Method and corresponding device for determining a charging device that is being connected to a vehicle

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of vehicle charging. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle, the method at least comprising the following steps: a) selecting at least one primary candidate charging device based on the current geographical location of the target vehicle after the charging device is physically engaged with the target vehicle; and b) screening out secondary candidate charging devices that may be physically engaged with the target vehicle from the at least one primary candidate charging device type by type according to screening conditions that vary depending on the type of the charging device, wherein the type of the charging device is determined according to the ability of the charging device to express that it is in a physically engaged but not yet started charging state. The present invention also relates to a corresponding device, a corresponding vehicle-side device, and a corresponding charging device-side device. According to the present invention, an automatic charging process of "plug and charge" is achieved without manual matching of the vehicle and the charging device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle. The present invention also relates to a device for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle, a corresponding vehicle-side device, and a corresponding charging-device-side device. Background Art

[0002] Currently, users of electric vehicles need to perform many active operations when charging their electric vehicles. For example, when an electric vehicle attempts to charge at a charging pile, the user of the electric vehicle must scan the QR code of the charging pile to match the electric vehicle with the charging pile. This is because there is no viable communication channel between the electric vehicle and the charging pile during the current charging process of the electric vehicle by the charging pile. Without the process of the user scanning the QR code, there is no way for the application program of the electric vehicle to know which specific charging pile to charge at, or for the charging pile to know which specific electric vehicle is being charged. However, this process of opening the charging pile is not only cumbersome but also time-consuming for the user.

[0003] Therefore, there is an expectation to provide a simple and efficient way to open the charging pile. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is achieved by providing a method for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle, the method at least comprising the following steps:

[0005] a’) Selecting at least one primary candidate charging device based on the current geographical location of the target vehicle after the charging device is physically engaged with the target vehicle; and

[0006] b’) Screening out a secondary candidate charging device that may be physically engaged with the target vehicle from the at least one primary candidate charging device according to a screening condition related to the operating state of the charging device.

[0007] According to an optional embodiment, the screening condition satisfied by the secondary candidate charging device is that it changes from an idle state to a state of being physically engaged but not starting to charge at the time point of being physically engaged with the target vehicle.

[0008] According to an optional embodiment, the following method is used to determine whether the charging device satisfies the screening condition: the last historical state recorded by the charging device before the time point is the idle state and it is in the state of being physically engaged but not starting to charge after the time point.

[0009] According to an optional embodiment, the number of the secondary candidate charging devices is counted, and if the number is equal to 1, the only secondary candidate charging device is activated to start the charging process; if the number is not equal to 1, it is considered that the charging device physically engaged with the target vehicle has not been successfully determined.

[0010] According to another aspect, the object of the present invention is also achieved by a method for determining a charging device physically engaged with a target vehicle, the method at least comprising the following steps:

[0011] a) Selecting at least one primary candidate charging device based on the current geographical location of the target vehicle after the charging device is physically engaged with the target vehicle; and

[0012] b) Screening out secondary candidate charging devices that may be physically engaged with the target vehicle from the at least one primary candidate charging device type by type according to screening conditions that vary with the type of the charging device, wherein the type of the charging device is determined according to the ability of the charging device to express its state of being physically engaged but not starting charging.

[0013] According to an optional embodiment, a charging device that can directly generate status information indicating its state of being physically engaged but not starting charging is pre-labeled as a charging device of the first type, and step b) includes: screening out from the charging devices of the first type among the at least one primary candidate charging device those that meet the following conditions as secondary candidate charging devices of the first type: its last historical state recorded before the time point of being physically engaged with the target vehicle is the idle state and it is in the state of being physically engaged but not starting charging after the time point.

[0014] According to an optional embodiment, a charging device that cannot directly generate the status information but can support a pre-start operation is pre-labeled as a charging device of the second type, and step b) includes:

[0015] b1) Performing the pre-start operation on the charging devices of the second type among the at least one primary candidate charging device whose last historical state is the idle state; and

[0016] b2) Screening out the charging devices that make a specific response to the pre-start operation as secondary candidate charging devices of the second type, wherein the specific response indirectly indicates that the charging device is in the state of being physically engaged but not starting charging.

[0017] According to an optional embodiment, count the number of secondary candidate charging devices of the first type and the number of secondary candidate charging devices of the second type and sum up these two numbers, and if the sum is equal to 1, start the only secondary candidate charging device to start the charging process; if the sum is greater than 1, it is considered that the charging device physically engaged with the target vehicle has not been successfully determined.

