JP2023154745A - Vehicular control device - Google Patents

Abstract

To enable an inclination angle of an optical axis of a head lamp to be controlled to an angle which can prevent dazzling of an oncoming vehicle, upon the occurrence of such an abnormality in a vehicle that a detection value of a sensor cannot be obtained.SOLUTION: Every time control means controls an inclination angle of an optical axis of a head lamp, a memory is made to store a vehicle body inclination angle corresponding to the inclination angle of the optical axis of the head lamp at the time of control. When the control means detects the occurrence of an abnormality in which a detection value of each sensor cannot be obtained (YES in Step S1), if the inclination angle of the optical axis of the head lamp according to the vehicle body inclination angle which is most frequently stored by the memory is in a more downward direction than the inclination angle immediately before the occurrence of the abnormality (YES in Step S8), the control means controls the optical axis of the head lamp to the inclination angle according to the vehicle body inclination angle which is most frequently stored by the memory (Step S9).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle control device that controls the tilt angle of the optical axis of a headlamp in accordance with the vehicle body tilt angle.

Conventionally, there is an auto-leveling control technique as a technique for controlling the inclination angle of the optical axis of a headlamp according to the inclination angle of a vehicle body to prevent dazzling oncoming vehicles. For example, in the case of auto-leveling control described in Patent Document 1, the control means uses coordinates in which acceleration in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle by an acceleration sensor mounted on the vehicle is set as a first axis, and acceleration in the vertical direction of the vehicle is set as a second axis. , the detection value detected by the acceleration sensor during at least one of acceleration and deceleration is plotted, and the vehicle body inclination angle is calculated using the slope of the straight line or vector obtained from the plotted multiple points, and the angle of inclination of the headlamp is calculated. Controls the tilt angle.

At this time, if acceleration information or the like cannot be obtained due to a system abnormality or the like, the tilt angle of the optical axis of the headlamp that was controlled immediately before the abnormality is maintained even after the abnormality occurs.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-100979

However, as shown in Fig. 8(a), the vehicle C equipped with the auto-leveling system S controls the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp L (thick line arrow in Fig. 8(a)) when no cargo is loaded. Then, as shown in Figure (b), when luggage K is loaded on vehicle C, the vehicle body inclination angle changes depending on the load of luggage K; Sometimes, if an abnormality such as a communication error or system error occurs, it would be necessary to change the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp L in accordance with the change in the vehicle body inclination angle due to loading. Regardless, as a countermeasure in the event of an abnormality, the tilt angle of the optical axis of the headlamp L, which was controlled in the unloaded state shown in Figure (a), is maintained, so the tilt angle is as shown in Figure (b). , the optical axis of the headlamp L (bold line arrow in the same figure (b)) is directed upwards than the optical axis without a load (dotted chain line arrow in the same figure (b)), which prevents dazzling oncoming vehicles. The problem arises that it disappears.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to enable control of the inclination angle of the optical axis of a headlamp to prevent dazzling oncoming vehicles when an abnormality occurs in a vehicle that prevents sensor detection values from being obtained.

In order to achieve the above object, the vehicle control device of the present invention is a vehicle control device that controls the tilt angle of the optical axis of a headlamp according to the vehicle body tilt angle, and includes various sensors mounted on the vehicle. a derivation means for deriving a vehicle body inclination angle, which is the degree of inclination of the vehicle, based on a detected value of the vehicle; and a control means for controlling the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp in accordance with the vehicle body inclination angle derived by the derivation means. , storage means for storing the vehicle body inclination angle corresponding to the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp each time the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled; When the occurrence of an abnormality for which a detection value of the sensor cannot be obtained is detected, the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle that is most frequently stored by the storage means is the same as that immediately before the occurrence of the abnormality. If the value is lower than the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp, the optical axis of the headlamp is set to the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle that is most frequently stored by the storage means. It is characterized by controlling the

