SE2350983A1

SE2350983A1 - A computer-implemented method for controlling a power producing assembly of a vehicle

Info

Publication number: SE2350983A1
Application number: SE2350983A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Anders Ekdahl; Eva Skvor; Fredrik Blomgren; Linus Nordholm; Martin Wilhelmsson; Staffan Luong; Svante Karlsson; Tobias Smidebrant
Original assignee: Volvo Truck Corp
Priority date: 2023-08-18
Filing date: 2023-08-18
Publication date: 2024-02-20

Abstract

The present invention relates to a computer system (400) and a method for controlling a power producing assembly (130) of a vehicle (100). The power producing assembly (130) comprising a fuel cell system (110) and an energy storage system (120) comprising one or more batteries and/or supercapacitors. The method comprises:- identifying (S1) a travelling route (200) comprising a starting point (200a), an end point (200b) and a plurality of driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) along the travelling route (200),- using driving event information, including operating characteristics of said power producing assembly (130) for each one of said driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) when following the same travelling route (200) which driving event information has been determined during previous travels along said route, and- determining target operating characteristics of said power producing assembly (130) for each one of the plurality of driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) along the travelling route (200) on the basis of the driving event information,- wherein the operating characteristics of the power producing assembly (130) comprise at least one of the following for each one of said driving events (220a, 220b, 220c): a power output profile of the fuel cell system (110), a charging profile of the energy storage system (120), a discharging profile of the energy storage system (120), and a power output profile of the energy storage system (120).

Description

1 A COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A POWER PRODUCING ASSEMBLY OF A VEHICLE TECHNICAL FIELD id="p-1" id="p-1" id="p-1" id="p-1" id="p-1"

[0001] The disclosure relates generally to control of a power producing assembly of a vehicle. In particular aspects, the disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for controlling a power producing assembly which comprises a fuel cell system and an energy storage system. The disclosure also relates to a computer system, a computer program product, a control system, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and a vehicle. The disclosure can be applied to heavy-duty vehicles, such as trucks, buses, and construction equipment, among other vehicle types. Although the disclosure may be described with respect to a particular vehicle, the disclosure is not restricted to any particular vehicle.

BACKGROUND [0002] In recent years, fuel cell systems have been considered as power sources for producing electric power in different applications, e.g., in fuel cell electric vehicles. Typically, a fuel cell system is used with an energy storage system for providing electric power to various power consumers of the vehicle. The electric power may be used for powering one or more electric motors for creating a propulsion force to the vehicle during operation of the fuel cell electric vehicle, e.g. when the vehicle is performing a driving event. The fuel cell system and the energy storage system need to produce appropriate amounts of electric power, respectively, such that sufficient propulsion force is created for completing the driving event. There is a strive to develop improved technology relating to the control of a fuel cell system as well as an energy storage system.

SUMMARY id="p-3" id="p-3" id="p-3" id="p-3" id="p-3"

[0003] According to a first aspect of the disclosure, a computer system comprising a processor device conf1gured to control a power producing assembly of a vehicle according to claim 1 is provided. The power producing assembly comprises a fuel cell system and an electrical energy storage system comprising one or more batteries or supercapacitors. The Docket No.: [P2022-l648SE0l/PG22555SE00] 2 fuel cell system and the energy storage system are adapted to produce electric power for one or more energy consumers of the vehicle. The fuel cell system is connected to the energy storage system, and the fuel cell system is further configured to provide the electric power to charge the energy storage system. The processing circuitry is further configured to: - identify a travelling route comprising a starting point, an end point and a plurality of driving events along the travelling route, - use driving event information, including operating characteristics of the power producing assembly for each one of the driving events when following the same travelling route which driving event information has been deterrnined during previous travels along the route, and - determine target operating characteristics of the power producing assembly for each one of the plurality of driving events along the travelling route on the basis of the driving event information, - wherein the operating characteristics of the power producing assembly comprise at least one of the following for each one of the driving events: a power output profile of the fuel cell system, a charging profile of the energy storage system, a discharging profile of the energy storage system, and a power output profile of the energy storage system. id="p-4" id="p-4" id="p-4" id="p-4" id="p-4"

[0004] The first aspect of the disclosure may seek to find an in at least some aspect improved computer system for controlling the power producing assembly. For example, it may ensure that the fuel cell system and the energy storage system are producing an appropriate amount of electric power throughout each driving event along the travelling route. In other words, the fuel cell system and the energy storage system would not produce an unnecessary high level of electric power when it is not required, and vice versa. Moreover, it may ensure that the energy storage system has an appropriate state-of-energy level. As such, a technical benefit may include that the fuel cell system°s and the energy storage system°s efficiencies are improved. Improved efficiency may lead to improved fuel economy and reduced wear of the fuel cell system and the energy storage system. Furthermore, the deterrnination of the operating characteristics of the power producing assembly may be performed in a more efficient way thanks to the information associated with the driving events following the same route which have previously been performed under deterrnined Docket No.: [P2022-l648SE0l/PG22555SE00] 3 operating conditions. The target operating Characteristics may be deterrnined simply by analyzing related driving event inforrnation, as opposed to conventional ways where the deterrnination may be based on a complex calculation of power demands from one or more energy consumers and a subsequent power split between the fuel cell system and the energy storage system. id="p-5" id="p-5" id="p-5" id="p-5" id="p-5"

