JP2011214930A - Device for providing information on waiting time for charge, and car navigation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide accurate information on waiting time for charge, with queuing taken into consideration.SOLUTION: A controller 30 of a device 20 for providing information on the waiting time for charge includes a vehicle identification information detecting unit 31 for detecting an incoming vehicle 11 and acquiring its identification information, based on a picked-up image of a vehicle sensing camera 21; a charge request information acquisition unit 32 for acquiring the battery capacity, a residual amount, or the like, of the incoming vehicle 11 via a communication device 22; a time required for charge calculating unit 33 for calculating the time required to charge for the incoming vehicle 11; a queue-for-charge monitor unit 36 for monitoring the entering and exiting of vehicles 12 that are charged and vehicles 13 waiting for charging, based on the image picked up at each charging stand 10 by a vehicle monitor camera 24; a waiting-time total charging calculating unit 35 for charging, by adding a total of time necessary to charge for the vehicles 13 waiting for charge to remaining time for charging of the vehicles 12 being charged at the respective charging stands 10; and a display control unit 37 for displaying the total waiting time for charging for each of the calculated charging stands 10 on an entrance guide display device 23.

Description

  The present invention relates to a charging waiting time information providing device and a car navigation device for displaying charging waiting time information of a charging station for an electric vehicle on a display device and providing it to a user.

  Electric vehicles are friendly to the global environment because they do not involve exhaust gas, and their spread is expected. However, the time for charging the battery as the power source is inevitably longer than the time for supplying the conventional gasoline fuel or the like. In the early stage of popularization of electric vehicles, charging stations tend to be insufficient. In such a case, it is conceivable that there is a queue of electric vehicles waiting for charging at the charging station.

  By the way, in Patent Document 1, there is a charger (a charging station in this specification) that can start charging immediately or within a predetermined time when it arrives at a charging station (a charging station in this specification). An example of a charging station information providing device that provides charging station information to a traveling vehicle is disclosed. Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a fuel supply capable of guiding a vehicle quickly and appropriately in a fuel supply station having a plurality of fuel supply lanes in consideration of the fuel supply status (the amount of remaining fuel supplied) in each fuel lane. An example system is disclosed.

JP 2003-262525 A JP 2004-338772 A

  In Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the waiting time of the charger or the fueling lane is calculated from the remaining amount of charging or fueling of the vehicle that is being charged or refueled. In addition, it is not considered that the vehicle can be queued for charging or refueling. At least Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 do not describe a means for obtaining the charge amount or the fuel amount from the vehicle in the queue. That is, it is not possible to calculate the charging time or refueling time of the vehicles in the queue. Therefore, when a queue is created, the waiting time calculated by these becomes extremely inaccurate.

  On the other hand, in the case of an electric vehicle, since the charging time is long, there is a situation in which a queue is easily formed. Therefore, the conventional technology that does not consider the queue in calculating the charging waiting time is not necessarily a suitable technology for an electric vehicle.

  The present invention realizes a charging waiting time information providing device and a car navigation device capable of providing high-accuracy charging waiting time information calculated in consideration of a queue formed at a charging stand in a charging station of an electric vehicle. The purpose is to do.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a charging waiting time information providing device that is provided in a charging station having a plurality of charging stations and provides a user with charging waiting time information for each charging station in the charging station. The charging waiting time information providing device detects that the vehicle has entered the charging station, and acquires vehicle identification information detecting means for acquiring identification information for identifying the entering vehicle, and a charging request for acquiring a charging request amount from the entering vehicle. Information acquisition means, required charging time calculation means for calculating the required charging time of the admission vehicle, and charging queue monitoring means for monitoring the entry / exit of vehicles being charged and waiting for charging at each predetermined time for each charging station; For each charging station, add the total charging time required for vehicles waiting to be charged to the remaining charging time for vehicles that are being charged. A charging waiting time calculating means for calculating the total charging waiting time; and a charging waiting time display means for displaying the total charging waiting time for each of the charging stations calculated by the charging waiting time calculating means. Features.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the charging waiting time information providing device includes the vehicle identification information detecting unit and the charging request information acquiring unit, the entry vehicle needs to be identified while identifying each entry vehicle. The charging time can be calculated. In addition, since the charging waiting time information providing device is provided with charging queue monitoring means, it is possible to grasp the state of change in the queue of each charging station, and consider the existence of vehicles waiting for charging at each charging station. In addition, the charging waiting time (total charging waiting time) can be calculated. Moreover, since the charging waiting time information providing device includes charging waiting time display means for displaying the charging waiting time (total charging waiting time) for each charging stand, the user is lined up with the charging stand with the minimum waiting time. Will be able to. Alternatively, it is possible to select which charging station should be arranged according to the convenience of the user.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the charging waiting time information providing device according to the first aspect, wherein the vehicle identification information detecting means images the license plate attached to the vehicle body of the entrance vehicle (camera). And a character recognition device that detects characters displayed on the license plate from the image of the license plate imaged by the imaging device.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since it is possible to identify the official vehicle registration number of the entry vehicle, the charging wait time information providing apparatus can reliably identify a plurality of entry vehicles without mistaking them. It becomes possible to do.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the charging waiting time information providing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the vehicle identification information detecting means receives information transmitted from an in-vehicle apparatus mounted on the entrance vehicle. The device includes the device, and the information transmitted from the in-vehicle device includes information for identifying the vehicle or the in-vehicle device.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the information for identifying the vehicle or the in-vehicle device transmitted from the in-vehicle device is information uniquely determined in a predetermined industry or the like. It is possible to reliably identify the admission vehicle of the vehicle without making a mistake.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the charging waiting time information providing device according to the first aspect, wherein the charging request information acquiring means receives the charging request information transmitted from the in-vehicle device mounted on the entrance vehicle. The charging request information transmitted from the in-vehicle device includes any of full charge, amount-designated charge, and distance-designated charge, in addition to information on the battery capacity and remaining battery level obtained from the battery device. The charging instruction information instructed is included.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, since the user can instruct the battery charging method, the convenience for the user is increased.

