).

[0137] V(t)=V m ···(14) As shown in equation (14), the cruise pattern assumes uniform motion.

[0138] Step S80 is a calculation process in kinetic energy estimation unit 68A. Kinetic energy estimation unit 68A calculates the work required to move vehicle 100 according to the speed pattern from the balance of conservative forces acting on vehicle 100, and estimates this as energy consumption related to the movement of vehicle 100.

[0139] The total running resistance R is a composite of air resistance, road rolling resistance, acceleration resistance, and resistance caused by gradients that occur when the vehicle 100 moves. t [N] is generally expressed as the following equation (15).

[0140] R t = μ M g + K air ·V 2 +M·g·sinθ+(M+m)·α ···(15) In equation (15), μ is the rolling resistance coefficient of the road surface, M is the vehicle weight [kg], and g is the gravitational acceleration [m / s 2 ], K air is the air resistance coefficient, V is the running speed [m / s], θ is the road gradient, m is the inertial weight during acceleration [kg], α is the acceleration [m / s 2 ].

[0141] FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a process in which the kinetic energy estimation unit 68A estimates the amount of energy consumption associated with the running of the vehicle 100 from the speed pattern generated by the speed pattern generation unit 67. In FIG.

[0142] In order to simplify the calculation, the speed pattern in Fig. 16 is discretized at an appropriate time interval. For example, the discretization can be performed every 1 second or 5 seconds over the travel time. The speed V of the vehicle 100 is [i] and acceleration α [i] , the position on the link corresponding to the speed pattern x [i] Slope θ [i] The output p when the vehicle 100 is moved according to the speed pattern is set as follows. [i] is estimated, and the energy consumption u related to the running (movement) of the vehicle 100 is calculated for the process in step S83 described later. [i] Convert to.

[0143] The energy consumption related to the running of the vehicle 100 is calculated as the product of the running resistance, the travel distance, the reciprocal of the efficiency of the drive inverter 106 and the drive motor 107, and the reciprocal of the transmission efficiency of the reduction / differential mechanism 108 when the vehicle 100 accelerates or cruises, and is calculated as shown in the following equation (16).

[0144] On the other hand, the total running resistance R t If the value is negative, the vehicle 100 is in a regenerative state, and a value that sets a limit on the amount of energy that the vehicle 100 can regenerate is set.

[0145] u [i+1] =p [i] (t [i+1] -t [i] ) ···(16) However, they are defined as in the following equations (16A) and (16B).

[0146] p [i] =R t[i] ·V [i] ·1 / ε·1 / η :R t[i] When ≧0 (16A) p [i] =max(R t[i] ·V [i] ,Pregen ) :R t[i] <0 (16B) Here, it is defined as in the following equation (17).

[0147] R t[i] = μ M g + K air ·V [i] 2 +M g sinθ [i] +(M+m)·α [i] ···(17) In equation (16A), ε is the efficiency of the drive inverter 106 and the drive motor 107, and η is the transmission efficiency of the reduction / differential mechanism 108. In addition, in equation (16B), P regen is the charging input that the battery 105 can receive by regeneratively driving the drive motor 107 and drive inverter 106 of the vehicle 100, and max(R t[i] ·V [i] ,P regen ) is R t[i] ·V [i] and P regen This means taking the largest value of

[0148] During regenerative driving, the power [i] Since is negative, P regen When the regeneration amount is larger than , the battery 105 limits the regeneration amount to an acceptable charge input. The subscript i is a number indicating the number of the link to be calculated when dividing the link into sections over the travel time.

[0149] Furthermore, work [i] The energy consumption U related to the movement of the vehicle 100 on the link being calculated is calculated by taking the sum of k is calculated using the following equation (18).

[0150] U k =Σu [i] ···(18) Step S81 is a calculation process in the electrical equipment energy estimation unit 66B. Energy consumption generated by various controllers including the integrated controller 1 of the vehicle 100, the map unit 8, the interface device 9, the telematics device 10, the air conditioner, lights such as headlights and taillights, wipers, and defroster of the vehicle 100 is estimated.

[0151] These are electrical components that are powered by electricity, so the output (i.e. the amount of power consumed per unit time, or energy consumption) can be determined by measuring the voltage and current. In addition, by referencing the power consumption as a design parameter, the energy consumption per unit time can also be obtained, and this can be set as a function of time.

[0152] The link travel time T obtained from the node link attribute information reference unit 61 and the node link attribute information reference unit 65 LINK [s] or T EST Based on [s], the electrical equipment energy estimation unit 68B calculates the energy consumption U of the electrical equipment when traveling on the target link. E [J] is calculated using the following equation (19).

