JP5700215B2 - Information provision device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing apparatus that provides information about an energy supply facility of a vehicle to a vehicle user.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an apparatus for searching for a charging station that charges a battery of an electric vehicle is known. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a device that searches for a charging station within a travelable range of a vehicle based on map information and vehicle position information.

JP 2010-175492 A

  Such a conventional charging station search device searches for a charging facility on the assumption that the vehicle position information is correct. Therefore, if the vehicle position is different from the position grasped by the search device, an appropriate Unable to provide charging station information. Recently, a system is known in which an information center sequentially acquires and manages vehicle position information representing a vehicle position. In such a system, the vehicle user can acquire charging station information around the vehicle position from the information center by accessing the information center using a portable terminal.

  However, if the vehicle position information is not properly transmitted to the information center, the actual vehicle position is different from the vehicle position known by the information center, and appropriate charging station information cannot be obtained.

  The present invention has been made to address the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide more appropriate information on energy supply facilities.

In order to achieve the above object, a feature of the present invention is applied to a search system for searching for an energy supply facility around a vehicle in accordance with a search operation command of a mobile terminal (300) of a vehicle user. In an information providing apparatus for providing information on energy supply facilities of a vehicle to a vehicle user,
A search result (S53) for searching for an energy supply facility around the vehicle based on vehicle position information stored in the center device (210) provided outside the vehicle, and a search operation for the mobile user's portable terminal (300) Search result acquisition means (S62) capable of acquiring search results (S54) for searching for energy supply facilities around the mobile terminal based on the location information of the mobile terminal, and search results acquired by the search result acquisition means And a search result display means (S63) for displaying on the screen of the portable terminal.

  In the search system to which the present invention is applied, the center apparatus stores the transmitted vehicle position information. The transmission of the vehicle position information to the center device may be transmitted from the vehicle or may be transmitted from other means such as a portable terminal. When the vehicle user transmits a search operation command using his / her mobile terminal, the search system searches for an energy supply facility around the vehicle using the latest vehicle position information stored in the center device.

  The search for the energy supply facility needs to be performed based on the actual vehicle position. However, when the vehicle position stored in the center device is different from the actual vehicle position, it becomes impossible to search for an appropriate energy supply facility. Therefore, in the present invention, the search result acquisition means searches the energy supply facility around the vehicle based on the latest vehicle position information stored in the center device, and the search operation of the mobile terminal of the vehicle user. And a search result obtained by searching for an energy supply facility around the mobile terminal based on the position information of the mobile terminal. In this case, it is not necessary to acquire two types of search results at the same time, as long as either one can be selectively acquired. Moreover, what is necessary is just to use the positional information which the position detection apparatus with which the portable terminal was equipped detects the positional information on a portable terminal, for example.

  Then, the search result display unit displays the search result acquired by the search result acquisition unit on the screen of the mobile terminal. Thereby, even if the vehicle position grasped by the center device is different from the actual vehicle position, a search result based on the position of the mobile terminal, that is, the position of the vehicle user can be obtained. It can be used effectively. In most cases, a vehicle user performs a search operation for an energy supply facility at a location where the vehicle is actually located or in the vicinity thereof. Therefore, when the actual vehicle position is far away from the vehicle position grasped by the center device, the search result based on the position of the mobile terminal becomes very effective. As a result, according to the present invention, the vehicle user can obtain energy supply facility information around an appropriate vehicle position. The energy supply facility refers to a facility that replenishes energy necessary for running the vehicle, such as a charging station for charging the battery of the vehicle and a gasoline station that replenishes the fuel of the vehicle.

  Another feature of the present invention is a vehicle position information reference search mode for searching for an energy supply facility around the vehicle based on vehicle position information stored in a center device provided outside the vehicle, and a search for a mobile terminal of a vehicle user Selection information acquisition means (S40) for acquiring selection information indicating which one of a terminal position information reference search mode for searching for an energy supply facility around the portable terminal is selected based on position information of the portable terminal at the time of operation And the search result acquisition means acquires the search result searched in the selected search mode based on the selection information acquired by the selection information acquisition means.

  In the present invention, whether to search for an energy supply facility around the vehicle position grasped by the center device (vehicle position information reference search mode) or to search for an energy supply facility around the portable terminal (terminal position information reference search) The selection information acquisition means acquires the selection information (selection result). The search result acquisition unit acquires a search result searched in the selected search mode. Therefore, according to the present invention, since the reference position for searching for the energy supply facility can be selected, the vehicle user can obtain the energy supply facility information searched based on the reference position selected by the user.

