Abstract: In an automatic transmission position control by a motor, it is determined whether the present instant belongs to a starting period, that is, the present instant is immediately after resetting of a control unit or application of power to it. If it is the starting period, an actual shift position that is detected from an output of an output shaft sensor for detecting a rotation position of a motor is set as an instructed shift position. With this measure, even if the control unit is reset for a certain reason while the vehicle is running, the instructed shift position is not changed in association with the resetting. This prevents trouble that the shift position is switched contrary to the intention of the driver, whereby the reliability of a position switching control can be increased.

Abstract: A shift control system rotates an actuator to cause a wall of a detent plate to contact a roller of a detent spring, and detects the position of contact so as to detect the position of the wall of the detent plate. This wall position is set as a reference position of the actuator. Accordingly, the rotation of the actuator can appropriately be controlled even if an encoder which can only detect relative positional information is employed, and thus the shift range can appropriately be switched.

Abstract: A shift control system rotates an actuator to cause a wall of a detent plate to contact a roller of a detent spring, and detects the position of contact so as to detect the position of the wall of the detent plate. This wall position is set as a reference position of the actuator. Accordingly, the rotation of the actuator can appropriately be controlled even if an encoder which can only detect relative positional information is employed, and thus the shift range can appropriately be switched.

Abstract: A motor needs to provide a first torque at the time of releasing a shift range from a parking range and needs to provide a second torque smaller than the first torque at the time of placing the shift range into the parking range. Also, the motor needs to provide a third torque smaller than the second torque at the time of changing the shift range from one non-parking range to another non-parking range and needs to provide a fourth torque smaller than the third torque at the time of executing the parking range wall abutment learning. When the parking range wall abutment learning is executed from the parking range, a motor control apparatus controls the torque to the third or fourth torque. When the parking range wall abutment learning is executed from any non-parking range, the motor control apparatus controls the torque to the first or second torque.

Abstract: A P-range side delimiting position of a movable range of a range change mechanism is learned by rotating a motor to a corresponding rotational position, which corresponds to the P-range side delimiting position. A climb correction amount is set for a learning value of the P-range side delimiting position to correct the learning value of the P-range side delimiting position in view of presence of a relatively small angle of rotation of the motor beyond the corresponding rotational position, which corresponds to the P-range side delimiting position. The climb correction amount is set according to motor temperature information, which is one of a temperature of the motor and a temperature that relates to the temperature of the motor.

Abstract: A shift-by-wire shift switching device and shift switching method that switch a shift range of an automatic transmission using an electric motor. The shift switching device includes a controller that determines whether a fault has occurred in a current supply line of each phase of the electric motor on a phase-by-phase basis, executes an open-loop control of the electric motor using only the phases in which it has been determined that a fault has not occurred, and determines whether a fault has occurred in the current supply line by detecting an activation state of the electric motor when the open-loop control of the electric motor is executed. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether a fault in the motor is a short-circuit fault or a break fault, without addition of a part such as a short-circuit detection sensor.

Abstract: A throttle control apparatus comprises a throttle valve placed in an intake passage, a motor for driving the throttle valve, an electronic control unit (ECU) for controlling the motor, and a throttle sensor for detecting an actual opening degree of the throttle valve. The ECU determines that the throttle valve is frozen when the actual opening degree does not reach a target opening degree even after a driving time for driving the motor has exceeded a predetermined time, and then stores the actual opening degree at the time as an icing opening degree. The ECU supplies a driving duty to cause the motor to produce required driving torque for removal of icing and reverses the driving duty by open control, and controls the motor to bring an accumulated value of a deviation between the target opening degree and the icing opening degree to zero, thereby repeatedly swinging the throttle valve.

Abstract: A motor control apparatus controls a motor that drives an output shaft through a rotation transmission system. The difference between a newly established output shaft target rotation angle and a detected output shaft rotation angle is obtained, a target rotation angle for the motor is derived based on that difference, and the motor is driven accordingly. When it is determined, based on the detected output shaft rotation angle, that motor rotation has at least proceeded to a point whereby backlash in the transmission system is nullified, the target motor rotation angle is updated based on the current value of the aforementioned difference.

Abstract: A shift control apparatus is provided with a shift intention detecting device that electrically detects a shift intention of a driver; a shift driving device electrically controlled based on the shift intention; a shift mechanism; a first position information detecting device that detects, without contact, position information of the mechanical displacement of the shift mechanism; a shift position determining device that determines the shift position based on the position information; a second position information detecting device that detects the position information in a different way than the first position information detecting device does; a malfunction determining device that determines whether the position information detected by the first position information detecting device is erroneous; and a switching device that switches from control based on the first position information detecting device to control based on the second position information detecting device when it has been determined that the po

Abstract: An engine ECU executes a program including a step of calculating intensity values LOG(V), a step of detecting vibration waveforms, a step of calculating a correlation coefficient K based on vibration waveforms, a step of preparing frequency distribution of intensity values LOG(V) smaller than a threshold V(1) and intensity values LOG(V) in an ignition cycle where correlation coefficient K is larger than a threshold K(1), a step of calculating a knock determination level V(KD) based on a median V(50) and a standard deviation ? of intensity values LOG(V), and a step of counting the number of intensity values LOG(V) larger than knock determination level V(KD) as the number of times that knocking has occurred.

