A vehicle comprises an autonomous driving system and a vehicle platform that controls the vehicle in response to a command received from the autonomous driving system. In the vehicle, when a first signalindicates an autonomous mode, the vehicle platform performs a shift change requested through a first command only while the second signal indicates a standstill.

An apparatus comprising an interface and a processor. The interface may be configured to receive pixel data of an exterior environment of a vehicle. The processor may be configured to process the pixel data arranged as video frames, perform computer vision operations to detect objects in the video frames, extract characteristics about the objects detected, determine driving conditions in response to an analysis of the characteristics and generate a control signal. The control signal may be configured to perform a gear shift. The driving conditions may be used to predict a future drivetrain configuration of the vehicle. The gear shift may be performed if a comparison of the future drivetrain configuration with a current drivetrain configuration of the vehicle meets a threshold condition. The gear shift may not be performed if the comparison does not meet the threshold condition.

An ECU has a temperature detection unit that detects an actual temperature of the ECU, a temperature estimation unit that calculates an estimated temperature of the ECU, an abnormality determination unit for determining a presence or absence of a sign of abnormality, and a switching prohibition unit that prohibits the shift range switching in a predetermined case. The switching prohibition unit prohibits the shift range switching when there is no sign of abnormality in the temperature detection unit and the actual temperature is equal to or higher than a switching prohibition threshold, and prohibits the shift range switching when there is a sign of abnormality in the temperature detection unit and the estimated temperature is equal to or higher than a switching prohibition threshold. The temperature estimation unit calculates the estimated temperature based on a latest actual temperature in a normal period.

The control method for a constant speed running of a vehicle performs a vehicle speed control for downshifting the gear position of the automatic transmission when the acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle is larger than the determination value during the constant speed running control. In the control method, the automatic transmission includes a plurality of gear positions that can be downshifted during the constant speed running control, and among the plurality of gear positions, the determination value between the gear positions having a relatively large difference in the gear ratio between the gear positions is set to be larger than the determination value between the gear positions having a relatively small difference in the gear ratio between the gear positions.

A vehicle comprises an autonomous driving system and a vehicle platform that controls the vehicle in response to a command received from the autonomous driving system. In the vehicle, when a first signal indicates an autonomous mode, the vehicle platform performs a shift change requested through a first command only while the second signal indicates a standstill.

An ECU has a temperature detection unit that detects an actual temperature of the ECU, a temperature estimation unit that calculates an estimated temperature of the ECU, an abnormality determination unit for determining a presence or absence of a sign of abnormality, and a switching prohibition unit that prohibits the shift range switching in a predetermined case. The switching prohibition unit prohibits the shift range switching when there is no sign of abnormality in the temperature detection unit and the actual temperature is equal to or higher than a switching prohibition threshold, and prohibits the shift range switching when there is a sign of abnormality in the temperature detection unit and the estimated temperature is equal to or higher than a switching prohibition threshold. The temperature estimation unit calculates the estimated temperature based on a latest actual temperature in a normal period.

A vehicle controller controls a vehicle including an engine and an automatic transmission. The vehicle controller includes an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit estimates power generable by the engine based on a condition of the engine and a condition of the automatic transmission in a non-driving range, calculates a load on the automatic transmission in a driving range based on a condition of the automatic transmission in the driving range, determines whether a difference between the power and the load is equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold by which an engine stall is identifiable, and limits a gear shift request from the non-driving range to the driving range when the difference is equal to or smaller than the predetermined threshold.

A control apparatus for a vehicle that includes an engine; a transmission; a damper and a clutch. The transmission has a gear ratio that is variable in a range including a torque-fluctuation insufficient absorption region in which a damper spring of the damper is elastically deformed to a certain maximum limit when a misfire occurs in the engine. The control apparatus includes: a misfire determination portion configured to determine occurrence of the misfire in the engine; and a misfire-case shift control portion configured, upon determination of the occurrence of the misfire in the engine by the misfire determination portion when the gear ratio of the transmission is in the torque-fluctuation insufficient absorption region, to cause the transmission to execute a shift-down action such that the gear ratio becomes higher than a higher threshold value of the torque-fluctuation insufficient absorption region.

An electronic control unit engages two of friction engagement elements provided in an automatic transmission in a neutral range. The electronic control unit disengages one of the two friction engagement elements engaged in the neutral range at the time of starting gear stage switching of an auxiliary transmission from a low-speed gear stage to a high-speed gear stage in the neutral range, and re-engages the friction engagement element that has been disengaged when determining that the gear stage switching has been completed.

This vehicle control device 10 is provided with: a current gear stage selection unit 13 which selects a current gear stage, which is the gear stage of the vehicle in the present travel state; a travel segment determination unit 15 which determines the next travel segment forwards in the direction of travel of the vehicle V; and a shift control unit 17 which, in the case that the current gear stage selection unit 13 has newly selected a target gear stage lower than the current gear stage during travel of the vehicle V in the current gear stage in the current travel segment, if the next travel segment can be traveled in the current gear stage and the amount the vehicle V will lose speed after traveling the current travel segment is less than or equal to a prescribed threshold value, controls shifting of the gear stage such that downshifting from the current gear stage to the target gear stage is suppressed and the current gear stage is maintained. Even in a state in which downshifting is suppressed, if the state of the vehicle the satisfies a prescribed condition, then the shift control unit 17 controls shifting of the gear stage so as to downshift to the target gear stage without suppression of downshifting.