  Another feature of the present invention is that a mark (Ab) indicating a mobile terminal position specified by position information of the mobile terminal, and a mark (Vb) specified by vehicle position information stored in the center device ( Position display means (S39, S44) for displaying Aa) on the same map and displaying them on the screen (304) of the portable terminal.

  In the present invention, on the screen of the mobile terminal, a mark indicating the mobile terminal position and a mark indicating the vehicle position grasped by the center device are displayed on the same map. In this case, the mark indicating the mobile terminal position may be displayed at the mobile terminal position on the map, and the mark indicating the vehicle position grasped by the center device may be displayed at the vehicle position on the map. Thereby, the vehicle user can easily recognize both his / her own position and the vehicle position grasped by the center device. Therefore, wrong search can be prevented.

  Another feature of the present invention is that the portable terminal includes a short-range wireless communication device (302) capable of transmitting and receiving to and from the vehicle by short-range wireless communication. A communication establishment judging means (S33) for judging whether or not a communication connection with the vehicle is established, and when it is judged that a communication connection between the portable terminal and the vehicle is established, the portable terminal position is indicated. Position display restricting means (S34) for not displaying the mark and the mark indicating the vehicle position separately but displaying the mark (Ac) indicating only the portable terminal position is provided.

  In the present invention, the portable terminal includes a short-range wireless communication device that can transmit and receive to and from the vehicle by short-range wireless communication. Therefore, if the distance between the portable terminal and the vehicle is short, mutual communication connection is possible. The communication establishment determining means determines whether or not a communication connection between the mobile terminal and the vehicle is established during the search operation of the mobile terminal. The communication connection between the portable terminal and the vehicle is established when the portable terminal is brought into the vehicle or when the portable terminal is near the vehicle. Therefore, when searching for an energy supply facility, the position of the mobile terminal and the position of the vehicle can be handled as substantially the same. Therefore, when it is determined that the communication connection between the mobile terminal and the vehicle is established, the position display restriction unit regards the mobile terminal position as the actual vehicle position, and indicates a mark indicating the mobile terminal position and the vehicle position. The mark indicating only the position of the mobile terminal is displayed without displaying the mark separately. Therefore, when the vehicle position grasped by the center device is different from the actual vehicle position, no mark is displayed at the vehicle position. For this reason, the correct vehicle position can be displayed on the screen.

  Another feature of the present invention is that the portable terminal includes a short-range wireless communication device (302) capable of transmitting and receiving to and from the vehicle by short-range wireless communication. When it is determined that a communication connection between the mobile terminal and the vehicle is established, a communication establishment determination means (S33) for determining whether or not a communication connection with the vehicle is established, And a search mode selection means (S34) for automatically selecting the terminal position information reference search mode.

  In the present invention, when the communication connection between the mobile terminal and the vehicle is established, the mobile terminal position is regarded as the actual vehicle position, and the search mode selection means automatically selects the terminal position information reference search mode. Therefore, even if the vehicle position grasped by the center device is different from the actual vehicle position, an appropriate search result can be obtained.

  Another feature of the present invention is that the portable terminal includes a short-range wireless communication device (302) capable of transmitting and receiving to / from the vehicle by short-range wireless communication, and a position detection device (303) that detects its own position. Each time an information transmission command transmitted from the vehicle is received, portable end position information representing the portable terminal position detected by the position detection device is transmitted to the center device as vehicle position information (S17 to S18). There is.

  In the present invention, every time an information transmission command transmitted from the vehicle is received, the mobile terminal transmits mobile terminal position information representing the position of the mobile terminal to the center device. The portable terminal position in this case can be regarded as a vehicle position. Therefore, the center device stores this portable terminal position information as vehicle position information. Therefore, even if a communication device for communicating with the center device is not provided on the vehicle side, vehicle position information can be transmitted to the center device via the mobile terminal using the mobile terminal of the vehicle user. For this reason, cost reduction of a vehicle can be achieved.

  Another feature of the present invention is that the search result acquisition means is provided in the mobile terminal, and transmits a search command to which the mobile terminal position information is added to the center device during a search operation of the mobile terminal of the vehicle user ( S36) The result of the search performed by the center device is to be received from the center device.

  In the present invention, the mobile terminal is provided with search result acquisition means. The search result acquisition means transmits a search command to which the position information of the mobile terminal at that time is added to the center device at the time of the search operation of the mobile user by the vehicle user. Thereby, the center device performs a search, and transmits the search result to the search result acquisition means. Therefore, since the center apparatus searches for an energy supply facility, a high-level search process can be performed.

