JP2024047105A - Electric cart, electric cart management system, electric drive unit, electric drive unit management system, electric cart control method, and electric cart control program - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a technology for an electric cart that can reduce the possibility of the battery running out while the cart is in use. [Solution] An electric cart 100 of one embodiment includes a cart body that is moved by the user applying an operating force, a battery 22 that supplies power to an assisting unit 2 that is provided on the cart body and generates a driving force or a braking force according to the operating force applied to the cart body, an information acquisition unit 81 that acquires information about the battery 22, a storage unit 73 that stores the acquisition results of the information acquisition unit 81, an estimation unit 62 that estimates the battery capacity required by the assisting unit 2 for one movement of the cart body as an estimated battery capacity based on the information stored in the storage unit 73, and a notification unit 64 that issues a notification when the current remaining battery capacity of the battery 22 acquired by the information acquisition unit 81 is smaller than the estimated battery capacity estimated by the estimation unit 62. [Selected Figure] Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an electric cart, an electric cart management system, an electric drive unit, an electric drive unit management system, a control method for an electric cart, and a control program for an electric cart.

For example, Patent Document 1 describes a pushcart for transporting small children, etc., which has a rectangular parallelepiped carrying box body on which small children can sit. This pushcart has front running wheels attached to the front lower part of the carrying box body, rear running wheels attached to the rear lower part of the carrying box body, and a central running wheel attached to the central lower part of the carrying box plate. In addition, a handle is attached to the rear surface of the carrying box body to make it easier to push, and the carrying box body is moved by gripping this handle and pushing it.

Patent document 2 also describes a golf cart that has a means for detecting the state of the vehicle and a means for transmitting the detected state information.

Patent document 3 also describes an auxiliary device that uses battery power to generate power to assist a user and can be driven in multiple drive modes with different outputs.

JP 2013-203128 A JP 2002-085611 A JP 2018-043593 A

The inventor has come to the following realization: With a push cart for carrying multiple small children, the weight of the small children is added during transport, which increases the force required to push the cart and places a heavy burden on the user. It is therefore conceivable to provide a power unit that provides an auxiliary force (assist force) to the push cart, thereby reducing the burden of the user's manual pushing force. In this case, the mass of the cart increases by the amount of the power unit and the batteries that supply power to the power unit.

When the battery runs out while transporting a child with this cart, the cart loses its assist power, placing a heavy burden on the user. In particular, because the cart is equipped with a power unit and battery, the burden on the user when the battery runs out is greater than with a cart that does not have these. For this reason, it is desirable to reduce the possibility of the battery running out while the cart is in use. For these reasons, the inventors recognized that there is room for improvement in the inventions described in Patent Documents 1-3 from the perspective of reducing the possibility of the battery running out while the cart is in use.

The present invention was made in consideration of these problems, and one of its objectives is to provide technology for an electric cart that can reduce the possibility of the battery running out while the cart is in use.

In order to solve the above problems, an electric cart according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a cart body that is moved by the user applying an operating force, a battery that supplies power to an assisting unit that is provided on the cart body and generates a driving force or a braking force according to the operating force applied to the cart body, an information acquiring unit that acquires information about the battery, a memory unit that stores the results of acquisition by the information acquiring unit, an estimation unit that estimates the estimated battery capacity required by the assisting unit for one movement of the cart body based on the information stored in the memory unit as an estimated battery capacity, and a notification unit that issues a notification when the current remaining battery capacity acquired by the information acquiring unit is smaller than the estimated battery capacity estimated by the estimation unit.

According to this embodiment, an alert is issued when the remaining battery charge is less than the future battery consumption, reducing the possibility of the battery running out while the cart is in use.

In addition, any combination of the above, or mutual substitution of the components or expressions of the present invention among methods, devices, programs, temporary or non-temporary storage media on which programs are recorded, systems, etc. are also valid aspects of the present invention.

The present invention provides technology for an electric cart that reduces the possibility of the battery running out while the cart is in use.

1 is a side view showing a schematic view of an electric cart according to a first embodiment; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of the electric cart shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an operation unit of the electric cart of FIG. 1 . 2 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of the electric cart of FIG. 1 .

Among the embodiments disclosed in this specification, those that are composed of multiple objects may be integrated into one object, and conversely, those that are composed of one object may be separated into multiple objects. Regardless of whether they are integrated or not, it is sufficient that the object of the invention can be achieved.

Among the embodiments disclosed in this specification, those in which multiple functions are provided in a distributed manner may have some or all of the multiple functions consolidated, and conversely, those in which multiple functions are provided in a consolidated manner may have some or all of the multiple functions distributed. Regardless of whether the functions are consolidated or distributed, it is sufficient that the configuration is such that the object of the invention can be achieved.

In addition, separate components that have something in common are distinguished by adding "first," "second," etc. to the beginning of their names, and these are omitted when referring to them collectively. In addition, terms that include ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" are used to describe various components, but these terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components, and do not limit the components.

An electric cart according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a cart body that is moved by the user applying an operating force, a battery that supplies power to an assisting section that is provided on the cart body and generates a driving force or a braking force according to the operating force applied to the cart body, an information acquiring section that acquires information about the battery, a memory section that stores the results of acquisition by the information acquiring section, an estimation section that estimates the estimated battery capacity required by the assisting section for one movement of the cart body based on the information stored in the memory section as an estimated battery capacity, and a notification section that issues a notification when the current remaining battery capacity of the battery acquired by the information acquiring section is smaller than the estimated battery capacity estimated by the estimation section.

