JP2015031678A - Energy supply spot information estimation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an energy supply spot information estimation system which properly provides a user with information as to whether energy can be supplied or not, on an energy supply spot for supplying a vehicle with energy.SOLUTION: An energy supply spot information estimation system acquires energy supply information on energy supply of a vehicle and travel information on travel of the vehicle, from a plurality of vehicles, estimates supply availability information indicating whether energy can be supplied in an energy supply spot, on the basis of the acquired energy supply information and the travel information, and provides a user of the vehicle with the estimated supply availability information.

Description

  The present invention relates to an energy replenishment spot information estimation system for estimating information of energy replenishment spots for replenishing energy of vehicles.

  Based on the charging performance of the battery provided in the electric vehicle, there is known a technique for registering the location information of the charging facility where the charging is performed in map data and providing the registered location information of the charging facility to the user ( For example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2012-1118015 A

  However, in the method described in Patent Document 1, the information provided to the user includes information related to whether or not the battery can be charged in the charging facility, for example, information such as business hours and business days of the charging facility. Therefore, the user cannot determine which charging facility is actually available, and even if the user stops at the charging facility according to the provided information, the charging facility may not be used. There's a problem.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an energy replenishment spot information estimation system that can appropriately provide information regarding whether or not energy replenishment is possible to a user for an energy replenishment spot for replenishing the energy of a vehicle. It is.

  The present invention acquires energy replenishment information relating to vehicle energy replenishment and travel information relating to vehicle travel from a plurality of vehicles, and whether or not energy replenishment is possible at an energy replenishment spot based on the acquired energy replenishment information and travel information. The above-mentioned problem is solved by estimating replenishment availability information indicating the above and providing the estimated replenishment availability information to the user of the vehicle.

  According to the present invention, since it is possible to provide the user with information on whether or not energy supplementation is possible at the energy supplementation spot, the user can appropriately determine the energy supplementation spot that can actually be used. It can be used effectively.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an energy supplement spot information estimation system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for estimating the business hours of the charging facility using the energy supplement spot information estimation system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for estimating a business day and a closed day of a charging facility using the energy replenishment spot information estimation system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for estimating presence / absence of user limitation in a charging facility using the energy supplement spot information estimation system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for estimating the necessity of the use procedure in the charging facility using the energy supplement spot information estimation system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method of providing charging availability information of a charging facility to a user. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for estimating chargeability information of a charging facility. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for providing the estimated chargeability information to the user.

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

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an energy supplement spot information estimation system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the energy supplement spot information estimation system according to the present embodiment includes an information center 100, a vehicle 200 driven by a battery, and a charging facility 300. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 200 can communicate with the information center 100 and can exchange information with each other. In addition, the vehicle 200 is connected to the charging facility 300 so that the battery 208 provided in the vehicle 200 can be charged.

  In FIG. 1, the energy supplement spot information estimation system includes one information center 100, one vehicle 200, and one charging facility 300. However, in the present embodiment, the information center 100 is provided. A plurality of vehicles 200 and charging facilities 300 may be provided. In this case, each vehicle 200 can communicate with a plurality of information centers 100 to exchange information with each other, and each battery 200 is connected to a plurality of charging facilities 300 to charge a battery. be able to.

  First, the information center 100 in this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the information center 100 includes an information calculation unit 101, a communication unit 102, a reception processing unit 103, a probe database 104, a map database 105, a data extraction unit 106, and a transmission processing unit 107. It has. The information center 100 acquires the charging history information and the traveling history information of the vehicle 200 from each vehicle 200, and based on the acquired information, information such as business hours and business days in the charging facility 300 where the vehicle 200 is charged. This is a facility for estimating charge availability information related to charge availability and transmitting the estimated charge availability information of the charging facility 300 to the vehicle 200.

  The charging facility 300 is a facility for charging a battery provided in the vehicle 200, and includes a charging device 301 and a charging plug 302 as shown in FIG. By connecting the charging plug 302 to the charging connector 210 provided in the vehicle 200, the charging facility 300 can supply and charge power to the battery provided in the vehicle 200 by the charging device 301. . In the example shown in FIG. 1, the charging facility 300 is provided with one charging device 301 and one charging plug 302, but there are a plurality of charging devices 301 and charging plugs 302. May be.

  The communication unit 102 provided in the information center 100 is a device for transmitting and receiving information to and from the communication device 202 provided in the vehicle 200 by wireless communication. Specifically, first, communication unit 102 receives charging history information and traveling history information of vehicle 200 from communication device 202 provided in vehicle 200 by wireless communication.

