Vehicle controller to produce sense of beating via electric motor

A vehicle controller for a vehicle including a drive source including an electric motor and an engine, the vehicle controller comprising a processor configured to:

• acquire a total required torque which is a required torque of the entire vehicle;
• acquire information as to a combustion cycle of the engine;
• derive a total target torque corresponding to the total required torque as applied to the combustion cycle of the engine;
• allocate a portion of the total required torque as a target engine torque which is a target torque to be output from the engine;
• estimate an engine output torque waveform from the target engine torque, the engine output torque waveform representing an engine output torque in the combustion cycle of the engine;
• derive a target motor torque for torque control of the electric motor by subtracting an estimated value of the engine output torque waveform from the total target torque;
• control the electric motor based on the target motor torque;
• acquire timing information as to the combustion cycle of the engine;
• determine a unit waveform from the timing information, the unit waveform being for deriving the total target torque;
• acquire an engine speed of the engine and a user requested value which is dependent on an operation input provided by a user in relation to an output of the vehicle;
• determine an amplitude from the engine speed and the user requested value, the amplitude being for deriving the total target torque;
• and
• generate a reference waveform from the unit waveform and the amplitude, the reference waveform representing a change over time in the total target torque.

A method of controlling a vehicle including a drive source including an electric motor and an engine, the method comprising:

• acquiring a total required torque which is a required torque of the entire vehicle;
• acquiring timing information as to a combustion cycle of the engine;
• deriving a total target torque from the timing information, the total target torque corresponding to the total required torque as applied to the combustion cycle of the engine;
• deriving a target motor torque for torque control of the electric motor from the timing information, the target motor torque being tailored to the combustion cycle of the engine;
• estimating an engine output torque waveform from the timing information and the target engine torque, the engine output torque waveform representing an engine output torque in the combustion cycle of the engine;
• deriving the target motor torque by subtracting an estimated value of the engine output torque waveform from the total target torque;
• and
• controlling the electric motor based on the target motor torque.