WO2024069882A1

WO2024069882A1 - Battery sharing system, management device, control method, and program

Info

Publication number: WO2024069882A1
Application number: PCT/JP2022/036522
Authority: WO
Inventors: 朋也赤川; 将太鈴木
Original assignee: 本田技研工業株式会社
Priority date: 2022-09-29
Filing date: 2022-09-29
Publication date: 2024-04-04

Abstract

Provided is a battery sharing system comprising a battery exchange station that enables lending of a battery to a successfully authenticated user, a terminal application that is executed by a user's terminal device and that displays on the terminal device information relating to the battery exchange station, and a management device that acquires, from the battery exchange station, station information including information relating to a battery which can be lent from the battery exchange station, and that transmits the station information to the terminal device, wherein terminal application causes the terminal device to execute: a user authentication process for requesting user authentication of the user with respect to the management device; and a display control process for displaying on a map the position of the battery exchange station on the basis of the station information and for displaying on the map the remaining power of the battery that can be lent from the battery exchange station, in a manner according to the result of the user authentication, and in association with the battery exchange station.

Description

Battery sharing system, management device, control method, and program

The present invention relates to a battery sharing system, a management device, a control method, and a program.

In recent years, research and development has been conducted into battery sharing services that contribute to energy efficiency, so that more people can have access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and advanced energy. Battery sharing services are services that allow removable batteries (secondary batteries) used in electric vehicles and the like to be rented, collected, or exchanged at dedicated battery stations. With regard to such battery sharing services, for example, a technology has been proposed that, when a removable battery becomes available, displays on a map the stations that can provide the removable battery, and also displays the number of removable batteries available at the station (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2014-529118 A

However, in conventional battery sharing services, users were not always provided with appropriate information regarding the availability of battery exchange stations.

The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and one of its objectives is to provide a battery sharing system, management device, control method, and program that can provide users with more appropriate information regarding the availability of battery exchange stations in a battery sharing service. The present invention will ultimately contribute to energy efficiency.

The battery sharing system, management device, control method, and program according to the present invention employ the following configuration.
(1): A battery sharing system according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a battery exchange station that enables a user who has successfully passed user authentication to lend, return, or exchange a battery, and an application program executed on a user terminal device used by the user, the application program being a terminal app that displays information about the battery exchange station, and a management device that acquires station information from the battery exchange station including information about batteries that can be borrowed by the battery exchange station and transmits the station information to the user terminal device, wherein the terminal app causes the user terminal device to execute a user authentication process that requests user authentication of the user from the management device, and a display control process that displays the location of the battery exchange station on a map based on the station information, and displays on the map the remaining capacity of the battery that can be borrowed by the battery exchange station in correspondence with the battery exchange station in a manner corresponding to the result of the user authentication.

(2): In the above aspect (1), the terminal application further causes the user terminal device to execute a required number recognition process to recognize the required number of batteries required by the user to drive a desired device according to the result of the user authentication, and the display control process displays the amount of batteries available for loan from the battery exchange station as the remaining capacity, the amount being expressed in units of the required number recognized by the required number recognition process, and if the number of batteries available for loan from the battery exchange station is less than the required number, the remaining capacity is not displayed.

(3): In the above aspect (1) or (2), the terminal application further causes the user terminal device to execute a connection configuration recognition process to recognize the connection configuration of the batteries in the device driven by the battery by the user according to the result of the user authentication, and the display control process recognizes the number of the batteries that the battery exchange station can lend out based on a combination of batteries in which the remaining charge difference between the batteries is less than a threshold value when a parallel connection is recognized by the connection configuration recognition process.

(4): In any of the above aspects (1) to (3), the terminal application further causes the user terminal device to execute a trend analysis process that analyzes the usage tendency of the battery by the user according to the result of the user authentication, and the display control process determines the battery exchange station to be displayed on the map according to the usage tendency analyzed by the trend analysis process.

(5): In any of the above aspects (1) to (4), the terminal application further causes the user terminal device to execute a trend analysis process that analyzes the usage tendency of the battery by the user according to the result of the user authentication, and the display control process determines the battery that can be rented out by the battery exchange station according to the usage tendency analyzed by the trend analysis process.

(6): A management device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a battery exchange station that allows a user who has successfully been authenticated to lend, return, or exchange a battery, and a user terminal device used by the user, the management device being capable of communicating with the user terminal device that displays information about the battery exchange station, the management device including a station information acquisition unit that acquires station information from the battery exchange station including information about batteries that can be lent out by the battery exchange station, a user authentication unit that performs user authentication of the user, and a display control unit that generates display control information based on the station information and transmits the display control information to the user terminal device, the terminal device used by the user that displays the location of the battery exchange station on a map, for displaying the remaining capacity of the battery that can be lent out by the battery exchange station on the map in association with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication.

(7): A control method according to one aspect of the present invention is a control method for a battery sharing system including a battery exchange station that enables a user who has successfully passed user authentication to lend, return, or exchange a battery, an application program executed in a user terminal device used by the user and that causes information about the battery exchange station to be displayed on the user terminal device, and a management device capable of communicating with the battery exchange station and the user terminal device, in which the management device acquires station information from the battery exchange station, including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can lend out, and transmits the information to the user terminal device, and the terminal application causes the user terminal device to execute a user authentication process in which the management device requests user authentication of the user, and a display control process in which the location of the battery exchange station is displayed on a map based on the station information, and the remaining capacity of the battery that the battery exchange station can lend out is displayed on the map in association with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication.

(8): A program according to one aspect of the present invention is a terminal application that is executed on a user terminal device used by a user and displays, for a user who has successfully been authenticated, information about battery exchange stations that enable the lending, returning, or replacement of batteries. The program causes a processor of the user terminal device to execute a user authentication process that requests user authentication of the user from a management device, and a display control process that displays the location of the battery exchange station on a map based on station information acquired by the management device from the battery exchange station, the station information including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can lend out, and displays on the map the remaining capacity of the battery that the battery exchange station can lend out, in association with the battery exchange station, in a manner according to the result of the user authentication.

According to aspects (1) to (8), a battery sharing system, a management device, a control method, and a program can be provided that can provide users with more appropriate information regarding the availability of removable batteries in a battery sharing service.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a battery sharing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a removable battery. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an electric motorcycle. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a battery exchange station. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a configuration of a lending management unit. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a system configuration of a management device. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a user terminal device. 10 is a sequence chart showing an example of a process flow in which a management device provides availability information of each battery exchange station to a user via a user terminal device. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a battery exchange station in which the number of units of batteries available for rental for a certain user is recognized to be one or more. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display of a battery exchange station in a terminal application.