With this configuration, a notification is issued when the remaining battery charge is less than the estimated battery charge, allowing the user to recognize that the battery charge is low. By increasing the remaining battery charge or ceasing use in response to this notification, the possibility of the battery running out while using the cart can be reduced.

As an example, the estimation unit estimates the estimated battery capacity based on the battery consumption when the battery supplied power during a specified period in the past. In this case, since the estimation can be made based on the past performance of the electric cart, the influence of individual differences can be suppressed and the estimation accuracy can be improved. Since the estimation can be made according to the conditions of the daily travel route, the influence of variations in the travel route can be suppressed and the estimation accuracy can be improved.

As an example, a limiting unit is provided that limits the operation of the assist unit when the current remaining battery capacity of the battery acquired by the information acquisition unit is smaller than the estimated battery capacity estimated by the estimation unit. In this case, since operation is limited when the remaining battery capacity is smaller than the estimated battery capacity, the possibility of erroneous use can be reduced.

As an example, the electric cart is equipped with a related information acquisition unit that acquires information including at least one of travel distance information and external environment information related to the electric cart, and the estimation unit estimates the estimated battery capacity by taking into account the results acquired by the related information acquisition unit. In this case, the battery consumption can be estimated taking into account the travel distance and external environment information, which are factors that cause battery consumption to fluctuate. This makes it possible to suppress the influence of the fluctuating factors and improve the estimation accuracy.

As an example, the electric cart is equipped with a passenger number information acquisition unit that acquires the number of passengers on the electric cart, and the estimation unit estimates the estimated battery capacity by taking into account the results acquired by the passenger number information acquisition unit. In this case, the battery consumption can be estimated taking into account the number of passengers, which is a variable factor in battery consumption. This makes it possible to suppress the influence of the variable factor and improve the estimation accuracy.

The present invention will be described below based on a preferred embodiment with reference to the drawings. In the embodiments and modified examples, identical or equivalent components and parts are given the same reference numerals, and duplicated explanations will be omitted as appropriate. Furthermore, the dimensions of the parts in each drawing are shown enlarged or reduced as appropriate to facilitate understanding. Furthermore, some parts that are not important for explaining the embodiment are omitted in each drawing.

[First embodiment]
An electric cart 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 4. Figure 1 is a side view showing the electric cart 100. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a system configuration related to information processing of the electric cart 100.

The functional blocks of the electric cart 100 shown in FIG. 2 can be realized in hardware terms by computer processors, CPUs, memory and other elements, electronic circuits, and mechanical devices, and in software terms by computer programs, etc., but here we show functional blocks realized by the cooperation of these. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various ways by combining hardware and software.

The overall configuration of the electric cart 100 will be described. The electric cart 100 of the embodiment can be suitably used as an electrically assisted push vehicle that can carry one or several small children and move around town, for example. The electric cart 100 shown in FIG. 1 mainly comprises a cart body 9, an assist unit 2, an estimation unit 62, a judgment unit 63, a notification unit 64, a restriction unit 65, a battery information acquisition unit 81, a related information acquisition unit 82, and a number of people information acquisition unit 83. The assist unit 2 includes an information processing unit 10, a power unit 21, a battery 22, and a power switch 24.

All functions of the information processing unit 10 may be installed in the internal processing unit 20 attached to the cart body 9, or some functions may be installed in a separate device separate from the cart body 9 and linked to each other via communication means. The information processing unit 10 of the embodiment includes an internal processing unit 20 and an external terminal 60, which share the information processing function. Some of the processing functions of the internal processing unit 20 may be processed by the external terminal 60, and some of the processing functions of the external terminal 60 may be processed by the internal processing unit 20. As the external terminal 60, a smartphone having an information display function, an information input function, an information processing function, and a communication function can be adopted.

When the power switch 24 is turned on, the power is supplied to the electric cart 100 based on the power of the battery 22, and the assist unit 2 is turned on. When the power switch 24 is turned off, the power supply to the electric cart 100 is stopped, and the assist unit 2 is turned off.

The battery information acquisition unit 81 acquires information related to the battery 22. The related information acquisition unit 82 acquires information including at least one of travel distance information and external environment information related to the electric cart 100. The number of passengers information acquisition unit 83 acquires the number of passengers on the electric cart 100.

The cart body 9 is a hand-pushed vehicle that is moved by the user applying an operating force Fu. Hereinafter, the direction of movement of the cart body 9 is referred to as the front-rear direction, and the vehicle width direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction is referred to as the width direction. The cart body 9 mainly includes a storage section 92 that is a rectangular box-shaped body, a number of wheels 93, 94 attached to the lower part of the storage section 92, and a grip section 95 attached to the upper part of the storage section 92 toward the rear. In the embodiment, it includes two front wheels 93 and two rear wheels 94. The storage section 92 is composed of a bag body 97 with an open top for storing a child or the like, and a frame body 98 composed of pipes or the like for supporting the bag body 97. The frame body 98 forms the outer shell of the bag body 97.

The front wheels 93 are driven wheels that are rotatably attached to the left and right sides of the frame body 98 near the front. The two rear wheels 94 are attached to the left and right sides of the frame body 98 near the rear. The two rear wheels 94 are each driven wheels that are driven by the power unit 21. In other words, the assist force Fa of the assist unit 2 is input to the rear wheels 94. The grip unit 95 is a rod-shaped portion that extends rearward from the upper rear end of the frame body 98. In this example, two grip units 95 are provided that are spaced apart in the width direction. The two grip units 95 have a pipe shape that extends in the front-rear direction. A pipe-shaped horizontal bar (not shown) that extends in the width direction is connected to the tips of the two grip units 95.

