JP2012155642A - Charging equipment search system and charging equipment search device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notify a user of charging equipment including newly constructed charging equipment around a current position when necessary, and to enable a user to obtain information of the charging equipment easily and at low cost.SOLUTION: A charging equipment search system 1 comprises: charging equipment 4 for charging an on-vehicle battery 7 of a vehicle 2 which runs on electric power of the on-vehicle battery 7 as power source; and a charging equipment search part 32 for searching for the charging equipment 4. The charging equipment search part 32 includes a wireless communication part 42 for performing wireless communication mutually and directly with the charging equipment 4. A wireless probe signal for requesting a response is transmitted from the wireless communication part 42, and the wireless communication part performs the wireless communication mutually and directly with the charging equipment 4 having responded to the wireless probe signal, to obtain positional information of the charging equipment 4.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for notifying a user of a position of a charging facility for charging a vehicle using an electric motor as a power source, such as an electric vehicle, an electric motorcycle, and an electric assist bicycle.

In recent years, electric vehicles are becoming widespread, but the present situation is that infrastructures such as charging facilities for charging vehicle batteries of electric vehicles are not sufficiently developed. For this reason, the driver knows the location of the charging facility in advance before traveling and pays attention to the remaining amount of the vehicle battery so that the vehicle does not run out of charge due to the vehicle battery being out of charge. It was necessary and burdened.
Therefore, conventionally, in an in-vehicle navigation system, a system that makes it possible to search for the location of a charging facility, a system that guides a travel route that takes into account the location of the charging facility, a system that guides charging according to the remaining amount of power stored in a vehicle battery, etc. Etc. have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).

JP 2010-175492 A JP 2001-215124 A JP 2003-262525 A

  However, even when traveling on a route that is assumed in advance in consideration of the location of the charging facility, there are cases where it is difficult to reach the charging facility that was originally assumed due to heavy consumption of electricity due to traffic congestion or the like. In response to the increasing demand for electric vehicles, the deployment of charging facilities is rapidly progressing, but there is a time lag before the information on newly installed charging facilities is reflected in the navigation system database. Therefore, charging facilities that are not reflected in the database are not reflected in the navigation route search. Therefore, even if there is a newly installed nearby charging facility in the vicinity of the vehicle position, there is a problem that the driver cannot be found because it is not reflected in the database.

  Furthermore, in order to obtain information such as whether the desired charging facility is in use or not in real-time with the in-vehicle navigation system, access to a management center that centrally manages the usage status of the charging facility, etc. It was necessary to obtain information managed by Also, in this case, as the side where the charging facility is installed, information management by a management center or the like is required to provide information to the electric vehicle. There was a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and can make it possible to notify a user of charging facilities around the current position including a newly installed charging facility when necessary, and can easily and inexpensively provide information on charging facilities. It is an object of the present invention to provide a charging facility search system and a charging facility search device that can be acquired in a short time.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a charging facility comprising a charging facility for charging the in-vehicle battery of a vehicle that travels using the power of the in-vehicle battery as a power source, and a charging facility searching means for searching for the charging facility. A facility search system, wherein the charging facility search means includes wireless communication means that directly and wirelessly communicates with the charging facility, and transmits a wireless probe signal requesting a response from the wireless communication means. It is characterized in that position information of the charging equipment is acquired by wireless communication directly with the charging equipment in response to the signal.

  In the charging facility search system according to the present invention, the charging facility search means starts sending the wireless probe signal in accordance with a remaining amount of the in-vehicle battery.

  Moreover, the present invention is characterized in that, in the charging facility search system, the charging facility search means acquires from the charging facility a vacant state indicating whether or not the charging facility is in use.

  In the charging facility search system, the present invention further includes navigation means for displaying a current position of the charging facility search means on a map, wherein the navigation means is position information of the charging facility acquired by the charging facility search means. Is displayed on the map.

  In the charging facility search system according to the present invention, the navigation means guides a charging facility that is currently available based on the availability.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a charging facility searching apparatus for searching for a charging facility for charging the in-vehicle battery of a vehicle that travels using the electric power of the in-vehicle battery as a power source. Provided with wireless communication means for direct wireless communication, sends out the wireless probe signal requesting a response, and directly wirelessly communicates with the charging facility responding to the wireless probe signal to obtain position information of the charging facility It is characterized by doing.