Below, with reference to the drawings, an embodiment of the battery sharing system, management device, control method, and program of the present invention will be described.

[1. Overview of the battery sharing system]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a battery sharing system 1 in this embodiment. The battery sharing system 1 is a system that lends batteries to users on the premise that the batteries are shared by multiple users. Hereinafter, such a service for lending batteries is referred to as a "battery sharing service". FIG. 1 shows a configuration in which the battery sharing system 1 provides a battery sharing service to a user U. The battery sharing system 1 includes, for example, a battery exchange station 300, a management device 400, and a terminal device (hereinafter referred to as a "user terminal device") 500 of the user U. The battery exchange station 300, the management device 400, and the user terminal device 500 can communicate with each other via a communication network NW. Here, one battery exchange station 300 is illustrated for simplicity, but the battery sharing system 1 may include multiple battery exchange stations 300.

[2. Overview of each part of the battery sharing system]
The communication network NW may be a transmission path for wired communication, a transmission path for wireless communication, or a combination of a transmission path for wireless communication and a transmission path for wired communication. The communication network NW may include a wireless packet communication network, the Internet, a P2P network, a dedicated line, a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a power line communication line, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication line, a road-to-vehicle communication line, and the like. The communication network NW may include (i) a mobile communication network such as a mobile phone line network, or (ii) a wireless communication network such as a wireless MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) (e.g., WiMAX (registered trademark)), a wireless LAN (e.g., Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), Bluetooth (registered trademark), Zigbee (registered trademark), or NFC (Near Field Communication).

The battery 100 is a battery device that is detachably mounted on the electric motorcycle 200. The battery 100 supplies power to the mounted electric motorcycle 200. The battery 100 is charged by the battery exchange station 300. For example, when the remaining capacity of the battery 100 mounted on the electric motorcycle 200 becomes low, the user U requests the management device 400 to lend the battery 100 held in a specific battery exchange station 300. When the user U arrives at the battery exchange station 300, the user U removes the battery 100 from the electric motorcycle 200 and returns the removed battery 100 to a return space provided in the battery exchange station 300. The battery exchange station 300 charges the returned battery 100 at an appropriate time, preparing for the next use of the battery 100.

The electric motorcycle 200 consumes the power supplied by the battery 100. More specifically, the electric motorcycle 200 moves using the power supplied by the battery 100. If the battery 100 has a storage device, the electric motorcycle 200 may store at least one of the traveling history and the operation history of the electric motorcycle 200 in the storage device.

1, the electric motorcycle 200 is shown as an example of the use of the battery 100 by the user U, and the use of the battery 100 is not limited to the electric motorcycle 200. The battery 100 may be used as a power source for any electric device. For example, the battery 100 may be used as a power source for a moving body that obtains propulsion power from a motor, or may be used as a power source for a stationary power supply device. Examples of moving bodies include automobiles, motorcycles, stand-up vehicles with a power unit, ships, and aircraft. Examples of automobiles include gasoline cars, diesel cars, electric cars, fuel cell cars, hybrid cars, small commuters, and electric carts. Examples of motorcycles include motorcycles, three-wheeled bikes, and electric bicycles. Examples of ships include ships, hovercraft, jet skis, submarines, submersibles, and underwater scooters. Examples of aircraft include airplanes, airships, balloons, balloons, helicopters, and drones.

The battery exchange station 300 holds one or more batteries 100. The battery exchange station 300 charges each of the one or more batteries 100. The battery exchange station 300 executes a process for lending the battery 100 in response to a request from a user U. For example, the process for lending the battery 100 includes user authentication for the user U and a process for paying out the battery 100.

For example, user authentication is achieved by cooperative processing between the battery exchange station 300 and the management device 400. More specifically, the battery exchange station 300 requests the management device 400 to authenticate a user U who is about to start using the station, and can determine whether the authentication has been successful based on the authentication result returned from the management device 400. That is, in this embodiment, the management device 400 has a user authentication function, and the battery exchange station 300 allows a user who has been successfully authenticated to use the station.

The management device 400 performs various management operations related to the battery sharing system 1. For example, the management device 400 performs status monitoring and operation management of the battery exchange station 300. In addition, for example, the management device 400 manages the usage of each of the one or more batteries 100. For example, the battery sharing system 1 manages the lending status (e.g., available for lending, unavailable for lending, on lending, etc.), operating status (e.g., charging, discharging, on standby, etc.), charging status (e.g., current SOC), storage status (e.g., temperature, humidity, etc.), deterioration status, etc. of each of the one or more batteries 100.

The management device 400 also has a function of providing information on the availability of the battery sharing service (hereinafter referred to as "availability information") to the user U by operating in cooperation with the user terminal device 500. For example, the management device 400 accepts various requests from the user U via the user terminal device 500, executes processing related to the accepted request, and returns the processing result to the user terminal device 500. For example, the above-mentioned request may be a search request for searching for a battery exchange station 300 that meets specific conditions, a reservation request for reserving an arbitrary or specific battery 100 stored in a specific battery exchange station 300, etc. The user terminal device 500 also outputs information received from the management device 400. The form of information output may be image output, audio output, output (recording) to a storage medium, output (transmission) to another communication device, or other forms.

The user terminal device 500 may be an information processing terminal capable of communicating with the battery exchange station 300 and the management device 400 via the communication network NW, and there are no particular limitations on its details. The user terminal device 500 may be a personal computer, or may be a portable terminal such as a mobile phone, smartphone, PDA, tablet, notebook computer or laptop computer, or wearable computer.

[3. Battery Rental]
The battery exchange station 300 determines which battery 100 to lend to the user U from among the batteries 100 accommodated in the station, based on the state of the battery 100 accommodated in the station itself and various attribute information (hereinafter referred to as "user information") managed for the user U. The user information may include any information managed for each user regarding the battery sharing service. For example, the user information of the user U may include information such as the contents of a usage contract concluded between the user U and the service provider when using the battery sharing service, the usage history of the battery 100 by the user U, a reservation for use of the battery exchange station 300, and a reservation for lending the battery 100. For example, if the user U has concluded a usage contract for the use of two batteries 100, the battery exchange station 300 selects two batteries 100 to be lent from among the batteries 100 accommodated in the station itself, whose charging rates exceed a threshold for lending.

