1. A charging facility guidance device is provided with:

a communication unit that communicates with the in-vehicle communication device and the charging apparatus;

a calculation unit that calculates a route for charging including the charging device that charges an electric vehicle between a specific departure point and a specific destination based on vehicle notification information stored in a storage unit and received by the communication unit, the route including identification information of the electric vehicle, position information of the electric vehicle, information indicating a charging state of the electric vehicle, and round-trip route information between the specific departure point and the specific destination, to which the electric vehicle having the on-vehicle communication device makes a round trip; and a process for the preparation of a coating,

and a management unit that outputs information on the route for charging calculated by the calculation unit.

2. The charging facility guidance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit preferentially includes the charging facility that is free from the congested charging facility in the route for charging, while avoiding the congested charging facility.

3. The charging facility guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle notification information contains information of a use state of the electric vehicle,

the calculation unit calculates the charging device included in the route for charging based on the vehicle notification information.

4. The charging facility guidance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the charging facility guidance apparatus includes a facility reservation unit that performs communication with the charging facility by the communication unit and performs a charging reservation with the charging facility on the route for charging calculated by the calculation unit.

5. A charging facility guidance method executed by a charging facility guidance apparatus having a communication unit that communicates with an in-vehicle communication apparatus and a charging facility, the charging facility guidance method comprising:

and a communication unit configured to receive, from the vehicle information processing unit, vehicle information including identification information of the electric vehicle, position information of the electric vehicle, information indicating a charging state of the electric vehicle, and round-trip route information between the specific departure point and the specific destination, to which the electric vehicle equipped with the on-vehicle communication device makes a round trip.

6. A computer-readable medium having a program recorded thereon, the program being executed by a charging device guiding apparatus having a communication unit that communicates with an in-vehicle communication apparatus and a charging device, the program causing the charging device guiding apparatus to execute:

and a communication unit configured to receive, from the vehicle information processing unit, vehicle information including identification information of the electric vehicle, position information of the electric vehicle, information indicating a charging state of the electric vehicle, and round-trip route information between the specific departure point and the specific destination, to which the electric vehicle equipped with the on-vehicle communication device makes a round trip.

Background

In recent years, Electric vehicles that run by an Electric motor driven by Electric power supplied from a secondary Battery (Battery) are known, such as Electric vehicles (BEV), Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV), Plug-in Hybrid Electric vehicles (PHEV), Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCV), and Plug-in Fuel Cell vehicles (PFCV).

On the other hand, there is known a technique of obtaining a target charge amount based on a usage history of an electric vehicle or a remaining charge amount of a battery (for example, see patent document 1).

[ Prior Art document ]

(patent document)

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2015-230719

Disclosure of Invention

[ problems to be solved by the invention ]

When the remaining charge amount decreases, the electrically powered vehicle needs to travel to a charging facility that performs charging using electricity of the remaining charge amount. However, particularly when the vehicle is repeatedly reciprocated regularly during commuting, out-of-class learning of children, or the like, it is convenient to guide the electric vehicle to the charging facility existing on the way of the route or in the vicinity of the route when the appropriate remaining charge amount is obtained.

An object of the present invention is to provide a charging facility guidance device, a charging facility guidance method, and a computer-readable medium having a program recorded thereon, which are capable of guiding a charging facility existing in the middle of or near a round trip route to an electric vehicle at an appropriate remaining charge amount when the electric vehicle repeatedly makes a round trip at regular intervals.

[ means for solving problems ]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a charging device guide apparatus 100 including: a communication unit (e.g., communication unit 110 described later) that communicates with an in-vehicle communication device (e.g., in-vehicle communication device 282 described later) and a charging device (e.g., charging device C described later); a calculation unit (for example, a calculation unit 130 described later) that calculates a route for charging including the charging facility that charges an electric vehicle between a specific departure point and a specific destination based on vehicle notification information stored in a storage unit (for example, a storage unit 160 described later) and received by the communication unit, the route including identification information of the electric vehicle (for example, an electric vehicle 200 described later), position information of the electric vehicle, information indicating a charging state of the electric vehicle, and round-trip route information between the specific departure point and the specific destination, to which the electric vehicle equipped with the on-vehicle communication device makes a round trip; and a management unit (e.g., a management unit 140 described later) that outputs information on the route for charging calculated by the calculation unit.

Further, the present invention provides a charging facility guidance method executed by a charging facility guidance apparatus including a communication unit that communicates with an in-vehicle communication device and a charging facility, the charging facility guidance method comprising:

and a communication unit configured to receive, from the vehicle information processing unit, vehicle information including identification information of the electric vehicle, position information of the electric vehicle, information indicating a charging state of the electric vehicle, and round-trip route information between the specific departure point and the specific destination, to which the electric vehicle equipped with the on-vehicle communication device makes a round trip.

Further, the present invention provides a computer-readable medium having a program recorded thereon, the program being executed by a charging device guiding apparatus including a communication unit that communicates with an in-vehicle communication apparatus and a charging device, the program causing the charging device guiding apparatus to execute:

and a communication unit configured to receive, from the vehicle information processing unit, vehicle information including identification information of the electric vehicle, position information of the electric vehicle, information indicating a charging state of the electric vehicle, and round-trip route information between the specific departure point and the specific destination, to which the electric vehicle equipped with the on-vehicle communication device makes a round trip.

Thus, for example, when charging of the electric vehicle is required during commute, guidance to the charging facility can be performed when the remaining charge amount is an amount that can be normally traveled to the right and left of the nearest charging facility. In particular, if the route is a round trip route in which the electric vehicle regularly makes a round trip, it is easy to calculate how far the electric vehicle needs to be charged when the electric vehicle travels, and therefore guidance to the charging facility can be performed at an appropriate timing.