  In the above description, in order to help the understanding of the invention, the reference numerals used in the embodiment are attached in parentheses to the configuration of the invention corresponding to the embodiment. It is not limited to the embodiment defined by the reference numerals.

It is a schematic block diagram of the information communication system of the vehicle to which the information provision apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention is applied. It is a flowchart showing a vehicle position acquisition routine. It is a flowchart showing a charging station search routine. It is a flowchart showing the charging station search routine which a server performs. It is a figure showing vehicle position confirmation screen data. It is a figure showing vehicle position confirmation screen data. It is a figure showing the display screen of a portable terminal. It is a figure showing the display screen of a portable terminal.

  Hereinafter, an information providing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a vehicle information communication system. The information providing apparatus of this embodiment is applied to this information communication system.

  The vehicle 100 to which the information communication system is applied in this embodiment includes an electric vehicle that drives a traveling motor with electric power of the battery 190, or a battery 190 that includes a traveling motor and an internal combustion engine and serves as a power source for the traveling motor. It is a plug-in hybrid vehicle that can be charged by an external power source.

  First, a vehicle information communication system will be described. The vehicle information communication system is realized by the vehicle 100 and the mobile terminal 300 performing short-range wireless communication, and the mobile terminal 300 and the vehicle information center 200 communicating via an external communication network 400 such as the Internet. It is. The vehicle 100 is provided with a plurality of electronic control devices 110 (hereinafter referred to as vehicle ECUs 110) that control the state of the vehicle. Each vehicle ECU 110 is connected to a CAN communication line 120 of a CAN (Controller Area Network) communication system, and can transmit and receive various signals via the CAN communication line 120.

  As one of the plurality of vehicle ECUs 110 connected to the CAN communication line 120, a charging ECU 110a serving as a control unit of the charging device 180 for charging the battery 190 is provided. Hereinafter, when the vehicle ECU 110 and the charging ECU 110a are not distinguished from each other, they are simply referred to as the vehicle ECU 110. Each vehicle ECU 110 includes a microcomputer, a memory, an input / output interface, and a drive circuit for inputting various sensor signals to drive various actuators.

  The charging device 180 detects a state of charge (SOC) of the battery 190, a charger 181 that charges the battery 190 with power supplied from the outside, a charge ECU 110a that includes a microcomputer as a main part and controls the charging of the battery 190, and the like. And an SOC sensor 182 that performs. Based on the SOC detected by the SOC sensor 182, the charging ECU 110a controls the operation of the charger 181 so that the set charging amount is reached. The vehicle 100 includes a power receiving port 183. By connecting a plug 184 of a charging cable 185 to the power receiving port 183, power is supplied from the outside of the vehicle.

  The CAN communication line 120 is connected to a short-range communication control device 160 that performs short-range wireless communication with the mobile terminal 300. The short-range communication control device 160 includes a microcomputer, a communication circuit, a memory, an input / output interface, and the like. The short-range communication control device 160 performs data communication with the vehicle ECU 110 via the CAN communication line 120 to acquire vehicle control information, and performs data communication with the mobile terminal 300 to perform data communication with the CAN information acquisition unit 161. A communication control unit 162 that transmits the acquired information to the mobile terminal 300. In the present embodiment, Bluetooth is used as the communication method of the communication control unit 162, but other short-range wireless communication methods such as Wi-Fi may be employed. Hereinafter, the short-range communication control device 160 is referred to as the in-vehicle communication device 160.

  The vehicle information center 200 is a facility that acquires various types of vehicle information from the vehicle 100 and provides various service information to the user. The vehicle information center 200 is provided with a server 210 having a microcomputer as a main part. The server 210 is connected to the external communication network 400 and performs communication control, a vehicle control server 211 that manages vehicle information, a user information server 213 that manages vehicle user information, and charging station information. Stand information server 214 for managing the vehicle, a vehicle information storage unit 215 for storing a database of vehicle information, a user information storage unit 216 for storing a database of user information, and a stand information storage unit 217 for storing a database of charging station information. And. The server 210 obtains related information that associates an ID (information corresponding to a registration number or a chassis number) identifying the vehicle 100 and an ID (user name, phone number of the mobile terminal 300, mail address, etc.) identifying the vehicle user. It is configured so that information specified by the other ID can be extracted by specifying one of the IDs.

