JP6622845B2 - Vehicle control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle control device that controls a host vehicle by determining a traffic jam situation on a road.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, navigation apparatuses that display road congestion information received from a road traffic information communication system (VICS (registered trademark)) via a communication or the like on a map have become widespread (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2013-217713 A

  An electric vehicle may have four inverters (two for front wheels and two for rear wheels). In this case, the inverter sound due to the carrier frequency of the four inverters during traveling is larger than that of an electric vehicle on which only one or two inverters are mounted. In particular, in a traffic jam, the vehicle speed is low and other noises such as traveling noise are small, so that the inverter sound reverberates in the vehicle and the quietness is lowered.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the vehicle control apparatus which can improve silence.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a vehicle control device according to the present invention includes a plurality of drive motors that independently drive the front wheels and the rear wheels, a motor control unit that controls the plurality of drive motors, and a drive that drives the front wheels. A front wheel inverter that rectifies power supplied to the motor, a rear wheel inverter that rectifies power supplied to a drive motor that drives the rear wheel, and an inverter control unit that controls the front wheel inverter and the rear wheel inverter; A four-wheel drive by a drive motor that drives the front wheels and a drive motor that drives the rear wheels when it is determined that there is no traffic jam. Control, it is determined that the traffic is congested, and the drive motor that drives the front wheels and the drive motor that drives the rear wheels when the front wheel inverter operates normally are controlled. To 0, the inverter control unit is determined to be congested, characterized by stopping the rear wheel inverter when said drive motor and said wheel inverter for driving the front wheels is operating normally.

Whether the traffic jam determination unit is congested based on at least the distance between the front vehicle and the host vehicle derived from the image acquired by the image acquisition unit that acquires the front image of the host vehicle and the number of the front vehicles. It may be determined.

  According to the present invention, quietness can be improved.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the electric vehicle of this embodiment. It is the functional block diagram which showed the schematic function of the external environment recognition apparatus. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating a color image and a distance image. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a traffic congestion determination process. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the number determination process of a front vehicle. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the number determination process of a front vehicle. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a drive control mode determination process.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

  In the following embodiments, an electric vehicle capable of independently driving four wheels will be described as an example, but any vehicle having a drive motor and an inverter capable of independently driving at least front wheels and rear wheels may be used. In addition, the vehicle control device that controls the electric vehicle 100 includes a plurality of functional units that configure the electric vehicle 100.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an electric vehicle 100 (own vehicle) of the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, a solid arrow indicates a data flow, and a broken arrow indicates a control flow. As shown in FIG. 1, in an electric vehicle 100, front wheels 110a and 110b and rear wheels 110c and 110d are connected to drive motors 130a, 130b, 130c, and 130d via gears in gear boxes 120a, 120b, 120c, and 120d, respectively. Connected. The drive motors 130a, 130b, 130c, and 130d are connected to the battery 150 via the front wheel inverters 140a and 140b and the rear wheel inverters 140c and 140d, respectively, and rotate to generate power by the power supplied from the battery 150. The electric power obtained by this is stored in the battery 150.

  The front wheel inverters 140a and 140b rectify the power supplied to the drive motors 130a and 130b for driving the front wheels 110a and 110b, and the rear wheel inverters 140c and 140d are driven motors 130c for driving the rear wheels 110c and 110d, The power supplied to 130d is rectified.

  The drive motors 130a, 130b, 130c, and 130d are driven (rotated), and the front wheels 110a and 110b and the rear wheels 110c and 110d are independently rotated.

  The battery 150 is connected to the battery controller 160 and controlled by the battery controller 160. The battery controller 160 is connected to the drive control device 170 in addition to the battery 150, monitors the charge / discharge current amount, temperature, and the like of the battery 150, and calculates the remaining capacity of the battery 150 based on the charge / discharge current amount. And the data regarding these batteries 150 are output to the drive control apparatus 170 as needed.

