Steering control apparatus

A steering control apparatus that is capable of switching steering control between manual steering control to make a driver operate a steering mechanism and automatic steering control to operate the steering mechanism automatically by a motor;

• wherein the steering control apparatus is programmed to acquire a target traveling route, calculate a command steering angle so that a difference between a real traveling route of a vehicle and the target traveling route is eliminated, and perform command steering angle tracking control to drive the motor so that a real steering angle tracks the command steering angle, when the automatic steering control is selected;
• and
• wherein the steering control apparatus is programmed to:
• calculate an original value of the command steering angle to make the real traveling route converge to the target traveling route with a constant response;
• determine whether or not a deviation degree of a current traveling route of the vehicle with respect to the target traveling route is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold, when the steering control is switched from the manual steering control to the automatic steering control;
• calculate a recalculated value of the command steering angle that changes gradually from a real steering angle after switching to the automatic steering control to the original value of the command steering angle, based on a steering angle at the time of starting the automatic steering control and the original value of the command steering angle, when the deviation degree is equal to or more than the predetermined threshold;
• and
• perform the command steering angle tracking control with the recalculated value of the command steering angle until the recalculated value of the command steering angle converges to the original value of the command steering angle.