DRIVE CONTROL DEVICE WITH TRACTION CONTROL FUNCTION FOR RIGHT-LEFT INDEPENDENT DRIVE VEHICLE

Abstract

Traction control unit interposed between torque allocation unit and torque control unit for left and right wheels and each configured to inhibit a slip of the drive wheel during acceleration or deceleration are provided. A longitudinal force estimation unit for estimating longitudinal forces acting on the respective left and right wheels and longitudinal force coincidence control unit are provided. The longitudinal force coincidence control unit compares absolute values of the longitudinal forces on the left and right wheels estimated by the longitudinal force estimation unit, and provides a driving torque command that generates a longitudinal force equal to the longitudinal force whose absolute value is smaller, to the torque control unit for the drive wheel at which the absolute value is larger.

Claims

1. A drive control device with a traction control function for a right-left independent drive vehicle including left and right drive wheels driven independently by drive sources, the drive control device controlling the drive sources for the respective left and right wheels, the drive control device comprising: a torque control unit configured to control the drive sources for the respective wheels in accordance with torque commands provided from a torque allocation unit to the respective left and right wheels; a traction control unit for the left wheel and a traction control unit for the right wheel interposed between the torque allocation unit and the torque control unit for the respective wheels and each configured to perform traction control for inhibiting a slip of the drive wheel during acceleration or deceleration and provide a driving torque command that is a result of the control, to the torque control unit; a longitudinal force estimation unit for the left wheel and a longitudinal force estimation unit for the right wheel configured to estimate longitudinal forces acting on the respective left and right wheels; and a longitudinal force coincidence control unit configured to compare absolute values of the longitudinal forces estimated by the longitudinal force estimation unit for the left and right wheels, and provide, instead of a driving torque outputted from the traction control unit, a driving torque command that generates a longitudinal force equal to the longitudinal force whose absolute value is smaller, to the torque control unit for the drive wheel at which the absolute value is larger.

2. The drive control device with the traction control function for the right-left independent drive vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the drive sources is an electric motor.

3. The drive control device with the traction control function for the right-left independent drive vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the traction control unit is configured to calculate a torque under assumption of no slip from a rotation angular velocity of the drive wheel, to perform feedback of a difference between the calculated torque and the driving torque via a controller to thereby decrease the torque command, and output a driving torque to be actually provided to the torque control unit.

4. The drive control device with the traction control function for the right-left independent drive vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the traction control unit is configured to set a target slip ratio for the drive wheel, to thereby output a driving torque to be actually provided to the torque control unit from a difference between the set target slip ratio and an actual slip ratio via a controller.

5. The drive control device with the traction control function for the right-left independent drive vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the drive source is an electric motor that is a component part of an in-wheel motor drive device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] In any event, the present invention will become more clearly understood from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the embodiments and the drawings are given only for the purpose of illustration and explanation, and are not to be taken as limiting the scope of the present invention in any way whatsoever, which scope is to be determined by the appended claims. In the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals are used to denote like parts throughout the several views, and:

[0025] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a conceptual configuration of a right-left independent drive vehicle to which a drive control device with a traction control function according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied;

[0026] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conceptual configuration of an ECU and one inverter unit of the right-left independent drive vehicle;

[0027] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conceptual configuration of the drive control device with the traction control function;

[0028] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state under a predetermined condition for the drive control device;

[0029] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a conceptual configuration of a drive control device with a traction control function for a right-left independent drive vehicle according to another embodiment;

[0030] FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state under a predetermined condition for the drive control device;

[0031] FIG. 7 is a graph showing a general relationship between a slip ratio and a longitudinal force;

[0032] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a conceptual configuration of an example of a traction control device;

[0033] FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an occurrence of yaw moment in conventional traction control;

[0034] FIG. 10 is a graph showing change of a yaw angular velocity in the case where only traction control is performed;

[0035] FIG. 11 is a graph showing change of a yaw angular velocity in the case where longitudinal force coincidence control for left and right wheels is added to traction control; and

