JP2023018476A - Traffic flow control device and information display device - Google Patents

Abstract

To make it possible to control a traffic flow by a simple method.SOLUTION: A traffic flow control device includes a processing unit and a communication unit capable of communicating with a plurality of ground power feeding devices for transmitting power to a vehicle in a non-contact manner. In a case where an entry suppression route for suppressing entry of a vehicle from a branch point is generated among a plurality of routes branching at a branch point and merging at a junction point, the processing unit operates the ground power feeding device installed in a specific route so as to be able to transmit power to a vehicle traveling on at least one specific route different from the entry suppression route among the plurality of routes.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a traffic flow control device and an information display device.

In Patent Document 1, as a conventional traffic flow control device, a travel request for a detour route is transmitted to another vehicle (detour candidate vehicle) traveling on the scheduled travel route of the own vehicle, and in response to the travel request, A configuration is disclosed in which an incentive is given from one's own vehicle to another vehicle when the other vehicle travels on a detour route.

In Patent Document 2, using a transmission method such as magnetic coupling (electromagnetic induction), electric field coupling, magnetic resonance coupling (magnetic field resonance), and electric field resonance coupling (electric field resonance), from a ground power supply device provided on the ground, A contactless power supply system (Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer) that transmits electric power to a vehicle in motion without contact is disclosed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-085980 JP 2018-157686 A

However, in the conventional traffic flow control device, the exchange of communication between the own vehicle and the other vehicle tends to be complicated, and it is desired to be able to control the traffic flow by a simpler method.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to enable traffic flow to be controlled by a simple method.

In order to solve the above problems, a traffic flow control device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a processing unit and a communication unit capable of communicating with a plurality of ground power supply devices that transmit electric power to vehicles in a contactless manner. When an entry-restricted route for which entry of a vehicle from a branch point is to be suppressed occurs among a plurality of routes that diverge at a branch point and join at a merging point, the processing unit restricts entry from among the plurality of routes. It is configured to operate the ground power feeding device installed on the specific route so that electric power can be transmitted to a vehicle traveling on at least one specific route different from the route.

Further, an information display device according to an aspect of the present invention includes an information display screen and a communication device that receives a signal from the outside. To display on an information display screen that power supply during driving can be used on at least one specific route different from the entry-restricted route out of a plurality of routes when an entry-restricted route to be restricted from entering the vehicle from the outside is generated. When an information display instruction signal requesting is received, information corresponding to the content of the request is displayed on the information display screen.

According to these aspects of the present invention, a simple method that does not require communication between vehicles guides a vehicle that wants to use power while driving to a specific route and suppresses the entry of the vehicle into the entry suppression route. Traffic flow can be properly controlled.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a contactless power supply system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating detailed configurations of the ground power feeding device and the vehicle. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a power transmission controller and equipment connected to the power transmission controller. FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle controller and devices connected to the vehicle controller. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the content of traffic flow distributed control. FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example of processing performed between the server and the ground power supply device, and between the server and the electronic bulletin board, in order to distribute the traffic flow. FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an example of processing according to the second embodiment of the present invention executed in the vehicle, server and ground power supply device.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals are given to the same constituent elements.

(First embodiment)
<Explanation of contactless power supply system>
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a contactless power supply system 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The contactless power supply system 100 according to the present embodiment includes a server 1, a plurality of ground power supply devices 2 continuously installed at predetermined intervals along a road, and power wirelessly transmitted from the ground power supply devices 2. and a plurality of vehicles 3 on which the power receiving device 5 (see FIG. 2) is mounted, and wireless power transmission is performed from the ground power feeding device 2 to the vehicle 3 by magnetic resonance coupling (magnetic field resonance). Particularly in this embodiment, the contactless power supply system 100 performs contactless power transmission from the ground power supply device 2 to the vehicle 3 while the vehicle 3 is running. Therefore, the ground power supply device 2 transmits electric power to the vehicle 3 in a contactless manner while the vehicle 3 is running, and the vehicle 3 receives power from the ground power supply device 2 in a contactless manner while the vehicle 3 is running. receive power at

In this specification, the term "running" means a state in which the vehicle is positioned on a road for running. The term "running" thus includes not only the situation in which the vehicle is actually running at any speed greater than zero, but also the situation in which it is stopped on the road, for example at a traffic light. On the other hand, even if the vehicle is located on the road, it is not included in running if it is parked or stopped, for example. Moreover, in the following description, the road on which the ground power supply device 2 is installed will be referred to as an "electrified road" as necessary.

The server 1 includes a server communication section 11 , a server storage section 12 and a server processing section 13 .

The server communication unit 11 has a communication interface circuit for connecting the server 1 to the network 6 via, for example, a gateway. The server 1 communicates with the ground feeding device 2 and the vehicle 3 via the server communication unit 11, and also communicates with the road traffic information center and electronic bulletin boards installed in various places as necessary.

