Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and vehicle control system

A vehicle control method comprising:

• acquiring specifications related to a traveling of a vehicle;
• based on the acquired specifications related to the traveling of the vehicle, limiting a variable range of a damping force generated by a damping force generator provided between a vehicle body and a wheel of the vehicle, thereby obtaining a damping force control command;
• outputting the obtained damping force control command;
• limiting the variable range of the damping force based on a slip ratio of the wheel among the specifications related to the traveling of the vehicle;
• when the slip ratio is smaller than a first threshold value set in advance, not limiting the variable range of the damping force;
• when the slip ratio is equal to or larger than the first threshold value and smaller than a second threshold value larger than the first threshold value, limiting the variable range of the damping force to be narrower as the slip ratio increases;
• and
• when the slip ratio is equal to or larger than the second threshold, limiting the variable range of the damping force to be narrower than the variable range of the damping force when the slip ratio is smaller than the second threshold value.

A vehicle control system comprising:

• a damping force generator provided between a vehicle body and a wheel of a vehicle;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• acquire specifications related to a traveling of the vehicle,
• limit a variable range of a damping force generated by the damping force generator based on the acquired specifications related to the traveling of the vehicle, thereby obtaining a damping force control command, and
• output the obtained damping force control command,
• wherein the controller limits the variable range of the damping force based on a slip ratio of the wheel among the specifications related to the traveling of the vehicle,
• when the slip ratio is smaller than a first threshold value set in advance, the controller does not limit the variable range of the damping force,
• when the slip ratio is equal to or larger than the first threshold value and smaller than a second threshold value larger than the first threshold value, the controller limits the variable range of the damping force to be narrower as the slip ratio increases, and
• when the slip ratio is equal to or larger than the second threshold value, the controller limits the variable range of the damping force to be narrower than the variable range of the damping force when the slip ratio is smaller than the second threshold value.