Each of the two grip parts 95 is provided with a hand brake lever 96. The user can brake the electric cart 100 by bringing the hand brake lever 96 close to the grip part 95.

Each of the two grip parts 95 is provided with two operating parts 23 for the user to apply an operating force Fu. The two operating parts 23 are arranged at a distance in the width direction, and are grip sensors that detect the operating force Fu. Hereinafter, when the wheels 93, 94, the power unit 21, and the operating part 23 are to be distinguished from the left and right, "L" or "R" is added to the end of the reference numerals, and when no distinction is made, this is omitted. The operating part 23 measures the operating force Fu, which is the force that pushes the operating part 23 in the forward and backward directions, and provides the internal processing part 20 with the measurement result as a sensor signal S1. In this example, the two operating parts 23 are independent of each other, and provide the internal processing part 20 with separate sensor signals S1 for the left and right. The internal processing part 20 controls the power unit 21L of the left rear wheel 94L based on the sensor signal S1 of the left operating part 23L, and controls the power unit 21R of the right rear wheel 94R based on the sensor signal S1 of the right operating part 23R. In this way, the internal processing part 20 functions as a control part that controls the assist part 2.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the operating unit 23. The operating unit 23 has a zero point P where the sensor signal S1 is zero (a state that is neither positive nor negative) at the center position M between the front and rear of the stroke. The sensor signal S1 becomes positive when the operating unit 23 is pressed forward of the zero point P (to the right in the figure), and becomes negative when the operating unit 23 is pressed rearward of the zero point P (to the left in the figure). In Figure 3, the reference position J of the operating unit 23 is indicated by a black triangle, and the zero point P is indicated by a white triangle.

The zero point P of the operation unit 23 is set to a predetermined initial position (e.g., central position M) when the electric cart 100 is manufactured. In the example of FIG. 3, when the reference position J of the operation unit 23 is located at the central position M, the sensor signal S1 becomes zero. When the sensor signal S1 is zero, the assist unit 2 does not output an assist force. Therefore, if the operation unit 23 is set to be at the central position M when the operating force Fu is zero, the electric cart 100 will not move unintentionally immediately after power is turned on.

The assist unit 2 will now be described. The assist unit 2 generates an assist force Fa for driving or braking in response to an operating force Fu applied to the cart body 9. The assist force Fa for driving is a force that accelerates the cart body 9 in the same direction as the operating force Fu. The assist force Fa for braking is a braking force that decelerates the movement of the cart body 9.

The power unit 21 is an electric motor that generates an assist force Fa based on the control of the internal processing unit 20. In this example, two power units 21 are provided, each connected to one of the two rear wheels 94 on the left and right. The two power units 21 on the left and right may be controlled in common, but in this example, they are controlled separately based on the sensor signals S1 of the two operation units 23 on the left and right. The power unit 21 in this example is an inner wheel gear drive motor.

The battery 22 supplies power to the power unit 21 and other components. The battery 22 is a secondary battery such as a lithium-ion battery that can be repeatedly charged and discharged. As an example, the battery 22 may be removably held in a pocket-type rack (not shown) provided on the outside rear surface of the frame body 98.

The internal processing unit 20, the estimation unit 62, the determination unit 63, the notification unit 64, and the restriction unit 65 may be mounted on the cart body 9, or some of them may be mounted on another device separate from the cart body 9 and linked to each other via communication means. For example, at least some of the estimation unit 62, the determination unit 63, the notification unit 64, and the restriction unit 65 can be mounted on an external terminal capable of communicating with the assist unit 2. In an embodiment, the estimation unit 62, the determination unit 63, the notification unit 64, and the restriction unit 65 are mounted on an external terminal 60 having a communication function. The external terminal 60 in this example includes a GPS receiver 66. The GPS receiver 66 is a type of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) and can provide its current position using received satellite radio waves.

The internal processing unit 20 will be described. The internal processing unit 20 includes an input unit 71, a communication unit 72, a memory unit 73, a first drive unit 75, a second drive unit 76, and a power supply detection unit 77. The input unit 71 receives a sensor signal S1 from the first operation unit 23L and the second operation unit 23R. The input unit 71 also receives acquired information from a battery information acquisition unit 81, a related information acquisition unit 82, and a number of people information acquisition unit 83.

The communication unit 72 communicates with the external terminal 60 to send and receive information. The communication unit 72 can provide information to the estimation unit 62, the determination unit 63, the notification unit 64, and the restriction unit 65, and can obtain information from them. The communication unit 72 can obtain location information from a GPS receiver 66. There are no restrictions on the communication method between the communication unit 72 and the outside, but in this example, Beacon (registered trademark) using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is used as the communication method for the communication unit 72.

The memory unit 73 can store, in chronological order, the input information of the input unit 71, intermediate processing information obtained by processing the input information, the transmission and reception information of the communication unit 72, and the output information of the first drive unit 75 and the second drive unit 76. In particular, the memory unit 73 stores the results of acquisition by the battery information acquisition unit 81, the related information acquisition unit 82, and the number of people information acquisition unit 83. The memory unit 73 can store the control program P100 of the electric cart 100.

