Vehicle and method for controlling same

Abstract

Provided is a vehicle that allows an operation device to be mounted without sacrificing the spaciousness of an interior, seating layout properties, and comfort of riding, and is capable of ensuring satisfactory drivability, in an automatic driving vehicle that enables manual driving using a small-sized operation device. A vehicle motion can be controlled by an operator operating the operation device from any position in the vehicle. The vehicle is characterized in that, on the basis of at least one of a position of the operation device in the vehicle and a state of the operator, a reaction force or an actuation amount with respect to an operation related to the vehicle motion is changed.

Description

Vehicle and control method thereof

[0001] The present invention relates to the configuration of a vehicle integrated control system that controls the motion of a vehicle and its control, and in particular to a vehicle and a control method thereof that are effective when applied to an automatically driven vehicle that can be manually driven using a small operating device.

[0002] Autonomous vehicles, which do not require driver operation, are expected to make effective use of the interior space as they are free from the constraints of operating devices such as the driver's seat and steering wheel. For example, it is expected that passengers will be able to carry out a variety of activities inside the car, such as reading, using a smartphone, watching television or movies on an in-car monitor, or conversing with other passengers.

[0003] On the other hand, even with autonomous vehicles, it is expected that there will still be cases where manual driving will be necessary due to complex road conditions that make autonomous driving impossible.

[0004] Therefore, it is desirable to balance the need for manual driving with ensuring a comfortable interior space.

[0005] As background art in this technical field, there is, for example, technology such as that described in Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses "a driving device that prevents accidents caused by sudden starts and sudden accelerations due to erroneous operation of the accelerator pedal of an automobile, enables right and left turns with a steering operation of several tens of degrees, and enables all driving operations to be performed with only both hands."

[0006] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-23266

[0007] As mentioned above, it is expected that manual driving will still be necessary in autonomous vehicles in some cases. Therefore, the challenge is to install an operating device to perform manual driving inside the vehicle without sacrificing interior space, seat layout, or riding comfort, while also ensuring good drivability.

[0008] In addition, since it is expected that the operating feel of the vehicle will differ depending on the installation position of the operating device for manual driving, it is also desirable to obtain an operating feel of the vehicle that is not affected by the installation position of the operating device.

[0009] The above-mentioned Patent Document 1 describes a configuration for estimating the operating status from information such as gripping of the operating handle, but does not include a means for detecting the installation position of the operating device, and does not mention anything about the relationship between the installation position of the operating device and the operating feel of the vehicle.

[0010] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an automatically driven vehicle that can be manually driven using a small operating device, and a control method thereof that can install an operating device without sacrificing interior space, seat layout, or riding comfort, and that can ensure good drivability.

[0011] In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is a vehicle in which the vehicle movement can be controlled by an operator operating an operating device at any position within the vehicle, and is characterized in that the reaction force or actuation amount to an operation related to the vehicle movement is changed based on at least either the position of the operating device within the vehicle or the state of the operator.

[0012] The present invention also provides a vehicle control method that allows an operator to control vehicle movement by operating an operating device at any position within the vehicle, and is characterized by having the steps of: (a) detecting information relating to at least one of the position of the operating device within the vehicle and the state of the operator; and (b) changing the reaction force to the operation relating to the vehicle movement or the amount of actuation relating to the vehicle movement based on the information detected in step (a).

[0013] According to the present invention, it is possible to realize an autonomous vehicle that can be manually driven using a small operating device, and a control method thereof that can install an operating device without sacrificing interior space, seat layout, or riding comfort, and that can ensure good drivability.

[0014] Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the position of an operator in the vehicle 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of cornering. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between an operation input and the lateral acceleration felt by the operator. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between an operation input and an actual operation amount. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example in which the lateral acceleration felt by the operator is the same according to the vehicle control method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between an operation input and the lateral acceleration felt by the operator according to the vehicle control method of this embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of input used to change the reaction force and actuation amount against an operation. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the interior of a vehicle with multiple occupants engaged in various activities. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a method for controlling a vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing yet another example configuration of the vehicle 1. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same components are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description of overlapping parts will be omitted.

[0017] A vehicle and a control method thereof according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. FIG.