[0036] FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing another example of the traction control device.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0037] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 1 shows a conceptual configuration of an electric vehicle that is a right-left independent drive vehicle to which a drive control device with a traction control function according to this embodiment is applied. The vehicle 1 is a four-wheel automobile including driven wheels 2, 2 as front wheels and drive wheels 3, 3 as rear wheels. The left and right drive wheels 3, 3, which are the rear wheels of the vehicle 1, are independently driven by motors 4, 4, respectively, which are drive sources. In this example, each motor 4, together with a wheel bearing 5 and a reduction gear 6, forms a component part of an in-wheel motor drive device 7. The reduction gear 6 reduces the speed of rotational output of the motor 4 and transmits the rotational output to a rotating ring (not shown) of the wheel bearing 5. The driven wheels 2, 2, which are the front wheels, are turning wheels, and are steered by steering operation device 8 such as a steering wheel via a turning mechanism (not shown).

[0038] A control system of the vehicle 1 includes an ECU 9 and two inverter units 10 (10.sub.L, 10.sub.R) that drive the respective motors 4, 4. The ECU 9 and each inverter unit 10 are connected to each other so as to enable signal transmission therebetween via CAN communication or the like. In the drawings and the specification, portions for the right drive wheel 3 are sometimes assigned with a subscript R or r, and portions for the left drive wheel 3 are sometimes assigned with a subscript L or l, but these subscripts are sometimes omitted particularly when it is not necessary to distinguish between right and left.

[0039] The ECU 9 is an electronic control unit that performs general integrated control and cooperative control of the entirety of the vehicle 1. The ECU 9 is provided with a torque allocation unit 11. The torque allocation unit 11 provides a torque command T* to each of the left and right drive wheels 3, 3. Specifically, the torque allocation unit 11 receives acceleration and deceleration signals from detectors 12a, 13a that detect an operation amount of an acceleration operation device 12 such as an accelerator pedal and an operation amount of a deceleration operation device 13 such as a brake pedal, and generates the torque command T* to be outputted to the inverter unit 10. The torque allocation unit 11 may have a function to provide different torque commands T* to the left and right inverter unit 10.sub.L and 10.sub.R, respectively, in accordance with a steering amount obtained from a steering amount detector 8a for the steering operation means 8. However, in the following description, the case of a straight traveling, during which the same torque commands T* are provided to both inverter units 10.sub.L and 10.sub.R will be described.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 2, each inverter unit 10 includes: an inverter 14 that converts DC power from a battery 16 to AC power and applies the AC power to the motor 4; and a motor control block 15. The motor control block 15 includes an electronic component such as a microcomputer. The motor control block 15 generally includes a torque control unit 17 that receives the torque command T* and provides a driving torque command to the inverter 14. The torque control unit 17 controls the motors 4, 4, which are the drive sources for the respective left and right drive wheels 3, 3, in accordance with the torque commands T* provided from the torque control unit 11 to the left and right drive wheels 3, 3. The torque control unit 17 efficiently controls the motor 4 through phase control such as vector control. The motor control block 15 of the inverter unit 10 having such a configuration is provided with a traction control unit 18 and a longitudinal force coincidence control unit 19. The traction control unit 18 is interposed between the torque allocation unit 11 and the torque control unit 17, and is provided in each of the inverter units 10.sub.L and 10.sub.R in the illustrated example. In the illustrated example, a single longitudinal force coincidence control unit 19 is provided partially in each of both inverter units 10.sub.L and 10.sub.R. Alternatively, the longitudinal force coincidence control unit 19 may be provided in each of the inverter units 10.sub.L and 10.sub.R. The traction control unit 18 and the longitudinal force coincidence control unit 19 are configured by software or the like. The traction control unit 18 and the longitudinal force coincidence control unit 19 may be provided in the ECU 9.