  Here, the charging history information received by the communication unit 102 is information indicating a history of charging performed by the vehicle 200 at the charging facility 300. For example, the charging position information (latitude / longitude coordinate information or charging is performed). Information such as the name and ID of the implemented charging facility 300), information such as the date of charging, the charging start time, and the charging end time. Here, the charging start time indicates the time when the supply of electric power after the charging plug 302 of the charging facility 300 is connected to the vehicle 200 is started, and the charging end time indicates the supply of electric power is stopped. Indicates the time.

  Further, the travel history information received by the communication unit 102 includes information on the vehicle position, entry time to the charging facility 300, and exit time in the vehicle 200 at predetermined time intervals. Here, the information on the vehicle position at every predetermined time indicates information on the vehicle position acquired at a relatively short time such as several seconds to several tens of seconds. The entry time indicates the time when the vehicle 200 arrives at the charging facility 300, and the exit time indicates the time when the vehicle 200 leaves the charging facility 300.

  Then, the charging history information and the traveling history information of the vehicle 200 are transmitted from the communication device 202 provided in the vehicle 200 to the communication unit 102. The transmitted charging history information and traveling history information are received by the communication unit 102, and then stored and accumulated in the probe database 104 by the reception processing unit 103. The reception processing unit 103 processes the charging history information and the traveling history information transmitted from the vehicle 200 into a format necessary for storing the probe database 104 in the probe database 104.

  In addition, the communication unit 102 receives a charging facility information transmission request by wireless communication from the communication device 202 provided in the vehicle 200, and in response to the received charging facility information transmission request, Charging availability information, that is, information related to charging availability such as business hours and business days is transmitted. In this case, in addition to the charging availability information of the charging facility 300, the communication unit 102 includes facility information of the charging facility 300, for example, the name, position, and charging type of the charging facility 300 (for example, “rapid charging” or “100V”). Or “200V”) may be transmitted.

  In the present embodiment, such chargeability information and facility information of the charging facility 300 are stored in the map database 105 together with the map data, and are extracted from the map database 105 by the data extraction unit 106 and transmitted to the transmission processing unit 107. Is processed into a format suitable for transmission to the communication device 202 provided in the vehicle 200, and then transmitted by the communication unit 102.

  Note that the charge availability information of the charging facility 300 is estimated based on the charging history information and the traveling history information of the vehicle 200 and stored in the map database 105 by the information calculation unit 101 described later. The facility information of the charging facility 300 is acquired in advance from the charging facility 300 by the information center 100 and stored in the map database 105.

  The probe database 104 stores the charging history information and traveling history information of the vehicle 200 received by the communication unit 102 described above for each vehicle 200. For example, when a unique ID is assigned to the vehicle 200, the probe database 104 stores the charging history information and the traveling history information of the vehicle 200 for each ID of the vehicle 200.

  The map database 105 stores map data information, facility information of the charging facility 300, information of facilities other than the charging facility, and the like. Further, as described above, the map database 105 also stores chargeability information of the charging facility 300.

  The information calculation unit 101 includes, for example, a ROM that stores a program, a CPU that executes the program stored in the ROM, and a RAM that functions as an accessible storage device.

  Based on the charging history information and traveling history information of the vehicle 200 stored in the probe database 104, the information calculation unit 101 estimates chargeability information of the charging facility 300.

  The charge availability information of the charging facility 300 estimated by the information calculation unit 101 is information related to whether the vehicle 200 can be charged. For example, the charging facility 300 has business hours, business days and closed days, presence / absence of user limitation, This includes information on the necessity of use procedures.

  The user limitation in the charging facility 300 indicates that the charging facility 300 can be used only by a specific vehicle 200 or a user. Examples of the charging facility 300 having a user limitation include groups such as companies. And charging facilities that are restricted to use only by members of the organization, and charging facilities that can be used only by members of a specific association.

  In addition, the usage procedure in the charging facility 300 indicates a procedure necessary for starting the use of the charging facility 300. As the charging facility 300 having the usage procedure, for example, personal information or the like is given in a predetermined form at the start of use. Charging facilities that need to be filled in, and charging facilities that need to answer questionnaires at the start of use.

  Here, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for estimating the business hours as the chargeability information of the charging facility 300 by the information calculation unit 101. In the present embodiment, when estimating the business hours of the charging facility 300, the information calculation unit 101 first identifies the charging facility 300 that is a target for estimating the business hours, and corresponds to the identified charging facility 300. Charging history information is extracted from information stored in the probe database 104. Specifically, the charging history information of the vehicle 200 includes information on a position where the vehicle 200 has been charged (such as latitude / longitude coordinate information, or the name and ID of the charging facility 300 that has performed charging). Therefore, the information calculation unit 101 extracts the charging history information of the vehicle 200 that has been charged at the specified charging facility 300 based on such position information.