[4. Configuration of removable battery]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the battery 100. The battery 100 includes, for example, a power storage unit 120, a BMU 130, and a connection unit 140. The BMU 130 includes, for example, a measurement sensor 131 and a memory unit 132. The power storage unit 120 is, for example, a battery pack in which a plurality of single cells are connected in series. The single cells constituting the power storage unit 120 are, for example, secondary batteries that can be repeatedly charged and discharged, such as lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), nickel-metal hydride batteries, and all-solid-state batteries. The secondary batteries constituting the power storage unit 120 may include, for example, lead-acid batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and other types of batteries, such as capacitors such as electric double-layer capacitors, or composite batteries that combine secondary batteries and capacitors. There is no particular limitation on the configuration of the secondary batteries constituting the power storage unit 120.

The BMU 130 controls the charging and discharging of the power storage unit 120, performs cell balancing, detects abnormalities in the power storage unit 120, derives the cell temperature of the power storage unit 120, derives the charge and discharge current of the power storage unit 120, estimates the SOC of the power storage unit 120, and so on. The BMU 130 stores the measurement results of the measurement sensor 131 and abnormalities and failures of the power storage unit 120 identified based on the measurement results in the memory unit 132 as battery state information. The measurement sensor 131 is a voltage sensor, a current sensor, a temperature sensor, and so on for measuring the charging state of the power storage unit 120. The measurement sensor 131 outputs the measurement results of the measured voltage, current, temperature, and so on to the BMU 130. Note that the battery 100 that is not electrically operating may be defined as a battery 100 for which a predetermined time or more has passed since the end of the previous operation. Any battery 100 other than the battery 100 defined in this way may be defined as an electrically operating battery 100. The electrically operating state may be defined as, for example, a state in which the battery 100 is being charged or a state in which the battery 100 is being discharged. The BUM 130 may record in the memory unit 132, as the measurement result of the measurement sensor 131, information associating the measurement value with the measurement time, or information associating the measurement value with the measurement frequency (a so-called histogram) in the memory unit 132.

The memory unit 132 includes a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD), solid state drive (SSD), or flash memory. The memory unit 132 stores the battery status information described above. The memory unit 132 may also store identification information (battery ID) assigned to the battery 100. When the battery 100 is attached to the electric motorcycle 200, the connection unit 140 is electrically connected to the battery connection unit 210 of the electric motorcycle 200. In this state, the battery 100 supplies the power stored in the power storage unit 120 to the electric motor equipped in the electric motorcycle 200.

[5. Configuration of electric bike]
3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an electric motorcycle 200. The electric motorcycle 200 runs on the driving force of an electric motor driven by power supplied from a battery 100. However, the electric motorcycle 200 may be a hybrid electric vehicle that runs on the driving force of a combination of the battery 100 and an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine or a gasoline engine. The electric motorcycle 200 includes, for example, a battery connection unit 210, a vehicle control unit 220, a running driving force output device 230, a vehicle sensor 18, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) 20, and a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver 22.

The battery connection unit 210 is electrically connected to the battery 100 when the battery 100 is attached to the electric motorcycle 200. The battery connection unit 210 includes a connection terminal for a power line that receives power from the battery 100, and a connection terminal for a communication line that communicates data between the battery 100 and the vehicle control unit 220.

The vehicle control unit 220 acquires measurement results from the vehicle sensors 18, acquires various information (e.g., SOC, DOD, etc.) related to the power storage unit 120 from the BMU (Battery Management Unit) 110 provided in the battery 100, and acquires the position of the electric motorcycle 200 from the GNSS receiver 22. The vehicle control unit 220 controls the driving force output device 230 based on the acquired data. The vehicle control unit 220 may transmit the position information of the electric motorcycle 200 acquired from the GNSS receiver 22 to the battery 100 via the battery connection unit 210.

The vehicle control unit 220 also has the function of acquiring information (hereinafter referred to as "restriction information") relating to usage restrictions of the battery 100 mounted on the electric motorcycle 200 from the battery 100, and restricting the use of the battery 100 based on the restriction information. The usage restrictions of the battery 100 will be described later.

The driving force output device 230 includes, for example, an electric motor, an inverter, and an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that controls the inverter. The ECU controls the power supplied from the battery 100 to the electric motor, for example by controlling the inverter. The vehicle sensor 18 includes a speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, a rotational speed sensor, an odometer, and various other sensors mounted on the electric motorcycle 200. The vehicle sensor 18 outputs the measurement results to the vehicle control unit 220.

The HMI 20 outputs various information to the user of the electric motorcycle 200 and accepts input operations by the user. The HMI 20 includes various display devices (which may be a touch panel) such as a HUD (Head Up Display) and a meter display unit, as well as a speaker. The GNSS receiver 22 locates the position of the electric motorcycle 200 based on radio waves received from a GNSS satellite (such as a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite).

[6. Configuration of Battery Exchange Station]
4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the battery exchange station 300. The battery exchange station 300 includes an operation unit 301, one or more charging units 320, and a control unit 340. Each of the one or more charging units 320 includes a battery storage chamber 322, a measuring instrument 324, and a charging circuit 326. The operation unit 301 is an input interface for operations to the battery exchange station 300. The operation unit 301 includes, for example, a display device such as a touch panel or a liquid crystal display, and an input device such as a trackball, a switch, and a button. The operation unit 301 outputs information on the input operation to the control unit 340, and displays information output by the control unit 340.

The charging unit 320 charges the battery 100. A single charging unit 320 may charge a single battery 100, or a single charging unit 320 may charge multiple batteries 100. The battery storage chamber 322 stores the battery 100. The measuring device 324 measures various physical quantities related to the battery 100 stored in the battery storage chamber 322. For example, the measuring device 324 measures the voltage of the battery 100. The measuring device 324 may measure at least one of the charging current and discharging current of the battery 100. The charging circuit 326 supplies power to the battery 100 to charge the battery 100.

The control unit 340 controls the operation of the battery exchange station 300. For example, the control unit 340 may control the operation of the battery exchange station 300 using information acquired from the management device 400, or may control the operation of the battery exchange station 300 based on instructions from the management device 400. The control unit 340 includes, for example, a communication control unit 342, a charge/discharge control unit 344, a lending management unit 346, and a memory unit 348.

The communication control unit 342 controls communication between the battery exchange station 300 and external devices. Examples of external devices include at least one of the battery 100, the management device 400, and the user terminal device 500. The communication control unit 342 may be a communication interface. The communication control unit 342 may be compatible with one or more types of communication methods.

