ITFR20110006A1 - INTELLIGENT RECARIC COLUMN FOR CARS, SCOOTERS AND ELECTRIC BIKES. - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

"Smart charging station for cars, scooters and electric bikes":

Introduction

In recent years, “green” and efficient vehicles using electric propulsion have been developed in urban transport to meet the growing demand for sustainable mobility. One of the main causes hindering or limiting its real diffusion is the lack of an infrastructure to recharge the electricity sources on board.

Charging columns are devices for charging electric or hybrid vehicles, electric scooters, electric and pedal assisted bicycles at the normalized alternating current or direct current supply voltages.

State of the art

Currently, the various charging stations for electric vehicles proposed in Italy are still in the experimentation phase or even in some cases in the prototyping phase. The application in the residential or commercial area allows you to establish a first classification of the charging stations. The columns can also be classified on the basis of the type of power supply of the vehicle into: alternating current columns or direct current columns. In Italy, the alternating current columns have been proposed with available powers of 3.7 kW (power point: 230 V @ 16 A) or 7.7 kW (power point 230 V @ 32 A). However, some prototypes of columns with multiple power points from 16 A to the standardized voltage of 230 V were presented. This type of column allows "slow" recharging of electric cars. Typically, starting from a condition where the batteries are completely discharged, the charging time is approximately 6-8 hours. Alternating current columns with a 380 V socket have also been proposed for the "fast" recharging of electric cars. In this case, having a greater installed power available, it is possible to recharge the electric car, obviously if the car system is sized for a voltage of 380V, in about 30 minutes. The direct current charging stations, on the other hand, have been proposed only as fast charging stations. The voltage levels for this type of columns can vary from 240 V up to 500 V.

Drawbacks of existing columns

The criticalities of the already existing charging stations are mainly related to some functional aspects. In particular, we find:

1. the absence of an automatic recognition and integrated payment system;

2. the scarce information provided to the user during the charging phase;

3. the absence of a communication network between the columns and an operations center;

4. the inability to control the quality of the electricity taken from the vehicles during the recharging phases;

5. the inability to control the power drawn by the individual user;

6. impossibility of self-reset in case of intervention of the protections;

7. impossibility of managing a network of columns to optimize energy flows according to the available power and connected loads;

8. where there is a limitation of the power of the network, for example for domestic systems and charging from home, it is impossible to activate the "fast charging" mode of the vehicles.

Advantages of the proposed column

The proposed column can be used for charging electric vehicles or hybrid plugins, electric scooters and pedal assisted bicycles. It is equipped with a modular control unit for managing communications with the vehicle being charged, with other columns, with the electricity service manager and with the charging network manager. This structure allows you to monitor a series of useful information for on-board diagnostics, control of the column, management of energy flows, metering of the energy supplied, etc. The column is also equipped with a high-efficiency electronic power converter which allows to reduce the consumption of the column during the stand-by state, to manage the alarm and diagnostic systems even in the absence of the external electricity network, to compensate for any voltage dips and / or instability of the power supply network in the control section while charging the vehicle. The main operating characteristics of the proposed column are:

• control system for the management of the various "Top-up methods" envisaged by the legislation;

in addition to communication through the pilot contact on the maximum levels of deliverable current, the column is also set up for a second level of communication with the vehicle through CANBUS (or other field bus) for on-board diagnostics. In this way, automatic "service" programs can be activated for electric cars accredited for recharging. This function can be activated for standardized 5-pole plugs.

electronic control of electricity supply

the charging plugs remain completely disconnected (both on the phases and on the ground) until the user recognition system has given consent and the vehicle plug is connected to the plug. This prevents accidental contact with live parts. communication and identification

the column is equipped with a wireless communication system to an operations center for the exchange of all technical, accounting and service management information. This system allows you to manage a network of columns and also to set up communication between columns (master / slave mode). Furthermore, it is designed for recognition by magnetic card and / or RFID. By configuring the internal RFID reader near the plug, it is possible to integrate the passive RFID support directly into the vehicle plug and allow the user to be recognized directly when connecting the vehicle to the column.

column auto-reset device

in the event of vehicle failure during charging (short circuit or overload) a dedicated electronic board intervenes instantly to isolate the plug affected by the failure without triggering the magnetothermic protections (however installed in the column). The continuity of the service can therefore be guaranteed on the second plug and also restored on the plug that powered the fault as soon as the vehicle where the fault was located is disconnected.