[0018] According to an optional embodiment, in the case where the sum is equal to zero, count the number of remaining charging devices among the primary candidate charging devices except for the first and second type charging devices. If this number is equal to 1, start the only remaining primary candidate charging device to start the charging process; if this number is not equal to 1, it is considered that the charging device physically engaged with the target vehicle has not been successfully determined.

[0019] According to an optional embodiment, pre-label the charging devices that can neither directly generate the status information nor support the pre-start operation as the third type of charging devices, and step b) includes: respectively count the number of secondary candidate charging devices of the first and second types and the number of primary candidate charging devices of the third type and sum up these three numbers. If the sum is equal to 1, start the only secondary candidate charging device or the only primary candidate charging device of the third type to start the charging process; if the sum is not equal to 1, it is considered that the charging device physically engaged with the target vehicle has not been successfully determined.

[0020] According to an optional embodiment, perform a posteriori procedures after the selected charging device is started. The posteriori procedures at least include the following steps: confirm whether charging start is detected on the vehicle side. If charging start is not detected on the vehicle side, stop the charging process of the started charging device.

[0021] According to an optional embodiment, inform the user that the automatic matching fails and manual matching is required to start the charging process in the case where the charging device physically engaged with the target vehicle has not been successfully determined and / or after the charging device started in step c) is stopped.

[0022] According to yet another aspect, the object of the present invention is achieved by a device for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle, the device comprising a processor and a computer-readable storage medium communicatively connected to the processor, the computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program which, when executed by the processor, implements the method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device is in particular configured as a server communicatively connected to a vehicle-side device and a charging-device-side device, the server being specifically configured to be able to determine, based on historical information of the charging device, the level of ability of the charging device to indicate that it is in a physically engaged but not yet started charging state and store the determined level of ability as an attribute assigned to each charging device.

[0023] According to yet another aspect, the object of the present invention is achieved by a vehicle-side device communicatively connected to the device, the vehicle-side device being configured to send the current geographical location of the vehicle to the device as soon as the vehicle is physically engaged with a charging device.

[0024] According to yet another aspect, the object of the present invention is achieved by a charging-device-side device communicatively connected to the device, the charging-device-side device being configured to be able to send a real-time operating state of the charging device to the device, the real-time operating state including an idle state, a charging state, and a physically engaged but not yet started charging state.

[0025] By the present invention, it is achieved that: the user can be liberated from complex matching steps, the "plug and charge" operation mode is realized, and great convenience is provided for the user.

[0026] From the description, the drawings, and the claims, other advantages and advantageous embodiments of the subject matter of the present invention are obvious. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Further features and advantages of the present invention can be further elaborated by the following detailed description of specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings are:

[0028] Figure 1 A schematic structural block diagram showing a system for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 2 A flowchart showing a method for determining the type of a charging device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 3 An exemplary manner of implementing the method of the present invention by means of a server is shown in a system flowchart;

[0031] Figure 4A flowchart showing a method for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 5 A flowchart showing a method for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 6 A system flowchart showing an exemplary embodiment of implementing the method of the present invention by a system according to the present invention;

[0034] Figure 7 A flowchart showing a step of a method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 8 A flowchart showing another step of a method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 9 A flowchart showing a method for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

[0037] Figure 10 A system flowchart showing a method for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0038] In order to make the technical problems to be solved, technical solutions and beneficial technical effects of the present invention clearer and more understandable, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings and multiple exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention, rather than to limit the protection scope of the present invention. In the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or equivalent components.

[0039] Figure 1Schematic structural block diagram of a system 1 for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. The system 1 includes at least one vehicle-side device 2, at least one charging-device-side device 3, and a server 4 communicatively connected to the vehicle-side device 2 and the charging-device-side device 3. The vehicle-side device 2 is configured to send at least one of the following information to the server 4 after the vehicle corresponding thereto is physically engaged with a charging device: real-time geographical location, engagement time, and type of the engaged charging interface (such as AC / DC), etc. The charging-device-side device 3 is configured to send at least one of the following information of the charging device to the server 4: identity information, location information, operation status information (such as idle status, charging status, or physically engaged but not started charging status if possible), interface type information (such as AC / DC), etc. The server 4 includes a storage device 41 that stores various information including the above-mentioned information collected from the vehicle-side device 2 and the charging-device-side device 3 within a time span, for example, in the past year. In an exemplary embodiment, a database is established at least based on the information collected from the charging-device-side device 3 to enable querying, retrieving, updating, modifying, adding, and deleting of charging device information.