[0005] information and thereby to determine a target operating characteristics of the power By use of the driving event information, it may be possible to leam from the producing assembly, for instance, a power level that is preferably produced by the fuel cell system at various time points during the same driving event. The produced power may be supplied to one or more energy consumers, such as an electric motor, of the vehicle, and/or may be used to charge the energy storage system. id="p-6" id="p-6" id="p-6" id="p-6" id="p-6"

[0006] performed by the processing circuitry onboard the vehicle and may be performed upon the In some examples, the deterrnination of the operating characteristics may be identification of the travelling route. As such, a power split between the fuel cell system and the energy storage system along the travelling route may be planned in advance, as opposed to conventional ways where the power split may be calculated in real-time when travelling along the route. A technical benefit may include that control of the power producing assembly may be further improved. id="p-7" id="p-7" id="p-7" id="p-7" id="p-7"

[0007] various deterrnined operating conditions, where the deterrnined operating conditions may The previous driving events may be performed by following the same route under preferably cover various operating conditions. In this way, it may be possible to determine the target operating characteristics for the operating condition under which the vehicle is currently operated by using the driving event information where the driving event has previously been performed under the same operating condition. As such, the deterrnined target operating characteristics may be more accurate since they are intended for the exact operating condition that the vehicle currently has. id="p-8" id="p-8" id="p-8" id="p-8" id="p-8"

[0008] According to a second aspect of the disclosure, a computer-implemented method for controlling a power producing assembly of a vehicle by a processing circuitry of a computer system according to claim 2 is provided. The power producing assembly comprises 4 a fuel cell system and an energy storage system comprising one or more batteries or supercapacitors. The fuel cell system and the energy storage system are adapted to produce electric power for one or more energy consumers of the vehicle. The fuel cell system is connected to the energy storage system, and the fuel cell system is further configured to provide the electric power to charge the energy storage system, the method comprising: identifying, by a processing circuitry, a travelling route comprising a starting point, an end point and a plurality of driving events along the travelling route, - using, by a processing circuitry, driving event information, including operating characteristics of the power producing assembly for each one of the driving events when following the same travelling route which driving event information has been deterrnined during previous travels along the route, and - deterrnining, by a processing circuitry, target operating characteristics of the power producing assembly for each one of the plurality of driving events along the travelling route on the basis of the driving event information, - wherein the operating characteristics of the power producing assembly comprise at least one of the following for each one of the driving events: a power output profile of the fuel cell system, a charging profile of the energy storage system, a discharging profile of the energy storage system, and a power output profile of the energy storage system. id="p-9" id="p-9" id="p-9" id="p-9" id="p-9"

[0009] the technical beneﬁt of the first aspect of the disclosure. It shall also be noted that all Technical benefits of the second aspect of the disclosure are largely analogous to examples of the second aspect of the disclosure are combinable with all embodiments of the first aspect of the disclosure, and vice versa. id="p-10" id="p-10" id="p-10" id="p-10" id="p-10"

[0010] processing circuitry, such as in one or more electronic control units. The processing circuitry The computer-implemented method as disclosed herein may be performed in the may comprise a communication unit configured to receive various information, e.g. the driving event information. The processor device may further comprise a computing unit for computing the operating characteries of the power producing assembly along the identified travelling route.

Docket No.: [P2022-1648SE01/PG22555SE00] id="p-11" id="p-11" id="p-11" id="p-11" id="p-11"

[0011] According to a third aspect of the disclosure, a control systern comprising one or more control units configured to perforrn the method according to the second aspect of the disclosure is provided. id="p-12" id="p-12" id="p-12" id="p-12" id="p-12"

[0012] According to a fourth aspect of the disclosure, a computer program product comprising program code for performing, when executed by the processing circuitry, the method according to the second aspect of the disclosure is provided. id="p-13" id="p-13" id="p-13" id="p-13" id="p-13"

[0013] storage medium comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor device, According to a f1fth aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable cause the processing circuitry to perform the method according to the second aspect of the disclosure is provided. id="p-14" id="p-14" id="p-14" id="p-14" id="p-14"

[0014] According to a sixth aspect of the disclosure, a vehicle comprising a power producing assembly configured for producing electric power for one or more energy consumers of the vehicle is provided. The vehicle further comprises a computer system according to the first aspect of the disclosure and/or a control system according to the third aspect of the disclosure. id="p-15" id="p-15" id="p-15" id="p-15" id="p-15"