The first drive unit 75 drives the first power unit 21L to generate an assist force on the rear wheel 94L. The second drive unit 76 drives the second power unit 21R to generate an assist force on the rear wheel 94R. The power detection unit 77 detects whether the power is turned on or not. The first drive unit 75 and the second drive unit 76 are stopped in the initial state when the power is turned on, and do not start operating until the restriction by the restriction unit 65 is lifted (operation is permitted). In other words, the assist unit 2 does not generate an assist force immediately after the power is turned on.

The battery information acquisition unit 81 acquires information such as the voltage, current, temperature, and degree of deterioration of the battery 22, and provides the acquired information to the internal processing unit 20. The internal processing unit 20 calculates the current remaining battery capacity of the battery 22 (hereinafter referred to as "battery remaining capacity R") based on the acquired information of the battery information acquisition unit 81. The battery remaining capacity R is the power (current-time product) that the battery 22 can supply without additional charging. The internal processing unit 20 stores the changes over time in the voltage and current of the battery 22, and can calculate the battery remaining capacity R from these changes over time.

The related information acquisition unit 82 acquires information including at least one of travel distance information and external environment information related to the electric cart 100. The travel distance information may be, for example, the planned travel distance that the electric cart 100 will travel from now on. For example, the related information acquisition unit 82 can acquire the planned travel distance input by the user at a specified timing as travel distance information. For example, the related information acquisition unit 82 can acquire the distance on the route from the current position (origin position) acquired by the GPS receiver to the destination position as travel distance information. The same can be acquired for a round trip back to the current position.

Battery consumption increases as the travel distance increases and decreases as the travel distance decreases. The internal processing unit 20 can store in advance in the memory unit 73 the correlation between travel distance and battery consumption as a coefficient (hereinafter referred to as the "distance coefficient").

The external environment information may be, for example, the temperature, humidity, weather, and congestion status of the route along which the electric cart 100 will travel. The related information acquisition unit 82 can acquire the external environment information input by the user at a specified timing. Battery consumption increases when the temperature is high and decreases when the temperature is low. Furthermore, the amount of battery consumption is correlated with the humidity, weather, and congestion status of the route. The internal processing unit 20 can store the correlation between the external environment information and battery consumption in advance as a coefficient (hereinafter referred to as the "external environment coefficient") in the memory unit 73.

The number of passengers information acquisition unit 83 acquires the number of passengers (number of passengers) on the electric cart 100 that is about to move. The internal processing unit 20 calculates the passenger mass by multiplying the number of passengers by the average body weight acquired in advance. Battery consumption increases when the passenger mass is large and decreases when the passenger mass is small. The internal processing unit 20 can store in advance the correlation between passenger mass and battery consumption as a coefficient (hereinafter referred to as the "mass coefficient") in the storage unit 73. The number of passengers information acquisition unit 83 can acquire the number of passengers input by the user at a predetermined timing. As another example, a mass sensor can be provided in the electric cart 100, and the internal processing unit 20 can calculate the passenger mass using the mass detected by this mass sensor. The number of passengers can be calculated by dividing the calculated passenger mass by the average body weight.

The estimation unit 62 estimates the battery consumption (hereinafter referred to as the "estimated battery amount U") estimated to be required by the assist unit 2 in one movement of the electric cart 100 based on the information stored in the memory unit 73. The estimated battery amount U may be the battery amount estimated to be consumed by the assist unit 2 in one movement of the electric cart 100. In this example, one movement refers to the time when the battery 22 goes from an off state to an on state and then off again, and refers to the movement of the electric cart 100 that is performed daily for its original purpose, and does not include non-daily movement, trial movement such as pre-work inspection, irregular movement, etc. The battery 22 is said to be on when the battery 22 starts supplying power to the power unit 21 of the assist unit 2, and is said to be off when the battery 22 stops supplying power to the power unit 21. The battery consumption is the power (current-time product) output from the battery 22 to be consumed by the electric cart 100, and the estimated battery amount U is the future battery consumption.

The estimation unit 62 reads out the history information of the battery 22 from the memory unit 73 via the internal processing unit 20, and calculates the number of times the electric cart 100 has been used within a specified period of time in the past, and the total amount of battery consumption during that use. This specified period may be one day, one week, one month, three months, six months, one year, etc.

The estimation unit 62 calculates the battery consumption per past use (hereinafter referred to as "past average consumption") from the result of dividing the total battery consumption by the number of uses. The internal processing unit 20 may use the past average consumption as the estimated battery capacity. As another example, the estimated battery capacity may be calculated by finding the average value and estimated standard deviation of each piece of data on past battery consumption, multiplying this estimated standard deviation by a predetermined coefficient, and adding the result to the average value. Furthermore, the result calculated in this way may be used as a base value to estimate the estimated battery capacity by taking into account the fluctuating factors described below.

In this example, the estimation unit 62 estimates the estimated battery capacity U by taking into account at least one of the planned travel distance information, the external environment information, and the passenger mass, based on the base value. For example, the estimation unit 62 can estimate the estimated battery capacity U by reading from the memory unit 73 a distance coefficient corresponding to the planned travel distance, an external environment coefficient corresponding to the external environment information, and a mass coefficient corresponding to the passenger mass, and performing mathematical processing such as multiplying the base value by these coefficients.

The determination unit 63 determines whether the current remaining battery capacity R of the battery 22 is smaller than the estimated battery capacity U estimated by the estimation unit 62.

The notification unit 64 notifies the outside when the determination unit 63 determines that the current remaining battery power R is less than the estimated battery power U. There are no limitations on the notification means, and any means that can be sensed by humans, such as light or sound, may be used. In this example, the notification unit 64 displays on the external terminal 60 that the remaining battery power is insufficient, and outputs a beep.