[0040] In an exemplary embodiment, on the one hand, the server 4 may passively receive and then store information including historical status data of the charging device fed by the charging-device-side device 3 periodically (for example, at a time interval of 1 - 10 seconds) for use in determining the last historical status of the charging device in steps S30 and S30' (see the explanation below), for example. On the other hand, the server 4 may actively capture the real-time status of the charging device by sending a data acquisition request to the charging-device-side device 3, such as in step S21 explained below (see Figure 6 ).

[0041] Specifically, the server 4 is configured to determine the ability level of the charging device in expressing its physically engaged but not started charging status based on the historical status information of the charging device and pre-store the determined ability level as an attribute assigned to each charging device.

[0042] For convenience of expression, in the context of this article, the physically engaged but not started charging status of the charging device is also referred to as an intermediate status. Correspondingly, the status information generated by the charging device corresponding to this status is also referred to as intermediate status information.

[0043] Figure 2 Flow block diagram of a method 100 for determining the type associated with the ability level of a charging device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0044] In step S1, a charging device is selected as the charging device to be marked.

[0045] In step S2, it is determined whether there is such status information as physically engaged but not started charging in the historical status information of the charging device within a past time span (for example, within the past six months or longer), that is, the intermediate status information.

[0046] If there is intermediate status information, it indicates that the charging device has the ability to directly generate intermediate status information to directly express that it is in the intermediate state. In this case, in step S3, the charging device is marked as the first type representing a high ability level.

[0047] On the other hand, if the intermediate status information does not appear in the historical status information of the charging device, it is determined in step S4 whether it supports a pre-start operation based on its historical information (see the description below). If it supports, it indicates that although the charging device cannot directly generate intermediate status information, it can indirectly express that it is in the intermediate state by responding to the pre-start operation (for example, generating a specific error code). In this case, in step S5, it is marked as the second type representing a medium ability level.

[0048] On the contrary, if the charging device does not support the pre-start operation, it is marked as the third type representing a low ability level in step S6 because the charging device neither has the ability to directly generate intermediate status information nor can indirectly express that it is in the intermediate state in response to the pre-start operation.

[0049] After completing the type marking of the charging device, the above process is repeated until the type marking of all charging devices is completed.

[0050] In addition, the type marking of the charging device can be updated based on newly collected charging device information.

[0051] Figure 3 An exemplary manner of implementing the method 100 with the aid of the server 4 is shown in a schematic flowchart.

[0052] In step S1000, at server 4, the first type of charging devices are identified by querying the historical status information of each charging device recorded in storage device 41, and the types of these charging devices are stored. For the remaining charging devices that are not marked as the first type in this step, in step S2000, server 4 sends a request to charging device side equipment 3 to batch query the historical information of all these remaining charging devices over a past period of time. In step S3000, charging device side equipment 3 returns a query result in response to the request. Next, in step S4000, the charging devices that support the pre-start operation are identified based on the returned query result and marked as the second type. For the remaining charging devices among the remaining charging devices that are not marked as the second type, such as those that do not return any query results or cannot be determined to support the pre-start operation based on the returned query result, they are marked as the third type in step S5000. Thus, all the charging devices registered at server 4 are pre-marked with a specific type for subsequent screening to match vehicles with charging devices.

[0053] Exemplarily, type tags are stored in the above database in association with the identity information of the charging devices.

[0054] Figure 4 A flowchart of a method 200 for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. As Figure 4 shown, in step S10, after a charging device is physically engaged with a target vehicle, at least one, in particular a plurality of, charging devices are selected as primary candidate charging devices based on the current geographical location of the target vehicle.

[0055] According to an exemplary embodiment, the charging device is configured as a charging pile with a charging gun, in particular a public charging pile. Correspondingly, the physical engagement corresponds to the charging connector of the charging gun being inserted into the charging interface of the vehicle. And the physical engagement between the charging device and the vehicle can be performed manually, semi-automatically or fully automatically.

[0056] According to an exemplary embodiment, step S10 includes (see Figure 6 ):

[0057] In step S11, after the charging device is physically engaged with the target vehicle, vehicle side equipment 2 built in the target vehicle sends the current geographical location of the vehicle (such as GPS data) and optionally the type of the engaged charging interface to server 4.

[0058] In step S12, the server 4 demarcates a geographical range with the current geographical location of the target vehicle as a reference point, and selects all charging devices located within this geographical range as primary candidate charging devices. The geographical range should be demarcated to be large enough to accommodate the positioning errors of the vehicle and the charging devices and necessarily include the charging devices physically connected to the target vehicle. In one example, all charging devices within a preset threshold distance, such as 500 meters or 800 meters, from the current geographical location of the target vehicle are selected as primary candidate charging devices. Preferably, based on the current geographical location of the vehicle, the charging device closest to this geographical location is first found, and then a circle with a radius R = r1 + r2 is demarcated with the current geographical location as the origin as the geographical range, where r1 is the distance between the closest charging device and the current geographical location, which varies according to the actual search situation, and r2 is a preset expansion radius to avoid missing the correct charging device.