  Next, the information calculation unit 101 extracts information on the start time of charging performed by the vehicle 200 from the extracted charging history information, and based on the extracted information, as shown in FIG. Count the number of charge. FIG. 2 shows the result of counting the number of times of charging a plurality of vehicles 200 for each predetermined time zone for a certain charging facility 300.

  And the information calculating part 101 estimates the time slot | zone whose charge frequency is more than a predetermined frequency based on the information of the charge frequency totaled for every predetermined time slot | zone as the business hours of the charging facility 300, and the charge frequency | count is The time zone that is less than the predetermined number of times is estimated to be outside the business hours of the charging facility 300. The predetermined number of times is not particularly limited, and an arbitrary number can be set.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the number of times of charging each vehicle 200 is counted every hour, and when the predetermined number of times is set to 1, the time from 9:00 to 21:00 is Since the number of times of charging by the vehicle 200 is one or more times, it is estimated that the business hours of the charging facility 300 are from 9:00 to 21:00. On the other hand, the time from 0 o'clock to 9 o'clock and the time from 21 o'clock to 24 o'clock are less than one charge by the vehicle 200 (the number of times of charge is 0). Estimated to be out of time.

  Thereby, in this embodiment, since the information on the business hours estimated about the charging facility 300 can be provided to the user, the user refers to the information on the business hours of the provided charging facility 300. The actually available charging facility 300 can be appropriately determined, and the charging facility 300 can be used effectively.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method in which the information calculation unit 101 estimates a business day and a closed day as chargeability information of the charging facility 300. In the present embodiment, when estimating the business day and the closed day of the charging facility 300, first, the charging facility 300 that is a target for estimating the business day and the closed day is specified, and the specified charging facility 300 is supported. Charging history information is extracted from information stored in the probe database 104.

  Next, the information calculation unit 101 extracts information on the date on which charging was performed by the vehicle 200 from the extracted charging history information, and based on the extracted information, as shown in FIG. Tally. FIG. 3 shows the result of counting the number of times of charging the plurality of vehicles 200 for each day of the week for a certain charging facility 300.

  And the information calculation part 101 estimates the day of the week whose charging frequency is more than the predetermined number as the business day of the charging facility 300 based on the information of the charging frequency counted for each day of the week, and the charging frequency is less than the predetermined frequency It is estimated that the day of the week is a holiday of the charging facility 300. The predetermined number of times is not particularly limited, and an arbitrary number can be set.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, when the predetermined number of times is set to one, since the number of times of charging by the vehicle 200 is one or more from Monday to Saturday, it is a business day of the charging facility 300. Estimated. On the other hand, on Sunday, since the number of times of charging by the vehicle 200 is less than 1 (the number of times of charging is 0), it is estimated that the charging facility 300 is closed.

  Thereby, in this embodiment, since it is possible to provide the user with information on business days and closed days estimated for the charging facility 300, the user can provide information on the business days and closed days of the provided charging facility 300. By referring to, it is possible to appropriately determine the charging facility 300 that can actually be used, and it is possible to effectively use the charging facility 300.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 described above, by counting the number of times of charging by the vehicle 200 for each day of the week, a day of the week when the number of times of charging is less than a predetermined number is displayed on a regular holiday every week at the charging facility 300. Can be estimated as Therefore, according to the present embodiment, information on weekly regular holidays of the charging facility 300 can be provided to the user, and the user can use the charging facility 300 more effectively.

  In this case, in order to reduce the estimation load by the information calculation unit 101, it is possible to estimate only one of business days and closed days for the charging facility 300.

  Alternatively, in FIG. 3 described above, an example in which the number of times of charging by the vehicle 200 is tabulated for each day of the week has been shown, but in this embodiment, such tabulation is tabulated for each day regardless of the day of the week. Also good. In this case, for example, when the number of times of charging in the morning in the day is less than a predetermined number based on the information on the number of times of real-time charging that is counted every day, that day is a closed day of the charging facility 300. Can be estimated. Thereby, the information calculation part 101 can estimate not only the regular holiday of the week of the charging facility 300 but also the temporary holiday that occurs suddenly.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for estimating whether or not there is a user limitation as the chargeability information of the charging facility 300 by the information calculation unit 101. In this embodiment, when estimating the presence / absence of user limitation in the charging facility 300, the information calculation unit 101 first identifies and identifies the charging facility 300 that is a target for estimating the presence / absence of user limitation. Charging history information and traveling history information corresponding to the charging facility 300 are extracted from information stored in the probe database 104.

