Abstract: The vehicle weight determination device includes a microcomputer for achieving the vehicle weight determination by obtaining a driving force after filtering based on the speed ratio of the torque converter and obtaining an integrated driving force with the absolute value of the driving force after filtering by using an area method. Similarly, acceleration after filtering is obtained by filtering process of the acceleration and an integrated to obtain an integrated acceleration. The vehicle weight is determined by the integrated driving force divided by the integrated acceleration.

Abstract: The load element state detecting portion 72 detects the completion of the filling of the hydraulic oil into the clutch 62 and the working limit of the accumulator 64 on the basis of the displacement of the spool valve element 42. That is, since the completion of the filling of the hydraulic oil into the clutch and the working limit of the accumulator 64 are directly detected, so that the completion of the filling of the hydraulic oil into the clutch 62 and the working limit of the accumulator 64 can be detected with high precision regardless of differences among products and the time-lapse variation. Furthermore, they can be detected without equipping any special device to the hydraulic control circuit, and thus there is an advantage that the device construction is simple.

Abstract: An instruction value Duty for bringing a slip rotation speed Nslip to a target rotation speed is feedback-controlled based on a difference e between the slip rotation speed Nslip and the target rotation speed, and a weight &thgr; from a parameter map. Weights &thgr; are assigned individually to a plurality of models, each of which includes a group of parameters and which are used to form a control model that represents a slip control system. Based on a weight that is assigned to one of the plurality of models, a weight that is assigned to at least one model that is other than the one of the plurality of models is specified. Thus, the amount of calculation required can be reduced by estimating weights for the models including the groups of parameters, which contain parameters that are used to construct the control model, instead of directly estimating the control model-constructing parameters.

Abstract: When changing gear, engagement side clutch coupling force of an automatic transmission (32) is controlled in response to an engagement side clutch coupling force control amount set in advance in an engagement side clutch coupling force control amount storage section (36). A disengagement side clutch coupling force control amount calculating block (40) has a physical model of the automatic transmission (32) internally. This disengagement side clutch coupling force control amount calculating block (40) then calculates disengagement side clutch coupling force control amount from a transmission input torque estimation value estimated by a transmission input torque estimation block (34), a running resistance estimation value from a running resistance estimation block (38) and engagement side clutch coupling force control amount using the physical model, and controls the automatic transmission (32) using the calculated disengagement side clutch coupling force control amount.

Abstract: A control apparatus and method are provided for controlling a torque of an engine coupled to an input shaft of an automatic transmission during a shift by that automatic transmission. In that control, torque-down control by which the engine torque is decreased by a predetermined amount is performed, a torque-restore control starting point at which time torque-restore control is to be started is determined during the torque-down control, and the torque-restore control so as to gradually restore the engine torque to a value before the torque-down control was performed is started at the torque-restore control starting point. The torque-restore control starting point is determined according to a dynamic model which simulates the behavior of the automatic transmission over time from the start of the torque-down control, and so that a rotational speed of the input shaft of the automatic transmission at a target point substantially matches a target speed.

Abstract: When changing gear, engagement side clutch coupling force of an automatic transmission (32) is controlled in response to an engagement side clutch coupling force control amount set in advance in an engagement side clutch coupling force control amount storage section (36). A disengagement side clutch coupling force control amount calculating block (40) has a physical model of the automatic transmission (32) internally. This disengagement side clutch coupling force control amount calculating block (40) then calculates disengagement side clutch coupling force control amount from a transmission input torque estimation value estimated by a transmission input torque estimation block (34), a running resistance estimation value from a running resistance estimation block (38) and engagement side clutch coupling force control amount using the physical model, and controls the automatic transmission (32) using the calculated disengagement side clutch coupling force control amount.

Abstract: In order to control slip amount of a disengagement side engagement device at the time of a gear shift operation, a target value Nr for rotational speed of an input shaft of an automatic transmission is calculated inside an input shaft speed target value calculating block. Slip control of the disengagement side engagement device is then carried out by controlling engine torque using an engine torque control amount obtained from a engine torque control amount estimation block and the clutch slip amount compensation value calculating section to cause rotation speed Nt of the input shaft to follow the target value Nr. In this way, responsiveness and precision of slip control of the disengagement side engagement device at the time of gear shift operation are improved, and it is possible to improve gear shift shock and to carry out a gear shift operation in a short period of time.

Abstract: A control apparatus for controlling a control system having a sliding resistance by using a sliding mode control method determines a deviation of an actual value of a quantity of state that is to be caused to follow a target value from the target value (step 1), calculates a switching surface &sgr; from the deviation (step 2), and determines a corrected switching surface &sgr;′ by adding a carrier wave to the calculated switching surface &sgr; (step 3). The carrier wave is expressed by a periodic function, for example, a sine wave, a sawtooth pulse wave, or the like, and has finite gradients on its waveform. Then, the control apparatus outputs an amount of operation u based on the value of the corrected switching surface &sgr;′ (step 4). The amount of operation u behaves in a manner similar to that in an ordinary sliding mode control method when the switching surface &sgr; is not close to zero.