[0015] for controlling a power producing assembly of a vehicle is provided. The power producing According to a seventh aspect of the disclosure, a computer-implemented method assembly comprises a fuel cell system and an energy storage system comprising one or more batteries or supercapacitors. The fuel cell system and the energy storage system are adapted to produce electric power for one or more energy consumers of the vehicle. The fuel cell system is connected to the energy storage system, and the fuel cell system is further configured to provide the electric power to charge the energy storage system. The method comprises: - obtaining driving event information, including operating characteristics of the power producing assembly, for a plurality of driving events along a travelling route when following the same travelling route which have been performed, - training a predicting model by use of the obtained information in order to establish a correlation between target operating characteristics of the power producing assembly Docket No.: [P2022-1648SE01/PG22555SE00] 6 for each driving event along a travelling route and an operating condition for each driving event, - identifying an operating condition of the vehicle, and - for each driving event, using the predicting model to deterrnine target operating characteristics of the power producing assembly during the driving event under the identified operating condition, - wherein the operating characteristics of the power producing assembly comprise at least one of the following for each one of the driving events: a power output profile of the fuel cell system, a charging profile of the energy storage system, a discharging profile of the energy storage system, and a power output profile of the energy storage system. id="p-16" id="p-16" id="p-16" id="p-16" id="p-16"

[0016] accompanying claims may be suitably combined with each other as would be apparent to The disclosed aspects, examples (including any preferred examples), and/or anyone of ordinary skill in the art. Additional features and advantages are disclosed in the following description, claims, and drawings, and in part will be readily apparent therefrom to those skilled in the art or recognized by practicing the disclosure as described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION oF THE DRAwINGs id="p-17" id="p-17" id="p-17" id="p-17" id="p-17"

[0017] Examples are described in more detail below with reference to the appended drawings. [0018] FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an exemplary vehicle comprising a power producing assembly according to an aspect of the disclosure. id="p-19" id="p-19" id="p-19" id="p-19" id="p-19"

[0019] FIG. 2 is an example of a travelling route that the vehicle is going to take. id="p-20" id="p-20" id="p-20" id="p-20" id="p-20"

[0020] FIG. 3 is a ﬂowchart illustrating an exemplary method of controlling the power producing assembly shown in FIG. 1. id="p-21" id="p-21" id="p-21" id="p-21" id="p-21"

[0021] FIG. 4 is a graph showing an exemplary driving event. 7 [0022] FIG. 4A is a graph illustrating one example of a state-of-energy level profile of the energy storage system during a driving event on a travelling route where the method has been used in contrast to one example of a state-of-energy level profile of the energy storage system during the driving event where the method has not been used. id="p-23" id="p-23" id="p-23" id="p-23" id="p-23"

[0023] cell system during a driving event on a travelling route where the method has been used in FIG. 4B is a graph illustrating one example of a power output profile of the fuel contrast to one example one example of a power output profile of the fuel cell system during the driving event where the method has not been used. id="p-24" id="p-24" id="p-24" id="p-24" id="p-24"

[0024] FIG.5 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing examples disclosed herein, according to one example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION id="p-25" id="p-25" id="p-25" id="p-25" id="p-25"

[0025] disclosed technology with sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the The detailed description set forth below provides information and examples of the disclosure. id="p-26" id="p-26" id="p-26" id="p-26" id="p-26"

[0026] for producing electric power in different applications, e.g., in fuel cell electric vehicles.

In recent years, fuel cell systems have been considered as one of power sources Typically, a fuel cell system is used with an energy storage system for providing electric power to various power consumers of the vehicles. The electric power may be used for powering one or more electric motors for creating a propulsion force to the vehicle during operation of the fuel cell electric vehicle, e. g. when the vehicle is performing a driving event. The fuel cell system and the energy storage system need to produce appropriate amounts of electric power respectively such that sufficient propulsion force is created for completing the driving event. There is a strive to develop improved technology relating to the control of a fuel cell system as well as an energy storage system. id="p-27" id="p-27" id="p-27" id="p-27" id="p-27"

[0027] computer system for controlling a power producing assembly of a fuel cell electric vehicle.

The present disclosure may seek to find an in at least some aspects improved Docket No.: [P2022-1648SE01/PG22555SE00] 8 For example, it may ensure that the fuel cell system and the energy storage system are producing an appropriate amount of electric power throughout each driving event when the vehicle is driving along a travelling route. In other words, the fuel cell system and the energy storage system would not produce an unnecessarily high level of electric power when it is not required, and vice versa. Moreover, it may ensure that the energy storage system has an appropriate state-of-energy level. As such, a technical beneﬁt may include that the fuel cell system°s efficiency and the energy storage system°s efficiency are improved. Improved efficiency may lead to improved fuel economy and reduced wear of the fuel cell system and the energy storage system. id="p-28" id="p-28" id="p-28" id="p-28" id="p-28"

[0028] Even though a fuel cell electric truck is shown, it shall be noted that the disclosure is not FIG. 1 depicts a vehicle 100, which is exemplified by a fuel cell electric truck. limited to this type of vehicle, but it may also be used for other fuel cell electric vehicles, such as a bus, or construction equipment, e.g., a wheel loader or an excavator. id="p-29" id="p-29" id="p-29" id="p-29" id="p-29"

[0029] The vehicle 100 comprises a fuel cell system 110 and an electric energy storage system 120, typically comprising one or more batteries and/or supercapacitors. The fuel cell system 110 is adapted to produce electric power. The produced electric power may be fed to one or more electric motors 150, which are configured for providing propulsion power to driven wheels 160 of the vehicle 100. The electric power produced by the fuel cell system 110 may also be used to charge the one or more batteries of the energy storage system 120. Power stored in the electric energy storage system 120 may further be fed to the one or more electric motors 150. In some examples, the fuel cell system 110 may produce more electric power than what is requested to power the vehicle 100 and/or that can be stored in the electric energy storage system 120. In this case, excessive electric power may be transferred to an energy dissipation device (not shown). id="p-30" id="p-30" id="p-30" id="p-30" id="p-30"

[0030] The vehicle 100 further comprises a control system. The control system may comprise one or more control units 402, which may also be referred to as one or more processor devices 402. The one or more processor devices 402 may be configured to control power producing assembly 130 using a method according to an example of the disclosure.