[0153] U E =P E T LINK ···(19) In equation (19), P E is the combined power consumption of the electrical equipment of the vehicle 100, and corresponds to the sum of the power consumption [W] of various controllers and air conditioners.

[0154] In step S82, the energy consumption estimation unit 68 adds up the calculation results of the kinetic energy estimation unit 68A and the electrical energy estimation unit 68B, and converts the sum into the energy consumption of the link.

[0155] The above shows an example of a method for calculating the energy consumption for each link in the energy consumption calculation unit 25, but in embodiment 1 of the present invention, this is not limited to this, and the energy consumption can be obtained by other means as long as it can estimate the energy consumption of the vehicle 100 corresponding to the link in the return route node information.

[0156] The second method provides a higher accuracy in calculating the energy consumption of the vehicle 100 compared to the first method, but the amount of calculation increases. It is also possible to first attempt to calculate the energy consumption of the link using the second method, and if the information necessary for calculating the energy consumption cannot be obtained, calculate the energy consumption using the first method, i.e., to combine several methods.

[0157] According to the first embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle control device that can automatically start quiet electric driving when a hybrid vehicle approaches a base such as a home, without the driver having to perform a switching operation or set a destination on a navigation device or the like when the hybrid vehicle is traveling near the base such as a home.

[0158] The first embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Modifications will now be described.

[0159] Example 2 Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0160] In a second embodiment of the present invention, the base setting unit 23 in the main part of the vehicle control device 21 shown in Fig. 2 of the first embodiment is provided with a base estimation unit 23A and a base information storage unit 23B, and has the configuration shown in Fig. 17. Since the other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the base estimation unit 23A and the base information storage unit 23B provided in the base setting unit 23 will be described below.

[0161] The base estimation unit 23A stores information for estimating a base in the base information storage unit 23B so as to refer to the points where the vehicle 100 finished driving by going back through a predetermined number of driving times, and estimates the points where the vehicle 100 finished driving with a high frequency of appearance as the base. Then, based on the elapsed time from the end of the vehicle 100 driving to the start of the vehicle 100 driving, it determines whether or not to store the information in the base information storage unit 23B.

[0162] <<Estimation of base by base estimation unit 23A and base information storage unit 23B>> Similar to the base setting unit 23 in the first embodiment of the present invention, the base estimation unit 23A estimates the location set by the driver as his / her home or a registered point as a base, and further estimates locations frequently visited by the vehicle 100 as bases, and stores the estimation results in the base information storage unit 23B as information for estimating the base.

[0163] An example of a base estimation is shown below.

[0164] <Estimation based on driver registration location> A point on the map set by the driver via the interface device 9 as a destination for which the driver expects route guidance from the navigation device is estimated as a base. The home point corresponds to a destination that can be set with a few operations by pressing a "return to home button" when the driver expects route guidance from the navigation device. In addition, frequently visited places other than the home, such as a hometown, a house where a family member lives separately, a hospital or facility, an acquaintance's house or workplace, can also be estimated as a base point, which can be easily set as a destination by registering them in the navigation device in advance.

[0165] <<Estimation based on operation start or stop>> The estimation is performed based on the points where the driver starts and finishes driving the vehicle 100. It is possible that the driver does not necessarily have registered the points in the navigation device as destinations other than the driver's home, such as the aforementioned hometown, hospitals or facilities where family members who live separately are present, the homes of acquaintances, or workplaces.

[0166] Therefore, when the operation to start or end driving of the vehicle 100 is performed, the base estimation unit 23A stores the position information and timestamp in the base information storage unit 23B as information for estimating a base candidate.

[0167] The end of driving can be detected by operating the ignition key or button to put the vehicle 100 into a stopped or standby state so that the vehicle 100 cannot immediately move, or by selecting the parking range by shifting.

[0168] As with the end of driving, the start of driving can be determined by operating the ignition key or button to put the vehicle 100 into driving mode or turn the ignition ON to make the vehicle 100 ready to drive, or by detecting that a range other than parking is selected by shifting, or that the parking brake is released.

[0169] Based on the information for estimating candidate bases recorded in the base information storage unit 23B, the base estimation unit 23A estimates the top three or five locations that appear most frequently among the most recent 10 or 100 driving end information as candidate bases based on the information at the time of driving end.

[0170] The base information stored in the base information storage unit 23B may be grouped appropriately according to the distance between the bases. For example, points within a radius of 10 m or 20 m from a certain point may be considered the same point, and their frequency of appearance may be counted. In this way, even if the positioning sensor 112 contains measurement errors, the base can be estimated taking these errors into account.

