JP5471940B2 - Charge control device for plug-in vehicle and vehicle navigation device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a charging control device for a plug-in vehicle and a vehicle navigation device that can be charged from a power source by solar power generation and other power sources.

  In Patent Document 1, charging to a battery mounted on a plug-in vehicle is performed by making maximum use of a plurality of types of power sources in ascending order of power unit price and charging by solar power generation with the lowest power unit price. It is disclosed to adjust the time based on the weather forecast.

JP 2009-148121 A

According to the thing of such patent document 1, since it can charge to a battery using solar power generation with the lowest electric power unit price to the maximum, reduction of charging cost can be aimed at.
However, although the thing of patent document 1 can implement | achieve an optimal charging plan from photovoltaic power generation and a weather forecast until the next scheduled departure time, even if it is a case where the amount of charging required for the next driving | running is small In the time zone other than the charging time by solar power generation, there is a problem that charging by a commercial power source is performed and inexpensive charging cannot be realized.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is a plug-in that does not perform useless charging while charging a battery by making maximum use of photovoltaic power generation with the lowest unit price of electric power. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle charging control device and a vehicle navigation device.

According to invention of Claim 1, since a battery can be charged to the maximum by photovoltaic power generation until the next scheduled departure time, it is possible to reduce the charging cost. In this case, even if the weather is bad, the charging schedule is created based on the weather forecast, so the amount of power charged by solar power generation is less than the expected power consumption required for the next run. However, by charging from another power source, it is possible to avoid a shortage in the amount of charged power during the next run.
Further, since the schedule information input by the user to the schedule management means can be acquired and the charging schedule can be created, it is possible to reduce the trouble of inputting the schedule information again and to further improve the accuracy of the schedule information. it can.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the amount of power charged by solar power generation is insufficient, the battery can be reliably charged by the commercial power source. In this case, since the power can be charged using the commercial power source in the time zone where the power unit price is cheaper than other time zones, for example, at midnight power hours, the charging cost of the commercial power source can be reduced. Can do.

According to the invention of claim 3, since the route traveled by commuting is constant, the expected power consumption required for the next commuting can be accurately obtained based on the past power consumption.
According to the invention of claim 4, even when the weather is bad and charging is insufficient during charging of solar power generation, it is possible to appropriately deal with and prevent charging shortage .
According to the invention 請 Motomeko 5, it is possible to easily modify the schedule information.
According to the invention of 請 Motomeko 8, weather information, or so it can be carried out using the car navigation apparatus having a function of acquiring current position information and the like, can be easily performed.

Functional block diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of a reference embodiment of the present invention Flow chart showing charging procedure by car navigation device Flow chart showing calculation of required power amount of next day by car navigation device Flow chart showing creation of charging schedule by car navigation device Diagram showing an example of the charging schedule The figure which shows the data structure of the scheduler in one Embodiment of this invention. Diagram showing the display

( Reference form)
Hereinafter, reference embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of the charge control device. The plug-in vehicle 1 is equipped with a charge control device 2. The charging control device 2 (corresponding to the expected power consumption calculating means, the solar power generation amount calculating means, the insufficient power amount calculating means, the charging schedule creating means, the charging control means, the commuting instruction means, and the storage means) is connected to the plug-in vehicle 1. Power source selector 3 mounted, battery 4 (lead storage battery, nickel metal hydride battery, lithium battery, etc.) charged by this power source selector 3, car navigation device (hereinafter referred to as “car navigation”) 5 for controlling power source selector 3 It is composed of The plug-in vehicle is a vehicle capable of charging the battery 4 with electric power supplied from the outside of the vehicle. The plug-in electric vehicle uses only a motor as a driving force source, and uses an engine and a motor as driving force sources. There is a plug-in hybrid vehicles, in this reference embodiment assumes a plug-in hybrid vehicles. In FIG. 1, the basic configuration of the car navigation 5 is omitted, and only the configuration related to the present invention is shown in the functional block diagram. In addition to the basic configuration (not shown), the car navigation 5 includes a charging control device 2, a route calculation / prediction function 6 (corresponding to a travel route prediction unit), a weather forecast providing function 7 (corresponding to a weather information acquisition unit), Sunset time data 8 (corresponding to sunshine information acquisition means) is provided.