  The drive control device 170 is configured by a semiconductor integrated circuit including a central processing unit (CPU), a ROM storing programs, a RAM as a work area, and the like, and controls the entire electric vehicle 100. Specifically, the drive control device 170 is connected to each of the wheel rotation speed sensors 180a, 180b, 180c, 180d, the accelerator pedal sensor 190, and the shift sensor 200, and each sensor (180a, 180b, 180c, 180d, 190, 200). ) To receive the signal indicating the value detected. The drive control device 170 is connected to the front wheel inverters 140a and 140b and the rear wheel inverters 140c and 140d, and transmits control signals to the front wheel inverters 140a and 140b and the rear wheel inverters 140c and 140d. ing.

  The wheel rotation speed sensors 180a, 180b, 180c, and 180d are constituted by, for example, resolvers, detect the rotation speeds of the front wheels 110a and 110b, and the rear wheels 110c and 110d, respectively, and output a signal indicating the rotation speed to the drive control device 170. . The accelerator pedal sensor 190 detects the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal and outputs a signal indicating the amount of depression to the drive control device 170. The shift sensor 200 detects the shift position (neutral, drive, back, etc.) inserted by the shift lever, and outputs a signal indicating the shift position to the drive control device 170.

  The drive control device 170 acquires signals from the wheel rotation speed sensors 180a, 180b, 180c, 180d, and the accelerator pedal sensor 190 at predetermined intervals. Further, when the shift sensor 200 detects the movement of the shift lever to the drive and outputs a signal indicating the shift position of the drive to the drive control device 170, the drive control device 170 grasps that the vehicle is ready for traveling. Thus, drive control of the drive motors 130a, 130b, 130c, and 130d is executed. Specifically, the drive control device 170 includes a motor control unit 172, an inverter control unit 174, and a traffic jam determination unit 176.

  The motor control unit 172 determines the output (torque) of each drive motor 130a, 130b, 130c, 130d based on the signals received from the wheel rotation speed sensors 180a, 180b, 180c, 180d and the accelerator pedal sensor 190, A signal to that effect is output.

  The inverter control unit 174 converts the front wheel inverters 140a and 140b and the rear wheel inverters 140c and 140d so as to convert the DC power from the battery 150 into AC power corresponding to the output determined by the motor control unit 172. Control.

  The traffic jam determination unit 176 determines whether the road on which the electric vehicle 100 is traveling is congested. The traffic jam determination process by the traffic jam determination unit 176 will be described in detail later.

  In addition, the electric vehicle 100 includes imaging devices (image acquisition units) 210a and 210b and an environment recognition device 212 outside the vehicle.

  The imaging devices 210a and 210b are configured to include an imaging device such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS), and each of the two imaging devices 210a and 210b on the traveling direction side of the electric vehicle 100. They are spaced apart in a substantially horizontal direction so that their optical axes are substantially parallel.

  The imaging devices 210a and 210b can capture an environment corresponding to the front of the electric vehicle 100 and generate a color image using color values. Here, the color value is from a YUV format color space consisting of one luminance (Y) and two color differences (U, V), and three hues (R (red), G (green), B (blue)). A numerical value group represented by any one of the RGB color space or the HSB color space consisting of hue (H), saturation (S), and brightness (B).

  The vehicle exterior environment recognition device 212 analyzes the image data acquired by the imaging devices 210a and 210b, and the drive control device 170 controls the drive of the electric vehicle 100 based on the analysis result by the vehicle exterior environment recognition device 212. Hereinafter, the configuration of the outside environment recognition device 212 will be described in detail.

(Exterior environment recognition device 212)
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a schematic function of the outside environment recognition device 212. As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle exterior environment recognition device 212 includes an I / F unit 214, a data holding unit 216, and a central control unit 220.

  The I / F unit 214 is an interface for performing bidirectional information exchange with the imaging devices 210 a and 210 b and the drive control device 170. The data holding unit 216 includes a RAM, a flash memory, an HDD, and the like. The data holding unit 216 holds various pieces of information necessary for processing of each functional unit described below, and temporarily stores image data received from the imaging devices 210a and 210b. Hold on.

  The central control unit 220 is constituted by a semiconductor integrated circuit including a central processing unit (CPU), a ROM in which programs are stored, a RAM as a work area, and the like. Through the system bus 218, an I / F unit 214, a data holding unit 216 etc. are controlled. In the present embodiment, the central control unit 220 also functions as the image processing unit 222, the three-dimensional position information generation unit 224, and the three-dimensional object specification unit 226. Hereinafter, detailed operations of such functional units will be described in the order of image processing and three-dimensional object specifying processing.