[0171] The base estimation unit 23A can perform processing to store the base information stored in the base information storage unit 23B in the base information storage unit 23B based on facility information corresponding to the position on the target map data, without retaining the information.

[0172] For example, if the location to be stored in the base information storage unit 23B is a parking lot of a commercial facility, it is better not to drive in a quiet manner, as this will make it easier for other vehicles, pedestrians, and other traffic participants to know that the vehicle is approaching, and it will be possible to avoid other vehicles colliding with the vehicle without noticing it, or pedestrians being surprised by the vehicle not noticing its approach.

[0173] The base estimation unit 23A can also estimate a base as a candidate based on timestamp information from the base information stored in the base information storage unit 23B, and whether the end or start of driving occurred between specified times.

[0174] For example, this is based on the fact that either or both of the end and start of driving are late at night or early in the morning, such as after 10 PM or before 6 AM. 10 PM and 6 AM are just examples, and the driver may be able to adjust these time periods, or adjustments may be made taking into account factors such as sunset and sunrise.

[0175] In addition, the base information storage unit 23B can also choose not to retain information for estimating candidate bases to be recorded in the base information storage unit 23B for operations that are performed during a short period of time between the end of operation and the start of operation.

[0176] For example, if driving resumes within a 5- or 15-minute gap between the end of a drive and the start of another drive, it is highly likely that the driver is stopping at a location other than their home for a different purpose than the previous destination, or that the driver is stopping at a rest area, convenience store, or other location along the way.

[0177] Whether or not to retain information for estimating candidate bases to be recorded in the base information storage unit 23B can be determined based on the time lapse from the end of driving to the start of driving as described above, or it can be determined based on the timestamp information itself, such as whether the end or start of driving occurred late at night or early in the morning.

[0178] Since the base information storage unit 23B does not have an unlimited number of resources for storing this information, it may be configured to store predetermined operation shutdowns and operation starts by, for example, retaining information on the past 100 or 1000 operation shutdowns and operation starts, and discarding outdated information thereafter.

[0179] By setting the number of times to a predetermined number, it is possible to save resources required for storing this information. In addition, the operation stop and operation start may be stored separately, or the operation stop and operation start may be registered as a pair, or either one may be stored.

[0180] Since it is considered unlikely that the vehicle 100 will move from the point where it stopped driving, the point where driving ended and the point where driving started thereafter are usually the same point, but if the point where driving ended and the point where driving started are different, it is acceptable not to store the information in the base information storage unit 23B.

[0181] By increasing the number of items of this information stored in the base information storage unit 23B, the number of locations that can be candidates for bases can be increased, and the opportunities to start quiet electric driving can be increased without the driver having to perform switching operations or set a destination.

[0182] On the other hand, by reducing the number of items of information stored in the base information storage unit 23B, fewer resources are required to hold the information, and the invention can be implemented at low cost, but the trade-off is that the opportunity to start quiet electric driving without the driver having to perform switching operations or set a destination is lost.

[0183] Therefore, the number of such information items to be stored in base information storage unit 23B is a matter to be adjusted by the business operator implementing the present invention, but it is preferable to store at least about 100 items. For example, when vehicle 100 is used for commuting, for example, if the vehicle departs from home, arrives at work, and then returns home from work, two points are stored.

[0184] If vehicle 100 is used for commuting for five days a week and for trips to different locations on weekends, such as for shopping, and ten locations are memorized over two days, information for the past five weeks can be retained, and sufficient information can be secured to estimate the location based on the behavior of the driver operating vehicle 100.

[0185] The configuration after the base is estimated by the base estimation unit 23A is the same as in the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0186] According to the second embodiment of the present invention, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. In addition, since the base is estimated by the base estimation unit 23A, even if the driver has not registered a location in the navigation device in the form of his / her home, destination, or registered point, the vehicle 100 can automatically switch to the first driving state, which is quieter, for locations frequently visited by the vehicle 100.

[0187] Example 3 Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0188] In the third embodiment of the present invention, in the first embodiment, the route generation unit 24 in the main part of the vehicle control device 21 shown in FIG. 2 generates information on outgoing route nodes departing from the base in addition to information on return route nodes heading from the vicinity of the base to the base, and the energy consumption calculation unit 25 estimates energy consumption for the outgoing route node information as well.

[0189] In Example 3, the route generation unit 24 generates routes from bases 31, 31A, and 31B to the vicinity of bases 31, 31A, and 31B, and the battery charge amount planning unit 26 corrects the charge amount when vehicle 100 arrives at bases 31, 31A, and 31B based on the difference between the energy consumption of the route from the vicinity of bases 31, 31A, and 31B to bases 31, 31A, and 31B and the energy consumption of the route from bases 31, 31A, and 31B to the vicinity of bases 31, 31A, and 31B.