In this case, it is preferable that the calculation unit avoids a congested charging facility and preferentially includes the charging facility that is free from the congested charging facility in a route used for the charging. Thereby, concentration of electric vehicles that want to be charged to a specific charging apparatus can be avoided.

In this case, it is preferable that the vehicle notification information includes information on a use state of the electric vehicle, and the calculation unit calculates the charging facility included in the route for charging based on the vehicle notification information. As a result, it is possible to calculate the possible travel distance of the remaining charge amount of the electric vehicle more accurately, and as a result, it is possible to calculate the candidate of the charging facility that can be reliably reached by the normal travel using the electricity of the remaining charge amount.

In this case, it is preferable to provide an equipment reserving unit (for example, an equipment reserving unit 170 described later) that performs communication with the charging equipment by the communication unit and reserves charging with the charging equipment on the route for charging calculated by the calculation unit. Therefore, the problem that all chargers are in use after reaching the charging equipment can be avoided, and the electric vehicle can be reliably charged without waiting at the charging equipment.

(Effect of the invention)

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a charging facility guidance device, a charging facility guidance method, and a computer-readable medium having a program recorded thereon, which are capable of guiding a charging facility existing in the middle of or near a round trip route to an electric vehicle at an appropriate remaining charge amount when the electric vehicle repeatedly makes a round trip at regular intervals.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram of a vehicle system including a charging facility guidance apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an electric vehicle that is a non-autonomous vehicle guided by a charging facility guide device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an electric vehicle of an autonomous vehicle guided by a charging facility guide device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of vehicle information of an electric vehicle guided by a charging facility guide apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of charging equipment information of the charging equipment guidance device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of vehicle notification information of a charging facility guidance apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating control of the charging facility guidance apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a diagram of a vehicle system 1 including a charging facility guidance apparatus 100.

In the following embodiments, the route to and from work is described as the route to and from which the electric vehicle travels.

The vehicle system 1 of the embodiment includes a charging facility guidance device 100, electric vehicles 200-1 to 200-n (n is an integer greater than 1), and a charging facility C.

Charging facility guidance apparatus 100 can communicate with each of electric vehicles 200-1 to 200-n and each of charging facilities C-1 to C-n via network NW. The Network NW includes the internet, a WAN (Wide Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), a public line, a provider device, a private line, a wireless base station, and the like. In the present embodiment, each of the electric vehicles 200-1 to 200-n is parked in a parking lot used by the owner of each of the electric vehicles 200-1 to 200-n.

The charging apparatus C is a charging station that can charge the electric vehicle. Specifically, for example, the charging station makes a reservation for charging an electric vehicle having a reduced remaining amount, that is, an electric vehicle capable of normally traveling to the charging station using electricity of the remaining amount, and charges the electric vehicle 200 guided by the charging facility guide apparatus 100. The charging facility guidance device 100 guides the charging facility C that can be reached by the electricity of the remaining charge amount of the electric vehicle 200 to the charging vehicle, based on the position of each of the electric vehicles 200-1 to 200-n and information indicating the state of charge of each of the electric vehicles 200-1 to 200-n.

Each of electric vehicles 200-1 to 200-n creates vehicle notification information including: vehicle identification information, vehicle position information, information indicating the state of charge of the vehicle, round-trip route information between a specific departure point and a specific destination point where the electric vehicle 200 makes a round trip, and information on the use state of the electric vehicle. Charging facility guidance apparatus 100 receives vehicle notification information transmitted by each of electric powered vehicles 200-1 to 200-n. The charging facility guidance apparatus 100 acquires vehicle identification information, vehicle position information, information indicating the state of charge of the vehicle, round trip route information, and information on the state of use of the electric vehicle, which are included in each of the received one or more pieces of vehicle notification information. The charging facility guidance device 100 stores the acquired one or more pieces of vehicle identification information, vehicle position information, information indicating the state of charge of the vehicle, round trip route information, and information on the state of use of the electric vehicle in association with each other.

Each of the electric vehicles 200-1 to 200-n may be an autonomous vehicle or may not be an autonomous vehicle. By using the autonomous vehicle for guidance of the electric vehicle, the electric vehicle can be guided to the charging facility C while traveling to the charging facility C in a state of an appropriate remaining charge amount.

In each of electrically powered vehicles 200-1 to 200-n, when the remaining charge amount is small and charging is necessary in the vehicle notification information transmitted to charging equipment guidance device 100, a guidance command for guiding electrically powered vehicle 200 to charging equipment C located at an appropriate position from electrically powered vehicle 200 is transmitted to electrically powered vehicle 200.

The charging facility guidance apparatus 100 derives an arrival time, which is a time at which the electric vehicle to be guided can arrive at the position of the specific charging facility C, based on the position of the electric vehicle to be guided and the position of the specific charging facility C. Charging facility guidance apparatus 100 creates vehicle responses for electric vehicles 200-1 to 200-n, the vehicle responses including information indicating guidance and information indicating arrival time, and transmits the created vehicle responses to electric vehicles 200-1 to 200-n.

The following describes electrically-powered vehicles 200-1 to 200-n, charging equipment guidance device 100, and charging equipment C-1 to C-n included in vehicle system 1 in detail. Any one of electric vehicles 200-1 to 200-n will be referred to as an electric vehicle 200. Similarly, any one of the charging device C-1 to the charging device C-n is referred to as a charging device C.

[ electric vehicle 200]

The electric vehicle 200 included in the vehicle system 1 is a moving body such as four wheels, for example. The electrically powered vehicle 200 is an electrically powered vehicle that is equipped with at least a secondary battery and runs by driving a motor with electric power stored in the secondary battery, or a hybrid vehicle that can be driven by a motor and receives external power supply.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing example 1 of the structure of the electric vehicle of the embodiment. In fig. 2, an electric vehicle 200 that is not an autonomous vehicle is shown.