The server storage unit 12 has a storage medium such as a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an optical recording medium, a semiconductor memory, etc., and stores various computer programs, data, and the like used for processing in the server processing unit 13 .

The server processing unit 13 has one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units) and their peripheral circuits. The server processing unit 13 executes various computer programs stored in the server storage unit 12 and centrally controls the overall operation of the server 1. The server processing unit 13 is, for example, a processor. The processing performed by the server processing unit 13, and by extension, the server 1 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating detailed configurations of the ground power supply device 2 and the vehicle 3 according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the ground power supply device 2 has a ground side communication device 71 , a power transmission device 4 , a power supply 21 and a power transmission controller 22 . The ground-side communication device 71, the power supply 21, and the power transmission controller 22 may be embedded in the road, or may be arranged in a place (including the ground) other than the road.

The ground side communication device 71 is configured to be able to communicate with the server 1 and the vehicle 3 . In this embodiment, the ground-side communication device 71 accesses the wireless base station 7 (see FIG. 1) that is connected to the network 6 (see FIG. 1) via a gateway or the like (not shown). It is connected to the network 6 via. As a result, wide-area wireless communication is performed between the ground-side communication device 71 and the server 1, and various types of information necessary for non-contact power supply to the vehicle 3, for example, are exchanged. Wide-area wireless communication is communication with a longer communication distance than narrow-area wireless communication, which will be described later. Specifically, the communication distance is, for example, 10 meters to 10 kilometers. As wide-area wireless communication, various types of wireless communication with long communication distances can be used. For example, communication conforming to any communication standard such as 3GPP, 4G, LTE, 5G, WiMAX, etc. established by IEEE is used.

The ground-side communication device 71 also performs direct short-range wireless communication with a vehicle-side communication device 72 mounted on each vehicle 3 and receives an approach signal transmitted from the vehicle-side communication device 72 . The approach signal is a signal for notifying that the vehicle 3 is approaching the ground power supply device 2, and prepares power transmission to the ground power supply device 2 that has received the approach signal via the ground side communication device 71. It is a signal to prompt. Note that narrow-range wireless communication is communication with a shorter communication distance than wide-area wireless communication, specifically, communication with a communication distance of less than 10 meters, for example. Various short-range wireless communications with short communication distances can be used as the short-range wireless communication. (registered trademark)) is used. Also, for example, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), DSRC (dedicated Short Range Communication), etc. are used as techniques for performing short-range wireless communication.

The power supply 21 supplies power to the power transmission device 4 . The power supply 21 is, for example, a commercial AC power supply that supplies single-layer AC power. The power supply 21 may be another AC power supply that supplies three-phase AC power, or may be a DC power supply such as a fuel cell.

The power transmission device 4 sends power supplied from the power supply 21 to the vehicle 3 . The power transmission device 4 has a power transmission side rectifier circuit 41 , an inverter 42 and a power transmission side resonance circuit 43 . In the power transmission device 4, the AC power supplied from the power supply 21 is rectified by the power transmission side rectifier circuit 41 and converted into a DC current. 43.

The power transmission side rectifier circuit 41 is electrically connected to the power supply 21 and the inverter 42 . The power transmission side rectifier circuit 41 rectifies the AC power supplied from the power supply 21 , converts it into DC power, and supplies the DC power to the inverter 42 . The power transmission side rectifier circuit 41 is, for example, an AC/DC converter.

The inverter 42 is electrically connected to the power transmission side rectifier circuit 41 and the power transmission side resonance circuit 43 . The inverter 42 converts the DC power supplied from the power transmission side rectifier circuit 41 into AC power (high frequency power) having a higher frequency than the AC power of the power supply 21 and supplies the high frequency power to the power transmission side resonance circuit 43 .

The power transmission resonance circuit 43 has a resonator composed of a coil 44 and a capacitor 45 . Various parameters of the coil 44 and the capacitor 45 (the outer diameter and the inner diameter of the coil 44, the number of turns of the coil 44, the capacitance of the capacitor 45, etc.) are determined so that the resonance frequency of the power transmission side resonance circuit 43 becomes a predetermined set value. be done. The predetermined set value is, for example, 10 kHz to 100 GHz, preferably 85 kHz defined by the SAE TIR J2954 standard as the frequency band for contactless power transmission.

The power transmission side resonance circuit 43 is arranged in the center of the lane through which the vehicle 3 passes so that the center of the coil 44 is located in the center of the lane. When the high-frequency power supplied from the inverter 42 is applied to the power transmission resonance circuit 43, the power transmission resonance circuit 43 generates an AC magnetic field for power transmission. In addition, when the power supply 21 is a DC power supply, the power transmission side rectifier circuit 41 may be omitted.

