JP2007253750A - Vehicle control device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle control device devised to obtain vehicle characteristics easy to drive. <P>SOLUTION: A front gazing point position of a driver is estimated or detected (100), the vehicle characteristics are set (102) so that a time constant included in a transfer function to express responsiveness of a yaw rate against steering wheel manipulated variable of the driver becomes longer as the distance to the front gazing point position becomes longer based on the estimated or detected front gazing point position, and the vehicle is controlled (104, 106) so as to provide the set vehicle characteristics. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle control apparatus and method, and more particularly, to a vehicle control apparatus and method for performing control so as to obtain vehicle characteristics that are easy to drive.

Conventionally, a means for calculating a reference route of the host vehicle from information such as GPS and map data, and a reference route when the host vehicle passes at a forward gazing point determined according to the vehicle speed from information such as wheel speed and yaw rate There is known a technique for driving the host vehicle along a reference route by controlling a steering amount in accordance with the lateral deviation (Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-345504 A

  However, in the conventional technology, deviation information at the front gazing point is used for steering amount control in order to follow the reference route (target line). However, this technology is applied to automatic steering, and the driver does not drive. There is a problem that it is difficult for the driver to drive as expected because it is not a technique that takes into account the improvement of ease and traceability.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device and method capable of obtaining vehicle characteristics that are easy to drive.

  In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle control apparatus of the present invention is based on estimation / detection means for estimating or detecting a driver's forward gazing position and forward gazing position estimated or detected by the estimation / detection means. Setting means for setting the vehicle characteristics such that the time constant included in the transfer function representing the response of the yaw rate to the driver's steering wheel operation amount becomes longer as the distance to the front gazing point position becomes longer, Control means for controlling the vehicle so that the vehicle characteristics set by the means can be obtained.

  In addition, the vehicle control device of the present invention includes an estimation / detection unit that estimates or detects a driver's forward gazing point position, an estimation / detection unit that estimates or detects a road shape in front of the vehicle traveling direction, and the estimation / detection. Based on the forward gazing point position estimated or detected by the means, the time constant included in the transfer function representing the response of the yaw rate to the driver's steering wheel operation amount becomes longer as the distance to the forward gazing point position becomes longer. The vehicle characteristics are set as described above, and based on the curvature of the road shape estimated or detected by the estimation / detection means, the transmission representing the response of the lateral acceleration to the driver's steering wheel operation amount as the curvature increases. When the function is represented by a Bode diagram showing the change in gain with respect to frequency, the time corresponding to the frequency indicating the start of gain change is fixed. Setting means for setting the vehicle characteristics such that longer, and control means for controlling the vehicle so that the vehicle characteristics can be obtained that is set by the setting unit may be configured to include.

  In the vehicle control device of the present invention, there is further provided a judging means for judging whether or not the running state in which a trace from the vehicle running state to the target line is required, and the running state in which the tracing to the target line is obtained by the setting means. If it is determined, the vehicle characteristic may be set so that the time constant included in the transfer function representing the response of the yaw rate to the driver's steering wheel operation amount becomes longer.

  Further, the vehicle control device of the present invention is configured to estimate or detect a road shape ahead of the vehicle traveling direction, and based on the curvature of the road shape estimated or detected by the estimation / detection means, the curvature is When the transfer function indicating the response of the lateral acceleration to the driver's steering wheel operation amount is represented by a Bode diagram showing the change of the gain with respect to the frequency as the time increases, the time corresponding to the frequency indicating the start of the gain change A setting unit that sets the vehicle characteristic so that the constant becomes longer and a control unit that controls the vehicle so as to obtain the vehicle characteristic set by the setting unit may be included.

  Further, the vehicle control method of the present invention estimates or detects the driver's forward gazing point position and, based on the estimated or detected forward gazing point position, drives the vehicle as the distance to the forward gazing point position increases. The vehicle characteristic is set so that the time constant included in the transfer function indicating the response of the yaw rate to the handle operation amount of the user is long, and the vehicle is controlled to obtain the set vehicle characteristic, or the vehicle traveling direction Estimate or detect the road shape ahead, and based on the curvature of the estimated or detected road shape, the transfer function representing the response of the lateral acceleration to the driver's handle operation amount as the curvature increases, Vehicle time so that the time constant, which is the time corresponding to the frequency indicating the start of gain change, becomes longer when represented by a Bode diagram showing changes in Set, but which is adapted to control the vehicle so set vehicle characteristics.