  Next, the information calculation unit 101 extracts information on the number of times the vehicle 200 has visited the charging facility 300 and the number of times of charging at the charging facility 300 from the extracted charging history information and travel history information, and based on the extracted information As shown in FIG. 4, for each vehicle 200 that stops at the charging facility 300, the number of times of charging at the charging facility 300 is totaled. FIG. 4 shows the result of counting the number of times of charging at each charging facility 300 for each vehicle 200 for each vehicle 200 (vehicles a to n) that stopped at a certain charging facility 300.

  Then, based on the information on the number of times of charging counted for each vehicle 200, the information calculation unit 101 charges the charging facility 300 when there are more than a predetermined number of vehicles that have not been charged even though it has stopped at the charging facility 300. It is estimated that the facility 300 is limited to users. The predetermined number is not particularly limited, and an arbitrary number can be set.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, when the predetermined number is set to five, the vehicles c, d, e, h, k, l, m among the vehicles a to n that have stopped at the charging facility 300. Since the seven vehicles 200 of the vehicle are charged zero times, there are five or more vehicles 200 that have not been charged even though they stopped at the charging facility 300. Presumes that there is a user limitation.

  Thereby, in this embodiment, since the information of the presence or absence of the user limitation estimated about the charging facility 300 can be provided to a user, the user is the information on the presence or absence of the user limitation in the provided charging facility 300. By referring to, it is possible to appropriately determine the charging facility 300 that can actually be used, and it is possible to effectively use the charging facility 300.

  When estimating the user limitation in the charging facility 300, it is preferable to extract information during the business hours of the charging facility 300 as the information on the number of times the vehicle 200 has visited and the number of charging times. As a result, among the vehicles 200 that stopped at the charging facility 300, the vehicle 200 that could not be charged because the charging facility 300 was limited to the user and the vehicle 200 that could not be charged because the charging facility 300 was out of business hours. And the accuracy of estimating the presence / absence of user limitation in the charging facility 300 is improved.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for estimating the necessity / unnecessity of the use procedure as the charge availability information of the charging facility 300 by the information calculation unit 101. In this embodiment, when estimating the necessity of the usage procedure in the charging facility 300, the information calculation unit 101 first identifies and identifies the charging facility 300 that is a target for estimating the necessity of the usage procedure. Charging history information and traveling history information corresponding to the charging facility 300 are extracted from information stored in the probe database 104.

  Next, the information calculation unit 101 extracts information on the arrival time of the vehicle 200 at the charging facility 300 and the charging start time at the charging facility 300 from the extracted charging history information and traveling history information. Then, based on the extracted information, the information calculation unit 101, for each charging facility 300, for each charging facility 300, the average time from the arrival of each vehicle 200 to the charging facility 300 until the start of charging, that is, The average value of the difference between the arrival time and the charging start time is calculated as the average charging start time. FIG. 5 shows the average charging start time calculated for each charging facility 300 for a plurality of charging facilities 300 (facility a to f).

  Then, based on the average charging start time calculated for each charging facility 300, the information calculation unit 101 estimates that the charging facility 300 whose average charging start time is equal to or longer than a predetermined time is the charging facility 300 that requires a use procedure. To do. The predetermined time is not particularly limited, and an arbitrary time can be set.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 5, when the predetermined time is set to 4 minutes, among charging facilities a to f, charging facilities c and d have an average charging start time of 4 minutes or more. , Presuming that usage procedures are necessary.

  Thereby, in this embodiment, since the information of the necessity of the use procedure estimated about the charging facility 300 can be provided to a user, the user is the information of the necessity of the use procedure in the provided charging facility 300. By referring to, it is possible to appropriately determine the charging facility 300 that can actually be used, and it is possible to effectively use the charging facility 300.

  In the present embodiment, the information calculation unit 101 estimates the charge availability information of the charging facility 300 as described above, and stores the estimated charge availability information of the charging facility 300 in the map database 105.

  When the information center 100 receives a charging facility information transmission request by wireless communication from the communication device 202 provided in the vehicle 200, the information center 100 stores the charging facility information transmission request in the map database 105. The stored charging capability information of the charging facility 300 is transmitted. Specifically, the information center 100 uses the transmission processing unit 107 to convert the charging facility 300 information stored in the map database 105 into a format suitable for transmission to the communication device 202 provided in the vehicle 200. After the processing, the communication unit 102 transmits the data to the communication device 202 provided in the vehicle 200.

  In the present embodiment, the transmitted chargeability information of the charging facility 300 is provided to the user by video display on the display 213 provided in the vehicle 200 or voice guidance by the speaker 214. Here, FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method of providing the user with the charge availability information of the charging facility 300 using the display 213 provided in the vehicle 200.