(Image processing)
The image processing unit 222 acquires image data from each of the two imaging devices 210a and 210b, and selects a block corresponding to a block arbitrarily extracted from one image data (for example, an array of horizontal 4 pixels × vertical 4 pixels) on the other side. The parallax is derived using so-called pattern matching that is searched from the image data. Here, “horizontal” indicates the horizontal direction of the captured color image, and “vertical” indicates the vertical direction of the captured color image.

  As this pattern matching, it is conceivable to compare the luminance (Y color difference signal) in units of blocks indicating an arbitrary image position between two pieces of image data. For example, SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference) that takes a luminance difference, SSD (Sum of Squared Intensity Difference) that uses the difference squared, or NCC that takes the similarity of a variance value obtained by subtracting an average value from the luminance of each pixel There are methods such as (Normalized Cross Correlation). The image processing unit 222 performs such block-unit parallax derivation processing for all blocks displayed in the detection region (for example, horizontal 600 pixels × vertical 180 pixels). Here, the block is assumed to be horizontal 4 pixels × vertical 4 pixels, but the number of pixels in the block can be arbitrarily set.

  However, the image processing unit 222 can derive the parallax for each block, which is a unit of detection resolution, but cannot recognize what kind of three-dimensional object the block is. Therefore, the parallax information is independently derived not in units of solid objects but in units of detection resolution (for example, blocks) in the detection region. Here, an image in which the parallax information derived in this way (corresponding to a relative distance described later) is associated with image data is referred to as a distance image.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the color image 230 and the distance image 232. For example, it is assumed that a color image 230 as shown in FIG. 3A is generated for the detection region 234 through the two imaging devices 210a and 210b. However, only one of the two color images 230 is schematically shown here for easy understanding. In the present embodiment, the image processing unit 222 obtains a parallax for each block from such a color image 230, and forms a distance image 232 as shown in FIG. Each block in the distance image 232 is associated with the parallax of the block. Here, for convenience of description, blocks from which parallax is derived are represented by black dots.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the three-dimensional position information generation unit 224 uses the so-called stereo method to calculate disparity information for each block in the detection region 234 based on the distance image 232 generated by the image processing unit 222. Convert into 3D position information including horizontal distance, height and relative distance. Here, the stereo method is a method of deriving a relative distance of the three-dimensional object from the imaging devices 210a and 210b from the parallax of the three-dimensional object by using a triangulation method. At this time, the three-dimensional position information generation unit 224 determines the target based on the relative distance of the target part and the detected distance on the distance image 232 between the point on the road surface and the target part at the same relative distance as the target part. The height of the part from the road surface is derived. Since various known techniques can be applied to the relative distance deriving process and the three-dimensional position specifying process, description thereof is omitted here.

(3D object identification processing)
The three-dimensional object specifying unit 226 uses the luminance based on the color image 230 and the three-dimensional position information based on the distance image 232 to specify which three-dimensional object the target portion (pixel or block) in the detection region 234 corresponds to. . Further, the three-dimensional object specifying unit 226 functions as various specifying units according to the three-dimensional object to be specified. Here, the three-dimensional objects to be identified include not only objects that exist three-dimensionally independently such as vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, traffic lights, roads, guardrails, buildings, but also taillights, blinkers, lighting parts of traffic lights, etc. This includes things that can be identified as part of the thing.

  The steering mechanism and the brake that change the direction of the front wheels 110a, 110b and the rear wheels 110c, 110d are controlled according to the three-dimensional object specified by the three-dimensional object specifying process, and the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle is kept at a safe distance. Cruise control, speed control processing based on the speed limit indicated on the road sign, and the like are performed.

  Further, drive control by the drive control device 170 is performed based on the three-dimensional object specified by the three-dimensional object specifying process. In the present embodiment, the three-dimensional object specifying unit 226, for example, specifies the rear part of another vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a front vehicle) located in front of the electric vehicle 100, and is further arranged at the rear part of the front vehicle. Brake lamp (lighting device) and tail lamp (lighting device) are specified. Then, the drive control device 170 performs drive control based on the specific processing result of the brake lamp and the tail lamp.

