Patent ID: 8050822
Filing Date: 2011-11-01
Classification: B60T,B60W

Abstract:
1. A controller of a vehicle equipped with a drive manipulated variable detecting element configured to detect a drive manipulated variable that indicates a drive manipulation state of the vehicle driven by a driver of the vehicle having a plurality of wheels, an actuator device provided in the vehicle so as to permit the manipulation of at least the driving/braking force of each wheel of the vehicle, and an actuator device controller configured to sequentially control an operation of the actuator device, the controller of the vehicle comprising: an actual state amount grasping element configured to detect or estimate a first actual state amount, which is the value of a predetermined first state amount related to a predetermined motion including at least a rotational motion in a yaw direction of an actual vehicle; an actual road surface reaction force grasping element configured to detect or estimate a road surface reaction force acting from a road surface onto each wheel of the actual vehicle; a friction characteristic estimating element configured to estimate the characteristic of friction between a wheel of the actual vehicle and the road surface; a reference manipulated variable determining element configured to determine a first reference state amount, which is the reference value of the first state amount, based on at least the detected drive manipulated variable; a state amount error calculating element configured to calculate a first state amount error, which is a difference between the detected or estimated first actual state amount and the determined first reference state amount; an actual vehicle actuator operation control input determining element configured to determine an actual vehicle actuator operation control input, which is a control input for operating the actuator device and which includes a driving/braking force manipulation control input defining a target driving/braking force of each wheel of the actual vehicle, on the basis of at least the detected drive manipulated variable and the calculated first state amount error, wherein the actuator device controller is configured to control the operation of the actuator device on the basis of the determined actual vehicle actuator operation control input, and the actual vehicle actuator operation control input determining element is configured to: determine a feedback control input for manipulating the driving/braking force of each wheel for bringing the first state amount error close to zero on the basis of at least the calculated first state amount error; determine a feedforward control input defining a feedforward target value of the driving/braking force of each wheel on the basis of at least the detected drive operation input; determine, on a k-th wheel, which is one of the plurality of wheels, a k-th elliptic function which is an elliptic function defining a correlation between a driving/braking force component and a lateral force component of a road surface reaction force which may act on the k-th wheel from a road surface on the basis of the detected or estimated road surface reaction force of the k-th wheel and the estimated friction characteristic; and define a predetermined required condition related to a relationship between a driving/braking force at the generation of a maximum moment, which is a driving/braking force component of a road surface reaction force that is maximized in the same direction as the direction of a moment in the yaw direction generated about the center-of-gravity point of the actual vehicle due to the manipulation of the driving/braking force of the k-th wheel based on the feedback control input of the k-th wheel by a moment in the yaw direction generated about the center-of-gravity point of the actual vehicle by a road surface reaction force, in the road surface reaction force that may act from a road surface on the k-th wheel according to at least the determined k-th elliptic function, and the driving/braking force manipulation control input of the k-th wheel as a second required condition, and determines the driving/braking force manipulation control input of the k-th wheel such that the second required condition is satisfied.