  In FIG. 6, as information on whether or not the charging facility 300 can be charged, information on business hours, business days and closed days, presence / absence of user limitation, and necessity / unnecessity of usage procedures is displayed. In addition, the map database 105 The charging type information is displayed on the basis of the facility information of the charging facility 300 stored in FIG.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 6A, on the display 213 provided in the vehicle 200, the charge type “rapid”, the business hours “(estimated) 9: 00 to 19:00”, and the regular holiday “(estimated) ) "Tuesday", user-limited "(estimated) present", and usage procedure "(estimated) present". In this embodiment, by displaying (estimated) on the information estimated by the information calculation unit 101, the user is appropriately informed that the information displayed on the display 213 is estimated information. be able to.

  Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6 (B), on the display 213 provided in the vehicle 200, the charge type “normal (200V)”, the business hours “may be unavailable at night”, the regular holiday “Wednesday is closed “Possibility of the day”, “Possibility possible” for users only, and “Probability of use” can be displayed. In this case, as in FIG. 6A described above, the information estimated by the information calculation unit 101 is not an assertive expression, but is estimated information such as “possibly unavailable at night”. Is displayed so that it can be distinguished.

  In the present embodiment, the information center 100 may acquire the charging availability information of the charging facility 300 from the charging facility 300 in advance. In this case, the information center 100 may acquire the charging availability information acquired from the charging facility 300 or the like. The chargeability information estimated by the information calculation unit 101 is displayed on a display 213 provided in the vehicle 200 in a manner distinguishable from each other. For example, when the information center 100 acquires information on the business hours of the charging facility 300 from the charging facility 300 by wireless communication or the like, the business hours “9:00 to 19:00” are displayed on the display 213. In this way, the display is determined so that it can be distinguished from the chargeability information estimated by the information calculation unit 101.

  Here, in this embodiment, when the charge availability information of the charging facility 300 is received from the charging facility 300 or the like, the information calculation unit 101 estimates the same item information as the received charge availability information. It does not have to be done. For example, when the information center 100 acquires information on the business day and regular holiday of the charging facility 300 from the charging facility 300 by wireless communication or the like, the information calculation unit 101 displays the business day and regular holiday in the charging facility 300. It is not necessary to estimate the day. Thereby, in this embodiment, while being able to provide a user with the more accurate chargeability information acquired from the charging facility 300 etc., the estimation load by the information calculation part 101 can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, when the accuracy of the chargeability information estimated by the information calculation unit 101 is high, for example, charging is performed based on a sufficient amount of charge history information and travel history information acquired from a large number of vehicles 200. When the availability information is estimated, the charge availability information estimated by the information calculation unit 101 may be displayed on the display 213 in an assertive expression.

  On the other hand, FIG. 6C shows an example in which the charge availability information acquired in advance from the charging facility 300 or the like is displayed. On the display 213 provided in the vehicle 200, the charge type “rapid”, business hours are shown. Charging permission / inhibition information is displayed in an assertive expression such as “8:00 to 20:00”, regular holiday “Thursday”, user-limited “none”, and usage procedure “none”.

  Next, the vehicle 200 in this embodiment is demonstrated. The vehicle 200 is a vehicle driven by a battery 208. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle controller 201, a communication device 202, a GPS (Global Positioning System) 203, a vehicle speed sensor 204, a gyro sensor 205, A map database 206, a memory 207, a battery 208, a charger 209, a charging connector 210, a charge control controller 211, a battery control controller 212, a display 213, and a speaker 214 are provided. These are connected by a CAN (Controller Area Network) or other vehicle-mounted LAN, and exchange information with each other.

  The vehicle 200 connects the charging plug 302 provided in the charging facility 300 to the charging connector 210, and instructs the charging facility 300 to supply power to the charging facility 300 by the charging control controller 211. Can be supplied with power. The vehicle 200 can charge the battery 208 by controlling the charger 209 with the charge controller 211.

  Specifically, the charging controller 211 converts the power supplied from the charging facility 300 into power suitable for charging by a charger 209 including an inverter and a DC / DC converter and supplies the power to the battery 208. Thus, the battery 208 can be charged.

  At this time, the vehicle 200 adjusts the amount of charge of the battery 208 by the battery control controller 212. Specifically, the battery control controller 212 detects the voltage and current of the battery 208 using a voltage sensor and current sensor (not shown), and based on the detected voltage and current, the SOC (State of Charge) of the battery 208 is detected. Ask for. Then, the battery control controller 212 monitors the SOC of the battery 208 during charging, and executes a process of terminating the charging when the battery 208 is fully charged or charged until the target SOC is reached.

  The communication device 202 provided in the vehicle 200 is a device for transmitting and receiving information to and from the communication unit 102 provided in the information center 100 by wireless communication. Specifically, first, the communication device 202 transmits charging history information and travel history information to the information center 100 in response to a command from the vehicle controller 201. Note that the charging history information and the traveling history information of the vehicle 200 are periodically transmitted by the communication device 202 at a predetermined timing, for example. Alternatively, the charging history information and the traveling history information of the vehicle 200 may be transmitted at a preset timing such as a timing at which the battery of the vehicle 200 is charged.