[0018] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the basic configuration of a vehicle 1 according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the position of an operator in the vehicle 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of cornering. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between an operation input and the lateral acceleration felt by the operator. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between an operation input and an actual operation amount. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example in which the lateral acceleration felt by the operator is the same according to the vehicle control method of this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between an operation input and the lateral acceleration felt by the operator according to the vehicle control method of this embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of input used to change the reaction force and actuation amount in response to an operation. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the interior of a vehicle with multiple occupants engaged in various activities. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the vehicle control method of this embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing yet another example configuration of the vehicle 1.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 of this embodiment has a pair of front wheels 8FL, 8FR and a pair of rear wheels 8RL, 8RR, and is equipped with in-wheel motors 7FL, 7FR, 7RL, 7RR that apply driving force to the front wheels 8FL, 8FR and the rear wheels 8RL, 8RR, respectively.

[0020] The vehicle 1 also includes a vehicle integrated control controller 3 that comprehensively controls vehicle movement, controlling various devices mounted on the vehicle 1 such as the in-wheel motor 7 of the vehicle 1 that perform actuation related to vehicle movement; a small operating device 92 that the operator uses to input information for manual driving; an operation status detection device 4 that detects the operator's position and posture within the vehicle and the operating status such as which hand is using to operate the small operating device 92; and a device controller 90 that controls the reaction force of the small operating device 92 based on information from the operation status detection device 4 and the vehicle integrated control controller 3.

[0021] During normal autonomous driving, the vehicle 1 receives commands from an autonomous driving controller (not shown) via the vehicle integrated control controller 3, which controls various devices that perform actuation related to vehicle movement to perform autonomous driving. However, when manual driving becomes necessary due to complex road conditions that make autonomous driving impossible, the driver can operate the vehicle (input operations) using a small operating device 92 to manually drive the vehicle 1 by controlling, for example, the torque of the steering device 6BF and the in-wheel motors 7FL, 7FR, 7RL, and 7RR via the device controller 90 and the vehicle integrated control controller 3.

[0022] The term "small" in the compact operating device 92 means that it is smaller than a steering device of a typical vehicle, and is not necessarily limited to an operating device of a specific size.

[0023] 2 shows the definition of the operator's position within the vehicle 1. In a vehicle-fixed coordinate system with the center of gravity of the vehicle 1 as the origin, the x-axis representing the longitudinal direction of the vehicle 1, and the y-axis representing the lateral direction, the operator's position is defined as the x-axis position x ｓIn this embodiment, an example in which lateral acceleration occurs will be described, and therefore the definition of the position in the y-axis direction will be omitted.

[0024] Next, the relationship between the position of the operator within the vehicle 1 and the lateral acceleration felt by the operator will be described.

[0025] Lateral acceleration A at the operator's position when the vehicle 1 is turning ｘｓ can be calculated by the following formula (1).

[0026]

[0027] Here, A ｘｓ is the lateral acceleration at the operator's position, A ｘ is the lateral acceleration of the vehicle, Ψ is the yaw angle of the vehicle, x ｓ is the vehicle-fixed coordinate system x-axis position of the operator. ｓ Ψ (second order differential) is the change in acceleration due to the distance from the center of gravity of the operator.

[0028] When the vehicle 1 turns, the operator position is determined by the center of gravity (x ｓ = 0), x ｓ When the value is positive, that is, when the operator is positioned forward of the center of gravity of the vehicle, the lateral acceleration A ｘｓ increases, and x ｓ When the value is negative, that is, when the operator is located behind the center of gravity of the vehicle, the lateral acceleration A ｘｓ As described above, the lateral acceleration takes on different values ​​depending on the operator's position in the vehicle 1.

[0029] The operation of this embodiment will be described using a scene in which the vehicle 1 is traveling as shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 3 shows the vehicle 1 traveling on a road with a left-hand curve.

[0030] The steering angle of the front wheels, which is an operational input, is adjusted depending on the curvature of the road on which the vehicle 1 is traveling, and the vehicle 1 travels. For example, if manual driving is required when traveling on a road with a left-turning curve as shown in Fig. 3, the operator (passenger) can operate the small operating device 92 at any position inside the vehicle to perform a driving operation (operation input) in accordance with the curvature of the road on the left-turning curve, thereby changing the angle of the tires (front wheels), and the vehicle 1 can travel smoothly around the left-turning curve.