[0190] Other configurations of the third embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore illustrations and detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0191] 3A and 3B show an example in which the battery charge amount planning unit 26 is set so that the battery 105 is 50% when the vehicle arrives at home 31. However, if the charge amount is simply set to the midpoint of the charge amount of the battery 105, there is a risk that a difference will occur in the distance that can be traveled in the first traveling state when heading to home 31 and when departing from home 31. Therefore, a third embodiment of the present invention is an example in which the distances are set to be as close to the same as possible.

[0192] As in the first embodiment of the present invention, the route generation unit 24 generates a virtual base node 34 on the link that is the closest point to the home 31, and by sequentially listing the nodes that can be connected using this base node as the starting point, generates node connection information (outbound node information) for nodes that can be reached from the base node 34 and are included within the virtual circle 32.

[0193] The energy consumption calculation unit 25 also calculates the energy consumption for each link, as in the first embodiment of the present invention. For the outbound node, by summing up the energy consumption from the base node 34 as the upstream node toward the downstream node, the energy consumption when the vehicle 100 travels from the base node 34 to any node can be obtained.

[0194] As in the first embodiment of the present invention, the battery charge amount planning unit 26 plans the SOC of the battery 105 of the vehicle 100 that can reach the first driving state toward the home 31 based on the energy consumption calculation result of the energy consumption calculation unit 25, and determines the SOC (tSOC) of the battery 105 that the vehicle 100 should have when it reaches the home 31 as shown in the following equation (20).

[0195] tSOC=nSOC+(δSOC o -δSOC r ) / 2 ···(20) In equation (20), nSOC is the target SOC of battery 105 when vehicle 100 is traveling in the second traveling state, δSOCo is the amount of change in SOC when vehicle 100 travels from base node 34 to a node outside imaginary circle 32 in the first traveling state, and δSOCr is the amount of change in SOC when vehicle 100 travels from a node outside imaginary circle 32 to base node 34 in the first traveling state.

[0196] In addition, δSOC o and δSOC r Since there are usually multiple nodes outside the virtual circle 32, the average SOC change of the corresponding nodes is calculated as ΔSOC o and δSOC r Let's say.

[0197] In addition to achieving the same effects as in the first embodiment, the third embodiment of the present invention focuses on links that intersect with the virtual circle 32, and corrects the charge amount of the battery 105 that the vehicle 100 should have when it reaches home 31 based on the difference between the energy consumption amount corresponding to the outbound node information and the energy consumption amount corresponding to the return node information, thereby making it possible to make the distance that the vehicle 100 can travel in the first traveling state as close as possible to the same when it is heading to home 31 and when it is departing from home 31.

[0198] Example 4 Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0199] A fourth embodiment of the present invention is configured as shown in Fig. 18, in which vehicle control device 21 of the first embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 2 further includes a driving history accumulation unit 29A and a target state of charge setting unit 29B. The other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore illustrations and detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0200] 18, the driving history accumulation unit 29A accumulates the driving history of the vehicle 100 in association with the map data acquired from the map unit 8.

[0201] When the vehicle 100 is traveling in the second traveling state outside the virtual circle 32 in Figure 3, the target state of charge setting unit 29B corrects the target state of charge of the battery 105 to be higher for links on which the vehicle 100 is traveling more frequently, based on the traveling history accumulated in the traveling history accumulation unit 29A.

[0202] 19 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the driving history accumulated in the driving history accumulation unit 29A. The driving history is accumulated by associating the position information obtained from the positioning sensor 112 with the map data of the map unit 8 or the like each time the vehicle 100 travels a predetermined distance or each time a predetermined time has elapsed in a driving state.

[0203] Point 55 in Fig. 19 corresponds to the travel record. At this time, the target SOC of charge when vehicle 100 travels in the second travel state is corrected for links where there is a travel record and which intersect with imaginary circle 32.

[0204] FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating the SOC change when such a correction is made. The chart is plotted along the horizontal axis, with the home serving as the base at the far right. According to any one of the first to third embodiments of the present invention, the first running state execution determination values ​​for starting the first running state corresponding to the bases 31, 31A, and 31B are planned from the home to the nodes outside the imaginary circle 32. Furthermore, the vehicle 100 runs in the second running state when the SOC drops below the charging start SOC or when the vehicle 100 requires a large driving force. Furthermore, when the battery SOC of the vehicle 100 is being charged above the charging start SOC and the vehicle 100 does not require a large driving force or the battery SOC is charged to an SOC set to a normal charging target SOC, the vehicle 100 transitions to the first running state, and runs while switching between the second running state and the first running state.