  By the way, since the electric vehicle 100 includes four inverters (front wheel inverters 140a and 140b and rear wheel inverters 140c and 140d), the electric vehicle 100 is caused by the carrier frequency of the four inverters during traveling. The inverter sound is louder than an electric vehicle on which only one or two inverters are mounted. In particular, in a traffic jam, the vehicle speed is low and other noises such as traveling noise are small, so that the inverter sound reverberates in the vehicle and the quietness is lowered.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the drive control device 170 determines whether there is a traffic jam by the traffic jam determination process of the traffic jam determination unit 176, and determines the drive control according to the determination result. Hereinafter, after describing the traffic determination process by the traffic determination unit 176, the flow of the drive control process will be described in detail.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the traffic jam determination process. As shown in FIG. 4, the traffic jam determination unit 176 performs filtering processing for noise removal on the rotation speeds detected by the wheel rotation speed sensors 180a, 180b, 180c, and 180d. And the vehicle speed of the electric vehicle 100 is derived | led-out and it is determined whether a vehicle speed is 20 km / h or less (S300). Here, 20 km / h is taken as an example of a threshold for comparing vehicle speeds, but an arbitrary vehicle speed that can be determined as a traffic jam can be set as the threshold.

  When the vehicle speed is 20 km / h or less (YES in S300), the traffic jam determining unit 176 is located in front of the electric vehicle 100 among the three-dimensional objects specified by the three-dimensional object specifying unit 226 of the outside environment recognition device 212 ( It is determined whether there is no traffic light (located on the travel path on which the electric vehicle 100 travels) or whether there is a traffic light and the blue light is on (S302). When a plurality of traffic lights are specified as a three-dimensional object, for example, a traffic signal located on a travel path on which the electric vehicle 100 travels (for example, a traffic signal located within a predetermined distance from a virtual line drawn in the traveling direction from the electric vehicle 100). Of these, the traffic light located closest to the front is targeted.

  Here, since there is a high possibility of a traffic jam when there is no traffic light, the vehicle speed is slow, or even when there is a traffic light, the vehicle speed is slow even though the blue light is on. A determination is made.

  When there is no traffic light located in front of the electric vehicle 100 or when there is a traffic light and the blue light is on (YES in S302), the traffic jam determination unit 176 is performed by the three-dimensional object identification unit 226 of the outside environment recognition device 212. In the identified three-dimensional object, it is determined whether or not the distance between the vehicle ahead and the electric vehicle 100 is 3 m or less (S304). Here, 3 m is given as an example of the threshold for comparing the inter-vehicle distance, but an arbitrary inter-vehicle distance that can be determined as a traffic jam can be set as the threshold.

  When the inter-vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle and the electric vehicle 100 is 3 m or less (YES in S304), the traffic jam determination unit 176 determines whether or not the result of the number determination process for the preceding vehicle described later is “multiple vehicles present”. Is determined (S306). Here, for example, when there are two or more vehicles ahead, it is determined that “there are a plurality of vehicles”.

  If the result of the number determination process for the number of vehicles ahead is “multiple vehicles present” (YES in S306), the traffic jam determination unit 176 determines that the road on which the electric vehicle 100 is traveling is traffic jam (S308). .

  When the vehicle speed is not less than 20 km / h (NO in S300), when there is a traffic light located in front of the electric vehicle 100 and other than the blue color of the traffic light is lit (NO in S302), the vehicle ahead and the electric When the inter-vehicle distance from the automobile 100 is not 3 m or less, that is, when the distance exceeds 3 m (NO in S304), and the result of the number determination process of the preceding vehicle is not “multiple vehicles” (in S306) NO), the traffic jam determination unit 176 determines that the road on which the electric vehicle 100 is traveling is not traffic jam (S310).

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the process for determining the number of front vehicles 102. As shown in FIG. 5A, when there are two front vehicles 102 of the electric vehicle 100, if the brake lamp 236 and the tail lamp 238 of the preceding front vehicle 102 are imaged by the imaging devices 210a and 210b, the three-dimensional object identification is performed. The presence of the brake lamp 236 and the tail lamp 238 is grasped by the unit 226, and the three-dimensional positions of the brake lamp 236 and the tail lamp 238 are specified by the three-dimensional position information generation unit 224.