  Invention of Claim 5 is a charging waiting time information provision apparatus of Claim 1, Comprising: The information of the minimum charging waiting time among the total charging waiting time about each of the said charging stand is used for the said charge. It further comprises distribution means for distributing the charging time information of the station to an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle traveling on the road.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle traveling on the road can acquire the charging waiting time information of the charging station without the vehicle reaching the charging station. Therefore, the in-vehicle device or the user can select a charging station with a short charging waiting time and select a travel route to the destination.

  The invention according to claim 6 is an object in which the charging waiting time information of the charging station distributed from the charging waiting time information providing device according to claim 5 is received and the charging waiting time and charging time in the charging station are taken into account. A car navigation device that provides a user with route information to the ground, wherein the car navigation device stores charge wait time information stored in the charge wait time information of the charging station distributed from the charge wait time information providing device. And having a means to search for a route to the destination, a process for determining whether or not the vehicle can travel to the destination along the searched route with the remaining battery level of the vehicle at that time, Search for multiple routes to the destination via one charging station, and for each of the multiple routes, the travel time to the destination and the previous time A process of calculating a required time until arrival at the destination by summing up the charging waiting time at the passing charging station stored in the charging waiting time storage means and the battery charging time of the own vehicle; The process of selecting the route that takes the minimum time to reach the destination from among the routes, and the selected route and the charging stations included in the route are displayed on the display device as the recommended route and the recommended charging station. And processing.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, the car navigation device searches for the shortest route to the destination including the charging waiting time and the charging time in consideration of the queue at the charging station through which charging is performed, The searched shortest path can be displayed on the display device. Therefore, the user can obtain a required time and a recommended route to the destination with higher accuracy.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the car navigation device according to claim 6, wherein the car navigation device provides charging waiting time information for each charging station in a predetermined time zone, a predetermined day type, and a predetermined date. In addition, an average charging waiting time information storage means for storing average charging waiting time information obtained by averaging processing for each weather is provided, and in the processing for calculating the total required time, the vehicle arrives at the recommended charging station. The charging waiting time of the recommended charging station at the arrival time, the actual charging time information delivered from the recommended charging station up to that time on that day, and the average charging for the recommended charging station Prediction is made based on average charging waiting time information stored in the waiting time information storage means.

  According to the invention described in claim 7, the car navigation device predicts the arrival time of arrival at the charging station, the charging waiting time in consideration of the queue at the charging station through which charging is performed, and The charging waiting time at the arrival time is predicted based on the average charging waiting time information obtained in the past. Therefore, the car navigation device can provide the user with a required time and a recommended route to the destination with higher accuracy.

  Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present invention, a charging waiting time information providing device and car navigation capable of providing highly accurate charging waiting time information calculated in consideration of a queue formed at a charging station in an electric vehicle charging station. An apparatus can be realized.

It is the figure which showed the example of the block configuration of the charge waiting time information provision apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and the example of the mode of the charge station provided with the charging waiting time information provision apparatus. It is the figure which showed the example of the structure of the vehicle separate information and stand separate information used with the charging waiting time information provision apparatus 20 which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention, (a) is memorize | stored in a vehicle separate information storage part It is an example of the record structure of the vehicle individual information to be performed. It is the figure which showed the example of the display screen which displays the total charging waiting time for every charging stand on an entrance guidance display apparatus in the charging waiting time information provision apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the processing flow which the control apparatus of the charge waiting time information provision apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention performs, (a) is an example of the processing flow of the reception process to an entrance vehicle, ( b) is an example of a processing flow of update processing of stand individual information. It is the figure which showed in the example of the whole structure of a car navigation system the example of the block configuration of the charging waiting time information provision apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, and a car navigation apparatus. It is the figure which showed the example of the processing flow of the route search and display process in the car navigation apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the display screen of the recommended path | route in the car navigation apparatus concerning the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the principle of the prediction method of the charging waiting time which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, (a) is charging waiting time from the past average value of charging waiting time, and the time transition of the actual value of the day. The figure which showed the method to estimate, (b) is the figure which showed the example of the structure of average charge waiting time information. It is the figure which showed the example of the processing flow of the charging waiting time prediction process in the car navigation apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

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

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a block configuration of a charging waiting time information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention and an example of a state of a charging station provided with the charging waiting time information providing apparatus It is.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the charging waiting time information providing device 20 is provided in a charging station 100 having a plurality of charging stations 10, and vehicles that are charging and waiting for charging at each charging station 10 (vehicles 12 being charged). In addition, the status of the queue of the vehicle 13) waiting for charging is monitored, the charging waiting time for each charging station 10 is calculated, and information on the calculated charging waiting time is provided to the user of the charging station 100.