According to this configuration, each time the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled, the storage means stores the vehicle body inclination angle corresponding to the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp at that time, and the control means When the occurrence of an abnormality in which the detected values of each sensor cannot be obtained is detected, the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle that is most frequently stored in the storage means is changed to the inclination angle of the headlamp optical axis immediately before the abnormality occurred. If the value is lower than the inclination angle of the optical axis, the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled to the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle most frequently stored by the storage means. At this time, the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurs is an inclination angle that complies with laws and regulations that does not dazzle oncoming vehicles, so it is not possible to point downward compared to the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurs. By determining this, it is possible to determine whether the optical axis of the headlamp has an inclination angle that complies with regulations.

As a result, when an abnormality occurs in which the detected values of each sensor cannot be obtained, the control means sets the tilt angle of the optical axis of the headlamp to a value lower than the tilt angle of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurs. By controlling the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp to correspond to the vehicle body inclination angle that is most frequently stored by the storage means, when the vehicle body inclination angle changes due to loading etc. after an abnormality occurs, the loading Unlike the conventional method of maintaining the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp L when the headlamp L is not loaded, the optical axis of the headlamp L does not become more upward than the optical axis when the headlamp L is not loaded. Even when a change in the vehicle body inclination angle occurs, the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp can be controlled to an angle that can prevent oncoming vehicles from being dazzled.

Further, when the control means detects the occurrence of an abnormality in which the detection values of each of the sensors cannot be obtained, the control means may be configured to control an inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp according to the vehicle body inclination angle that is most frequently stored by the storage means. is an upward value than the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurs, the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled to the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurs. You may also do so.

In this way, even if the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle that is most frequently stored by the storage means when an abnormality occurs is a value upward than the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurs. For example, the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled to the inclination angle just before the abnormality occurred, so when the angle of inclination of the vehicle body changes due to loading etc. after the abnormality occurs, the optical axis of the headlamp will not become excessively upward. This can prevent the oncoming vehicle from being dazzled.

Further, when the control means detects the occurrence of an abnormality in which the detection values of each of the sensors cannot be obtained, the control means may be configured to control an inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp according to the vehicle body inclination angle that is most frequently stored by the storage means. is an upward value than the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurred, the optical axis of the headlamp is set to be lower than when the abnormality occurred and the frequency of storage by the storage means is The tilt angle may be controlled to correspond to the vehicle body tilt angle that occurs most often. In this way, even if the vehicle body inclination angle changes due to loading or the like after an abnormality occurs, the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp can be controlled to an angle that can prevent oncoming vehicles from being dazzled.

The storage means may be configured to divide the vehicle body inclination angle into predetermined angles, which correspond to a range from an upper limit value to a lower limit value that can actually be taken as an adjustment range of the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp. The control means includes a counter corresponding to each of the plurality of inclination angle ranges, and the control means determines which of the plurality of inclination angle ranges the value of the vehicle body inclination angle each time the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled. It is determined whether the vehicle belongs to an inclination angle range, and the value of the counter corresponding to the inclination angle range determined to belong is counted up, and the vehicle in the inclination angle range corresponding to the counter having the largest count value. The tilt angle may be determined to be the one that is most frequently memorized.

In this way, among the plurality of counters included in the storage means, the vehicle inclination angle in the range corresponding to the counter with the largest count value is determined to be the vehicle inclination angle that is stored most frequently. When controlling the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp to correspond to the vehicle body tilt angle that is most frequently stored, it is possible to easily determine the vehicle body tilt angle that is most frequently stored.

Further, each of the plurality of counters provided in the storage means is divided into a plurality of frames for counting a predetermined value, and the lower frame is counted up and the count value of the lower frame reaches the predetermined value. Then, counting up of the upper frame starts, and when the count value of the upper frame reaches the predetermined value, the lower frame is reset and counting up starts anew, and the upper frame starts counting up. When the count value of the upper frame reaches the predetermined value, the lower frame starts counting up, and when the count value of the lower frame reaches the predetermined value, the upper frame is reset and a new one is started. It is desirable that the count-up starts at .

