KR101402668B1 - Electric Bus Battery Exchange Station - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electric bus battery exchange station system installed in a bus stop, comprising: a reservation managing unit for receiving and managing a battery exchange request from an electric bus; An image capturing section for capturing a caution space including a stop area to which an electric bus for entering the battery exchange should stop; A state analyzer for analyzing the state of the space of interest from the space image acquired from the image photographing unit when the battery exchange request is received at the reservation managing unit; And a situation counterpart for establishing and executing a predetermined countermeasure according to the state of the state space from the state analysis unit.
According to the present invention, when an abnormal object, a pedestrian, or the like is identified at a stop position for battery replacement, appropriate measures are provided to smoothly operate a plurality of buses entering the bus stop, and to minimize the time delay of the electric bus .

Description

{Electric Bus Battery Exchange Station}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric bus battery exchange system, and more particularly, to an electric bus battery exchange system for replacing a discharge battery of an electric bus installed in a bus stop along a route of an electric bus and using battery power as a main power source, ≪ / RTI >

Electric buses are electric buses that use electric energy as a power source. Compared to existing buses using fossil fuels, electric buses have environmentally friendly characteristics without emission of harmful gas, and their research and development and commercialization are accelerated There is a trend.

For example, the Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to open and operate an electric bus for the first time in the world in 2010 and then expand the electric bus by 2014.

The electric bus which is currently in operation is not long enough to travel after charging, and in order to travel long distances, it is inevitable to pass the charging station that supplies electric energy to the battery during operation. However, current technology requires about 30 minutes to charge the electric bus battery, which causes inconvenience to passengers. Therefore, the route is short-circuited so as not to pass through the charging station, or is operated only on the route including only the plain.

In order to solve the above problems, the applicant of the present invention has proposed an interchangeable charging system in which a discharged battery is replaced with a battery which is previously charged, rather than a conventional plug-in system requiring a long charging time. For example, patent applications No. 2011-32024, No. 2011-34994, No. 2011-52913 and the like are currently under application. According to the proposed technology, there is no waiting time because the battery exchange can be done quickly through the exchanger above the electric bus within the stopping time for the passenger in the bus stop located on the route, and the dispatching and running It can be smoothly performed.

Thus, when the battery exchange is performed through the exchange port on the electric bus, whether or not the electric bus is positioned coincidently with the upper battery exchange position is the key to rapid battery exchange.

That is, since the stop position of the exchangeable electric bus of the battery is fixed, the electric bus must stop at a predetermined stop position for battery exchange. If the bus arrives for a replacement of the battery, the bus will not be able to replace the battery for a short period of time when the passengers get up and down, and the operation of many buses entering the bus stop will be disrupted It is expected to be. Particularly, the problem is more likely to become more conspicuous under the preemptive bus lane or bus lane.

In the abnormal situation where the electric bus will not enter the specified stopping position, it can be assumed that a specific object is located at a stop position, or a crowd of buses entering the stopping point are crowded to enter the stopping position.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the problem of a travel disturbance expected when a battery is replaced at a bus stop, and when the electric bus uses a battery exchange station installed at a bus stop, the electric bus smoothly enters a predetermined stop position, To be able to do so.

The above object is achieved by an electric bus battery exchange station system installed in a bus stop according to an aspect of the present invention, comprising: a reservation managing unit for receiving and managing a battery exchange request from an electric bus; An image capturing section for capturing a caution space including a stop area to which an electric bus for entering the battery exchange should stop; A state analyzer for analyzing the state of the space of interest from the space image acquired from the image photographing unit when the battery exchange request is received at the reservation managing unit; And a situation counterpart for establishing and executing a predetermined countermeasure according to the state of the state space from the state analysis unit.

Here, the status analyzing unit identifies an object in the attention space from the space image, and determines a state of the attention space according to identification information and movement of the object, When the object is in a stopped state as an obstacle to entry, it is possible to notify that the incoming electric bus or the external control center is a fault situation caused by an abnormal object, or, The entrance of the electric bus for exchanging the battery is imminent in the caution space, and information for requesting movement out of the caution space can be provided. The situation response unit may further include an acoustic or illumination system for providing sound or visual information requesting a person moving in the space of interest to move out of the space of interest. In addition, the illumination system may be illumination illuminating the attention space or the stop area, or illumination installed along the stop area.

The reservation management unit of the present invention can allocate the stop area to the battery exchange reservation electric bus in accordance with the position of the electric bus entering the bus stop and the anticipated time of entering one or more of the battery exchange reserved electric buses.