  The traffic jam determining unit 176 detects a plurality of brake lamps 236 and tail lamps 238 by the three-dimensional object specifying unit 226, and the positions of the electric vehicle 100 in the traveling direction are different from each other among the detected brake lamps 236 and tail lamps 238. If there is something (separated in the traveling direction), it is determined that there are a plurality of forward vehicles 102.

  Here, the traffic jam determination unit 176 performs the number determination process by detecting the brake lamp 236 because it is easy to detect the lighting of the brake lamp 236 at night. Further, since it is easier to detect the red color of the tail lamp 238 than the brake lamp 236 during the daytime, the traffic jam determination unit 176 performs the number determination process by detecting the tail lamp 238.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, it is assumed that the road on which the electric vehicle 100 is traveling is curved and that there are three forward vehicles 102 in front of the electric vehicle 100. In this case, since the plurality of front vehicles 102 are displaced from each other in the left-right direction in FIG. 5B, the brake lamp 236 and the tail lamp 238 of the front vehicle 102 are likely to be imaged by the imaging devices 210a and 210b. Therefore, the traffic jam determination unit 176 can determine that there are a plurality of front vehicles 102 by the number determination process.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5C, when the distance between the preceding vehicle 102a and the electric vehicle 100 out of the two vehicles 102a and 102b is long, the images are captured by the imaging devices 210a and 210b. Since the preceding vehicle 102a cannot be grasped in the image, only the front vehicle 102b in front is recognized. Therefore, the traffic jam determination unit 176 does not determine that there are a plurality of front vehicles 102 even though there are a plurality of front vehicles 102. In this case, even if there are a plurality of front vehicles 102, there is a high possibility that the inter-vehicle distance is long and there is no traffic jam. Therefore, there is no problem even if it is determined that there are no front vehicles 102 and there is no traffic jam.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5D, when the inter-vehicle distance between the two front vehicles 102 is close, the brake lamp 236 and the tail lamp 238 of the preceding front vehicle 102a cannot be imaged by the imaging devices 210a and 210b. There is. At this time, the traffic jam determination unit 176 determines that there are not a plurality of forward vehicles 102, and there is a possibility that it is determined that there is no traffic jam. In the present embodiment, in such a state where it cannot be determined that the traffic is congested, the risk of erroneously determining that the traffic is not congested is avoided by deliberately determining that the traffic is not congested. .

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the number determination process for the preceding vehicle 102. The process shown in FIG. 6 is repeatedly executed at a predetermined execution cycle. As shown in FIG. 6, the traffic jam determination unit 176 determines whether or not the number of detected front vehicles 102 (the number of brake lamps 236 or tail lamps 238 having different positions in the traveling direction of the electric vehicle 100) is less than two. Is determined (S330). If the detected number of front vehicles 102 is less than 2 (YES in S330), the traffic jam determination unit 176 resets the timer counter (substitutes 0) (S332). If the detected forward vehicle 102 is 2 or more (NO in S330), the timer counter is incremented (S334).

  Here, for example, a counter value (5 seconds / execution cycle) corresponding to 5 seconds is set as the timer threshold, but an arbitrary value can be set as the timer threshold.

  Then, the traffic jam determination unit 176 determines whether or not the timer counter exceeds a preset timer threshold value (S336). When the timer counter exceeds the timer threshold value (YES in S336), the traffic jam determination unit 176 determines that there are a plurality of forward vehicles 102 (S338). When the timer counter does not exceed the timer threshold value (NO in S336), the traffic jam determination unit 176 determines that there are not a plurality of forward vehicles 102 (S340).

  Thus, when the state in which the number of brake lamps 236 or tail lamps 238 with different positions in the traveling direction of the electric vehicle 100 is detected continues for a predetermined time (5 seconds), the traffic jam determination unit 176 It is determined that there are multiple units. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of an erroneous determination that determines that there are a plurality of front vehicles 102 even though there are not a plurality of forward vehicles 102, and in turn, an erroneous determination that determines that there is a traffic jam even though it is not a traffic jam. It becomes possible.

