Vehicle control device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9200917-B2
Application number	US-201214383352-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 8, 2012
Priority date	Mar 8, 2012
Publication date	Dec 1, 2015
Grant date	Dec 1, 2015

Abstract

A vehicle control device that controls a vehicle, including a route detecting unit configured to detect a route to a destination, a travel load calculating unit configured to calculate travel load information of the route, and a travel plan calculating unit configured to calculate a travel plan including a drive mode of each section of the route based on the route and the travel load information of the route, wherein the travel load calculating unit changes a level of detail of the section which is used for calculating the travel load information according to a distance from a present location to the destination.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle control device that controls a vehicle, comprising:
a route detecting unit configured to detect a route to a destination;
a travel load calculating unit configured to calculate travel load information of the route; and
a travel plan calculating unit configured to calculate a travel plan including a drive mode of each section of the route based on the route and the travel load information of the route, wherein
the travel load calculating unit changes a level of detail of the section which is used for calculating the travel load information according to a distance from a present location to the destination,
at the time the distance from the present location to the destination is longer than a threshold distance, the travel load calculating unit calculates the travel load information of at least a partial section with a level of detail coarser than the level of detail in a case where the distance from the present location to the destination is shorter than the threshold distance, and
at the time the distance from the present location to the destination is longer than the threshold distance, the travel load calculating unit makes a level of detail of an intermediate section coarser than a level of detail of a section in the vicinity of the present location and in the vicinity of the destination.

2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein
at the time the distance from the present location to the destination is longer than the threshold distance, the travel load calculating unit calculates the travel load information of at least a partial section with the level of detail coarser than the level of detail in a case where the distance from the present location to the destination is shorter than the threshold distance,
the travel load calculating unit then calculates the travel load information of the at least partial section with a finer level of detail, and
at the time the travel load information is updated, the travel plan calculating unit updates the travel plan based on the updated travel load information.

3. The vehicle control device according to claim 2 , further comprising:
a travel assistance unit configured to notify a driver of the travel plan calculated by the travel plan calculating unit.

4. The vehicle control device according to claim 2 , wherein
the vehicle is a hybrid vehicle provided with a motor generator and an internal-combustion engine, and
the travel plan calculating unit is capable of selecting, as the drive mode, an EV mode to travel by using the motor generator as a drive source and a hybrid travel mode to travel by using the motor generator and the internal-combustion engine as drive sources.

5. The vehicle control device according to claim 2 , wherein
at the time the distance from the present location to the destination is longer than a set distance, the travel load calculating unit calculates the travel load information to an intermediate point on the route to the destination.

6. The vehicle control device according to claim 2 , wherein
at the time the level of detail is coarse, the travel load calculating unit makes a distance of the section longer than a distance in a case where the level of detail is fine.

7. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a travel assistance unit configured to notify a driver of the travel plan calculated by the travel plan calculating unit.

8. The vehicle control device according to claim 7 , wherein
the vehicle is a hybrid vehicle provided with a motor generator and an internal-combustion engine, and
the travel plan calculating unit is capable of selecting, as the drive mode, an EV mode to travel by using the motor generator as a drive source and a hybrid travel mode to travel by using the motor generator and the internal-combustion engine as drive sources.

9. The vehicle control device according to claim 7 , wherein
at the time the distance from the present location to the destination is longer than a set distance, the travel load calculating unit calculates the travel load information to an intermediate point on the route to the destination.

10. The vehicle control device according to claim 7 , wherein
at the time the level of detail is coarse, the travel load calculating unit makes a distance of the section longer than a distance in a case where the level of detail is fine.

11. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein
the vehicle is a hybrid vehicle provided with a motor generator and an internal-combustion engine, and
the travel plan calculating unit is capable of selecting, as the drive mode, an EV mode to travel by using the motor generator as a drive source and a hybrid travel mode to travel by using the motor generator and the internal-combustion engine as drive sources.

12. The vehicle control device according to claim 11 , wherein
the travel plan calculating unit calculates the travel plan with a condition in which the EV mode tends to be selected, at the time the travel load information with the level of detail coarser than the level of detail in a case where the distance from the present location to the destination is shorter than the threshold distance is included.

13. The vehicle control device according to claim 12 , wherein
at the time the distance from the present location to the destination is longer than a set distance, the travel load calculating unit calculates the travel load information to an intermediate point on the route to the destination.

14. The vehicle control device according to claim 12 , wherein
at the time the level of detail is coarse, the travel load calculating unit makes a distance of the section longer than a distance in a case where the level of detail is fine.

15. The vehicle control device according to claim 11 , wherein
at the time the distance from the present location to the destination is longer than a set distance, the travel load calculating unit calculates the travel load information to an intermediate point on the route to the destination.

16. The vehicle control device according to claim 11 , wherein
at the time the level of detail is coarse, the travel load calculating unit makes a distance of the section longer than a distance in a case where the level of detail is fine.

17. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein
at the time the distance from the present location to the destination is longer than a set distance, the travel load calculating unit calculates the travel load information to an intermediate point on the route to the destination.

18. The vehicle control device according to claim 17 , wherein
the vehicle is the hybrid vehicle provided with the motor generator and the internal-combustion engine,
the travel plan calculating unit is capable of selecting, as the drive mode, the EV mode to travel by using the motor generator as the drive source and the hybrid travel mode to travel by using the motor generator and the internal-combustion engine as the drive sources, and
at the time the section in which the travel load information is calculated is to the intermediate point on the route to the destination, a target SOC at the time of arrival at the intermediate point is set to a high value.

19. The vehicle control device according to claim 17 , wherein
at the time the level of detail is coarse, the travel load calculating unit makes a distance of the section longer than a distance in a case where the level of detail is fine.

20. The vehicl

Assignees

• Ogawa Yuki
• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ogawa Yuki

Classifications

• B60L2260/54

  Energy consumption estimation · CPC title

• B60L2240/622

  by satellite navigation · CPC title

• B60L3/00

  Electric devices on electrically-propelled vehicles for safety purposes; Monitoring operating variables, e.g. speed, deceleration or energy consumption (methods or circuit arrangements for monitoring or controlling batteries or fuel cells B60L58/00) · CPC title

• B60L2240/443

  Torque · CPC title

• B60L2240/441

  Speed · CPC title