  In the present embodiment, an entrance guidance display device 23 that displays the charging waiting time of each charging station 10 is provided at a position that can be clearly seen by the driver of the entrance vehicle 11 at or before the station entrance 101 of the charging station 100. . The driver of the entrance vehicle 11 can know the charging waiting time of each charging station 10 by looking at the display.

  The charging waiting time information providing device 20 includes a control device 30 configured by one or a plurality of personal computers or microprocessors, and a vehicle detection camera 21 that detects the entering vehicle 11 and acquires the entering vehicle 11 identification information. And a communication device 22 that receives information such as a battery capacity and a remaining battery amount transmitted from the admission vehicle 11, and vehicle monitoring that images the queue state of the vehicle 12 being charged and the vehicle 13 that is waiting to be charged in each charging station 10. The camera 24 and the entrance guidance display device 23 that displays the charging waiting time of each charging station 10 are included.

  In addition, the control device 30 includes a vehicle identification information detection unit 31, a charge request information acquisition unit 32, a required charge time calculation unit 33, a vehicle individual information storage unit 34, a charge waiting time calculation unit 35, a charge queue monitoring unit 36, a display It is configured to include functional blocks such as a control unit 37 and a stand individual information storage unit 38. Among these functional blocks, the functional blocks other than the vehicle individual information storage unit 34 and the stand individual information storage unit 38 have a personal computer or microprocessor CPU (Central Processing Unit) constituting the control device 30 stored in the memory. This is realized by executing a predetermined program.

  Here, the vehicle identification information detection unit 31 detects that the entrance vehicle 11 has entered the station entrance 101 of the charging station 100 based on the captured image captured by the vehicle detection camera 21, and the appearance of the entrance vehicle 11. Feature information (vehicle appearance feature information) is acquired. Furthermore, the vehicle identification information detection part 31 acquires the picked-up image containing the license plate of the entrance vehicle 11 via the vehicle detection camera 21, for example, and uses the picked-up image of the acquired license plate part to show the entrance vehicle 11 concerned. Extract identifiable image features. Then, the extracted image feature amount is stored in the vehicle individual information storage unit 34 as identification information of the entrance vehicle 11.

  In addition, the vehicle identification information detection part 31 may be comprised including the character recognition process part (not shown) which detects the character currently displayed on the license plate from the picked-up image of a license plate. In this case, the character recognition processing unit further processes the image feature amount extracted from the captured image of the license plate to extract characters such as numbers displayed on the license plate. Therefore, in this case, the vehicle identification information detection unit 31 can use the automobile registration number displayed on the number plate as the vehicle identification information.

  The charging request information acquisition unit 32 receives the battery capacity, the remaining battery level, and the charging instruction information of the driver transmitted from the entrance vehicle 11 via the communication device 22, and the received information is the vehicle. It is stored in the individual information storage unit 34. Here, the charging instruction information of the driver is information indicating one of (a) full charging of the battery, (b) charging by specifying an amount, and (c) charging by specifying a travel distance. It is. On the other hand, an in-vehicle device (not shown) of the entrance vehicle 11 corresponds to the charging request information acquisition unit 32, a means for acquiring the battery capacity and the remaining amount from a battery (not shown) of the entrance vehicle 11, and a driver Charging instruction information setting means that can be arbitrarily set is provided.

  The communication device 22 transmits / receives predetermined information to / from a communication device of an in-vehicle device (not shown). Here, the communication method is proximity using RFID (Radio Frequency-Identification), infrared rays, or the like. Suppose that it is a communication system. In that case, the communicable area of the communication device 22 can be easily limited to the area near the station entrance 101.

  In this way, the communication device of the in-vehicle device (not shown) uniquely identifies identification information (for example, a MAC address, an RFID identification number, etc.) of the in-vehicle device or the communication device. When transmitting to the communication device 22, the control device 30 receives the identification information of the in-vehicle device and the communication device transmitted from the in-vehicle device (not shown), and uses the received identification information as the vehicle identification of the entrance vehicle 11. It may be used as information. In this case, the vehicle identification information detection unit 31 does not need to extract the vehicle identification information of the entrance vehicle 11 from the captured image of the license plate portion.

  The required charging time calculation unit 33 is based on the charging capacity of the charging station 10 in addition to the battery capacity, remaining battery level, and driver charging instruction information of the entrance vehicle 11 acquired by the charging request information acquisition unit 32. Calculate time. The calculated required charging time is stored in the vehicle individual information storage unit 34.

  The vehicle individual information storage unit 34 is calculated by the information acquired by the vehicle identification information detection unit 31 and the charge request information acquisition unit 32 when the entering vehicle 11 enters the charging station 100, and calculated by the required charging time calculation unit 33. The stored information is stored in association with each entry vehicle 11. Here, with reference to FIG. 2, the example of a structure of the vehicle separate information and stand separate information used with the charging waiting time information provision apparatus 20 is demonstrated.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the vehicle individual information and the stand individual information used in the charging wait time information providing apparatus 20 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and (a) shows the vehicle individual information. It is an example of the record structure of the vehicle individual information memorize | stored in the memory | storage part, (b) The example of a record structure of the stand individual information memorize | stored in the stand individual information storage part 38 is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, a record of vehicle individual information is created for each admission vehicle 11, and includes a vehicle number, vehicle identification information, vehicle appearance feature information, battery capacity, remaining battery capacity, charging instruction information, and required charging. It includes information such as time.