A plurality of charging terminals 9 are connected to the power source selector 3, and power lines from the power sources A to C corresponding to the charging terminals 9 can be connected. In this case, the terminal of the power line that can be connected corresponding to the charging terminal 9 is configured to be alternative, and other power lines other than the corresponding power line cannot be connected. The power sources A to C are supplied by a commercial power source supplied from an electric power company, a power source supplied by solar power generation, a power source supplied by wind power generation, or a private power generator using gas or a fuel cell. However, in this reference embodiment, a case where two power sources, that is, a commercial power source and a power source by solar power generation are used will be described. As solar power generation, it is generally installed on the roof of a house or a garage roof, and power is supplied as a power source of the house during power generation, but the power source by solar power generation is connected to the charging terminal 9 Then, priority is given to the charge to a vehicle, and it switches to the electric power feeding to a house when the charge to a vehicle is complete | finished.

  The power source selector 3 includes a power converter mainly including a transformer, and converts the power supplied from the selected charging terminal 9 into power that can be charged in the battery 4. Further, the power source selector 3 is provided with a voltage sensor for detecting and detecting a voltage of a current path from the power converter to the output terminal to the battery 4, and a current sensor for detecting current. And the present charging electric energy can be calculated by calculating the electric energy charged in the battery 4 and the electric energy discharged (power feeding to a driving motor (not shown)) based on the detected value by the current sensor. . In this case, the amount of electric power charged into the battery 4 is the amount of electric power consumed when the plug-in hybrid vehicle travels only with the battery 4 during the first travel after charging.

The reason why the charging control device 2 is provided in the car navigation 5 is that information for creating a charging schedule for executing charging control on the battery 4 can be acquired from the function of the car navigation 5. In the reference mode, the function of the charging control device 2 is realized by a processor (not shown) in the car navigation system 5, and the following functions use functions of the car navigation system 5.
When the destination is set, the route calculation / prediction function 6 sets a route from the current position to the destination, and will later describe the power consumption of the battery 4 required to travel back and forth to the destination. Calculate as follows.

The weather forecast providing function 7 obtains a weather forecast for an external information center to broadcast over a wide area (data service using radio broadcast or digital radio), and determines the weather until the next day (the next scheduled travel date).
The sunrise / sunset time data 8 stores the sunrise / sunset time corresponding to the latitude and longitude, and the sunrise / sunset time corresponding to the latitude and longitude indicated by the GPS data acquired by the car navigation system 5 is stored. provide. Since the sunrise / sunset data is standard data corresponding to the latitude and longitude, the car navigation system 5 is located in an obstacle located in the sunrise and sunset directions of the current location, especially in mountainous areas. It is desirable to consider the influence of the surrounding mountains, and in the city center the sunlight blocking time zone by the surrounding high-rise buildings. Moreover, since the irradiation time zone of sunlight changes with the installation location of a solar cell even if it is the same area, you may make it a user input the irradiation time zone.

When the user charges the battery 4 for the next run, the car navigation 5 is connected to the charging terminal 9 of the plug-in vehicle 1 with the power lines from the solar power generation and the commercial power source connected. Enter information about your trip. The car navigation 5 creates a charging schedule based on the input departure time and destination and charges the battery 4 as described later.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a charging procedure by the car navigation system 5. The car navigation 5 first checks the remaining battery level by the charge control device 2 (A1).
Next, the required power amount for traveling on the next day (next time) is calculated (A2).