[0059] In another example, if the positioning data of the vehicle shows that it is within a parking lot or a geographical fence, then all charging devices within this parking lot or this geographical fence are selected as primary candidate charging devices.

[0060] Next, in step S30, secondary candidate charging devices that may be physically engaged with the target vehicle are screened out from the at least one primary candidate charging device according to screening conditions related to the operating state of the charging device. In an exemplary embodiment, the screening conditions satisfied by the secondary candidate charging devices are: it changes from an idle state to a physically engaged but not yet started charging state at a specific timestamp, where the timestamp corresponds to the time point when the charging device is physically engaged with the target vehicle.

[0061] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the following method is used to determine whether a charging device meets the screening conditions: the last historical state recorded by the charging device before the timestamp is the idle state and it is in a physically engaged but not yet started charging state after the timestamp.

[0062] To this end, preferably, step S20 is performed before step S30: obtain the last historical state of the at least one primary candidate charging device before the timestamp and their current real-time states. To this end, exemplarily, the server 4 can send a data acquisition request to the charging device side device 3 to retrieve data on the real-time state and optionally the last historical state, such as Figure 6as shown in step S21 thereof. Additionally or alternatively, the last historical state can be obtained by accessing the database, because the charging device side device 3 always sends relevant data to the server 4 instantaneously or periodically (for example, at time intervals of 1 - 10 seconds). In this case, in particular, only the last historical state whose occurrence time is shorter than a preset time threshold from the time stamp can be used as the valid last historical state for performing step S30 and S30', S31, and S32 explained below, because if the last historical state recorded in the server 4 occurred too early, it may be due to technical reasons such as network and hardware infrastructure that the true last historical state of the charging device has not been fed back to the server 4. Preferably, the preset time threshold is set to be not shorter than the time interval for the charging device side device 3 to actively and periodically feed status data to the server 4. According to an exemplary embodiment, the time point when the server 4 receives the current geographical location from the vehicle side device can be used as the time stamp. Alternatively, the connection time point of the charging device and the target vehicle recorded by the vehicle side device can be sent to the server 4 for use as the time stamp. In this case, it may be necessary to synchronize the clocks of the server 4, the vehicle side device 2, and the charging device side device 3.

[0063] Next, in step S40, the number U of the secondary candidate charging devices screened out in step S30 is counted. If the number U is exactly equal to 1, it is considered that the only secondary candidate charging device is exactly the charging device physically connected to the target vehicle, and then the charging process of the only secondary candidate charging device is started. If the number U is not equal to 1, such as U is greater than 1 or equal to zero, it is considered that the charging device physically engaged with the target vehicle has not been successfully determined. In this case, the user can be notified of the automatic matching failure in step S120 and informed that he needs to manually match the charging device, for example, by scanning a QR code.

[0064] Alternatively, after the automatic matching fails, a list of all charging piles around the target vehicle can be provided to the user through the human - machine interaction interface of the vehicle or smartphone, so that the user can select which charging device the target vehicle is connected to.

[0065] Figure 5 A flowchart showing a method 200' for determining a charging device physically engaged with a target vehicle according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The same steps of the method 200' and the method 200 have the same reference numerals S10, S20, S70, S90, and S120. For these same steps, reference can be made to the description made above in conjunction with Figure 4 and will not be repeated here.

[0066] In step S30', from the at least one primary candidate charging device, secondary candidate charging devices that may be physically engaged with the target vehicle are screened out type by type according to screening conditions that vary depending on the type of the charging device. As explained above, the type of the charging device is determined based on the charging device's ability to express its state of being physically engaged but not yet starting to charge and includes the following three types: a first type that is capable of directly generating intermediate state information representing its state of being physically engaged but not yet starting to charge, a second type that cannot directly generate intermediate state information but supports a pre-start operation, and a third type that can neither directly generate intermediate state information nor support a pre-start operation.

[0067] Step S30' includes (see Figure 7 ): In step S31, from the charging devices of the first type among the at least one primary candidate charging device, secondary candidate charging devices of the first type are screened out according to a first screening condition assigned to the first type. The first screening condition is that the timestamp corresponding to the time point when the charging device and the target vehicle are physically engaged has a state change from the idle state to the state of being physically engaged but not yet starting to charge. In one example, step S31 is executed as follows: From the charging devices of the first type among the at least one primary candidate charging device, the charging devices that meet the following conditions are selected as secondary candidate charging devices: their last historical state before the timestamp is the idle state and their current real-time state is the state of being physically engaged but not yet starting to charge.