The power transmission controller 22 is, for example, a general-purpose computer, and performs various controls for the ground power supply device 2 . For example, power transmission controller 22 is electrically connected to inverter 42 of power transmission device 4 and controls inverter 42 to control power transmission by power transmission device 4 . The power transmission controller 22 also communicates with the server 1 and the vehicle 3 via the ground side communication device 71 . The vehicle 3 can be directly communicated with via the ground-side communication device 71 or indirectly via the server 1 from the ground-side communication device 71 .

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of the power transmission controller 22 and devices connected to the power transmission controller 22. As shown in FIG.

The power transmission controller 22 includes a communication interface 221 , a storage section 222 and a power transmission processing section 223 . The communication interface 221, storage unit 222 and power transmission processing unit 223 are connected to each other via signal lines.

The communication interface 221 has an interface circuit for connecting the power transmission controller 22 to various devices (for example, the inverter 42, the ground-side communication device 71, and the ground-side sensor 23, which will be described later) that configure the ground power supply device 2. The power transmission controller 22 communicates with various devices constituting the ground power supply device 2 via the communication interface 221 .

The storage unit 222 has a storage medium such as an HDD, an optical recording medium, or a semiconductor memory, and stores various computer programs, data, and the like used for processing in the power transmission processing unit 223 .

The power transmission processing unit 223 has one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units) and their peripheral circuits. The power transmission processing unit 223 executes various computer programs stored in the storage unit 222 and centrally controls the overall operation of the ground power supply device 2, and is, for example, a processor. For example, when the power transmission processing unit 223 and thus the power transmission controller 22 receives an approach signal via the ground-side communication device 71, the power transmission processing unit 223 can transmit power to the vehicle 3 when the vehicle 3 passes by. It controls the ground power supply device 2 .

A ground-side sensor 23 is connected to the power transmission controller 22 . The ground-side sensor 23 is, for example, a power transmission device current sensor that detects current flowing through various devices of the power transmission device 4 (in particular, the power transmission side resonance circuit 43, the inverter 42, and the power transmission side rectifier circuit 41). A power transmission device voltage sensor that detects the applied voltage, a power transmission device temperature sensor that detects the temperature of various devices of the power transmission device 4, a foreign object sensor that detects a foreign object on the road where the power transmission device 4 is embedded, and a power transmission device 4 embedded. It includes a biosensor that detects living organisms on the road. The output of ground-side sensor 23 is input to power transmission controller 22 .

Returning to FIG. 2 , the vehicle 3 has a vehicle-side communication device 72 , a power receiving device 5 , a motor 31 , a battery 32 , a power control unit (PCU) 33 and a vehicle controller 34 . The vehicle 3 according to the present embodiment is a battery electric vehicle (BEV) using only a battery 32 as a power source. Vehicle, or PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), and the type is not particularly limited.

The vehicle-side communication device 72 is configured to communicate with the server 1 and the ground power supply device 2 . In this embodiment, the vehicle communication device accesses the wireless base station 7 (see FIG. 1) connected to the network 6 (see FIG. 1) via a gateway or the like (not shown), thereby Connected to network 6 . As a result, wide-area wireless communication is performed between the vehicle-side communication device 72 and the server 1, and various types of information necessary for receiving contactless power supply from the ground power supply device 2, for example, are exchanged. At this time, information is exchanged between the vehicle 3 and the ground power supply device 2 via the server 1 .

Further, the vehicle-side communication device 72 directly performs short-range wireless communication with the ground-side communication device 71 of each ground power supply device 2 using a predetermined wireless communication line, and sends the above-described signal to each ground power supply device 2. Send a proximity signal.

The motor 31 is, for example, an AC synchronous motor and functions as an electric motor and a generator. When the motor 31 functions as an electric motor, the motor 31 is driven by electric power stored in the battery 32 as a power source. The output of the motor 31 is transmitted to the wheels 30 via a speed reducer and an axle. On the other hand, when the vehicle 3 decelerates, the motor 31 is driven by the rotation of the wheels 30, and the motor 31 functions as a generator to generate regenerative electric power.

The battery 32 is a rechargeable secondary battery, and is composed of, for example, a lithium ion battery, a nickel metal hydride battery, or the like. The battery 32 stores electric power necessary for running the vehicle 3 (for example, electric power for driving the motor 31). When the power received by the power receiving device 5 is supplied from the power transmitting device 4, the battery 32 is charged. Further, when the regenerated electric power generated by the motor 31 is supplied to the battery 32, the battery 32 is charged. When the battery 32 is charged, the state of charge (SOC) of the battery 32 is restored. Note that the battery 32 may be charged by an external power supply other than the ground power supply device 2 via a charging port provided on the vehicle 3 .