The vehicle 100 may further comprise a navigation system (not shown) in which the Docket No.: [P2022-1648SE01/PG22555SE00] 9 processor device 402 may be integrated. The navigation system may comprise one or more sensors, e. g. a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, configured to position the vehicle 100 on a road that it is travelling on. id="p-31" id="p-31" id="p-31" id="p-31" id="p-31"

[0031] going to take. The travelling route 200 may comprise various driving events 220a, 220b, FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a travelling route that 200 the vehicle 100 is 220c. FIG. 4 shows an exemplary driving event 200a where a hill-climbing driving event 200 that is located in a travelling route 200. Purely by way of example, the driving events 220a, 220b, 220c may also be a downhill driving event, an uphill driving event, a low load driving event, a high load driving event and/or a refueling event. id="p-32" id="p-32" id="p-32" id="p-32" id="p-32"

[0032] may need to provide an appropriate amount of electric power, such that suff1cient power is When driving along a travelling route 200, the power producing assembly 130 supplied to the one or more electric consumers 140 (e.g. electric motor(s)) to create the propulsion force needed for performing various driving events 220a, 220b, 220c along the travelling route 200. In some examples, the fuel cell system 110 may produce a constant amount of electric power throughout one driving event 220a, 220b, 220c. The constant amount of electric power may, for instance, be defined as a maximum allowable power level that may be set by the processor device 402. During the travel, when a transient power demand is lower than the maximum allowable power level, excessive power that is produced by the fuel cell system 110 may be used to charge the energy storage system 120. When the transient power demand is higher than the maximum allowable power level, the lacking amount of power may be supplied by the energy storage system 120. However, if the energy storage system 120 is not able to supply the required lacking amount of electric power, the maximum allowable power level from the fuel cell system 110 may need to be increased temporarily by the processor device 402. id="p-33" id="p-33" id="p-33" id="p-33" id="p-33"

[0033] producing assembly 130. The method may be applied to any type of electric vehicles, e.g., the FIG. 3 is a ﬂowchart illustrating an exemplary method of controlling the power truck 100 shown in FIG. 1. The method comprises the steps listed in the following, which, unless otherwise indicated, may be taken in any suitable order. The method may be performed by the processor device 402, see Fig. 1. id="p-34" id="p-34" id="p-34" id="p-34" id="p-34"

[0034] point 200b and a plurality of driving events 220a, 220b, 220c along the travelling route 200.

S1: identifying a travelling route 200 comprising a starting point 200a, an end The driving event 200 may be identified with help of the one or more sensors of the navigation system (not shown) and/or on map inforrnation stored in the navigation system (not shown). Once the driving event 200 is identified, it may be reported to the processor device 402 to proceed with the next step. id="p-35" id="p-35" id="p-35" id="p-35" id="p-35"

[0035] power producing assembly 130 for each one of the driving events 220a, 220b, 220c when S2: using driving event information, including operating characteristics of the following the same travelling route 200 which driving event information has been deterrnined during previous travels along the route 200. The driving event information may be obtained from vehicles, which may be the own vehicle 100 and/or any other vehicles, that have previously performed the same driving events 220a, 220b, 220c following the same route 200. The driving event information may also be obtained from computer simulation where a virtual vehicle has performed the same driving events 220a, 220b, 220c a plurality of times. The travelling route 200 may have been created in a computer environment which may represent the same route 200 from the real world. The driving events 220a, 220b, 220c may have been performed and/or simulated a sufficient number of times, preferably that a plurality of different operating conditions have been covered. The information may be recorded each time a travel has been carried out and/or simulated, and the information may be recorded in the form of data in a database. The information may include various operating characteristics of the power producing assembly 130 during as well as corresponding operating condition under which the vehicle was operated when travelling on the route 200. id="p-36" id="p-36" id="p-36" id="p-36" id="p-36"

[0036] least one of the following: a power output profile of the fuel cell system, a charging profile The operating characteristics of the power producing assembly 130 comprise at of the energy storage system 120, a discharging profile of the energy storage system 120, and a power output profile of the energy storage system 120. id="p-37" id="p-37" id="p-37" id="p-37" id="p-37"

[0037] 130 for each one of the plurality of driving events 220a, 220b, 220c along the travelling route S3: deterrnining target operating characteristics of the power producing assembly 200 on the basis of the driving event information. 11 id="p-38" id="p-38" id="p-38" id="p-38" id="p-38"

[0038] This step may additionally include the ﬂowing two sub steps: id="p-39" id="p-39" id="p-39" id="p-39" id="p-39"

[0039] S3-1: selecting one or more parameters representative of the operating condition, and id="p-40" id="p-40" id="p-40" id="p-40" id="p-40"