[0068] In step S32, from the charging devices of the second type among the at least one primary candidate charging device, secondary candidate charging devices of the second type are screened out according to a second screening condition assigned to the second type. The second screening condition is that the last historical state of the charging device is the idle state and it can make a specific response to an immediate pre-start operation. This specific response indirectly reflects that the charging device is currently in an intermediate state. The specific response includes, for example, returning a specific error code.

[0069] Specifically, step S32 may include (see Figure 8 ): In step S321, from the charging devices of the second type among the at least one primary candidate charging device, the charging devices with the last historical state being the idle state are screened out; in step S322, a pre-start operation is performed on the charging devices screened out in step S321, and then in step S323, the charging devices that make a specific response to the pre-start operation are further screened out as secondary candidate charging devices of the second type.

[0070] Additionally, step S321' can be optionally executed between step S321 and step S322: determining whether the number of charging devices in the second type of primary candidate charging devices with the last historical state being the idle state is greater than a preset threshold, and only executing step S322 when it is not greater than the preset threshold. If it exceeds the preset threshold, then jump to step S90 (also shown in Figure 4-5 and 9), to request the user to perform manual matching, because performing the pre-start operation on too large a number of charging devices is associated with a considerable workload and will bring an obvious burden and loss to the charging devices. Exemplarily, the preset threshold is, for example, several hundreds, such as 500 or greater.

[0071] Furthermore, the pre-start operation can be exemplarily executed as: making the charging device briefly deliver a small current to the vehicle and monitoring the electrical state of the circuit inside the charging connector of the charging device when the current is emitted. If the electrical state indicates that the charging connector is electrically conductive with the vehicle-side charging interface, it means that the charging device has been physically engaged with the vehicle. Correspondingly, such an electrical state corresponds to the specific response indicating that the charging device is in the intermediate state. In addition, any appropriate operation that can detect whether the charging device is in the intermediate state that can be thought of by those skilled in the art is covered within the scope of the pre-start operation of the present application.

[0072] In step S40', count the number x of the first type of secondary candidate charging devices screened in step S31 and the number y of the second type of secondary candidate charging devices screened in step S32. In step S50', sum these two numbers M = x + y. Then, in step S60', determine whether the sum M is equal to 1. If it is exactly equal to 1, then in step S70, it is considered that the charging device that is physically engaging with the target vehicle has been successfully found and the charging process of this charging device is started, thus realizing the "plug and charge" charging method. If it is not equal to 1, then further in step S80', determine whether M is equal to zero. If it is not equal to zero, that is, M is greater than 1, then it is considered that the charging device that is physically engaging with the target vehicle has not been successfully found (S90). On the contrary, if it is equal to zero, then in step S100', count the number z of the third type of charging devices in the at least one primary candidate charging device and in step S110', determine whether z is exactly equal to 1. If so, the automatic matching is successful (S70), otherwise, the automatic matching fails (S90) and jump to the above step S120.

[0073] In the method 200' according to the present invention, when the sum of the numbers of the second-level candidate charging devices of the first and second types is equal to 1, a decision of successful matching is made without considering the third-type charging devices. This belongs to a trade-off between the correct rate of automatic pile opening and the average pile opening calculation rate. In practice, the number of the third-type charging devices is very limited, and thus the probability that exactly one of this limited number is connected to the target vehicle is extremely low. Therefore, conditionally ignoring the third-type charging devices can effectively shorten the average calculation time for each pile opening without actually damaging the correct rate of automatic pile opening. Even in an alternative embodiment, steps S80', S100' and S110' can be omitted, and when M is not equal to 1, it is directly determined that the pile opening matching fails, thereby simplifying the pile opening calculation process.

[0074] In addition, by comparing Figure 4 the method 200 shown and Figure 5 the method 200' shown, it can be seen that Figure 5 the method 200' has the following beneficial features: The method 200' takes into account that not all charging devices in practice can provide intermediate state information, and thus makes a special pre-classification of the charging devices and then adopts a screening method by type, so as to cover all types of charging devices on the current market, thereby significantly improving the success rate and accuracy of automatic matching.

[0075] Figure 9 FIG. shows a flowchart of a method 200'' for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. This method 200'' has the same reference signs S10, S20, S30', S70, S90 and S120 for the same steps as Figure 5 the method 200' shown. For these same steps, reference can be made to the description made above in connection with Figure 4-8 and will not be repeated here.