[0041] FIG. 3 shows a specific example of the traction control unit 18 (18.sub.L, 18.sub.R) and the longitudinal force coincidence control unit 19. FIG. 4 shows a diagram obtained by extracting a part of FIG. 3, wherein blocks that do not function in the case where a longitudinal force F.sub.l on the left wheel is smaller than a longitudinal force F.sub.r on the right wheel, are omitted. In FIG. 3, the traction control unit 18 performs traction control for inhibiting a slip of the drive wheel 3 during acceleration or deceleration and provides a driving torque command that is a result of the control, to the torque control unit 17. In this example, the traction control unit 18 calculates, with an adhesion model 20, a torque under assumption of no slip, from a rotation angular velocity of the drive wheel 3, performs feedback of the difference between the calculated torque and a driving torque via a controller 21 to thereby decrease the torque command T*, and outputs a driving torque T to be actually provided to the torque control unit 17. The rotation angular velocity of the drive wheel 3 is obtained, for example, through calculation from a detection value of a rotation angle detector (not shown) provided to the wheel bearing 5 (FIG. 1) or a detection value of a rotation angle detector (not shown) provided to the motor 4.

[0042] More specifically, as the traction control unit 18, a control unit shown in FIG. 8 is applied. The traction control unit 18 in FIG. 8 performs control with the torque command T* as an input and with the rotation angular velocity of the drive wheel 3 as an output. In the embodiment in FIG. 3, the output is a driving torque. In FIG. 3, P(s) is a vehicle characteristic model 22 representing actual vehicle characteristics. P.sup.1(s) is a block called an adhesion model represented by the following formula (1), and the adhesion model 20 is a model that calculates a torque obtained when no slip is assumed, from a rotation angular velocity of the drive wheel 3.

[00001]$\begin{array}{cc}{P}^{-1}\left(s\right)=\left(I+\frac{m}{n}.Math.R^2\right).Math.s& \left(1\right)\end{array}$

[0043] In this formula, I represents moment of inertia of a wheel rotating portion, m represents the vehicle mass, n represents the number of drive wheels, and R represents a wheel radius. The difference between the torque calculated by the adhesion model 20 and the driving torque T is obtained, feedback of the difference is performed via the controller 21 to thereby decrease the torque command T* so as to inhibit a slip, and the driving torque T to be actually provided is obtained.

[0044] In the above traction control, when road surface frictional coefficients of the left and right drive wheels (hereinafter, sometimes referred to simply as left and right wheels) 3 are equal to each other, longitudinal forces generated on the left and right wheels 3 are equal to each other, so that stable acceleration can be performed while inhibiting a slip of each drive wheel 3. However, when the road surface frictional coefficients of the left and right wheels 3 are different from each other, the effect of slip inhibition is present, but as shown in FIG. 9, a difference occurs between the longitudinal forces on the left and right wheels 3 and thus yaw moment occurs in the vehicle, so that there is a possibility of hampering stable traveling.

[0045] Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, control in which the longitudinal forces on the left and right wheels 3 are rendered to be equal to each other is added to the traction control by the longitudinal force coincidence control unit 19. In addition, a longitudinal force estimation unit 23 that estimate longitudinal forces acting on the left and right wheels 3, respectively, in order that the longitudinal forces are used in the control in which the longitudinal forces on the left and right wheels 3 are rendered to be equal to each other are provided. The respective longitudinal force estimation units 23 estimate longitudinal forces on the left and right wheels 3 during the traction control by using the following formulas (2) and (3) based on an equation of motion of each wheel.

[00002]$\begin{array}{cc}{F}_l=\frac{1}{R}.Math.\left(T_l-I.Math.\frac{{}_l}{t}\right)& \left(2\right)\\ F_r=\frac{1}{R}.Math.\left(T_r-I.Math.\frac{{}_r}{t}\right)& \left(3\right)\end{array}$

[0046] In the formulas (2) and (3), a subscript 1 represents the left wheel, and a subscript r represents the right wheel. With the motor drive vehicle, it is easy to recognize the driving torques, and thus longitudinal forces can be estimated by the above formulas. Each driving torque is calculated, for example, from a detection value of a current sensor (not shown) that detects a value of current flowing through the motor 4. The current value and the driving torque have a certain relationship. Other than the above calculation based on the equation of motion, the longitudinal force estimation unit 23 may be configured to, for example, obtain loads in a predetermined direction acting on wheel support means such as the wheel bearings 5 (FIG. 1) supporting the drive wheels 3, from detection values of distortion detection sensors (not shown) and detect longitudinal forces.