The charge/discharge control unit 344 controls the charging/discharging of the battery 100 by each of the one or more charging units 320. For example, the charge/discharge control unit 344 controls the charging of the battery 100 by controlling the charging circuit 326. The charge/discharge control unit 344 may control the discharging of the battery 100 by controlling a discharging circuit (not shown). The charge/discharge control unit 344 controls, for example, the timing to start charging or discharging each of the one or more batteries 100, the timing to end the charging or discharging, the charging rate or discharging rate, etc. The charge/discharge control unit 344 may control at least a part of the charging operation of the one or more charging units 320 according to instructions from the lending management unit 346.

The lending management unit 346 manages the lending of the batteries 100 in the battery exchange station 300. For example, the lending management unit 346 may manage the charging of the batteries 100 so that the batteries 100 are lent out in accordance with information (sometimes referred to as reservation information) relating to the reservation of one or more batteries 100 that is held in the battery exchange station 300. The reservation information is managed, for example, by the management device 400 as information that associates the identification information of the user who has reserved the battery 100, the time at which the user wishes to lend the battery, the number of batteries 100 that the user wishes to lend, and the conditions desired by the user regarding the charging state of the batteries 100.

The lending management unit 346 may manage the status of one or more batteries 100 stored in the battery exchange station 300. For example, the lending management unit 346 manages at least one of the operating status, charging status, storage status, and deterioration status of the above-mentioned batteries 100. The lending management unit 346 may manage the status of one or more batteries 100 based on the measurement results of the measuring device 324. The lending management unit 346 may detect abnormalities or defects in the batteries 100.

The memory unit 348 includes, for example, a non-volatile storage device such as an HDD, SSD, or flash memory. The memory unit 348 is used as a storage area for various information related to the operation of the battery exchange station 300. For example, the memory unit 348 stores measurement information that associates a time with the measurement results of the measuring device 324 at that time.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the lending management unit 346. The lending management unit 346 includes a status monitoring unit 352, a priority determination unit 354, and a lending target determination unit 358. At least some of the functional units included in the lending management unit 346 may be arranged in the management device 400. For example, at least one of the priority determination unit 354 and the lending target determination unit 358 may be arranged in the management device 400.

The status monitoring unit 352 monitors the status of each of the one or more batteries 100 held in the battery exchange station 300. For example, the status monitoring unit 352 acquires various information related to each of the one or more batteries 100. The status monitoring unit 352 may acquire information related to at least one of the operational status, charging status, storage status, and degradation status related to each of the one or more batteries 100. The status monitoring unit 352 may transmit this information to the management device 400.

The status monitoring unit 352 acquires information indicating the amount of power stored in each of the one or more batteries 100 held by the battery exchange station 300. For example, the status monitoring unit 352 acquires information indicating the charging state of the battery 100 to be measured from each of the measuring devices 324 arranged in one or more charging units 320. The information indicating the charging state may be information indicating the SOC or information for calculating the SOC. Examples of information for calculating the SOC include information indicating the voltage and information indicating the accumulated value of the charging current.

The priority determination unit 354 determines, for each of the multiple batteries 100 held by the battery exchange station 300, the priority for the battery to be loaned or charged. The priority for the battery 100 to be loaned may be whether the battery 100 can be loaned or may be the priority regarding the loan of the battery 100. The priority for the battery 100 to be charged may be whether the battery 100 can be charged or may be the priority regarding the charging of the battery 100. The above priority may be indicated by a continuous numerical value or may be indicated by a stepped division. The priority for the battery 100 to be loaned may be the same as the priority for the battery 100 to be charged.

The lending target determination unit 358 determines which battery 100 to provide to a specific user in response to a request from the user, from among one or more batteries 100 housed in the battery storage chamber 322 of one or more charging units 320. The lending target determination unit 358 may determine which battery 100 to lend from among the multiple batteries 100 held in the battery exchange station 300.

For example, the lending target determination unit 358 accesses the user management information 416 described below to obtain information indicating the user attributes of the user. The lending target determination unit 358 extracts a battery 100 to be provided to the user from among the multiple batteries 100 held by the battery exchange station 300 based on the user attributes. This allows the lending target determination unit 358 to determine the battery 100 to be provided to the user from among the multiple batteries 100 in response to a request from the user.

7. Configuration of management device
6 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of the management device 400. The management device 400 includes, for example, a storage unit 410, a station information acquisition unit 420, a state monitoring unit 430, a battery management unit 440, a user authentication unit 450, and a station information transmission unit 460. These components are realized by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device such as a HDD, SSD, or flash memory (a storage device with a non-transient storage medium), or may be stored in a removable storage medium (non-transient storage medium) such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed by inserting the storage medium into a drive device.

The storage unit 410 includes, for example, a non-volatile storage device such as an HDD, SSD, or flash memory. The storage unit 410 is used as a storage area for various information related to the operation of the management device 400. The storage unit 410 stores, for example, battery management information 412, station management information 414, and user management information 416.

Battery management information 412 includes various information related to each battery 100 to be managed. For example, battery management information 412 includes, for each battery 100, information on the amount of power stored in the battery 100 (e.g., SOC value). Battery management information 412 also includes, for each battery 100, degradation information indicating the degree of degradation of the battery 100. For example, degradation information may include the full charge capacity of battery 100, changes in the full charge capacity (amount of decrease or rate of decrease), charging time, temperature during charging, changes in internal resistance (amount of increase or rate of increase), etc.

The station management information 414 includes various information related to each of the battery exchange stations 300 that are the subject of management. For example, the station management information 414 includes, for each battery exchange station 300, information indicating the status of the battery exchange station 300, the installation location, and identification information for each of the one or more batteries 100 held by each station.

User management information 416 is information indicating user attributes for each user. As described above, the user attributes include contract information of user U regarding the battery sharing service, the usage history of battery 100 by user U, and the like. In addition to these, the user attributes may also include usage trends of battery 100 analyzed for each user. The usage trends of battery 100 here refer to the tendency of how users use battery 100, and are analyzed by trend analysis unit 547, which will be described later.

The station information acquisition unit 420 acquires necessary information from the battery exchange station 300 and the user terminal device 500 as appropriate, and generates or updates the battery management information 412, station management information 414, and user management information 416 described above.

The status monitoring unit 430 monitors each of the battery exchange stations 300 that are the subject of management based on the station management information 414. The station management information 414 is updated by the station information acquisition unit 420 as appropriate according to the monitoring period by the status monitoring unit 430.

The battery management unit 440 manages one or more batteries 100 housed in each battery exchange station 300 based on the battery management information 412. The battery management unit 440 manages, for example, at least one of the operational state, charging state, storage state, and deterioration state of the battery 100 to be managed.