  The stand information server 214 acquires the latest charging station information from the Internet and updates the database stored in the stand information storage unit 217. Charging station information includes charging station coordinate position, charging station name, detailed information for each charging station (charging type (rapid charging or normal charging), waiting time, business hours, address, telephone number, URL, fee, etc.) Is included. Further, the stand information server 214 acquires the latest map information, traffic information, facility information, and the like from the Internet, and updates the database stored in the stand information storage unit 217.

  As the mobile terminal 300 owned by the vehicle user, for example, a mobile phone such as a smartphone is used. The mobile terminal 300 includes an external communication control unit 301 that is a communication interface for connecting to the external communication network 400, a short-range communication control unit 302 that is a communication interface for performing short-range wireless communication using Bluetooth, A GPS unit 303 that detects the current position coordinates of the mobile terminal 300 based on radio waves from GPS satellites, a touch-panel liquid crystal display 304 that serves both as a display and an operating device, and a micro that manages communication control and various applications. A main control unit 305 having a computer and a nonvolatile memory 306 for storing application programs and various data are provided. The mobile terminal 300 has a telephone function, a mail function, a function of connecting to the Internet, a function of downloading various application programs and executing a program, and a function of connecting to the server 210 of the vehicle information center 200 to exchange various information. It has. In addition, the mobile terminal 300 has a function of connecting to an in-vehicle communication device 160 provided in the vehicle 100 and receiving vehicle information.

  In such a vehicle information communication system, the in-vehicle communication device 160 acquires various types of vehicle information from the vehicle ECU 110 via the CAN communication line 120, and transmits the acquired various types of vehicle information to the mobile terminal 300. In the portable terminal 300, the vehicle information transmitted from the in-vehicle communication device 160 is acquired and temporarily stored, and the stored vehicle information is transmitted to the vehicle information center 200 via the external communication line network 400. In order to perform such information communication, the vehicle user sets a pairing process between the in-vehicle communication device 160 and the portable terminal 300 in advance. If the pairing process between the in-vehicle communication device 160 and the mobile terminal 300 is completed, when the vehicle user carries the mobile terminal 300 and gets on the vehicle 100, and operates the ignition switch to the accessory-on operation position. A communication connection is automatically established.

  In such a vehicle information communication system, the in-vehicle communication device 160 determines, for example, a period from when an accessory switch (or an ignition switch) is turned on to when it is turned off as one section (referred to as one trip section). Is transmitted to the portable terminal 300. For example, the travel distance, travel time, power consumption, etc. in one trip section are transmitted together with the vehicle ID as vehicle information. Information indicating the state of charge (SOC) of the battery 190 detected by the charge ECU 110a can also be transmitted.

  The portable terminal 300 transfers the vehicle information transmitted from the in-vehicle communication device 160 to the server 210 of the vehicle information center 200. In this case, the mobile terminal 300 adds vehicle position information indicating the current location of the mobile terminal 300 detected by the GPS unit 303 and transmits vehicle information. Therefore, the position information of the mobile terminal 300 is used as the position information of the vehicle 100. The server 210 of the vehicle information center 200 stores the vehicle information transmitted from the mobile terminal 300 in the vehicle information storage unit 215 in association with the vehicle ID.

  In such an information communication system, the vehicle user can also start the application of the portable terminal 300 and obtain necessary information from the server 210 as appropriate. For example, when the vehicle user activates an application installed in the mobile terminal 300 and requests information related to power consumption or the like from the server 210, the server 210 is based on the driving information stored in the vehicle information storage unit 215. Information corresponding to the request of the vehicle user is generated and transmitted to the portable terminal 300.

  Next, the charging station search process using the information communication system will be described. In order to search for charging stations around the vehicle 100, vehicle position information is required. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a vehicle position acquisition routine for storing the vehicle status in the server 210 of the vehicle information center 200. The vehicle position acquisition routine is performed in cooperation with the in-vehicle communication device 160 of the vehicle 100, the mobile terminal 300, and the server 210 of the vehicle information center 200. In FIG. 2, the left side represents the process of the mobile terminal 300, the center represents the process of the in-vehicle communication device 160, and the right side represents the process of the server 210 of the vehicle information center 200.

  First, in-vehicle communication device 160 waits in step S11 until the accessory switch (switch for detecting the accessory position of the ignition key) is switched from the on state to the off state. When the accessory switch is turned off, in step S12, a request signal is transmitted to the mobile terminal 300 to try communication connection. When the mobile terminal 300 receives the request signal transmitted from the in-vehicle communication device 160, in step S13, the mobile terminal 300 transmits an answer signal to the in-vehicle communication device 160 to establish the communication connection between them, and Send an acquisition request for possible distance information.

