Steering control apparatus for a vehicle

1. A steering control apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

steering control means for controlling a steered wheel angle of a wheel to be steered in response to steering operation of a vehicle driver;

braking force estimation means for estimating a braking force applied to at least a pair of right and left wheels of said vehicle, respectively;

coefficient of friction estimation means for estimating a coefficient of friction of road surface, on which each of said right and left wheels is placed;

braking force difference calculation means for calculating a braking force difference between the braking force applied to said right wheel and the braking force applied to said left wheel, on the basis of the braking force estimated by said braking force estimation means;

slip angle—total lateral force characteristic setting means for setting a relationship between a slip angle of said wheel to be steered, and a total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, on the basis of the coefficient of friction estimated by said coefficient of friction estimation means; and

steered wheel angle setting means for setting the steered wheel angle of said wheel to be steered, on the basis of the braking force difference between said right and left wheels calculated by said calculation means, and the relationship between the slip angle of said wheel to be steered and the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, said relationship being set by said characteristic setting means.

2. The steering control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said characteristic setting means estimates a relationship between the slip angle and the lateral force for each wheel of said right and left wheels, which are placed on the road surface with the coefficient of friction estimated by said coefficient of friction estimation means, on the basis of a relationship between the slip angle and the lateral force for each wheel of said right and left wheels, which are placed on a road surface with a certain coefficient of friction, and add the result estimated for said right and left wheels, to provide the relationship between the slip angle and the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered.

3. The steering control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said steered wheel angle setting means calculates the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, which is required for canceling a moment about a gravity center of said vehicle, said moment being caused by the braking force difference calculated by said braking force difference calculation means, and said steered wheel angle setting means applies the calculated total lateral force to the relationship between the slip angle of said wheel to be steered and the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, to obtain a slip angle, which is provided as the steered wheel angle of said wheel to be steered.

4. The steering control apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein if the required total lateral force of said wheel to be steered exceeds saturated lateral force corresponding to the slip angle in the relationship between the slip angle of said wheel to be steered and the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, the slip angle corresponding to the saturated lateral force is set as a desired slip angle to be used.

5. The steering control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said steered wheel angle setting means calculates the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, which is required for canceling a moment about a gravity center of said vehicle, said moment being caused by the braking force difference calculated by said braking force difference calculation means, and said steered wheel angle setting means applies the calculated total lateral force to the relationship between the slip angle of said wheel to be steered and the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, to obtain a dynamic relationship among the slip angle, vehicle slip angle, vehicle speed and yaw rate, and wherein said steered wheel angle setting means calculates the steered wheel angle on the basis of said dynamic relationship.

6. The steering control apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein if the required total lateral force of said wheel to be steered exceeds saturated lateral force corresponding to the slip angle in the relationship between the slip angle of said wheel to be steered and the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, the slip angle corresponding to the saturated lateral force is set as a desired slip angle to be used.

7. A steering control apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

steering torque applying means for applying a steering torque to a wheel to be steered in response to steering operation of a vehicle driver;

braking force estimation means for estimating braking force applied to at least a pair of right and left wheels of said vehicle, respectively;

coefficient of friction estimation means for estimating a coefficient of friction of road surface, on which each of said right and left wheels is placed;

braking force difference calculation means for calculating a braking force difference between the braking force applied to said right wheel and the braking force applied to said left wheel, on the basis of the braking force estimated by said braking force estimation means;

slip angle—total lateral force characteristic setting means for setting a relationship between a slip angle of said wheel to be steered, and a total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, on the basis of the coefficient of friction estimated by said coefficient of friction estimation means; and

steering torque setting means for setting the steering torque of said wheel to be steered, on the basis of the braking force difference between said right and left wheels calculated by said calculation means, and the relationship between the slip angle of said wheel to be steered and the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, said relationship being set by said characteristic setting means.

8. The steering control apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein said characteristic setting means estimates a relationship between the slip angle and the lateral force for each wheel of said right and left wheels, which are placed on the road surface with the coefficient of friction estimated by said coefficient of friction estimation means, on the basis of a relationship between the slip angle and the lateral force for each wheel of said right and left wheels, which are placed on a road surface with a certain coefficient of friction, and add the result estimated for said right and left wheels, to provide the relationship between the slip angle and the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered.

9. The steering control apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein said steering torque setting means calculates the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, which is required for canceling a moment about a gravity center of said vehicle, said moment being caused by the braking force difference calculated by said braking force difference calculation means, and said steered wheel angle setting means applies the calculated total lateral force to the relationship between the slip angle of said wheel to be steered and the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, to obtain a slip angle, which is multiplied by a proportional coefficient to provide the steering torque for said wheel to be steered.

10. The steering control apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein if the required total lateral force of said wheel to be steered exceeds saturated lateral force corresponding to the slip angle in the relationship between the slip angle of said wheel to be steered and the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, the slip angle corresponding to the saturated lateral force is set as a desired slip angle to be used.

11. The steering control apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein said steering torque setting means calculates the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, which is required for canceling a moment about a gravity center of said vehicle, said moment being caused by the braking force difference calculated by said braking force difference calculation means, and said steered wheel angle setting means applies the calculated total lateral force to the relationship between the slip angle of said wheel to be steered and the total lateral force of said wheel to be steered, to obtain a dynamic relationship among the slip angle, vehicle slip angle, vehicle speed and yaw rate, and wherein said steering torque setting means calculates the steered wheel angle on the basis of said dynamic relationship, and multiplies the steered wheel angle by a proportional coefficient to provide the steering torque for said wheel to be steered.