[0031] FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the operation input and the lateral acceleration at the operator's position when the above turning motion is performed.

[0032] The steering angle of the front wheels, which is the operational input, increases as the curvature of the road increases, and the vehicle center of gravity position (x ｓ The relationship between lateral acceleration and operation input at (=0) is such that the lateral acceleration increases as the operation input increases, as shown in the figure. If the position of the operator in the vehicle is further taken into consideration, the characteristics shown in the figure will be obtained. In other words, when vehicle 1 is turning, the lateral acceleration will be a different value depending on the operator's position even if the vehicle movement is the same.

[0033] Therefore, as shown in Figure 5, by performing a conversion that changes the actual operation amount in response to the operation input, it is possible to make the lateral acceleration equal at the operator's position, and the vehicle operation feeling that the operator feels will not change, and it is thought that good drivability can be ensured. Here, when the lateral acceleration feels large at the operator's position, x ｓ If it is >0, the actual operation amount relative to the operation input is reduced, and the lateral acceleration is felt to be small at the operator position. ｓ If <0, a conversion is performed to increase the actual operation amount for the operation input.

[0034] A series of operations in this case is shown in FIG.

[0035] As shown in Figure 6, the operator (passenger) can operate a small operating device 92 at any position inside the vehicle to change the actual operating amount and thereby change the vehicle motion, thereby controlling the vehicle 1 so that the lateral acceleration felt by the operator (passenger) is the same regardless of the position of the operator (passenger) in the vehicle 1.

[0036] The above describes an example of adjusting the steering angle using a small operating device 92, but the vehicle operation feel felt by the operator can also be changed by changing the actual operation amount, such as changing the reaction force against the operation or the actuation amount, such as the amount of acceleration or deceleration.

[0037] For example, when changing the reaction force in response to an operation input, the reaction force is adjusted according to the lateral acceleration. When xs<0, the lateral acceleration is small, but by increasing the reaction force, the operator feels a greater sense of responsiveness to the operation, and from that sense, the operator feels that the lateral acceleration is occurring at the same magnitude as when xs=0.

[0038] The results of changing the actual operation amount are shown in Figure 7. Figure 7 shows an example of the results when changing the steering angle. As shown in Figure 7, the operator feels the same lateral acceleration regardless of the position in the vehicle 1.

[0039] Examples of inputs used to change the reaction force and actuation amount against the operation include, for example, as shown in Figure 8, the shaking and vibration of the vehicle 1, changes in the operator's posture, the operator's personal authentication information, and environmental conditions such as the time of day and road conditions.

[0040] FIG. 9 shows how the vehicle interior becomes like a living room thanks to the vehicle control of the present invention.

[0041] As shown in Fig. 9, while the vehicle 1 is traveling, for example, the occupant 105 can read a book 109. The occupant 106 can listen to music through headphones 110. The occupant 107 can use a smartphone 111. The occupant 108 can use a portable tablet 112.

[0042] A typical vehicle control method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

[0043] First, when control starts, in step S1, information is detected regarding at least the position of the small operating device 92 inside the vehicle, and the state of the operator (occupant), such as the position and posture of the operator, and which hand is used to operate it.

[0044] Next, in step S2, the reaction force to the operation related to the vehicle motion or the amount of actuation related to the vehicle motion is changed based on the information detected in step S1, and the process ends.

[0045] Another configuration example of the vehicle 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0046] As shown in Figure 11, in addition to the configuration shown in Figure 1, the vehicle 1 further includes brakes 15FL, 15FR, 15RL, and 15RR that apply braking forces to the front wheels 8FL and 8FR and the rear wheels 8RL and 8RR, respectively. The vehicle 1 also includes dampers 13FL, 13FR, 13RL, and 13RR that absorb impacts on the front wheels 8FL and 8FR and the rear wheels 8RL and 8RR. The vehicle 1 also includes anti-roll bars 16F and 16R that reduce rolling of the vehicle 1. The vehicle 1 also includes a steering device 6BR that steers the rear wheels.

[0047] In a vehicle 1 configured as shown in FIG. 11 , an operator (passenger) can operate a small operating device 92 from any position inside the vehicle to control the brakes 15, dampers 13 (in this case, active dampers that electronically control damping force), anti-roll bar 16, and steering device 6, thereby changing the actual operation amount, thereby achieving the same effect as in the vehicle 1 of FIG. 1 .