In addition, when the state of the attention space is in a state in which the reserved electric bus is difficult to enter, the situation counterpart may change the battery exchange position of the electric bus, thereby enabling smooth bus operation.

According to the present invention, when an abnormal object, a pedestrian, or the like is identified at a stop position for battery replacement, appropriate measures are provided to smoothly operate a plurality of buses entering the bus stop, and to minimize the time delay of the electric bus .

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are schematic views for explaining a battery exchange method in an electric bus battery exchange station according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
3 illustrates an electrical bus battery exchange station having a plurality of battery exchange outlets in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
4 is a schematic block diagram of a battery exchange station system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a transfer mechanism of a battery within a battery exchange station according to an embodiment of the present invention; And
6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the electric bus battery exchange station system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 are schematic views for explaining a battery exchange method in an electric bus battery exchange station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an electric bus battery exchange station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a vertical body 101 formed in a vertical direction in contact with a road, And a horizontal body 102 extending and formed toward the lower surface of the body 101. A platform 103 is provided between the vertical main body 101 and the road, and at least one outlet for discharging the battery is formed at the bottom of the horizontal main body 102.

When the roof door of the electric bus 200 and the outlets of the horizontal body 102 are stopped to correspond to each other, the electric bus 200 is provided with a roof door, (Not shown) to be transferred to the vertical main body 101 while the damping battery is mounted on the electric bus 200 from the vertical main body 101, thereby completing the battery exchange.

It should be noted that since the battery exchange outlet of the battery exchange station 100 is fixed, the electric bus 200 must stop at a predetermined stop position (hereinafter, referred to as an " exchange position " Is possible.

If another bus already occupies the exchange position, or if a pedestrian crossing or an obstacle occurs in the future due to an abnormal object, it will not be possible to stop at the exchange position, making it difficult to replace the battery.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3, the electric bus battery exchange station 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention may have a plurality of battery exchange outlets.

This is because a plurality of battery exchange outlets are formed so that not only a plurality of electric buses 200 can easily exchange batteries at the same time but also a plurality of buses inevitably line up like a bus center lane By securing a plurality of exchangeable positions, the battery exchange can be made more quickly.

4 is a schematic block diagram of a battery exchange station system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4, an electric bus battery exchange station system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a reservation management unit 10, an image capturing unit 20, a status analysis unit 30, a situation counterpart 40, 50, a protection guide 60, a battery replacement robot 70, and a battery loading unit 80.

The reservation management unit 10 is for receiving and managing a battery exchange request from the electric bus 200 and includes a communication module (not shown) capable of transmitting and receiving data with the electric bus 200, a processor (Not shown) for storing the reservation processing codes and results and a memory (not shown) for storing the reservation processing codes and results.

The electric bus 200 checks the charged state of the battery of the vehicle before entering the bus stop, and requests the battery exchange station system to replace the battery when it is determined that battery exchange is required. Thus, the reservation managing unit 10 determines whether or not there is a replaceable buffer battery, and returns to the electric bus 200 whether or not the battery exchange request is reserved. In addition, when there are a plurality of exchange locations where battery exchange is possible, as shown in FIG. 3, the exchange location having the least traffic or time consumption is allocated to the electric bus 200 and transmitted.

The image capturing unit 20 is for capturing an attention space including an exchange position where the electric bus 200 entering for battery exchange is to stop, and is composed of one or more cameras or the like. Here, the attention space is a space including the exchange position, for example, a space that is not set in the exchange position but is set wider than the exchange position for proactive measures for people approaching the exchange position.

 The state analyzing unit 30 is for analyzing the state of the attention space from the spatial image acquired from the image photographing unit 20 when a request for battery exchange is received in the reservation managing unit 10. [ Here, the state of the attention space is the situation judgment information based on or including the identification information of the object in the attention space, the movement of the identified object, or the like, and the mode and situation judgment are performed by a predetermined analysis technique or by learning . For example, it is possible to identify an object and extract a moving direction and a velocity of the object from a plurality of images based on a difference between the spatial images captured on the basis of the previously learned 'normal image'. On the other hand, the state analysis unit 30 may describe the situation descriptively or may be described in an evaluative manner by giving a value to the state.

The situation counterpart 40 is for establishing and executing a predetermined countermeasure according to the state of the attention space from the state analyzer 30, and may be constructed by various systems according to the countermeasure.

For example, when it is determined that an unidentified box is placed at the exchange position, the situation counterpart 40 notifies the electric bus 200 or the external control center that the fault is caused by an abnormal object, The user can instruct the user to solve the problem.