[0076] In step S40'', not only the number x of the second-level candidate charging devices of the first type and the number y of the second-level candidate charging devices of the second type are counted as in step S30', but also the number z of the third-type charging devices among the primary candidate charging devices is counted. Then in step S50'', the sum N = x + y + z is calculated. Next, in step S60'', it is judged whether the sum N is equal to 1. If N is exactly equal to 1, the automatic matching is successful and the only second-level candidate charging device or the only third-type primary candidate charging device selected is started (S70). If N is greater than 1 or equal to zero, the automatic matching fails (S90).

[0077] As can be seen from the above, different from the method 200', the method 200" constantly takes into account the presence of the third type of charging device, thus ensuring to the greatest extent that the correct charging device is automatically started.

[0078] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an optional step S15 may be performed between steps S10 and S20: filtering out charging devices that do not match the type of the physically engaged charging interface of the target vehicle from the primary candidate charging devices, and performing the subsequent screening step S30' based on the remaining primary candidate charging devices after filtering. For example, in the case where the engaged charging interface of the target vehicle is a DC interface, the AC charging devices in the primary candidate charging devices are filtered out. Conversely, in the case where the engaged charging interface of the target vehicle is an AC interface, the DC charging devices in the primary candidate charging devices are filtered out. To this end, the vehicle-side device in the target vehicle may send the type of the engaged charging interface together with the current geographical location to the server 4 in step S11 (see Figure 6 ). In this way, the computational amount of subsequent screening can be effectively reduced.

[0079] Additionally or alternatively, the above-described step S30' or S100' may include: filtering out charging devices of the third type in the at least one primary candidate charging device whose last historical state before the timestamp is the charging state, especially screening out charging devices whose last historical state is the idle state to form secondary candidate charging devices of the third type. Accordingly, the subsequently counted quantity z should be the quantity of the secondary candidate charging devices of the third type thus screened out.

[0080] Additionally or alternatively, another optional step may be performed between steps S10 and S20: filtering out charging devices whose last historical state is the charging state from the at least one primary candidate charging device, especially screening out charging devices whose last historical state is the idle state to form the basis for subsequent screening.

[0081] Additionally, an after-prior program 300 (see Figure 10 ) is optionally executed after the selected unique charging device is started (i.e., after S70). The after-prior program 300 includes: in step S3200, confirming whether the vehicle side detects the start of charging. If it is confirmed that the vehicle side has detected the start of charging, the charging process is continued in step S3500. On the contrary, if the vehicle side does not detect the start of charging, it means that maybe the wrong charging device has been started or the started charging device is currently stopped or suspended. In this case, on the one hand, the started charging device is stopped in step S3400, and on the other hand, the above step S90 is executed.

[0082] In one example, step S3200 includes: the server 4 sends an instruction to the vehicle-side device 2 while or shortly after the charging device automatically matched by the command is started, to request it to detect whether the charging process actually starts. The vehicle-side device 2 performs detection in response to this instruction. If the vehicle-side device 2 confirms that the charging process has started, the charging process continues; otherwise, it reports to the server 4 that no charging current is received, for example, in the form of an error code. Furthermore, in response to this report, the server 4 sends an instruction to the charging device-side device 3 to stop the charging process of the automatically started charging device. Then, the automatically matched charging device stops the charging operation.

[0083] In another example, step S3200 can be executed in the following manner: the vehicle-side device 2 is preset to send a charging start signal to the server 4 once charging is detected, and if the server 4 does not receive this charging start signal after the charging device automatically matched by the command is started (S70) or after requesting the vehicle side to detect whether the charging process actually starts (S3100), step S90 is executed.

[0084] In addition, although it is shown in Figure 6 that the vehicle-side device notifies the user in the case of automatic matching failure, alternatively, the server 4 can push the automatic matching failure signal to the mobile terminal and notify the user via the mobile terminal.

[0085] In one example according to the present invention, a digital or physical tag can be provided to the charging device that supports the "plug and charge" methods 200, 200', and 200" according to the present invention, so that, for example, when the user queries online (such as searching for the charging pile location through a mobile phone APP or the in-vehicle system) or on-site, these charging devices can be easily identified.

[0086] The "plug and charge" automatic charging process is realized according to the present invention without manually matching the vehicle with the charging device.