[0048] As described above, the vehicle 1 of this embodiment is a vehicle in which the vehicle movement can be controlled by the operator operating the small operating device 92 at any position inside the vehicle, and the reaction force to the operation related to the vehicle movement or the actuation amount related to the vehicle movement is changed based on at least either the position of the small operating device 92 inside the vehicle or the state of the operator (occupant).

[0049] This makes it possible to obtain the same vehicle operation feel and ensure good drivability, regardless of the installation position of the small operation device 92 or the position and posture of the operator.

[0050] The state of the operator (passenger) includes the position and posture of the operator (passenger) in the vehicle, and which hand is used to perform the operation.

[0051] The actuation amount related to the vehicle motion includes either the steering angle or the acceleration / deceleration amount of the vehicle 1.

[0052] In addition, the change in the reaction force or actuation amount in response to the operation related to the vehicle movement is a change in the position of the small operating device 92 inside the vehicle or a change that reduces the difference in the vehicle operation feel felt by the operator (occupant) depending on the state of the operator.

[0053] The change in the actuation amount related to the vehicle motion can be realized, for example, by providing a torque difference between the left and right wheels of the left and right wheel independent drive system of the vehicle 1.

[0054] In addition, the reaction force to an operation related to vehicle movement or the change in the amount of actuation related to vehicle movement may be controlled to eliminate unintended input by the operator that is input to the small operating device 92 due to factors including shaking or vibration of the vehicle 1 or changes in the posture of the operator (occupant), or to prevent vehicle movement due to such input.

[0055] Furthermore, the characteristics of the change in the reaction force to the operation related to the vehicle motion or the amount of actuation related to the vehicle motion may be adjusted based on personal authentication of the operator (passenger).

[0056] Furthermore, the reaction force to the operation related to the vehicle motion or the amount of actuation related to the vehicle motion may be changed based on environmental conditions including at least one of the time of day and road surface conditions.

[0057] In the vehicle 1 of this embodiment, the use of a small operating device 92 increases the degree of freedom in where the device is installed, allowing for both comfortable manual driving and interior space.

[0058] In addition, by detecting the position and operation method of the operator (passenger), it is possible to predict how the operator feels about vehicle information and their operating tendencies.

[0059] In addition, by changing the reaction force to operations related to vehicle movement and the actuation amount such as the steering angle and acceleration / deceleration amount of vehicle 1 based on the detection of the operator's (passenger's) position and operation method, it is possible to provide the operator (passenger) with the same vehicle operation feel.

[0060] Second Embodiment A vehicle and a control method thereof according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

[0061] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle 1 of this embodiment.

[0062] In Example 1 (Figure 1), an example was shown in which one small operating device 92 was installed in the vehicle 1, but in this Example (Figure 12), multiple (four in Figure 12) small operating devices 91 to 94 are installed in the vehicle 1, which is different from Example 1 (Figure 1).

[0063] As in this embodiment (Figure 12), by mounting multiple small operating devices 91 to 94 at any position on the vehicle 1, when manual driving becomes necessary, the distance that the operator (passenger) must travel inside the vehicle is reduced, improving the comfort of the interior space of the vehicle.

[0064] Furthermore, when moving the vehicle 1 in the REAR direction (normally, when the vehicle 1 is moving backward), the operator can sit facing the REAR direction and manually operate the vehicle using the small operating devices 93, 94. Even when moving the vehicle 1 backward, the operator (passenger) can get the same feeling of operating the vehicle as when moving forward.

[0065] Third Embodiment A vehicle and a control method thereof according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

[0066] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle 1 of this embodiment.

[0067] The vehicle 1 of this embodiment (FIG. 13) differs from that of embodiment 1 (FIG. 1) in that, in addition to the configuration of embodiment 1 (FIG. 1), it further includes a display device 95 connected to the vehicle integrated control controller 3.

[0068] By configuring the display device 95 to allow the operator to change information outside the vehicle (images displayed on the display device 95), the operator (passenger) can easily change the reaction force to operations related to vehicle movement or the amount of actuation related to vehicle movement.