In this way, when the control means detects the occurrence of an abnormality after the frame of a certain counter is reset, it is possible to judge whether the frequency of storage is high or low based on the count value of the frame that has not been reset. Since the count value of the reset frame is not used to determine the frequency of storage, it is possible to avoid control based on the count value of frames with extremely low count values, and the headlamp The reliability of the optical axis tilt angle control can be improved.

According to this invention, when an abnormality occurs in which the control means cannot acquire the detected values of each sensor, the control means changes the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp to the inclination of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the occurrence of the abnormality. The tilt angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled according to the vehicle body tilt angle, which is a value in a downward range than the angle, and is most frequently stored by the storage means. Even if a change occurs, the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp can be prevented from becoming an upward angle that does not comply with regulations, and it is possible to reliably prevent oncoming vehicles from being dazzled.

1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a vehicle control device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the operation in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the operation in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the operation in FIG. 1; 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG. 1. FIG. It is a flowchart figure for operation|movement explanation of 2nd Embodiment of the vehicle control apparatus of this invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of a conventional example.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of a vehicle control device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

The vehicle control device in this embodiment is configured to calculate the vehicle body inclination angle by calculation, and as shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle control device 1 in this embodiment includes an optical axis control ECU (Electronic Control Unit). 2, a triaxial acceleration sensor 3, and a wheel speed sensor 4. The acceleration sensor 3 detects the acceleration of the vehicle in the left-right direction, the front-rear direction, and the up-down direction, and outputs the vehicle's front-rear direction output value X and the up-down direction output value Z to the ECU 2. The wheel speed sensor 4 detects the wheel speed of each wheel of the vehicle and outputs the detected wheel speed value to the ECU 2.

The ECU 2 derives the vehicle body acceleration A by time-differentiating the wheel speed detection value by the wheel speed sensor 4, and calculates the longitudinal direction output value X and the vertical direction output value Z from the acceleration sensor 3, the derived vehicle body acceleration A, and the gravitational acceleration G. A calculation means 21 calculates the vehicle body inclination angle θv and road surface inclination angle θr with respect to the road surface on which the vehicle is traveling based on the following calculation formula using However, each time the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled by the control means described later, the vehicle body inclination angle θv at that time is stored, and a memory (in the present invention, a memory) is used to store data necessary for other controls. and a control means 23 for controlling the headlamp optical axis adjusting means 6 based on the vehicle body inclination angle θv calculated by the calculating means 21 to control the inclination angle of the headlamp. Here, the gravitational acceleration G at the earth's surface is "1".

The calculation means 21 calculates the vehicle body acceleration A by time-differentiating the wheel speed detection value by the wheel speed sensor 4 by calculating the predetermined calculation formula described below, and calculates the vehicle body acceleration A by calculating the vehicle body acceleration A by time-differentiating the wheel speed detection value by the wheel speed sensor 4. The road surface inclination angle θr is calculated based on the direction output value Z, the derived vehicle body acceleration A, and the gravitational acceleration G, and the vehicle body inclination angle θv is calculated using the calculated road surface inclination angle θr, etc. corresponds to "means".

Now, as shown in Figure 2, when a vehicle is running uphill with a road surface inclination angle θr, the vertical direction of the vehicle (Z direction in Figure 2) is the vertical direction (G direction in Figure 2), which is the direction of gravity. ), the vehicle is inclined at an angle that is the sum of the road surface inclination angle θr and the vehicle body inclination angle θv (θr+θv), so the longitudinal output value X and the vertical output value Z of the vehicle detected by the acceleration sensor 3 are It can be expressed by Equation (1) in Equation 1 and Equation (2) in Equation 2. Then, by converting both equations (1) and (2), equation (3) of equation 3 is obtained, and by multiplying both sides of equation (3) by sinθv, equation 4 of equation 4 is obtained. Equation (4) is obtained.

