JP3900993B2 - Electric vehicle navigation system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a navigation system that presents information such as a current position and a travel route in an electric vehicle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In an electric vehicle using a motor driven by a battery as a power source, the extent to which the vehicle can travel with the remaining capacity of the battery, that is, the reachable range is important for making a travel plan.
Therefore, what is intended to provide such information by an in-vehicle navigation system is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-112121.
In this conventional navigation system for an electric vehicle, the current position is displayed on a map by a display, and whether or not the destination input to the navigation system is reachable is determined by the map information and the remaining capacity of the battery. When it is difficult to reach the destination, the necessary battery charging time is indicated to notify that it is difficult to reach the destination.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional electric vehicle navigation system, the battery charging time necessary only when it is difficult to reach the destination is indicated, so the current battery remaining capacity reaches the destination. No notice is given when possible.
For this reason, there is a possibility that the battery has almost no remaining capacity when it reaches the destination.
[0004]
However, unlike gasoline stations, the degree of popularization of battery charging facilities for electric vehicles is still low. Therefore, if there is no charging facility at the destination and the remaining capacity of the battery is near zero, there is a risk that the next destination will not be able to travel to the next destination. is there.
Therefore, in view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric vehicle navigation system capable of calling attention so that the next run can be surely performed after reaching a destination.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
For this reason, in order to inform the driver and the like not only to reach the destination but also to keep in mind even the power to go further or return thereafter, the present invention provides the battery to the battery at the destination by the chargeability determination means. When it is determined whether or not charging is possible and it is determined that charging at the destination is impossible, the charging facility near the destination searched by the charging facility searching means is displayed on the display.
By displaying the charging equipment near the destination, you will be alerted in advance about the remaining capacity of the battery, so make an appropriate travel plan without falling into the situation where you can not run the next after reaching the destination Can do.
[0006]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment.
A motor (M) 30 that is driven by electric power of a battery (BAT) 10 mounted on an electric vehicle is connected from a reduction gear 32 to a drive wheel 36 via a drive shaft 34. An inverter (INV) 20 is provided between the battery 10 and the motor 30, and the direct current of the battery 10 is converted into a three-phase alternating current and supplied to the motor 30. The inverter 20 is controlled by a control signal from a controller (not shown), and thereby the rotation of the motor 30 is controlled.
[0007]
The battery 10 is connected to an AC outlet 14 connected to the commercial AC power source 12 and a charger outlet 18 connected to an external dedicated charger 16 for charging. The battery 10 is selected according to the form of the charging facility. It can be done.
The output line of the battery 10 is provided with a current sensor (A) 22 that detects the battery current and a voltage sensor (V) 24 that detects the terminal voltage of the battery 10, and the current sensor 22 and the voltage sensor 24 are connected to the battery. It is connected to a control unit (BAT-C / U) 26.
[0008]
The battery control unit 26 calculates the remaining capacity of the battery 10 based on the detection data from the current sensor 22 and the voltage sensor 24 and outputs the result to the navigation control unit (NAVI-C / U) 40. . The battery control unit 26 continuously calculates the remaining capacity of the battery 10 while a key switch (not shown) of the electric vehicle is turned on, and outputs the remaining capacity to the navigation control unit 40 every predetermined time.
The battery control unit 26 constitutes a battery remaining amount detecting means in the invention.
[0009]
The navigation control unit 40 is connected to a vehicle speed sensor 42 for detecting a traveling speed, a GPS antenna 44, and a gyro sensor 46 for detecting the current position, and is connected to a display 50 and an input / operation unit 52. . The input / operation unit 52 includes a keyboard 54 and a touch panel 56 provided on the display 50, and the user performs various inputs and selection operations using the input / operation unit 52.
The navigation control unit 40 is further connected to a DVD-ROM 58 storing map information, and the map information includes information on the position of a charging facility such as a charging station.
[0010]
In the navigation control unit 40, the current position is detected and the surrounding map is displayed by satellite navigation using GPS data acquired from the GPS antenna 44 and self-contained navigation using data from the vehicle speed sensor 42 and the gyro sensor 46. 50. Further, it is possible to calculate an optimum route with the lowest power consumption and the highest efficiency corresponding to the destination input from the input / operation unit 52, and to display it together.