In addition, a system such as a speaker, an illumination, and a display for providing auditory or visual information indicating that a bus for stopping the battery exchange is scheduled is provided to a pedestrian located in the attention space.

The vehicle guide 50 is for guiding the electric bus reserved for battery replacement to the assigned exchange position and particularly for the position and direction of the electric bus 200 upon entry of the electric bus 200 so that the electric bus 200 can be accurately positioned at the exchange position Respectively. For example, when entering the vehicle, the entry direction of the electric bus 200 is guided based on the entry information of the electric bus 200, so that the vehicle can stop at the correct position. To this end, the vehicle guide 50 may include a camera for photographing an incoming electric bus 200, an image analysis device for analyzing the acquired image, a communication device for communicating guidance information to the electric bus 200, A display device for displaying images, and the like.

The protection guide 60 is used to protect the battery module of the electric bus 200 by inserting the battery pack when the battery is replaced. The battery pack module 201 including the battery is effectively sealed, protected It can be formed into various structures without limitation.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3, when the battery is stored in the battery exchange station 100, the battery is discharged from the battery loading module 201 when the battery is replaced. . The protection guide 60 includes a sealing film in the form of a bellows hose provided at a draw-out opening formed in the bottom of the horizontal body 102 and a door driving unit (not shown) for operating the sealing film in the vertical direction under the control of the control unit Lt; / RTI >

The battery replacement robot 70 is installed in the battery exchange station 100 and performs a battery replacement operation. If the battery exchange robot 70 can effectively perform a battery replacement operation, Can be adopted.

5, the battery replacement robot 70 may be configured so that the battery exchange and mounting robot 71 (FIG. 5) is adapted to such a configuration as the battery exchange station 100 is configured in the substantially " And a battery withdrawal and storage robot 72. [0050]

The battery transfer and mounting robot 71 removes the discharge battery installed in the battery loading module 201 of the electric bus 200 and transfers the cushioning battery discharged from the battery loading unit 80 to the battery loading module 201 The battery withdrawal and storage robot 72 takes out the cushioning battery 1 stored in the battery loading section and supplies it to the battery transfer and mounting robot 71 or the battery transfer and mounting robot 71 from the battery transfer and mounting robot 71 The battery transfer and mounting robot 71 and the battery retrieving and storing robot 72 are connected to each other by the size of the battery exchange station 100, At least one pair or more, depending on the size and the like.

The battery transfer and mounting robot 71 includes a fixed rail 71a installed at an upper portion of the battery exchange station 100, a transfer rail 71b installed to move in a direction orthogonal to the fixed rail 71a, And a clamping unit 71d installed at a lower end of the lifting rod 71c and performing locking and unlocking operations in the battery exchange process, . Needless to say, the fixed rail 71a, the feed rail 71b, and the lifting rod 71c are not specifically shown in the drawings, but are provided with a driving device for generating and applying power for the feeding.

Referring again to FIG. 4, the control unit is for overall control of all functions of the battery exchange station 100, and manages all the matters before and after the entry of the electric bus 200.

That is, before the entry of the electric bus 200, it manages overall tasks such as reservation for battery exchange, allocation of reserved positions of vehicles, analysis of statuses of exchange positions, situation response, and vehicle guides. After the electric bus 200 enters, it controls the position of the electric bus 200, sealing of the protection guide 60, control of the battery replacement robot 70, disengagement of the protection guide 60, and the like.

6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the electric bus battery exchange station system according to the embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 6, the operation of the battery exchange station 100 shown in Fig. 4 will be described.

When the electric bus 200 requests battery exchange via wireless communication, the reservation management unit 10 receives the battery exchange, confirms whether there is an exchangeable residual damping battery, and approves the reservation. At this time, the reservation managing unit 10 allocates and provides the exchange position to stop on the reserved electric bus 200, and if the exchange position is the station 100, the allocation process is omitted.

In FIG. 6, it is assumed that the exchange location assigned to the electric bus 200 is the first exchange location 110. In FIG. The camera 20 photographs the pedestrian for photographing the caution space image of the exchange position 100 in a state where the electric bus 200 is entering.

The state analyzer 30 identifies the pedestrian from the spatial image and identifies the moving direction and velocity of the pedestrian. Accordingly, the situation counterpart 40 instructs the pedestrian to promptly move out of the exchange position since the pedestrian must move out of the designated exchange position 110.

