Inverted vehicle control apparatus, and method and program therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9399405-B2
Application number	US-201114233914-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 22, 2011
Priority date	Jul 22, 2011
Publication date	Jul 26, 2016
Grant date	Jul 26, 2016

Abstract

An inverted vehicle control apparatus includes a plurality of driving wheels, a plurality of drive means each of which drives a respective one of the plurality of driving wheels, skid detection means for detecting a skid state between the driving wheels and a road surface, operation information acquisition means for acquiring operation information of a rider, and control means for controlling the drive means to control the driving wheels. The control means controls, based on the operation information acquired by the operation information acquisition means, the driving wheel for which no skid is detected by the skid detection means, and the control means controls the driving wheel for which a skid is detected by the skid detection means so that a friction reaction force exerted from the road surface to the driving wheel is exerted in such a direction that the inverted vehicle is raised by the friction reaction force.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An inverted vehicle control apparatus comprising:
first and second driving wheels provided in an inverted vehicle;
first and second drive means for driving the first and second driving wheels respectively;
skid detection means for detecting a skid state between the first and second driving wheels and a road surface;
operation information acquisition means for acquiring operation information of a rider relating a traveling direction and a traveling speed of the inverted vehicle; and
control means for controlling driving of the first and second drive means and thereby controlling the first and second driving wheels, wherein
the inverted vehicle control apparatus further comprises:
pitch angle detection means for detecting a pitch angle of the inverted vehicle; and
wheel horizontal speed calculation means for calculating a horizontal speed of the first and second driving wheels of the inverted vehicle,
the control means controls, based on the operation information acquired by the operation information acquisition means, to maintain the inverted state according to the operation information, the first or second driving wheel for which no skid is detected by the skid detection means, and
the control means controls, based on the pitch angle of the inverted vehicle detected by the pitch angle detection means and the horizontal speed of the first or second driving wheel calculated by the wheel horizontal speed calculation means, so that the friction force exerted from the road surface to the first or second driving wheel is exerted in such a direction that the inverted vehicle is raised by the friction force, the first and second driving wheel for which a skid is detected by the skid detection means,
wherein the control means comprises:
wheel angular speed reference input calculation means for calculating an angular speed reference input of the first and second driving wheels based on operation information acquired by the operation information acquisition means, a horizontal moving speed of the first and second driving wheels calculated by the wheel horizontal speed calculation means, and skid information of the first and second driving wheels detected by the skid detection means; and
safety control means for maintaining an inverted state of the inverted vehicle by controlling the driving of the first and second drive means based on the angular speed reference input of the first and second driving wheels calculated by the wheel angular speed reference input calculation means, and
wherein the wheel angular speed reference input calculation means calculates the angular speed reference input for the first and second driving wheels for which the skid is detected by the skid detection means, by using an expression shown below,

θ
.

r

=

x
.

r
w

+

δsgn
⁡

(

θ
p

)

[

Expression
⁢

⁢
1

]

where: r w is a radius of the driving wheel; a derivative value of x is a horizontal speed of the first and second driving wheels calculated by the wheel horizontal speed calculation means; θ p is a pitch angle of the inverted vehicle detected by the pitch angle detection means; a derivative value of θ r is an angular speed reference input of the first and second driving wheels; and δ is a small parameter of the angular speed reference input.

2. The inverted vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the operation information acquisition means comprises traveling direction speed input means for outputting a traveling direction and a traveling speed of the inverted vehicle based on the operation information entered by the rider.

3. The inverted vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
wheel angular speed detection means for detecting an angular speed of the first and second driving wheels;
yaw angle detection means for detecting a yaw angle of the inverted vehicle; and
wheel horizontal acceleration calculation means for calculating a horizontal acceleration of the first and second driving wheels based on the angular speed of the first and second driving wheels detected by the wheel angular speed detection means, the pitch angle of the inverted vehicle detected by the pitch angle detection means, the yaw angle of the inverted vehicle detected by the yaw angle detection means, and a control signal for controlling the first and second drive means.

4. The inverted vehicle control apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the skid detection means comprises skid parameter calculation means for calculating a skid parameter indicating whether the first and second driving wheels are skidding or not, based on the angular speed of the first and second driving wheels detected by the wheel angular speed detection means and the horizontal acceleration of the first and second driving wheels calculated by the wheel horizontal acceleration calculation means, and outputting the calculated skid parameter to the control means.

5. The inverted vehicle control apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the wheel horizontal acceleration calculation means calculates a horizontal acceleration of the first and second driving wheels by using an expression shown below,

x
¨

1

=

m
c

⁢
l

m
w

+

m
c

2

⁢
sin
⁢

⁢

Assignees

• Andoh Fukashi
• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Andoh Fukashi

Classifications

• Y02T10/7258

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• B60L15/20 Primary

  for control of the vehicle or its driving motor to achieve a desired performance, e.g. speed, torque, programmed variation of speed · CPC title

• B62K3/007

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B62K11/007 Primary

  Automatic balancing machines with single main ground engaging wheel or coaxial wheels supporting a rider · CPC title

• B60L2200/16

  Single-axle vehicles · CPC title