[0011]
The navigation control unit 40 further determines whether or not the destination can be reached based on the remaining capacity of the battery 10, and has the following control function for that purpose.
First, when there is no charging facility at the destination, a nearby charging facility is displayed on the display 50 so that it can be selected, and it is determined whether or not the selected charging facility can be traveled, and information is presented on the display 50.
If the current battery remaining capacity cannot be reached to the destination or charging equipment, the minimum required charging time is presented.
When charging for the minimum charging time is not possible, information on how far the vehicle can travel with arbitrary charging is presented.
If there are places with narrow roads or busy streets on the best route, and you want to avoid them, the possibility of reaching the destination on another route is also judged.
[0012]
2 to 4 are flowcharts showing the flow of the control relating to the reachability determination by the navigation control unit 40.
First, when a key switch of an electric vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a vehicle) is turned on, the navigation control unit 40 is activated together with various systems of the vehicle, and control is started.
In step 101, the destination and the destination are input using the touch panel 56 of the display 50.
[0013]
FIG. 5 shows a procedure for inputting a destination and a way-through destination. First, a menu is displayed on the display 50 as shown in FIG. For simplicity, only the “Destination Search” button is shown.
When the operator touches or presses the display portion with his / her finger and selects “Destination Search”, a screen asking for the number of destinations shown in (b) is displayed, and the number of destinations is input from the keyboard 54.
[0014]
When the “next” button is pressed, guidance for “route destination 1” is first displayed on the screen (c) according to the number of route destinations. When this guidance button is pressed, the first route destination input process starts.
In the following, the operation of the buttons on the touch panel 56 is simply referred to as pressing, and particularly when one of a plurality of buttons is selected and pressed, it is referred to as selection. The buttons displayed on the display 50 as the touch panel 56 are configured to change color when pressed or selected, so that the operator can confirm his / her own operation. In the following figures, hatching indicates that the color has changed.
[0015]
First, as shown in (d), a list of characters is displayed, and a screen for selecting a destination initial character is displayed. When “A” is selected here, a screen as shown in (e), where a list of place names and landmarks starting with “A” is displayed, for example, “Atsugi Station” can be selected.
When the first destination is determined in this way, the screen for (f) for selecting the initial letter of the destination similar to (d) for the second destination input is displayed.
When “I” is selected here, a screen displaying a list of place names and the like whose readings start with “I” as shown in FIG. 6G is displayed.
[0016]
In the previous (e) and (g) screens, in addition to the list of place names set in advance, the “No Item” button is also displayed. , Press this "No item".
Then, a screen for requesting an address, a telephone number, etc. as shown in (h) is displayed. Input from the keyboard 54 and a “Next” button is pushed.
When the route information can be recognized from the input information, the message “The route is recognized” appears as shown in (j).
Here, when the route destination cannot be recognized from the information input from the keyboard 54, the screen of (h) is repeated.
[0017]
When the destination is recognized, the destination input process is started by pressing “Next” on the screen (j). Here, the destination is selected and input on the same screens (k) and (m) as in the route destination input process.
When the destination is selected from the list or the destination is recognized by the information input from the keyboard 54, a confirmation screen for each destination and destination as shown in (n) is displayed. Select to finish the destination and waypoint input.
If a change is necessary, the “revision” button is pressed to return to the previous screen in sequence, so that selection or keyboard input can be performed again.
[0018]
Returning to the flowchart, in step 102, information on whether charging at the destination is possible is input.
Therefore, a selection screen as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the display 50. If the operator knows that there is a charging facility at the destination, select the “Yes” button. If there is no charging facility, or if he does not know that there is a charging facility, the “Unknown” button is selected. Push.
In step 103, it is checked which button has been selected. If there is no charging facility (unknown), the process proceeds to step 111. If there is a charging facility, the process proceeds to step 104.
[0019]
In step 104, as shown in FIG. 8, a message indicating that the information input has been completed is displayed, and the process waits for the “next” button set on the screen to be pressed.
