Turning control apparatus for vehicle

A turning control apparatus for a vehicle comprising:

• torque control means for reducing a driving torque of a vehicle engine independent of manipulation by a vehicle driver;
• a steering angle sensor for detecting a steering angle of a vehicle steering wheel;
• a vehicle speed sensor for detecting traveling speed of the vehicle;
• acceleration calculation means for setting a target lateral acceleration of the vehicle as a lateral acceleration, estimated as traveling on a road having a predetermined frictional coefficient according to said steering angle detected by said steering angle sensor and said vehicle traveling speed detected by said vehicle speed sensor, and for converting said target lateral acceleration to a target longitudinal direction acceleration of the vehicle according to a preset relation using solely said target lateral acceleration as a lateral acceleration of the vehicle only upon detecting a steering angle by the steering angle sensor;
• a torque calculation unit for setting a target driving torque according to said target longitudinal direction acceleration converted by said acceleration calculation means;
• and
• an electronic control unit for controlling operation of said torque control means so that the driving torque of the vehicle engine is equal to the target driving torque set by said torque calculation unit.

A turning control apparatus for a vehicle comprising:

• torque control means for controlling a driving torque of a vehicle engine independent of manipulation by a vehicle driver;
• a vehicle speed sensor for detecting traveling speed of the vehicle;
• a steering angle sensor for detecting a steering angle of a vehicle steering wheel;
• lateral acceleration detection means for detecting actual lateral acceleration applied to the vehicle during turning of the vehicle;
• lateral acceleration calculation means for setting a target lateral acceleration of the vehicle as a lateral acceleration, estimated as traveling on a road having a predetermined friction coefficient according to said steering angle detected by said steering angle sensor and said vehicle speed detected by said vehicle speed sensor;
• friction coefficient estimation means for estimating a friction coefficient of a road surface by comparing said target lateral acceleration set by said lateral acceleration calculation means and the actual lateral acceleration detected by said lateral acceleration detection means;
• a plurality of graphs indicating a relationship between target lateral acceleration set by said lateral acceleration calculation means and a target driving torque relative to the friction coefficient of the road surface;
• a torque calculation unit for selecting one of said plurality of graphs corresponding to the friction coefficient estimated by said friction coefficient estimation means and for converting said target lateral acceleration set by said lateral acceleration calculation means to a target driving torque according to said selected one of a plurality of graphs using solely said target lateral acceleration set by said lateral acceleration calculation means as a lateral acceleration of the vehicle only upon detecting a steering angle by said steering angle sensor;
• and
• an electronic control unit for controlling operation of said torque control means so that the driving torque of the vehicle engine is equal to the target driving torque set by said torque calculation unit.

A method of turning control for a vehicle comprising the steps of:

• (a) detecting a steering angle of a vehicle steering wheel;
• (b) detecting a traveling speed of the vehicle;
• (c) setting a target lateral acceleration of the vehicle as a lateral acceleration, estimated as traveling on a road having a predetermined friction coefficient according to the steering angle and the vehicle speed detected respectively in steps (a) and (b);
• (d) converting said target lateral acceleration set in step (c) to a target driving torque of a vehicle engine using solely said target lateral acceleration as a lateral acceleration of the vehicle according to a preset relation only upon detecting a steering angle in step (a);
• and
• (e) controlling a driving torque of the vehicle engine equal to said target driving torque set in step (d).

A method of turning control for a vehicle comprising the steps of:

• (a) detecting a steering angle of a vehicle steering wheel;
• (b) detecting traveling speed of the vehicle;
• (c) setting a target lateral acceleration of the vehicle as a lateral acceleration, estimated as traveling on a road having a predetermined friction coefficient according to said steering angle and said vehicle traveling speed detected respectively in steps (a) and (b);
• (d) converting said target lateral acceleration set in step (c) to a target longitudinal direction acceleration of the vehicle according to a preset relation using solely said target lateral acceleration as a lateral acceleration of the vehicle only upon detecting a steering angle in step (a);
• (e) setting a target driving torque of a vehicle engine according to said target longitudinal direction acceleration converted in step (d);
• and
• (f) controlling driving torque of the vehicle engine equal to said target driving torque set in step (e).

A method of turning control for a vehicle comprising the steps of:

• (a) detecting a steering angle of a vehicle steering wheel;
• (b) detecting traveling speed of the vehicle;
• (c) detecting actual lateral acceleration applied to the vehicle during turning of the vehicle;
• (d) setting a target lateral acceleration of the vehicle as a lateral acceleration, estimated as traveling on a road having a predetermined friction coefficient according to said steering angle and said vehicle speed detected respectively in steps (a) and (b);
• (e) estimating a friction coefficient of a road surface by comparing the target lateral acceleration set in step (d) with said actual lateral acceleration detected in step (c);
• (f) storing a plurality of relations between target lateral acceleration set in step (d) and target driving torque of a vehicle engine relative to the friction coefficient of the road surface;
• (g) selecting one of the stored plurality of relations between said target lateral acceleration and said target driving torque of the vehicle engine stored in step (f) corresponding to the friction coefficient of the road surface estimated in step (e);
• (h) converting said target lateral acceleration set in step (d) to a target driving torque of the vehicle engine according to the relation selected in step (g) using solely said target lateral acceleration set in step (d) as a lateral acceleration of the vehicle;
• and
• (i) controlling a driving torque of the vehicle engine to said target driving torque set in step (h).