Furthermore, by multiplying both sides of Equation (2) by A, Equation (5) of Equation 5 is obtained, and if Equation (5) is transformed and rewritten as A ² · sin θv, Equation (6) of Equation 6 is obtained. By substituting this equation (6) into A ² ·sin θv on the right side of equation (4) and transforming it, equation (4) can be rewritten as equation (7) in Equation 7.

In addition, by multiplying both sides of equation (1) by G cos θr and transforming it, equation (8) of Equation 8 is obtained, and equation (8) is applied to A G cos θv cos θr on the right side of equation (7). By substituting and transforming, equation (9) of number 9 is obtained, and by further transforming equation (9), equation (10) of number 10 is obtained, and from this equation (10), equation (11) of number 11 is obtained. ) is obtained. Furthermore, by transforming equation (3), equation (12) of number 12 representing the road surface inclination angle θr is obtained, and equation (13) of number 13 representing the vehicle body inclination angle θv is obtained using equation (12). The inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled by the control means 23 according to the obtained vehicle body inclination angle θv.

By the way, the ECU 2 uses the vehicle network via CAN communication to acquire the longitudinal direction output value X and the vertical direction output value Z of the vehicle from the acceleration sensor 3 and the wheel speed detection value from the wheel speed sensor 4. Due to an abnormality or system abnormality, it becomes impossible to obtain acceleration information, wheel speed information, etc. from each sensor 3, 4, and a situation arises in which the road surface inclination angle θr and the vehicle body inclination angle θv cannot be calculated.

Therefore, each time the control means 23 controls the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp, the vehicle body inclination angle θv corresponding to the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp at that time is stored in the memory 22, and the control means 23 When detecting the occurrence of an abnormality in which the detection values of each sensor 3 and 4 cannot be obtained, the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle θv that is most frequently stored in the memory 22 is changed to the value immediately before the abnormality occurred. If the value is lower than the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp, the control means 23 controls the optical axis of the headlamp to an inclination angle corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle θv that is most frequently stored in the memory 22; If the value is higher than the angle of inclination of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurred, either control the optical axis of the headlamp to the angle of inclination of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurred, or The inclination angle is controlled to correspond to the vehicle body inclination angle θv which is lower than the vehicle body inclination angle at the time and is stored most frequently in the memory 22. The optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurs is controlled to an angle that complies with the law and does not dazzle oncoming vehicles, so the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurs is controlled to a downward or upward angle than the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurs. By determining this, it is possible to determine whether the tilt angle complies with the optical axis regulations for headlamps.

At this time, the relationship between the vehicle body inclination angle θv and the corresponding inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is mapped in advance and stored in the memory 22, etc. It is preferable to be able to easily derive the inclination angle θv or the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp according to the vehicle body inclination angle θv.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle body inclination angle θv corresponding to the upper and lower limit values that can actually be taken as the control range of the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp has a maximum value of 0° and a minimum value of -2.0. degree, the memory 22 stores a plurality of inclination angles in which the vehicle body inclination angle in the range of 0° or more and -2.0° or less is divided into predetermined constant angles of 0.1°. The first range is 0° or more and less than -0.1°, the second range is -0.1° or more and less than -0.2°, and the second range is -0.2° or more and less than -0.3°. 3rd range, ..., 19th range of -1.8° or more and less than -1.9°, 20th range of -1.9° or more and -2.0° or less, respectively. Equipped with a counter.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, each of the first to 20th counters is divided into, for example, two first and second frames that count a predetermined value (for example, 10), and the lower first frame counts. When the count value of the lower first frame reaches a predetermined value (=10), the count up of the upper second frame starts, and the count value of the upper second frame reaches the predetermined value (=10). Sometimes, the lower first frame is reset and a new count-up starts, the upper second frame is counted up, and when the count value of the upper second frame reaches a predetermined value (=10), the lower first frame is counted up. Frame count-up begins, and when the count value of the lower first frame reaches a predetermined value (=10), the upper second frame is reset and a new count-up begins.