The user authentication unit 450 performs user authentication for users of the battery sharing service. User authentication may be based on a combination of a user ID and a password, or on biometric information such as a fingerprint, voiceprint, or iris information. The user authentication unit 450 may also perform user authentication for users of the battery exchange station 300 in response to a request from the battery exchange station 300.

The station information transmission unit 460 generates station information including information about the batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300 can lend out, and transmits the information to the user terminal device 500. For example, the station information transmission unit 460 may generate station information based on the battery management information 412 and station management information 414 already acquired in the memory unit 410, or may generate station information by inquiring of the battery exchange station 300 for necessary information at the appropriate time.

8. Configuration of User Terminal Device
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the user terminal device 500. The user terminal device 500 includes, for example, a storage unit 510, an input unit 520, a display unit 530, and a control unit 540. These components are realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI, ASIC, FPGA, or GPU, or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device such as an HDD, SSD, or flash memory (a storage device having a non-transient storage medium), or may be stored in a removable storage medium such as a DVD or CD-ROM (a non-transient storage medium), and may be installed by mounting the storage medium in a drive device.

The storage unit 510 includes, for example, a non-volatile storage device such as an HDD, SSD, or flash memory. The storage unit 510 is used as a storage area for various information related to the operation of the user terminal device 500. For example, the storage unit 510 stores a user-oriented application program (hereinafter referred to as a "terminal application") 511 that displays the availability information of the battery exchange station 300 in the form of a map. More specifically, the terminal application 511 displays the installation positions of the battery exchange stations 300 on a map, and displays information indicating the remaining capacity of the battery 100 that each battery exchange station 300 can lend (hereinafter referred to as "remaining capacity information") on the same map in correspondence with each station. For example, the remaining capacity information may be displayed near the corresponding battery exchange station 300, or may be displayed at any location on the map together with a display indicating the corresponding battery exchange station 300.

The input unit 520 includes input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, and touch panel. The input unit 520 accepts various operations input by the user, converts the input operations into electrical signals, and outputs the electrical signals to the control unit 540. The input unit 520 may be equipped with a voice input device such as a microphone, and configured to accept operation input by input voice. Furthermore, when the input unit 520 has a touch panel, the input unit 520 may be configured integrally with the display unit 530. Furthermore, the input unit 520 is not limited to being an input device configured as a part of the user terminal device 500. For example, the input unit 520 may be configured as an input interface that inputs electrical signals indicating operations on the user terminal device 500 from an external device configured separately from the user terminal device 500.

Display unit 530 is configured using a display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, a liquid crystal display, or an organic EL display. Alternatively, display unit 530 may be configured as an interface that connects these display devices to the device itself. For example, the screen of terminal application 511 is displayed on display unit 530.

The control unit 540 controls the operation of each unit of the user terminal device 500. The control unit 540 includes, for example, an authentication request unit 541, a display control unit 543, a connection form recognition unit 545, a trend analysis unit 547, and a unit number recognition unit 549. For example, the authentication request unit 541, the display control unit 543, the connection form recognition unit 545, the trend analysis unit 547, and the unit number recognition unit 549 are generated by the control unit 540 executing the terminal app 511.

The authentication request unit 541 requests the management device 400 to perform user authentication for the user. At this time, the authentication request unit 541 transmits the user's authentication information required for user authentication to the management device 400.

The display control unit 543 executes a display control process for controlling the screen display of the terminal app 511. More specifically, the display control unit 543 displays the position of the battery exchange station 300 on a map based on the station information received from the management device 400, acquires the remaining capacity information of the batteries 100 that can be lent by the battery exchange station 300 based on the station information, and displays the acquired remaining capacity information on the map in association with the battery exchange station 300 in a manner according to the result of the user authentication. The remaining capacity information may be the actual number of batteries 100 that can be lent by the battery exchange station 300, or may be a quantity acquired based on that number.

The connection form recognition unit 545 recognizes the connection form of the battery 100 for the electrical equipment (hereinafter referred to as the "purpose equipment") for which the user uses the battery 100. In the example of FIG. 1, the purpose equipment of user U is the electric motorcycle 200, so in this case the connection form recognition unit 545 recognizes the connection form of the battery 100 in the electric motorcycle 200. Here, the connection form of the battery 100 refers to a form in which multiple batteries 100 are connected when multiple batteries 100 are required to drive the purpose equipment, and is classified as either a series connection or a parallel connection.

The user's intended use equipment is managed by the management device 400 as part of the user management information 416, and can be recognized according to the result of user authentication by the management device 400. For example, when the authentication request unit 541 requests user authentication of the user from the management device 400 and the user authentication is successful, the user information of the user is returned along with the authentication result. The connection form recognition unit 545 can recognize the intended use equipment of the user from the user information returned from the management device 400 in response to the user authentication of the user.

The trend analysis unit 547 analyzes the usage trend of the battery 100 by the user. For example, the trend analysis unit 547 estimates the degree of deterioration of the battery 100 caused by the user's use based on the user's usage history of the battery 100, and analyzes the deterioration pattern. For example, the degree of deterioration of the battery 100 can be recognized from changes in the SOC, changes in the full charge capacity, changes in the time required for charging, etc.

Note that the usage history of the battery 100 by the user is managed by the management device 400 as part of the user management information 416, similar to the above-mentioned application devices, and can be recognized according to the result of user authentication by the management device 400. The trend analysis unit 547 can recognize the usage history of the battery 100 by the user based on the user information returned from the management device 400 in response to the user authentication of the user.

The unit number recognition unit 549 recognizes the number of units of batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300 can lend as the remaining capacity information of the batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300 can lend. The unit number is the quantity of batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300 can lend, expressed as a unit number where one unit is the number of batteries 100 required to drive the application device (hereinafter referred to as the "required number"). For example, if the number of batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300 can lend (hereinafter referred to as the "lendable number") is five and the required number is two, the unit number is two. Also, for example, if the lendable number is three and the required number is two, the unit number is one.

Specifically, the unit number recognition unit 549 recognizes the number of units that can be rented out at the battery exchange station 300 based on the station information provided by the management device 400, and recognizes the required number of application devices by, for example, referring to catalog information of the application devices recognized for the user. The unit number recognition unit 549 can calculate the number of units by dividing the recognized number of units that can be rented out by the required number of application devices. In this case, the catalog information of the application devices may be managed by the management device 400 as part of the user management information 416. Alternatively, instead of the catalog information, the required number may be managed by the management device 400 as part of the user management information 416 together with the application devices. In other words, the required number is recognized according to the result of user authentication, just like the usage history of the application devices and the battery 100.