  According to the present invention, a charging facility in a communication area can be specified regardless of whether it is new or old by sending a wireless probe signal and obtaining a response. Further, by directly wirelessly communicating with these charging facilities, information on each charging facility can be acquired without going through a management server or the like, so that the latest information can be acquired at low cost, easily, and in real time.

It is a figure which shows typically the structure of the charging equipment search system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the charging equipment side apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of vehicle equipment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the search operation | movement of a charging equipment search system. It is explanatory drawing of a search result display.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a charging facility search system 1 according to the present embodiment.
The charging facility search system 1 includes an in-vehicle device 3 mounted on a vehicle 2 and a charging facility-side device 5 that is provided in each of the plurality of charging facilities 4 and communicates with the in-vehicle device 3. The vehicle 2 is a so-called electric auto driven by the electric motor 6 as a power source, and includes an in-vehicle battery 7 that stores electric power for driving the electric motor 6. The charging facility 4 is a facility that includes a charging device 8 that charges the in-vehicle battery 7, and is provided, for example, in a parking lot, a commercial facility, a gas station, or the like. The charging facility 4 is provided with an arbitrary number of charging devices 8, and the number of vehicles 2 that can be charged simultaneously increases or decreases for each charging facility 4 according to the number of charging devices 8 installed.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the charging facility side device 5.
The charging facility side device 5 includes a charging device management unit 10 and a wireless communication unit 12. The charging device management unit 10 manages the usage status of each charging device 8. Further, the charging device management unit 10 includes a facility information storage unit 16 that stores charging facility information 14 including position information of the charging facility 4 and charging fee information.

The wireless communication unit 12 wirelessly communicates with the in-vehicle device 3 in an ad hoc mode, and the charging facility information 14 includes empty information indicating whether or not the charging device 8 is being used for charging (empty status) through the wireless communication. Including them and transmitting them to the in-vehicle device 3 The ad hoc mode is a communication method in which the wireless communication unit 12 and the in-vehicle device 3 are temporarily and directly connected to each other without using a dedicated base station or access point. In this ad hoc mode, an arbitrary wireless connection method can be used, but the wider the communication radius, the more the communication with the in-vehicle device 3 of the vehicle 2 farther away, and the communication with the in-vehicle device 3 of the vehicle 2 that is running In this embodiment, for example, a wireless connection method having a communication radius of several hundred meters to several kilometers, such as IEEE 802.16, is used.
The wireless communication between the wireless communication unit 12 and the in-vehicle device 3 is started when the charging facility side device 5 receives a wireless probe signal described later transmitted from the in-vehicle device 3 into the communication area, and the charging facility information 14 is wireless. After being transmitted from the communication unit 12, the process ends.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the in-vehicle device 3.
The in-vehicle device 3 includes a navigation unit 30, a charging facility search unit 32, and a display unit 34 when roughly classified.
The navigation unit 30 is a functional block that realizes a navigation function for displaying a current position of the vehicle 2 on a map and guiding a route, and stores a position acquisition unit 36 that acquires the current position of the vehicle 2 and map data. A map data storage unit 38, and based on the current position of the vehicle 2 acquired by the position acquisition unit 36, the map data including the current position is read from the map data storage unit 38, and the current position of the vehicle 2 is displayed on the map. Display data to be displayed is generated and displayed on the display unit 34. In addition, the navigation part 30 is also provided with the function with which a general navigation apparatus is equipped, such as the function to search the route | route from a present position or a departure place to the destination.

The charging facility searching unit 32 is a functional block that realizes a charging facility searching function that searches for charging facilities 4 existing around the current position of the vehicle 2 and displays the charging facilities 4 together with the charging facility information 14 on a map. Unit 40, wireless communication unit 42, remaining battery level acquisition unit 44, and search setting storage unit 46.
The control unit 40 centrally controls each unit of the charging facility search unit 32, and the wireless communication unit 42 wirelessly communicates with the charging facility side device 5 in an ad hoc mode under the control of the control unit 40.

