vehicle control apparatus

Abstract

A vehicle control apparatus includes a steering torque sensor (1) for sensing a steering torque, a motor (3) for generating a steering assisting force, a CPU (22) for determining a motor drive direction based on at least the steering force and a motor drive direction restricting circuit (25) for restricting the drive direction of the motor (3) determined by the CPU (22) based on a steering force determination level as a motor drive direction determination criterion and the steering force, and the steering force determination level is changeable. With this arrangement, there is provided the vehicle control apparatus with safety and reliability by which the motor can be controlled with redundancy, the steering force determination level does not require such accuracy as to use pinpoint accuracy and further even if an abnormal state is caused in a motor output when a steering wheel is released from a hand and a steering torque exceeding the steering force determination level is generated, the steering force determination level is instantly changed to thereby restrict a motor drive direction so that the self-turn of the steering wheel is prevented.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.