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing calculation of the required power amount for the next day by the car navigation system 5. When the user sets the destination and estimated arrival time when traveling the next day (next time) in the car navigation 5 (B1: YES), the car navigation 5 calculates a route to the destination, and calculates the distance and past fuel consumption (power consumption). The amount of electric power (Y) required for the round trip from the data to the destination is calculated. In this case, the predicted power consumption when traveling along the route is obtained by multiplying the power consumption at that time by a safety factor in the case of a route that has traveled in the past. If the route has traveled in the past, you can use past data, but if you have traveled only in some sections, or if the route has not traveled in the past, The data at that time is used for a certain section, and for the sections that have never traveled or the routes that have not traveled, the slope of the road (inclination of up and down) and the presence or absence of signals are obtained from the map data. To calculate (B2). In other words, when there is an uphill in the route, the expected power consumption is increased according to the slope and distance, and the downhill exists compared to the power consumption when traveling on a flat ground according to the slope and distance. When doing so, the expected power consumption is reduced by the amount of regenerative power. In addition, when there are many signals in the route, the amount of power consumption increases as the number of stops increases, so the expected power consumption increases according to the number of signals. In addition, when the traffic speed limit, the number of lanes, the straight distance, or the traffic jam forecast on the scheduled travel date can be obtained, the predicted power consumption is calculated in consideration of the traffic jam distance and the like. Furthermore, when there is a tunnel in the route, or when the travel is after sunset, the light needs to be turned on, so that the expected power consumption is increased accordingly.

  Then, the required travel time is calculated from the estimated arrival time and the route calculation result, and the departure time is determined by back calculation. For example, the estimated arrival time is 9:00 am, the required travel time is 1 hour, and the amount of power required for a round trip to the destination is 50 Kw. If charging is possible at the destination, only the forward path is set for the car navigation 5, and the required charging amount at that time is halved.

Moreover, in the case of a user who uses the plug-in vehicle 1 for commuting, the destination is the same, that is, the route is the same, and it is possible to estimate the required expected power consumption. In this way, in order to make the user easily reserve necessary and sufficient charging for commuting, a “commuting charging” button (not shown) is installed on the screen of the car navigation 5 so that the next day use can be set with one touch. I made it. Therefore, when the “commuting charge” button is turned on (B3: YES), the car navigation 5 calculates the necessary power amount from the day of the week and the predicted weather and past power consumption statistical data (B4). In this case, if it is determined that the amount of charging power required for short commuting distance is sufficient with only solar power generation, it is also possible to control to charge only with solar power generation from sunrise to work time. Such a case is the cheapest in terms of cost. The same applies to the case where the destination is input as described above and the destination is a short distance, or the departure time is late and sufficient time for charging by solar power generation can be obtained. In this way, even when the amount of power necessary for traveling can be obtained by charging only with solar power, it is desirable to perform charging with solar power as much as possible during sunshine hours.
If the user does not set the route (B1: NO) and does not turn on the “commuting charge” button (B3: NO), the calendar is used to predict whether the commuter will be used. If it is not commuting, full charge (B5) control is also possible.

Next, the car navigation system 5 creates a charging schedule (A3).
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the creation of a charging schedule by the car navigation system 5. When the user sets the departure time (C1), the car navigation system 5 acquires the next morning weather information from the information center and determines whether the weather forecast is clear (C6). If the weather forecast is sunny (C6: YES), if the table data with the interior of the sunny and a solar power generation are possible generation of 10 Kw / h (average value in this preferred embodiment). The amount of power generation varies depending on the date and time (even if it is clear, the time close to sunrise and sunset is small and maximum in the daytime). The corresponding power amount is set finely.

  The date of the next day is acquired from the calendar function, and the next morning sunrise time is acquired from the internal sunrise and sunset table data. This sunrise / sunset table data stores the correspondence between the position (latitude, longitude) in Japan, and the monthly sunrise / sunset time. For example, if the sunrise time is 6 o'clock, the solar power generator generates electricity before departure from 2 o'clock from 6 o'clock to 8 o'clock on departure. 10 kw / h × 2 h = 20 kw. For this reason, it is necessary to charge 50 kw-20 kw = 30 kw before sunrise (at night).

