VEHICLE STEERING APPARATUS
A vehicle steering apparatus that obtains the appropriate steering torque to the steering angle without being affected by road surface state and changes of mechanical characteristics of the steering system due to aging. The steering apparatus includes a target steering torque generating section to generate a target steering torque, a converting section to convert the target steering torque into a target torsional angle, and a torsional angle control section to calculate a motor current command value so as to follow-up a torsional angle to the target torsional angle. The target steering torque generating section includes an offset correcting section to obtain the first torque signal from a characteristic depending on the set steering angle based on an offset value of the steering torque and outputs the first torque signal as a target steering torque. The steering apparatus drives and controls the motor based on the motor current command value.
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The present invention relates to a high-performance vehicle steering apparatus that obtains a desired steering torque based on a torsional angle of a torsion bar and so on, and maintains the desired steering torque without being affected by a road surface state and changes of mechanical system characteristics due to aging.
BACKGROUND ARTAn electric power steering apparatus (EPS) which is one of vehicle steering apparatuses provides a steering system of a vehicle with an assist torque (a steering assist torque) by means of a rotational torque of a motor, and applies a driving force of the motor which is controlled by using an electric power supplied from an inverter as the assist torque to a steering shaft or a rack shaft by means of a transmission mechanism including a reduction mechanism. In order to accurately generate the assist torque, such a conventional electric power steering apparatus performs a feed-back control of a motor current. The feed-back control adjusts a voltage supplied to the motor so that a difference between a steering assist command value (a current command value) and a detected motor current value becomes small, and the adjustment of the voltage supplied to the motor is generally performed by an adjustment of a duty ratio of a pulse width modulation (PWM) control.
A general configuration of the conventional electric power steering apparatus will be described with reference to
A controller area network (CAN) 40 exchanging various information of a vehicle is connected to the control unit 30, and it is possible to receive the vehicle speed Vs from the CAN 40. Further, it is also possible to connect a non-CAN 41 exchanging a communication, analog/digital signals, a radio wave or the like except for the CAN 40 to the control unit 30.
The control unit 30 mainly comprises a central processing unit (CPU) (including a micro controller unit (MCU), a micro processor unit (MPU) and so on), and general functions performed by programs within the CPU are shown in
Functions and operations of the control unit 30 will be described with reference to
A compensation signal CM from a compensation signal generating section 34 is added to the adding section 32A, and a characteristic compensation of the steering system is performed by the addition of the compensation signal CM so as to improve a convergence, an inertia characteristic and so on. The compensation signal generating section 34 adds a self-aligning torque (SAT) 343 and an inertia 342 at an adding section 344, further adds the added result at the adding section 344 with a convergence 341 at an adding section 345, and then outputs the added result at the adding section 345 as the compensation signal CM.
In such a conventional assist control of the electric power steering apparatus, the steering torque applied by the manual input of the driver is detected as the torsional torque of the torsion bar by the torque sensor, and the motor current is controlled as the assist current depending on mainly the detected steering torque. However, in this method, different steering torques are generated depending on the steering angle due to the difference of the road surface state (for example, a tilt of the road surface). Moreover, even variations of the motor output characteristic due to the long-term use of the motor are affected to the steering torque.
In order to resolve the above problems, the electric power steering apparatus disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 5208894 (Patent Document 1) is proposed. The electric power steering apparatus of Patent Document 1 sets the target value of the steering torque based on a relationship (a steering reaction force characteristic map) between the steering angle and the steering torque which is determined based on a relationship between the steering angle or the steering torque and a tactile amount in order to apply the appropriate steering torque based on the tactile characteristic of the driver.
THE LIST OF PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS Patent Documents
- Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 5208894 B2
However, in the electric power steering apparatus of Patent Document 1, it is required that the steering reaction force characteristic map is preliminarily obtained. Since the control is performed based on the deviation between the target value of the steering torque and the detected steering torque, the affection to the steering torque will still be remained.
The present invention has been developed in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle steering apparatus that easily obtains equivalent steering torques to the steering angle and so on without being affected by a road surface state and changes of mechanical characteristics of a steering system due to aging.