As shown in fig. 2, the electric vehicle 200 includes, for example: motor 212, drive wheel 214, brake device 216, vehicle sensor 220, PCU (Power Control Unit) 30, battery 240, battery sensor 242, vehicle-mounted communication device 250, navigation device 260, charging interface 270, and connection circuit 272, and battery sensor 242 includes a voltage sensor, a current sensor, a temperature sensor, and the like.

The motor 212 is, for example, a three-phase ac motor. The rotor of the motor 212 is connected to a drive wheel 214. The motor 212 outputs power to the drive wheels 214 using the supplied electric power. And the motor 212 generates power using the kinetic energy of the electric vehicle when the electric vehicle decelerates.

The brake device 216 includes, for example, a caliper, a cylinder that transmits hydraulic pressure to the caliper, and an electric motor that generates hydraulic pressure in the cylinder. The brake device 216 may include the following as a backup: and a mechanism for transmitting a hydraulic pressure generated by the operation of the brake pedal to the cylinder via the master cylinder. The brake device 216 is not limited to the above-described configuration, and may be an electronically controlled hydraulic brake device that transmits the hydraulic pressure of the master cylinder to the cylinder.

The vehicle sensor 220 includes an accelerator opening sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, and a brake depression amount sensor. An accelerator opening degree sensor is an example of an operation element that receives an acceleration instruction from a driver. The accelerator opening degree sensor is attached to an accelerator pedal, detects an operation amount of the accelerator pedal, and outputs the detected operation amount of the accelerator pedal to the control unit 236 as an accelerator opening degree. The vehicle speed sensor includes, for example, a wheel rotation speed sensor attached to each wheel and a speed calculator, and calculates the speed (vehicle speed) of the electric vehicle by summing the wheel rotation speeds detected by the wheel rotation speed sensors, and outputs the calculated speed to the control unit 236. The brake depression amount sensor is attached to the brake pedal, detects the operation amount of the brake pedal, and outputs the detected operation amount of the brake pedal to the control unit 236 as a brake depression amount.

PCU230 includes, for example, a converter 232, a VCU (Voltage Control Unit) 234, and a Control Unit 236. Note that a configuration in which these components are combined as PCU230 is merely an example. These components may also be arranged discretely.

The converter 232 is, for example, an AC-DC (alternating current-direct current) converter. The dc-side terminal of the converter 232 is connected to the dc link DL. Dc link DL is connected to battery 240 via VCU 234. The converter 232 converts the ac power generated by the motor 212 into dc power and outputs the dc power to the dc link DL.

The VCU234 is, for example, a DC-DC (direct current-direct current) converter. VCU234 boosts the electric power supplied from battery 240 and outputs the boosted electric power to dc link DL.

The control unit 236 includes, for example, a motor control unit, a brake control unit, and a battery/VCU control unit. The motor control unit, the brake control unit, and the battery/VCU control unit may be replaced with separate control devices, for example, a motor ECU (electronic control unit), a brake ECU, a battery ECU, and the like.

The motor control unit controls the motor 212 based on the output of the vehicle sensor 220. The brake control unit controls the brake device 216 based on the output of the vehicle sensor 220. The battery/VCU control unit calculates the SOC (State Of Charge) Of battery 240 based on the output Of battery sensor 242 attached to battery 240, and outputs the SOC calculation result to VCU234 and on-vehicle communication device 250. SOC is an example of information representing the state of charge of battery 240. The VCU234 increases the voltage of the dc link DL in accordance with an instruction from the battery/VCU control unit.

Battery 240 is a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery. Battery 240 stores electric power introduced from charger 274 external to electric vehicle 200, and discharges the electric power for running electric vehicle 200.

The navigation device 260 includes, for example, a GNSS receiver 262, a navigation control device 264, and a display device 266. The GNSS receiver 262 locates the own position (the position of the electric vehicle 200) based on electric waves from GNSS (global navigation satellite system) satellites (for example, GPS (global positioning system) satellites). The navigation control device 264 includes, for example, a CPU or various storage devices, and controls the entire navigation device 260. The storage device stores map information (navigation map). The navigation map is a map which represents roads by using nodes and connecting lines. The navigation control device 264 determines a route from the position of the electric vehicle 200 located by the GNSS receiver 262 to the destination with reference to the navigation map. Here, the destination may be a destination specified using the position information of the electric vehicle 200 included in the guidance instruction. The navigation control device 264 may transmit the position and destination of the electric vehicle 200 to a navigation server (not shown) using the in-vehicle communication device 250, and may acquire a route returned from the navigation server. The navigation control device 264 outputs information on the route determined by any of the above methods to the display device 266. The display device 266 displays information corresponding to the control of the navigation control device 264. The display device 266 displays a navigation screen based on information output from the navigation control device 264. In addition, the GNSS receiver 262 outputs the positioning result of the position of the electric vehicle 200, i.e., the position information, to the in-vehicle communication device 250.

The battery sensor 242 includes sensors such as a current sensor, a voltage sensor, and a temperature sensor. The battery sensor 242 detects, for example, a current value, a voltage value, and a temperature of the battery 240. The battery sensor 242 outputs the detected current value, voltage value, and information indicating the temperature to the control unit 236 and the in-vehicle communication device 250. The battery sensors 242 may each include a plurality of sensors such as a current sensor, a voltage sensor, and a temperature sensor. When the battery sensor 242 includes a plurality of sensors, the current value, the voltage value, and the information indicating the temperature output to the control unit 236 may include a battery sensor identifier. The battery sensor identifier is an identifier that can identify a plurality of sensors provided in the electric vehicle 200. The battery sensor identifier may be represented by, for example, a predetermined letter and number.