  As described above, according to the present invention, as the distance to the front gazing point position increases, the time constant included in the transfer function representing the response of the yaw rate to the driver's steering wheel operation amount becomes longer. When the transfer function representing the response of the lateral acceleration to the driver's steering wheel operation amount is represented by a Bode diagram showing the change of the gain with respect to the frequency as the vehicle is controlled or the curvature of the road shape increases Since the vehicle characteristics are controlled so that the time constant, which is the time corresponding to the frequency indicating the start of the change, becomes longer, the vehicle characteristics assumed by the driver can be obtained, and driving becomes easier.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the control of the time constant related to the response of the yaw rate to the driver's steering operation amount based on the distance to the front gazing point position, and the driver's control based on the curvature of the road shape. Since the vehicle characteristic is controlled by one of the control of the time constant related to the lateral acceleration response to the steering wheel operation amount, the vehicle characteristic that is easy to drive can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the target value of the vehicle motion control that contributes to the improvement of the traceability to the target line is set as the lateral speed at the driver's forward gazing point (the difference between the lateral movement speed of the target line and the gazing point lateral movement caused by the vehicle motion). ), And a transitional grip feeling.

First, a vehicle model for deriving the transfer characteristic of the lateral speed of the forward gazing point will be described.
As a vehicle motion model, the response of the yaw rate r to the driver's handle operation amount δ and the lateral acceleration to the driver's handle operation amount δ
Is given by the transfer function shown in the following equations (1) and (2).

Where n is the dimensionless steering gear ratio,
Is the steady gain [1 / s] of the yaw rate,
Is the steady gain of the lateral acceleration [m / (s ² · rad)], T _d is the time constant [s] of the transfer function representing the response of the yaw rate r to the driver's steering wheel operation amount δ, and T _y1 is the figure 23, when the transfer function representing the response of the lateral acceleration with respect to the steering wheel operation amount δ of the driver is represented by a Bode diagram showing the change of the gain with respect to the frequency, the time corresponding to the frequency indicating the start of the change of the gain ( (Time constant) [s], T _y2 is a differential time [s], which is a time corresponding to a frequency at which the gain change of the Bode diagram ends, and s is a Laplace operator. When T _y2 = 0, the point B in FIG. 23 does not exist, and the gain continues to decrease at a gradient of −20 dB / dec in a frequency band larger than the point A.

  Next, a transfer function related to the vehicle body slip angle β is obtained. The time change amount of the vehicle body slip angle is expressed by the following equation (3), where v is the vehicle speed.

  If the above equation (3) is Laplace transformed, the following equation (4) is obtained.

  Further, the transfer function from the steering angle to the vehicle body slip angle is represented by the following equation (5) by substituting the equations (1) and (2) into the equation (4).

  Next, the transfer characteristic of the lateral speed of the forward gazing point is obtained. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, formulation is performed assuming that the driver's gazing point position is the vehicle position after time Δt seconds from the current time. Under this assumption, the lateral speed of the forward gazing point is expressed by the following equation (6).

Where α is the angle formed by the vehicle traveling direction and the driver's line of sight, x and y are xy coordinates of the vehicle position at the current time, x _ref and y _ref are xy coordinates of the vehicle position after time Δt seconds, and L is the current The distance from the vehicle position at the time to the driver's point of interest position, r is the yaw moment.

  Assuming that the driver is viewing a position sufficiently far from the lateral movement amount, the angle α formed by the vehicle traveling direction and the driver's line-of-sight direction is sufficiently small, so the cosine of the distance L and the angle α is It can be approximated as

  Therefore, the above equation (6) can be expressed as the following equation (6) '.

  When the above equation (6) 'is Laplace transformed and the transfer function from the steering wheel to the lateral speed of the point of interest is obtained, the following equation (7) is obtained.

  In addition, since the driver is viewing several seconds ahead, the transfer function related to the lateral speed of the target line is expressed by the following equation (8).

Next, derivation of target vehicle characteristics will be described. First, the constraint conditions for the parameters of the transfer function in the equations (1) and (2) will be described. Assuming steady turning, it is not desirable for the vehicle to always face outward with respect to the traveling direction. That is, when considering the vehicle body slip angle in the steady state, the steady term (= T _y2 + T _d −T _y1 ) of the transfer function expressed by the equation (5) needs to satisfy the following equation (9) (( 9) When the left side of the equation = 0, the steady slip angle is 0).