  If the charging capacity from a commercial power source is 20 kW, charging with a commercial power source of 30 kW / 20 kW = 1.5 h is required before sunrise. In this case, since the charging cost of the commercial power source is low in the midnight power time zone where the power unit price is cheaper than other time zones, the car navigation 5 determines whether the midnight power time zone is 1.5 hours or more. In the above case, a schedule is created to charge at midnight power (C7). When the charging time at the commercial power source exceeds the midnight power time zone, the charging time at the normal commercial power source is used for the time zone that exceeds the charging time.

  On the other hand, when the weather forecast is other than sunny (C6: NO), charging by solar power generation cannot be expected, so a schedule for charging using midnight power of commercial power is created (C8). Also in this case, when the charging time at the commercial power source exceeds the midnight power time zone, the charging time at the normal commercial power source is set for the exceeding time zone.

  On the other hand, when the “commuting charge” button is turned on or when the next day is a weekday (C4: YES), the working hours are calculated every sunrise (C3), and a charging schedule is created based on the weather forecast for the next day (C6). ). If the next day is a holiday (C4: NO), the operation start time is estimated from the holiday operation history (C5), and a charging schedule is created based on the next day's weather forecast (C6).

If the weather forecast for the next day is cloudy or rainy, charging by solar power generation cannot be expected. In such cases, charging by solar power generation is considered to be zero and charging by late-night power hours Create a charging schedule to include as much as possible. Further, when the wiper is operated in rainy weather, the lighting of the light is predicted, or the driving of the air conditioner is predicted, it is necessary to create a charging schedule by increasing the predicted power consumption accordingly.
As described above, charging is most used for photovoltaic power generation based on the charging schedule, the amount of insufficient power can be charged with midnight power, and the amount of insufficient power can be charged with normal commercial power.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the charging schedule created as described above.
From 1:00 to 2:30, it is charged with the midnight power of the commercial power source, from 6:00 to 8:00 is charged with the power supplied by solar power generation, and the outbound route from 8:00 to 9:00 It shows that it is running.
Then, the car navigation 5 switches the power source selector 3 based on the charging schedule created as described above, thereby switching the power source for the battery 4 from the commercial power source to the solar power generation for charging.

In the charging schedule, when the amount of charging power is extremely small in the time zone where solar power generation should be performed, the power supply is automatically switched to the commercial power source. Thereby, even if the weather forecast is off, it is possible to prevent the amount of charge from being insufficient and causing trouble in traveling.
In addition, when the next scheduled travel date is, for example, the day after next, the next day may be charged only by photovoltaic power generation, and after the sunset, the next day's charging schedule may be created based on the current amount of charging power.

According to such a reference form, the following effects can be achieved.
The car navigation system 1 obtains the estimated power consumption required for the next driving based on the estimated arrival time and the destination on the next day (next time) input by the user, the weather information on the next day, and the sun / sunset. Based on the time, a charging schedule for maximizing charging with solar power generation until the scheduled departure time of the next sunrise is created, and charging to the battery 4 is controlled according to the charging schedule, so that the charging cost can be reduced. Further, when the amount of power charged by solar power generation is less than the expected power consumption required for the next day's travel, charging is performed from the commercial power source, so that it is possible to avoid a power shortage during the next day's travel.

When charging with a commercial power source, charging is performed with late-night power, so that charging costs can be reduced even when charging is performed with a commercial power source.
A charging schedule that takes into account the sunrise and sunset times according to the current position is created so that charging by solar power generation can be used to the fullest regardless of latitude and lightness.
Since it is implemented by the car navigation 5 having a function of acquiring weather information or current position information, it can be implemented easily.