The battery remaining amount acquisition unit 44 acquires the remaining amount of electricity stored in the in-vehicle battery 7 and outputs the acquired amount to the control unit 40.
The search setting storage unit 46 stores various setting information related to the search for the charging facility 4. This setting information includes search timing setting information 47 that defines a search start condition for the charging facility 4. The search timing setting information 47 defines a search start time, a search start travel distance, and a search start power storage remaining amount as search start conditions.
The search start time is a setting for starting a search for the charging equipment 4 every elapse of a fixed time, and is set to, for example, every 3 hours, every half day, or every day.
The search start travel distance is a setting for starting a search for the charging facility 4 for each travel of a certain distance, and is set, for example, every 20 km or every 50 km.
The search remaining power storage amount is present in the guidance route by the navigation unit 30, or the remaining power storage amount of the in-vehicle battery 7 is sufficient to travel the distance from the current point to the charging facility 4 scheduled to stop by. This is a setting for starting a search for the charging facility 4 when the charging facility 4 is not. This search start remaining power amount is automatically set by the control unit 40. That is, based on the distance from the current position to the charging facility 4 where the stop is set automatically by the navigation unit 30 or manually by a user such as a driver, the control unit 40 determines the amount of power required for traveling the distance. The amount of power calculated and the margin added to this amount of power is set as the set value of the remaining amount of electricity.
In addition, as a search start electrical storage remaining amount, you may further set the relative value with respect to a full charge, for example, when the electrical storage remaining amount becomes 20% or less of a full charge.

  The control unit 40 starts searching for the surrounding charging facility 4 every time one of the search start conditions specified in the search timing setting information 47 is established, and the charging facility side device of the searched charging facility 4 On the basis of the charging facility information 14 acquired from 5, the position, availability, and charging charge of the charging facility 4 are displayed on the map of the display unit 34.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating a search operation of the charging facility search system 1.
The charging facility side device 5 stands by until the wireless probe signal is received in the reception state of the wireless probe signal from the in-vehicle device 3 (step S1, step S2: N).
On the other hand, in the in-vehicle device 3, the control unit 40 of the charging facility search unit 32 monitors the establishment of any of the conditions for starting the search for the charging facility 4 based on the search timing setting information 47 (step S <b> 3). If the condition is satisfied (step S3: Y), the following processing is executed to start the search.
That is, the control unit 40 transmits a wireless probe signal requesting a response from the wireless communication unit 42 (step S4), and waits for a response (Ack) from the charging equipment side device 5 that has received the wireless probe signal (step S5). ). The control unit 40 repeatedly performs this wireless probe signal transmission operation until a response (Ack) is obtained from the charging equipment 5 (step S5: N).

On the other hand, when the charging equipment side device 5 receives the wireless probe signal from the in-vehicle device 3 (step S2: Y), a response (Ack) indicating that the wireless probe signal has been normally received is returned to the in-vehicle device 3. (Step S6).
In the in-vehicle device 3, when the charging facility search unit 32 receives a response (Ack) from at least one charging facility side device 5 (step S5: Y), based on the information included in the response (Ack), All the communication destinations (Ack information) of the charging facility side device 5 that has responded (Ack) are made into a database (step S7). Thereby, all the information required for communication with the charging equipment side apparatus 5 which exists in the communication area of the vehicle equipment 3 is collected, and it is made into a database. At this time, although the response (Ack) is returned, the charging facility side device 5 that is out of the communication area as the vehicle 2 travels is not stored in the database, and only the charging facility side device 5 that can communicate reliably. Are collected.

And the charging equipment search part 32 of the vehicle equipment 3 carries out radio | wireless communication sequentially in ad hoc mode with respect to each charging equipment side apparatus 5 registered into the database, and requests | requires transmission of the said charging equipment information 14 (step S8).
When the charging facility side device 5 receives the transmission request for the charging facility information 14 (step S9: Y), it transmits the charging facility information 14 including the position information of the charging facility 4 to the in-vehicle device 3 (step S10). If the charging facility side device 5 does not receive the transmission request for the charging facility information 14 until a predetermined time has elapsed after returning the response (Ack) in step S6 (step S9: N). Then, the process returns to step S1 again, and waits for a wireless probe signal reception state.