  Here, the vehicle identification information is information that can accurately identify the entering vehicle 11, and is an image feature amount obtained from a captured image of a license plate, an automobile registration number, an identification number of an in-vehicle device, or the like. The vehicle appearance feature information is feature information such as the appearance shape of the entrance vehicle 11 and the color of the vehicle body, and is used when the charging queue monitoring unit 36 monitors the entry / exit of the queue vehicle. The vehicle number is information for easily identifying vehicles that have entered the charging station 100 at a certain point in time and have formed a queue. Although this vehicle number is not essential information, it is used as information which substitutes vehicle identification information.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, the stand individual information record includes a stand number, a total charging waiting time, the number of vehicles to be charged, a vehicle number of the vehicle 12 being charged, a remaining charging time of the vehicle 12 being charged, It includes information such as the vehicle number of the vehicle 13 waiting for charging and the required charging time of the vehicle 13 waiting for charging.

  Here, the stand number is information for identifying the charging station 10 in the charging station 100, and the total charging waiting time is the sum of the remaining charging time of the vehicle 12 being charged and the required charging time of the vehicle 13 waiting for charging. , Is the total time. The number of vehicles to be charged is the number of vehicles 12 that are being charged at the charging station 10 and vehicles 13 that are waiting to be charged.

  When the number of vehicles to be charged is 0, there is no information below the vehicle number of the vehicle 12 being charged. When the number of vehicles to be charged is 1, there is no information below the vehicle number of the vehicle 13 waiting for charging. When the number of vehicles to be charged is 2 or more, the information on the set of the vehicle number of the vehicle 13 waiting for charging and the required charging time of the vehicle 13 waiting for charging is the number of vehicles waiting for charging (number of vehicles to be charged minus 1 ) Only exist.

Returning to the description of FIG. 1 again, the description of the functional blocks of the control device 30 is continued.
The charge queue monitoring unit 36 acquires a captured image of the vehicle queue at predetermined time intervals (for example, every minute) via the vehicle monitoring camera 24, and the captured image acquired last time and the captured image By comparing, each charging station 10 detects a vehicle that has been charged and disappeared from the captured image, a vehicle that abandoned charging halfway and disappeared from the captured image, a vehicle that has newly entered the queue, etc. To do. Then, the identification information (vehicle number) of the vehicle forming the queue obtained at that time is stored in the stand individual information storage unit 38 for each charging station 10. Note that in the above-described comparison processing of captured images, vehicle exterior feature information is used to identify the vehicle.

  As in the case of the charging queue monitoring unit 36, the charging waiting time calculating unit 35 performs the total charging waiting time and the remaining amount in the record of the stand individual information storage unit 38 at predetermined time intervals (for example, every minute). Update the charging time. Therefore, when the charging vehicle 12 in the captured image acquired this time is the same vehicle as the previous time, the remaining charge time after the update is a predetermined time (for example, 1) from the remaining charge time before the update. Min)). In addition, when the vehicle 12 being charged is different from the previous time, the remaining charge time after the update is a necessary charge time for the vehicle that has newly become the vehicle 12 being charged.

  The display control unit 37 displays the total charging waiting time for each charging station 10 on the entrance guidance display device 23 with reference to the stand individual information storage unit 38 every predetermined time (for example, every minute). Further, when the admission vehicle 11 enters the station entrance 101, the display control unit 37 performs a display for recommending the charging station 10 having the minimum total charging waiting time as the recommended charging station.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for displaying the total charging waiting time for each charging station 10 on the entrance guidance display device 23 in the charging waiting time information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. . As shown in FIG. 3, the entrance guidance display device 23 displays the waiting time (total charging waiting time) of each charging station 10. When the admission vehicle 11 enters the station entrance 101, a recommended charging stand is displayed (in the example of FIG. 3, “Recommended is the third stand!”).

  The driver of the entrance vehicle 11 sees the display of the entrance guidance display device 23 and arrives at the queue of the charging station 10 (# 3) with the minimum waiting time. As a matter of course, the driver of the entrance vehicle 11 does not necessarily have to arrive at the queue of the charging station 10 (# 3) with the minimum waiting time. When shopping at a nearby store or the like, the vehicle may be placed in a queue of the charging station 10 with a waiting time corresponding to the shopping time, and the vehicle may be deposited with a staff member of the charging station 100.

  If the in-vehicle device of the entrance vehicle 11 has a display device and a communication device that can receive display information similar to the display information on the entrance guidance display device 23, the control device 30 is For example, the display information may be transmitted to the in-vehicle device of the entrance vehicle 11 via the communication device 22 or the like, and the display device of the in-vehicle device may perform the same display as the display example of FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow executed by the control device of the charging waiting time information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and (a) is a processing flow of the processing for handling an entrance vehicle. (B) is an example of a processing flow of update processing of stand individual information. Since these processing flows are described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 and the operations of the light control device 30 are summarized, the description partially overlaps with the descriptions of FIGS. 1 to 3.

  As shown in FIG. 4 (a), in the response process for the entrance vehicle 11, the CPU of the control device 30 (hereinafter simply referred to as “CPU”) starts with the vehicle detection camera 21 as the process of the vehicle identification information detection unit 31. Based on the captured image obtained by the above, the entrance of the vehicle to the station entrance 101 is detected (step S11). Next, the CPU obtains vehicle identification information and vehicle appearance feature information of the entrance vehicle 11 based on a picked-up image of a license plate obtained by the vehicle detection camera 21 (step S12).