  In addition, the communication device 202 transmits a charging facility information transmission request to the information center 100 in response to a command from the vehicle controller 201. The charging facility information transmission request is transmitted to the information center 100 in order to request charging availability information and facility information of the charging facility 300. For example, the charging facility information transmission request is performed at a regular timing such as once a day. Sent. Alternatively, the charging facility information transmission request may be transmitted at a timing desired by the user when the user instructs the vehicle control controller 201 via the display 213 or the like.

  In the charging facility information transmission request, conditions for the charging facility 300 may be specified so that the information center 100 transmits charging permission information and facility information only for the specific charging facility 300.

  Conditions for the charging facility 300 include, for example, conditions relating to chargeability information such as being open at a predetermined time, being open on a predetermined day, being not limited to a user, and not requiring a use procedure. Can be set. Alternatively, as a condition of the charging facility 300, a condition regarding a position such as being within a predetermined distance from the current position of the host vehicle or being within an arbitrary area designated by the user is set. You can also. Furthermore, as the condition of the charging facility 300, a condition regarding newness of information such as whether the chargeability information or the facility information is estimated, acquired, or updated within the most recent predetermined period is set. May be.

  In response to such a charging facility information transmission request, when the charging capability information or facility information of the charging facility 300 is transmitted from the communication unit 102 provided in the information center 100, the communication device 202 transmits The received chargeability information and facility information are received.

  The vehicle control controller 201 includes, for example, a ROM that stores a program, a CPU that executes the program stored in the ROM, and a RAM that functions as an accessible storage device.

  The vehicle controller 201 acquires the charging history information and the traveling history information of the host vehicle, and stores the acquired charging history information and the traveling history information in the memory 207.

  In addition, as described above, the charging history information of the own vehicle includes the charging position (latitude / longitude coordinate information, or information such as the name and ID of the charging facility 300), the charging execution date, Information on charging start time and charging end time is included.

  Here, the information of the position where the charging is performed is, for example, the position of the own vehicle when the charging facility 300 performs charging by receiving a radio wave transmitted from the positioning satellite by the GPS 203 provided in the vehicle 200. It may be obtained by detecting the information, or may be obtained by the charge controller 211 receiving information on the name and ID of the charging facility 300 by communicating with the charging facility 300. The information on the charging execution date, the charging start time, and the charging end time can be obtained, for example, when the charge controller 211 stores the date and time when power is supplied from the charging facility 300.

  In addition, as described above, the travel history information of the host vehicle includes information on the vehicle position in the vehicle 200 at every predetermined time, the entry time and the exit time to the charging facility 300, and the like.

  In the present embodiment, the vehicle history controller 201 uses the GPS 203, the vehicle speed sensor 204, the gyro sensor 205, and the map database 206 in which the map data and the location information of the charging facility 300 are stored as the travel history information. Can be obtained.

  Specifically, the vehicle controller 201 first acquires information on the current position of the host vehicle by the GPS 203, information on the vehicle speed of the host vehicle by the vehicle speed sensor 204, and information on the direction of the host vehicle by the gyro sensor 205. To do. Then, the vehicle controller 201 refers to the acquired information, the map data stored in the map database 206, and the position information of the charging facility 300, so that the vehicle position and the charging facility for each predetermined time in the vehicle 200 are as follows. Information on entrance time and exit time to 300 is acquired.

  Furthermore, the vehicle controller 201 transmits a charging facility information transmission request to the information center 100 by instructing the communication device 202. When the information center 100 transmits the charging facility information or facility information of the electric facility 300 in response to the charging facility information transmission request, the vehicle control controller 201 uses the communication device 202 to determine whether the electric facility 300 can be charged. Information and facility information are received and stored in the memory 207.

  At this time, in response to a request from the user, the vehicle controller 201 displays the chargeability information and facility information of the electric facility 300 stored in the memory 207 by video display on the display 213 and voice guidance by the speaker 214. , Provide to users.

  Next, an operation example of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for estimating chargeability information of the electric facility 300 using the energy replenishment spot information estimation system according to this embodiment.

  First, in step S <b> 101, the vehicle 200 acquires the charge history information and the travel history information of the host vehicle by the vehicle controller 201. Specifically, first, the vehicle control controller 201 uses the GPS 203 and the charge control controller 211 and the like, and a charging history including information on a charging position, a charging execution date, a charging start time, a charging end time, and the like. Get information. The vehicle controller 201 uses the GPS 203, the vehicle speed sensor 204, the gyro sensor 205, the map database 206, and the like to provide information on the vehicle position, entry time to the charging facility 300, and exit time in the vehicle 200. The travel history information including the above is acquired.