( One embodiment)
Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the reference form, the user needs to input the next destination. On the other hand, in recent years, schedule information is preliminarily stored in a portable personal computer (PC) or a personal digital assistant (PDA) having a Bluetooth function or a mobile phone (smart phone) having a schedule function (hereinafter referred to as a “mobile communication terminal”). It is generally performed to enter and manage the date and place of going out, and it is extremely troublesome and may cause an input mistake to input the schedule information input to the mobile communication terminal into the car navigation 5 again. There is.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the car navigation 5 (corresponding to the schedule acquisition means) is input in advance when a portable communication terminal (corresponding to the schedule management means) having a Bluetooth function is brought into the vehicle interior by the user. The received schedule information is received (acquired) by Bluetooth, and if there is schedule information indicating that the user uses the vehicle, the destination indicated by the schedule information is set as the destination. In this case, when the schedule information for using the vehicle is set for a plurality of days, the destination indicated by the latest schedule information is set as the destination. Further, when a plurality of destinations are set on the same day, the destinations are set in the order of closeness or the order set by the user. As described above, the data structure of the scheduler has been devised as means for determining whether or not the user has registered a place to go using the vehicle.

  FIG. 6 shows a data structure of the scheduler which is a function of the mobile communication terminal. The data structure of the scheduler is composed of “subject”, “date”, “start time”, “end time”, “location”, and “text”, but in this embodiment, “movement by car Yea / No. "Flag added. That is, when the movement flag by car is 1 ("Yes" is selected), it indicates that the user moves to a registered place (destination) using the car.

  As described above, when the user who carries the mobile communication terminal in which the schedule information is registered by the scheduler gets on the vehicle, the car navigation 5 acquires the schedule information registered in the mobile communication terminal by Bluetooth. In this case, the car navigation 5 synchronizes its own schedule when there is schedule information in which the movement flag by car is 1. In this way, in order to synchronize schedules with Bluetooth, SYNC (synchronization profile) which is a Bluetooth profile standard is used. Thereby, the car navigation 5 can register the place (destination) and start time (arrival time) of the next and subsequent departure dates.

The car navigation 5 obtains the departure time from the destination and arrival time registered as described above, and creates a charging schedule in the same manner as in the reference mode. In this case, since the start time is the start time of the business at the destination, the departure time is set in anticipation of a predetermined time (for example, 30 minutes) from the arrival time at the destination to the start time of the business. Is desirable.

  If the car arrives at the house from the destination and the engine stops with the schedule information received from the mobile communication terminal and registered as described above, the car navigation 5 determines that all of today's process has been completed. Then, the next driving schedule created based on the schedule information received from the mobile communication terminal is displayed on the display 11 as shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 7B, the display 11 displays the date and time of the next driving schedule for using the vehicle and the contents of the schedule, and whether or not the charging schedule may be created based on the displayed schedule. An “OK” button 12 and a “change schedule” button 13 are displayed. These buttons 12 and 13 correspond to correct / incorrect selection means. When the “OK” button 12 is touched, a charging schedule is created based on the displayed schedule. When the user touches the “change schedule” button 13 because the next destination is unknown or the display content is incorrect, the “schedule is changed” button 13 is replaced with “schedule Please enter "message 14 is displayed. As a result, the display to be changed in the display information is changed by a key (corresponding to a correction means) (not shown) in a state where the display to be changed is selected by a touch operation. In this case, the schedule changed in the car navigation 5 may be synchronized with the schedule information of the mobile communication terminal, or the schedule information of the mobile communication terminal is changed instead of directly changing the schedule information by an operation on the car navigation 5 After that, the next schedule information may be changed by synchronizing the schedule information with the car navigation system 5.

According to such an embodiment, the car navigation system 5 creates the next charging schedule by synchronizing with the schedule information registered in the mobile communication terminal brought into the vehicle interior. It is not necessary to register the schedule information registered in the terminal again in the car navigation system 5, so that the burden on the user can be reduced and input errors can be prevented.
Moreover, since the next charging schedule is created after confirming whether the next schedule information received from the mobile communication terminal is correct or not, the accuracy of the charging schedule can be improved.
If the next schedule information is wrong, the schedule information can be corrected, so that the schedule information can be corrected correctly.