The memory 22 is configured in this way, and each time the control means 23 controls the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp, the vehicle body inclination angle θv corresponding to the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp at that time is set to the first It is determined which of the ranges corresponding to each of the to 20th counters belongs, and the frame of the counter corresponding to the tilt angle range to which it is determined to belong is counted up. For example, if the vehicle body inclination angle θv when the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled is -0.25°, the third counter corresponds to the inclination angle range, so the first Or the second frame is counted up.

When the control means 23 detects the occurrence of an abnormality in which the detection values of the sensors 3 and 4 cannot be obtained, the inclination angle of the headlamp optical axis immediately before the occurrence of the abnormality is stored in the memory 22 etc., and the control means 23 Among the counters, the counter that has the largest count value and is stored most frequently, that is, the counter that stores the vehicle body tilt angle θv that the vehicle can take most, is identified, and the headlamp is set according to the vehicle body tilt angle θv that corresponds to the specified counter. The inclination angle of the optical axis is read from the map and it is determined whether it is a downward value than the inclination angle immediately before the abnormality occurred. If it is a downward value, the control means 23 controls the headlamp optical axis adjustment means 6. is controlled, and the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled to an inclination angle according to the vehicle body inclination angle θv corresponding to the specified counter.

Specifically, for example, when an abnormality occurs when the vehicle body inclination angle θv is −0.15°, as shown in FIG. Since the value is "4", the counter that stores the most frequently stored vehicle body tilt angle θv, that is, the vehicle body tilt angle θv that the vehicle can take most, is identified as the 19th counter. Then, the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp according to the vehicle body inclination angle θv (-1.8° or more and less than -1.9°) in the 19th range corresponding to the identified 19th counter is read from the map. Then, it is determined whether the vehicle body inclination angle θv immediately before the abnormality occurs is downward than the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp corresponding to -0.15° and complies with the regulations. When it is determined that the headlamp optical axis adjustment means 6 is the specified value, the control means 23 controls the headlamp optical axis adjustment means 6 to an inclination angle according to the vehicle body inclination angle θv (for example, -1.85°) corresponding to the specified 19th counter. be done.

By the way, FIG. 4 shows an example in which the count value of the first counter is the largest among the counters, and when an abnormality occurs in this state, the control means 23 controls the count value of each counter to Since the count value of the first counter is "5" most frequently, the first counter is the one that stores the most frequently stored vehicle body tilt angle θv, that is, the vehicle body tilt angle θv that can be taken most often by the vehicle. The tilt angle of the optical axis of the headlamp according to the vehicle body tilt angle θv (0° or more and less than -0.1°) in the first range that corresponds to the identified first counter is read from the map; As a result of determining whether the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is downward than the inclination angle of the vehicle body corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle θv (-0.15°) immediately before the abnormality occurrence and complies with the regulations, it is determined that the inclination angle is not downward but upward. Since it is determined that the value does not comply with the regulations, the control means 23 controls the headlamp optical axis adjustment means 6 to maintain the inclination angle immediately before the occurrence of the abnormality. At this time, if the vehicle body tilt angle θv immediately before the occurrence of the abnormality is −0.15°, the tilt angle is controlled to correspond to the vehicle body tilt angle θv of −0.15°.

Next, a procedure for controlling the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp by the calculation means 21, the control means 23, etc. will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not an abnormality has occurred that makes it impossible to obtain the detected values of each sensor (step S1). If no abnormality has occurred and the determination result is NO, the calculation means 21, the vehicle body inclination angle θv is calculated by calculating the equation (1) of Equation 1 to Equation (13) of Equation 13 using the detected values of each sensor 3, 4, etc. (step S2), and the vehicle body inclination angle θv is calculated. It is determined whether the angle θv has changed by a predetermined angle or more (step S3), and if the determination result is NO, there is no change in the vehicle body inclination angle θv and the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled. There's no need, so go back to the start.