The limiting unit 65 limits the operation of the assisting unit 2 when the determining unit 63 determines that the current remaining battery charge R is less than the estimated battery charge U. In this example, the limiting unit 65 controls the first driving unit 75 and the second driving unit 76 to stop from the time the power is turned on until the determining unit 63 determines that the remaining battery charge is sufficient. When the limiting unit 65 determines that the remaining battery charge is sufficient, it releases the operation restriction on the assisting unit 2. When the restriction is released, the first driving unit 75 and the second driving unit 76 operate normally, and the assisting unit 2 generates an assisting force Fa corresponding to the operating force Fu on the operating unit 23.

An example of the operation of the electric cart 100 configured in this manner will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process S110 of an example of the operation of the electric cart 100. This process is an operation process based on the estimated battery capacity U and the current remaining battery capacity R, and is executed, for example, when the electric cart 100 is powered on.

In process S110, when the power is turned on, the operation of the assist unit 2 is restricted (step S111). The electric cart 100 does not operate the assist unit 2 until the remaining battery charge and future consumption (estimated battery charge) are determined immediately after the power is turned on.

Next, the internal processing unit 20 acquires information (battery information) about the battery 22 via the battery information acquisition unit 81 (step S112). Next, the internal processing unit 20 stores the acquisition result (battery information) of the battery information acquisition unit 81 in the memory unit 73 (step S113). By storing the battery information in chronological order in this manner, the memory unit 73 accumulates a history of the remaining battery charge of the battery 22, and it is possible to grasp the change pattern of the remaining battery charge when the battery 22 supplies power.

Next, the internal processing unit 20 calculates the current remaining battery charge R of the battery 22 based on the battery information stored in the memory unit 73 (step S114).

Next, the internal processing unit 20 identifies the battery consumption when the battery 22 supplied power during a predetermined period in the past (step S115). In this step, the internal processing unit 20 identifies the past battery consumption from the history information of the remaining battery charge of the battery 22 stored in the memory unit 73. The predetermined period here is, for example, one month.

Next, the internal processing unit 20 acquires information including at least one of travel distance information and external environment information related to the electric cart 100 (hereinafter referred to as "cart related information") via the related information acquisition unit 82 (step S116). The cart related information may be acquired in relation to the movement (e.g., a walk) of the electric cart 100 when it moves in the future.

As described above, the travel distance information may be, for example, the planned travel distance that the electric cart 100 will travel from now on. In this step, the internal processing unit 20 causes the external terminal 60 to display a message prompting the user to input travel distance information, and the planned travel distance input by the user in response to this message can be acquired as travel distance information. The internal processing unit 20 calculates a distance coefficient corresponding to the acquired travel distance information, and retains the result.

Here is another example. The internal processing unit 20 can display a map on the external terminal 60 and obtain, as travel distance information, the distance between the current position acquired by the GPS receiver and a point on the map indicated by the user. The same information can also be obtained for a round trip back to the current position.

As described above, the external environment information may be, for example, the temperature, humidity, weather, and congestion status of the route along which the electric cart 100 will travel. In this step, the internal processing unit 20 causes the external terminal 60 to display a message prompting the user to input the external environment information, and can acquire the predicted information input by the user in response to this message as the external environment information. In addition, the amount of battery consumption is correlated with the humidity, weather, and congestion status of the route. The internal processing unit 20 calculates an external environment coefficient corresponding to the acquired external environment information, and retains the result.

Next, the internal processing unit 20 acquires the number of passengers in the electric cart 100 via the number-of-passengers information acquisition unit 83 (step S117). This number of passengers is the number of people who will be riding in the electric cart 100 that is about to move. In this step, the internal processing unit 20 causes the external terminal 60 to display a message prompting the user to input the number of passengers, and can acquire the number of passengers input by the user in response to this message. The internal processing unit 20 multiplies the number of passengers by the average body weight to calculate the passenger mass. The internal processing unit 20 determines the mass coefficient corresponding to the calculated passenger mass, and retains the result.

Next, the estimation unit 62 estimates the estimated battery capacity U of the battery 22 (step S118). In this step, the internal processing unit 20 estimates the estimated battery capacity U of the battery 22 based on the information stored in the memory unit 73. In this step, the estimated battery capacity U is estimated based on a base value of the estimated battery capacity, taking into account at least one of the planned travel distance information and external environment information acquired in step S116, and the passenger mass calculated in step S117. The estimated battery capacity U can be estimated by multiplying the base value by a distance coefficient, an external environment coefficient, and a mass coefficient.

Next, the judgment unit 63 judges whether the current remaining battery capacity R is smaller than the estimated battery capacity U (step S119). If the remaining battery capacity R is smaller than the estimated battery capacity U (Y in step S119), the internal processing unit 20 causes the notification unit 64 to notify that the remaining battery capacity is insufficient (step S121). The internal processing unit 20 also causes the restriction unit 65 to continue restricting the operation of the assist unit 2 (step S122). After executing step S122, the process S110 ends.

If the current remaining battery power R is equal to or greater than the estimated battery power U (N in step S119), the internal processing unit 20 causes the limiting unit 65 to release the operation restriction on the assisting unit 2 (step S120). Once the restriction is released, the assisting unit 2 generates an assisting force according to the operating force Fu applied to the operating unit 23. After step S120 is executed, process S110 ends.

The above process is an example, and various modifications are possible. The estimation unit 62, the notification unit 64, and the restriction unit 65 can be installed in the external terminal 60 as a specific application program (hereinafter referred to as a "specific app") for a smartphone. When in use, a user who owns the external terminal 60 with the specific app installed operates the electric cart 100 via the external terminal 60.