  Next, the CPU acquires information such as the battery capacity, the remaining battery level, and charging instruction information from the entrance vehicle 11 via the communication device 22 as processing of the charging request information acquisition unit 32 (step S13). As a process of the charging time calculation unit 33, a required charging time of the entrance vehicle 11 is calculated (step S14). Further, the CPU stores the information such as the vehicle identification information acquired in the process so far and the required charging time calculated in the process so far in the vehicle individual information storage unit 34 (step S15).

  Next, as a process of the display control unit 37, the CPU refers to the stand individual information storage unit 38, acquires the stand number of the charging station 10 having the minimum total charging waiting time (step S16), and acquires the acquired stand number. Is displayed on the entrance guidance display device 23 as recommended charging station information (step S17).

  Moreover, the update processing of the stand individual information shown in FIG. 4B is executed every predetermined time (for example, every minute). First, as a process of the charging queue monitoring unit 36, the CPU obtains a captured image of a vehicle queue formed on each charging station 10 via the vehicle monitoring camera 24 (step S21). Further, the CPU compares the acquired captured image with the previously acquired captured image (step S22), and if the result of the comparison is that the queue state has changed (Yes in step S23), that is, until then. If the vehicle 12 being charged changes to a new vehicle 12 being charged, the vehicle 13 waiting for charging has disappeared, or a vehicle 13 waiting for charging has been added, depending on the respective situation The information (vehicle number, required charging time, etc.) about the vehicle 12 being charged and the vehicle 13 waiting for charging in each charging station 10 in the stand individual information storage unit 38 is updated (step S24).

  Next, the CPU updates the total charging waiting time of each charging station 10 in the stand individual information storage unit 38 as processing of the charging waiting time calculation unit 35 (step S25), and further, as processing of the display control unit 37, The total charging waiting time of each charging station 10 at that time is displayed on the entrance guidance display device 23 (step S25).

  If it is determined in step S23 that the queue state has not changed (No in step S23), the CPU skips execution of step S24 and executes steps S25 and S26.

  As described above, the charging waiting time information providing apparatus 20 according to the first embodiment of the present invention takes into account the charging waiting time in consideration of the required charging time of the vehicles in the queue (charging waiting vehicle 13) formed in each charging station 10. Can be calculated. Accordingly, the user is provided with more accurate charging wait time information.

<Second Embodiment>
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a block configuration of the charging waiting time information providing device and the car navigation device according to the second embodiment of the present invention in an example of the overall configuration of the car navigation system.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the car navigation system 200 includes a car navigation device 60 mounted on a traveling vehicle 70, a charging waiting time information providing device 20a installed in each of a plurality of charging stations 100 (see FIG. 1), traffic A center device 50 provided in an information center or the like is configured to be communicably connected to each other via a communication network 80. At this time, the car navigation device 60 is connected to the communication network 80 wirelessly via a base station 81 of a mobile phone communication network, for example.

  The control device 30a of the charging waiting time information providing device 20a includes the same day waiting time information acquisition unit 41, the same day waiting time information storage unit 42, in the configuration of the control device 30 of the charging waiting time information providing device 20 in the first embodiment. The waiting time information distribution part 43 on the day is added and configured. In FIG. 5, all the functional blocks included in the control device 30 (see FIG. 1) of the charging waiting time information providing device 20 in the first embodiment are represented as the in-station waiting time information management unit 39 (that is, In-station waiting time information management unit 39 = control device 30 in FIG. In FIG. 5, descriptions of input / output devices such as the vehicle detection camera 21 attached to the control device 30a are omitted.

  Here, the waiting time information acquisition unit 41 on the day extracts the minimum total waiting time among the total waiting times of the charging station 10 in the charging station 100, for example, every 10 minutes, and the extracted minimum total The waiting time is stored in the waiting time information storage unit 42 as the charging waiting time of the charging station 100 in association with the time at that time.

  Therefore, in the waiting time information storage unit 42 on the day, for example, the charging waiting time at 7:00 is 12 minutes, the charging waiting time at 7:10 is 15 minutes, and so on. For example, it is accumulated one after another from 0:10 to 24:00. Note that the charging waiting time accumulated in this way is not the charging waiting time at 7:00, but may be the average value of the minimum total waiting time from 6:50 to 7:00.

  In response to a distribution request from the center device 50, the current day waiting time information distribution unit 43 appropriately stores the charging waiting time information associated with each time stored in the same day waiting time information storage unit 42. 50.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the center device 50 includes a day waiting time information collection unit 51, a charging waiting time information statistics unit 52, a charging waiting time information distribution unit 53, a day waiting time information storage unit 54, and average waiting time information. It is configured to include functional blocks such as the storage unit 55. The center device 50 is realized in terms of hardware by a general computer or a workstation including a CPU, a memory, a hard disk device, etc. (not shown).