The in-vehicle communication device 250 includes a wireless module for connecting with the internet, WAN, LAN, public line, provider equipment, private line, wireless base station, and the like. The in-vehicle communication device 250 acquires the current value, the voltage value, and information indicating the temperature output by the battery sensor 242. In addition, in-vehicle communication device 250 acquires the calculation result of the SOC output from control unit 236. The in-vehicle communication device 250 acquires the position information of the electric vehicle 200 output by the GNSS receiver 262. Vehicle-mounted communication device 250 creates vehicle notification information to charging equipment guidance device 100, which includes information indicating the state of charge of electrically powered vehicle 200 such as the current value, the voltage value, and the information indicating the temperature acquired by vehicle-mounted communication device 250, the SOC, and the position information of electrically powered vehicle 200. Vehicle-mounted communication device 250 transmits the created vehicle notification information to charging equipment guiding device 100 via network NW shown in fig. 1.

Charging interface 270 is provided toward the outside of the vehicle body of electric vehicle 200. Charging interface 270 is connected to charger 274 via charging cable 276. The charging cable 276 is provided with a first plug 275 and a second plug 277. First plug 275 is connected to charger 274 and second plug 277 is connected to charging interface 270. The power supplied from charger 274 is supplied to charging interface 270 via charging cable 276. Charger 274 is an example of charging device C. In addition, charging cable 276 includes a signal cable attached to a power cable. The signal cable mediates communication between the electric vehicle 200 and the charger 274. Therefore, the first plug 275 and the second plug 277 are provided with a power connector and a signal connector, respectively.

Connection circuit 272 is provided between charging interface 270 and battery 240. Connecting circuit 272 transfers a current, such as a direct current, directed from charger 274 via charging interface 270. Connection circuit 272 transmits the direct current to battery 240.

As shown in fig. 3, an electric vehicle 200 as an autonomous vehicle includes, for example: an external monitoring unit 280, an in-vehicle communication device 282, a navigation device 284, a recommended lane determining device 286, an automatic driving control unit 290, a driving force output device 292, a braking device 216, a steering device 294, a battery 240, and a battery sensor 242. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of an electric vehicle 200 as an autonomous vehicle guided by the charging facility guide apparatus 100.

The external monitoring unit 280 constitutes a situation acquisition device, and includes, for example, a camera, a radar, a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), an object recognition device that performs a Sensor Fusion (Sensor Fusion) process based on these outputs, and the like. The external monitoring unit 280 estimates the type of an object (particularly, an electric vehicle, a pedestrian, a bicycle, or the like) existing around the electric vehicle 200, creates estimation information (situation information), and outputs the estimation information to the automatic driving control unit 290 together with information of the position and speed thereof.

The in-vehicle communication device 282 is a wireless communication module for connecting to a network NW or directly communicating with other electric vehicles or pedestrian terminals. The in-vehicle communication device 282 performs wireless communication based on Wi-Fi, DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or other communication standards. A plurality of in-vehicle communication devices 282 may be provided according to the application. The vehicle-mounted communication device 282 acquires the current value, the voltage value, and information indicating the temperature output from the drive control unit 290. In addition, in-vehicle communication device 282 acquires the calculation result of the SOC output from automatic driving control unit 290. The in-vehicle communication device 282 acquires the position information of the electric vehicle 200 output by the GNSS receiver 284B. Vehicle-mounted communication device 282 creates vehicle notification information to charging equipment guidance device 100, which includes the acquired current value, voltage value, information indicating temperature, SOC, and other information indicating the state of charge of electric vehicle 200, position information of electric vehicle 200, and estimation information created by external monitoring unit 280. Vehicle-mounted communication device 282 transmits the created vehicle notification information to charging equipment guiding device 100 via network NW shown in fig. 1.

The navigation device 284 includes, for example, an HMI (Human machine Interface) 284A, GNSS receiver 284B and a navigation control device 284C. HMI284A includes, for example, a touch panel display device, a speaker, a microphone, and the like. The GNSS receiver 284B locates the own position (the position of the electric vehicle 200) based on electric waves from GNSS satellites (for example, GPS satellites). The navigation control device 284C includes, for example, a CPU and various storage devices, and controls the entire navigation device 284. The storage device stores map information (navigation map). The navigation map is a map which represents roads by using nodes and connecting lines. The navigation control device 284C determines a path from the position of the electric vehicle 200 located by the GNSS receiver 284B to the destination with reference to the navigation map. Here, the destination may be a destination specified by the HMI284A or may be a destination specified by the position information of the electric vehicle 200 included in the guidance instruction. The navigation control device 284C may transmit the position of the electric vehicle 200 and a company (work site) as a destination to a navigation server (not shown) using the in-vehicle communication device 282, and may acquire a route returned from the navigation server. The route may include information on a point where the owner of the electric vehicle 200 stops to get on or off the vehicle and the arrival target time. The navigation control device 284C outputs information of the route determined by any of the above-described methods to the recommended lane determining device 286.

The recommended lane specifying device 286 includes, for example, an MPU (Map Positioning Unit) and various storage devices. The storage device stores high-precision map information which is more detailed than a navigation map. The high-accuracy map information includes information such as a road width, a gradient, a curvature, and a signal position of each lane. The recommended lane determining device 286 determines a recommended lane that is preferable for traveling along the route input from the navigation device 284, and outputs it to the automatic driving control unit 290.

The automatic driving control unit 290 includes one or more processors such as a CPU or an MPU, and various storage devices. The automatic driving control unit 290 automatically drives the electric vehicle 200 on the basis of traveling in the recommended lane determined by the recommended lane determining device 286, so as to avoid contact with the object whose position or speed is input by the external monitoring unit 280. The automatic driving control unit 290 executes various events in sequence, for example. The events include: a constant speed driving event for driving on the same driving lane at a fixed speed, a follow-up driving event for following a preceding vehicle, a lane change event, a merge event, a lane split event, an emergency stop event, a toll station event for passing a toll station, a hand-over event for ending automatic driving and switching to manual driving, and the like. In the course of executing these events, avoidance action may be planned based on the circumstances around the electric vehicle 200 (presence of surrounding vehicles or pedestrians, lane narrowing due to road construction, and the like).