When the electric cart 100 is turned on in daily life, the specific application is started and the remaining battery charge is compared with the future consumption charge according to the above process. If the remaining battery charge exceeds the future consumption charge, the operation restriction of the assist unit 2 is lifted. Before the operation restriction is lifted, the assist unit 2 does not output an assist force.

After executing step S120, the user inputs an operating force Fu to the operation unit 23 to move the electric cart 100. At this time, each time the electric cart 100 is used for movement, the time during which the power was on and the battery consumption during one movement are stored in the memory unit 73 as time-series data. The electric cart 100 also acquires a movement course from position information acquired by the GPS receiver during movement and stores it in the memory unit 73. The battery consumption of each movement course can be calculated by analyzing the stored information of the movement course acquired within a predetermined period. When the electric cart 100 is powered on, the internal processing unit 20 may display multiple movement courses on the external terminal 60, and estimate the estimated battery capacity U by preferentially using the stored information about the movement course selected by the user from this display.

The operation of the electric cart 100 is not limited to the above process. Each time the electric cart 100 is used for transportation, the time the power was on during one trip and the battery consumption may be stored in the memory unit 73 as time-series data. For example, the electric cart 100 may analyze the time-series data from the past week to predict the battery consumption during one trip, and if this battery consumption is less than the remaining battery power R at the start of use, a warning indicator may be displayed.

This concludes the description of the first embodiment.

Below, the second to sixth embodiments of the present invention will be described. In the drawings and explanations of the second to sixth embodiments, the same components and members as those of the first embodiment will be given the same reference numerals. Explanations that overlap with the first embodiment will be omitted as appropriate, and the explanation will focus on the configurations that differ from the first embodiment.

The second embodiment of the present invention is a management system 200 that manages an electric cart 100. The electric cart management system 200 includes a battery 22 that supplies power to an assisting unit 2 that generates a driving force or a braking force according to an operating force applied to the cart 100 that is moved by a user applying an operating force, an information acquiring unit 81 that acquires information about the battery 22, a memory unit 73 that stores the acquisition results of the information acquiring unit 81, an estimation unit 62 that estimates the battery capacity estimated to be required for the assisting unit 2 in one movement of the cart 100 as an estimated battery capacity U based on the information stored in the memory unit 73, and a notification unit 64 that notifies when the current remaining battery capacity R of the battery 22 acquired by the information acquiring unit 81 is smaller than the estimated battery capacity U estimated by the estimation unit 62. At least a part of the estimation unit 62 and the notification unit 64 is mounted on an external terminal 60 that can exchange information with the memory unit 73.

The electric cart management system 200 includes a related information acquisition unit 82 that acquires information including at least one of travel distance information and external environment information related to the electric cart, and the estimation unit 62 estimates the estimated battery capacity U by taking into account the results acquired by the related information acquisition unit 82.

The electric cart management system 200 includes a passenger number information acquisition unit 83 that acquires the number of passengers in the electric cart, and the estimation unit 62 estimates the estimated battery capacity U by taking into account the results acquired by the passenger number information acquisition unit 83.

The second embodiment provides the same effects and advantages as the first embodiment.

The third embodiment of the present invention is an electric drive unit 300. The electric drive unit 300 includes a battery 22 that supplies power to the assist unit 2 that generates a driving force or a braking force according to the operating force applied to the cart 100 that is moved by the user applying an operating force, an information acquisition unit 81 that acquires information about the battery 22, a memory unit 73 that stores the acquisition results of the information acquisition unit 81, an estimation unit 62 that estimates the battery capacity estimated to be required by the assist unit 2 for one movement of the cart 100 as an estimated battery capacity U based on the information stored in the memory unit 73, and a notification unit 64 that issues a notification when the current remaining battery capacity R of the battery 22 acquired by the information acquisition unit 81 is smaller than the estimated battery capacity U estimated by the estimation unit 62.

The third embodiment provides the same effects and advantages as the first embodiment.

The fourth embodiment of the present invention is a management system 400 that manages an electric drive unit 300. The electric drive unit management system 400 includes a battery 22 that supplies power to an assist unit 2 that generates a driving force or a braking force according to an operating force applied to a cart 100 that is moved by a user applying an operating force, an information acquisition unit 81 that acquires information about the battery 22, a memory unit 73 that stores the acquisition results of the information acquisition unit 81, an estimation unit 62 that estimates the battery capacity estimated to be required for the assist unit 2 in one movement of the cart 100 as an estimated battery capacity U based on the information stored in the memory unit 73, and a notification unit 64 that notifies when the current battery remaining capacity R of the battery 22 acquired by the information acquisition unit 81 is smaller than the estimated battery capacity U estimated by the estimation unit 62. The memory unit 73 is capable of exchanging information with an external terminal 60 on which at least a part of the estimation unit 62 and the notification unit 64 are mounted.

The fourth embodiment provides the same effects and advantages as the first embodiment.

The fifth embodiment of the present invention is a method for controlling an electric cart 100. This method includes an acquisition step (S112) for acquiring information about the battery 22 that supplies power to the assist unit 2 that generates a driving force or a braking force according to an operating force applied to the cart 100 that is moved by a user applying an operating force, a storage step (S113) for storing the results acquired in the acquisition step, a calculation step (S114) for calculating the current battery remaining amount R of the battery 22 based on the information stored in the storage step, an estimation step (S118) for estimating the battery amount estimated to be required by the assist unit 2 for one movement of the cart 100 as an estimated battery amount U based on the information stored in the storage step, a comparison step (S119) for comparing the current battery remaining amount R of the battery 22 calculated in the calculation step with the estimated battery amount U estimated in the estimation step, and a step (S121) for notifying when the current battery remaining amount R of the battery 22 is smaller than the estimated battery amount U.