  In FIG. 5, the same day waiting time information collecting unit 51 is stored in the same day waiting time information storage unit 42 from a plurality of charging waiting time information providing devices 20a at every predetermined time (for example, every 10 minutes). The waiting time information of the day is collected, and the collected waiting time information of the day is stored in the waiting time information storage unit 54 of the day in association with the identification information of each charging station 100. In addition, the charging waiting time information statistics unit 52 calculates the average value of the waiting time of the day at each time of each charging station 100 collected every day, and accumulates the calculated average value in the average waiting time information storage unit 55. In addition, the charging waiting time information distribution unit 53 stores the same day waiting time information stored in the same day waiting time information storage unit 54 or the average waiting time information storage unit 55 in response to a request from the car navigation device 60. The average waiting time information is distributed to the car navigation device 60.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the car navigation device 60 includes a destination information setting unit 61, a route search unit 62, a charge waiting consideration route search unit 63, a charge waiting time information receiving unit 64, a charging waiting time prediction unit 65, It includes functional blocks such as a recommended route display unit 66, a traffic information storage unit 71, a map information storage unit 72, an average waiting time information storage unit 73, and a current day waiting time information storage unit 74. The car navigation device 60 is also realized in terms of hardware by a compact computer including a CPU, a memory, a hard disk device, etc. (not shown).

  The route search unit 62 is set via the destination information setting unit 61 from the current position acquired by a current position information acquisition unit (not shown) with reference to the traffic information storage unit 71, the map information storage unit 72, and the like. Search for the shortest route to the destination.

  Here, the traffic information stored in the traffic information storage unit 71 is information that represents the latest congestion situation of the road at that time, and is distributed by data broadcasting or the like. The car navigation device 60 receives the distributed traffic information via a receiver (not shown) or the like, and stores the received traffic information in the traffic information storage unit 71. The map information stored in the map information storage unit 72 includes information on the position and shape of the road section, information on the distance and travel time of the road section, and information such as the location of the charging station 100. Consists of including.

  The charging waiting time information receiving unit 64 receives the same day waiting time information and the average waiting time information distributed from the center device 50, and the received waiting time information and the average waiting time information are respectively received on the same day waiting time information storage unit. 74 and the average waiting time information storage unit 73.

  The charging waiting consideration route searching unit 63 searches for a plurality of routes including the charging station 100 in the middle of the route from the current position to the destination, and for each of the plurality of routes, the required travel time, A time obtained by adding the charging waiting time at the charging station 100 and the charging time of the traveling vehicle 70 is calculated as a required time to arrive at the destination, and a route that minimizes the calculated required time is charged. Select as the shortest route for waiting.

  In this case, various cases can be assumed as to which information should be used as the charging waiting time in the charging station 100. The simplest case is to use the latest charging waiting time of the charging station 100 stored in the current day waiting time information storage unit 74 at the time of the route search. However, in this case, when the charging waiting time of the charging station 100 changes from time to time, the charging waiting time is different between when the route is searched and when the traveling vehicle 70 arrives at the charging station 100. Time will be different.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the charging waiting time prediction unit 65 is provided to predict the time of arrival at the charging station 100 through which the traveling vehicle 70 passes, and the charging waiting time at the charging station 100 through at the time of arrival is determined. Predict. The prediction uses the current day waiting time information and the average waiting time information respectively stored in the same day waiting time information storage unit 74 and the average waiting time information storage unit 73, and details thereof will be described later.

  The recommended route display unit 66 displays the route to the destination selected by the charging wait consideration route search unit 63 as a recommended route on the display device of the own device (the car navigation device 60).

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of route search / display processing in the car navigation device 60. As shown in FIG. 6, the CPU of the car navigation device 60 (hereinafter simply referred to as CPU) first acquires destination information set by the driver via the destination information setting unit 61 (step S31). Next, the CPU acquires current position information of the own vehicle via a current position acquisition unit (not shown) (for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) positioning device is included) (step S32).

  Next, as a process of the route search unit 62, the CPU searches for the shortest route from the current position to the destination while referring to the map information storage unit 72 and the traffic information storage unit 71 (step S33). Subsequently, the CPU acquires the remaining battery level of the battery of the own vehicle (step S34), and determines whether or not the vehicle can travel to the destination along the searched shortest route without charging halfway. (Step S35). If it is determined that traveling to the destination is not possible (No in step S35), a plurality of routes that reach the destination via the charging station 100 are searched (step S36).

  Next, the CPU calculates a charging waiting time and a charging time in the charging station 100 included in each route reaching the searched destination as a process of the charging waiting consideration route searching unit 63 (step S37). By adding the calculated charging waiting time and charging time at the charging station 100 to the travel time required for the route, the required time to reach the destination is calculated, and the route with the minimum required time is charged. The route is selected as the shortest route considering waiting (step S38).

Next, the CPU sets the recommended waiting route as the recommended route obtained as described above as a recommended route, and displays the recommended route and the time required to reach the destination on the display device of the car navigation device 60 (step S39).
If it is determined in step S35 that the vehicle can travel to the destination (Yes in step S35), the recommended route and the time required for arrival at the destination are displayed on the display device using the shortest route without charging as the recommended route. Displayed (step S39).

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a recommended route display screen in the car navigation device 60. In FIG. 7, the recommended route to the destination (black star) is shown as a thick line route. The charging station 100 is indicated by a black square, and a recommended charging station (STA # A) is indicated by being surrounded by a broken line. In the actual display device of the car navigation device 60, the recommended station (STA # A) is displayed prominently, for example, red.

  In the example of the display screen of FIG. 7, the lower right portion of the display screen summarizes the time required for arrival at the destination, the name of the recommended charging station, the required charging time at the charging station, the charging waiting time, etc. Is displayed.

  The driver of the traveling vehicle 70 travels along the recommended route displayed on the display screen, and stops at the recommended charging station for charging. To be able to arrive.