[0205] In the fourth embodiment of the present invention, when driving records are accumulated in the driving record accumulation unit 29A, a charging target value correction section is set in an area further outside the imaginary circle 32. For the charging target value correction section, a virtual node is set at the intersection of the link with the driving record and the imaginary circle 32, and a route search is performed in the same manner as the route generation unit 24 of the vehicle control device 21 in the first embodiment of the present invention, to extract links that are outside the imaginary circle 32 and have a driving record.

[0206] For example, it is possible to set a point where the distance traveled from the intersection with the virtual circle 32 as the starting point is equal to the radius of the virtual circle 32, or a distance traveled for 3 or 5 minutes based on the average speed of the link where the intersection is located. Up to such a point, the charging target SOC in the second traveling state is corrected to be closer to the charging side.

[0207] The correction amount of the charge target value is set over the charge target value correction section by adding a predetermined amount, such as +5% or +10%, to the SOC used as the first running state execution determination value at the node outside the imaginary circle 32 or the normal charge target SOC. At the intersection of the imaginary circle 32, the correction amount may be set to a value such as +5% or +10% to the SOC used as the first running state execution determination value at the node outside the imaginary circle 32 or the normal charge target SOC. On the other hand, the correction amount may be changed based on the positional relationship with the intersection with the imaginary circle 32, so that the normal charge target SOC is used at the end of the charge target correction section. It is preferable that the battery SOC of the vehicle 100 is set to be high at the intersection with the imaginary circle 32.

[0208] In addition, these correction amounts may be set to different values ​​for each charge target value correction section corresponding to each intersection. For example, by comparing the number of travel record points per unit distance of a link that has an intersection with the imaginary circle 32, it is determined whether the link has a large number of travel records or a small number of travel records.

[0209] Then, in order to set the link with a large driving history to be more on the charging side, a target value on the charging side, such as the SOC or +10%, which is the first driving state execution determination value at the node outside the imaginary circle 32, is set. On the other hand, in the link with a small driving history, it is possible to set the SOC to be more on the discharging side compared to the link with a large driving history, and the correction amount may be changed according to the driving history.

[0210] For links (routes) with few travel records, the likelihood of heading to the base is not necessarily high, as in the case where travel records are available, and there is a risk that fuel economy will deteriorate due to charging operations.

[0211] 20 shows the battery SOC changes for Example 4 of the present invention, which provides a target charge value correction interval based on driving history, and Examples 1 to 3, which do not provide a target charge value correction interval, as comparative examples. Both Example 4 and the comparative example start from the same SOC at the left end of the chart. In the comparative example, the vehicle transitions from the second driving state to the first driving state at point xA, where the normal target charge SOC is reached. However, the vehicle then transitions back to the second driving state after passing point xC, and finally transitions to the first driving state at point xB, where the vehicle arrives home.

[0212] On the other hand, in Example 4, since a charging target value correction section was set up, the second driving state continued even after passing point xA, and since the SOC, which is the first driving state execution judgment value, was exceeded at point xC, the vehicle was then able to drive in the first driving state to home.

[0213] Furthermore, in Example 4, by providing a charging target value correction section at a point outside the virtual circle 32, it is possible to enter the virtual circle 32 where the first driving state execution determination value exists with an increased SOC, thereby increasing the distance that can be traveled in the first driving state, thereby increasing the opportunities to provide a highly quiet driving state in the first driving state.

[0214] In other words, the target state of charge setting unit 29B corrects the target state of charge of the battery 105 based on the driving history of the vehicle 100 accumulated in the driving history accumulation unit 29A, and at points not stored in the judgment value memory unit 27, the engine 102 is operated to drive the generator or the drive wheels are driven directly, and the vehicle 100 is set to a second driving state in which the engine 102 is operated while driving the engine 102, and the target state of charge of the battery 105 in the second driving state is corrected to the high charging side.

[0215] As described above, according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and in addition, the chances of providing a highly quiet driving state in the first driving state can be increased.

[0216] Example 5 Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0217] In the fifth embodiment of the present invention, among the functions of the vehicle control device 21 shown in FIG. 2 in the first embodiment of the present invention, the functions of the route generation unit 24, the energy consumption calculation unit 25, and the battery charge amount planning unit 26 use computational resources outside the vehicle 100 that are different from the computational resources 70 within the vehicle 100.