[0047] The longitudinal force coincidence control unit 19 compares the longitudinal forces F.sub.l and F.sub.r on the left and right wheels 3 estimated by the longitudinal force estimation unit 23 as described above, and adjusts a driving torque to be provided to the wheel 3 at which the absolute value of the longitudinal force is larger, such that the longitudinal force whose absolute value is larger is rendered to be equal to the longitudinal force whose absolute value is smaller. That is, in addition to the traction control, the driving torque for the wheel 3 at which the absolute value of the longitudinal force is larger is provided on the basis of the following formulas (4) and (5).

T.sub.l=RF.sub.r(when |F.sub.l|>|F.sub.r|)(4)

T.sub.r=RF.sub.l(when |F.sub.l|<|F.sub.r|)(5)

[0048] FIG. 4 shows the case where the absolute value of the longitudinal force F.sub.l on the left wheel is smaller than the absolute value of the longitudinal force F.sub.r on the right wheel as described above. In this case, for the left wheel, a driving torque T.sub.l outputted from the traction control unit 18.sub.L is used for motor drive, while for the right wheel, a driving torque obtained by multiplying, by the wheel radius R, the longitudinal force F.sub.l on the left wheel calculated by the longitudinal force coincidence control unit 19 is used for motor drive.

[0049] In FIG. 3, the longitudinal force coincidence control unit 19 includes: a comparator 19a that compares the absolute values; a torque calculator 19b that multiplies the longitudinal force whose absolute value is smaller, by the wheel radius R to calculate the driving torque T; and a switching section 19c that switches between providing the driving torque T outputted from the traction control unit 18 to the torque control unit 17 and providing the torque T calculated by the torque calculator 19b to the torque control unit 17, in accordance with a result of the comparison by the comparator 19a.

[0050] By performing the operation based on the formulas (4) and (5) in addition to the traction control, it is possible to not only prevent a slip of each wheel and but also eliminate the difference between the longitudinal forces on the left and right wheels to prevent occurrence of undesired yaw moment.

[0051] FIG. 10 shows a yaw angular velocity of the vehicle in the case where only the traction control shown in FIG. 8 is applied and a traveling test with straight traveling and acceleration is carried out. In addition, FIG. 11 shows a yaw angular velocity of the vehicle in the case where longitudinal force coincidence control by the operation based on the formulas (4) and (5) is added to the traction control as shown in FIG. 3 and the same test is carried out. The maximum road surface frictional coefficient is 0.2 for the left wheel and 0.05 for the right wheel, that is, different between left and right. As shown in FIG. 8, only with the traction control, a yaw angular velocity occurs during acceleration, and a turning motion occurs against the driver's intention of traveling straight. On the other hand, by adding the operation based on the formulas (4) and (5) to the traction control, the longitudinal forces on the left and right wheels 3 becomes equal to each other, so that substantially no yaw angular velocity occurs as shown in FIG. 11 and acceleration is enabled with straight traveling.

[0052] In FIGS. 10 and 11, the traction control starts at a time shown by a vertical broken line in the drawings. In addition, the reason why the yaw angular velocity rapidly returns at the right edge of FIG. 10 is that the acceleration is stopped and the application of the traction control is cancelled.

[0053] The configuration of the traction control unit 18 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and may be a configuration shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The example in FIGS. 5 and 6 is the same as the first embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, except for matters described in particular. FIG. 6 shows a diagram obtained by extracting a part of FIG. 5, wherein blocks that do not function in the case where the longitudinal force F1 on the left wheel is smaller than the longitudinal force F.sub.r on the right wheel. In the example in FIGS. 5 and 6, the traction control unit 18 sets a target slip ratio * for each drive wheel, and outputs a driving torque to be actually provided to the torque control unit 17, via the controller 21 from the difference between the set slip ratio and the actual slip ratio. In this control, the slip ratio is defined by the following formula (6).