In addition, since the time constants T _y1 and T _y2 in the equation (2) naturally take positive values, the possible ranges of the time constants T _y1 and T _y2 are the areas indicated by hatching in FIG. 2 (FIG. 2). Shows the case of T _d = 0.125 [s]). When T _y1 = 0.125 [s] and T _y2 = 0 [s], the vehicle body slip angle is always zero. The broken _{lines in} the figure indicate the values of the time constants T _y1 and T _y2 at which the acceleration transfer characteristics are flat, and it is desirable that the acceleration characteristics be close to this, so the time constants T _y1 and T _y2 are steady. Slip angle = 0.

  For reference, each transfer characteristic and gaze point position when the parameters of the yaw rate transfer function (equation (1)) and acceleration transfer function (equation (2)) are changed so as to satisfy the steady slip angle = 0. 3 to 5 show the transfer characteristics of the lateral velocity.

When setting the vehicle characteristics under these conditions, set two parameters, the time constant T _{d in} equation (1) and the time constant T _y1 or T _{y2 in} equation (2). Problem.

The simulation result when steering corresponding to the lane change is as shown in FIG. 6, and as the time constant _Td of the yaw rate characteristic increases, the change in the lateral velocity at the point of interest tends to decrease. . However, the time until convergence at the end of steering tends to be longer. Further, the influence of the time constant of the acceleration transfer function is not so great on the lateral velocity at the position of the gazing point.

On the other hand, the lateral change of the lateral acceleration, that is, the lateral jerk, which is a differential value of the lateral acceleration, is as shown in FIG. 7, and the rising and peak values of the lateral jerk change according to the change of the time constant T _y1 . As the time constant T _y1 increases, the rise of the lateral jerk becomes faster. This is because the gain in the high frequency region of the lateral acceleration is increased.

  From the waveforms shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, 1) the peak value of the lateral velocity at the point of gaze position, 2) the time from the end of steering until the lateral velocity converges, and 3) the point of 0.3 seconds from the start of steering Figure 4 shows the results of evaluation of the four indicators of horizontal jerk (normalized by the maximum horizontal jerk) and 4) the transient component of the horizontal jerk (the difference between the peak value of the transient jerk and the steady jerk is normalized by the maximum horizontal jerk) 8 to 11 show. In each evaluation, it can be understood that the performance improves when the parameter changes in the direction of the arrow in the figure.

Next, derivation of vehicle characteristics will be described. In the present embodiment, the following (10) evaluation function J, which is obtained by weighting and adding the weights W _{1 to} W ₄ to the four indexes (items in each evaluation) described above, is introduced, and parameter optimization is performed. I do. And the vehicle characteristic which makes this evaluation function the minimum is set.

  Note that when optimizing parameters, it is not always necessary to minimize the evaluation function, and vehicle characteristics that make the evaluation function a value near the minimum may be set according to the purpose.

Here, if the weighting factors W _{1 to} W ₄ are expressed as follows, the evaluation function is expressed as shown in FIG.

In the evaluation function search section in FIG. 12, the minimum value is the parameter (T _d = 0.15 [s], T _y2 = 0.3 [s]) marked with a circle in the figure.

  At this time, when the lateral speed or the like at the gazing point position is compared with a normal 2WS vehicle (two-wheel steering vehicle), the result is as shown in FIG. It can be seen that the amplitude of the lateral velocity is reduced and the rising of the lateral jerk is improved. This characteristic can be realized by active steering of the front and rear wheels by an actuator described later.

  Next, how the required vehicle characteristics change when the driver's gazing point position changes is examined.

FIG. 14 shows how the calculation result of the evaluation function changes due to the difference in the gazing point distance (change in Δt). The weighting factor was the same value as above. When Δt is small, that is, when the gaze position of the driver is close, both the time constant T _d and the time constant T _y2 are small values (lower left corner of the map).

On the other hand, when Δt is large, that is, when the driver's point of interest is far, both time constants T _d and T _y2 are large values (upper right corner of the map). The time constant T _y2 for determining the lateral acceleration characteristic changes stepwise to a constant value with a short gaze distance (for example, about Δt = 1.5 [s] at a steering cycle of 0.5 Hz) as a boundary. However, the constant T _y2 time when fixation point distance is short, even if equal to constant T _y2 time when fixation point distance is long, since the evaluation function of equation (11) indicating the value of the minimum near, and constant Can be seen.