  The number determination process is performed in parallel with the traffic congestion determination process. The traffic jam determination process is repeatedly executed at a predetermined cycle, and the result of the number determination process is referred to in step S306. At this time, if the number determination process is being performed, the result of the number determination process performed last time is used.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of drive control mode determination processing. As shown in FIG. 7, the motor control unit 172 determines whether or not the result of the traffic jam determination process by the traffic jam determination unit 176 is a traffic jam (S360). When the result of the traffic jam determination process is not a traffic jam (NO in S360), the process proceeds to the four-wheel drive control step S368.

  If the result of the traffic jam determination process is a traffic jam (YES in S360), it is determined whether or not the front wheel drive motors 130a and 130b and the front wheel inverters 140a and 140b are operating normally (S362). When the front-wheel drive motors 130a and 130b and the front-wheel inverters 140a and 140b are not operating normally (NO in S362), the process proceeds to the four-wheel drive control step S368.

  When the front wheel drive motors 130a and 130b and the front wheel inverters 140a and 140b are operating normally (YES in S362), the inverter control unit 174 turns off the rear wheel inverters 140c and 140d (stops switching). (S364). Then, the motor control unit 172 determines the drive control mode in which the output of the drive motors 130c and 130d for the rear wheels is set to 0 and the electric vehicle 100 is driven only by the drive motors 130a and 130b for the front wheels as the drive mode ( S366).

  In the four-wheel drive control step S368, the motor control unit 172 determines the drive control mode of the four wheels that drives the electric vehicle 100 with the drive motors 130a, 130b, 130c, and 130d (performs normal drive control) as the drive mode. (S368).

  The drive control device 170 controls the drive motors 130a, 130b, 130c, 130d, the front wheel inverters 140a, 140b, and the rear wheel inverters 140c, 140d according to the drive mode determined by the drive control mode determination process.

  The drive control mode determination process is performed in parallel with the above-described traffic jam determination process and the number determination process. Once the drive control mode determination process is completed, the drive control mode determination process is repeatedly executed with a predetermined interval. In step S360 in the drive control mode determination process, the result of the congestion determination process is referred to. At this time, if the traffic congestion determination process is being performed, the result of the traffic congestion determination process performed last time is used.

  As described above, the traffic jam determination unit 176 causes a traffic jam if a plurality of brake lamps 236 or tail lamps 238 provided at the rear of the forward vehicle 102 are detected in different positions in the traveling direction of the electric vehicle 100 in the image. Judge that there is. Therefore, a communication device required when using VICS (registered trademark) or the like is unnecessary, and it is possible to easily and quickly determine whether or not the road on which the electric vehicle 100 is traveling is congested. .

  If the traffic determination unit 176 determines that there is traffic, the outputs of the drive motors 130c and 130d that drive the rear wheels 110c and 110d are set to 0, and the inverter control unit 174 stops the rear wheel inverters 140c and 140d. To do. Therefore, the inverter noise of the rear wheel inverters 140c and 140d is stopped, and it is possible to improve the quietness in the vehicle. In addition, compared with driving with four wheels, driving with two wheels has higher energy output efficiency (outputs of driving motors 130a, 130b, 130c, and 130d / power consumption of battery 150), so that it is possible to improve power consumption. Become.

  Further, in the present embodiment, when it is determined that there is no traffic jam as a result of the traffic jam determination process, the same four-wheel drive control as in the prior art is performed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5D, even if it is determined that there is no traffic jam despite the fact that the distance between the two forward vehicles 102 is close and the traffic is congested, the same four-wheel drive control as before is performed. It is only carried out.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a traffic jam in spite of the fact that it is not a traffic jam, drive control using only the front wheels 110a and 110b is performed. In this case, since there is no traffic jam, the electric vehicle 100 may be accelerated rapidly, but the acceleration performance is suppressed when only the front wheels 110a and 110b are driven as compared with the four-wheel drive. In the present embodiment, such a risk is suppressed by determining that there is no traffic jam in a state where it cannot be determined that there is traffic jam.