On the other hand, if the determination result in step S3 is YES, the vehicle body inclination angle θv changes by a predetermined angle or more due to loading, etc., and it is necessary to control the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp. 23, the headlamp optical axis adjusting means 6 is controlled to control the optical axis of the headlamp to an inclination angle corresponding to the changed vehicle body inclination angle θv (step S4). The frame of one of the counters to which the vehicle body inclination angle θv corresponding to the inclination angle of the optical axis of each headlamp belongs is counted up (step S5), and either the first or second frame of the counted up counter is counted up. It is determined whether the count value has reached a predetermined value (step S6), and if the predetermined value has not been reached and the result of this determination is NO, the process returns to the start, and if it has reached the predetermined value, the determination in step S6 is made. is passed with YES, the frame is reset (step S7), and then the process returns to the start.

Further, if the determination result in step S1 described above is YES, that is, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in which the detection values of each sensor cannot be obtained, the tilt angle of the headlamp optical axis immediately before the abnormality occurs is stored in the memory 22, etc. At the same time, the control means 23 specifies the counter that has the largest count value and is stored most frequently among the counters, that is, the counter that stores the vehicle body inclination angle θv that is most possible for the vehicle, and the vehicle body corresponding to the specified counter is The inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp according to the inclination angle θv is read from the map, and whether the read inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is downward than the inclination angle immediately before the abnormality occurred and is a value that complies with regulations. A determination is made (step S8), and if the value is downward and complies with the regulations, the determination result in step S8 becomes YES, and the control means 23 controls the headlamp optical axis adjustment means 6 to adjust the optical axis of the headlamp. , the tilt angle is controlled to be the vehicle body tilt angle θv corresponding to the specified counter (step S9), and then the process returns to the start.

In addition, the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp according to the vehicle body inclination angle θv corresponding to the specified counter is read from the map, and the read inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is greater than the inclination angle immediately before the abnormality occurred. If the value is upward and does not comply with the regulations, and the determination result in step S8 is NO, controlling the optical axis of the headlamp to the upward tilt angle will violate the regulations, so the control means 23 changes the optical axis of the headlamp. The adjustment means 6 is controlled so that the optical axis of the headlamp maintains the inclination angle immediately before the abnormality occurred, or the optical axis of the headlamp is lower than when the abnormality occurred and the inclination angle is maintained at the angle of inclination just before the abnormality occurred. The inclination angle is controlled to correspond to the vehicle body inclination angle θv that has the largest count value and is stored most frequently (step S10), and then returns to the start.

Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, when an abnormality occurs in which the detection values of the sensors 3 and 4 cannot be obtained, the control means 23 changes the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp to that of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurred. The counter in the memory 22 that stores the vehicle body inclination angle θv that is downward than the inclination angle of the optical axis and complies with the regulations and that is most frequently stored in the memory 22 and that is the most likely to be taken by the vehicle is specified; Since the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled to an inclination angle according to the specified counter, even if the vehicle body inclination angle θv changes due to loading etc. after an abnormality occurs, the inclination of the optical axis of the headlamp will not change. It is possible to prevent the angle from becoming an upward angle that does not comply with regulations, and it is possible to reliably prevent oncoming vehicles from being dazzled.

Furthermore, if the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle θv that is most frequently stored in the memory 22 when an abnormality occurs is a value upward than the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the abnormality occurs. For example, the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled to maintain the inclination angle immediately before the abnormality occurred, or the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled to be lower than when the abnormality occurred and the count value is the largest among the counters in the memory 22. Since the tilt angle is controlled according to the vehicle body tilt angle θv, which is frequently memorized, it prevents the optical axis of the headlamp from pointing excessively upward when the vehicle body tilt angle θv changes due to loading etc. after an abnormality occurs. This can prevent the oncoming vehicle from being dazzled.