[0218] For example, via the telematics device 10, which is a communication device of the vehicle 100, a request is made to a server (having computing resources) installed in a data center or the like for first driving state start judgment value information for the base determined by the base setting unit 23, and the calculation results are obtained by receiving them again via the telematics device 10 and stored in the judgment value memory unit 27.

[0219] In this way, the functions of the route generation unit 24, the energy consumption calculation unit 25, and the battery charge amount planning unit 26, which require computational resources, can be executed on a server with abundant computational resources, making it possible to increase the number of bases, configure the vehicle control device 21 inexpensively, and calculate energy consumption taking into account dynamic maps as map information, for example, restrictions due to construction work and the occurrence of accidents.

[0220] For example, traffic congestion caused by restrictions due to construction work or the occurrence of accidents changes travel time and average speed. By reflecting such changed travel time and average speed, the calculation accuracy of energy consumption can be improved. Furthermore, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the average electricity consumption for estimating energy consumption is calculated based on the driving history of the host vehicle. However, by collecting driving history of vehicles other than the host vehicle in the server, it becomes possible to estimate energy consumption taking into account the energy consumption of vehicles other than the host vehicle on the link to be calculated.

[0221] As a result, according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and in addition, the functions of the route generation unit 24, the energy consumption calculation unit 25, and the battery charge amount planning unit 26 can be configured on a computing resource other than the computing resource provided in the vehicle 100, in particular, on a server that can communicate via the telematics device 10 of the vehicle 100.

[0222] This makes it possible to utilize abundant computing resources and improve the accuracy of estimating energy consumption. Therefore, since the timing to start the first traveling state can be accurately estimated, it is possible to increase the opportunities for the vehicle 100 to travel in the first traveling state toward a base point.

[0223] The computational resource 70 shown in Figure 2 can be replaced with a server (installed outside the vehicle 100) that can communicate via the telematics device 10, and receives judgment information from this server via the telematics device 10 to determine whether the vehicle 100 is traveling in the first traveling state, and stores the judgment value memory unit 28.

[0224] A vehicle control method according to the fifth embodiment will be described.

[0225] The vehicle control method in Example 5 is a vehicle control method for a vehicle 100 that can switch between a first driving state in which the driving force of an electric motor 107 supplied with power from a battery 105 is transmitted to driving wheels 109 to drive the vehicle 100, and a second driving state in which the vehicle 100 is driven with at least the engine 102 operating, and obtains map information and sets a specified point on the map information as a base.

[0226] Next, the set route from a point surrounding the base to the base, the energy consumption when the vehicle 100 travels along the route toward the base, and a battery charge amount plan that plans the charge amount of the battery 105 based on the energy consumption so that the vehicle 100 travels along the route from a predetermined point on the route in a first driving state and reaches the base with the battery 105 of the vehicle 100 at a predetermined charge amount are obtained from a computing resource 70 installed outside the vehicle 100 via the communication device 10. Then, a judgment value calculated from the battery consumption required for vehicle 100 to travel in the first traveling state from a predetermined point to bases 31, 31A, and 31B and the target remaining battery charge upon arrival at bases 31, 31A, and 31B is assigned to each of a plurality of predetermined points and stored. The battery charge amount according to the battery charge amount plan is associated with a point on the route in the map information to determine whether vehicle 100 will travel in the first traveling state, and if the current battery charge amount of vehicle 100 exceeds the judgment value corresponding to the current point of vehicle 100, vehicle 100 will start traveling in the first traveling state.

[0227] According to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, in addition to having the same effects as the first embodiment, the functions of the route generation unit 24, the energy consumption calculation unit 25, and the battery charge amount planning unit 26 can be executed on a server with abundant computing resources, and it is possible to increase the number of bases, configure the vehicle control device 21 inexpensively, and provide a vehicle control device 21 and a vehicle control method that are capable of calculating energy consumption taking into account dynamic maps as map information, for example, restrictions due to construction work and the occurrence of accidents.

[0228] The above describes examples of preferred embodiments of the present invention. The embodiments of the present invention and the drawings used to explain them only show the components necessary for explaining the invention. When actually implementing the invention, components and functions not described in an embodiment of the present invention can naturally be achieved using known techniques.

[0229] Therefore, the present invention is not necessarily characterized by including all of the configurations described, and is not limited to the configurations of the described embodiments. It is possible to replace part of the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention with another embodiment, and it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations as long as the characteristics of the embodiment are not significantly changed.

[0230] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to an embodiment having all of the described configurations.

[0231] According to the present invention, when a hybrid vehicle travels near a set base or the like, quiet electric traveling can be automatically started without the driver having to perform a switching operation.

