A human-powered vehicle control device controls the transmission that changes the transmission ratio of a human-powered vehicle. The control device includes an electronic controller that switches between a first control state for controlling the transmission to change the transmission ratio in accordance with a first prescribed set of conditions, and a second control state for controlling the transmission to suppress the change of the transmission ratio as compared with if the electronic controller is in the first control state, in accordance with at least one of the motion state of the body of the human-powered vehicle, the steering state of the human-powered vehicle, the surface conditions of a travel path on which the human-powered vehicle travels, and a pedaling preparation state related to the pedals of the human-powered vehicle.

A segment determination device has an altitude information acquisition unit that acquires altitude information about points on a road, and a feature amount determination unit that determines a feature amount indicating gradient information about the road based on the altitude information about points including a first point ahead a vehicle and a second point ahead of the first point. The altitude information acquisition unit acquires altitude information about another points farther from the vehicle until the determined feature amount is outside of a predetermined range. The segment determination device further has a segment determination unit that, in a case where the feature amount is outside of the predetermined range, determines a segment in which the first point is set as a start point and whichever of two points adjacent to the second point that is closer to the vehicle is set as an end point.

A manual mode training system for a vehicle having a manual transmission or a “manual mode” transmission controlled by a paddle shifter. The system includes a sensor to obtain force and position information from a foot pedal of the vehicle, and a processor to receive the information. Based on the information, the processor may predict an intended vehicle response, determine an appropriate gear to achieve the intended vehicle response, and notify a driver, through a haptic feedback mechanism, how to shift the transmission of the vehicle to reach the appropriate gear. A corresponding method is also disclosed and claimed herein.

A vehicle control device includes: a travel section determination unit configured to determine a forward travel section that is a travel section having a different road gradient from a current travel section in which a vehicle is currently traveling and that is ahead in a travel direction of the vehicle; a forward gear stage selection unit configured to select a forward gear stage which is a gear stage of the vehicle in the forward travel section; and a shift control unit configured to, in a case where the selected forward gear stage is lower by two or more stages than the current gear stage which is a gear stage of the vehicle in the current travel section and when the vehicle is positioned within a predetermined range from a start position of the forward travel section, perform downshift from the current gear stage to the forward gear stage.

In a case where a vehicle is in a first mode in which suppression of fuel consumption is prioritized, a forward gear stage selection unit selects as a forward gear stage a gear stage at which a minimum travelable vehicle speed, which is a minimum speed among a speed of the vehicle at which a driving force indicated by a driving force characteristic is equal to or greater than a travel resistance of a travel resistance characteristic, is highest, and in a case where the vehicle is in a second mode in which improvement of travel performance is prioritized, the forward gear stage selection unit selects as the forward gear stage a gear stage at which a maximum travelable vehicle speed, which is a maximum speed among the speed of the vehicle at which the driving force is equal to or greater than the travel resistance, is highest.

A vehicle includes a main body, a transmission having a plurality of gear stages, a data storage, and an electronic controller. The data storage stores vehicle running condition data that includes at least one of a prescribed vehicle running condition, a sensed vehicle running condition, or a transmitted vehicle running condition. The electronic controller determines a gear shift of the gear stages of the transmission based on a future vehicle speed that has been estimated based on the vehicle running condition data.

This vehicle control device 10 is provided with: a current gear stage selection unit 13 which, on the basis of the travel resistance of the vehicle, selects a current gear stage, which is the gear stage of the vehicle in the current travel segment where the vehicle is traveling; a next gear stage selection unit 16 which selects a next gear stage, which will be the gear stage of the vehicle in the next travel segment, forwards in the travel direction of the vehicle, having a road slope different from that of the current travel segment; and a shift control unit 17 which, if during travel of the vehicle in the current travel segment in the current gear stage, the current gear stage selection unit 13 has newly selected a target gear stage higher than the next gear stage, controls shifting such that upshifting from the current gear stage to the target gear stage is suppressed and the current gear stage is maintained. If, in a state in which upshifting is suppressed, the engine rotation speed reaches or exceeds a prescribed value during travel in the current travel segment, the shift control unit 17 controls shifting so as to upshift to the target gear stage without suppression of upshifting.

In a case where a vehicle is in a first mode in which suppression of fuel consumption is prioritized, a forward gear stage selection unit selects as a forward gear stage a gear stage at which a minimum travelable vehicle speed, which is a minimum speed among a speed of the vehicle at which a driving force indicated by a driving force characteristic is equal to or greater than a travel resistance of a travel resistance characteristic, is highest, and in a case where the vehicle is in a second mode in which improvement of travel performance is prioritized, the forward gear stage selection unit selects as the forward gear stage a gear stage at which a maximum travelable vehicle speed, which is a maximum speed among the speed of the vehicle at which the driving force is equal to or greater than the travel resistance, is highest.

A vehicle transmission can perform predictive shifting. Road grade and vehicle path data can be employed to identify a future change in road grade such as a hill. A change in speed relative to a vehicle cruise speed can be estimated or predicted in view of the change in road grade and a current gear. If the change of speed is determined to be outside a performance bound, shift recommendation can be determined to maintain vehicle cruise speed within the performance bound. A controller can alter default gear selection of the transmission in response to receipt of the shift recommendation.

A device and a method of controlling a transmission of a vehicle may include a determining device that compares road information related to a first road section corresponding to a road section on which the vehicle is currently traveling and a second road section disposed ahead of the first road section to determine a gradient of the second road section, a calculating device that determines an increase amount of a gradient-inducing resistance based on a difference between gradients of the first road section and the second road section according to a determination result from the determining device, and a controller that compares the increase amount of the gradient-inducing resistance with a reference value to perform transmission control and engine torque control based on comparison of the increase amount of the gradient-inducing resistance with the reference value.