Abstract: An engine ECU executes a program including the steps of: detecting a vibration corresponding to a first radial resonance mode by using a band-pass filter, from vibrations sensed by an in-cylinder pressure sensor provided at an upper central portion of the cylinder; calculating knock intensity N based on a result of comparison between the detected waveform and a knock waveform model prepared in advance as a vibration waveform when knocking occurs; determining that knocking occurred when the knock intensity N is larger than a predetermined reference value; and determining that knocking has not occurred when the knock intensity N is not larger than the predetermined reference value.

Abstract: An engine ECU executes a program including the steps of: calculating a correlation coefficient K based on the result of comparing a vibration waveform of an engine and a knock waveform model stored previously; calculating a magnitude value LOG(V) from the magnitude V detected based on a signal transmitted from a knock sensor; creating frequency distribution of magnitude values LOG(V) by using magnitude values LOG(V) in an ignition cycle in which the correlation coefficient K larger than a threshold K(1) is calculated; and counting knock proportion KC by using the created frequency distribution. If the vibration waveform includes a waveform of vibration of noise components, the correlation coefficient K is calculated to be smaller comparing with a case of not including it.

Abstract: A shift control system rotates an actuator to cause a wall of a detent plate to contact a roller of a detent spring, and detects the position of contact so as to detect the position of the wall of the detent plate. This wall position is set as a reference position of the actuator. Accordingly, the rotation of the actuator can appropriately be controlled even if an encoder which can only detect relative positional information is employed, and thus the shift range can appropriately be switched.

Abstract: An electronic throttle control apparatus includes: a motor; a throttle valve which is driven by the motor to open and close; a throttle sensor for detecting an actual opening angle of the throttle valve. This electronic throttle control apparatus is arranged to control an opening angle of the throttle valve by driving the motor so that the actual opening angle detected by the throttle sensor becomes a target opening angle, the apparatus further includes a fully closing stopper, and an abutting determination unit for determining whether the throttle valve abuts against the fully closing stopper. The abutting determination unit is arranged to determine whether the throttle valve abuts against the fully closing stopper based on a determination condition preset with respect to each one of a plurality of duty ratio ranges.

Abstract: An engine ECU executes a program including the steps of: detecting a vibration corresponding to a first radial resonance mode by using a band-pass filter, from vibrations sensed by an in-cylinder pressure sensor provided at an upper central portion of the cylinder; calculating knock intensity N based on a result of comparison between the detected waveform and a knock waveform model prepared in advance as a vibration waveform when knocking occurs; determining that knocking occurred when the knock intensity N is larger than a predetermined reference value; and determining that knocking has not occurred when the knock intensity N is not larger than the predetermined reference value.

Abstract: A control apparatus for a range changeover device checks whether an actual range agrees with a target range. If the actual range differs from the target range, the control apparatus performs vehicle driving force restriction control irrespective of a presence/absence of abnormality in a range changeover operation. The control apparatus may restrict an engine output power by closing a throttle valve of the engine to around an idle position, thereby restricting the vehicle driving force.

Abstract: A shift control system rotates an actuator to cause a wall of a detent plate to contact a roller of a detent spring, and detects the position of contact so as to detect the position of the wall of the detent plate. This wall position is set as a reference position of the actuator. Accordingly, the rotation of the actuator can appropriately be controlled even if an encoder which can only detect relative positional information is employed, and thus the shift range can appropriately be switched.

Abstract: An engine ECU executes a program including the steps of: calculating a correlation coefficient K based on the result of comparing a vibration waveform of an engine and a knock waveform model stored previously; calculating a magnitude value LOG(V) from the magnitude V detected based on a signal transmitted from a knock sensor; creating frequency distribution of magnitude values LOG(V) by using magnitude values LOG(V) in an ignition cycle in which the correlation coefficient K larger than a threshold K(1) is calculated; and counting knock proportion KC by using the created frequency distribution. If the vibration waveform includes a waveform of vibration of noise components, the correlation coefficient K is calculated to be smaller comparing with a case of not including it.

Abstract: A control unit learns at least one limit position in a movable range of an object to be controlled which is driven by a motor, and reduces learning time of a limit position. The control unit rotates the motor until the motor strikes the object against at least one limit position in a movable range of the object to learn the limit position. In the strike control, the control unit drives the motor first by a first duty ratio to increase the rotation of the motor toward the limit position quickly, and then by a second duty ratio lower than the first duty ratio to thereby reduce the impact load generated at the time of collision. In place of the duty ratio, a phase advance amount may be changed to reduce the impact load.

Abstract: A shift control system rotates an actuator to cause a wall of a detent plate to contact a roller of a detent spring, and detects the position of contact so as to detect the position of the wall of the detent plate. This wall position is set as a reference position of the actuator. Accordingly, the rotation of the actuator can appropriately be controlled even if an encoder which can only detect relative positional information is employed, and thus the shift range can appropriately be switched.