Means for Solving the ProblemsThe present invention relates to a vehicle steering apparatus that comprises a torsion bar having any spring constant and a sensor to detect a torsional angle of the torsion bar, and assist-controls a steering system by driving and controlling a motor, the above-described object of the present invention is achieved by that: comprising a target steering torque generating section to generate a target steering torque, a converting section to convert the target steering torque into a target torsional angle, and a torsional angle control section to calculate a motor current command value so as to follow-up the torsional angle to the target torsional angle, wherein the target steering torque generating section comprises an offset correcting section to obtain a first torque signal from a characteristic depending on a steering angle which is set based on an offset value of a steering torque and outputs the first torque signal as the target steering torque, and wherein the vehicle steering apparatus drives and controls the motor based on the motor current command value.
The above-described object of the present invention is efficiently achieved by that: wherein the offset correcting section comprises an offset correction calculating section to calculate a basic torque signal depending on a steering state and the steering angle and outputs the basic torque signal which has a hysteresis characteristic whose value is saturated to a setting value in a right-turning steering and a setting value in a left-turning steering, as the first torque signal; or wherein the offset correction calculating section has a hysteresis characteristic whose width is larger than the offset value; or wherein the offset correcting section further comprises a vehicle speed sensitive gain section to calculate the first torque signal by multiplying the basic torque signal by a vehicle speed sensitive gain; or wherein the vehicle speed sensitive gain has a characteristic that a value of the vehicle speed sensitive gain becomes smaller when a vehicle speed is higher; or wherein the target steering torque generating section further comprises a basic map section to obtain a second torque signal from the steering angle and the vehicle speed using a basic map, and a damper calculating section to calculate a third torque signal based on angular velocity information using a damper gain map which is sensitive to the vehicle speed, and calculates the target steering torque from the first torque signal and at least one of the second torque signal and the third torque signal; or wherein the basic map is sensitive to the vehicle speed and has a characteristic that the second torque signal is zero when the vehicle speed is zero; or wherein the target steering torque generating section further comprises a phase compensating section which is disposed at a previous stage or a subsequent stage of the basic map section and performs a phase compensation, and obtains the second torque signal from the steering angle and the vehicle speed via the basic map section and the phase compensating section.
Effects of the InventionAccording to the vehicle steering apparatus of the present invention, by performing a control to the target torsional angle obtained based on the target steering torque which is generated at the target steering generating section, the torsional angle can be operated so as to follow-up the target torsional angle and the desired steering torque based on the steering feeling of the driver can be obtained.
Further, by the operation of the offset correcting section, the occurrence of the unintended assist of the driver due to the offset value of the steering torque can be suppressed and the steering operation can be stabilized when the characteristic of the basic map section is not changed depending on the steering angle, for example in a static steering (the vehicle speed is 0 [km/h]) state as shown in
In the accompanying drawings:
The present invention is a vehicle steering apparatus to obtain an appropriate steering torque to a steering angle and so on without being affected by a road surface state, and obtains a desired steering torque by performing a control so as to follow-up a torsional angle of a torsion bar or the like to a value depending on the steering angle and so on.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, an installation example of various sensors which detect information related to an electric power steering apparatus (EPS) which is one of the vehicle steering apparatuses according to the present invention will be described.
θ2−θ1=Δθ [Expression 1]
−Kt·Δθ=Tt [Expression 2]
The torsion bar torque Tt can be detected by using the torque sensor disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-216172 A. In the present embodiment, the torsion bar torque Tt is also treated as the steering torque Ts.
Next, the configuration example of the present invention will be described.
The right-turning/left-turning judging section 500 judges whether the steering is the right-turning or the left-turning based on the motor angular velocity ωm, and outputs the judged result as the steering state STs. That is, in a case that the motor angular velocity ωm is a positive value, the right-turning/left-turning judging section 500 judges “right-turning”, and in a case that the motor angular velocity ωm is a negative value, the right-turning/left-turning judging section 500 judges “left-turning”. Instead of the motor angular velocity ωm, the velocity calculation to the steering angle θh, the handle angle θ1 or the column angle θ2 is performed, and the calculated angular velocity may be used.