When the “Next” button is pressed, in step 105, the optimum route to the destination is searched using the map information of the DVD-ROM based on the information input as described above. While searching for the optimum route, a message to that effect is displayed on the display 50 as shown in FIG.
[0020]
In step 106, using the remaining capacity of the battery 10 input every predetermined time from the battery control unit 26, the destination by the above-mentioned optimal route (when a charging facility near the destination described later is selected or input is set Calculate whether it is possible to travel to the charging facility. If the remaining capacity is insufficient for traveling to the destination (or charging facility), the necessary charging time is also calculated.
[0021]
In step 107, the calculation result is checked. If the vehicle can travel, in step 108, the route from the current value to the destination is displayed as shown in FIG. To inform you that you can travel. Then, it waits for the “Next” button set on the screen to be pressed.
[0022]
When the “next” button is pressed, in step 109, the screen moves to an approval screen having an “OK” button and a “NO” button as shown in FIG. . Here, the change of the travel section can be selected when there is a problem with the optimal travel route due to circumstances.
When the button is pressed, it is checked which button is pressed in step 110, and if the travel on the optimum route is approved by the “OK” button, this flow is ended.
[0023]
In step 111, where the “unknown” button is pressed in the information input relating to the charging facility in step 102 and the process branches from step 103, the screen shown in FIG. 10 (a) is displayed. Announce the possibility of exiting and wait for the “Next” button to be pressed.
[0024]
When the “next” button is pressed, the process proceeds to step 112, and charging facilities near the destination are displayed. As shown in FIG. 10 (b), the position of the charging facility is displayed together with the ring R indicating the distance from the destination at a predetermined interval centered on the destination, and when there are a plurality of charging facilities, It is displayed in each direction. Here, a state is shown in which the A charging stand is at a position 500 m diagonally forward from the destination and the B charging stand is at a position approximately 1 km in the left direction of the destination.
[0025]
When the “Next” button is pressed on this screen, in step 113, the screen moves to the screen shown in FIG. 10 (c), and it is confirmed whether there is a charging facility desired to be used displayed on the screen (b). I do.
The operator presses the “OK” button when there is a charging facility to be used, and presses the “NO” button when there is no charging facility.
[0026]
When the “OK” button is pressed, the process proceeds to step 114 and the screen changes to the desired charging equipment selection screen shown in FIG.
On this screen, a list of A charging stations and B charging stations shown in the screen of FIG. 10B is displayed, and a “Next” button is displayed.
The operator selects one from the displayed list of charging facilities.
Thereafter, when the “next” button is pressed, the routine proceeds to step 104.
[0027]
In the screen of FIG. 10 (c) in step 113, when there is no charging facility to be used and the “NO” button is pressed, the process proceeds to step 115, the screen of FIG. Ask whether to do. The operator presses the “OK” button in the screen when reciprocating, and presses the “NO” button when not reciprocating.
When the “OK” button has been pressed, the routine proceeds to step 104.
[0028]
If the “NO” button is pressed here, the charging location designation screen shown in FIG. 12A is displayed in step 116, and the address, telephone number, or most suitable for the charging facility desired by the operator is displayed. A near target is input from the keyboard 54.
When the charging location cannot be recognized from the input address or the like, the screen display of (a) is repeated.
When the charging place is recognized, the process proceeds to step 117, and the fact that the charging place is recognized and the recognized charging place are displayed as shown in FIG.
[0029]
Next, when it is determined in step 107 that it is not possible to travel to the destination due to the remaining capacity of the battery 10, the process proceeds to step 118 and travels with the optimum route as shown in FIG. Display impossible message on screen.
When the “Next” button is pressed on this screen, the screen of FIG. 13B is displayed, the charging time obtained in step 106 is shown as the minimum charging time, and it is confirmed whether or not charging is started. In addition to the “charge” button, this confirmation screen also includes a “charge time designation” button so that a charge time different from the minimum charge time can be designated. The operator selects one of the buttons.
[0030]
In step 119, it is checked whether or not the “charge” button has been pressed, that is, whether or not the start of charging has been approved. If the “charge” button has been pressed, the process proceeds to step 109.