PCU 33 is electrically connected to battery 32 and motor 31 . The PCU 33 has an inverter, a boost converter and a DC/DC converter. The inverter converts the DC power supplied from the battery 32 into AC power and supplies the AC power to the motor 31 . On the other hand, the inverter converts AC power (regenerative power) generated by the motor 31 into DC power and supplies the DC power to the battery 32 . The boost converter boosts the voltage of battery 32 as necessary when electric power stored in battery 32 is supplied to motor 31 . The DC/DC converter steps down the voltage of the battery 32 when the electric power stored in the battery 32 is supplied to an electronic device such as a headlight.

The power receiving device 5 receives power from the power transmitting device 4 and supplies the received power to the battery 32 . The power receiving device 5 has a power receiving side resonance circuit 51 , a power receiving side rectifying circuit 54 and a charging circuit 55 .

The power receiving side resonance circuit 51 is arranged at the bottom of the vehicle 3 so as to be close to the road surface. The power reception side resonance circuit 51 has the same configuration as the power transmission side resonance circuit 43 and has a resonator composed of a coil 52 and a capacitor 53 . Various parameters of the coil 52 and the capacitor 53 (the outer diameter and the inner diameter of the coil 52, the number of turns of the coil 52, the capacitance of the capacitor 53, etc.) defined to match. If the amount of deviation between the resonance frequency of the power receiving side resonance circuit 51 and the resonance frequency of the power transmission side resonance circuit 43 is small, for example, the resonance frequency of the power receiving side resonance circuit 51 is ±20% of the resonance frequency of the power transmission side resonance circuit 43. Within the range, the resonance frequency of the power receiving side resonance circuit 51 does not necessarily have to match the resonance frequency of the power transmission side resonance circuit 43 .

When an AC magnetic field is generated by the power transmission side resonance circuit 43 when the power reception side resonance circuit 51 faces the power transmission side resonance circuit 43, the oscillation of the AC magnetic field occurs at the same resonance frequency as that of the power transmission side resonance circuit 43. It is transmitted to the resonating power receiving side resonance circuit 51 . As a result, an induced current flows through the power receiving side resonance circuit 51 due to electromagnetic induction, and an induced electromotive force is generated in the power receiving side resonance circuit 51 due to the induced current. That is, the power transmission side resonance circuit 43 transmits power to the power reception side resonance circuit 51 , and the power reception side resonance circuit 51 receives power from the power transmission side resonance circuit 43 .

The power receiving side rectifying circuit 54 is electrically connected to the power receiving side resonance circuit 51 and the charging circuit 55 . The power receiving side rectifying circuit 54 rectifies the AC power supplied from the power receiving side resonance circuit 51 , converts it into DC power, and supplies the DC power to the charging circuit 55 . The power receiving side rectifier circuit 54 is, for example, an AC/DC converter.

The charging circuit 55 is electrically connected to the power receiving side rectifying circuit 54 and the battery 32 . Specifically, it is connected to the battery 32 via a relay 38 . The charging circuit 55 converts the DC power supplied from the power receiving side rectifier circuit 54 to the voltage level of the battery 32 and supplies the voltage level to the battery 32 . When the power transmitted from the power transmitting device 4 is supplied to the battery 32 by the power receiving device 5, the battery 32 is charged. The charging circuit 55 is, for example, a DC/DC converter.

The vehicle controller 34 performs various controls of the vehicle 3 . For example, the vehicle controller 34 is electrically connected to the charging circuit 55 of the power receiving device 5 and controls the charging circuit 55 to control charging of the battery 32 with power transmitted from the power transmitting device 4 . The vehicle controller 34 is electrically connected to the PCU 33 and controls the PCU 33 so as to control power transfer between the battery 32 and the motor 31 . Furthermore, the vehicle controller 34 controls the vehicle-side communication device 72 .

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of the vehicle controller 34 and devices connected to the vehicle controller 34. As shown in FIG.

The vehicle controller 34 has a communication interface 341 , a storage section 342 and a vehicle processing section 343 . The communication interface 341, storage unit 342 and vehicle processing unit 343 are connected to each other via signal lines.

The communication interface 341 has an interface circuit for connecting the vehicle controller 34 to an in-vehicle network conforming to standards such as CAN (Controller Area Network). Vehicle controller 34 communicates with other devices via communication interface 341 .

The storage unit 342 has a storage medium such as an HDD, an optical recording medium, or a semiconductor memory, and stores various computer programs, data, and the like used for processing in the vehicle processing unit 343 .