  In step S14, the in-vehicle communication device 160 waits for the answer signal from the portable terminal 300 to be transmitted. If no answer signal is transmitted from the portable terminal 300 within that period and the communication connection is not established, the in-vehicle communication device 160 ends this routine. .

  When the communication connection with the mobile terminal 300 is established and the cruising range information acquisition request is received, the in-vehicle communication device 160 transmits a cruising range information request to the charging ECU 110a in step S15. As a result, the charging ECU 110a calculates a cruising distance that allows the vehicle to travel with the current SOC based on the SOC detected by the SOC sensor 182 and the average power consumption, and reports the cruising distance to the in-vehicle communication device 160. When receiving the report of the cruising range, the in-vehicle communication device 160 transmits an information transmission command to the mobile terminal 300 in step S16. In this case, the information transmission command represents a command for causing the server 210 to transmit the cruising range information that is vehicle information and the position information of the mobile terminal 300. In addition, when the accessory switch is turned off, the in-vehicle communication device 160 transmits information acquisition requests to a plurality of vehicle ECUs 110 corresponding thereto in order to transmit various vehicle state information to the server 210. As a representative example, cruising range information related to battery charging is described.

  When mobile terminal 300 receives the information transmission command transmitted from in-vehicle communication device 160, in step S17, position information (hereinafter referred to as terminal position) representing the position of mobile terminal 300 detected by GPS unit 303 (hereinafter referred to as terminal position). , Called terminal location information). Subsequently, in step S18, the terminal position information and the cruising range information are transmitted to the server 210 of the vehicle information center 200 together with the portable terminal ID.

  When the server 210 receives the terminal position information and the cruising distance information transmitted from the mobile terminal 300, the vehicle of the vehicle 100 identified by the mobile terminal ID in step S19 is the terminal position information and the cruising distance information. The information is stored in the vehicle information storage unit 215 as information. This terminal position information is stored as vehicle position information.

  The vehicle position acquisition routine ends when the current position information of the vehicle 100 is stored in the server 210. If communication between the in-vehicle communication device 160 and the portable terminal 300 is not established, the vehicle position acquisition routine ends at that time.

  Next, processing for searching for charging stations around the vehicle will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a charging station search routine. The charging station search routine is performed in cooperation with the in-vehicle communication device 160 of the vehicle 100, the mobile terminal 300, and the server 210 of the vehicle information center 200. In FIG. 3, the left side represents processing of the mobile terminal 300, the center represents processing of the in-vehicle communication device 160, and the right side represents processing of the server 210 of the vehicle information center 200. Note that an application program for searching for a charging station is stored in the memory 306 of the portable terminal 300. The microcomputer of the main control unit 305 executes the application program to perform the following processing.

  When the vehicle user activates the charging station search application by operating the mobile terminal 300, the mobile terminal 300 (main control unit 305) tries communication connection with the in-vehicle communication device 160 in step S31. When a vehicle user carrying the portable terminal 300 (hereinafter simply referred to as a vehicle user) gets on the vehicle 100 or is near the vehicle 100, the request signal reaches the in-vehicle communication device 160. In step S <b> 32, the communication device 160 transmits an answer signal to the mobile terminal 300. Thus, a communication connection between the two is established. On the other hand, when the vehicle user is away from the vehicle 100, the request signal does not reach the in-vehicle communication device 160, and thus no answer signal is transmitted to the mobile terminal 300. Therefore, the communication connection between the two is not established.

  In step S33, the mobile terminal 300 determines the presence or absence of communication connection. If communication connection is performed, the mobile terminal 300 sets the one-position display mode in step S34, and if communication connection is not performed, In step S35, a two-position display mode is set. Subsequently, the portable terminal 300 transmits a search request to the server 210 in step S36. In this case, the mobile terminal 300 transmits the set display mode and the current terminal position information detected by the GPS unit 303 together.

  In step S37, the server 210 generates vehicle position confirmation screen data in accordance with the search request transmitted from the mobile terminal 300. In this case, in the two-position display mode, the server 210 stores the vehicle position information (lastly stored vehicle position information) stored in the vehicle information storage unit 215 and the terminal position information transmitted from the mobile terminal 300. As shown in FIG. 5, on the map M, the mark Aa (referred to as vehicle position icon Aa) indicating the vehicle position specified by the vehicle position information and the terminal position specified by the terminal position information are shown. Vehicle position confirmation screen data in which a mark Ab (referred to as a user position icon Ab) is displayed on the position is generated.