On the other hand, when the charging facility searching unit 32 of the in-vehicle device 3 receives the charging facility information 14 from each charging facility side device 5 (step S11: Y), the charging facility searching unit 32 displays the charging facility information 14 on the map of the display unit 34 based on the charging facility information 14. The position of the charging facility 4, the availability and the charging fee are displayed (step S12). Thereby, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the position of the charging facility 4 (charging facility A in the drawing) around the current position of the vehicle 2 (that is, in the communication area of the in-vehicle device 3) The user is notified together with information such as the availability and charging fee. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, charging facility 4 (charging facility B in the drawing) registered in advance in the map data of navigation unit 30 is also displayed on the map.
In step S11, if the charging facility information 14 has not been received from any of the charging facility side devices 5 even after a predetermined time has elapsed (step S11: N), the charging facility searching unit 32 will again In order to search for the charging facility 4, the processing procedure returns to step S4 to transmit a wireless probe signal.

By the way, when the condition established as the search start condition for the charging facility 4 is the search start power storage remaining amount in step S3, the remaining power storage may be insufficient on the way if the vehicle continues to travel along the guide route. High nature. Therefore, in this case, the in-vehicle device 3 performs route guidance by changing to a guidance route that uses the surrounding charging facility 4 as a transit point.
That is, when the establishment condition for starting the search for the charging facility 4 is the search start remaining power level (step S13: Y), the charging facility searching unit 32 has a vacant space in use from the surrounding charging facilities 4. It is determined whether or not there is a charging facility 4 (step S14). When there is an empty charging facility 4 (step S14: Y), the charging facility search unit 32 outputs the position information of the charging facility 4 to the navigation unit 30, and the route that the navigation unit 30 is guiding, The charging facility 4 is changed to a guide route that uses the charging facility 4 as a transit point, and the charging facility 4 is guided (step S15). As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the guide route is changed to a route passing through the charging facility 4 (charging facility A in the figure), and the vehicle 2 can be guided to the charging facility 4 that can be used smoothly.

  In addition, when there are a plurality of charging facilities 4 that have vacancy in the usage status, for example, based on a predetermined selection criterion such as the lowest charging fee, the closest to the current position, or the shortest route change distance. Selected. At this time, when there is a charging facility 4 (corresponding to the charging facility B in FIG. 5) registered in advance in the map data stored in the navigation unit 30, the charging facility 4 is also selected as a transit point candidate for selection. By performing, the charging facility 4 can be guided more efficiently.

  On the other hand, when there is no available charging facility 4 in the usage status (step S14: N), the charging facility searching unit 32 issues a warning or a sound or the like indicating that there is not enough remaining power before the arrival at the destination. The user, such as a driver, is notified and alerted (step S16).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the in-vehicle device 3 of the vehicle 2 includes the wireless communication unit 42 that directly wirelessly communicates with the charging facility 4 in an ad hoc mode, and requests a response. Is transmitted from the wireless communication unit 42 and wirelessly communicates directly with the charging facility 4 responding to the wireless probe signal to acquire position information of the charging facility 4.
With this configuration, the in-vehicle device 3 can grasp the peripheral charging facility 4 that can identify the charging facility 4 in the communication area based on the response to the wireless probe signal.
Further, since the in-vehicle device 3 directly and wirelessly communicates with these charging facilities 4, the location information of each charging facility 4 is directly transmitted from the charging facility 4 without using a communication network such as the Internet or a management server. Since it can be obtained, the latest information can be obtained at low cost, easily and in real time.

In addition, since the charging facility 4 does not require information registration with the management center or the like, the cost for installing the charging facility is reduced.
In particular, when the charging facility 4 is installed in a private house, the charging facility 4 simply switches whether or not to respond to a wireless probe signal from the in-vehicle device 3, so that notification to the in-vehicle device 3 can be easily performed. Can be stopped.
Thus, for example, when a private house operates a charging facility 4 using surplus power for a solar power generation device, the private facility can charge the vehicle 2 only when the private house generates too much electricity. It is possible to easily determine whether or not to provide the charging facility 4 to the vehicle 2 traveling in the vicinity according to the situation at that time.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the charging facility search unit 32 of the in-vehicle device 3 starts sending the wireless probe signal in accordance with the remaining amount of power stored in the in-vehicle battery 7 and starts searching for the charging facility 4. It is possible to prevent the vehicle from being unable to run due to the shortage of the amount.
In particular, in the present embodiment, when the remaining amount of electricity can be less than the amount of power required to reach the destination, the search for the charging facility 4 is started, so the destination cannot be reached due to a shortage of the remaining amount of electricity. The situation can be prevented.