The basic map section 210 has a basic map and outputs a torque signal (the second torque signal) Tref_a whose parameter is the vehicle speed Vs using the basic map. The basic map is adjusted by a tuning. For example, as shown in
The differential section 220 differentiates the steering angle θh and calculates a steering angular velocity ωh, and the steering angular velocity ωh is inputted into the multiplying section 250.
The damper gain section 230 outputs a damper gain DG which is multiplied by the steering angular velocity ωh. The steering angular velocity ωh which is multiplied by the damper gain DG at the multiplying section 250 is inputted into the adding section 252 as the torque signal (the third torque signal) Tref_b. The damper gain DG is obtained by using a vehicle speed sensitive-type damper gain map that the damper gain section 230 has, depending on the vehicle speed Vs. For example, as shown in
The offset correcting section 240 calculates the torque signal (the first torque signal) Tref_c to suppress the occurrence of the assist due to the offset value of the steering torque in the static steering state (the steering when the vehicle speed is 0 [km/h]). In a case that the driver does not grip the handle and the offset value is included in the detected steering torque, when the target steering torque is set to 0 [Nm] in the static steering state, there can be the occurrence of the assist because the offset value is existed. The characteristic depending on the steering angle θh is set based on this offset value (hereinafter, referred to as “an offset countermeasure characteristic”). The torque signal Tref_c is calculated by using the offset countermeasure characteristic.
The offset correction calculating section 241 defines the offset countermeasure characteristic as a hysteresis characteristic shown in
The vehicle speed sensitive gain section 242 outputs the torque signal Tref_c by multiplying the torque signal Tref_s by the vehicle speed sensitive gain. The vehicle speed sensitive gain is set to become smaller when the vehicle speed Vs becomes higher. For example, as shown in
Thus, the offset countermeasure characteristic has a hysteresis characteristic by the offset correction calculating section 241 and is sensitive to the vehicle speed due to the vehicle sensitive gain section 242. Thereby, the torque signal Tref_c which reduces the affection due to the offset value is generated and the occurrence of the assist due to the offset value of the steering torque can be suppressed by the torque signal Tref_c. Instead of using the vehicle speed sensitive gain section 242, the hysteresis width Ahys may be variable depending on the vehicle speed Vs and then the offset countermeasure characteristic may be sensitive to the vehicle speed. In this case, the vehicle speed sensitive gain section 242 is not needed. The characteristic other than the hysteresis characteristic may be used as the offset countermeasure characteristic.
The torque signals Tref_c and Tref_b are added at the adding section 252, the added torque signal and the torque signal Tref_a are added at the adding section 251 and the added result is outputted as the target steering torque Tref.
The steering angular velocity ωh is calculated by differentiating the steering angle θh and the appropriate low pass filter (LPF) process is performed to the steering angular velocity ωh for reducing the affection of the noise in the high frequency region. The processes of the high pass filter (HPF) and the gain may use in place of those of the differential calculation and the LPF. Further, the steering angular velocity ωh may be calculated by differentiating not the steering angle θh but the handle angle θ1 which is detected by the upper-side angle sensor or the column angle θ2 which is detected by the lower-side angle sensor and performing the LPF process to the differentiation result. The motor angular velocity ωm may be used as the angular velocity information instead of the steering angle ωh. In this case, the differential section 220 is not needed.
The converting section 400 has a characteristic of“−1/Kt” which is sign-inverted with respect to a reciprocal of the spring constant Kt of the torsion bar 2A, and converts the target steering torque Tref into the target torsional angle Δθref.
The torsional angle control section 300 calculates the motor current command value Imc based on the target torsional angle Δθref, the torsional angle Δθ and the motor angular velocity ωm.
A deviation Δθ0 between the target torsional angle Δθref and the torsional angle Δθ is calculated at a subtracting section 361. The torsional angle FB compensating section 310 multiplies the deviation Δθ0 by a compensation value CFB (a transfer function)/and outputs a target torsional angular velocity ωref so as to follow-up the torsional angle Δθ to the target torsional angle Δθref. The compensation value CFB may be a simple gain Kpp or a compensation value which is generally used, such as a PI-control compensation value. The target torsional angular velocity ωref is inputted into the velocity control section 330. It is possible to follow-up the torsional angle Δθ to the target torsional angle Δθref and obtain the desired steering torque by the torsional angle FB compensating section 310 and the velocity control section 330.