  In the present embodiment, the server 210 generates vehicle position confirmation screen data in which the vehicle position icon Aa is displayed at the center on the map M as an initial setting. In this case, screen data is generated with the scale adjusted so that both the vehicle position (vehicle position icon Aa) and the terminal position (user position icon Ab) fit on one screen. In the one-position display mode, since the actual vehicle position and the terminal position are the same, as shown in FIG. 6, the mark Ac ( A matching icon Ac) is displayed at the position on the map M. Therefore, when the vehicle position known by the server 210 is different from the terminal position, no icon is displayed at the vehicle position. In this case, the server 210 generates vehicle position confirmation screen data in which the matching icon Ac is displayed at the center on the map M.

  The vehicle position icon Aa, the user position icon Ab, and the coincidence icon Ac may be made easy to identify by making at least one of the shape and the display color different from each other.

  Subsequently, the server 210 transmits the generated vehicle position confirmation screen data to the mobile terminal 300 in step S38.

  When the portable terminal 300 receives the vehicle position confirmation screen data transmitted from the server 210, the portable terminal 300 displays a vehicle position confirmation screen on the display 304 as shown in FIG. The example in this figure is an example of the two-position display mode. On this display screen, the vehicle user touches either the vehicle position icon Aa or the user position icon Ab to select a reference position (referred to as a search reference position) for searching for the charging station. be able to. As shown in FIG. 7, a selection button icon B1 may be provided separately so that the vehicle position and the terminal position can be selected from the selection button icon B1 as the search reference position. In the one-position display mode (FIG. 6), it is not necessary to select a search reference position, so that a selection operation cannot be performed.

  The search for the charging station needs to be performed based on the actual vehicle position. However, the vehicle position stored in the server 210 may be different from the actual vehicle position. For example, if the vehicle travels without having the mobile terminal 300, or the driver immediately leaves the vehicle 100 after the vehicle stops, the vehicle information can be appropriately transmitted to the server 210 via the mobile terminal 300. Such a problem occurs when there is no such thing.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the vehicle position stored in the server 210 is different from the actual vehicle position, the charging station search can be executed based on the position of the mobile terminal 300. Yes. In this case, as long as the vehicle user is not far from the vehicle 100, it is sufficiently useful to perform a search based on the position of the mobile terminal 300 (the position of the vehicle user).

  In step S40, the portable terminal 300 determines whether or not the search reference position has been corrected. That is, it is determined whether or not the vehicle user has selected the terminal position as the actual vehicle position. In this case, the mobile terminal 300 determines whether the user position icon Ab is touched based on the input coordinate signal of the display 304. Alternatively, in the case of the configuration in which the selection button icon B1 is provided, it is determined whether or not the terminal position is selected as the search reference position by the selection button icon B1. In this embodiment, the vehicle position specified by the vehicle position information is set as the initial set value of the search reference position. However, when the terminal position is set as the initial set value, the vehicle position specified by the vehicle position information is used. It may be determined whether or not is selected. In the one-position display mode, the search reference position cannot be corrected.

  When the reference position correction is performed (S40: Yes), the portable terminal 300 transmits a reference position correction instruction to the server 210 in step S41. Thereby, the server 210 corrects the terminal position (user position icon Ab) to the screen data centered on the map M in step S42, and transmits the corrected screen data to the mobile terminal 300 in step S43. In step S44, the portable terminal 300 displays a correction screen on the display 304 based on the correction screen data transmitted from the server 210.

  In step S45, the portable terminal 300 waits until the search button icon B2 is touched. When the search button icon B2 is touched, the mobile terminal 300 transmits a search instruction to the server 210 in step S46. When server 210 receives the search instruction, server 210 searches for a charging station in step S50.

  The server 210 (the microcomputer of the stand information server 214) executes the search for the charging stand according to the flowchart of FIG. In step S51, the server 210 determines whether or not the two-position display mode is set. If the two-position display mode is set, it is determined in step S52 whether the search reference position is a vehicle position specified by the vehicle position information or a terminal position. If the search reference position is a vehicle position specified by the vehicle position information, in step S53, a charging station close to the vehicle position is searched based on the vehicle position stored in the server 210. On the other hand, if the search reference position is the terminal position, in step S54, a charging station close to the terminal position is searched with the terminal position as a reference.

  Further, when the one-position display mode is set, the vehicle user cannot change the search reference position, and thus the search reference position is automatically set as the terminal position. Thereby, the server 210 searches for a charging station close to the portable position (same as the actual vehicle position) in step S54.