[0087] Although some embodiments have been described, these embodiments are presented only by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The appended claims and their equivalent forms are intended to cover all modifications, alternatives, and changes that fall within the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle, the method comprising at least the following steps: a) Selecting at least one primary candidate charging device based on the current geographical location of the target vehicle after the charging device is physically engaged with the target vehicle; and b) Screening out from the at least one primary candidate charging device secondary candidate charging devices that may be physically engaged with the target vehicle type by type according to screening conditions that vary depending on the type of the charging device, wherein the type of the charging device is determined according to the ability of the charging device to express its state of being physically engaged but not yet starting to charge, wherein A charging device that can directly generate status information indicating its state of being physically engaged but not yet starting to charge is pre-labeled as a first type of charging device, and step b) includes: screening out from the first type of charging devices among the at least one primary candidate charging devices those charging devices that meet the following conditions as the first type of secondary candidate charging devices: its last historical state recorded before the time point of being physically engaged with the target vehicle is the idle state and it is in the state of being physically engaged but not yet starting to charge after that time point, A charging device that cannot directly generate the status information but can support a pre-start operation is pre-labeled as a second type of charging device, Counting the number of the first type of secondary candidate charging devices and the number of the second type of secondary candidate charging devices and summing these two numbers, and if the sum is equal to 1, starting the only secondary candidate charging device to start the charging process, if the sum is greater than 1, it is considered that the charging device that is physically engaged with the target vehicle has not been successfully determined.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein Step b) includes: b1) Performing the pre-start operation on the second type of charging devices among the at least one primary candidate charging devices whose last historical state is the idle state; and b2) Screening out the charging devices that make a specific response to the pre-start operation as the second type of secondary candidate charging devices, wherein the specific response indirectly indicates that the charging device is in the state of being physically engaged but not yet starting to charge.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein In the case where the sum is equal to zero, counting the number of the remaining charging devices among the primary candidate charging devices other than the first and second type of charging devices, if the number is equal to 1, starting the only remaining primary candidate charging device to start the charging process, if the number is not equal to 1, it is considered that the charging device that is physically engaged with the target vehicle has not been successfully determined.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein The specific response includes generating a specific error code or presenting a specific electrical state; and / or Step b1) includes: counting the total number of the second type of charging devices among the at least one primary candidate charging devices whose last historical state is the idle state, and performing the pre-start operation only when the total number is less than a preset threshold, otherwise ending the method.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 - 2 and 4, characterized in that charging devices that can neither directly generate the state information nor support the pre - start operation are pre - labeled as the third - type charging devices, and step b) includes: respectively counting the numbers of the second - level candidate charging devices of the first and second types and the number of the third - type primary candidate charging devices and summing up these three numbers. If the sum is equal to 1, start the only second - level candidate charging device or the only third - type primary candidate charging device to start the charging process. If the sum is not equal to 1, it is considered that the charging device that is physically engaged with the target vehicle has not been successfully determined.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 - 2 and 4, characterized in that after the selected charging device is started, a posteriori procedure (300) is executed, and the a posteriori procedure at least includes the following steps: c) Confirm whether charging start is detected on the vehicle side. If charging start is not detected on the vehicle side, stop the charging process of the started charging device.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that when the charging device that is physically engaged with the target vehicle has not been successfully determined and / or after the charging device started in step c) is stopped, inform the user that the automatic matching fails and manual matching is required to start the charging process.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 - 2, 4, and 7, characterized in that the moment when the server (4) receives the current geographical location from the vehicle - side device (2) is taken as the time point.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 4, and 7, characterized in that, The following steps are executed between step a) and step b): d) Filter out charging devices that do not match the charging interface of the target vehicle from the at least one primary candidate charging device and use the remaining primary candidate charging devices after filtering as the screening basis for step b); and / or e) Filter out charging devices whose last historical state is the charging state from the at least one primary candidate charging device and use the remaining primary candidate charging devices after filtering as the screening basis for step b).

10. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The following steps are executed between step a) and step b): d) Filter out charging devices that do not match the charging interface of the target vehicle from the at least one primary candidate charging device and use the remaining primary candidate charging devices after filtering as the screening basis for step b)); and / or e) Filter out charging devices whose last historical state is the charging state from the at least one primary candidate charging device and use the remaining primary candidate charging devices after filtering as the screening basis for step b).

11. According to the method described in claim 5, characterized in that, The following steps are executed between step a) and step b): d) Filter out charging devices that do not match the charging interface of the target vehicle from the at least one primary candidate charging device and use the remaining primary candidate charging devices after filtering as the screening basis for step b); and / or e) Filter out charging devices whose last historical state is the charging state from the at least one primary candidate charging device and use the remaining primary candidate charging devices after filtering as the screening basis for step b).

12. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The following steps are executed between step a) and step b): d) Filter out from the at least one primary candidate charging device the charging devices that do not match the charging interface of the target vehicle, and use the remaining primary candidate charging devices after filtering as the screening basis for step b); and / or e) Filter out from the at least one primary candidate charging device the charging devices whose last historical state is the charging state, and use the remaining primary candidate charging devices after filtering as the screening basis for step b).