The torsional angular velocity calculating section 320 calculates the torsional angular velocity ωt by differentiating the torsional angle Δθ, and the torsional angular velocity ωt is inputted into the velocity control section 330. A pseudo differential which uses the HPF and the gain may be used as the differential operation. The torsional angular velocity ωt may be calculated from other schemes using the torsional angle Δθ or the schemes not using the torsional angle Δθ and then may be inputted into the velocity control section 330.
The velocity control section 330 calculates the motor current command values Imca1 so as to follow-up the torsional angular velocity ωt to the target torsional angular velocity ωref by a proportional preceding-type PI-control (I-P control). A difference (ωref−ωt) between the target torsional angular velocity ωref and the torsional angular velocity ωt is calculated at the subtracting section 333. The difference is integrated at the integral section 331 having the gain Kvi, and the integral result is addition-inputted into the subtracting section 334. The torsional angular velocity ωt is also inputted into the proportional section 332, the proportional process using the gain Kvp is performed to the torsional angular velocity ωt, and the proportional-calculated result is subtraction-inputted into the subtracting section 334. As well, the subtracted result at the subtracting section 334 is outputted as the motor current command value Imca1. The velocity control section 330 may calculate the motor current command value Imca1 by not using the I-P control but using the generally used control method such as the PI-control, a proportional (P) control, a proportional integral derivative (PID) control, a derivative preceding-type PID control (a PI-D control), a model matching control or a model reference control.
The stabilization compensating section 340 has the compensation value Cs (the transfer function) and calculates the motor current command value Imca2 from the motor angular velocity ωm. In order to improve the followability and the external disturbance characteristic, when the gains of the torsional angle FB compensating section 310 and the velocity control section 330 increase, the oscillation phenomenon due to the control in the high frequency region is occurred. As this countermeasure, the transfer function (Cs) to the motor angular velocity ωm, which is required for the stabilization, is disposed in the stabilization compensating section 340. Thereby, the stabilization of the overall EPS control system can be realized. The primary filter which is set by the gain and the pseudo differential whose structure is, for example, the primary HPF, is represented by the following Expression 3 and is used as the transfer function (Cs) of the stabilization compensating section 340.
Here, “Ksta” is a gain, “fc” is a cutoff frequency and “s” is a Laplace operator. For example, the cutoff frequency fc is set to 150 [Hz]. The secondary filter, the fourth order filter or the like may be used as the transfer function.
The motor current command value Imca1 from the velocity control section 330 and the motor current command value Imca2 from the stabilization compensating section 340 are added at the adding section 362, and the added result is outputted as the motor current command value Imcb.
The output limiting section 350 limits the upper and lower limit values of the motor current command value Imcb and outputs the motor current command value Imc. As shown in
In such a configuration, the operation example of the present embodiment will be described with reference to flowcharts of
When the operation is started, the motor angular velocity ωm is inputted into the right-turning/left-turning judging section 500, and the right-turning/left-turning judging section 500 judges whether the steering is the right-turning or the left-turning based on the sign of the motor angular velocity ωm, and outputs the judged result as the steering state STs to the target steering torque generating section 200 (Step S10).
The target steering torque generating section 200 inputs the steering state STs, the steering angle θh and the vehicle speed Vs, and generates the target steering torque Tref (Step S20). The operation example of the target steering torque generating section 200 will be described with reference to the flowchart of
The steering angle θh inputted into the target steering torque generating section 200 is inputted into the basic map section 210, the differential section 220 and the offset correcting section 240. The steering state STs is inputted into the offset correcting section 240. The vehicle speed Vs is inputted into the basic map section 210, the damper gain section 230 and the offset correcting section 240 (Step S21).
The basic map section 210 generates the torque signal Tref_a depending on the steering angle θh and the vehicle speed Vs by using the basic map as shown in
The differential section 220 differentiates the steering angle θh and outputs the steering angular velocity ωh (Step S23). The damper gain section 230 outputs the damper gain DG depending on the vehicle speed Vs by using the damper gain map as shown in
In the offset correcting section 240, the steering angle θh and the steering state STs are inputted into the offset correction calculating section 241, and the vehicle speed Vs is inputted into the vehicle speed sensitive gain section 242. The offset correction calculating section 241 performs the hysteresis correction to the steering angle θh depending on the steering state STs by using the offset countermeasure characteristic as shown in
The torque signals Tref_b and Tref_c are added at the adding section 252, the added result and the torque signal Tref_a are added at the adding section 251, and the target steering torque Tref is calculated (Step S28).