  When the search for the charging station is completed, the server 210 transmits the search result report information to the portable terminal 300 in step S61. When searching for a charging station, the server 210 refers to the charging station information stored in the station information storage unit 217 to search for a charging station with a short distance from the search reference position. May be taken into account. Note that the stand information server 214 of the server 210 acquires the latest charging station information from the Internet and updates the database stored in the station information storage unit 217, so that an appropriate charging station search can be performed.

  The search result report information includes the position of the charging station on the map, the name of the charging station, the distance from the search reference position of the charging station, detailed information for each charging station (charging type (rapid charging or normal charging), waiting time, Business hours, address, telephone number, URL, fee, etc.). The server 210 also transmits information indicating the cruising range together with the report of the search result.

  Thereby, the portable terminal 300 receives the search result report information transmitted from the server 210 in step S62. This search result report information is temporarily stored in the memory 306. In the subsequent step S63, the portable terminal 300 displays the search result on the display 304. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the mobile terminal 300 has an icon C (referred to as a charging station icon C) at the charging station installation position on the search result list on a map screen centered on the search reference position. Is displayed.

  When the charging station icon C is touched, the portable terminal 300 displays detailed information on the charging station on the display 304. In addition, the mobile terminal 300 displays a region representing a cruising range centered on the search reference position (for example, a circle having a cruising range as a radius). When the list display button icon B3 is touch-operated, the name, distance, etc. of the charging station are displayed as a list in a predetermined order (for example, in the order of short distance from the search reference position). .

  According to the information providing apparatus of the present embodiment described above, each time the predetermined timing arrives (when the accessory switch is turned off), the in-vehicle communication apparatus 160 transmits vehicle information to the mobile terminal 300 by short-range communication. And instruct the portable terminal 300 to transmit the vehicle information to the server 210. Thereby, the portable terminal 300 transmits vehicle information to the server 210 together with the terminal position information. Since the in-vehicle communication device 160 and the portable terminal 300 perform near field communication, communication connection is not established if they are separated from each other. Therefore, the terminal position information transmitted to the server 210 is used as vehicle position information.

  In such an information communication system, there is no problem as long as vehicle information can be transmitted from the portable terminal 300 at a predetermined timing (when the accessory switch is turned off), but as described above, vehicle information cannot be transmitted properly. In this case, the vehicle position grasped by the server 210 is different from the actual vehicle position. In this case, if a charging station search is performed based on the vehicle position information stored in the server 210, an appropriate search result cannot be obtained. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the charging station search is performed, the mobile terminal 300 determines whether or not the communication connection with the in-vehicle communication device 160 is established by the mobile terminal 300, so that the vehicle 100 is close to the vehicle user. It is determined whether or not it exists at (substantially same position).

  When the communication connection between the portable terminal 300 and the in-vehicle communication device 160 is established, the server 210 regards the terminal position indicated by the terminal position information transmitted from the portable terminal 300 as the actual vehicle position, and determines this terminal position. The search reference position. Further, when the communication connection between the mobile terminal 300 and the in-vehicle communication device 160 is not established, the server 210 maps the vehicle position stored in the server 210 and the terminal position transmitted from the mobile terminal 300. The position confirmation screen data simultaneously displayed above is generated, and the position confirmation screen is displayed on the display 304 of the mobile terminal 300. Thereby, the vehicle user can arbitrarily select the search reference position.

  Then, the server 210 corrects the display screen based on the reference position correction instruction transmitted from the mobile terminal 300, and executes the charging station search at the set search reference position based on the search instruction. Thereby, the search result according to the search reference position which the vehicle user selected is transmitted to the portable terminal 300. Therefore, the vehicle user can acquire both the charging station search result using the vehicle position grasped by the server 210 as the search reference position and the charging station search result using the terminal position as the search reference position.

  Further, when the communication connection between the mobile terminal 300 and the in-vehicle communication device 160 is established, the mobile terminal 300 uses the mobile terminal position transmitted from the mobile terminal 300 when the search operation is performed as the actual vehicle position. Accordingly, the mobile terminal position is automatically set as the search reference position. For this reason, even if the vehicle position grasped by the server 210 is deviated from the actual vehicle position, an appropriate search result can be obtained.

  As a result, according to the present embodiment, the vehicle user can obtain charging station information around the appropriate vehicle position.

  Although the information providing apparatus according to the present embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the object of the present invention.

  For example, in the present embodiment, the charging process of the charging station is performed in the server 210. However, the present invention does not require a means for performing the searching process itself, and only needs to be able to acquire the search result. The server 210 may access the charging station search site to acquire a search result, and the mobile terminal 300 may transmit the search result.