Therefore, ignoring constant T _y2 time, the gazing point position (i.e., fixation point distance) To summarize the change in a parameter which determines the vehicle characteristics for, becomes as shown in FIG. 15, the time constant that determines the yaw rate characteristic T _d Changes in proportion to the square of the distance to the front gazing point position.

  In the above, an example in which target vehicle characteristics are derived under the condition that the vehicle body slip angle in a steady state is 0 will be described. However, depending on the vehicle traveling conditions, it may be better not to satisfy the above conditions. .

  FIG. 16 shows the difference in the appearance of the travel path due to the difference in the vehicle body slip angle control when the vehicle is turning 200R. In the case of 2WS in the figure, the vehicle body has a vehicle body slip angle so that the vehicle body faces the inside of the turn. In this case, the travel path is slightly swelled leftward. Such a difference in appearance affects the driving state.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 17, when it is determined that the vehicle is traveling on a straight road from a far viewpoint of the driver (for example, sgn (α) ≠ sgn (β) (where sgn (•) is a sign function) If the condition of () is satisfied), the vehicle body can be directed toward the far viewpoint.

The direction and size of the vehicle body slip angle are determined by the size of T _y1 if T _d is determined according to the forward gazing point and T _y2 is a constant value.

As can be seen from the hatched area in FIG. 2 indicating the area where the vehicle body is the vehicle body slip angle facing the inside of the turn, the vehicle body slip angle when T _y1 is larger than the value at which the steady slip angle = 0. Becomes the direction facing the inside, and conversely, when it becomes smaller, the direction faces the outside.

From the above, the parameters of the vehicle characteristics change as shown in FIG. Therefore, there is a relationship between the curvature of the road shape ahead of the vehicle and the time constant T _y1 , as shown in FIG. 19, the time constant T _y1 changes monotonically as the curvature increases.

Next, a description will be given of a first embodiment in which vehicle characteristics are controlled using time constants T _d and T _y1 that change as described above.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 20, a camera 10 that captures the front of the vehicle traveling direction, and a camera 12 that is mounted in the vehicle interior so as to capture the face of the driver to detect the driver's line-of-sight direction. Is provided.

  Further, the vehicle is provided with a vehicle state sensor 18 for detecting a vehicle driving state. As the vehicle driving state, at least one of a vehicle speed, a vehicle lateral acceleration, and a yaw rate can be detected.

The cameras 10 and 12 and the vehicle state sensor 18 are connected to a control circuit 20 configured by a computer including a RAM, a ROM, and a CPU. The control circuit 20 is connected to the car navigation 14 and receives road information (map information including a road type) from the car navigation 14. The ROM of the control circuit 20 stores a map shown in FIG. 2 that defines the relationship between the vehicle front distance and the time constant _Td . As described with reference to FIG. 2, the time constant T _d of this map monotonously increases in accordance with the vehicle front distance up to a predetermined vehicle front distance, and has a constant value above the predetermined vehicle front distance.

  The control circuit 20 is connected to a steering angle sensor 16 that detects a steering angle δ of the steering wheel. The control circuit 20 is connected to an actuator 22 for controlling the vehicle characteristics to the target characteristics. As this actuator, braking force control means, driving force control means, front wheel steering control means, or rear wheel control steering means can be used.

  As this braking / driving control means, the control means used for so-called ESC (Electronic Stability Control), which controls the braking force of each wheel independently from the driver operation, is mechanically separated from the driver operation. There are control means (so-called brake-by-wire) for arbitrarily controlling the braking force of the wheel via a signal line.

  As the drive control means, the engine torque is controlled by controlling the driving force by controlling the throttle opening, the retard of the ignition advance, or the fuel injection amount, and the driving force is controlled by controlling the shift position of the transmission. Control means for controlling, control means for controlling at least one driving force in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction by controlling the torque transfer, or the like can be used.

  The front wheel steering control means is a control means for controlling the steering angle of the front wheel superimposed on the steering wheel operation of the driver, mechanically separated from the driver operation, and controls the front wheel steering angle independently of the steering wheel operation. Control means (so-called steer-by-wire) or the like can be used.