[0232] Furthermore, even if the driver has not registered base information, quiet electric driving can be automatically started at frequently visited locations that could serve as bases, without the driver having to perform any switching operations.

[0233] Furthermore, highly quiet electric driving can be performed for both driving towards the base and driving departing from the base, and the imbalance in the distance that can be traveled in the first driving state can be eliminated.

[0234] Furthermore, when the driver approaches a base or the like via a route that he or she normally uses, the area in which the vehicle can travel in the first traveling state can be expanded.

[0235] Furthermore, even if there are multiple points that can be used as bases and these are close to each other, it is possible to increase the opportunities to travel in the first traveling state.

[0236] Furthermore, even if it becomes difficult to continue the first traveling state, if the vehicle continues traveling toward the base, the vehicle can be made to travel in such a way as to minimize an increase in noise.

[0237] In addition, by learning that a higher battery charge level was required to drive in the first driving state and reflecting this in subsequent driving, the opportunities to drive in the first driving state can be increased.

[0238] In addition, it is possible to increase the opportunities to travel in the first traveling state to more bases.

[0239] Furthermore, the driver can be notified that the vehicle has been automatically switched to the first driving state, and information can be provided to make it easier for the driver to continue in the first driving state.

[0240] Furthermore, the control for automatically switching to the first driving state in response to a driver's request can be appropriately stopped. [Explanation of symbols]

[0241] 1. Integrated controller, 2. Communication bus, 3. Engine controller, 4. Generator controller, 5. Battery controller, 6. Drive motor controller, 7. Brake controller, 8. Map unit, 9. Interface device, 10. Telematics device, 21. Vehicle control device, 22. Map information acquisition unit, 23. Base setting unit, 23A. Base estimation unit, 23B. Base information storage unit, 24. Route generation unit, 25...energy consumption calculation unit, 26...battery charge amount planning unit, 27...judgment value storage unit, 28...driving state determination unit, 29A...driving record accumulation unit, 29B...target charge state setting unit, 31...home (base), 31A, 31B...base, 32...virtual circle, 33...intersection, 34...base node, 35...area where virtual circles overlap, 36...vehicle position, 37A, 37B...route, 8, 40, 41...node, 39A, 39B...SOC Plan, 50...Map image, 51...Vehicle position icon, 52...Icon, 53...Text, 54...Button, 55...Driving record, 61, 65...Node link attribute information reference unit, 62...Average electricity consumption calculation unit, 63...Average electricity consumption database, 64...Inter-link energy consumption estimation unit, 65...Node link attribute information reference unit, 66...Vehicle information reference unit, 67...Speed ​​pattern generation unit, 68...Energy consumption estimation unit, 68A...Motion engine Energy estimation unit, 68B... electrical energy estimation unit, 69... speed sensor, 70... computing resource, 100... vehicle, 101... fuel tank, 102... engine, 103... generator, 104... generator inverter, 105... battery, 106... drive inverter, 107... drive motor (electric motor), 108... reduction gear / differential device, 109... drive wheels, 110... steering device, 111... brake actuator, 112... positioning sensor

Claims

1. A vehicle control device mounted on a vehicle that can switch between a first running state in which the vehicle is driven by transmitting driving force of an electric motor supplied with power from a battery to drive wheels, and a second running state in which the vehicle is driven by at least an engine operating, a judgment value storage unit that stores judgment values ​​calculated from a battery consumption amount required for the vehicle to travel from a predetermined point to a base in a first traveling state and a target remaining battery charge upon arrival at the base, and assigns the judgment values ​​to each of a plurality of predetermined points; a driving state determination unit that starts driving in the first driving state when a current battery charge amount of the vehicle exceeds the determination value corresponding to a current location of the vehicle; a map information acquisition unit that acquires map information; a driving record storage unit that stores the driving record of the vehicle in association with the map information; a target state of charge setting unit that corrects the target state of charge; Equipped with the target state of charge setting unit corrects the target state of charge of the battery based on the driving history of the vehicle accumulated in the driving history accumulation unit, and at a point not stored in the judgment value storage unit, operates the engine to drive a generator or directly drives the drive wheels, setting a second driving state in which the vehicle runs while the engine is running, and corrects the target state of charge of the battery in the second driving state to a higher charging side.