The automatic driving control unit 290 generates a target trajectory on which the electric vehicle 200 will travel in the future. The target track contains, for example, a speed factor. For example, the target track is represented by a place (track point) to which the electric vehicles 200 arranged in sequence should arrive. The track point is a point to which the electric vehicle 200 should arrive for each specific travel distance, and in addition, a target speed and a target acceleration are generated as a part of the target track for each specific sampling time (for example, on the order of fractions of a second). In addition, the track point may be a position that the electric vehicle 200 should reach at each specific sampling time. In this case, the information of the target velocity or the target acceleration is represented by the interval of the track points. Autopilot control section 290 calculates the SOC of battery 240 based on the output of battery sensor 242 attached to battery 240, and outputs the SOC calculation result to on-vehicle communication device 282. The automatic driving control unit 290 outputs the current value, the voltage value, and information indicating the temperature output from the battery sensor 242 to the in-vehicle communication device 282.

Battery 240 is a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery. Battery 240 stores electric power introduced from a charger outside electric vehicle 200, and discharges electric power for traveling of electric vehicle 200.

The battery sensor 242 includes sensors such as a current sensor, a voltage sensor, and a temperature sensor. The battery sensor 242 detects, for example, a current value, a voltage value, and a temperature of the battery 240. Battery sensor 242 outputs the detected current value, voltage value, and information indicating the temperature to automatic driving control section 290. The battery sensor 242 may include a plurality of sensors such as a current sensor, a voltage sensor, and a temperature sensor. When the battery sensor 242 includes a plurality of sensors, the current value, the voltage value, and the information indicating the temperature output to the automatic driving control unit 290 may include a battery sensor identifier. The battery sensor identifier is an identifier that can identify a plurality of sensors provided in the electric vehicle 200. The battery sensor identifier may be represented by, for example, a predetermined letter and number.

Here, an example of a process procedure of the automatic driving of the electric vehicle 200 will be explained. First, a path is determined by the navigation device 284. This route is, for example, a rough route in which no distinction is made between lanes. Next, the recommended lane determining device 286 determines a recommended lane that is easy to travel along the path. Then, the automatic driving control unit 290 controls some or all of the driving force output device 292, the brake device 216, and the steering device 294 to generate a track point for traveling along the recommended lane as much as possible while avoiding an obstacle or the like, and to travel along the track point (and accompanying speed folder). Note that such task assignment is merely an example, and the automated driving control unit 290 may perform processing collectively, for example.

The driving force output device 292 outputs a running driving force (torque) to run the electric vehicle to the driving wheels. The driving force output device 292 includes, for example, a combination of an internal combustion engine, an electric motor, a transmission, and the like, and a PowerECU that controls these. The PowerECU controls the above configuration based on information input from the automatic drive control unit 290 or information input from a not-shown operation operator.

The brake device 216 includes, for example, a caliper, a cylinder that transmits hydraulic pressure to the caliper, an electric motor that generates hydraulic pressure in the cylinder, and a brake ECU. The brake ECU controls the electric motor based on information input from the automatic drive control unit 290 or information input from the operation operator, and outputs a brake torque corresponding to a brake operation to each wheel. The brake device 216 may also include a mechanism for transmitting a hydraulic pressure generated by the operation of the brake pedal included in the travel operator to the hydraulic cylinder via the master cylinder as a backup. The brake device 216 is not limited to the above-described configuration, and may be an electronic control type hydraulic brake device that controls the actuator based on information input from the automatic driving control unit 290 and transmits the hydraulic pressure of the master cylinder to the cylinder.

The steering device 294 includes, for example, a steering ECU and an electric motor. The electric motor changes the direction of the steering wheel by applying a force to a rack and pinion mechanism, for example. The steering ECU drives the electric motor to change the direction of the steering wheel based on information input from the automatic drive control unit 290 or information input from the operation operator.

[ charging facility guide device 100]

The charging facility guidance apparatus 100 is implemented by a personal computer, a server, an industrial computer, or the like. The charging facility guidance device 100 includes, for example, a communication unit 110, a reception unit 120, a calculation unit 130, a management unit 140, a derivation unit 150, a storage unit 160, and a facility reservation unit 170.

The communication part 110 is implemented by a communication module. Specifically, the communication unit 110 is constituted by a device that performs wired communication. The communication unit 110 may be a wireless device that performs wireless communication using a wireless communication technology such as LTE (long term evolution) or wireless LAN. Communication unit 110 performs communication between charging device C, on-vehicle communication device 250 included in electric powered vehicle 200 that is not an autonomous vehicle, and on-vehicle communication device 282 included in electric powered vehicle 200 that is an autonomous vehicle, via network NW. Specifically, the communication unit 110 receives vehicle notification information transmitted from the in-vehicle communication device 250 of the electric vehicle 200 that is not an autonomous vehicle and vehicle notification information transmitted from the in-vehicle communication device 282 of the electric vehicle 200 that is an autonomous vehicle, and outputs the received vehicle notification information to the reception unit 120. The communication unit 110 acquires the guidance instruction output by the management unit 140 and transmits the acquired guidance instruction to the electric vehicle 200 to be guided. The communication part 110 acquires the vehicle response output by the management part 140 and transmits the acquired vehicle response to the electric vehicle 200.