  The rear wheel steering control means is a control means for controlling the steering angle of the rear wheel according to the steering wheel operation of the driver, which is mechanically separated from the driver operation, and is independent of the steering wheel operation. Control means for controlling the steering angle can be used.

  Next, a control routine by the control circuit 20 that controls the vehicle characteristics based on the front gazing point position will be described with reference to FIG. In step 100, the driver's forward gazing point position is estimated or detected based on images taken by the camera 10 and the camera 12. This front viewpoint position can be estimated or detected by calculating the coordinates of the intersection of the driver's line-of-sight direction obtained by image processing from the image captured by the camera 12 and the front image captured by the camera 10. it can.

In the next step 102, a time constant _Td for the estimated or detected gaze position is obtained based on the forward gaze position estimated or detected in step 100 and the map stored in the ROM, and the obtained time constant is obtained. T _d is set as a vehicle characteristic.

In step 104, the steering angle detected by the steering angle sensor, yaw rate detected by the vehicle state detection sensor, and based on the constant T _d When set, the actuator manipulated variable for obtaining the time constant T _d calculated In step 106, the actuator is operated based on the actuator operation amount. Accordingly, when the distance to the predetermined forward gazing point position is included in the transfer function representing the yaw rate response to the driver's steering wheel operation amount as the distance to the forward gazing point position becomes longer than the own vehicle position. Since the vehicle is controlled so as to obtain a vehicle characteristic in which the constant _Td becomes long, a vehicle characteristic with a low lateral speed at the front gazing point position and good response can be obtained.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the driver's line-of-sight movement with respect to the target line while traveling is reduced, and visual misrecognition can be reduced. In addition, since high responsiveness of the vehicle motion can be ensured, the driver can perform the driving as expected and the driving becomes easy.

  FIG. 21 illustrates an example in which the vehicle is controlled so that the lateral speed at the front gazing point position is small and the vehicle characteristics with good responsiveness are obtained in the entire driving region. However, the driving state in which accurate tracing to the target line is required. Only in this case, the control of FIG. 21 may be performed. In this case, as shown in FIG. 22, in step 110, the current traveling state is determined based on the vehicle state detected by the vehicle state detection sensor 18, and in step 112, such as highway traveling or the like. When it is determined whether or not the driving state for which an accurate trace to the target line is required is a required driving state, and the determination in step 112 is affirmed, the forward note of step 100 to step 116 described in FIG. Control is performed in which the lateral speed of the viewpoint is small and vehicle characteristics with good responsiveness are obtained.

  Thereby, in the driving | running | working condition for which the exact trace to a target line is requested | required, trace property can be improved by implement | achieving the vehicle characteristic which is easy to drive.

  In addition, although the example which estimates or detects a driver | operator's gaze point position using two cameras was demonstrated above, you may make it estimate or detect a driver | operator's gaze point position using an eyepoint camera. .

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, the map shown in FIG. 19 that defines the relationship between the curvature of the road representing the road shape ahead of the vehicle and the time constant T _y1 is stored in the ROM of the control circuit 20. As described with reference to FIG. 19, the time constant T _y1 of this map is determined such that the time constant T _y1 increases monotonously as the curvature of the road shape increases.

In the present embodiment, the curvature of the road shape is calculated based on the road information obtained from the car navigation, and the time constant T _y1 corresponding to the curvature is set from the calculated curvature and the map shown in FIG. The vehicle is controlled so that the obtained vehicle characteristics are obtained.

In the present embodiment, the vehicle characteristics are controlled so that the time constant T _y1 included in the transfer function representing the response of the lateral acceleration to the driver's steering wheel operation amount becomes longer as the curvature of the road shape increases. Therefore, the vehicle characteristics assumed by the driver according to the road shape are obtained, and the driving is facilitated.