  Further, the mobile terminal 300 may perform a search process. For example, the server 210 transmits vehicle position information and charging station information to the mobile terminal 300, so that the mobile terminal 300 executes the search process (S50) of the server 210 of the embodiment. Alternatively, the mobile terminal 300 may acquire only the vehicle position information from the server 210, and the charging station information may be acquired by accessing a charging stunt search site on the Internet. Alternatively, the mobile terminal 300 may specify the search reference position, cause the charging station search site to execute search processing, and acquire the search result.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, although the information provision apparatus which provides the search result of a charging station was demonstrated, it can also apply to the information provision apparatus which provides the search result of a gas station.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Vehicle, 110 ... Vehicle ECU, 120 ... CAN communication line, 160 ... Short-range communication control apparatus (vehicle-mounted communication apparatus), 161 ... Information acquisition part, 162 ... Communication control part, 180 ... Charging apparatus, 181 ... Charger, 182 ... SOC sensor, 190 ... battery, 200 ... vehicle information center, 210 ... server, 211 ... communication control unit, 212 ... vehicle information server, 213 ... user information server, 214 ... stand information server, 215 ... vehicle information storage unit, 216 ... User information storage unit, 217 ... Stand information storage unit, 300 ... Mobile terminal, 301 ... External communication control unit, 302 ... Short range communication control unit, 303 ... GPS unit, 304 ... Touch panel type liquid crystal display, 305 ... Main control Part, 306 ... non-volatile memory, 400 ... external communication network, Aa ... vehicle position icon, b ... user position icon, Ac ... match icon, B1 ... selection button icon, B2 ... retrieval button icon, B3 ... list display button icon, C ... charging station icon.

Claims (7)

In an information providing apparatus that is applied to a search system that searches for an energy supply facility around a vehicle according to a search operation instruction of a mobile terminal of the vehicle user, and that provides information about the searched energy supply facility around the vehicle to the vehicle user,
Based on a search result of searching for an energy supply facility around the vehicle based on vehicle position information stored in a center device provided outside the vehicle, and on the position information of the mobile terminal at the time of a search operation of the mobile terminal of the vehicle user Search result acquisition means capable of acquiring a search result obtained by searching for an energy supply facility around the mobile terminal;
An information providing apparatus comprising: search result display means for displaying a search result acquired by the search result acquisition means on a screen of the portable terminal. A vehicle position information reference search mode for searching for an energy supply facility around the vehicle based on vehicle position information stored in a center device provided outside the vehicle, and a position of the mobile terminal at the time of a search operation of the mobile terminal of the vehicle user Comprising selection information acquisition means for acquiring selection information indicating which one of the terminal position information reference search modes for searching for energy supply facilities around the portable terminal based on the information is selected;
2. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the search result acquisition unit acquires a search result searched in the selected search mode based on the selection information acquired by the selection information acquisition unit. .   A mark indicating the position of the portable terminal specified by the position information of the portable terminal and a mark indicating the vehicle position specified by the vehicle position information stored in the center device are displayed on the same map. 3. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising position display means for displaying on a terminal screen. The portable terminal includes a short-range wireless communication device that can transmit and receive with the vehicle by short-range wireless communication,
Communication establishment determination means for determining whether a communication connection between the mobile terminal and the vehicle is established during a search operation of the mobile terminal;
When it is determined that a communication connection between the mobile terminal and the vehicle is established, the mark indicating the mobile terminal position and the mark indicating the vehicle position are not separately displayed, and only the mobile terminal position is displayed. The information providing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: a position display restriction unit that displays a mark to be displayed. The portable terminal includes a short-range wireless communication device that can transmit and receive with the vehicle by short-range wireless communication,
Communication establishment determination means for determining whether a communication connection between the mobile terminal and the vehicle is established during a search operation of the mobile terminal;
Search mode selection means for automatically selecting the terminal position information reference search mode, assuming that the mobile terminal position is an actual vehicle position when it is determined that a communication connection between the mobile terminal and the vehicle is established. The information providing apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising:   The portable terminal includes a short-range wireless communication device that can transmit and receive with the vehicle by short-range wireless communication, and a position detection device that detects its own position, and receives an information transmission command transmitted from the vehicle. 6. The mobile terminal position information representing the mobile terminal position detected by the position detection device is transmitted to the center device as vehicle position information each time. 6. Information providing device.   The search result acquisition means is provided in the mobile terminal and transmits a search command to which the mobile terminal position information is added to the center device during a search operation of the mobile user's mobile terminal, and the search performed by the center device The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the result is received from the center apparatus.

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