The storage unit 160 is implemented by an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a Flash Memory (Flash Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), or the like. Storage unit 160 stores vehicle information 161, vehicle notification information 164, and charging facility information 165. The vehicle information 161, the vehicle notification information 164, and the charging device information 165 may also be stored on the cloud.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the vehicle information. Vehicle information 161 is information in a table format in which vehicle identification information of electric powered vehicle 200 and an address of an in-vehicle communication device mounted on electric powered vehicle 200 are associated with each other. An example of the address of the in-vehicle communication device is an IP address. In the example shown in fig. 4, vehicle identification information "AAAA" of electric vehicle 200 and address "XXX" of the on-vehicle communication device, vehicle identification information "BBBB" of electric vehicle 200 and address "YYY" of the on-vehicle communication device, vehicle identification information "CCCC" of electric vehicle 200 and address "ZZZ" of the communication device are respectively associated and stored in vehicle information 161. These pieces of information are registered when the electric vehicle 200 is imported into the vehicle system 1.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the charging device information. The charging apparatus information 165 is information in a table form that associates the apparatus ID with the contact address to the charging apparatus C corresponding to the apparatus ID. Examples of contact means to the charging device C are an address of an address and an address of an email box. In the example shown in fig. 5, the charging device information 165 stores a device ID "0001" and a contact address "XXX", a device ID "0002" and a contact address "YYY", and a device ID "0003" and a contact address "ZZZ", respectively. These pieces of information are registered when the charging apparatus C is assembled on the vehicle system 1.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of vehicle notification information. Vehicle notification information 164 is information in a table format that associates vehicle identification information of electric vehicle 200, information indicating the state of charge of electric vehicle 200, and vehicle position information of electric vehicle 200. An example of the vehicle position information of the electric vehicle 200 is represented by (longitude, latitude). In the example shown in fig. 6, vehicle identification information "AAAA" of electric vehicle 200, information "XX" indicating the state of charge of electric vehicle 200, and vehicle position information "(+ +, + +)" of electric vehicle 200, vehicle identification information "BBBB" of electric vehicle 200, information "YY" indicating the state of charge of electric vehicle 200, and vehicle position information "(+ +, + +)" of electric vehicle 200 are stored in vehicle notification information 164 in association with each other. The information "XX" indicating the state of charge of the electric vehicle 200 is, for example, the charging rate of the secondary battery (the battery 240) of the moving vehicle 200. These pieces of information are updated based on the vehicle notification information transmitted by the electric vehicle 200.

The reception Unit 120, the calculation Unit 130, the management Unit 140, and the derivation Unit 150 are realized by a computer hardware processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing a program (software) stored in the storage Unit 160. Some or all of these functions may be implemented by computer hardware (including a Circuit Unit) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or the like, or may be implemented by cooperation of software and the computer hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device including a non-transitory storage medium) such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transitory storage medium) such as a DVD or a CD-ROM, and then installed by loading the storage medium into the Drive device.

The receiving unit 120, the calculating unit 130, the managing unit 140, and the deriving unit 150 will be described in detail later.

The vehicle-mounted communication device 250 of the electric vehicle 200 acquires vehicle identification information, information indicating a charging state, position information of the electric vehicle 200, round-trip route information between a specific departure point and a specific destination point to which the electric vehicle 200 has been regularly round-tripped up to now, and information on a use state of the electric vehicle such as how the electric vehicle 200 is used up to now, i.e., how the electric vehicle is accelerated and decelerated during traveling of the electric vehicle, and creates vehicle notification information to the charging facility guidance device 100, the vehicle notification information including the acquired vehicle identification information, the information indicating the charging state, the position information of the electric vehicle 200, the round-trip route information, and the information on the use state of the electric vehicle. The in-vehicle communication device 250 transmits the created vehicle notification information to the charging equipment guidance device 100. The communication unit 110 of the charging facility guidance device 100 receives the vehicle notification information transmitted by the in-vehicle communication device 250, and outputs the received vehicle notification information to the reception unit 120.

The vehicle-mounted communication device 282 of the electric vehicle 200 acquires vehicle identification information, information indicating the state of charge, position information of the electric vehicle 200, round trip route information, and information of the use state of the electric vehicle, and creates vehicle notification information including the acquired vehicle identification information, information indicating the state of charge, position information of the electric vehicle 200, round trip route information, and information of the use state of the electric vehicle, to the charging facility guide device 100. The in-vehicle communication device 282 transmits the created vehicle notification information to the charging equipment guidance device 100. The communication unit 110 of the charging facility guidance device 100 receives the vehicle notification information transmitted by the in-vehicle communication device 282, and outputs the received vehicle notification information to the reception unit 120.

The reception unit 120 acquires the vehicle notification information output by the communication unit 110, and acquires the vehicle identification information, the information indicating the state of charge, the position information of the electric vehicle 200, the round trip route information, and the information on the use state of the electric vehicle, which are included in the acquired vehicle notification information. The reception unit 120 associates the acquired vehicle identification information, the information indicating the state of charge, the position information of the electric vehicle 200, the round trip route information, and the information of the usage state of the electric vehicle, and stores the information in the vehicle notification information 164 of the storage unit 160.

The storage section 160 also stores therein information about the charging device C. The information about the charging device C includes a device ID and a contact address of the charging device C. The information on the charging equipment C is received by the communication unit 110 of the charging equipment guidance device 100, and the communication unit 110 outputs the received information on the charging equipment C to the reception unit 120. The reception unit 120 acquires the information on the charging equipment C output by the communication unit 110, and stores the information in the charging equipment information 165 in the storage unit 160.

Based on vehicle notification information 164 and charging facility information 165, calculation unit 130 calculates a route for charging including charging facility C that charges electric powered vehicle 200 between a home that is a specific departure place and a company (work place) that is a specific destination.

Specifically, the calculation unit 130 calculates a route for charging including the charging facility C that charges the electric vehicle 200 in a round-trip route between a specific departure point and a specific destination point of the electric vehicle 200 that has been regularly round-tripped so far, based on the vehicle position information associated with the vehicle identification information, the information indicating the state of charge associated with the vehicle identification information other than the vehicle identification information, the round-trip route information, and the information of the use state of the electric vehicle 200, from the vehicle notification information 164 of the storage unit 160.