It is a figure which shows the coordinate of the driver | operator's gaze point position which is a vehicle position after time (DELTA) t second from the present time. It is a diagram which shows the relationship between time constant _Ty1 and differential time _Ty2 . It is a diagram which shows the transfer characteristic of a yaw rate. It is a diagram which shows the transfer characteristic of acceleration. It is a diagram which shows the transfer characteristic of the lateral velocity in a gazing point position. It is a diagram which shows the simulation result at the time of performing steering corresponding to a lane change. It is a diagram which shows the simulation result of a horizontal shark. It is a diagram which shows the evaluation result of the peak value of the lateral velocity in a gazing point position. It is a diagram which shows the evaluation result of time until a lateral speed converges from the steering end time. Lateral jerk at 0.3 seconds from the start of steering (normalized by maximum lateral jerk) It is a diagram which shows the evaluation result of the transient component of a horizontal jerk (The difference between the peak value of a transient jerk and a stationary jerk is normalized by the maximum horizontal jerk). It is a diagram which shows an evaluation function. It is a diagram which shows the lateral velocity of a gaze point, a lateral acceleration, a lateral jerk, and a yaw rate compared with a normal 2WS vehicle. It is a diagram which shows the change of the evaluation function by a gaze point distance. It is a diagram which shows the relationship between front gaze point distance and time constant _Td . It is a figure which shows the difference in the appearance of a traveling path by the difference in vehicle body slip angle control in the case of performing the turning driving | running | working of 200R. It is a diagram for demonstrating the driving | running | working scene on a straight road. It is a diagram which shows the change of the vehicle characteristic parameter according to a driving | running | working condition. It is a diagram which shows the relationship between the curvature which shows a road shape, and time constant _Ty1 . It is a block diagram which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control routine of 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the control routine of the modification of 1st Embodiment. FIG. 6 is a Bode diagram of a transfer function representing a response of lateral acceleration to a driver's steering wheel operation amount δ.

Explanation of symbols

10 camera 12 camera 20 control circuit

Claims (6)

Estimation / detection means for estimating or detecting the driver's forward gazing point position;
Based on the forward gazing point position estimated by the estimation / detection means, the time constant included in the transfer function representing the yaw rate response to the driver's steering wheel operation amount as the distance to the forward gazing point position increases. Setting means for setting the vehicle characteristics to be longer;
Control means for controlling the vehicle so as to obtain the vehicle characteristics set by the setting means;
A vehicle control apparatus. Estimation / detection means for estimating or detecting the driver's forward gazing point position;
Estimating / detecting means for estimating or detecting a road shape in front of the vehicle traveling direction;
Based on the forward gazing point position estimated or detected by the estimation / detection means, when the distance to the forward gazing point position becomes longer, it is included in the transfer function representing the yaw rate response to the driver's steering wheel operation amount The vehicle characteristics are set so that the constant becomes longer, and the lateral acceleration relative to the driver's steering wheel operation amount increases as the curvature increases based on the curvature of the road shape estimated or detected by the estimation / detection means. Setting means for setting the vehicle characteristics so that the time constant corresponding to the frequency indicating the start of the gain change becomes longer when the transfer function representing the response is represented by a Bode diagram showing the gain change with respect to the frequency;
Control means for controlling the vehicle so as to obtain the vehicle characteristics set by the setting means;
A vehicle control apparatus.   It further comprises a judging means for judging whether or not the vehicle traveling state requires a trace to the target line, and the setting means determines that the driver is in a traveling state that requires a trace to the target line. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the vehicle characteristic is set so that a time constant included in a transfer function representing a response of a yaw rate to a steering wheel operation amount becomes long. Estimating / detecting means for estimating or detecting a road shape in front of the vehicle traveling direction;
Based on the curvature of the road shape estimated or detected by the estimation / detection means, the transfer function representing the response of the lateral acceleration with respect to the driver's steering wheel operation amount indicates a change in gain with respect to the frequency as the curvature increases. Setting means for setting the vehicle characteristics so that the time constant, which is the time corresponding to the frequency indicating the gain change start when represented by a Bode diagram, is increased;
Control means for controlling the vehicle so as to obtain the vehicle characteristics set by the setting means;
A vehicle control apparatus. Estimate or detect the driver's forward gaze position,
Based on the estimated or detected forward gazing point position, the time constant included in the transfer function representing the response of the yaw rate to the driver's steering wheel operation amount becomes longer as the distance to the forward gazing point position becomes longer. Set vehicle characteristics,
Control the vehicle to obtain the set vehicle characteristics,
Vehicle control method. Estimate or detect the road shape ahead of the vehicle running direction,
Based on the estimated or detected curvature of the road shape, the transfer function representing the response of the lateral acceleration to the driver's steering wheel operation amount is represented by a Bode diagram showing the change of the gain with respect to the frequency as the curvature increases. Set the vehicle characteristics so that the time constant, which is the time corresponding to the frequency indicating the start of gain change, becomes longer,
Control the vehicle to obtain the set vehicle characteristics,
Vehicle control method.