  In step S102, the vehicle 200 causes the vehicle control controller 201 to store the charge history information and the travel history information acquired in step S101 in the memory 207.

  In step S103, the vehicle 200 transmits the charging history information and the traveling history information stored in the memory 207 in step S102 to the information center 100 via the communication device 202 by the vehicle controller 201.

  In step S <b> 104, the information center 100 receives the charging history information and the traveling history information transmitted from the vehicle 200 by the communication unit 102. In this case, for each of the plurality of vehicles 200, when the processes of steps S101 to S103 described above are performed and the charging history information and the traveling history information of the plurality of vehicles 200 are transmitted, for each vehicle 200, The charging history information and the traveling history information are received.

  In step S105, the information center 100 causes the reception processing unit 103 to store the charge history information and the travel history information received in step S104 in the probe database 104. In this case, when charging history information and traveling history information are received from a plurality of vehicles 200 in step S104, charging history information and traveling history information are stored in probe database 104 for each vehicle 200.

  In step S <b> 106, the information center 100 estimates chargeability information of the charging facility 300 by the information calculation unit 101 based on the charge history information and the travel history information stored in the probe database 104 in step S <b> 105. Examples of the chargeability information estimated here include business hours, business days and closed days, whether or not users are limited, and information on necessity / unnecessity of use procedures in the charging facility 300. Here, in the charging facility 300, information on business hours, business days and closed days, presence / absence of user limitation, necessity of use procedures can be estimated by the method shown in FIGS. The information calculation unit 101 may estimate only one piece of information or may estimate two or more pieces of information.

  In step S <b> 107, the information center 100 determines whether or not the information calculation unit 101 has appropriately estimated chargeability information of the charging facility 300. Specifically, in step S106, the information calculation unit 101 determines whether at least one piece of information such as the business hours described above is estimated as the charge availability information of the charging facility 300. If it is determined in step S107 that the chargeability information of the charging facility 300 is appropriately estimated, the process proceeds to step S108. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S107 that the chargeability information of the charging facility 300 has not been properly estimated, this process ends.

  In step S <b> 108, the information center 100 causes the information calculation unit 101 to store the charge availability information of the charging facility 300 estimated in step S <b> 106 in the map database 105.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the information center 100 can estimate the charge availability information of the charging facility 300 based on the charge history information and the travel history information received from the vehicle 200.

  Next, a method for providing the user with chargeability information of the electric facility 300 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a method for providing the user with chargeability information of the electric facility 300 using the energy supplement spot information estimation system according to this embodiment.

  First, in step S <b> 201, the vehicle 200 transmits a charging facility information transmission request to the information center 100 via the communication device 202 by the vehicle controller 201. Note that the charging facility information transmission request is transmitted to the information center 100 in order to request charging availability information and facility information of the charging facility 300, and a regular timing such as once a day, or a user Is transmitted at a desired timing. In the charging facility information transmission request, the charging facility 300 condition may be set so that the charging center information is transmitted to the information center 100 only for the charging facility 300 existing in a specific area. Good.

  In step S <b> 202, the information center 100 receives the charging facility information transmission request transmitted from the vehicle 200 by the communication unit 102.

  In step S <b> 203, the information center 100 extracts chargeability information of the charging facility 300 from the map database 105 by the data extraction unit 106 in response to the charging facility information transmission request transmitted from the vehicle 200. For example, in the charging facility information transmission request transmitted from the vehicle 200, when the condition that the charging facility 300 is present in a specific area is set as the condition of the charging facility 300, the data extraction unit 106 Information on whether to charge the charging facility 300 according to various conditions is extracted.

  In step S204, the information center 100 processes the charge availability information of the charging facility 300 extracted in step S203 into a format suitable for transmission to the vehicle 200 by the transmission processing unit 107, and the vehicle 200 via the communication unit 102. Send to.

  In step S <b> 205, the vehicle 200 receives the charging availability information of the charging facility 300 transmitted from the information center 100 by the communication device 202 and provides it to the user by video display on the display 213 and voice guidance by the speaker 214. .

