Travel evaluation method and pseudo-emotion generation method

A travel evaluation method of making an evaluation related to travel of a vehicle, the method comprising:

• at a processor configured to execute instructions to perform processing operations:
• obtaining, from a tire force obtaining section including one or more sensors, a tire force which is an external force exerted on a wheel of the vehicle from a ground surface and which includes a lateral force component;
• deriving an evaluation index related to travel of the vehicle, wherein
• the evaluation index includes a positive evaluation index as a rating of a positive evaluation related to travel of the vehicle, the positive evaluation representing pleasantness of travel,
• in deriving the evaluation index, an instantaneous value of the positive evaluation index is based on the tire force,
• in deriving the evaluation index, the instantaneous value of the positive evaluation index is set higher as the tire force increases,
• in deriving the evaluation index, the evaluation index is corrected based on an influential parameter other than the tire force, and
• in deriving the evaluation index, the evaluation index is corrected to increase the positive evaluation index related to travel when the vehicle is determined to be in a travel state where at least one of a roll rate and a steering torque of the vehicle in an upright position is higher than a comparison value predetermined for alternate clockwise-counterclockwise turning;
• and
• outputting, as an evaluation result, a value of the corrected evaluation index for a travel route on which the vehicle was traveling when the evaluation index was derived.

A pseudo-emotion generation method of generating a pseudo-emotion of a vehicle, the method comprising:

• obtaining a tire force which is an external force exerted on a wheel of the vehicle from a ground surface and which includes a lateral force component;
• deriving an emotion evaluation index, wherein
• the emotion evaluation index includes a positive evaluation index as a rating of a positive pseudo-emotion, the positive pseudo-emotion representing pleasantness of travel experienced by a driver,
• in deriving the emotion evaluation index, a value of the positive evaluation index is based on the tire force,
• in deriving the emotion evaluation index, the value of the positive evaluation index is set higher as the tire force increases,
• in deriving the emotion evaluation index, the emotion evaluation index is corrected based on an influential parameter other than the tire force, and
• in deriving the emotion evaluation index, the emotion evaluation index is corrected to increase the positive evaluation index related to travel when the vehicle is determined to be in an alternate clockwise-counterclockwise turning state where the vehicle is banked alternately in opposite directions;
• generating a pseudo-emotion based on the derived emotion evaluation index;
• and
• outputting, as an evaluation result, a value of the corrected emotion evaluation index for a travel route on which the vehicle was traveling when the evaluation index was derived.

A pseudo-emotion generation method of generating a pseudo-emotion of a vehicle, the method comprising:

• obtaining a tire force which is an external force exerted on a wheel of the vehicle from a ground surface and which includes a lateral force component;
• deriving an emotion evaluation index, wherein
• the emotion evaluation index includes a positive evaluation index as a rating of a positive pseudo-emotion, the positive pseudo-emotion representing pleasantness of travel experienced by a driver,
• in deriving the emotion evaluation index, a value of the positive evaluation index is based on the tire force,
• in deriving the emotion evaluation index, the value of the positive evaluation index is set higher as the tire force increases,
• in deriving the emotion evaluation index, the emotion evaluation index is corrected based on an influential parameter other than the tire force, and
• in deriving the evaluation index, the evaluation index is corrected to increase the positive evaluation index related to travel when the vehicle is determined to be in a travel state where at least one of a roll rate and a steering torque of the vehicle in an upright position is higher than a comparison value predetermined for alternate clockwise-counterclockwise turning;
• generating a pseudo-emotion based on the derived emotion evaluation index;
• and
• outputting, as an evaluation result, a value of the corrected emotion evaluation index for a travel route on which the vehicle was traveling when the evaluation index was derived.