Moreover, according to this embodiment, since the charging equipment search part 32 of the vehicle equipment 3 acquires the empty condition which shows whether the charging equipment 4 is in use from the charging equipment 4, users, such as a driver, are in an empty condition. Accordingly, the charging facility 4 to stop by can be selected.
Further, since the availability can be directly acquired from the charging facility 4, the availability can be grasped in real time.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the navigation unit 30 that displays the current position of the vehicle 2 (the in-vehicle device 3 including the charging facility searching unit 32) on the map is the position information of the charging facility 4 acquired by the charging facility searching unit 32. Is configured to be displayed on a map.
Thereby, the surrounding charging facilities 4 can be grasped including the unregistered charging facilities 4 in the map data provided in the navigation unit 30.

  In particular, according to the present embodiment, since the navigation unit 30 is configured to guide the route through the currently available charging facility 4 based on the availability, the vehicle 2 is guided to the charging facility 4 that can be used smoothly. it can.

  The above-described embodiments are merely illustrative of one aspect of the present invention, and can be arbitrarily modified and applied without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the search for the charging facility 4 is started when the condition set in the search timing setting information 47 is satisfied is exemplified, but not limited thereto, when a user such as a driver instructs Alternatively, the search may be started. Thereby, when a user wants to know, the surrounding charging equipment 4 can be grasped | ascertained rapidly.

  In addition, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the navigation unit 30 and the charging facility searching unit 32 are provided to configure one in-vehicle device 3, but the navigation unit 30 is configured as a navigation device, and the navigation device Alternatively, an in-vehicle device including the charging facility search unit 32 may be configured as a device for searching for the charging facility 4.

  Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the in-vehicle device 3 is exemplified as a device for searching for the charging facility 4, but is not limited thereto. That is, you may comprise the charging equipment search apparatus which searches the charging equipment 4 as a portable apparatus which the user who drives an electric bicycle or an electric motorcycle carries, for example. Specific examples of the portable device include a mobile phone, a portable navigation device (PND), and the like. In particular, a device that can display a map around the current position can be suitably used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Charging equipment search system 2 Vehicle 3 Car equipment 4 Charging equipment 5 Charging equipment side equipment 7 Car battery 10 Charging device management part 12 Wireless communication part 14 Charging equipment information 30 Navigation part (navigation means)
32 Charging equipment searching unit (charging equipment searching means)
34 display unit 40 control unit 42 wireless communication unit (wireless communication means)
44 Battery remaining amount acquisition unit 47 Search timing setting information

Claims (6)

A charging facility search system comprising: a charging facility for charging the in-vehicle battery of a vehicle that travels using the power of the in-vehicle battery as a power source; and charging facility searching means for searching for the charging facility,
The charging facility searching means includes
Wireless communication means for directly wirelessly communicating with the charging facility mutually,
Charging characterized in that a wireless probe signal for requesting a response is transmitted from the wireless communication means and wirelessly communicates directly with the charging facility responding to the wireless probe signal to obtain position information of the charging facility. Equipment search system.   The charging equipment searching system according to claim 1, wherein the charging equipment searching means starts sending the wireless probe signal in accordance with a remaining amount of the in-vehicle battery.   The charging facility search system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the charging facility search means acquires an empty state indicating whether or not the charging facility is in use from the charging facility. Navigation means for displaying a current position of the charging facility searching means on a map;
4. The charging facility search system according to claim 1, wherein the navigation unit displays position information of the charging facility acquired by the charging facility search unit on the map. 5.   The charging facility search system according to claim 4, wherein the navigation means guides a charging facility that is currently available based on the availability. A charging facility search device for searching for a charging facility for charging the in-vehicle battery of a vehicle that travels using the power of the in-vehicle battery as a power source,
Wireless communication means for directly wirelessly communicating with the charging facility mutually,
The charging equipment searching apparatus characterized by sending out the wireless probe signal that requests a response and wirelessly communicating directly with the charging equipment that has responded to the wireless probe signal to obtain position information of the charging equipment.

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