Note that whether the next schedule information is correct or not may be confirmed when the schedule information is received from the mobile communication terminal.
If the car navigation 5 can access a server on the cloud network (corresponding to the schedule management means) through the wide area communication network, the schedule is registered by accessing the server from a home PC. The schedule may be synchronized by periodically acquiring the schedule from the server in the on state.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and reference embodiments , and can be modified or expanded as follows.
In the above embodiment and the reference embodiment , a plug-in hybrid vehicle is assumed as the plug-in vehicle, but it may be applied to a plug-in electric vehicle. In this case, when the battery is completely discharged, it becomes impossible to drive the vehicle. Therefore, it is necessary to set a large safety factor during charging.

Instead of the car navigation charging control device, it may be mounted on the vehicle as a charging ETC to obtain necessary information from the car navigation system.
When weather information is monitored by car navigation and the weather information is changed, the charging schedule may be reviewed, or the user may be able to manually change the charging schedule. Further, when the traffic jam information is acquired, the scheduled departure time may be changed to be earlier, and the charging schedule may be changed accordingly.
The commercial power may be switched between the 100V line and the 200V line.

  In the drawings, 1 is a plug-in vehicle, 2 is a charge control device (expected power consumption calculation means, solar power generation amount calculation means, insufficient power amount calculation means, charge schedule creation means, charge control means, commuting instruction means, storage means ) 3 is a power source selector, 4 is a battery, 5 is a car navigation device, 6 is a route calculation / prediction function (travel route prediction means), 7 is a weather forecast providing function (weather information acquisition means), 8 is a Sunset time data (sunshine information acquisition means).

Claims (8)

A battery charging control device for a plug-in vehicle that controls charging by a plurality of power sources including solar power generation with respect to a battery mounted on the plug-in vehicle,
Travel route prediction means for predicting the next travel route based on information input by the user;
An expected power consumption calculating means for obtaining an expected power consumption required for traveling on the travel route determined by the travel route predicting means;
Weather information acquisition means for acquiring weather information until the next driving,
Sunshine information acquisition means for acquiring sunshine information until the next run,
Solar power generation amount calculating means for calculating the amount of solar power generation until the next scheduled departure time based on the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit and the sunshine information acquired by the sunshine information acquisition unit;
If the amount of photovoltaic power generation up to the next scheduled departure time determined by the photovoltaic power generation amount calculation means is less than the expected power consumption amount calculated by the predicted power consumption amount calculation means, the insufficient power amount is calculated. A power shortage calculation means;
Charging schedule creating means for creating a charging schedule indicating a time for charging the battery with the insufficient power amount calculated by the unexpected power amount calculating means with another power source, and a time for charging with solar power generation;
Charging control means for controlling charging of the battery according to a charging schedule created by the charging schedule creating means;
A schedule management means for managing the schedule information input by the user;
Schedule acquisition means for acquiring schedule information from the schedule management means;
Correctness selection means for selecting whether the schedule information acquired by the schedule information acquisition means is correct,
The charging schedule creation means creates the next charging schedule based on the schedule information acquired by the schedule acquisition means on the condition that positive is selected by the correct / incorrect selection means . Charge control device. Commercial power source is set as another power source,
2. The plug-in vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the charging schedule creation unit sets a time unit for charging by a commercial power source so as to include a time zone in which the power unit price is cheaper than other time zones. Charge control device. Commuting instruction means for instructing that the next driving is commuting,
Storage means for storing past power consumption,
The travel power calculation means obtains the required travel power amount based on the past power consumption stored in the storage means when the next travel is instructed by the commutation instruction means. The charge control device for a plug-in vehicle according to claim 1 or 2.   The plug according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the charging control means switches to another power source when determining that the amount of charging power is insufficient during charging by solar power generation. In-vehicle charge control device. 5. The plug-in vehicle charging according to claim 1 , further comprising a correcting unit that corrects the schedule information by a user operation when the correct / incorrect selection unit selects “No”. Control device. The schedule management means is a mobile communication terminal having a short-range communication function,
The charging control device for a plug-in vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the acquisition unit accesses the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication . The schedule management means is a server on a cloud network,
The plug-in vehicle charging control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the schedule acquisition unit accesses the server via a wide area communication network . A vehicle navigation device comprising the plug-in vehicle charge control device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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