Further, among the plurality of counters included in the memory 22, the vehicle body tilt angle θv in the range corresponding to the counter with the largest count value is determined to be the vehicle body tilt angle θv that is stored most frequently and that the vehicle can take. When the control means 23 controls the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp according to the vehicle body inclination angle θv that is most frequently stored in the memory 22 when an abnormality occurs, that is, the vehicle body inclination angle θv that the vehicle can take most, The most frequently occurring vehicle body inclination angle θv can be easily determined.

For example, when the control means 23 detects the occurrence of an abnormality after the first frame of a certain counter is reset, the storage frequency may be determined based on the count value of the unreset second frame of the counter. Since the reset count value of the first frame is not used to determine whether the memory frequency is high or low, control based on the count value of a frame with an extremely low count value is avoided. This makes it possible to improve the reliability of controlling the tilt angle of the optical axis of the headlamp.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the vehicle control device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Since the device configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described above, the following description will also refer to FIGS. 1 to 5, and the points that differ from the first embodiment I will explain about it.

In this embodiment, each time the control means 23 controls the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp, the vehicle body inclination angle θv corresponding to the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp at that time is stored in the memory 22, When the control means 23 detects the occurrence of an abnormality in which the detection values of the sensors 3 and 4 cannot be obtained, the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle θv that is most frequently stored in the memory 22 is determined to be abnormal. If the value is lower than the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the occurrence, the control means 23 controls the optical axis of the headlamp to an inclination angle corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle θv that is most frequently stored in the memory 22. On the other hand, this embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that nothing is done if the tilt angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is higher than the angle of inclination immediately before the abnormality occurs.

That is, as shown in the control procedure of FIG. 7, the processing in steps S1 to S8 is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment shown in FIG. When it is determined that an abnormality that cannot be obtained has occurred, the tilt angle of the headlamp optical axis immediately before the abnormality occurred is stored in the memory 22, etc., and the control means 23 stores the largest count value among the counters. The counter that stores the most frequent vehicle body tilt angle θv, that is, the most possible vehicle body tilt angle θv, is identified, and the tilt angle of the optical axis of the headlamp according to the vehicle body tilt angle θv corresponding to the specified counter is read from the map. As a result, it is determined whether the read inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is downward than the inclination angle immediately before the abnormality occurred and complies with the regulations.As a result, the read inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is The difference from the first embodiment is that when the angle of inclination is higher than the inclination angle immediately before the occurrence of the abnormality and is a value that does not comply with the regulations (NO in step S8), the process returns to the start.

Therefore, according to the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, when an abnormality occurs in which the detection values of the sensors 3 and 4 cannot be obtained, the control means 23 adjusts the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp. , is a value that is downward than the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the occurrence of the abnormality and complies with the regulations, and stores the vehicle body inclination angle θv that is most frequently stored in the memory 22 and is the most possible for the vehicle. Since the counter in the memory 22 is specified and the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled to the tilt angle according to the specified counter, even if the vehicle body tilt angle θv changes due to loading etc. after an abnormality occurs, It is possible to prevent the optical axis of the headlamp from becoming upwardly tilted to a value that does not comply with regulations, and it is possible to reliably prevent oncoming vehicles from being dazzled.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various changes other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

For example, as the control of the control means 23 in the first embodiment described above, the process of step S10 in FIG. The optical axis of the lamp may be simply controlled to an inclination angle corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle θv which is lower than when the abnormality occurred and has the largest count value among the counters in the memory 22 and is stored most frequently.

Furthermore, in each of the embodiments described above, the case where a three-axis acceleration sensor is used as the acceleration sensor 3 has been described, but it may be a two-axis acceleration sensor for front and back and up and down, or a single axis for front and back and up and down. Two acceleration sensors may be provided. Furthermore, the acceleration sensor 3 may use an acceleration sensor already installed in the vehicle for purposes such as skidding prevention control, which eliminates the need to provide an acceleration sensor dedicated to controlling the optical axis of the headlamp, reducing costs. can do. Further, as a means for obtaining the road surface inclination angle θr, in addition to the calculation by the calculation means 21 shown in the above-described embodiment, a navigation system or the like may be used.

