Method of configuring a lateral wireless charging chain of an electric vehicle and apparatus and system therefor

By detecting nearby vehicles and performing alignment control, a lateral wireless charging chain is configured, solving the management and maintenance challenges of wireless charging systems for electric vehicles at intersections. This enables multiple vehicles to charge simultaneously, reducing costs and improving efficiency.

CN116176332BActive Publication Date: 2026-07-10HYUNDAI MOBIS CO LTD

Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Patents(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
HYUNDAI MOBIS CO LTD
Filing Date
2022-07-19
Publication Date
2026-07-10

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing wireless charging systems for electric vehicles require a large number of wireless power transmission pads when waiting for traffic signals at intersections, leading to management and maintenance difficulties. Furthermore, space constraints result in long charging times, failing to effectively address battery capacity and weight issues.

Method used

By detecting nearby vehicles, calculating distances, and performing lateral and longitudinal alignment control, the system utilizes a surround view monitor and a semantic segmentation network to measure position and angle, reduces obstacle detection pulses, and configures power transmission/reception pads between vehicles to achieve a lateral wireless charging chain.

Benefits of technology

It enables flexible wireless charging of multiple electric vehicles when temporarily parked at intersections, reducing initial investment costs, simplifying maintenance, and improving charging efficiency and space utilization.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Patent Text Reader

Abstract

A method of configuring a lateral wireless charging chain of an electric vehicle, and an apparatus and system thereof. A method of configuring a lateral wireless charging chain by a first vehicle, the method including the steps of: detecting a second vehicle in which a lateral wireless charging chain can be configured; calculating a distance to the second vehicle; performing lateral alignment control with the second vehicle based on the calculated distance being within a first distance; and performing longitudinal alignment control with the second vehicle based on the calculated distance being within a second distance.
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Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0166033, filed on November 26, 2021, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates to a wireless charging technology for electric vehicles, and more specifically, to a technology for configuring a lateral wireless charging chain by aligning it with an electric vehicle equipped with wireless power transmitting / receiving pads for wireless charging. Background Technology

[0004] With the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, attention is growing on their charging. Current electric vehicle charging systems involve connecting electric vehicles to dedicated charging plugs located at individual charging stations or in homes / parking lots.

[0005] However, charging electric vehicles takes longer than conventional refueling methods, and there are difficulties in charging due to the lack of sufficient charging stations.

[0006] Therefore, there has been increasing attention recently on wireless charging for electric vehicles as an alternative to existing charging stations.

[0007] According to the wireless charging method for electric vehicles, when a vehicle equipped with a wireless charging receiver pad is placed on a wireless power transmitting pad buried in the ground and current is applied to the wireless power transmitting pad, electrical energy is transmitted to the vehicle's wireless charging receiver pad through induced magnetic resonance to charge the battery installed in the vehicle.

[0008] Compared to traditional plug-based charging methods, wireless charging methods for electric vehicles are subject to space constraints.

[0009] However, in the case of wireless charging for vehicles waiting at intersections, as many wireless power transmission pads as there are electric vehicles waiting at intersections need to be buried in the road.

[0010] In particular, the number of wireless power transmission pads required varies over time depending on the volume of traffic, making it difficult to manage transmission pads effectively.

[0011] Furthermore, when many wireless power transmitter pads are buried in the road, maintaining the transmitter pads is not easy. Summary of the Invention

[0012] This summary is provided to introduce, in a simplified form, some concepts that will be further described in the following detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0013] In one general aspect, a method for configuring a lateral wireless charging chain via a first vehicle includes the steps of: detecting a second vehicle in which the lateral wireless charging chain can be configured; calculating a distance to the second vehicle; performing lateral alignment control with the second vehicle within a first distance based on the calculated distance; and performing longitudinal alignment control with the second vehicle within a second distance based on the calculated distance.

[0014] The method may also include using images from a front camera of a surround view monitor (SVM) to measure the position and angle of a second vehicle, and lateral alignment control with the second vehicle may be performed based on the measured position and angle.