[0040] S3-2: in response to the selected one or more parameters representative of the current operating condition and the driving event information, deterrnining the target operating characteristics of the power producing assembly 130 along the traveling route 200 such that a measure indicative of a difference between a target status information and an expected status information at the end of each driving event 220a, 220b, 220c is within a predeterrnined range. id="p-41" id="p-41" id="p-41" id="p-41" id="p-41"

[0041] The status information of the electric power producing assembly 130 may comprise at least one of: a state-of-energy level of the energy storage system 120, a temperature of the fuel cell system 110, a temperature of the energy storage system 120, a state-of-health level of the fuel cell system 110, a state-of-health level of the energy storage system 120 and/or a power consumption of the fuel cell system 110. the vehicle operating conditions comprise status information for the electric power producing assembly and at least one of the following parameters: vehicle speed, vehicle gross combination weight, ambient temperature, and coolant temperature of the power producing assembly 130. id="p-42" id="p-42" id="p-42" id="p-42" id="p-42"

[0042] By use of the aforementioned information discussed in S3, it may be possible to leam from the information and thereby to determine target operating characteristics of the power producing assembly 130 for each one of the driving events 220a, 220b, 220c along the travelling route 200. The target operating characteristics may comprise, for example, a desirable power output profile from the fuel cell system 110, which may define a power level that is preferably supplied by the fuel cell system 100 at various time points throughout one driving event 220a, 220b, 220c. The power output profile may be a constant level, which may be defined by the maximum allowable power level. Altematively, the power level may vary over time. When the power level varies over time, the power output profile may determine when, for instance, at which time period, to temporarily increase or decrease the maximum allowable power level during the driving event 220a, 220b, 220c, such that the fuel cell system 110 would not produce unnecessarily a high level of electric power when it is not Docket No.: [P2022-1648SE01/PG22555SE00] 12 requested, and vice versa, and meanwhile the status information of the power producing assembly 130 is within a desirable range upon completing the driving event 220a, 220b, 220c. id="p-43" id="p-43" id="p-43" id="p-43" id="p-43"

[0043] parameters of the current operating condition is selected as an input, the target operating The method may, for instance, function as a lookup table. When one or more characteristics may be deterrnined as an output result. The control unit 402 may then control the power producing assembly 130 such that the power producing assembly 130 is operated in accordance with the deterrnined target operating characteristics. id="p-44" id="p-44" id="p-44" id="p-44" id="p-44"

[0044] Purely by way of example, the control unit 402 may cause the fuel cell system 110 to produce the electric power based on the deterrnined power output proﬁle of the fuel cell system, charge the energy storage system 120 based on the deterrnined charging profile, discharge the energy storage system based on the deterrnined discharging profile, and/or cause the energy storage system to produce the electric power based on the deterrnined power output profile of the energy storage system. id="p-45" id="p-45" id="p-45" id="p-45" id="p-45"

[0045] model, for example, a machine-leaming model. In these examples, another exemplary In some examples, the deterrnination may be performed by use of a predicting method of controlling the power producing assembly 130 is provided. The method comprises: - obtaining driving event information, including operating characteristics of the power producing assembly 130, for a plurality of driving events 220a, 220b, 220c along a travelling route 200 when following the same travelling route which have been performed, - training a predicting model by use of the obtained information in order to establish a correlation between target operating characteristics of the power producing assembly 130 for each driving event along a travelling route 200 and an operating condition for each driving event, - identifying an operating condition of the vehicle 100, and - for each driving event, using the predicting model to determine target operating characteristics of the power producing assembly 130 during the driving event under the identified operating condition, 13 - wherein the Operating Characteristics of the power producing assembly 130 comprise at least one of the following for each one of the driving events 220a, 220b, 220c: a power output profile of the fuel cell system 110, a charging profile of the energy storage system 120, a discharging profile of the energy storage system 120, and a power output profile of the energy storage system 120. id="p-46" id="p-46" id="p-46" id="p-46" id="p-46"

[0046] on-board in the processor device 402 of the vehicle 100. The predicting model may be a The predicting model may be trained ofﬂine at a remote place or may be trained machine-leaming model and different types of self-leaming model may be employed. Other types of machine leaming models may be potentially used, such as linear regression or non- linear regression model. Such models are known and will therefore not be discussed in more detail herein. id="p-47" id="p-47" id="p-47" id="p-47" id="p-47"

[0047] FIG. 4A is a graph illustrating an example of a state-of-energy level profile of the energy storage system 120 during the driving event 220a of FIG. 4 where the method has been used in contrast to an example of a state-of-energy level profile of the energy storage system 120 during the same driving event 220a where the method has not been used. FIG. 4B shows an example of a corresponding power output profile of the fuel cell system 110 during the same driving event 220a where the method has been used in contrast to an example of a power output profile of the fuel cell system 110 during the same driving event 220a where the method has not been used. id="p-48" id="p-48" id="p-48" id="p-48" id="p-48"