  In addition, as described above, the traffic jam determination unit 176 detects that a plurality of brake lamps 236 or tail lamps 238 are detected at different positions in the traveling direction of the electric vehicle 100, and the vehicle speed of the electric vehicle 100 is 20 km / h. If the following three conditions are satisfied: (the first threshold) or less, the traffic light in front of the electric vehicle 100 is blue, and the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle 102 is 3 m (second threshold) or less, traffic congestion occurs. It was determined that there was.

  Among these three conditions, the first condition is provided based on the fact that the vehicle speed is low in a traffic jam. The second condition is provided based on the fact that there is a high possibility of a traffic jam if the vehicle speed is low when the traffic light is blue. The third condition is based on the fact that the inter-vehicle distance tends to be close in a traffic jam. By adding these conditions in addition to the presence of a plurality of forward vehicles 102, it is possible to further suppress the occurrence of erroneous determinations that determine that there is traffic jam even though it is not traffic jam.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Is done.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the result of the traffic jam determination process is used for the inverter stop control has been described. However, the result of the traffic jam determination process may be used for other control related to the electric vehicle 100.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case has been described in which the wheels (target wheels) whose output is 0 when it is determined that there is a traffic jam are the rear wheels 110c and 110d. However, the target wheels may be the front wheels 110a and 110b. However, by setting the target wheels as the rear wheels 110c and 110d, it is possible to improve the running stability of the electric vehicle 100 during a traffic jam.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the traffic jam determination unit 176 detects that the vehicle ahead is in a state where the number of brake lamps 236 or tail lamps 238 having different positions in the traveling direction of the electric vehicle 100 is detected for a predetermined time. The case where it is determined that there are a plurality of 102 has been described. However, if the number of brake lamps 236 or tail lamps 238 having different positions in the traveling direction of the electric vehicle 100 is detected as two or more, the traffic jam determination unit 176 may immediately determine that there is traffic jam.

  In the above-described embodiment, a plurality of brake lamps 236 or tail lamps 238 are detected at different positions in the traveling direction of the electric vehicle 100, and if all the above three conditions are satisfied, there is a traffic jam. Although the case where the determination is made has been described, in addition to a plurality of brake lamps 236 or tail lamps 238 being detected at different positions in the traveling direction of the electric vehicle 100, any one or more of the three conditions is satisfied. For example, it may be determined that there is a traffic jam. Furthermore, if a plurality of brake lamps 236 or tail lamps 238 are detected at different positions in the traveling direction of electric vehicle 100, it may be determined that there is a traffic jam regardless of the other three conditions.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a vehicle control device that determines a traffic jam situation on a road and controls the host vehicle.

100 Electric vehicle (own vehicle)
102 Vehicle ahead (vehicle)
110a, 110b Front wheels 110c, 110d Rear wheels 130a, 130b, 130c, 130d Drive motors 140a, 140b Inverters for front wheels 140c, 140d Inverters for rear wheels 172 Motor control unit 174 Inverter control unit 176 Congestion determination units 210a, 210b Acquisition department)
236 Brake lamp (lighting device)
238 Tail lamp (lighting device)

Claims (2)

A plurality of drive motors that independently drive the front and rear wheels, and
A motor control unit for controlling the plurality of drive motors;
A front-wheel inverter that rectifies power supplied to a drive motor that drives the front wheels;
A rear-wheel inverter that rectifies power supplied to a drive motor that drives the rear wheel;
An inverter controller for controlling the inverter for the front wheels and the inverter for the rear wheels;
A traffic jam judging unit for judging whether or not there is a traffic jam,
With
The motor control unit performs four-wheel drive control by the drive motor that drives the front wheels and the drive motor that drives the rear wheels when it is determined that there is no traffic jam. When the drive motor to be driven and the front wheel inverter are operating normally, the output of the drive motor for driving the rear wheel is set to 0,
The inverter control unit is determined to be congested, and stops the rear wheel inverter when the drive motor for driving the front wheel and the front wheel inverter are operating normally. . Whether the traffic jam determination unit is congested based on at least the distance between the host vehicle and the host vehicle derived from the image acquired by the image acquisition unit that acquires the front image of the host vehicle and the number of the host vehicles. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not.

Images