The vehicle processing unit 343 has one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units) and their peripheral circuits. The vehicle processing unit 343 executes various computer programs stored in the storage unit 342 and comprehensively controls the overall operation of the vehicle 3. The vehicle processing unit 343 is, for example, a processor. For example, when the vehicle processing unit 343, and thus the vehicle controller 34, detects that the vehicle 3 is approaching an electrified road, it starts transmitting an approach signal via the vehicle-side communication device 72, and the vehicle 3 travels on the electrified road. The power receiving device 5 and the like are controlled so that power can be received from the ground power feeding device 2 when the ground power feeding device 2 is on.

The vehicle 3 also includes a GNSS receiver 35 , a storage device 36 , a plurality of vehicle-side sensors 37 , a relay 38 and an HMI device 39 . The GNSS receiver 35, storage device 36, vehicle-side sensor 37, relay 38 and HMI device 39 are electrically connected to the vehicle controller 34 via an in-vehicle network.

The GNSS receiver 35 detects the current position of the vehicle 3 (for example, the latitude and longitude of the vehicle 3) based on positioning information obtained from multiple (for example, three or more) positioning satellites. The output of the GNSS receiver 35 , ie the current position of the vehicle 3 detected by the GNSS receiver 35 is transmitted to the vehicle controller 34 .

The storage device 36 stores data. The storage device 36 includes, for example, an HDD, an SSD (Solid State Drive), or an optical recording medium. In this embodiment, the storage device 36 stores map information. The map information includes information such as installation position information of the ground power supply device 2 in addition to information on roads. Vehicle controller 34 acquires map information from storage device 36 . Note that the storage device 36 may not contain the map information. In this case, the vehicle controller 34 acquires the map information from outside the vehicle 3 (for example, the server 1) via the vehicle-side communication device 72. good too.

A vehicle-side sensor 37 detects the state of the vehicle 3 . In the present embodiment, the vehicle-side sensor 37 includes, as sensors for detecting the state of the vehicle 3, a speed sensor for detecting the speed of the vehicle 3, a battery temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the battery 32, various devices of the power receiving device 5 (especially , a power receiving device temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the power receiving side resonance circuit 51 and the power receiving side rectifying circuit 54), a battery current sensor that detects the charging current value and the discharging current value of the battery 32, and the current flowing through various devices of the power receiving device 5 It includes a power receiving device current sensor for detecting and a power receiving device voltage sensor for detecting voltage applied to various devices of the power receiving device 5 . The output of the vehicle-side sensor 37 is input to the vehicle controller 34 .

The relay 38 is arranged between the battery 32 and the power receiving device 5 to connect/disconnect the battery 32 and the power receiving device 5 . The power received by the power receiving device 5 is supplied to the battery 32 when the relay 38 is connected. However, when the relay 38 is cut off, no current flows from the power receiving device 5 to the battery 32, so the power receiving device 5 is substantially unable to receive power.

The HMI device 39 is an interface for exchanging information with vehicle occupants. The HMI device 39 according to this embodiment includes a display and a speaker for providing various types of information to the vehicle occupants, and a touch panel (or operation buttons) for the vehicle occupants to perform information input operations. The HMI device 39 transmits the input information input by the vehicle occupant via the in-vehicle network to various devices (for example, the EUC 34) that require the input information, and displays the information received via the in-vehicle network on the display. It is provided to vehicle occupants by displaying it.

<Traffic distribution measures>
Traffic congestion occurs on a road when the traffic demand on the road exceeds the traffic capacity of the road. A decrease in the travel speed of the vehicle 3 due to the occurrence of traffic congestion is a factor in increasing the carbon dioxide emissions, nitrogen oxide emissions, and particulate matter emissions of the vehicle 3 . Therefore, it is desirable to control the traffic flow so as to suppress congestion according to the current traffic demand or the traffic demand predicted in the future.

Therefore, in this embodiment, there are a plurality of routes that diverge at junctions and merge at confluence points, and among the plurality of routes, there are routes where traffic demand is excessive or is predicted to become excessive in the future. In some cases, the ground power supply device 2 installed on each route is controlled so as to suppress the entry of the vehicle 3 into the route, and the control content is changed to the vehicle 3 before passing the branch point. I made it possible to inform you about it.

The content of the traffic distribution control in this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 5, as a plurality of routes that branch at a branch point and join at a merging point, a first route where traffic congestion occurs, and a route that branches off from the branch point on the first route and joins again on the first route. A second path merging at the point is shown. The second route is, in other words, a detour route that bypasses the congested section on the first route.

Further, in FIG. 5, an electric bulletin board 80 is installed at a point before the branch point to provide information to the vehicle 3 passing through the point. The electronic bulletin board 80 includes an information display screen 81 and a communication device 82 capable of communicating with the server 1. When the communication device 82 receives an information display instruction signal transmitted from the server 1, the electronic bulletin board 80 displays information corresponding to the information display instruction signal. (for example, character information, image information, etc.) is configured to be displayed on the information display screen 81 .