13. The method according to claim 8, wherein The following steps are performed between step a) and step b): d) Filter out from the at least one primary candidate charging device the charging devices that do not match the charging interface of the target vehicle, and use the remaining primary candidate charging devices after filtering as the screening basis for step b); and / or e) Filter out from the at least one primary candidate charging device the charging devices whose last historical state is the charging state, and use the remaining primary candidate charging devices after filtering as the screening basis for step b).

14. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 4, 7, 10-13, characterized in that Step a) is performed in the following manner: A geographical range is delimited with the current geographical location as a reference point, and all charging devices located within this geographical range are selected as the primary candidate charging devices, wherein the manner of delimiting the geographical range includes: drawing a circle with a preset radius with the reference point as the origin; and / or using the range of the parking lot or geographical fence where the current geographical location is located as the geographical range; and / or Only the last historical state whose occurrence time is shorter than a preset time threshold from the time point can be used as a valid last historical state for performing step b).

15. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that Step a) is performed in the following manner: A geographical range is delimited with the current geographical location as a reference point, and all charging devices located within this geographical range are selected as the primary candidate charging devices, wherein the manner of delimiting the geographical range includes: drawing a circle with a preset radius with the reference point as the origin; and / or using the range of the parking lot or geographical fence where the current geographical location is located as the geographical range; and / or Only the last historical state whose occurrence time is shorter than a preset time threshold from the time point can be used as a valid last historical state for performing step b).

16. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that Step a) is performed in the following manner: A geographical range is delimited with the current geographical location as a reference point, and all charging devices located within this geographical range are selected as the primary candidate charging devices, wherein the manner of delimiting the geographical range includes: drawing a circle with a preset radius with the reference point as the origin; and / or using the range of the parking lot or geographical fence where the current geographical location is located as the geographical range; and / or Only the last historical state whose occurrence time is shorter than a preset time threshold from the time point can be used as a valid last historical state for performing step b).

17. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that Step a) is performed in the following manner: A geographical range is delimited with the current geographical location as a reference point, and all charging devices located within this geographical range are selected as the primary candidate charging devices. Among them, the ways to delimit the geographical range include: drawing a circle with a preset radius with the reference point as the origin; and / or using the range of the parking lot or geographical fence where the current geographical location is located as the geographical range; and / or Only the last historical state whose occurrence time is shorter than a preset time threshold from the time point can be used as a valid last historical state for performing step b).

18. The method according to claim 8, wherein Step a) is performed in the following manner: A geographical range is delimited with the current geographical location as a reference point, and all charging devices located within this geographical range are selected as the primary candidate charging devices. Among them, the ways to delimit the geographical range include: drawing a circle with a preset radius with the reference point as the origin; and / or using the range of the parking lot or geographical fence where the current geographical location is located as the geographical range; and / or Only the last historical state whose occurrence time is shorter than a preset time threshold from the time point can be used as a valid last historical state for performing step b).

19. The method according to claim 9, wherein Step a) is performed in the following manner: A geographical range is delimited with the current geographical location as a reference point, and all charging devices located within this geographical range are selected as the primary candidate charging devices. Among them, the ways to delimit the geographical range include: drawing a circle with a preset radius with the reference point as the origin; and / or using the range of the parking lot or geographical fence where the current geographical location is located as the geographical range; and / or Only the last historical state whose occurrence time is shorter than a preset time threshold from the time point can be used as a valid last historical state for performing step b).

20. A device for determining a charging device that is physically engaged with a target vehicle, the device includes a processor and a computer-readable storage medium communicatively connected to the processor. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the method according to any one of the foregoing claims is implemented.

21. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein, The device is configured as a server (4) communicatively connected to a vehicle-side device (2) and a charging-device-side device (3).

22. The device according to claim 21, wherein, The server (4) is configured to be able to determine, based on the historical information of the charging device, the ability level of the charging device in expressing its state of being physically engaged but not starting charging, and store the determined ability level as an attribute assigned to each charging device.

23. A vehicle-side device (2) communicatively connected to the device according to any one of claims 20 to 22, the vehicle-side device (2) is configured to send the current geographical location of the vehicle to the device once the vehicle is physically engaged with the charging device.

24. A charging device side device (3) communicatively connected to the device according to any one of claims 20 to 22, the charging device side device (3) being configured to be able to send a real-time operating state of the charging device to the device, the real-time operating state including an idle state, a charging state, and a physically engaged but not yet started charging state.

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