The sixth embodiment of the present invention is a control program P100 for an electric cart 100. The control program P100 causes a computer to execute an acquisition step (S112) for acquiring information about the battery 22 that supplies power to the assist unit 2 that generates a driving force or a braking force according to an operating force applied to the cart 100 that is moved by a user applying an operating force, a storage step (S113) for storing the results acquired in the acquisition step, a calculation step (S114) for calculating the current battery remaining amount R of the battery 22 based on the information stored in the storage step, an estimation step (S118) for estimating the battery amount estimated to be required by the assist unit 2 for one movement of the cart 100 as an estimated battery amount U based on the information stored in the storage step, a comparison step (S119) for comparing the current battery remaining amount R of the battery 22 calculated in the calculation step with the estimated battery amount U estimated in the estimation step, and a notification step (S121) for notifying the user when the current battery remaining amount R of the battery 22 is smaller than the estimated battery amount U.

These functions of the control program P100 of the sixth embodiment may be installed in the storage (e.g., the memory unit 73) of the information processing unit 10 and the external terminal 60 as an application program in which multiple modules corresponding to the functional blocks of the electric cart 100 are implemented. The control program P100 of the third embodiment may be read into the main memory of a processor (e.g., a CPU) of a computer incorporated in the electric cart 100 and executed.

The sixth embodiment provides the same effects and advantages as the first embodiment.

Above, examples of embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail. All of the above-mentioned embodiments merely show specific examples of implementing the present invention. The contents of the embodiments do not limit the technical scope of the present invention, and many design changes such as changing, adding, or deleting components are possible within the scope of the idea of the invention defined in the claims. In the above-mentioned embodiments, the contents for which such design changes are possible are explained with the notation "in the embodiment" or "in the embodiment", but design changes are also permissible for contents without such notation.

[Modification]
The following describes the modified examples. In the drawings and description of the modified examples, the same or equivalent components and members as those in the embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. Descriptions that overlap with the embodiment will be omitted as appropriate, and the description will focus on configurations that differ from the embodiment.

In the description of the embodiment, an example in which the operation unit 23 is a grip sensor has been shown, but this is not limiting. The operation unit 23 may be a sensor other than a grip sensor, such as a torque sensor.

In the description of the embodiment, an example has been given in which Beacon (registered trademark) is used as the communication method of the communication unit 72, but this is not limiting. For example, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), etc. can be used as the communication method of the communication unit.

In the description of the embodiment, an example in which the power unit 21 is an inner wheel gear drive motor is shown, but this is not limiting. For example, the power unit may be an in-wheel motor that is installed inside the rear wheel.

In the description of the embodiment, an example in which the electric cart 100 has four wheels is shown, but this is not limiting. For example, the electric cart may have five or more wheels.

In the description of the embodiment, an example in which the instruction unit 3 is provided on the external terminal 60 has been shown, but this is not limiting. For example, the instruction unit may be a liquid crystal monitor attached to the cart body.

In the description of the embodiment, an example was given in which no additional charging is performed between when the battery 22 is turned on and when it is turned off, but this is not limiting. For example, charging by regenerative braking of the power unit 21 may be performed between when the battery 22 is turned on and when it is turned off.

In the description of the embodiment, an example was given in which "one trip" refers to the period from when the battery 22 is turned on until it is turned off, but this is not limited to this. For example, "one trip" may refer to the period from leaving the starting point until arriving at the destination, or the period from when the electric cart 100 leaves the starting point for the destination and returns from the destination to the starting point, regardless of whether the battery 22 is turned off or additional charging is performed during the process. In addition, multiple round trips between a specified starting point and destination may be treated as "one trip."

In the description of the embodiment, an example has been shown in which, when the remaining battery capacity R is smaller than the estimated battery capacity U, the notification unit 64 issues a notification and the limiting unit 65 restricts the operation of the assist unit 2, but this is not limiting. For example, when the remaining battery capacity R is smaller than the estimated battery capacity U, only one of the notification and the operation restriction may be executed. Also, when the remaining battery capacity R is smaller than the estimated battery capacity U, the system may switch to an energy saving mode in which functional restrictions or the like are imposed on the operation of the assist unit 2 to suppress battery consumption. As an example, the energy saving mode may be a mode in which the generation of the assist force for driving is restricted, and only excessive acceleration of the cart body 9 on a downhill slope or the like due to the assist force for braking is suppressed. In this case, a minimum assist effect can be obtained with a limited remaining battery capacity.

The above-mentioned modified examples provide the same functions and effects as the respective embodiments.

Any combination of the above-described embodiments and modifications is also useful as an embodiment of the present invention. A new embodiment resulting from the combination has the combined effects of each of the combined embodiments and modifications.

2 Assist unit, 9 Cart body, 10 Information processing unit, 20 Internal processing unit, 21 Power unit, 22 Battery, 23 Operation unit, 60 External terminal, 62 Estimation unit, 64 Notification unit, 65 Restriction unit, 73 Memory unit, 81 Battery information acquisition unit, 82 Related information acquisition unit, 83 Number of people information acquisition unit, 100 Electric cart, 200 Management system, 200 Electric cart management system, 300 Electric drive unit, 400 Electric drive unit management system.

