US-20260124927-A1 - CONTROL DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD OF VEHICLE

US20260124927A1US 20260124927 A1US20260124927 A1US 20260124927A1US-20260124927-A1

Abstract

When there is an execution request for on-demand driving control that simulates driving of a virtual drivable vehicle in response to a request from an occupant of a vehicle, if the on-demand driving control includes a first control that is executed under a first driving condition of the vehicle, the first control is executed when the first driving condition is satisfied. When there is the execution request for on-demand driving control, if an original driving control implemented in the vehicle includes a second control that is executed under a second driving condition of the vehicle, and the on-demand driving control does not include a driving control corresponding to the second control, the second control is executed when the second driving condition is satisfied.

Inventors

Yohei Hareyama

Assignees

TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20250917
Priority Date: 20241107

Claims (8)

1 . A control device for a vehicle powered by an electric motor, comprising: one or more memory devices in which a program for an original driving control implemented in the vehicle, and a vehicle model for on-demand driving control that simulates the driving of a virtual drivable vehicle in response to a request from an occupant of the vehicle are stored; and one or more processing circuitry configured to execute the original driving control or the on-demand driving control, wherein the one or more processing circuitry is configured to: when there is an execution request for the on-demand driving control, if the on-demand driving control includes a first control executed under a first driving condition of the vehicle, execute the first control when the first driving condition is satisfied; and when there is the execution request, if the original driving control includes a second control executed under a second driving condition of the vehicle and the on-demand driving control does not include driving control corresponding to the second control, execute the second control when the second driving condition is satisfied.
2 . The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processing circuitry is configured to: when there is the execution request and the on-demand driving control includes the first control, execute the first control when the first driving condition is satisfied, regardless of whether the original driving control includes the driving control corresponding to the first control.
3 . The control device according to claim 1 , wherein: at least one of the first and second driving conditions includes the vehicle traveling on an upward slope; and at least one of the first and second controls includes hill-climb control.
4 . The control device according to claim 3 , wherein: the virtual drivable vehicle includes an engine vehicle that travels by engine drive; and the one or more memory devices further store an engine sound source for performing sound control to output an engine sound generated by the engine vehicle into a room of the vehicle, wherein, in the sound control, the one or more processing circuitry is configured to: when a target of the execution request is the driving control of the engine vehicle and the first control corresponds to the hill-climb control, generate an engine sound generated in association with the execution of the hill-climb control as the first control based on the engine sound source and a virtual engine torque and a virtual engine speed of the engine vehicle calculated using the vehicle model; and when the target of the execution request is the driving control of the engine vehicle, the second control corresponds to the hill-climb control, and the on-demand driving control does not include the hill-climb control, generate an engine sound generated in association with the on-demand driving control during the hill-climb control as the second control based on the engine sound source and a virtual engine torque and a virtual engine speed of the engine vehicle calculated using the vehicle model, wherein the engine sound generated during the hill-climb control as the second control is generated by adjusting at least one of the virtual engine torque and the virtual engine speed of the engine vehicle calculated using the vehicle model.
5 . The control device according to claim 1 , wherein: at least one of the first and second driving conditions includes the vehicle traveling on a downward slope; and at least one of the first and second controls includes a descent control.
6 . The control device according to claim 5 , wherein: the virtual drivable vehicle includes an engine vehicle that travels by engine drive; and the one or more memory devices further store an engine sound source for performing sound control to output an engine sound generated by the engine vehicle into a room of the vehicle, wherein, in the sound control, the one or more processing circuitry is configured to: when a target of the execution request is driving control of the engine vehicle and the first control corresponds to the descent control, generate an engine sound generated in association with the execution of the descent control as the first control based on the engine sound source and a virtual engine torque and a virtual engine speed of the engine vehicle calculated using the vehicle model; and when the target of the execution request is driving control of the engine vehicle, the second control corresponds to the descent control, and the on-demand driving control does not include the descent control, generate an engine sound generated in association with the on-demand driving control during the descent control as the second control based on the engine sound source and virtual engine torque and virtual engine speed of the engine vehicle calculated using the vehicle model, wherein the engine sound during the descent control as the second control is generated by adjusting at least one of the virtual engine torque and the virtual engine speed of the engine vehicle calculated using the vehicle model.