[00003]$\begin{array}{cc}=\frac{R.Math..Math.-V}{R.Math..Math.}& \left(6\right)\end{array}$

[0054] In the formula (6), R represents a wheel speed, and V represents a vehicle speed. The block diagram shown in FIG. 5 in this embodiment shows a configuration in which the longitudinal force coincidence control unit 19 that performs the operation based on the formulas (4) and (5) is added to traction control shown in FIG. 12. It should be noted that the output of the traction control unit 18 is a driving torque.

[0055] More specifically, in FIG. 12, the slip ratio * is set as an input value to the traction control unit 18. In addition, a slip ratio monitoring unit 25 is provided independently of the traction control unit 18. The slip ratio monitoring unit 25 always calculates the actual slip ratio , and changes a torque calculation method on the basis of the calculation result as follows.

[0056] (1) When >*, a torque is calculated by using the traction control unit 18 as in FIGS. 5 and 6, regardless of the output (torque) of the torque allocation unit 11.

[0057] (2) When *, the traction control unit 18 in FIGS. 5 and 6 is not used, and the output (torque) of the torque allocation unit 11 is directly inputted to the switching section 19c.

[0058] The slip ratio * is a target value, is set to such a value (*=about 0.1 to 0.2) that the longitudinal force is approximately a maximum value in a curve shown in FIG. 7 for any road surface, and is used for control. That is, with reference to FIG. 7, the change of the torque calculation method described in the above (1) and (2) has the following effects.

[0059] (1) In a region where the longitudinal force decreases or almost does not change (>*), a slip is inhibited by the traction control, and a longitudinal force that is approximately the maximum value that can be taken for the road surface is provided.

[0060] (2) In a region where the longitudinal force increases (*), the traction control is not performed, so that the driver enables normal traveling corresponding to a pedal operation.

[0061] In the case of this configuration as well, by performing the operation based on the formulas (4) and (5) in addition to the traction control, it is possible to not only prevent a slip of each wheel 3 and but also eliminate the difference between the longitudinal forces on the left and right wheels 3 to prevent occurrence of undesired yaw moment.

[0062] The present invention is applicable to the case of deceleration with the motors 4, in addition to the time of vehicle acceleration. However, in the case where the traction control using the slip ratio shown in FIG. 12 is performed during deceleration, the slip ratio is defined by the following formula (7), not by the above formula (6).

[00004]$\begin{array}{cc}=\frac{V-R.Math..Math.}{V}& \left(7\right)\end{array}$

[0063] The case of straight traveling has been described above, but the longitudinal force coincidence control unit 19 may be configured, for example, to obtain a steering amount from the steering amount detector 8a for the steering operation means 8 and to include a unit (not shown) that is executed only when the steering amount falls within an allowable range in which the traveling can be regarded as straight traveling. In addition, the case where the right-left independent drive vehicle is an in-wheel motor vehicle has been described in the above embodiment, but the present invention is effectively applicable to an electric vehicle that is a right-left independent drive vehicle in which motors that drive left and right drive wheels, respectively, are mounted on a chassis (not shown). Moreover, the present invention is not limited to the case where the traveling drive sources are motors, and is also applicable to a right-left independent drive vehicle including an internal combustion engine as a traveling drive source. Furthermore, the present invention is applicable to a four-wheel drive vehicle. In this case, the control by the longitudinal force coincidence control unit 19 is applied to two front wheels, and is applied to two rear wheels.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0064] 3 . . . Drive wheel [0065] 4 . . . Motor (Drive source) [0066] 5 . . . Wheel bearing [0067] 6 . . . Reducer [0068] 7 . . . In-wheel motor drive device [0069] 9 . . . ECU [0070] 10, 10.sub.L, 10.sub.R . . . Inverter unit [0071] 11 . . . Torque allocation unit [0072] 17 . . . Torque control unit [0073] 18 . . . Traction control unit [0074] 19 . . . Longitudinal force coincidence control unit [0075] 20 . . . Adhesion model [0076] 21 . . . Controller [0077] 22 . . . Vehicle characteristic model [0078] 23 . . . Longitudinal force estimation unit