EMC control

the column is equipped with a system for controlling the harmonic distortion generated by the chargers of the vehicles being recharged. This gives the managing body of the electricity service the possibility to remotely monitor and, if necessary, disconnect any user with a highly polluting vehicle. EMC filters are also positioned in the input section to avoid the introduction of conducted disturbances on the electrical network.

management of the electrical network in SMART mode

the management of electricity supply through electronic devices, as well as the remote connection to an operations center, offers the ability to monitor and manage the electrical loads of the entire network of columns. If a branch of the electricity network is too loaded (for example, the presence of many vehicles connected in "quick charge" mode), there is the possibility of limiting the maximum current delivered for each single column (or even single plug) by intervening in remote on the limit of current absorbable by the vehicle charger. In the case of car-sharing, it will be possible to remotely control the charging process of the vehicle fleet by enabling alternating rapid charges on the different vehicles, or by limiting the charging current itself and charging the entire fleet at the same time. This allows you not to overload the network in the parking area of the car fleet.

• high energy efficiency and continuity of service

the column is equipped with an on-board power supply that allows low absorption during the stand-by phases of the column, the possibility of keeping the electrical safety devices active even during electrical blackouts, the possibility of guaranteeing the continuity of service of the control system and payment management in the event of a power failure (guarantee of consumption accounting even in the presence of a black-out during recharging);

• predisposition for connection to a group of batteries for quick recharging

the structure of the column provides for the connection to the power section of a group of batteries, through a dc / ac converter. This possibility makes it possible to use, for recharging a vehicle connected to the column, the power of the electrical network and / or that which can be drawn from the batteries. If, for example, the network to which the column is connected has a power limitation (e.g. 3kW of domestic installations), it is possible to activate the rapid charge mode of the vehicle by taking the surplus power from the battery pack. The dc / ac converter, in fact, is synchronized to the mains voltage (both in amplitude and in frequency). In the event of a power request, a control system will modulate the electrical power drawn from the batteries of the column according to the power required for recharging and the availability of power from the electricity grid. This particularity is very useful even if you do not want to saturate all the power of a vehicle recharging system. By appropriately sizing the batteries of the column, it could even be possible to charge the vehicle without drawing power from the electrical network. The batteries of the column can then be recharged when the column is in stand-by.

The proposed column is also equipped with all the safety and signaling devices to the user during the recharging phase, with a system for managing authorizations and accounting for consumption. It is also possible to set up a controlled AC / DC converter in the column to power loads directly into DC. For vehicles equipped with BMS (battery management system) it will therefore be possible to charge the batteries directly in continuous using a communication bus (CANBUS) to be integrated in the connector to connect the BMS to the AC / DC converter.

Constructive elements

The following units are inserted in the structure of the column:

• control unit;

• interactive monitor (touchscreen) or non-touch monitor with function buttons;

• unit for alarms and optical and acoustic signals;

• credit card payment management unit;

• recognition unit via RFID or equivalent;

• wireless communication unit;

• electronic control unit for sockets;

• unit of measurement of the individual charging stations;

• two or more recharging points;

• possibility of managing single-phase or three-phase voltages;

• magnetothermic and differential protection;

• high efficiency on-board electronic converter for powering the entire control and safety section;

• energy backup unit integrated in the converter;

• possible accumulation system for quick recharging.

Description of the construction elements

Table 1 shows a functional block diagram of the column. The control unit called "controller", consisting of an industrial PC, is interfaced with the following previously defined units:

• user interface monitor;

• unit for alarms and optical and acoustic signals;

• payment management unit;

• communication unit;

• electronic control unit for sockets;

• unit of measurement of the individual charging stations;

• power unit.

Payment for the top-up session is made through the credit management unit. Alternatively, the column can be equipped with an automatic user recognition system based on RFID. In this case, the RFID device can be integrated directly into the connector of the vehicle to be charged, so that the user can be automatically recognized when connecting the charging plug and will not have to do any other operation, other than to select the credit or time to top up. In order to comply with safety standards and to avoid energy theft, the control unit of the column enables the supply of energy only when the recharging session has been activated by the user through recognition and / or payment and electrical connection between the station and the vehicle has been carried out correctly. The graphic interface is implemented through the monitor, which allows the user to carry out the charging procedure and keep under control the useful information relating to their vehicle and the charging status.