[0048] also be seen as the driving event 220a that has been previously performed. According to the The solid line represents the scenario where the method has not been used. It may figure, the state-of-energy level of the energy storage system 120 at the end of the driving event 220a, indicated as point A, has a margin M to a lower limit SoEmin of the state-of- charge level. Purely by way of example, the lower limit SoEmin of the state-of-charge level may be a fixed value that is associated with the energy storage system 120. The corresponding power output from the fuel cell system 110 is indicated by the solid line in FIG. 4B. The above information together with the operating condition under which the vehicle 100 was operated when performing the driving event 220a may be recorded in a 14 database. When the vehicle 100 is going to perform the same driving event 220a, under the same operating condition, it may be possible to use the above inforrnation and leam from the information that the state-of-energy level of the energy storage system 120 at the end of the driving event 220a was not in a desirable range RSoE. There is room to further reduce the margin M such that the electric power that needs to be supplied by the fuel cell system 110 may be reduced. As such, the processor device 402 may determine a desirable power output profile from the fuel cell system 110 under the driving event 200, such that the margin M is reduced, which is indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 4A. Accordingly, the electric power that needs to be supplied by the fuel cell system 110 may be reduced. As a result, fuel consumption as well as wear and/or cooling of the fuel cell system 120 may be decreased. It shall be noted that FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B showing the power output profile being at a constant level is purely an example. id="p-49" id="p-49" id="p-49" id="p-49" id="p-49"

[0049] control system, for implementing examples disclosed herein. The computer system 400 is FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a computer system 400, also referred to as a adapted to execute instructions from a computer-readable medium to perform these and/or any of the functions or processing described herein. The computer system 400 may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines in a LAN, an intranet, an extranet, or the Intemet. While only a single device is illustrated, the computer system 400 may include any collection of devices that individually or j ointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Accordingly, any reference in the disclosure and/or claims to a computer system, computing system, computer device, computing device, control system, control unit, electronic control unit (ECU), processor device, etc., includes reference to one or more such devices to individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. For example, control system may include a single control unit, or a plurality of control units connected or otherwise communicatively coupled to each other, such that any performed function may be distributed between the control units as desired. Further, such devices may communicate with each other or other devices by various system architectures, such as directly or via a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, etc. id="p-50" id="p-50" id="p-50" id="p-50" id="p-50"

[0050] electronic device capable of including firmware, hardware, and/or executing software The computer system 400 may comprise at least one computing device or instructions to implement the functionality described herein. The computer system 400 may include one or more electronic control units 402, such as the control unit 402 illustrated in Fig. 1, which may also be referred to as a processor device, a memory 404, and a system bus 406. The computer system 400 may include at least one computing device having the control unit 402. The system bus 406 provides an interface for system components including, but not limited to, the memory 404 and the control unit 402. The control unit 402 may include any number of hardware components for conducting data or signal processing or for executing computer code stored in memory 404. The control unit 402 (e.g., processor device) may, for example, include a general-purpose processor, an application specific processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a circuit containing processing components, a group of distributed processing components, a group of distributed computers configured for processing, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The control unit may further include computer executable code that controls operation of the programmable device. id="p-51" id="p-51" id="p-51" id="p-51" id="p-51"

[0051] interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and/or The system bus 406 may be any of several types of bus structures that may further a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The memory 404 may be one or more devices for storing data and/or computer code for completing or facilitating methods described herein. The memory 404 may include database components, object code components, script components, or other types of information structure for supporting the various activities herein. Any distributed or local memory device may be utilized with the systems and methods of this description. The memory 404 may be communicably connected to the control unit 402 (e.g., via a circuit or any other wired, wireless, or network connection) and may include computer code for executing one or more processes described herein. The memory 404 may include non-volatile memory 408 (e. g., read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), etc.), and volatile memory 410 (e.g., random-access memory (RAM)), 16 or any other medium which can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of machine-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a computer or other machine with a control unit 402. A basic input/output system (BIOS) 412 may be stored in the non-volatile memory 408 and can include the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computer system 400. id="p-52" id="p-52" id="p-52" id="p-52" id="p-52"

[0052] computer-readable storage medium such as the storage device 414, which may comprise, for The computer system 400 may further include or be coupled to a non-transitory example, an intemal or extemal hard disk drive (HDD) (e.g., enhanced integrated drive electronics (EIDE) or serial advanced technology attachment (SATA)), HDD (e.g., EIDE or SATA) for storage, flash memory, or the like. The storage device 414 and other drives associated with computer-readable media and computer-usable media may provide non- volatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and the like. id="p-53" id="p-53" id="p-53" id="p-53" id="p-53"

[0053] circuitry to implement the functionality described herein in whole or in part. The modules A number of modules can be implemented as software and/or hard-coded in may be stored in the storage device 414 and/or in the volatile memory 410, which may include an operating system 416 and/or one or more program modules 418. All or a portion of the examples disclosed herein may be implemented as a computer program product 420 stored on a transitory or non-transitory computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium (e.g., single medium or multiple media), such as the storage device 414, which includes complex programming instructions (e.g., complex computer-readable program code) to cause the control unit 402 to carry out the steps described herein. Thus, the computer-readable program code can comprise software instructions for implementing the functionality of the examples described herein when executed by the control unit 402. The control unit 402 may serve as a controller or control system for the computer system 400 that is to implement the functionality described herein, such as for the control system 4 illustrated in Fig. 2. id="p-54" id="p-54" id="p-54" id="p-54" id="p-54"