7 . A control method for a vehicle powered by an electric motor, the control method causes a computer to execute an original driving control implemented in the vehicle or an on-demand driving control that simulates driving of a virtual drivable vehicle in response to a request from an occupant of the vehicle, wherein: when there is an execution request for the on-demand driving control, if the on-demand driving control includes a first control executed under a first driving condition of the vehicle, the computer executes the first control when the first driving condition is satisfied; and when there is the execution request, if the original driving control includes a second control executed under a second driving condition of the vehicle and the on-demand driving control does not include driving control corresponding to the second control, the computer executes the second control when the second driving condition is satisfied.
8 . The control method according to claim 7 , wherein: when there is the execution request and the on-demand driving control includes the first control, the computer executes the first control when the first driving condition is satisfied, regardless of whether the original driving control includes the driving control corresponding to the first control.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION The present application claims priority under 35 U.S. C. § 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-194833, filed on Nov. 7, 2024, the contents of which application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a device and a method for controlling a vehicle driven by an electric motor. BACKGROUND JP2018191366A discloses technology for producing a pseudo-shift change in a vehicle driven by an electric motor. In the related art, it is determined whether an upshift condition or a downshift condition or the vehicle is satisfied based on internal information of the vehicle, such as vehicle speed, accelerator position, and brake depression amount. When it is determined that the upshift condition or the downshift condition is satisfied, control is executed to fluctuate carrier frequency of an inverter that supplies power to the electric motor by a set amount. The carrier frequency fluctuation control in the related art is not included in actual drive control of the electric motor. Therefore, there is no conflict between the execution of the drive control of the electric motor and that of the carrier frequency fluctuation control. However, when driving control implemented in a vehicle for a specific purpose shares a common control content with original driving control already implemented in the vehicle, and execution conditions of both driving controls are satisfied, there is a possibility that these driving controls may conflict with each other. In particular, the inventor of the present disclosure envisions performing driving control using multiple vehicle models corresponding to each of various virtual drivable vehicles, with an aim of giving a driver of the vehicle experiences of riding in the various virtual drivable vehicles. Here, to improve the reproducibility of driving by a certain virtual drivable vehicle, it is desirable to implement a vehicle model that realizes the driving control implemented in this virtual drivable vehicle in the vehicle itself. In this case, however, there is a high possibility that the driving control realized by one of the vehicle models will conflict with the original driving control already implemented in the vehicle. This present disclosure addresses the above problems. One of the objectives of the present disclosure is to provide technology to avoid conflicts between the driving control realized by the vehicle model corresponding to the virtual drivable vehicle and the original driving control already implemented in the vehicle, in the vehicle powered by the electric motor. SUMMARY A first aspect of the present disclosure is a control device for a vehicle powered by an electric motor. The control device includes one or more memory devices and one or more processing circuitry. The one or more memory devices store a program for an original driving control implemented in the vehicle, and a vehicle model for on-demand driving control that simulates the driving of a virtual drivable vehicle in response to a request from an occupant of the vehicle. The one or more processing circuitry is configured to execute the original driving control or the on-demand driving control. The one or more processing circuitry is configured to, when there is an execution request for the on-demand driving control, if the on-demand driving control includes a first control executed under a first driving condition of the vehicle, execute the first control when the first driving condition is satisfied, and, when there is the execution request, if the original driving control includes a second control executed under a second driving condition of the vehicle and the on-demand driving control does not include driving control corresponding to the second control, execute the second control when the second driving condition is satisfied. A second aspect of the present disclosure is a control method for a vehicle powered by an electric motor. The control method causes a computer to execute an original driving control implemented in the vehicle or an on-demand driving control that simulates driving of a virtual drivable vehicle in response to a request from an occupant of the vehicle. When there is an execution request for the on-demand driving control, if the on-demand driving control includes a first control executed under a first driving condition of the vehicle, the computer executes the first control when the first driving condition is satisfied, and when there is the execution request, if the original driving control includes a second control executed under a second driving condition of the vehicle and the on-demand driving control does not include driving control corresponding to the second control, the computer executes the second control when the second driving condition is satisfied. When there is the execution request for on-demand driving control, if the on-demand driving control includes the first co