The alarm and signaling unit consists of low energy consumption LEDs which signal the status of the individual sockets (green: socket ON, red: socket OFF) and a piezoelectric type indicator used for signaling transactions and alarms. The quantities measured by the units of measurement of the individual stations are: voltage, current, power, energy, power factor, THD of the current. The control unit can cause the vehicle charging process to be interrupted if the limits set (remotely or locally) for power, power factor and THD are exceeded. In the electronic control unit of the sockets there is a dedicated device, as prescribed by the current legislation relating to the conductive charge of electric vehicles, for the continuous verification of the integrity of the pilot and protection conductors and for the transfer of the maximum current value that the vehicle can pick up from the charging point. As an additional feature, there is the possibility of remotely changing this maximum current value which, under normal operating conditions, is calibrated to the maximum current value that can be supplied by the socket. In the "smart grid" mode of the network of columns, there is the possibility to change this value to limit the maximum current absorbed by the vehicles in case there is a need for the body in charge of managing the electricity service to limit the power of the small columns. Furthermore, this device instantly determines the interruption of the vehicle power supply in the event of anomalies through the control of the disconnecting device. The disconnecting devices used are suitably sized contactors.

The communication module allows you to implement a network between the various charging stations in which each is an active point (master). Through the exchange of numerous variables between the operations center and the columns, it is possible to remotely control and diagnose the recharging points. The variables that can be exchanged between the individual columns and the server can be:

• electrical quantities (power, energy, current);

• recharge time and accounting;

• harmonic distortion and power factor;

• fault identification codes;

• connected user (name, vehicle, credit);

• remote authorizations.

All these variables are transmitted to a data collection center which can dispatch it to two sub-centers. The first, dedicated to those who manage the service of the columns, allows you to check the users connected in recharge, the maintenance status of the columns, the credits disbursed. The second, dedicated to the entity that provides the electricity service, allows you to recognize the user and type of vehicle, the energy supplied, the information relating to the type of electric charge carried out to verify compliance with current legislation on compatibility and quality of the energy supplied, local and global loads on the electricity grid. The actuators mounted on the column allow the following remote functions: - disconnect a user in case of default or a user who tries to connect an electric vehicle that is not approved;

- disable one or more columns in the event that there is an excessive overload of a portion of the network (integration into urban smart-grid systems);

- send service messages to the connected user.

The power unit consists of a series of electronic converters. The main component is a stabilized power supply which is used to continuously power the entire control section of the column. Characteristics of this converter are the high efficiency and the "sleeping" mode, which allows the column to absorb a few Watts from the mains when not in use. This converter will also ensure the power supply of the contactors that govern the power plugs. Another component of the power unit is the back-up group. A battery pack connected to the converter will ensure that the protections are kept active even in the event of a power failure. Furthermore, again in the event of an energy black-out, the back-up will allow the credit disbursed to be accounted for and saved in memory, eliminating the risk of data loss. The switches that control the charging sockets and which close the same on the power supply only in the event of user authentication and connection of the vehicle to the charging socket are also part of the power unit. In the event of power limitations of the electrical network to which the column is connected, the power section also includes a suitably sized battery pack, a dc / ac converter synchronized to the voltage of the network and an additional battery recharging system activated when the column is is in stand-by.

Conclusions

The charging column proposed for vehicles using electric propulsion allows for independent, reliable and extremely safe charging stations, ideal for applications in public places. In addition to compliance with all the regulations in force in the electric vehicle charging sector, the column is equipped with "on-board intelligence" which also allows the creation of a communication network between the columns, through which it is possible to transfer the necessary data. to control, monitor and improve the recharge service, both from the point of view of the user and the manager. In particular, through the remote control of the various variables, such as limits on power, power factor and harmonic distortion of the current, it is possible to reduce the impact of the charging infrastructure on the electricity distribution network. . Furthermore, the possibility of modulating the current values that can be supplied by the columns allows for the intelligent management of networks of columns (“smart grid” mode). Finally, the column can be modified while maintaining the inventive concept underlying it, since every detail can be replaced with another technically valid one.