When the electric bus 200 comes close in the situation where the pedestrian does not deviate from the replacement location 110, the situation counter 40 instructs the electric bus 200 to lower the speed and wait until the pedestrian passes by . It is also possible to illuminate the exchange position 110 with additional attention, for example by providing illumination on the bottom of the horizontal body 102 or illumination formed along the line of the exchange position 110, And so on.

Particularly, when a pedestrian crosses across a pedestrian crossing due to a pedestrian signal in a bus central lane, when a large number of pedestrians are driven, the state analyzing unit 30 determines that the pedestrian crosses the pedestrian crossing ) Direction, as shown in FIG.

In this case, the situation counterpart 40 can change the switching location assigned to the electric bus 200 and inform it to the reserved electric bus 200 so that it quickly enters the switching location.

When the electric bus 200 enters the assigned swapped position, the vehicle guide 50 accurately guides the left, right, front and rear stop positions of the electric bus 200 so that the electric bus 200 is in a replaceable correct position.

When the electric bus 200 reaches a predetermined position, the roof door of the electric bus 200 is opened, the bellows of the protection guide 60 is lowered and sealed, as shown in Fig. 4, A replacement operation is performed. When the battery replacement operation is completed, the corrugated pipe of the protection guide 60 rises in the reverse order and the roof door of the electric bus 200 is closed.

In this embodiment, the case where the pedestrian is located at the exchanged location 110 is exemplified, but a bus that stops for getting on and off the passenger may take its place in addition to the pedestrian.

In the case of bus stops where many buses stop, it is difficult to stop the buses because of the narrowness of the bus stops, which can damage the location of the buses. Further, in some unexpected situations, such as when a passenger requests a stop at a bus stop, the bus may need to stop in order to stop the bus, so it is difficult to stop at an allocated position for battery replacement.

Therefore, the situation counterpart 40 can allocate and notify the electric bus 200 of the new exchange position in consideration of the stop position of the buses, the order of the incoming buses, and the entry order of the reserved electric buses 200 and the like. Here, the stop position of the buses is obtained from the image obtained through the camera provided in the battery exchange station 100, and the order and position of the busses can be utilized as a technique already implemented in a conventional bus stop system.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described so far, those skilled in the art can understand that modifications, substitutions, and the like can be made without departing from the technical idea of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be understood to apply to the technical ideas and equivalents of the invention described in the claims.

10: reservation management unit 20: image shooting unit
30: status analyzing unit 40:
50: vehicle guide 60: protection guide
70: Battery replacement robot 71: Battery transfer and mounting robot
71a: Fixed rail 71b: Feed rail
71c: lift rod 71d: clamping means
80: battery loading section 100: battery exchange station
101: vertical body 102: horizontal body
103: platform 200: electric bus
201: Battery mounting module

Claims (8)

1. An electric bus battery exchange station system installed at a bus stop,
And a horizontal body extending toward the road side on the upper side of the vertical body and having an outlet for withdrawing the battery from the roof door of the electric bus ceiling are formed at the bottom, A battery exchange station provided between the main body and the road, in which a platform is available for passengers;
A reservation managing unit for receiving and managing a battery exchange request from the electric bus;
An image capturing unit for capturing an image of a caution space including a stop area where an electric bus entering the battery exchange station for battery replacement stops so that the roof door and the outlets of the horizontal body stop to correspond to each other;
When the battery exchange request is received from the reservation management unit, includes an object whose entry is predicted from the attention space toward the stop area based on the movement direction and the velocity of the object extracted from the space image acquired from the image shooting unit A state analyzer for identifying an object in the attention space and analyzing the state of the attention space according to identification information of the object and movement of the object; And
And a situation counterpart for establishing and executing a predetermined countermeasure according to the state of the caution space from the state analyzer.
delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein when the object is in a stopped state as an obstacle to entry of the electric bus, the situation responding unit notifies the entering electric bus or the external control center that the object is a fault condition due to an abnormal object. Exchange station system.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the situation counterpart is provided with information requesting movement out of the space of interest when the object is moving as a person, the entrance of the electric bus for exchanging the battery is imminent in the space of attention, Station system.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the situation response unit comprises an acoustic or lighting system for providing sound or visual information requiring movement out of the space of interest to people moving in the space of interest.
6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the illumination system is a light illuminating the attention space or the stop area, or a light installed along a boundary of the stop area.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the reservation managing unit allocates the stop area to the battery exchange reservation electric bus in accordance with the position of the electric bus that has entered the bus stop and the estimated time of entry of one or more of the battery exchange reserved electric buses Battery exchange station system.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the situation counterpart changes the battery exchange position of the electric bus when the state of the space of interest is in a state where entry of the reserved electric bus is difficult.

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