[9. Availability Information Providing Process]
8 is a sequence chart showing an example of a process flow in which the user terminal device 500 cooperates with the management device 400 to display the remaining capacity information of each battery exchange station 300 on a map in association with the installation position of each station as availability information of each battery exchange station 300. First, an operation to start up the terminal application 511 is input in the user terminal device 500 (step S101). In response to this start-up operation, the control unit 540 starts up the terminal application 511, whereby an authentication request unit 541 and a display control unit 543 are generated in the user terminal device 500.

Then, the authentication request unit 541 transmits a request for providing station information to the management device 400 in order to display the availability information of the battery exchange station 300 on the user terminal device 500 (step S102). At this time, the authentication request unit 541 also transmits the user's authentication information (e.g., user ID and password) for user authentication of the user.

Next, in the management device 400, the user authentication unit 450 receives a request for station information from the user terminal device 500 and performs user authentication for the requesting user (step S103). Here, if the user authentication is successful, the user authentication unit 450 refers to the user management information 416 to acquire user information for that user (step S104), acquires station information based on the battery management information 412 and the station management information 414 (step S105), and notifies the acquired user information and station information together with the authentication result (success) to the user terminal device 500 (step S106). On the other hand, if the user authentication fails in step S104, the user information and station information are not acquired, and the authentication result (failure) is notified to the requesting user terminal device 500, and the request for station information is rejected.

Note that, depending on the timing of receiving the request for station information, there is a possibility that the necessary management information has not been acquired sufficiently on the management device 400 side. If such a possibility is anticipated, the station information acquisition unit 420 may be configured to request update information from the battery exchange station 300 in response to successful user authentication (step S201) and acquire the update information from the battery exchange station 300 (step S202). In this case, the station information acquisition unit 420 may perform information update processing on various management information in the storage unit 410 based on the update information acquired from the battery exchange station 300 (step S203), and then proceed to step S104. Through such information update processing, the management device 400 can provide more appropriate station information to the user terminal device 500.

Next, in the user terminal device 500, the connection form recognition unit 545 recognizes the connection form of the battery 100 for the user's application device based on the station information and user information provided by the management device 400 (step S107). On the other hand, the tendency analysis unit 547 analyzes the usage tendency of the battery 100 by the user based on the station information and user information (step S108). On the other hand, the unit number recognition unit 549 recognizes the number of units of the battery 100 that can be lent by the battery exchange station 300 based on the station information and user information (step S109). The unit number recognition unit 549 may recognize the number of units based on the connection form recognized in step S107 and the usage tendency of the battery 100 by the user analyzed in step S108.

Then, the display control unit 543 executes a display control process to recognize the battery exchange stations 300 that accommodate batteries 100 available for loan to users based on the station information and user information provided by the management device 400, display their installation positions on a map, and display the number of units recognized for each station on the map in association with the corresponding battery exchange station 300 (step S110). For example, the display control unit 543 can determine battery exchange stations 300 that accommodate one or more units of loanable batteries 100 as display targets. The display control unit 543 may also determine the battery exchange stations 300 to display on the map based on the connection configuration recognized in step S107 and the usage tendency of the battery 100 by users analyzed in step S108.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a battery exchange station 300 in which the number of units of batteries 100 available for loan to a certain user is recognized as being 1 or more. The example in FIG. 9 shows a battery exchange station 300A having 12 batteries 100 with a charge rate of 30% or more. In the example in FIG. 9, the charge rate of the batteries 100 not shown is assumed to be less than 30%. In this example, if a battery 100 with a charge rate of 80% or more is available for loan, the unit number recognition unit 549 recognizes the number of units available for loan from the battery exchange station 300A as 8. In this case, if the required number is 2, the unit number recognition unit 549 recognizes the number of units of batteries 100 available for loan from the battery exchange station 300A as 4.

When recognizing the number of batteries 100 that can be lent for the battery exchange station 300, the unit number recognition unit 549 may recognize that batteries 100 that satisfy conditions regarding the connection form, in addition to the required number, are lent out as being lent out. In general, when batteries 100 are connected in series, it is not necessary to match the charging rate of the connected batteries 100. In this case, for example, if batteries 100 with a charging rate of 50% or more are lent out, the unit number recognition unit 549 can recognize that 10 batteries 100 included in the battery group 100B are lent out. In this case, if the required number is 2, the number of units of batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300A can lent out is 5. In addition, the overall output in this case is the average value of the output of each battery 100.

In contrast, when batteries 100 are connected in parallel, the charging rates of the connected batteries 100 must be matched to some extent in order to prevent reflux. For this reason, for example, if the allowable difference in charging rate (difference in remaining capacity) is set to less than 5% and the charging rate of the batteries 100 available for loan is set to 80% or more, the unit number recognition unit 549 can recognize that eight batteries 100 included in the battery group 100A are available for loan. However, in this case, if the required number is two, the number of units of batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300A can loan may not simply be half (four) of the number of batteries 100 that can be loaned (eight) because of the restriction on the allowable difference in charging rate (less than 5%). For example, in the battery group 100A in FIG. 9, there are at most three combinations of batteries 100 that satisfy the condition "charge rate difference of less than 5%" (e.g., combinations of {100%, 98%}, {95%, 93%}, and {85%, 83%}), so the number of units in this case is 3.

In addition, when the unit number recognition unit 549 recognizes the number of batteries 100 that can be lent for the battery exchange station 300, it may recognize that batteries 100 that satisfy conditions related to usage trends, in addition to the required number, are lent. For example, for a user who has a strong tendency to deteriorate the battery 100, the batteries 100 that can be lent may be limited to a specific range of batteries 100. For example, by setting the degree of deterioration of the specific range of batteries 100 to a predetermined threshold or higher, it is possible to prevent batteries 100 with a low degree of deterioration from being lent to a user who has a strong tendency to deteriorate the battery 100. In addition, by setting the degree of deterioration of the specific range of batteries 100 to a predetermined threshold or lower, it is possible to lend batteries 100 with a low degree of deterioration to a user who has a strong tendency to deteriorate the battery 100. Note that the range of batteries 100 that constitutes the specific range of batteries 100 may be arbitrarily determined depending on the user's contract details, the battery 100 management policy, etc.

The unit number recognition unit 549 may also combine the above-mentioned recognition methods to recognize that a battery 100 that meets the conditions regarding the required number, connection form, and usage tendency is available for loan.

