Control apparatus

A control apparatus of an automatic transmission,

• wherein the automatic transmission includes:
• an input shaft to which a driving force is input from a driving source through a torque converter;
• an output member;
• a plurality of planetary gear mechanisms configured to transmit the driving force input to the input shaft to the output member;
• and
• a plurality of engaging mechanisms capable of establishing a plurality of gears by switching a transmission path of the driving force in the plurality of planetary gear mechanisms,
• one of the plurality of engaging mechanisms is a mechanical engaging mechanism functioning as a brake,
• the mechanical engaging mechanism can be switched to a first state in which only rotation of a predetermined rotational element of a plurality of rotational elements provided in the plurality of planetary gear mechanisms in a first direction is restricted and a second state in which the rotation of the predetermined rotational element in both the first direction and a second direction reverse to the first direction is restricted,
• the plurality of gears include:
• a lowest forward speed gear in which the mechanical engaging mechanism can be established in both the first state and the second state;
• a forward gear in which a gear ratio is higher than in the lowest forward speed gear, and the mechanical engaging mechanism cannot be established in the second state;
• and
• a reverse gear in which the mechanical engaging mechanism is established in the second state,
• the control apparatus comprises:
• a determination unit configured to, when a selected gear is the lowest forward speed gear, and the mechanical engaging mechanism is in the second state, determine whether to switch the mechanical engaging mechanism to the first state;
• and
• a switching processing unit configured to switch the mechanical engaging mechanism to the first state based on a determination result of the determination unit,
• the determination unit determines to switch the mechanical engaging mechanism to the first state at least on both of a first condition and a second condition, the first condition is that a vehicle in which the automatic transmission is mounted travels downhill, and the second condition is that the driving force is larger than a predetermined driving force, and
• the predetermined driving force is set based on:
• an oil temperature of hydraulic oil of the automatic transmission;
• a vehicle speed of a vehicle in which the automatic transmission is mounted;
• and/or a down gradient of a traveling road on which the vehicle travels.