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, when traffic congestion occurs on the first route (that is, when traffic demand on the first route is excessive), the congested section on the first route is A detourable second route is searched. The second route is a route having an electrified road in at least part of its section. In this embodiment, in order to prevent the vehicles 3 traveling before the junction from entering the first route, power is supplied to the vehicles 3 traveling on the electrified road on the second route. At least the ground power feeding device 2 on the second route is operated so that In addition, the electronic bulletin board 80 is caused to display information to the effect that power supply while traveling can be used on the second route.

As for how to operate the ground power supply device 2 on the second route, the vehicle 3 that wants to use the power supply while driving is guided from the first route to the second route, thereby dispersing the traffic flow to the first route. It is not particularly limited as long as it is an operation mode capable of suppressing traffic congestion.

For example, if no electrified road is installed on the first route, the ground power supply device 2 on the second route is simply switched so that power can be transmitted to the vehicle 3 traveling on the electrified road on the second route. It should work.

In addition, preferential treatment can be provided for vehicles 3 traveling on the second route in order to positively guide vehicles 3 that want to use power supply while traveling to the second route.

As a preferential measure, for example, if an electrified road is installed on the first route, the amount of electric power obtained when driving on the electrified road on the second route is used for driving on the electrified road on the first route. It is possible to operate the ground power supply devices 2 installed on each of the first route and the second route so that the amount of electric power obtained is greater than that obtained in the case of Specifically, the ground power supply device 2 installed on the first route is operated so as not to transmit power to the vehicle 3 traveling on the electrified road on the first route, while the electrified road on the second route is operated. It is possible to operate the ground feeding device 2 installed on the second route so as to transmit electric power to the vehicle 3 traveling on the route.

Further, the power supply units are installed on each of the first route and the second route so that the amount of power that can be received from the ground power supply device 2 on the second route is greater than the amount of power that can be received from the ground power supply device 2 on the first route. ground power supply device 2 can be operated. In this case, for example, if the power that can be supplied to each electrified road of the first route and the second route (power supplied from a power plant, etc.) is limited, the power that was planned to be supplied to the first route to the second path, the amount of power that can be received from the ground power supply device 2 on the second path can be made larger than the amount of power that can be received from the ground power supply device 2 on the first path.

Further, for example, regardless of whether or not an electrified road is installed on the first route, the ground power supply on the second route is set so that the amount of power that can be received from the ground power supply device 2 on the second route is larger than usual. The power supply device 2 may be operated. The term "normal time" as used herein means that there is no congestion on the first route and that there is no need to guide the vehicle 3 from the first route to the second route.

In addition to such preferential treatment regarding electric energy, it is also possible to take preferential treatment such as reducing the charge for receiving electric power when traveling on the electrified road of the second route, for example.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example of processing executed between the server 1 and the ground power supply device 22 and between the server 1 and the electronic bulletin board 80 in order to distribute the traffic flow.

In step S1, the server 1 determines, based on road traffic information received from, for example, an external road traffic information center, whether there is a route for which traffic demand is excessive or is predicted to become excessive in the future. . Such a route is hereinafter referred to as an "approach suppression route". The server 1 advances to the process of step S2 when there is an entry suppression route. On the other hand, the server 1 terminates the current process when there is no entry suppression route. The server 1 periodically receives road traffic information.

In step S2, the server 1 refers to the map information and sets, as a specific route, a route including an electrified road in at least a part of the detour routes that can bypass the restricted entry route. The start point and end point of the specific route are each set on the entry suppression route.

In step S3, the server 1 supplies power to each ground power supply device 2 installed on the specific route so that the vehicle 3 can use power supply while traveling on the electrified road on the specific route. Send readiness instructions. In addition, if there is an electrified road on the entry-restricted route, the server 1 prevents the vehicle 3 from using power supply while driving even if the vehicle 3 travels on the electrified road on the entry-restricted route (or A power supply stop instruction is transmitted to each ground power supply device 2 installed on the approach suppression route so that the amount of power during medium power supply is less than that during normal power supply.

In step S4, the server 1 identifies at least one electronic bulletin board 80 installed in front of a branch point where the restricted entry route branches into the specific route, and the vehicle is traveling on the specific route with respect to the electronic bulletin board 80. An information display instruction signal for instructing display of information indicating that power supply is available is transmitted.