The target steering torque Tref which is generated at the target steering torque generating section 200 is inputted into the converting section 400, and is converted into the target torsional angle Δθref at the converting section 400 (Step S30). The target torsional angle Δθref is inputted into the torsional angle control section 300.
The torsional angle control section 300 inputs the target torsional angle Δθref, the torsional angle Δθ and the motor angular velocity ωm, and calculates the motor current command value Imc (Step S40). The operation example of the torsional angle control section 300 will be described with reference to the flowchart of
The target torsional angle Δθref which is inputted into the torsional angle control section 300 is inputted into the subtracting section 361, the torsional angle Δθ is inputted into the subtracting section 361 and the torsional angular velocity calculating section 320, and the motor angular velocity ωm is inputted into the stabilization compensating section 340 (Step S41).
In the subtracting section 361, the deviation Δθ0 is calculated by subtracting the torsional angle Δθ from the target torsional angle Δθref (Step S42). The deviation Δθ0 is inputted into the torsional angle FB compensating section 310, and the torsional angle FB compensating section 310 compensates the deviation Δθ0 by multiplying the deviation Δθ0 by the compensation value CFB (Step S43), and outputs the target torsional angular velocity ωref to the velocity control section 330.
The torsional angular velocity calculating 320 inputs the torsional angle Δθ, calculates the torsional angular velocity ωt by differentiating the torsional angle Δθ (Step S44), and outputs the torsional angular velocity ωt to the velocity control section 330.
In the velocity control section 330, the difference between the target torsional angular velocity ωref and the torsional angular velocity ωt is calculated at the subtracting section 333 and is integrated (Kvi/s) at the integral section 331, and the integral result is addition-inputted into the subtracting section 334 (Step S45). Further, a proportional process (Kvp) is performed to the torsional angular velocity ωt at the proportional section 332, and the proportional result is subtraction-inputted into the subtracting section 334 (Step S45). The motor current command value Imca1 which is the subtracted result of the subtracting section 334 is outputted from the subtracting section 334, and is inputted into the adding section 362.
The stabilization compensating section 340 performs the stabilization compensation to the inputted motor angular velocity ωm by using the transfer function Cs which is represented by the Expression 3 (Step S46), and the motor current command value Imca2 from the stabilization compensating section 340 is inputted into the adding section 362.
The motor current command values Imca1 and Imca2 are added at the adding section 362 (Step S47). The motor current command value Imcb which is the added result is inputted into the output limiting section 350. The output limiting section 350 limits the upper and lower limit values of the motor current command value Imcb by using the preliminarily set upper limit value and the lower limit value (Step S48) and outputs the limited value as the current command value Imc (Step S49).
The motor is driven based on the motor current command value Imc outputted from the torsional angle control section 300, and the current control is performed (Step S50).
In
The effects of the offset correcting section of the present embodiment will be described based on the simulation results.
In the simulations, it is assumed that the offset with 0.05 [Nm] is generated to the steering torque detected at the torsion bar. Further, assuming that the steering is the static steering, the basic map that the vehicle speed Vs is 0 [km/h] is used. Therefore, the value of the torque signal Tref_a outputted from the basic map section 210 is 0 [Nm]. The differential section 220 performs the pseudo differential using the HPF and the gain as the differential operation.
First, in a case of “without the correction by the offset correcting section”, the simulation results of the time responses of the steering angle and the steering torque will be described.
The simulation results are shown in
Next, in a case of “with the correction by the offset correcting section”, the simulation results of the time responses of the steering angle and the steering torque will be described. In this simulation, the gradient “a” in this offset countermeasure characteristic is set to 0.1 [Nm/deg].