Claims (5)

CLAIMS (Italian) 1. Charging column for electric or hybrid plug-in vehicles, electric scooters, electric bicycles and pedal assisted bicycles, equipped with a digital control system implemented on a PC / 104 card, with auto-restart and auto-reset function of all functionality of the column following a power failure, as well as an automatic recognition device for the user and the technical characteristics of the vehicle to be recharged, by means of an RFID device inserted in the socket on board the vehicle or by means of a magnetic card; 2. Charging column for electric vehicles according to claim 1, equipped with hardware / software unit with UMTS / GPRS modem for external communication and wireless connection of the column to other units, with the possibility of setting mester / sleve and management complete remotely by a service center, with a digital device for monitoring a user and his related credit and consumption, of anomalies in the supply of electricity due to breakdowns, anomalies on board the vehicle (on-vehicle diagnostics on-line), the mapping of the energy consumption of the entire network of columns, as well as with remote control units to disconnect a specific user, to manage the power levels supplied by each column, with hardware control system on overloads to the network main electric power supply (smart-grid function). 3. Charging column for electric vehicles according to one of the previous claims equipped with electronic (transistor) and electromechanical devices (relays and contactors) and an additional control card, based on a DSP device, with conductor integrity control algorithm protection according to the provisions of current legislation, a device for exchanging all vehicle information regarding the charging status and the functional status of the on-board accumulators, and with active protection hardware structure on the column with intervention times in the event of failure of the order of a few milliseconds; 4. Electric vehicle charging station according to one of the preceding claims equipped with an "intelligent" multimeter with field bus for exchanging information with the central control unit on the current quality and voltage values of the single charging point, and hardware control structure of the THD (total harmonic distortion) of the vehicle's on-board electronics, and a digital unit for remote verification of the compliance of the vehicle under recharging with current regulations in the field of CE marking; 5. Charging column for electric vehicles according to one of the preceding claims equipped with an additional storage system and electronic interface converter with integrated control system with power boost function and control unit which activates the additional unit for supplying a power higher than that available on the mains electricity supply, with the vehicle's "fast" charging mode that can be activated in the presence of low input power. (English) 1. Electric charging station for all electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, electric bikes and bicycle with digital control system, implemented on a PC / 104 digital board, and autorestart algorithm and all-functionality auto-restore activated after an interruption of the charging station main power supply, as well as automatic recognition of the supplied user and of his vehicle's technical characteristics system based on RFID unit mounted inside the on-vehicle's plug or on a magnetic card. 2. Electric charging station for all electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, electric bikes and bicycle like in claim 1, equipped with a hardware / software additional unit and a UMTS / GPRS modem for external communication, with the possibility of master / slave configuration of a multi-stations network and remote control from a service center, with a monitor system of each connected user and for identification of user identity, credit and used energy, faults detection on the charging station during the charging process, on board faults detection device, on-line vehicle's diagnostic algorithm, as well as sensor and processing unit to identify the map of the used power over the entire charging station network, as well as remote digital control system on each single charging station with remote-electronic disconnection of a specific user, and control unit to manage power flow all over the charging stations network (smart-grid network). 3. Electric charging station for all electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, electric bikes and bicycle like in one of the above claims equipped with fast electronic switches (transistors), electromechanical contactors and auxiliary digital control board based on Digital Signal Processor, with digital control on the integrity of the protection conductor, as specified on the current standards on electric vehicles infrastructures, and communication unit with the vehicle on-board control devices to exchange information about the state of charge and integrity of on-board batteries, and ultra -fast active protection by means of the DSP unit against any kind of fault. 4. Electric charging station for all electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, electric bikes and bicycle like in one of the above claims equipped with intelligent measurement unit for total harmonic distortion (THD) measurement and a field bus connected to the central control unit . 5. Electric charging station for all electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, electric bikes and bicycle like in one of the above claims, equipped with an auxiliary energy storage unit and power flow management control system, with a control algorithm for power boost management , which activate the auxiliary energy storage unit during “fast” charging of the vehicle over low power network as, for instance, domestic installation.