In step S5, the power transmission controller 22 of each ground power supply device 2 on the specific route that has received the power supply preparation instruction via the ground side communication device 71 transmits power to the vehicle 3 when the vehicle 3 passes by. The power transmission device 41 is controlled so that

In step S6, the power transmission controller 22 of each ground power supply device 2 on the entry suppression route that has received the power supply stop instruction via the ground side communication device 71 transmits power to the vehicle 3 even if the vehicle 3 has passed. The power transmission device 41 is controlled so as not to

In step S7, the electronic bulletin board 80 that has received the information display signal via the communication device 82 causes the information display screen 81 to display information to the effect that power supply during travel can be used on the specific route. At this time, the information display screen 81 may also display other necessary information, such as information indicating that power supply while driving cannot be currently used on the restricted entry route, or information indicating that driving on a specific route is recommended. .

The server 1 (traffic flow control device) according to the present embodiment described above includes a server processing unit 13 (processing unit) and a server communication unit capable of communicating with a plurality of ground power supply devices 2 that transmit power to the vehicle 3 in a contactless manner. 11 (communication unit).

Then, the server processing unit 13 selects an entry suppression route (for example, a first route) for suppressing the entry of the vehicle 3 from the branch point among a plurality of routes that branch at the branch point and join at the junction. is a ground power supply device 2 installed on a specific route so as to transmit electric power to a vehicle 3 that has traveled on at least one specific route (for example, a second route) different from the entry suppression route among a plurality of routes. configured to operate The restricted approach route is specifically a road on which traffic demand is excessive, or a road on which traffic demand is expected to become excessive in the future.

As a result, if the traffic demand on the restricted approach route is excessive (i.e., traffic congestion is occurring on the restricted approach route), or if it is predicted that the traffic demand on the restricted approach route will become excessive in the future (i.e., the When congestion is expected on the restricted route), a simple method that does not require communication between vehicles guides the vehicle 3 desiring to use power supply while driving to a specific route, and directs the vehicle 3 to the restricted route. entry can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to alleviate traffic congestion occurring on the restricted entry route or suppress the occurrence of traffic congestion on the restricted entry route.

For example, the server processing unit 13 controls the specific route so that the amount of power obtained when traveling the specific route is greater than the amount of power obtained when traveling the specific route when the entry suppression route does not occur. can operate the ground power supply device 2 installed in. This makes it possible to positively guide the vehicle 3 that wants to use power supply while traveling to the specific route.

In addition, the server processing unit 13 may set each of the specific route and the entry suppression route so that, for example, the amount of power obtained when traveling the specific route is greater than the amount of power obtained when traveling the entry suppression route. The installed ground power supply device 2 can be operated. At this time, the server processing unit 13 operates the ground power supply device 2 installed on the restricted entry route so as not to transmit electric power to the vehicle 3 traveling on the restricted entry route, thereby charging the battery 32 in particular. A vehicle 3 with a low rate SOC can be actively guided to a specific route.

Further, the electronic bulletin board 80 (information providing device) according to the present embodiment includes an information display screen 81 and a communication device 82 that receives signals from the outside, and includes a plurality of routes that branch at branch points and join at confluence points. Information display indicating that, when an entry-restricted route for which entry of the vehicle 3 from a branch point is to be suppressed occurs, power supply while driving can be used on at least one specific route that is different from the entry-restricted route among the plurality of routes. When an information display instruction signal requesting display on the screen 81 is received, the information display screen 81 is configured to display information corresponding to the content of the request.

As a result, it is possible to guide the vehicle 3 desiring to use power supply while traveling to the specific route and suppress the entry of the vehicle 3 into the entry suppression route by a simple method that does not require communication between vehicles. Therefore, when congestion occurs on the restricted entry route, or when congestion is expected to occur on the restricted entry route, the congestion occurring on the restricted entry route is alleviated, or the congestion on the restricted entry route is reduced. can be suppressed.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the invention will be described. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the preferential treatment for the vehicle 3 traveling on the specific route. The difference will be mainly described below.

In this embodiment, the following preferential treatment is given to the vehicle 3 traveling on the specific route. Specifically, when the vehicle 3 travels on the specific route, based on the information about the destination of the vehicle 3, the charging rate SOC of the vehicle 3 at the confluence point of the entry suppression route and the specific route is The ground power feeding device 2 installed on the specific route is operated so that the charging rate is equal to or higher than the charging rate necessary to reach the destination from the point.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an example of processing according to the present embodiment executed by the vehicle 3, server 1, and ground power supply device 22. FIG.

In step S11, the vehicle controller 34 transmits vehicle information of the vehicle 3 (own vehicle) to the server 1 by wide area wireless communication. The vehicle information includes, for example, information on the ID, position, destination, and charging rate SOC of the vehicle 3 .

In step S12, when the server 1 receives the vehicle information, it determines whether the transmission source vehicle 3 that has transmitted the vehicle information is traveling on a specific route. The server 1 performs the process of step S13 if the transmission source vehicle 3 is traveling on the specific route. On the other hand, if the transmission source vehicle 3 is not traveling on the specific route, the server 1 terminates this process.