The simulation results are shown in
Although the target steering torque generating section 200 according to the first embodiment comprises the basic map section 210, the damper calculating section (including the damper gain section 230 and the multiplying section 250) and the offset correcting section 240, the target steering torque generating section 200 may treat only the suppression of the assist occurrence due to the offset value of the steering torque, and may comprise only the offset correcting section 240. The configuration example of the target steering torque generating section in the above case (the second embodiment) is shown in
The current command value which is calculated based on the steering torque in the conventional EPS (hereinafter, referred to as “an assist current command value”) may be added to the motor current command value Imc outputted from the torsional angle control section according to the first and second embodiments. For example, the current command value Iref1 outputted from the current command value calculating section 31 shown in
In contrast with the first embodiment, the configuration example in which the above function is included (the third embodiment) is shown in
In the first to the third embodiments, the phase compensating section 260 may be provided at the previous stage of the basic map section 210 or the subsequent stage of the basic map section 210 in the target steering torque generating section 200 including the basic map section 210. That is, the configuration of the region R surrounded by the broken line in
Further, in a case that the EPS control system is stable, the stabilization compensating section may be omitted. The output limiting section can also be omitted.
In
First, the overall SBW system including the SBW reaction force unit will be described.
The SBW system does not have an intermediate shaft which is mechanically connected to the column shaft 2 at the universal joint 4a and is a system that the operation of the handle 1 is transmitted to the turning mechanism comprising the steered wheels 8L and 8R and so on by the electric signal. As shown in
The configuration of the fourth embodiment that the present invention is applied to such an SBW system will be described.
In the torsional angle control, the configuration similar to that of the first embodiment is used and the operation similar to that of the first embodiment is performed. The control which follows-up the torsional angle Δθ to the target torsional angle Δθref which is calculated through the target steering torque generating section 200 and the converting section 400 by using the steering angle θh and so on, is performed. The motor angle θm is detected by the angle sensor 74, and the motor angular velocity ωm is calculated by differentiating the motor angle θm at the angular velocity calculating section 951. The turning angle θt is detected by the angle sensor 73. Although the detail explanation of the process in the EPS steering system/vehicle system 100 is not described in the first embodiment, the current control section 130 has the configuration similar to the combined configuration with the subtracting section 32B, the PI-control section 35, the PWM-control section 36 and the inverter 37 shown in
In the turning angle control, the target turning angle θtref is generated based on the steering angle θh at the target turning angle generating section 910, the target turning angle θtref and the turning angle θt are inputted into the turning angle control section 920, and the turning angle control section 920 calculates the motor current command value Imct so as to follow-up the turning angle θt to the target turning angle θtref. The current control section 930 has the configuration similar to that of the current control section 130, performs the operation similar to that of the current control section 130, drives the driving motor 71 based on the motor current command value Imct and the current value Imd of the driving motor 71 detected by the motor current detector 940, and performs the current control.
The configuration example of the target turning angle generating section 910 is shown in
The limiting section 931 limits the upper and lower limit values of the steering angle θh and outputs the steering angle θh1. As well as the output limiting section 350 in the torsional control section 300, the upper limit value and the lower limit value to the steering angle θh are preliminarily set, and the steering angle θh is limited.
In order to avoid the sharp change of the steering angle, the rate limiting section 932 sets the limit value to the change amount of the steering angle θh1, limits the change amount of the steering angle θh1 and outputs the steering angle θh2. For example, the difference between the present steering angle θh1 and the steering angle θh1 prior to one sampling is set as the change amount. In a case that the absolute value of the change amount is larger than a predetermined value (the limit value), the addition operation or the subtraction operation is performed to the steering angle θh1 so that the absolute value of the change amount becomes the limit value, and the limited value is outputted as the steering angle θh2. In a case that the absolute value of the change amount is equal to or smaller than the limit value, the steering angle θh1 is outputted as the steering angle θh2. Instead of setting the limit value to the absolute value of the change amount, the change amount may be limited by setting the upper limit value and the lower limit value to the change amount. Instead of limiting the change amount, the limitation to the change rate or the difference rate may be performed.
The correcting section 933 corrects the steering angle θh2 and outputs the target turning angle θtref. For example, similar to the basic map section 210 in the target steering torque generating section 200, the target turning angle θtref is obtained by the steering angle θh2 using the map that defines the characteristic of the target turning angle θtref to the absolute value |θh2| of the steering angle θh2. Alternatively, the target steering angle θtref may simply be calculated by multiplying the steering angle θh2 by a predetermined gain.