When the “charge time designation” button is pressed, the routine proceeds to step 120, where a desired charge time input screen as shown in FIG. When the operator inputs a desired time from the keyboard 54 on this input screen and presses the “next” button, in step 121, a post-charge travelable area display as shown in FIG. On this screen, the range that can be traveled while charging for the time entered on the screen in (a) is shown as a distance centered on the current value, and major landmarks such as hospitals and elementary schools are also displayed. The
[0031]
When the “Next” button is pressed on this screen, next, in step 122, as shown in FIG. 14 (c), whether or not the travel plan is to be changed is asked by the “OK” button and the “NO” button. Display the plan change screen.
In step 123, it is checked which button has been pressed. If the "OK" button has been pressed, the process returns to step 101 and returns to the destination input screen from FIG.
On the other hand, if the “NO” button is pressed, the process proceeds to step 124.
In step 124, as shown in FIG. 14 (d), the same charging time as shown in the previous screen of FIG. 13 (b) is displayed, and it is announced that there is a need for charging when heading to the original destination. And exit.
[0032]
If the “NO” button is pressed in step 110 for route approval, the process proceeds to step 125 and each section on the optimum travel route is selected as shown in FIG. The change desired section input screen that can be displayed is displayed.
When a section to be changed is selected by a button and the “next” button is pressed, a message to search for another route in the selected section is displayed as shown in FIG. When the “next” button on this screen is pressed, in step 126, a plurality of different routes other than the optimum route in the desired change section are searched.
[0033]
In step 127, the search result is displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. Here, an example is shown in which three routes of another route 1 to another route 3 are retrieved and displayed when the route 2 and the destination are selected as the change desired section.
When the “next” button is pressed on this other route display screen, the flow shifts to a travel route selection screen shown in FIG.
The operator selects one of a plurality of different routes displayed on the screen and presses the “Next” button.
[0034]
Thereby, in step 129, the screen shifts to a travel route determination screen as shown in FIG. 15 (e), and the selected other route is displayed and whether or not the travel to the destination by the other route is possible is calculated. After displaying a message to that effect, the process returns to step 106.
[0035]
In the above flow, step 101 constitutes destination setting means in the invention, steps 102 and 103 constitute chargeability determination means, and step 112 constitutes charging facility search means.
Steps 105, 109, 110, 125 to 129 constitute route setting means, Steps 106 and 121 are reachability determination means, Steps 113 and 114 are charging equipment selection means, and Steps 116 and 117 are charging equipments. The setting means and step 120 constitute the charging time setting means.
[0036]
The present embodiment is configured as described above, and allows the operator to input the destination together with the way-by destination, and similarly determines whether or not the battery 10 can be charged at the destination based on the input information. The reachability of whether or not the current battery capacity can be reached to the destination is calculated and displayed on the display 50. If there is no charging facility at the destination, the charging facility near the destination is Displayed and selected, and whether or not it is possible to travel to the charging facility with the remaining capacity of the battery 10 is determined and displayed.
This prevents the possibility of falling into a situation where the battery 10 has reached the destination but the remaining capacity of the battery 10 is lost and the next run cannot be performed. In addition, since the charging facility near the destination can be known in advance, there is no need to search for the charging facility near the destination.
[0037]
In addition, instead of selecting a charging facility in the vicinity of the destination, the operator can input the charging facility himself, so use the familiar charging facility and determine whether it can be reached. You can also
Similarly, it is possible to determine whether or not the reciprocating travel from the current location to the destination is possible with the remaining capacity of the battery 10 by the selection operation of the operator, so that the options of the travel plan are expanded.
[0038]
When the remaining capacity of the battery 10 can travel to the destination or the charging facility, the fact that the vehicle can travel with the route is displayed on the display 50, so the route from the current location directly to the destination or a selection is selected. Understand and understand the route to the destination and the round-trip route via the input charging equipment, and you can go to the destination with peace of mind.
On the other hand, when the remaining capacity of the battery 10 cannot travel to the destination or the charging facility, the minimum charging time required to reach the destination or the charging facility is calculated and displayed on the display 50. You can clearly know the required charging time.
[0039]
Further, the operator can arbitrarily set the charging time. For example, when a charging time shorter than the above-mentioned minimum charging time is set, the remaining capacity of the battery 10 when the charging is completed is calculated. Since the reachable range with the remaining capacity is displayed on the display 50, the travel plan can be changed within the reachable range.