  Next, a method for predicting the charging waiting time will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the principle of the charging waiting time prediction method according to the second embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) shows the past average value of the charging waiting time and the actual value of the day. The figure which showed the method of estimating a charging waiting time from time transition, (b) is the figure which showed the example of the structure of average charging waiting time information.

  In FIG. 8A, the thick solid line shows the transition of the actual value of the charging waiting time up to the current time (T0) on a certain day in a certain charging station 100. The broken line shows the transition of the average value of the past charging waiting time at the charging station 100. Here, if the actual value of the waiting time for charging up to the current time of the day is similar to the average value of the waiting time for past charging, the average of waiting time for charging after the current time Suppose that the transition is similar to the value.

Therefore, here, from the current time (T0) to the estimated arrival time (T0 + Ta), it is assumed that the time change rate of the actual value of the charging waiting time is equal to the time changing rate of the average value of the past charging waiting time. In this case, the predicted value Wa of the waiting time for charging at the predicted arrival time is the actual waiting time value (W0) at the current time (T0) and waiting for charging from the current time to the predicted arrival time (T0 to T0 + Ta). It can be calculated using the time change rate (ΔWA0 / Δt) of the average value (WA) of time. That is, the predicted value (Wa) of the charging waiting time at time Ta is
Wa = W0 + Σ (ΔWA0 / Δt)
It can be expressed as.

  By the way, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.8 (b), there exist three types of average value of the past charge waiting time, a 1st type average value, a 2nd type average value, and a 3rd type average value. And The first type average value is obtained by dividing one day into a predetermined time zone for each weekday, holiday, fine weather, and rainy weather, and averaging the charging waiting time for each time zone. Further, the second type average value is obtained by dividing one day into a predetermined time zone for each weekday and holiday and averaging the charging waiting time for each time zone. The third type average value is obtained by simply dividing a day into predetermined time zones and averaging the charging waiting time for each time zone.

  In FIG. 8B, 24 hours a day is divided into time zones every 10 minutes. However, the segment time is not limited to 10 minutes, and may be limited to the same length of time. For example, it may be 1 hour at midnight and early morning, every 10 minutes in the morning, and every 5 minutes in the afternoon.

  Further, the information on the average value of the past charging waiting times of the first type to the third type average value is stored in the average waiting time information storage unit 73 in the car navigation device 60. In addition, the actual value of the charging waiting time of the day is stored in the waiting time information storage unit 74 of the day.

Further, in FIG. 8A, whether or not the actual value of the charging waiting time up to the current time of the day has changed so as to resemble the average value of the past charging waiting times is determined based on the current time (T0). ) The sum of the difference between the actual value and the average value of the waiting time for charging from a predetermined time before (T0-Tb) to the current time (T0) (corresponding to the area of the vertical stripe portion in FIG. 8A): Hereinafter, the difference sum) is compared with a predetermined value. That is, the difference sum (SS) is
SS = Σ│W-WA│
It is expressed. However, W is the actual value of the charging waiting time at the time of the day (T0-Tb to T0).

  Further, which one of the first type to the third type average value is used as the average value of the charging waiting time will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the CPU of the car navigation device 60 uses the center device 50 to obtain the actual charging waiting time actual value stored in the same day waiting time information storage unit 42 of the charging station 100 that recommends charging. Obtain (step S41). Next, the CPU calculates the difference sum (SS1) between the actual charging waiting time value of the day and the first type average value (step S42). Here, there are four types of average values for the first type average value, of which the average value suitable for the day type (weekday or holiday) and the weather (sunny or rainy) is used. .

  Next, the CPU determines whether or not the calculated difference sum (SS1) is smaller than a predetermined value (step S43). If the difference sum (SS1) is smaller than the predetermined value (Yes in step S43). The first type average value is selected as a reference average value (step S44). Here, the reference average value corresponds to the past charge waiting time average value (the value of the broken line graph) in FIG.

  On the other hand, if the difference sum (SS1) is not smaller than the predetermined value (No in step S43), the CPU calculates the difference sum (SS2) between the actual charge waiting time value of the day and the second type average value. (Step S45). Here, although there are two types of average values for the second type average value, an average value suitable for the day type (weekday or holiday) of the day is used.

  Next, the CPU determines whether or not the calculated difference sum (SS2) is smaller than a predetermined value (step S46). If the difference sum (SS2) is smaller than the predetermined value (Yes in step S46). The second type average value is selected as a reference average value (step S47).

  On the other hand, when the difference sum (SS2) is not smaller than the predetermined value (No in step S46), the CPU calculates the difference sum (SS3) between the actual charge waiting time value of the day and the third type average value. (Step S48).

  Next, the CPU determines whether or not the calculated difference sum (SS3) is smaller than a predetermined value (step S49). If the difference sum (SS3) is smaller than the predetermined value (Yes in step S49). The third type average value is selected as a reference average value (step S50).

  On the other hand, if the difference sum is not smaller than the predetermined value (No in step S49), the CPU calculates the reference average of the first type to third type average values having the smallest difference sum (SS1 to SS3). A value is selected (step S51).

  As described above, when the steps S44, S47, S50, and S51 are executed, the reference average value, that is, the value of the broken line graph in FIG. 8A is obtained. Therefore, after these steps S44, S47, S50, and S51, the CPU calculates a time change rate of the reference average value from the current time to the estimated arrival time based on the reference average value (step S52). Then, the CPU calculates a predicted value of the charging waiting time at the estimated arrival time based on the actual charging waiting time value at the current time and the time change rate of the reference average value until the estimated arrival time (step S53).