That is, the remaining charge amount is calculated from the current state of charge based on the vehicle notification information 164, and the candidates of the charging facility C that can be reached by the plurality of electric vehicles 200 in normal traveling are selected based on the usage state and the remaining charge amount of the electric vehicle. Then, based on the charging apparatus information 165, it is determined whether a specific charging apparatus C is idle with respect to the other charging apparatuses C among the candidate plurality of charging apparatuses C, that is, whether the number of unused chargers 274 in the specific charging apparatus C is greater than the number of unused chargers 274 in the other charging apparatuses C, and the most idle charging apparatus C is selected.

In the charging equipment guidance device 100, the calculation unit 130 calculates a route for charging including the selected charging equipment C in the round trip route. The calculation unit 130 outputs the calculated route for charging to the management unit 140 and the device reservation unit 170. The management section 140 outputs the created vehicle response including the path for charging to the communication section 110. The communication portion 110 acquires the vehicle response output by the calculation portion 130, and transmits the acquired vehicle response to the electric vehicle 200.

(operation of vehicle System, charging facility guidance method, and program for operating charging facility guidance device to execute the charging facility guidance method)

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing control of the charging device guidance apparatus 100.

In the electrically powered vehicle 200-1, the in-vehicle communication device 250 acquires the position information of the electrically powered vehicle 200-1 output from the GNSS receiver 262, the SOC output from the control unit 236, and the current value, the voltage value, and the information indicating the temperature output from the battery sensor 242. In-vehicle communication device 250 creates vehicle notification information addressed to charging equipment guidance device 100, the vehicle notification information including: the acquired position information of the electric vehicle 200-1; information indicating a state of charge such as a current value, a voltage value, information indicating a temperature, and SOC; round-trip route information between a specific departure point and a specific destination point, which the electric vehicle 200-1 has been round-tripped regularly so far; and information on how the electric vehicle 200-1 has been used so far, that is, how to accelerate or decelerate the electric vehicle during traveling of the electric vehicle (step S101).

In electric vehicle 200-1, on-vehicle communication device 250 transmits the created vehicle notification information to charging equipment guiding device 100 (step S102).

In the charging facility guidance device 100, the communication unit 110 receives the vehicle notification information transmitted from the in-vehicle communication device 250 (step S103).

In charging facility guidance device 100, communication unit 110 outputs the received vehicle notification information to reception unit 120. The reception unit 120 acquires the vehicle notification information output by the communication unit 110, and acquires vehicle identification information, vehicle position information, information indicating a state of charge, round-trip route information, and information on a use state of the electric vehicle, which are included in the acquired vehicle notification information. The reception unit 120 associates the acquired vehicle identification information, vehicle position information, and information indicating the state of charge with each other, and stores the information in the vehicle notification information 164 of the storage unit 160 (step S104). The same processing as in steps S101 to S104 is also performed in the electric vehicles 200-2 to 200-n-1. Hereinafter, the steps will be described with the same step numbers "S" to "added.

In the electric vehicle 200-n, the in-vehicle communication device 282 acquires the position information of the electric vehicle 200-n output from the GNSS receiver 284B, and the SOC, the current value, the voltage value, and the information indicating the temperature output from the automated driving control unit 290. The in-vehicle communication device 282 creates a vehicle notification addressed to the charging facility guidance device 100, the vehicle notification including: the acquired position information of the electric vehicle 200-n; information indicating a state of charge such as a current value, a voltage value, information indicating a temperature, and SOC; round-trip route information between a specific departure point and a specific destination point that the electric vehicle 200-n has been round-tripped regularly so far; and information on how the electric vehicle 200-n has been used so far, that is, how to accelerate or decelerate the electric vehicle during traveling of the electric vehicle (step S101).

In the electric vehicle 200-n, the in-vehicle communication device 282 transmits the created vehicle notification information to the charging equipment guidance device 100 (step S102).

In the charging facility guidance device 100, the communication unit 110 receives the vehicle notification information transmitted from the in-vehicle communication device 282 (step S103).

In charging facility guidance device 100, communication unit 110 outputs the received vehicle notification information to reception unit 120. The reception unit 120 acquires the vehicle notification information output by the communication unit 110, and acquires vehicle identification information, vehicle position information, information indicating a state of charge, round-trip route information, and information on a use state of the electric vehicle, which are included in the acquired vehicle notification information. The reception unit 120 associates the acquired vehicle identification information, vehicle position information, and information indicating the state of charge with each other, and stores the information in the vehicle notification information 164 of the storage unit 160 (step S104).

The charging equipment C transmits information on whether the charger 274 in the charging equipment C is being used for the use of the charger 274 for the charging of the electric vehicle 200, that is, information on how many chargers 274 are not used for the charging of the electric vehicle 200 to the charging equipment guiding device 100 (step S105).

In charging facility guidance device 100, communication unit 110 outputs the received information on the use status of charger 274 to reception unit 120. The reception unit 120 acquires the information on the use status of the charger 274 output from the communication unit 110, and acquires the charging facility information and the charging facility position information included in the acquired information on the use status of the charger 274. Receiving unit 120 associates the charging facility information included in the acquired information on the use status of charger 274 with the charging facility position information, and stores the information in charging facility information 165 in storage unit 160 (step S106).

In charging facility guidance apparatus 100, calculation unit 130 acquires the vehicle identification information associated with the vehicle notification information of vehicle notification information 164 already stored in storage unit 160. The calculation unit 130 calculates a route for charging including the charging facility C that charges the electric vehicle in a round-trip route between a specific departure point and a specific destination point to which the electric vehicle 200 has regularly round-tripped so far, based on the acquired vehicle position information associated with the vehicle identification information, the information indicating the state of charge associated with the vehicle identification information other than the vehicle identification information, round-trip route information, and the information of the use state of the electric vehicle, from the vehicle notification information 164 of the storage unit 160.