[0040]
Further, since the optimum route based on the map information is calculated for the route to the destination, the destination can be reached most efficiently.
Since the operator can select another route, it is possible to know whether an arbitrary route can be reached with the remaining capacity of the battery 10.
[0041]
In the embodiment, the input / operation unit 52 includes the keyboard 54 and the touch panel 56. However, the input / operation unit 52 is not limited to this, and various man machines such as those based on voice recognition and image recognition in the line-of-sight direction are used. An interface can be adopted.
Further, the screen display on the display is merely an example, and any display form can be employed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of control.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of control.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of control.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an input screen for a destination and a destination.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a destination and waypoint input screen.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a selection screen for whether or not there is a charging facility at a destination.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an information input completion screen.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a route setting screen.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a screen for selecting a charging facility near a destination when the charging facility is unknown.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a reciprocating travel confirmation screen.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a desired charging equipment setting screen.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a display screen when it is impossible to travel to the destination with the remaining battery capacity.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a desired charging time input screen.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a route change setting screen.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Battery 12 Commercial AC power supply 14 AC outlet 16 Dedicated charger 18 Charger outlet 20 Inverter 22 Current sensor 24 Voltage sensor 26 Battery control unit 30 Motor 32 Reduction gear 34 Drive shaft 36 Driving wheel 40 Navigation control unit 42 Vehicle speed sensor 44 GPS antenna 46 Gyro Sensor 50 Display 52 Input / Operation Unit 54 Keyboard 56 Touch Panel 58 DVD-ROM

Claims (9)

In an electric vehicle powered by a battery-driven motor,
Destination setting means for setting the destination;
Chargeability determination means for determining whether or not the battery can be charged at the destination set by the destination setting means;
A charging facility search means for searching for a charging facility near the destination;
A navigation system for an electric vehicle, comprising: a display for displaying the charging facility searched by the charging facility searching unit when the charging permission determining unit determines that charging at the destination is impossible. Route setting means for setting a route from the current location to a predetermined location;
Battery remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining capacity of the battery;
Reachability determination means for determining whether or not traveling from the current location along the route to a predetermined location is possible with the remaining capacity of the battery;
Charging facility selection means for allowing the operator to select the charging facility searched by the charging facility search means,
The predetermined place is determined as the destination when the chargeability determination means determines that charging at the destination is possible, and the charging facility selection means when the chargeability determination means determines that charging at the destination is impossible. As the location of the selected charging facility,
The navigation system for an electric vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the determination result of the reachability determination means is displayed on the display. Furthermore, it has a charging facility setting means that allows the operator to input the charging facility, and instead of selecting by the charging facility selection means, the location of the charging facility input from the charging facility setting means is set as the predetermined location. The navigation system for an electric vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the navigation system is an electric vehicle. 4. The reachability determination means according to claim 2 or 3, wherein it is possible to determine whether or not reciprocal travel from the current location to the destination is possible with the remaining capacity of the battery by an operator's selection operation. Electric vehicle navigation system. When the reachability determining means determines that the remaining capacity of the battery is capable of traveling to the destination or the charging facility, the route from the current location to the destination is displayed along with the fact that the vehicle can travel on the display. The navigation system for an electric vehicle according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the navigation system is an electric vehicle. When the reachability determination means determines that it is impossible to travel to the destination or the charging facility due to the remaining capacity of the battery, it calculates the minimum charging time required to reach the destination or the charging facility. 6. The navigation system for an electric vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the charging time is displayed on the display. It has a charging time setting means that can set an arbitrary charging time by an operator's input,
The reachability determination means calculates the remaining capacity of the battery at the time when charging by the charging time set by the charging time setting means is completed, and allows the range reachable by the remaining capacity to be displayed on the display. The navigation system for an electric vehicle according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein: The navigation system for an electric vehicle according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the route setting means calculates an optimum route based on map information to obtain the route. 9. The navigation system for an electric vehicle according to claim 8, wherein the route setting means can set another route different from the optimum route by an operator's selection operation.

Images