Claims (12)

A cart body that is moved by a user applying an operating force;
a battery provided in the cart body for supplying power to an assist unit that generates a driving force or a braking force in response to an operating force applied to the cart body;
an information acquisition unit that acquires information about the battery;
A storage unit that stores the acquisition result of the information acquisition unit;
an estimation unit that estimates, based on the information stored in the storage unit, a battery capacity that is estimated to be required for the assist unit during one movement of the cart body as an estimated battery capacity;
a notification unit that notifies when the current remaining battery capacity of the battery acquired by the information acquisition unit is smaller than the estimated remaining battery capacity estimated by the estimation unit;
An electric cart equipped with The electric cart according to claim 1, wherein the estimation unit estimates the estimated battery capacity based on the battery consumption when the battery supplied power during a predetermined period in the past. The electric cart according to claim 1, further comprising a limiting unit that limits the operation of the assisting unit when the current remaining battery charge of the battery acquired by the information acquiring unit is less than the estimated battery charge estimated by the estimating unit. a related information acquisition unit that acquires information including at least one of travel distance information and external environment information related to the electric cart;
The electric cart according to claim 1 , wherein the estimation unit estimates the estimated battery capacity by taking into account a result of acquisition by the related information acquisition unit. The electric cart includes a passenger number information acquisition unit that acquires the number of passengers,
The electric cart according to claim 1 , wherein the estimation unit estimates the estimated battery capacity by taking into account a result of information acquired by the number-of-people information acquisition unit. a battery that supplies power to an assist unit that generates a driving force or a braking force in response to an operating force applied to the cart that is moved by a user applying an operating force;
an information acquisition unit that acquires information about the battery;
A storage unit that stores the acquisition result of the information acquisition unit;
an estimation unit that estimates, based on the information stored in the storage unit, a battery capacity that is estimated to be required for the assist unit during one movement of the cart as an estimated battery capacity;
a notification unit that notifies when the current remaining battery capacity of the battery acquired by the information acquisition unit is smaller than the estimated remaining battery capacity estimated by the estimation unit;
Equipped with
An electric cart management system in which the estimation unit and at least a part of the notification unit are mounted on an external terminal capable of exchanging information with the memory unit. a related information acquisition unit that acquires information including at least one of travel distance information and external environment information related to the cart,
The electric cart management system according to claim 6 , wherein the estimation unit estimates the estimated battery capacity by taking into account a result of acquisition by the related information acquisition unit. A number-of-passengers information acquisition unit for acquiring the number of passengers in the cart,
The electric cart management system according to claim 6 , wherein the estimation unit estimates the estimated battery capacity by taking into account the result of acquisition by the number-of-people information acquisition unit. a battery that supplies power to an assist unit that generates a driving force or a braking force in response to an operating force applied to the cart that is moved by a user applying an operating force;
an information acquisition unit that acquires information about the battery;
A storage unit that stores the acquisition result of the information acquisition unit;
an estimation unit that estimates, based on the information stored in the storage unit, a battery capacity that is estimated to be required for the assist unit during one movement of the cart as an estimated battery capacity;
a notification unit that notifies when the current remaining battery capacity of the battery acquired by the information acquisition unit is smaller than the estimated remaining battery capacity estimated by the estimation unit;
An electric drive unit comprising: a battery that supplies power to an assist unit that generates a driving force or a braking force in response to an operating force applied to the cart that is moved by a user applying an operating force;
an information acquisition unit that acquires information about the battery;
A storage unit that stores the acquisition result of the information acquisition unit;
an estimation unit that estimates, based on the information stored in the storage unit, a battery capacity that is estimated to be required for the assist unit during one movement of the cart as an estimated battery capacity;
a notification unit that notifies when the current remaining battery capacity of the battery acquired by the information acquisition unit is smaller than the estimated remaining battery capacity estimated by the estimation unit;
Equipped with
An electric drive unit management system, wherein the memory unit is capable of exchanging information with an external terminal having at least a part of the estimation unit and the notification unit mounted thereon. an acquiring step of acquiring information about a battery that supplies power to an assist unit that generates a driving force or a braking force in response to an operating force applied to a cart that is moved by a user applying an operating force;
a storage step of storing the results obtained in the obtaining step;
a calculation step of calculating a current remaining battery charge of the battery based on the information stored in the storage step;
an estimation step of estimating, as an estimated battery amount, a battery amount estimated to be required for the assist unit during one movement of the cart based on the information stored in the storage step;
a comparison step of comparing the current remaining battery charge of the battery calculated in the calculation step with the estimated battery charge estimated in the estimation step;
a step of notifying when a current remaining battery charge of the battery is smaller than the estimated battery charge;
A method for controlling an electric cart comprising: an acquiring step of acquiring information about a battery that supplies power to an assist unit that generates a driving force or a braking force in response to an operating force applied to a cart that is moved by a user applying an operating force;
a storage step of storing the results obtained in the obtaining step;
a calculation step of calculating a current remaining battery charge of the battery based on the information stored in the storage step;
an estimation step of estimating, as an estimated battery amount, a battery amount estimated to be required for the assist unit during one movement of the cart based on the information stored in the storage step;
a comparison step of comparing the current remaining battery charge of the battery calculated in the calculation step with the estimated battery charge estimated in the estimation step;
a step of notifying when a current remaining battery charge of the battery is smaller than the estimated battery charge;
A control program for an electric cart that causes a computer to execute the above.

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