[0054] input device interface and/or output device interface). The input device interface 422 may be The computer system 400 also may include an input device interface 422 (e.g., configured to receive input and selections to be communicated to the computer system 400 17 when executing instructions, such as from a keyboard, mouse, touch-sensitive surface, etc. Such input devices may be connected to the processor device 402 through the input device interface 422 coupled to the system bus 406 but can be connected through other interfaces such as a parallel port, an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 1394 serial port, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, an IR interface, and the like. The computer system 400 may include an output device interface 424 configured to forward output, such as to a display, a video display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 400 may also include a communications interface 426 suitable for communicating with a network as appropriate or desired. id="p-55" id="p-55" id="p-55" id="p-55" id="p-55"

[0055] described to provide examples and discussion. The steps may be performed by hardware The operational steps described in any of the exemplary aspects herein are components, may be embodied in machine-executable instructions to cause a processor to perform the steps, or may be performed by a combination of hardware and software. Although a specific order of method steps may be shown or described, the order of the steps may differ. In addition, two or more steps may be performed concurrently or with partial COIICUITCIICC . id="p-56" id="p-56" id="p-56" id="p-56" id="p-56"

[0056] only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms The terrninology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and/or "including" when used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. id="p-57" id="p-57" id="p-57" id="p-57" id="p-57"

[0057] It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms.

These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first 18 element could be terrned a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be terrned a first element without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. id="p-58" id="p-58" id="p-58" id="p-58" id="p-58"

[0058] or "Vertical" may be used herein to describe a relationship of one element to another element Relative terms such as "below" or "above" or "upper" or "lower" or "horizontal" as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understood that these terms and those discussed above are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "coupled" to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element, or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly coupled" to another element, there are no intervening elements present. id="p-59" id="p-59" id="p-59" id="p-59" id="p-59"

[0059] herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of this specif1cation and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. id="p-60" id="p-60" id="p-60" id="p-60" id="p-60"

[0060] It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the aspects described above and illustrated in the drawings; rather, the skilled person will recognize that many changes and modif1cations may be made within the scope of the present disclosure and appended claims. In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed aspects for purposes of illustration only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the inventive concepts being set forth in the following claims. id="p-61" id="p-61" id="p-61" id="p-61" id="p-61"

[0061] only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms The terrninology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms 19 "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and/or "including" When used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, actions, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, actions, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. id="p-62" id="p-62" id="p-62" id="p-62" id="p-62"

[0062] It Will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc., may be used herein to describe Various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be terrned a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be terrned a first element Without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A computer system (400) comprising a processing circuitry (402) configured to control a power producing assembly (130) of a vehicle (100), said power producing assembly (130) comprising a fuel cell system (110) and an electrical energy storage system (120) comprising one or more batteries or supercapacitors, wherein said fuel cell system (110) and said energy storage system (120) are adapted to produce electric power for one or more energy consumers of the vehicle (100), and wherein said fuel cell system (110) is connected to said energy storage system (120), said fuel cell system (110) further being configured to provide the electric power to charge the energy storage system (120), the processing circuitry (402) further being configured to: - identify a travelling route (200) comprising a starting point (200a), an end point (200b) and a plurality of driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) along the travelling route, - use driving event information, including operating characteristics of said power producing assembly (130) for each one of said driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) when following the same travelling route (200) which driving event information has been deterrnined during previous travels along said route (200), and - determine target operating characteristics of said power producing assembly (130) for each one of the plurality of driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) along the travelling route (200) on the basis of the driving event information, - wherein the operating characteristics of the power producing assembly (130) comprise at least one of the following for each one of said driving events (220a, 220b, 220c): a power output profile of the fuel cell system (110), a charging profile of the energy storage system (120), a discharging profile of the energy storage system (120), and a power output profile of the energy storage system (120).

2. A computer-implemented method for controlling a power producing assembly (130) of a vehicle (100) , said power producing assembly (130) comprising a fuel cell system (110) and an energy storage system (120) comprising one or more batteries or supercapacitors, wherein said fuel cell system (110) and said energy storage system (120) are adapted to produce electric power for one or more energy consumers of the vehicle (100), and wherein said fuel cell system (110) is connected to said energy storage system (120), said fuel cell Docket No.: [P2022-1648SE01/PG22555SE00]system (110) further being configured to provide the electric power to charge the energy storage system (120), the method comprising: - identifying (S1), by a processing circuitry, a travelling route (200) comprising a starting point (200a), an end point (200b) and a plurality of driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) along the travelling route (200), - using (S2), by a processing circuitry, driving event inforrnation, including operating characteristics of said power producing assembly (130) for each one of said driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) when following the same travelling route (200) which driving event inforrnation has been deterrnined during previous travels along said route, and - deterrnining (S3), by a processing circuitry, target operating characteristics of said power producing assembly (130) for each one of the plurality of driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) along the travelling route (200) on the basis of the driving event inforrnation, - wherein the operating characteristics of the power producing assembly (130) comprise at least one of the following for each one of said driving events (220a, 220b, 220c): a power output profile of the fuel cell system (110), a charging profile of the energy storage system (120) , a discharging profile of the energy storage system (120), and a power output profile of the energy storage system (120).