By this process, the user terminal device 500 displays on a map the battery exchange stations 300 available to the user and the remaining capacity information of the available batteries 100 in association with each other. Furthermore, according to the above process, the remaining capacity information displayed in association with the battery exchange stations 300 is determined according to the user information recognized for the user who has successfully been authenticated. Therefore, the user can recognize the availability of each battery exchange station 300 according to his or her own user attributes.

10 is a diagram showing an example of the display of the battery exchange station 300 in the terminal application 511. For example, the display example of FIG. 10 shows an icon indicating the presence of a battery exchange station 300 in a certain area, which is displayed in association with a point on a map corresponding to the installation location. The example of FIG. 10 shows an example of the display of an area in which 16 battery exchange stations 300 exist. In this example, of the icons C11 to C28 displayed on the map, the icons C11 to C18 displaying the remaining capacity information indicate battery exchange stations 300 that are available to users, and the icons C21 to C28 not displaying the remaining capacity information indicate battery exchange stations 300 that are not available to users. Here, the battery exchange station 300 that is available to users is a battery exchange station 300 that can lend the required number of batteries 100 to the user. In this way, the remaining capacity information is displayed in association with the battery exchange station 300 on the map showing the installation location of the battery exchange station 300, so that the user can recognize the availability to himself of the battery exchange station 300 provided by the battery sharing service.

Specifically, in the example of FIG. 10, the user can easily recognize whether or not each battery exchange station 300 is a battery exchange station 300 that can be used by the user, based on the presence or absence of reserve power information. Furthermore, the user can appropriately recognize the level of availability for the user, based on the reserve power information displayed on the battery exchange station 300. For example, in the example of FIG. 10, a user located at the current location P can select the battery exchange stations 300 associated with icons C13 (8 units) and C14 (1 unit) as candidates for the battery exchange station 300 to use, and can recognize the battery exchange station 300 associated with icon C13, which has a larger number of units, as the battery exchange station 300 with higher availability for the user.

The display control unit 543 may display on the map all battery exchange stations 300 provided by the battery sharing service, or may display on the map only battery exchange stations 300 that are recognized as having batteries 100 available for rental based on the station information, or may display on the map only battery exchange stations 300 that are recognized as available for use by the user based on the user information. In other words, if the number of batteries 100 that a battery exchange station 300 can rent is less than the required number of batteries 100 recognized for the user's intended use device, the display control unit 543 may not display such a battery exchange station 300 on the map.

The display control unit 543 may be configured to limit the display of the battery exchange stations 300 and/or the remaining capacity information on the map according to the user's tendency to use the battery 100. For example, for a user who has a strong tendency to deteriorate the battery 100, the battery exchange stations 300 that can be displayed may be limited to battery exchange stations 300 in a specific range. In this way, a user who has a strong tendency to deteriorate the battery 100 can use only battery exchange stations 300 in a specific range. Furthermore, the display control unit 543 may be configured to determine the battery exchange stations 300 to be displayed on the map, or to determine the batteries 100 that the battery exchange stations 300 can lend out, based on the user's tendency to use the battery 100 for deterioration and the deterioration state of the batteries 100 stored in the battery exchange stations 300.

The battery sharing system 1 of this embodiment configured in this manner can provide users with more appropriate information regarding the availability of the battery exchange station 300 in the battery sharing service.

<Modification>
In the above embodiment, the case where the display control unit 543, the connection form recognition unit 545, the tendency analysis unit 547, and the unit number recognition unit 549 are provided in the user terminal device 500 has been described, but some or all of these functional units, or some or all of the functions of each functional unit, may be provided on the management device 400 side. For example, the management device 400 may execute steps S107 to S109 in Fig. 8 to determine the battery exchange station 300 to be displayed on the map, and transmit station information including the identification information and the unit number to the user terminal device 500. In this case, the display control unit 543 in the user terminal device 500 may recognize the battery exchange station 300 to be displayed based on the station information provided from the management device 400, identify the installation position, display the installation position on the map, and display the respective unit numbers corresponding to the positions of the battery exchange stations 300. In this case, the contents to be displayed on the map in the user terminal device 500 are determined on the management device 400 side, so the function of generating station information in the management device 400 and transmitting it to the user terminal device 500 can be regarded as a display control unit that controls the display of the map application 511. That is, the management device 400 in this case can be expressed as "a management device including: a battery exchange station that enables a user who has succeeded in user authentication to lend, return, or exchange a battery; and a user terminal device used by the user, which is capable of communicating with a user terminal device that displays information about the battery exchange station, and a station information acquisition unit 420 that acquires station information including information about batteries that can be lent by the battery exchange station from the battery exchange station, a user authentication unit that performs user authentication of the user, and a display control unit that generates display control information based on the station information and transmits it to the user terminal device, for causing a terminal device used by the user that displays the position of the battery exchange station on a map to display the remaining capacity of the battery that can be lent by the battery exchange station on the map in association with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication." Furthermore, the management device 400 may be configured to generate an image showing the battery exchange stations 300 and their unit numbers on a map, and transmit the image to the user terminal device 500 .

The terminal app 511 may also provide the user with a means (such as a button) for changing the display mode of the available capacity information on the map. By providing such a means, the user can appropriately switch the display mode of the available capacity information between, for example, the number of units and the number of loanable units.

In the above embodiment, the case where the management device 400 is configured separately from the battery exchange station 300 has been described, but some or all of the functions of the management device 400 may be provided on the battery exchange station 300 side. For example, the function of the management device 400 to manage the user management information 416 may be provided in the battery exchange station 300. In this case, the management device 400 may be configured to inquire of the battery exchange station 300 about the user information of the target user.

In the above embodiment, the details of the battery sharing system 1 have been described using an example in which the management device 400 manages one or more batteries 100 and one or more battery exchange stations 300. However, the battery sharing system 1 is not limited to this embodiment. At least one of the one or more battery exchange stations 300 may have at least some of the functions of the management device 400 described above. For example, at least one of the one or more battery exchange stations 300 manages one or more batteries 100. At least one of the one or more battery exchange stations 300 may manage other battery exchange stations 300. In this case, the battery sharing system 1 may or may not include the management device 400.

In this embodiment, the details of the battery sharing system 1 are described using as an example a case where the battery exchange station 300 determines the battery 100 to be lent out from among the multiple batteries 100 stored in the battery exchange station 300. However, the battery sharing system 1 is not limited to this embodiment. The management device 400 may determine the battery 100 to be lent out from among the multiple batteries 100 held by the battery exchange station 300.