In each of the embodiments described above, the calculation means 21 calculates the vehicle body acceleration A by time-differentiating the wheel speed detection value by the wheel speed sensor 4, and calculates the longitudinal direction output value X and the vertical direction output value from the acceleration sensor 3. We have explained an example in which the road surface inclination angle θr is calculated based on the derived vehicle acceleration A and the gravitational acceleration G, and the vehicle body inclination angle θv is calculated using the calculated road surface inclination angle θr, etc. It goes without saying that the calculation is not limited to calculations such as these.

Further, the present invention can be applied to a vehicle control device that controls the inclination angle of the optical axis of a headlamp according to the vehicle body inclination angle.

1...Vehicle control device 2...ECU for optical axis control
3...Acceleration sensor 4...Wheel speed sensor 21...Calculating means (deriving means)
22...Memory 23...Control means

Claims (5)

A vehicle control device that controls a tilt angle of an optical axis of a headlamp according to a vehicle body tilt angle,
Deriving means for deriving a vehicle body inclination angle, which is the degree of inclination of the vehicle, based on detected values of various sensors mounted on the vehicle;
a control means for controlling the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp according to the vehicle body inclination angle derived by the derivation means;
storage means for storing the vehicle body inclination angle corresponding to the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp each time the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled;
The control means includes:
When the occurrence of an abnormality in which the detection values of the respective sensors cannot be obtained is detected, the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle that is most frequently stored by the storage means is set immediately before the occurrence of the abnormality. If the value is lower than the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp, the optical axis of the headlamp is set to the optical axis of the headlamp corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle that is most frequently stored by the storage means. A vehicle control device characterized by controlling the tilt angle. The vehicle control device according to claim 1,
The control means includes:
When the occurrence of an abnormality in which the detection values of the respective sensors cannot be obtained is detected, the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle most frequently stored by the storage means is set immediately before the occurrence of the abnormality. If the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is higher than the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp, the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled to the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp immediately before the occurrence of the abnormality. control device. The vehicle control device according to claim 1,
The control means includes:
When the occurrence of an abnormality in which the detection values of the respective sensors cannot be obtained is detected, the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp corresponding to the vehicle body inclination angle most frequently stored by the storage means is set immediately before the occurrence of the abnormality. If the value is higher than the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp, the optical axis of the headlamp is set to the vehicle body inclination angle that is lower than when the abnormality occurred and is most frequently stored by the storage means. A vehicle control device characterized by controlling the tilt angle according to the vehicle angle. The vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The storage means is
The vehicle body inclination angle corresponding to the range from the upper limit value to the lower limit value that can actually be taken as the adjustment range of the inclination angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is divided into a plurality of inclination angle ranges each divided into predetermined constant angles. Equipped with a corresponding counter,
The control means includes:
Determine which of the plurality of tilt angle ranges the value of the vehicle body tilt angle belongs to each time the tilt angle of the optical axis of the headlamp is controlled, and determine the tilt angle to which it is determined to belong. The vehicle is characterized in that the value of the counter corresponding to the range is counted up, and the vehicle inclination angle in the inclination angle range corresponding to the counter having the largest count value is determined to be the one most frequently stored. control device. The vehicle control device according to claim 4,
Each of the plurality of counters included in the storage means is divided into a plurality of frames for counting a predetermined value,
When the lower frame is counted up and the count value of the lower frame reaches the predetermined value, the upper frame starts counting up, and when the count value of the upper frame reaches the predetermined value, the lower frame starts counting up. The frame is reset and a new count-up starts,
When the upper frame is counted up and the count value of the upper frame reaches the predetermined value, the lower frame starts counting up, and when the count value of the lower frame reaches the predetermined value, the upper frame starts counting up. A vehicle control device, wherein the frame is reset and a new count-up starts.

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