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein said driving event inforrnation has been deterrnined during previous travels along said route, each previous travel being associated with a set of vehicle operating conditions.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle operating conditions comprise status inforrnation of said electric power producing assembly (130) and at least one of the following parameters during each one of the plurality of driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) during a previous travel along said route (200): vehicle speed, vehicle gross combination weight, ambient temperature, and coolant temperature of said electric power producing assembly (130).

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: - selecting (S4) one or more parameters representative of the operating condition, in response to the selected one or more parameters representative of the current operating condition and said driving event inforrnation, deterrnining (S5) the target operating characteristics of said power producing assembly (130) along the traveling route such that a measure indicative of a difference between a target status information and an expected status information at the end of each driving event (220a, 220b, 220c) is within a predeterrnined range.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3-5, wherein said status information of the electric power producing assembly (130) comprise at least one of: a state-of-energy level of the energy storage system (120), a temperature of the fuel cell system (110), a temperature of the energy storage system (120), a state-of-health level of the fuel cell system (110), a state- of-health level of the energy storage system (120) and/or a power consumption of the fuel cell system (1 10).

7. The method according to any one of claims 2-6, wherein the plurality of driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) comprises a downhill driving event, an uphill driving event, a low load driving event, a high load driving event and/or a refuelling event.

8. The method according to any one of claims 2-7, wherein deterrnining target operating characteristics of said power producing assembly (130) is performed by use of a predicting model.

9. The method according to any one of claims 2-8, wherein the driving event information is obtained when same driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) at the same route (200) have been performed, by real-world vehicles or by use of computer simulation.

10. A control system comprising one or more control units conf1gured to perform the method of any one of claims 2 -

11. The control system (400) according to claim 10, is further conf1gured to control said power producing assembly (130) such that the power producing assembly (130) is operated in accordance with the deterrnined target operating characteristics.

12.The control system according to claim 11, wherein controlling said power producing assembly (130) comprises: causing the fuel cell system (110) to produce the electric power based on the deterrnined power output profile of the fuel cell system, charging the energy storage system (120) based on the deterrnined charging profile, discharging the energy storage system (120) based on the deterrnined discharging profile, and causing the energy storage system (120) to produce the electric power based on the deterrnined power output profile of the energy storage system (120) .

13. The control system according to claim 12, wherein discharging the energy storage system (120) comprises transferring the electric power from the energy storage system (120) to an energy dissipation system.

14. A computer program product comprising program code for performing, when executed by the processing circuitry, the method of any one of claims 2 -

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor device, cause the processing circuitry (402) to perform the method of any one of claims 2 -

16. A vehicle (100) comprising a power producing assembly (130) configured for producing electric power for one or more energy consumers of the vehicle (100), said vehicle (100) further comprising a computer system (400) according to claim 1 and/or a control system according to any one of claims 10-

17. A computer-implemented method for controlling a power producing assembly (130) of a vehicle (100) , said power producing assembly (130) comprising a fuel cell system (110) and an energy storage system (120) comprising one or more batteries, wherein said fuel cell system (110) and said energy storage system (120) are adapted to produce electric power for one or more energy consumers of the vehicle (100), and wherein said fuel cell system (110) is connected to said energy storage system (120), said fuel cell system (110) further being configured to provide the electric power to charge the energy storage system (120), the method comprising: Docket No.: [P2022-1648SE01/PG22555SE00]obtaining driving event information, including operating Characteristics of said power producing assembly (130), for a plurality of driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) along a travelling route (200) when following the same travelling route which have been perforrned, training a predicting model by use of the obtained inforrnation in order to establish a correlation between target operating characteristics of said power producing assembly (130) for each driving event along a travelling route (200) and an operating condition for each driving event, identifying an operating condition of the vehicle (100), and for each driving event, using the predicting model to deterrnine target operating characteristics of the power producing assembly (130) during the driving event under the identified operating condition, wherein the operating characteristics of the power producing assembly (130) comprise at least one of the following for each one of said driving events (220a, 220b, 220c): a power output profile of the fuel cell system (110), a charging profile of the energy storage system (120) , a discharging profile of the energy storage system (120) , and a power output profile of the energy storage system (120) .

18.The method according to claim 17, wherein said driving event inforrnation has been deterrnined during previous travels along said route (200), each previous travel being associated with a set of vehicle operating conditions.

19.The method according to claim 18, wherein the operating condition comprises status inforrnation of the electric power producing assembly (130) and at least one of the following parameters: vehicle speed, vehicle gross combination weight, ambient temperature, and coolant temperature.

20.The method according to any of claims 18 - 19, wherein the method further comprises: selecting one or more parameters of the operating condition, for each driving event, in response to the selected one or more parameters representative of the vehicle operating condition, deterrnining the target operating characteristics of power producing assembly (130), such that a measure indicative of a difference between a target status information and an expected status inforrnation at the end of each driving event is Within a predeterrnined range.

21. The method according to any one of claims 17-20, Wherein the driving event 5 inforrnation is obtained When same driving events (220a, 220b, 220c) at the same route have been performed, by real-World vehicles or by use of computer simulation.