The above-described embodiment can be expressed as follows.
A battery sharing system comprising: a battery exchange station that enables a user who has successfully been authenticated to lend, return, or exchange a battery; an application program executed on a user terminal device used by the user, the application program being a terminal application that displays information about the battery exchange station on the user terminal device; and a management device that is capable of communicating with the battery exchange station and the user terminal device,
one or more storage media storing computer-readable instructions;
one or more processors coupled to the one or more storage media;
The one or more processors execute the computer readable instructions to
the management device acquires station information including information on batteries that the battery exchange station can lend from the battery exchange station, and transmits the station information to the user terminal device;
The terminal application,
a user authentication process for requesting user authentication of the user from the management device;
a display control process for displaying the positions of the battery exchange stations on a map based on the station information, and displaying the remaining capacity of the batteries that can be rented out by the battery exchange stations on the map in a manner corresponding to a result of the user authentication, in association with the battery exchange stations;
causing the user terminal device to execute the
Battery sharing system.

　Although the above describes the form for carrying out the present invention using an embodiment, the present invention is in no way limited to such an embodiment, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1...battery sharing system, 100...detachable battery, 120...power storage unit, 130...BMU, 131...measurement sensor, 132...memory unit, 140...connection unit, 200...electric motorcycle, 18...vehicle sensor, 20...HMI, 22...GNSS receiver, 210...battery connection unit, 220...vehicle control unit, 230...driving force output device, 300...battery exchange station, 301...operation unit, 320...charging unit, 322...battery storage chamber, 324...measuring instrument, 326...charging circuit, 340...control unit, 342...communication control unit, 344...charge and discharge control unit, 346...rental management unit, 348...memory unit, 352...status monitoring unit, 3 54...Priority order determination unit, 358...Lending target determination unit, 400...Management device, 410...Storage unit, 412...Battery management information, 414...Station management information, 416...User management information, 420...Station information acquisition unit, 430...Status monitoring unit, 440...Battery management unit, 450...User authentication unit, 460...Station information transmission unit, 500...User terminal device, 510...Storage unit, 511...Terminal application, 520...Input unit, 530...Display unit, 540...Control unit, 541...Authentication request unit, 543...Display control unit, 545...Connection form recognition unit, 547...Trend analysis unit described later, 547...Trend analysis unit, 549...Unit number recognition unit

Claims

a battery exchange station that enables a user who has been successfully authenticated to borrow, return, or exchange a battery;
an application program executed on a user terminal device used by the user, the application program being a terminal application that displays information about the battery exchange station;
a management device that acquires station information including information on batteries that can be rented by the battery exchange station from the battery exchange station and transmits the station information to the user terminal device;
A battery sharing system comprising:
The terminal application
a user authentication process for requesting user authentication of the user from the management device;
a display control process for displaying the positions of the battery exchange stations on a map based on the station information, and displaying the remaining capacity of the batteries that can be rented out by the battery exchange stations on the map in a manner corresponding to a result of the user authentication, in association with the battery exchange stations;
causing the user terminal device to execute the
Battery sharing system.
The terminal application further
According to a result of the user authentication, the user terminal device is caused to execute a necessary number recognition process for recognizing a necessary number of the batteries required for driving a target device by the user;
The display control process displays, as the remaining capacity, a unit number representing the amount of the batteries that the battery exchange station can lend out, using the required number recognized by the required number recognition process as a unit, and when the number of the batteries that the battery exchange station can lend out is less than the required number, the remaining capacity is not displayed.
The battery sharing system according to claim 1 .
The terminal application further
According to a result of the user authentication, the user causes the user terminal device to execute a connection configuration recognition process for recognizing a connection configuration of the battery in the device driven by the battery,
the display control process recognizes, when a parallel connection is recognized by the connection configuration recognition process, the number of the batteries that can be lent by the battery exchange station based on a combination of the batteries in which a difference in remaining charge between the batteries is less than a threshold value.
The battery sharing system according to claim 1 or 2.
The terminal application further
causing the user terminal device to execute a trend analysis process for analyzing a usage trend of the battery by the user according to a result of the user authentication;
the display control process determines the battery exchange stations to be displayed on the map in accordance with the usage tendency analyzed by the tendency analysis process.
The battery sharing system according to claim 1 or 2.
The terminal application further
causing the user terminal device to execute a trend analysis process for analyzing a usage trend of the battery by the user according to a result of the user authentication;
the display control process determines the battery that can be rented by the battery exchange station in accordance with the usage tendency analyzed by the tendency analysis process.
The battery sharing system according to claim 1 or 2.
A battery exchange station that enables a user who has been successfully authenticated to lend, return, or exchange a battery, and a management device that is capable of communicating with a user terminal device used by the user and that displays information about the battery exchange station,
a station information acquisition unit that acquires station information including information on batteries that can be rented by the battery exchange station from the battery exchange station;
a user authentication unit for performing user authentication of the user;
a display control unit that generates display control information based on the station information for causing the user terminal device to display the location of the battery exchange station on a map, the display control information being used by the user terminal device and configured to display the remaining capacity of the battery that can be rented out by the battery exchange station on the map in a manner corresponding to the battery exchange station in accordance with a result of the user authentication, and transmits the display control information to the user terminal device;
A management device comprising:
A method for controlling a battery sharing system including a battery exchange station that enables a user who has successfully been authenticated to lend, return, or exchange a battery, an application program executed in a user terminal device used by the user, the application program being a terminal application that displays information about the battery exchange station on the user terminal device, and a management device that is capable of communicating with the battery exchange station and the user terminal device,
the management device acquires station information including information on batteries that the battery exchange station can lend from the battery exchange station, and transmits the station information to the user terminal device;
The terminal application,
a user authentication process for requesting user authentication of the user from the management device;
a display control process for displaying the positions of the battery exchange stations on a map based on the station information, and displaying the remaining capacity of the batteries that can be rented out by the battery exchange stations on the map in a manner corresponding to a result of the user authentication, in association with the battery exchange stations;
causing the user terminal device to execute the
Control methods.
A terminal application that is executed in a user terminal device used by a user and displays, for a user who has been successfully authenticated, information about a battery exchange station that enables the user to lend, return, or exchange a battery,
A processor of the user terminal device
a user authentication process for requesting a management device to authenticate the user;
a display control process for displaying the positions of the battery exchange stations on a map based on station information acquired by the management device from the battery exchange stations, the station information including information on batteries that can be rented out by the battery exchange stations, and displaying the remaining capacity of the batteries that can be rented out by the battery exchange stations on the map in a manner corresponding to a result of the user authentication, in association with the battery exchange stations;
A program for executing.