Device for operating a motor vehicle, and motor vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for operating a motor vehicle, comprising a model-predictive drive operation module which is designed to generate a drive signal for the motor vehicle in a model-predictive manner on the basis of a first drive specification, a second drive specification, and a motor vehicle specification, wherein the first drive specification is a speed specification of a driver, the second drive specification is a speed band specification of the driver, and the motor vehicle specification is a speed deviation specification. The device also comprises a control module which is designed to control the motor vehicle on the basis of the generated drive signal.

Description

[0001] Device for operating a motor vehicle and motor vehicle

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a device for operating a motor vehicle and to a motor vehicle having such a device.

[0003] Today's driving operation modules generate driving signals for operating a motor vehicle predominantly on a rule-based basis.

[0004] It is therefore an object to provide an improved device for operating a motor vehicle.

[0005] This problem is solved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Further developments are specified in the dependent claims.

[0006] According to a first aspect, a device for operating a motor vehicle is provided.

[0007] The device comprises a model-predictive driving operation module which is designed to model-predictively generate a driving signal for the motor vehicle as a function of a first driving specification, a second driving specification and a motor vehicle specification, wherein the first driving specification is a speed specification of a driver, wherein the second driving specification is a speed range specification of the driver and wherein the motor vehicle specification is a speed deviation specification, and a control module which is designed to control the motor vehicle based on the generated driving signal.

[0008] The device uses in particular a speed specification and a speed range specification of the driver to generate driving signals for the operation of the motor vehicle in a model-predictive manner.

[0009] The modules of the device described in more detail below are particularly software-based and are implemented, for example, by executing specific program data from a computing unit. For this purpose, the device comprises a model-predictive driving operation module configured to model-predictively generate a driving signal for the motor vehicle depending on a first driving command, a second driving command, and a motor vehicle command. The first driving command is a speed command from a driver, the second driving command is a speed range command from the driver, and the motor vehicle command is a speed deviation command.

[0010] The driving operation module is a module that fulfills or supports a specific driving function, in particular a longitudinal control function, of the motor vehicle.

[0011] For example, one driving function is a speed control function, which can also be referred to as cruise control. This speed control function maintains a certain speed without the driver having to actively operate the drive or brakes.

[0012] Another example is a distance control function. This distance control function maintains a specific distance from a vehicle ahead without the driver having to actively operate the engine or brakes.

[0013] Another example of a driving function is a curve-holding function, which can also be referred to as a curve assistant. This curve-holding function follows a curve or road layout and adjusts the speed to the curve radius without the driver having to actively operate the drive or brakes.

[0014] These driving functions can also be collectively referred to as adaptive cruise control (ACC), with the driving mode module fulfilling at least one or more sub-functions.

[0015] The driving specifications initially comprise driver specifications, namely a speed specification and a speed range specification. The speed is the speed that the speed control function should maintain. The speed range specification is a speed range within which deviations from the speed can or may be permitted. For example, the speed specification is a speed of 100 km / h, and the speed range specification is a range of + / - 10 km / h. This means that the driving signal for the motor vehicle is generated in the range of 100 km / h + / - 10 km / h or causes operation within this range.

[0016] In addition to the driving specifications, a vehicle specification is also taken into account, which concerns a speed deviation specification. This vehicle specification cannot be influenced by the driver, but is a specification from the vehicle manufacturer specifying the extent to which the speed specification may be deviated from within the speed range and in the respective driving mode. The deviation, in particular, continues to occur exclusively within the speed range.

[0017] The speed deviation setting thus depends in particular on the speed setting and the driving mode, both of which are selected by the driver. However, the deviation itself is not adjustable by the driver but is preset. For example, a higher speed setting allows or enables a greater deviation from the speed than a lower speed setting.

[0018] In addition, other requirements can also be taken into account, such as legal requirements that, for example, specify a prescribed minimum distance that the distancing function must maintain.

[0019] In this context, model predictive control specifically encompasses the ability to make predictions about the future behavior of a system—in this case, a motor vehicle—based on a model, based on constraints and / or objectives to be achieved. In particular, model predictive control does not mean rule-based. Model predictive control, or model predictive control (MPC), specifically encompasses model-based and optimization-based control. Specifically, it involves solving dynamic optimization problems with an objective function and constraints, for example, using an optimizer, particularly a gradient-based one.

[0020] For this purpose, the model predictive driving operation module has access to one or more sensors and / or one or more pieces of information stored in a memory.

[0021] For example, the driving operation module can access one or more environmental sensors, one or more map information and / or one or more driving operation sensors.