2. 2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, a base setting unit that sets a predetermined point in the map information as the base; a route generation unit that generates a route from a peripheral point of the base set by the base setting unit to the base; an energy consumption calculation unit that calculates an energy consumption amount when the vehicle travels along the route toward the base; a battery charge amount planning unit that plans a battery charge amount based on the energy consumption amount so that the vehicle travels along the route from a predetermined point on the route in the first traveling state, and arrives at the base with the battery of the vehicle at a predetermined charge amount; Equipped with A vehicle control device characterized in that the judgment value is judgment information that corresponds the battery charge amount planned by a battery charge amount planning unit with a point on the route in the map information and determines whether the vehicle is traveling in the first driving state.

3. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 2, The base setting unit a base estimation unit that estimates a location that will be the base; a base information storage unit that stores information for estimating the base, The base estimation unit A vehicle control device characterized in that the base information storage unit stores information for estimating the base so as to refer to the point where the vehicle finished driving by going back a predetermined number of times before, and the base is estimated to be the point where the vehicle finished driving that appears most frequently.

4. 4. The vehicle control device according to claim 3, The base estimation unit a point where the driving of the vehicle ended, a point where the driving started, a time when the driving ended, and a time when the driving started are stored in the base information storage unit in association with each other; A vehicle control device characterized by estimating the base location where switching to the first driving state should be performed based on whether the time when the driving ended or started falls within a specified time period, and determining whether to store information in the base location information storage unit based on the elapsed time from the end of the driving to the start of the driving.

5. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 2, the route generation unit further generates a route from the base toward a periphery of the base; The battery charge amount planning unit A vehicle control device characterized by correcting the amount of charge when the vehicle arrives at the base based on the difference between the energy consumption of the route from the periphery of the base to the base and the energy consumption of the route from the base to the periphery of the base.

6. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 2, the determination value storage unit stores a first traveling state execution determination value indicating a charge state of the battery required to arrive at the base point; The vehicle control device is characterized in that the driving state determination unit compares the first driving state execution judgment value for the vehicle to arrive at a first base station with the first driving state execution judgment value that is different from the first driving state execution judgment value for the vehicle to arrive at a second base station, and determines the driving state based on the first driving state execution judgment value that is on the higher charge side.

7. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 2, When the first driving state can no longer be continued, the vehicle control device operates the engine at low output, driving only the generator, and transitions to a third driving state in which the engine output is reduced and noise is reduced.

8. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 2, The vehicle control device is characterized in that, when the vehicle is no longer able to continue the first driving state, the driving state determination unit stores the point where the first driving state ended in the judgment value memory unit, and corrects the execution judgment value of the section where the execution judgment value existed on the driving route up to that point to the charging side.

9. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 2, The vehicle control device further includes an interface device that notifies a driver that the vehicle is in the first driving state, and the interface device notifies the driver of information about the base station and an execution determination value for the first driving state when the vehicle starts the first driving state.

10. A vehicle control method for a vehicle control device mounted on a vehicle that can switch between a first running state in which a driving force of an electric motor supplied with power from a battery is transmitted to a driving wheel to drive the vehicle, and a second running state in which the vehicle is driven with at least an engine running, Get map information, setting a predetermined point on the map information as a base; acquires, via a communication device, from a computing resource installed outside the vehicle, the set route from a peripheral point of the base to the base, an energy consumption amount when the vehicle travels along the route toward the base, and a battery charge amount plan that plans a charge amount for the battery based on the energy consumption amount so that the vehicle travels along the route from a predetermined point on the route in the first traveling state and reaches the base with the battery of the vehicle at a predetermined charge amount; assigning a judgment value calculated from a battery consumption amount required for the vehicle to travel from a predetermined point to the base in the first traveling state and a target remaining battery charge upon arrival at the base to each of a plurality of predetermined points, and storing the judgment value; determining whether the vehicle is traveling in the first traveling state by associating the charge amount of the battery according to the battery charge amount plan with a point on the route in the map information; a vehicle control method for starting the vehicle to travel in the first traveling state when a current battery charge amount of the vehicle exceeds the determination value corresponding to a current location of the vehicle, The vehicle control device includes: a driving record accumulation unit that accumulates driving records of the vehicle in association with the map information; a target state of charge setting unit that corrects a target state of charge; and a judgment value storage unit that assigns and stores the judgment value calculated from the battery consumption required for the vehicle to drive from a predetermined point to a base in the first driving state and the target remaining battery charge upon arrival at the base for each of a plurality of predetermined points, correcting the target state of charge of the battery based on the driving history of the vehicle accumulated in the driving history accumulation unit; At a point where the value is not stored in the determination value storage unit, a second traveling state is set in which the engine is operated to drive a generator or the drive wheels are directly driven, and the vehicle is traveling while the engine is operating; a vehicle control method comprising correcting the target state of charge of the battery in the second traveling state to a higher state of charge;

Images