  As described above, the car navigation device 60 can obtain the predicted value of the charging waiting time at the predicted arrival time at the charging station 100 via. Therefore, the car navigation device 60 can provide the required time until arrival at the destination in consideration of the charging waiting time and the charging waiting time with higher accuracy.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Charging stand 11 Entrance vehicle 12 Charging vehicle 13 Charging waiting vehicle 20, 20a Charging waiting time information providing device 21 Vehicle detection camera (vehicle identification information detection means)
22 Communication device (charging request information acquisition means)
23 Entrance guidance display device (charging waiting time display means)
24 Vehicle monitoring camera (Charging queue monitoring means)
30, 30a Control device 31 Vehicle identification information detection unit (vehicle identification information detection means)
32 Charge request information acquisition unit (charge request information acquisition means)
33 Required charge time calculation unit (required charge time calculation means)
34 Vehicle individual information storage unit 35 Charging waiting time calculating unit (charging waiting time calculating means)
36 Charging queue monitoring unit (charging queue monitoring means)
37 Display control unit (charging waiting time display means)
38 Stand individual information storage unit 39 In-station waiting time information management unit 41 Same day waiting time information acquisition unit 42 Same day waiting time information storage unit 43 Same day waiting time information acquisition unit 50 Center device 51 Same day waiting time information collection unit 52 Charging waiting time information Statistics unit 53 Charging waiting time information distribution unit 54 Same day waiting time information storage unit 55 Average waiting time information storage unit 60 Car navigation device 61 Destination information setting unit 62 Route searching unit 63 Charging waiting consideration route searching unit 64 Charging waiting time information reception Unit 65 charge waiting time prediction unit 65
66 recommended route display unit 70 traveling vehicle 71 traffic information storage unit 72 map information storage unit 73 average waiting time information storage unit 74 waiting time information storage unit 80 communication network 81 base station 100 charging station 101 station entrance 200 car navigation system

Claims (7)

A charging waiting time information providing device that is provided in a charging station having a plurality of charging stations and provides information on charging waiting time for each charging station in the charging station to a user,
Vehicle identification information detection means for detecting that a vehicle has entered the charging station and acquiring identification information for identifying the entry vehicle;
Charging request information acquisition means for acquiring charging request information from the admission vehicle;
Required charging time calculating means for calculating the required charging time of the admission vehicle; and
For each of the charging stations, charging queue monitoring means for monitoring the entry / exit of vehicles being charged and waiting for charging at predetermined time intervals;
For each of the charging stations, a charging waiting time calculating means for calculating a total charging waiting time by adding the sum of required charging times of vehicles waiting for charging to the remaining charging time of the vehicle being charged;
Charging waiting time display means for displaying a total charging waiting time for each of the charging stations calculated by the charging waiting time calculation means;
A charging waiting time information providing device characterized by comprising: The vehicle identification information detecting means is
An imaging device for imaging a license plate attached to a body of the admission vehicle;
A character recognition device for detecting characters displayed on the license plate from an image of the license plate imaged by the imaging device;
The charging waiting time information providing device according to claim 1, comprising: The vehicle identification information detecting means is
Comprising a receiving device for receiving information transmitted from an in-vehicle device mounted on the admission vehicle,
The charging waiting time information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information transmitted from the in-vehicle device includes information for identifying the vehicle or the in-vehicle device. The charging request information acquisition means includes
Comprising a receiving device for receiving charging request information transmitted from an in-vehicle device mounted on the admission vehicle,
The charge request information transmitted from the in-vehicle device includes, in addition to the information on the battery capacity and the remaining battery capacity obtained from the battery device, charge instruction information instructing one of full charge, amount-designated charge, and amount-designated charge The charging waiting time information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: Distribution means for distributing information on the minimum charging waiting time out of the total charging waiting time for each of the charging stations as charging waiting time information of the charging station to an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle traveling on the road The charging wait time information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The charging waiting time information distributed from the charging waiting time information providing device according to claim 5 is received, and the route information to the destination in consideration of the charging waiting time and the charging time in the charging station is used. A car navigation device provided to a person,
Charging waiting time information storage means for storing charging waiting time information of the charging station distributed from the charging waiting time information providing device;
When searching for a route to the destination, a process for determining whether or not the vehicle can run to the destination along the searched route with the remaining battery level of the vehicle at that time;
A plurality of routes reaching the destination via one charging station in the middle are searched, and for each of the plurality of routes, the travel time to the destination and the charge waiting time storage means are stored in the storage unit A process of calculating the required time to reach the destination by summing the charging waiting time at the charging station that passes through and the battery charging time of the vehicle,
A process of selecting a route that minimizes the time required for arrival at the destination among the plurality of routes;
Processing for displaying the selected route and the charging stations included in the route on the display device as a recommended route and a recommended charging station;
Car navigation device characterized in that An average charging waiting time information storage means for storing average charging waiting time information obtained by averaging the charging waiting time information for each charging station for each predetermined time zone, predetermined day type, and predetermined weather, Have
In the process of calculating the total required time, the time at which the vehicle arrives at the recommended charging station is predicted, and the charging waiting time of the recommended charging station at the arrival time is determined from the recommended charging station by that time on that day. The prediction based on the delivered charge waiting time information and the average charging waiting time information stored in the average charging waiting time information storage means for the recommended charging station, according to claim 6, The car navigation device described.

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