In step S13, the server 1 calculates the charging rate SOC1 necessary for the transmission source vehicle 3 to reach the destination from the confluence point of the restricted entry route and the specific route based on the information regarding the destination of the transmission source vehicle 3. calculate.

In step S14, based on the information about the charging rate SOC of the transmission source vehicle 3, the server 1 changes the charging rate SOC of the transmission source vehicle 3 at the junction from each ground power supply device 2 capable of making the charging rate SOC1. (target power supply amount for the transmission source vehicle 3) is calculated, and power supply information including information on the ID of the transmission source vehicle 3 and the target power supply amount for the transmission source vehicle 3 is transmitted to the ground power supply device 2 on the specific route. .

In step S15, when the ground power supply device 2 receives the power supply information via the ground side communication device 71, it registers the received power supply information in the power supply list. The power supply list is a list in which the target power supply amount for each vehicle 3 is associated with the ID of each vehicle 3 .

In step S16, when the vehicle controller 34 detects that it has approached the ground power supply device 2 based on, for example, the positional information of the own vehicle 3 and the map information, it transmits an approach signal to the ground power supply device 2 by short-range wireless communication. do.

In step S17, the power transmission controller 22 of each ground power supply device 2 on the specific route that has received the approach signal via the ground-side communication device 71 confirms the ID of the source vehicle 3 included in the approach signal, and confirms the ID of the source vehicle 3. 3 passes by, the power transmission device 41 is controlled so that the amount of power supplied to the source vehicle 3 becomes the target amount of power supplied to the source vehicle 3 registered in the power supply list.

According to the present embodiment described above, when the vehicle 3 travels on the specific route, the server processing unit 13, based on the information regarding the destination of the vehicle 3, determines the destination at the confluence point of the entry suppression route and the specific route. The ground power feeding device 2 installed on the specific route is operated so that the charging rate SOC of the vehicle 3 becomes equal to or higher than the reaching charging rate necessary for the vehicle 3 to reach the destination from the junction.

As a result, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained, and in addition, when the vehicle 3 travels on the specific route, the power supply amount can be appropriately controlled according to the destination of each vehicle 3 .

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above embodiments merely show a part of application examples of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the specific configurations of the above embodiments. do not have.

For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, an electronic bulletin board located in front of a branch point displays information indicating that power supply while driving can be used on a specific route. Information may be provided to the driver by communicating with each vehicle 3 that is traveling, and using the HMI device 39 of each vehicle 3 to indicate that power supply while traveling can be used on a specific route. In this case, the HMI device 39 functions as an information display device.

1 Server (traffic control device)
2 ground feeding device 3 vehicle 11 server communication unit (communication unit)
13 server processing unit (processing unit)

Claims (7)

a processing unit;
a communication unit capable of communicating with a plurality of ground power supply devices that transmit electric power to the vehicle in a contactless manner;
A traffic flow control device comprising:
The processing unit is
When there is an entry-restricted route for which entry of a vehicle from the branching point is desired to be suppressed among a plurality of routes that diverge at a branch point and join at a merging point, the entry-restricted route among the plurality of routes. Operate the ground power supply device installed on the specific route so that power can be transmitted to the vehicle traveling on at least one specific route different from the
Traffic control device. The processing unit is
Installed on the specific route so that the amount of power obtained when traveling the specific route is greater than the amount of power obtained when traveling the specific route when the entry suppression route does not occur operating the ground power supply;
The traffic flow control device according to claim 1. The processing unit is
[0019] The above-mentioned power supply is installed on each of the specific route and the restricted entry route so that the amount of power obtained when traveling on the specific route is greater than the amount of power obtained when traveling on the restricted route. operating the ground power supply,
The traffic flow control device according to claim 1. The processing unit is
operating the ground power supply device installed on the restricted approach route so as not to transmit power to the vehicle traveling on the restricted approach route;
The traffic flow control device according to claim 3. The processing unit is
When the vehicle travels on the specific route, the charging rate of the vehicle at the merging point is required for the vehicle to reach the destination from the merging point based on the information regarding the destination of the vehicle. operating the ground power feeding device installed on the specific route so that the reaching charging rate is equal to or higher than
The traffic flow control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The restricted approach route is a road on which traffic demand is excessive, or a road on which traffic demand is expected to become excessive in the future.
A traffic flow control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. an information display screen;
a communication device that receives signals from the outside;
An information display device comprising
In a case where an entry-restricted route for which entry of a vehicle from the branch point is to be suppressed occurs among a plurality of routes that branch off at a branch point and join at a merging point, what is the entry-restricted route among the plurality of routes? When receiving an information display instruction signal requesting that the information display screen display that power supply while driving can be used on at least one different specific route, displaying information corresponding to the requested content on the information display screen;
Information display device.

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