[0015] The method may further include transforming the image into a bird's-eye view image and classifying objects at the pixel level by inputting the transformed image into a semantic segmentation network. The position and angle of the second vehicle can be measured based on the classification results of the objects.

[0016] The angle of the second vehicle can be determined based on the slope of the straight line connecting the pixels classified as objects of the second vehicle, which is the maximum or minimum inflection point.

[0017] The method may further include the following steps: determining whether an obstacle exists between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the distance to the second vehicle within a first distance and the result of object classification; and reducing the number of pulses sent by the Smart Parking Assist System (SPAS) sensor based on the absence of an obstacle.

[0018] The method may also include the following steps: measuring the reverberation distance of the SPAS sensor based on the reduced number of transmitted pulses; and setting a short-range measurement limit distance based on the reverberation distance.

[0019] The distance to the second vehicle can be measured using any one or any combination of two or more of the Surround View Monitor (SVM) front camera, ultrasonic sensors, and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR).

[0020] The method may also include inputting images from the surround view monitor (SVM) side camera into a semantic segmentation network and classifying objects at the pixel level based on the distance to the second vehicle within a second distance. Vertical alignment control can be performed by comparing the lateral average position of a specific object among the classified objects with the lateral resolution center of the image from the SVM side camera.

[0021] The steps of performing longitudinal alignment control may include: controlling the first vehicle to move backward based on the average lateral position being greater than 1 / 2 of the lateral pixels corresponding to the image; and controlling the first vehicle to move forward based on the average lateral position being less than or equal to 1 / 2 of the lateral pixels corresponding to the image.

[0022] A specific object can be an object equipped with inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads.

[0023] The inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads can be installed on one of the side mirrors, side doors, or tires / wheels.

[0024] Based on the fact that the power transmission / reception pads between vehicles are mounted on the side mirrors, lateral alignment control can be performed until the distance between the side mirrors of the first vehicle and the side mirrors of the second vehicle reaches the short-range measurement limit distance.

[0025] The first distance can be longer than the second distance.

[0026] The method may also include acquiring information about a second vehicle via vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. Information about the second vehicle may include any combination of any two of the following: information about the vehicle type; information about the current location; information about one or both of the battery charge level and battery output voltage; information about the location of the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads; information about whether the target vehicle can be configured with one or both of the lateral and longitudinal wireless charging chains; and information about whether wireless charging is currently being performed.

[0027] The method may also include receiving wireless power and charging a battery located in the first vehicle by negotiating with the second vehicle based on inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads aligned with the first and second vehicles via longitudinal alignment control.

[0028] In another general aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure one or more processors to perform operations for configuring a lateral wireless charging chain in a vehicle operatively connected to another vehicle via a communication network, the operations comprising the steps of: detecting another vehicle in which a lateral wireless charging chain can be configured; calculating a distance to the other vehicle; performing lateral alignment control with the other vehicle within a first distance based on the calculated distance; and performing longitudinal alignment control with the other vehicle within a second distance based on the calculated distance.

[0029] In another general aspect, an electric vehicle configured for wireless charging includes: a vehicle terminal configured to communicate with another vehicle; a vehicle sensor including at least one sensor to measure the distance to the other vehicle and the position and angle of the other vehicle; and an electric vehicle (EV) charging device configured to: calculate the distance to the other vehicle operatively connected to the vehicle sensor based on operatively detecting that the other vehicle can be configured with a lateral wireless charging chain via the vehicle terminal; and perform lateral alignment control and longitudinal alignment control with the other vehicle based on the calculated distance.

[0030] Based on the distance to another vehicle within a first distance, the EV charging device can perform lateral alignment control. Based on the distance to another vehicle within a second distance, the EV charging device can perform longitudinal alignment control. The first distance can be longer than the second distance.