[0022] In particular, the driving operation module has access to one or more camera devices, one or more lidar devices, and / or one or more radar devices arranged on or in the motor vehicle. These sensors can also be collectively referred to as perception sensors. Likewise, in particular, the driving operation module has access to one or more memory devices in which map information is stored and which are arranged on or in the motor vehicle. Also, in particular, the driving operation module has access to one or more driving operation sensors, such as one or more speed sensors and / or acceleration sensors.

[0023] The driving signal may include instructions or information from which the controller or a control module can control the motor vehicle. In particular, the driving signal includes a signal that indicates an acceleration and / or one or more moments, or from which an acceleration and / or one or more moments can be derived.

[0024] The torque signal can comprise a braking torque signal, i.e., a specific braking torque to be achieved, and / or a drive torque signal, i.e., a specific drive torque to be achieved. The drive torque can also be referred to as traction torque. In particular, the driving signal can comprise multiple drive torque signals, for example, one for an internal combustion engine and one for an electric motor. The drive torque signal can also assume negative values, which are then interpreted as a recuperation signal of the electric motor. The generated driving signals thus comprise multiple signals, for example, in the form of a driving signal vector.

[0025] The device also comprises a control module configured to control the motor vehicle based on the generated driving signal.

[0026] For this purpose, the control module can have access to one or more actuators of the motor vehicle, in particular one or more of an acceleration actuator and / or a brake actuator, which cause an acceleration and / or braking actuation of the motor vehicle.

[0027] This device makes it possible to generate predictive driving signals for the operation of the motor vehicle. In particular, the device makes it possible to generate driving signals not only based on a speed setting but also based on a speed range setting, thus enabling a particularly comfortable ride.

[0028] According to a further development, the model-predictive driving operation module is further designed to generate the acceleration signal based on a third driving specification, wherein the third driving specification is a driving mode specification of the driver.

[0029] A driver's driving mode setting is a setting that relates to a driving or operating mode of the motor vehicle. In particular, the motor vehicle has several preset driving modes from which the driver can select one.

[0030] For example, the motor vehicle has a sporty driving mode in which, in particular, a travel time of the motor vehicle is optimized, and an energy-efficient driving mode in which, in particular, energy saving is optimized.

[0031] Optional driving modes can also be provided, for example, a balanced driving mode that balances travel time with energy savings. This advanced feature allows the driver to operate the vehicle in various driving modes, thus enabling particularly user-friendly operation.

[0032] According to a further development, the model-predictive driving operation module is designed to generate the driving signal based on topographic information.

[0033] As described above, the driving operation module can have access to one or more sensors and / or one or more pieces of information.

[0034] The information may, in particular, comprise map information, which includes, for example, curve information and, in particular, topographic information. Topographic information includes, in particular, information about the earth's surface or the terrain along a route of the motor vehicle. In particular, the topographic information includes information about an incline and / or a decline along the route.

[0035] The model-predictive driving operation module is designed to generate the driving signal based, among other things, on this topographical information. The model-predictive driving operation module can, of course, use or evaluate additional information and sensor data to generate the driving signal.

[0036] This further development enables particularly predictive driving signal generation.

[0037] According to a further development, the model predictive driving operation module minimizes a cost function.

[0038] In particular, the driving operation module solves the cost function taking into account the speed and the driver's speed range. The cost function will be explained in more detail later.

[0039] This refinement enables particularly predictive driving signal generation. According to one refinement, the cost function takes into account the energy available in the vehicle's energy storage device, a deviation from the specified speed, and / or elapsed time.

[0040] The cost function can give different weightings to the energy available in the vehicle's energy storage device, the deviation from the speed target and / or the elapsed time.

[0041] In particular, the cost function is defined as follows:

[0042] Where E storage the energy storage of the motor vehicle available energy, e set is the deviation from the speed target and t is the elapsed time. The corresponding weights are w £ ,w set and w t , which reflect or take into account the driving mode specification. The factor w tA value that depends on both the driving mode and the speed limit, or has different weighting values ​​for different driving modes and different speed limits. The other factors denoted by w are also weights.

[0043] The index k describes the state or the manipulated variable at position k along the horizon. The vector-valued variable x describes the states of the dynamic system. These are

[0044] In this case, a position-related formulation is chosen, ie the position along the horizon is the free variable and the time t becomes a state.

[0045] The deviation from the speed specification is defined as follows:

[0046] Here, v set k the speed setting and v k the actual or recorded speed of the motor vehicle.