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the information center 100 estimates the charge availability information of the charging facility 300 based on the charging history information and the travel history information received from the vehicle 200, and the estimated charging availability of the charging facility 300 is determined. The information is provided to the user by transmitting it to the vehicle 200. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the user can appropriately determine the actually available energy supplement spot, and can effectively use the energy supplement spot.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, these embodiment was described in order to make an understanding of this invention easy, and was not described in order to limit this invention. Therefore, each element disclosed in the above embodiment is intended to include all design changes and equivalents belonging to the technical scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the present embodiment, chargeability information is also provided for charging facilities 300 for which no information is stored in either the map database 105 provided in the information center 100 or the map database 206 provided in the vehicle 200. Can be estimated. Specifically, in the charging history information of the vehicle 200, when the information on the position where the charging is performed does not correspond to the information of any charging facility 300 stored in the map database 105 and the map database 206, the information center 100 The information calculation unit 101 included in the device can estimate the chargeability information on the assumption that the charging facility 300 exists at the above position. At this time, the estimated chargeability information is stored in the map database 105 provided in the information center 100.

  In the above-described embodiment, the information calculation unit 101 provided in the information center 100 is the information acquisition means and the estimation means of the present invention, and the display 213 provided in the vehicle 200 is the provision means of the present invention. Respectively.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Information center 101 ... Information calculating part 102 ... Communication part 103 ... Reception processing part 104 ... Probe database 105 ... Map database 106 ... Data extraction part 107 ... Transmission processing part 200 ... Vehicle 300 ... Charging facility

Claims (11)

Information acquisition means for acquiring energy supplement information relating to vehicle energy supplement and travel information relating to vehicle travel from a plurality of vehicles;
Estimating means for estimating replenishment availability information indicating whether or not energy replenishment is possible for an energy replenishment spot for performing energy replenishment of a vehicle based on the energy replenishment information and the travel information acquired by the information acquisition means;
An energy replenishment spot information estimation system comprising: provision means for providing the user with the replenishment availability information estimated by the estimation means. In the energy supplement spot information estimation system according to claim 1,
The estimation means estimates at least the business hours of the energy supplement spot as the supplement availability information, wherein the energy supplement spot information estimation system is characterized. In the energy replenishment spot information estimation system according to claim 2,
The energy supplement information includes information on the start time of energy supplement performed on the vehicle at the energy supplement spot,
The estimation means detects a time zone in which the vehicle has been replenished energy based on the information on the start time included in the energy replenishment information, and based on the detected time zone, the business hours of the energy replenishment spot An energy replenishment spot information estimation system characterized by estimating In the energy replenishment spot information estimation system in any one of Claims 1-3,
The estimation means estimates at least a business day and / or a closed day of the energy supplement spot as the supplement availability information. In the energy supplement spot information estimation system according to claim 4,
The energy replenishment information includes information on the date on which energy replenishment was performed on the vehicle at the energy replenishment spot,
The estimation means refers to the date information included in the energy replenishment information, estimates a business day of the energy replenishment spot based on a date on which the vehicle is replenished, and the vehicle energy replenishment is performed. An energy replenishment spot information estimation system, wherein a closed day of the energy replenishment spot is estimated based on a date that is not performed. In the energy supplement spot information estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The estimation means estimates, as the replenishment availability information, at least whether or not the energy replenishment spot is a spot that can be used only by a specific vehicle. In the energy supplement spot information estimation system according to claim 6,
The energy supplement information includes information on the number of stops and energy supplement times for each vehicle at the energy supplement spot,
Based on the information on the number of stops and the number of times of energy replenishment included in the energy replenishment information, the estimation means has a predetermined number or more of vehicles that have not replenished energy despite having stopped at the energy replenishment spot. An energy replenishment spot information estimation system, wherein the energy replenishment spot is estimated to be an energy replenishment spot that can be used only by a specific vehicle. In the energy replenishment spot information estimation system according to claim 7,
The energy replenishment spot information estimation system, wherein the number of stoppages and the number of energy replenishments are the number of vehicle visits and the number of energy replenishments during the business hours of the energy replenishment spot. In the energy supplement spot information estimation system according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The estimation means estimates, as the replenishment availability information, at least whether or not the energy replenishment spot is a spot that requires a predetermined procedure for start of use. . In the energy supplement spot information estimation system according to claim 9,
The energy supplement information includes information on arrival time at the energy supplement spot and start time of energy supplement for each vehicle in the energy supplement spot,
Based on the arrival time and start time information included in the energy replenishment information, the estimating means determines the time from the time when the vehicle arrives at the energy replenishment spot to the time when the vehicle energy replenishment is started. An energy replenishment spot information estimation system, wherein the energy replenishment spot that is longer than a predetermined time is estimated to be an energy replenishment spot that requires a predetermined procedure to start use. From a plurality of vehicles, obtain energy supplement information regarding vehicle energy supplement and travel information regarding vehicle travel,
Based on the energy replenishment information and the travel information, for the energy replenishment spot for replenishing the energy of the vehicle, replenishment availability information indicating whether energy replenishment is possible is estimated,
An energy replenishment spot information estimation method, wherein the replenishment availability information is provided to a user.

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