Abstract: A characteristics change of a control object is functionally represented by a parameter &thgr; which varies between values of 0 and 1 as the gain of the control object is surveyed. The frequency of the identification signal is set at a frequency where the difference in gains becomes large. The amplitude of the identification signal is set so that the variation width of the output of the control object is less than or equal to a predetermined value. Because the identification accuracy improves where the input/output characteristics with respect to the parameter are more sensitive, the identification signal set by such a setting apparatus imparts high identification accuracy. Moreover, because the amplitude of the identification signal is set based on the variation width of the output of the control object, identification can be performed without significantly affecting the output of the control object.

Abstract: A deviation between a target value of a quantity of state and an actual value of the quantity of state that is caused to follow the target value or a time-integral of the deviation is filtered. Based on the filtered value, a switching surface &sgr; is calculated. Based on a value of the switching surface &sgr;, a control input value u is outputted. The filter is set through comparison in Bode diagrams between a design model of a control system based on an ordinary sliding mode control method and a characteristic variation model of the control system, and by performing compensation in such a direction as to cancel out the variation. The filtering process makes it possible to properly control the control system having a dead time by the sliding mode control method.

Abstract: A control apparatus of the present invention can realize stable and good follow-up slip control of a plant, such as a lock-up clutch, irrespective of a characteristic perturbation of the plant, for example, deterioration of frictional members or operating oil of the clutch. The apparatus of the present invention also has an improved convergence of transient response. The control apparatus approximates a characteristic perturbation by a high-order function in a frequency domain and gives requisites for the stable and good follow-up control as a sensitivity function S and a complementary sensitivity function T of a feedback control system. Design of the feedback control system is considered as an issue of mixed sensitivity of H.infin. control. A controller is accordingly designed with a function of predetermined order, which is substantially equal to the order of the high-order function approximating the characteristic perturbation.

Abstract: The present invention realizes high-speed and stable controls irrespective of the characteristic perturbations accompanied with the variation in operation point of a plant. The principle of the invention is applied to slip control of a lock-up clutch of a transmission and to idling engine speed control. A plant input calculation unit OC working as a controller recognizes an actual plant plus a characteristic compensator CC as an augmented plant EOB. The characteristic compensator CC compensates for the characteristic perturbations of the augmented plant EOB accompanied with the variation in operation point, so that the augmented plant EOB always works at a design point with respect to the plant input calculation unit OC working as the controller. The characteristic compensator CC compensates for frequency-dependent gain and phase deviations through filter operations and for a stationary gain deviation by multiplying predetermined constants.

Abstract: A clutch slip control device includes: a slip revolution speed detecting circuit for detecting an actual slip revolution speed of a clutch; a memory unit for storing constants set to satisfy response and stability of a feedback control system of the slip conditions, the constants being determined by a high-order function approximating variation in input-output frequency characteristics of a plant input for actuating the clutch and the actual slip revolution speed; a first calculation circuit for calculating a first parameter using the constants stored in the memory unit, the first parameter discretely reflecting past data of the plant input, which are obtained in a current feedback control cycle through in a cycle executed a plurality of times before; a second calculation circuit for calculating a second parameter using the constants stored in the memory unit, the second parameter discretely reflecting past data of a deviation of the actual slip revolution speed from a target slip revolution speed, which are

Abstract: The present invention realizes high-speed and stable controls irrespective of the characteristic perturbations accompanied with the variation in operation point of a plant. The principle of the invention is applied to slip control of a lock-up clutch of a transmission and to idling engine speed control. A plant input calculation unit OC working as a controller recognizes an actual plant plus a characteristic compensator CC as an augmented plant EOB. The characteristic compensator CC compensates for the characteristic perturbations of the augmented plant EOB accompanied with the variation in operation point, so that the augmented plant EOB always works at a design point with respect to the plant input calculation unit OC working as the controller. The characteristic compensator CC compensates for frequency-dependent gain and phase deviations through filter operations and for a stationary gain deviation by multiplying predetermined constants.

Abstract: A clutch slip control device includes: a slip revolution speed detecting circuit for detecting an actual slip revolution speed of a clutch; a memory unit for storing constants set to satisfy response and stability of a feedback control system of the slip conditions, the constants being determined by a high-order function approximating variation in input-output frequency characteristics of a plant input for actuating the clutch and the actual slip revolution speed; a first calculation circuit for calculating a first parameter using the constants stored in the memory unit, the first parameter discretely reflecting past data of the plant input, which are obtained in a current feedback control cycle through in a cycle executed a plurality of times before; a second calculation circuit for calculating a second parameter using the constants stored in the memory unit, the second parameter discretely reflecting past data of a deviation of the actual slip revolution speed from a target slip revolution speed, which are