[0069] Furthermore, by adjusting the image displayed on the display device 95, it is possible to obtain the same effect as changing the reaction force or actuation amount using the small operating device 92. In other words, it is possible to obtain the same vehicle operating feel and ensure good drivability, regardless of the installation position of the operating device or the position and posture of the operator.

[0070] Also, for example, if the operator (passenger) has been subjected to a constant lateral acceleration until then, but the lateral acceleration disappears due to road conditions, it is possible to intentionally control the operator (passenger) so that they receive the same lateral acceleration so that they can obtain the same vehicle operation feel.

[0071] The display device 95 may be a monitor or screen installed on the vehicle 1, or may be configured with a display located right next to the steering operation device, like a drone with a display function.

[0072] Furthermore, in the vehicle 1 described in the first to third embodiments above, if the vehicle 1 is an in-wheel motor (IWM) vehicle, changing (adjusting) the actual operation amount by direct yaw moment control (DYC) can provide a natural feeling to the operator (occupant) because there is no delay in the torque response of the IWM vehicle.

[0073] Furthermore, the small operating devices 91 to 94 may be, for example, wireless mice.

[0074] When the vehicle 1 is traveling backward, the rear wheels relative to the traveling direction are steered. In this case, the drivability is controlled to be the same as when the vehicle 1 is traveling forward.

[0075] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those including all of the described configurations. Furthermore, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, or to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Furthermore, it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations.

[0076] 1...vehicle, 3...vehicle integrated control controller, 4...operation status detection device, 6, 6BF, 6BR...steering device, 7, 7FR, 7FL, 7RR, 7RL...in-wheel motor, 8, 8FR, 8FL, 8RR, 8RL...wheel, 13, 13FR, 13FL, 13RR, 13RL...damper, 15, 15FR, 15FL, 15RR, 15RL...brake, 16, 16F, 16R...anti-roll bar, 20, 20E, 20L, 20R, 20S...road edge, 90...device controller, 91 to 94...small operating device, 95...display device, 101 to 104...seat, 105 to 108...occupant, 109...book, 110...headphones, 111...smartphone, 112...portable tablet

Claims

1. A vehicle in which vehicle movement can be controlled by an operator operating an operating device at any position within the vehicle, characterized in that a reaction force to an operation related to the vehicle movement or an actuation amount related to the vehicle movement is changed based on at least either the position of the operating device within the vehicle or the state of the operator.

2. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the state of the operator includes any one of the operator's position, posture and which hand is used to operate within the vehicle.

3. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the actuation amount relating to the vehicle motion includes either the steering angle or the acceleration / deceleration amount of the vehicle.

4. A vehicle as described in claim 1, characterized in that the change in the reaction force or actuation amount in response to an operation related to the vehicle movement is a change in the position of the operating device within the vehicle or a change that reduces the difference in the vehicle operation feel felt by the operator depending on the state of the operator.

5. A vehicle as described in claim 1, characterized in that the change in the reaction force to the operation related to the vehicle movement or the change in the amount of actuation related to the vehicle movement is a change in the image on a display device that displays information outside the vehicle to be provided to the operator.

6. A vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that the change in the actuation amount relating to the vehicle motion is a left / right torque difference of a left / right wheel independent drive system of the vehicle.

7. A vehicle as described in claim 1, characterized in that the reaction force to the operation related to the vehicle movement or the change in the actuation amount related to the vehicle movement is implemented so as to remove unintended input by the operator input to the operating device due to factors including vehicle swaying, vibration, or change in the operator's posture, or to prevent vehicle movement due to said input.

8. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the reaction force to the operation related to the vehicle movement or the change in the actuation amount related to the vehicle movement is adjusted based on personal authentication of the operator.

9. A vehicle as described in claim 1, characterized in that the reaction force to the operation related to the vehicle movement or the change in the actuation amount related to the vehicle movement is carried out based on environmental conditions including at least one of the driving time period and road surface conditions.

10. A vehicle control method in which an operator can control vehicle movement by operating an operating device at any position within the vehicle, the method comprising: (a) a step of detecting information relating to at least one of the position of the operating device within the vehicle and the state of the operator; and (b) a step of changing a reaction force against an operation related to the vehicle movement or an actuation amount related to the vehicle movement based on the information detected in step (a).

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