A configuration example of the turning angle control section 920 is shown in
In such a configuration, the operation example of the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of
When the operation is started, the angle sensor 73 detects the turning angle θt and the angle sensor 74 detects the motor angle θm (Step S110). The turning angle θt is inputted into the turning angle control section 920 and the motor angle θm is inputted into the angular velocity calculating section 951.
The angular velocity calculating section 951 calculates the motor angular velocity ωm by differentiating the motor angle θm and outputs the motor angular velocity ωm to the right-turning/left-turning judging section 300 (Step S120).
Then, the similar operations from the Step S10 to the Step S50 shown in
In the turning angle control, the target turning angle generating section 910 inputs the steering angle θh and the steering angle θh is also inputted into the limiting section 931. The limiting section 931 limits the upper and lower limit values of the steering angle θh by using the preliminarily set upper and lower limit values (Step S180), and outputs the limited value as the steering angle θh1 to the rate limiting section 932. The rate limiting section 932 limits the change amount of the steering angle θh1 by using a preliminarily set limit value (Step S190), and outputs the limited value as the steering angle θh2 to the correcting section 933. The correcting section 933 corrects the steering angle θh2, obtains the target turning angle θtref (Step S200) and outputs the target turning angle θtref to the turning angle control section 920.
The turning angle control section 920 inputs the turning angle θt and the target turning angle θtref and calculates a deviation Δθt0 by subtracting the turning angle θt from the target turning angle θtref at the subtracting section 927 (Step S210). The deviation Δθt0 is inputted into the turning angle FB compensating section 921, and the turning angle FB compensating section 921 compensates the deviation Δθt0 by multiplying the deviation Δθt0 by the compensation value (Step S220) and outputs the target turning angular velocity ωtref to the velocity control section 923. The turning angular velocity calculating section 922 inputs the turning angle θt, calculates the turning angular velocity ωtt by differentiating the turning angle θt (Step S230) and outputs the turning angular velocity ωtt to the velocity control section 923. The velocity control section 923 calculates the motor current command value Imcta by using the I-P control as well as the operations of the velocity control section 330 (Step S240) and outputs the motor current command value Imcta to the output limiting section 926. The output limiting section 926 limits the upper and lower limit values of the motor current command value Imcta by using the preliminarily set upper and lower limit values (Step S250) and outputs the limited value as the motor current command value Imct (Step S260).
The motor current command value Imct is inputted into the current control section 930, and the current control section 930 drives the driving motor 71 based on the motor current command value Imct and the current value Imd of the driving motor 71 which is detected by the motor current detector 940, and performs the current control (Step S270).
The orders of inputting the data, the calculation and so on in
In the fourth embodiment, as shown in
The torsional angle control section 300 in the first to the fourth embodiments and the assist control section 700 in the third embodiment directly calculate the motor current command value Imc and the assist current command value Iac. Alternatively, before calculating the motor current command value Imc and the assist current command value Iac, the expected motor torque (the target torque) is calculated and then the motor current command value and the assist current command value may be calculated. In this case, to obtain the motor current command value and the assist current command value, the generally used relationship between the motor current and the motor torque is utilized.
The drawings which are used in the explanation are a conceptual diagram for qualitatively explaining the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the above drawings. While the above-described embodiments are examples of a preferable embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is not limited thereto and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The mechanism which is disposed between the handle and the motor or between the handle and the reaction force motor and has any spring constant, may be used. The above mechanism may not be limited to the torsion bar.
The main object of the present invention is to achieve the unit to obtain the target steering torque for resolving the concern about the assist occurrence due to the offset value of the steering torque. The unit to follow-up the steering torque to the target steering torque may not be limited to the above-described unit including the converting section and the torsional angle control section.
EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
- 1 handle
- 2 column shaft (steering shaft, handle shaft)
- 2A torsion bar
- 3 reduction mechanism
- 10 torque sensor
- 12 vehicle speed sensor
- 14 steering angle sensor
- 20 motor
- 30, 50 control unit (ECU)
- 31 current command value calculating section
- 33, 720 current limiting section
- 34 compensation signal generating section
- 38, 140, 940 motor current detector
- 60 reaction force unit
- 61 reaction force motor
- 70 driving unit
- 71 driving motor
- 72 gears
- 73, 74 angle sensor
- 100 EPS steering system/vehicle system
- 130, 930 current control section
- 200, 600 target steering torque generating section
- 210 basic map section
- 230 damper gain section
- 240 offset correcting section
- 241 offset correction calculating section
- 242 vehicle speed sensitive gain section
- 260 phase compensating section
- 300 torsional angle control section
- 310 torsional angle feed-back (FB) compensating section
- 320 torsional angular velocity calculating section
- 330, 923 velocity control section
- 340 stabilization compensating section
- 350, 926 output limiting section
- 400 converting section
- 500 right-turning/left-turning judging section
- 700 assist control section
- 910 target turning angle generating section
- 920 turning angle control section
- 921 turning angle feed-back (FB) compensating section
- 922 turning angular velocity calculating section
- 931 limiting section
- 932 rate limiting section
- 933 correcting section
- 951 angular velocity calculating section
Claims
1-8. (canceled)
9. A vehicle steering apparatus that comprises, at least, a torsion bar having any spring constant and a sensor to detect a torsional angle of said torsion bar, and assist-controls a steering system by driving and controlling a motor, comprising:
- a target steering torque generating section to generate a target steering torque;
- a converting section to convert said target steering torque into a target torsional angle; and
- a torsional angle control section to calculate a motor current command value so as to follow-up said torsional angle to said target torsional angle,
- wherein said target steering torque generating section comprises an offset correcting section to obtain a first torque signal from a characteristic depending on a steering angle which is set based on an offset value of a steering torque and outputs said first torque signal as said target steering torque,
- wherein said offset correcting section comprises an offset correction calculating section to calculate a basic torque signal depending on a steering state and said steering angle and outputs said basic torque signal which has a hysteresis characteristic whose absolute value is saturated to an absolute value of a hysteresis width which is larger than an absolute value of said offset value of said steering torque when said steering angle is within a predetermined angle range, as said first torque signal, and
- wherein said vehicle steering apparatus drives and controls said motor based on said motor current command value.
10. The vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 9,
- wherein, in a case that said steering angle varies from −θh2 to +θh2 in a right-turning steering and varies from +θh2 to −θh2 in a left-turning steering, said predetermined angle range of said steering angle is in a range from −θh1 to +θh2 (θh2>θh1>0) in said right-turning steering and is in a range from +θh1 to −θh2 in said left-turning steering.
11. The vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 9,
- wherein said offset correcting section further comprises a vehicle speed sensitive gain section to calculate said first torque signal by multiplying said basic torque signal by a vehicle speed sensitive gain.
12. The vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 11,
- wherein said vehicle speed sensitive gain has a characteristic that a value of said vehicle speed sensitive gain becomes smaller when a vehicle speed is higher.
13. The vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 9,
- wherein said target steering torque generating section further comprises:
- a basic map section to obtain a second torque signal from said steering angle and said vehicle speed using a basic map; and
- a damper calculating section to calculate a third torque signal based on an angular velocity information using a damper gain map which is sensitive to said vehicle speed, and
- wherein said target steering torque generating section calculates said target steering torque from at least one of said second torque signal and said third torque signal and said first torque signal.
14. The vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 13,
- wherein said basic map is sensitive to said vehicle speed and has a characteristic that said second torque signal is zero when said vehicle speed is zero.
15. The vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 13,
- wherein said target steering torque generating section further comprises a phase compensating section which is disposed at a previous stage or a subsequent stage of said basic map section and performs a phase compensation, and obtains said second torque signal from said steering angle and said vehicle speed via said basic map section and said phase compensating section.
16. The vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 14,
- wherein said target steering torque generating section further comprises a phase compensating section which is disposed at a previous stage or a subsequent stage of said basic map section and performs a phase compensation, and obtains said second torque signal from said steering angle and said vehicle speed via said basic map section and said phase compensating section.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 19, 2019
Publication Date: Apr 22, 2021
Applicant: NSK LTD. (Tokyo)
Inventors: Takahiro TSUBAKI (Maebashi-Shi), Hiroyasu KUMAGAI (Fujisawa-Shi)
Application Number: 16/638,607