[0047] The other terms of the cost function are defined as follows: and

[0048] The other terms serve in the case of a jerk (jerk j) for regularization and serve as a convenience function or form in the case of , ö uth , öj and ö a so-called slack variables to determine whether the lower and upper tolerance limits are exceeded or not Uh and v uth which define the speed band specification or the upper and lower acceleration and jerk limits a u , a L and j u , j L to penalize. The indices ith and uth stand for lower threshold and upper threshold, respectively.

[0049] The following constraints are defined:

[0050] The vector-valued variable u describes the manipulated variables resulting from the changes in the

[0051] Traction force dF Trac and the braking force dF Brake The acceleration a MPC , which is passed to the control module, is calculated from these state variables.

[0052] The embodiments of the device thus make it possible for different weights to be used for different driving modes at different speed specifications, which result in different driving behavior.

[0053] For example, the speed setting can be adjusted downwards by a value Av for an energy-efficient driving mode and upwards for a time-oriented driving mode. Based on this adapted speed setting v set , adapt will nun e i n Time weight w t selected so that this adapted set speed is reached. Thus, the time weight w t to a function of the adapted speed setting and thus w t (vset adapt ).

[0054] Likewise, the weight w set can be chosen very small, since w E and w t the system sufficiently follows the speed limit. set can now be used to display the dynamic deviation from the speed specification according to requirements.

[0055] Furthermore, the embodiments are independent of the drive type and can be used for motor vehicles with an internal combustion engine as well as with an electric drive and also for a combination of both.

[0056] According to a further aspect, a motor vehicle is provided with an embodiment of a previously described device for operating a motor vehicle.

[0057] The motor vehicle according to the invention is preferably designed as a motor vehicle, in particular as a passenger car or truck, or as a passenger bus or motorcycle. Regarding the embodiments of the motor vehicle and the associated advantages, reference is made to the previously described embodiments of the device and the associated advantages.

[0058] In the following, exemplary embodiments of the device for operating a motor vehicle are described in conjunction with the following figures. Shown are:

[0059] Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a device for operating a motor vehicle.

[0060] In the figures, the same reference symbols designate elements with the same function.

[0061] Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of a device 100 for operating a motor vehicle. The device is, in particular, comprised in a motor vehicle.

[0062] The device 100 comprises a model-predictive driving operation module 10, which is designed to model-predictively generate a driving signal for the motor vehicle as a function of a first driving specification, a second driving specification and a motor vehicle specification, wherein the first driving specification is a speed specification of a driver, wherein the second driving specification is a speed range specification of the driver and wherein the motor vehicle specification is a speed deviation specification.

[0063] The device 100 also includes a control module 20 configured to control the motor vehicle based on the generated driving signal.

[0064] The model-predictive driving operation module 10 of the device 100 is further configured to generate the acceleration signal based on a third driving specification, wherein the third driving specification is a driving mode specification of the driver.

[0065] The model-predictive driving operation module 10 of the device 100 is also configured to generate the driving signal based on topographic information. The model-predictive driving operation module 10 includes a cost function 11 and is configured to minimize it.

[0066] The cost function 11 takes into account the energy available in an energy storage device of the motor vehicle, a deviation from the speed specification and an elapsed time and weights these differently.

[0067] Reference symbol model predictive driving operation module cost function control module device

Claims

Patent claims 1 . A device (100) for operating a motor vehicle, comprising: a model-predictive driving operation module (10) configured to model-predictively generate a driving signal for the motor vehicle as a function of a first driving specification, a second driving specification, and a motor vehicle specification, wherein the first driving specification is a speed specification of a driver, wherein the second driving specification is a speed range specification of the driver, and wherein the motor vehicle specification is a speed deviation specification; and a control module (20) configured to control the motor vehicle based on the generated driving signal.

2. Device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the speed deviation specification is dependent on the speed specification.

3. Device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the model-predictive driving operation module is further configured to generate the acceleration signal based on a third driving specification, wherein the third driving specification is a driving mode specification of the driver.

4. Device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the model-predictive driving operation module is designed to generate the driving signal based on topography information.

5. Device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the model-predictive driving operation module minimizes a cost function (11).

6. Device (100) according to claim 4, wherein the cost function (11) takes into account an energy present in an energy storage device of the motor vehicle, a deviation from the speed specification and / or an elapsed time.

7. Device (100) according to claim 5, wherein the cost function (11) weights the energy present in an energy storage device of the motor vehicle, the deviation from the speed specification and / or the elapsed time differently.

8. Motor vehicle comprising a device (100) according to one of the preceding claims.

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