More specifically, first, the remaining charge amount is calculated from the current state of charge based on the vehicle notification information 164, and a plurality of candidates for the charging facility C that can be reached by the normal travel of the electric vehicle 200 are selected based on the usage state of the electric vehicle and the remaining charge amount (step S107). Next, based on the charging apparatus information 165, it is determined whether a specific charging apparatus C is more idle than other charging apparatuses C among the candidate plurality of charging apparatuses C, that is, whether the unused charger 274 in the specific charging apparatus C is more than the unused chargers 274 in the other charging apparatuses C, and the most idle charging apparatus C is selected (step S108).

Then, in the charging equipment guidance device 100, the calculation unit 130 calculates a route for charging including the selected charging equipment C in the round-trip route (step S109). The calculation unit 130 outputs the calculated route for charging to the management unit 140 and the device reservation unit 170 (step S110). The management part 140 outputs the created vehicle response including the path for charging to the communication part 110 (step S111). The communication unit 110 acquires the vehicle response output by the calculation unit 130, and transmits the acquired vehicle response to the electric vehicle 200 (step S112).

In the charging equipment guidance device 100, the management unit 140 outputs the position information of the selected charging equipment C to the derivation unit 150. The deriving unit 150 acquires the position information of the selected charging facility C output by the management unit 140, and derives the arrival time at the charging facility C based on the acquired position information of the selected charging facility C and the vehicle position information of the electric vehicle to be guided (step S113).

In the charging facility guidance apparatus 100, the deriving unit 150 outputs the derived information indicating the supply time to the management unit 140. The management unit 140 acquires information indicating the supply time outputted by the derivation unit 150. The management unit 140 creates a vehicle response to the electric vehicle 200, the vehicle response including information indicating that guidance has been instructed and information indicating the provision time (step S114).

In the charging facility guidance apparatus 100, the management part 140 outputs the created vehicle response to the communication part 110. The communication unit 110 acquires the vehicle response output by the management unit 140 and transmits the acquired vehicle response to the electric vehicle 200 (step S115). As described above, the route including the charging facility C between the home as the specific departure point and the company (work site) as the specific destination point, where the electric vehicle 200 repeatedly makes a round trip during the specific period, is guided to the electric vehicle 200, and the estimated time when the electric vehicle 200 reaches the charging facility C is displayed in the electric vehicle 200.

The device reservation unit 170 of the charging device guidance apparatus 100 transmits a reservation request for the charging device C to the communication unit 110 so that the electric vehicle 200 can be charged at the expected arrival time of the electric vehicle 200 with respect to the selected charging device C. The communication unit 110 transmits a reservation request to the charging device C (step S116).

The charging apparatus C receives the reservation request and reserves the charger 274 so that the electric vehicle 200 can be charged at the expected arrival time (step S117).

According to the present embodiment, the following effects are exhibited.

The present embodiment includes a calculation unit 130 that calculates a route for charging including a charging facility C that charges an electric vehicle 200 between a specific departure point and a specific destination based on vehicle notification information stored in a storage unit 160 and received by a communication unit 110, the route including identification information of the electric vehicle 200, position information of the electric vehicle 200, information indicating a charging state of the electric vehicle 200, and round-trip route information between the specific departure point and the specific destination to which the electric vehicle 200 having an in-vehicle communication device makes a round trip.

Accordingly, for example, when the electric vehicle needs to be charged during commute, the guidance to the charging facility C can be performed when the remaining charge amount is an amount that enables normal travel to the nearest charging facility C. In particular, if the route is a round trip route in which the electric vehicle 200 makes regular round trips, it is easy to calculate how far the vehicle needs to be charged, and therefore guidance to the charging facility C can be performed at an appropriate timing.

The calculation unit 130 avoids the congested charging device C and preferentially includes a charging device C that is less than the congested charging device C in the route for charging. Thereby, concentration of the electric vehicles 200 that want to be charged to the specific charging device C can be avoided.

Vehicle notification information 164 includes information on the use state of electric powered vehicle 200, and calculation unit 130 calculates charging equipment C included in the route for charging based on vehicle notification information 164. This makes it possible to more accurately calculate the distance that can be traveled using the remaining charge amount in the electric vehicle 200, and as a result, it is possible to calculate the candidate of the charging facility C that can be reliably and normally traveled using the electricity of the remaining charge amount.

Further, the device reservation unit 170 is provided to reserve the charging of the charging device C on the route for charging calculated by the calculation unit 130 by communicating with the charging device C through the communication unit 110. This can avoid the problem that charger 274 is in use when it reaches charging facility C, and thus electric vehicle 200 can be charged reliably without waiting for charging facility C.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and variations, improvements, and the like within a range in which the object of the present invention can be achieved are also included in the present invention. For example, the configurations of the communication unit, the reception unit, the calculation unit, and the management unit are not limited to the configurations of the communication unit 110, the reception unit 120, the calculation unit 130, and the management unit 140 in the present embodiment.

Reference numerals

1 vehicle system

100 charging equipment guiding device

110 communication part

120 receiving unit

130 calculation part

140 management part

150 lead-out part

160 storage unit

161 vehicle information

164 vehicle notification information

165 charging device information

170 device reservation section

200-1 to 200-n, 200 electric vehicle

212 Motor

214 driving wheel

216 brake device

220 vehicle sensor

230 PCU

232 converter

234 VCU

236 control unit

240 storage battery

242 battery sensor

250 vehicle-mounted communication device

260 navigation device

262 GNSS receiver

264 navigation control device

266 display device

270 charging interface

272 connection circuit

274 charger

275 first plug

276 charging cable

277 second plug

280 external monitoring unit

282 vehicle communication device

284 navigation device

284A human-machine interface

284B GNSS receiver

284C navigation control device

286 recommended lane determining device

290 automatic driving control unit

292 driving force output device

294 steering device

C-1-C-n charging equipment

NW network