[0031] Vehicle sensors may include any one or any combination of two or more of a surround view monitor (SVM) front camera, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), and ultrasonic sensors. The distance to another vehicle can be calculated using any one or any combination of two or more of the SVM front camera, ultrasonic sensors, or LiDAR. The EV charging unit can use the SVM front camera to measure the position and angle of the other vehicle and perform lateral alignment control with the other vehicle based on the measured position and angle.

[0032] Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detailed description, drawings and claims. Attached Figure Description

[0033] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating the overall structure of a wireless power transmission system according to an embodiment.

[0034] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating the detailed structure of a wireless charging system for electric vehicles according to an embodiment.

[0035] Figure 3 This is a configuration diagram of a horizontal wireless charging chain according to an implementation method.

[0036] Figure 4 An example is provided of a method for configuring a lateral charging chain by aligning electric vehicle-to-vehicle power transmission / reception pads according to an embodiment.

[0037] Figure 5 An example is provided of a method for estimating the position and angle of a vehicle wirelessly charging in front, based on images captured by an SVM front camera, according to an embodiment.

[0038] Figure 6The waveform shows the number of transmitted (drive) pulses according to the SPAS sensor according to the embodiment.

[0039] Figures 7 to 9 This is a flowchart illustrating a method for configuring a horizontal wireless charging chain according to an embodiment.

[0040] Figure 10 This is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an electric vehicle according to an embodiment.

[0041] Throughout the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments, the same reference numerals denote the same or similar elements. The drawings may not be drawn to scale, and for clarity, illustrative purposes, the relative dimensions, scale, and depiction of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated. Detailed Implementation

[0042] The following detailed description is provided to help the reader gain a full understanding of the methods, apparatus, and / or systems described herein. However, various changes, modifications, and equivalents of the methods, apparatus, and / or systems described herein will be apparent after understanding the disclosure of this application. For example, the sequences of operations described herein are merely examples and are not limited to those set forth herein, but may be modified as will become apparent after understanding the disclosure of this application, except for operations that must occur in a specific order. Furthermore, for clarity and conciseness, descriptions of features known after understanding the disclosure of this application may be omitted.

[0043] The features described herein may be implemented in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples described herein. Rather, the examples described herein are provided merely to illustrate some of the many possible ways of implementing the methods, apparatus, and / or systems described herein that will be apparent upon understanding the disclosure of this application.

[0044] Throughout the specification, when an element such as a layer, region, or substrate is described as being "on," "connected to," or "attached to" another element, it may be directly "on," "connected to," or "attached to" the other element, or there may be one or more other elements in between. Conversely, when an element is described as being "directly on," "directly connected to," or "directly attached to" another element, there may be no other elements in between.

[0045] As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any one and any combination of two or more of the associated listed items.

[0046] Although this document may use terms such as “first,” “second,” and “third” to describe various components, parts, regions, layers, or sections, these components, parts, regions, layers, or sections are not limited by these terms. Rather, these terms are used only to distinguish one component, part, region, layer, or section from another. Therefore, without departing from the teaching of the examples described herein, the first component, part, region, layer, or section mentioned in the examples may also be referred to as the second component, part, region, layer, or section.

[0047] For ease of description, this document uses spatial relative terms such as “above,” “upper,” “below,” and “lower” to describe the relationship between one element and another as shown in the figure. These spatial relative terms are intended to cover different orientations of the device in use or operation, in addition to those shown in the figure. For example, if the device in the figure is flipped, an element described as being “above” or “upper” relative to another element will be “below” or “lower” relative to that element. Therefore, the term “above” covers both upper and lower orientations depending on the spatial orientation of the device. The device may also be oriented in other ways (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or otherwise), and the spatial relative terms used herein will be interpreted accordingly.

[0048] The terms used herein are for the purpose of describing various examples only and are not intended to limit this disclosure. The articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” specify the presence of the stated feature, number, operation, component, element, and / or combination thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, operations, components, elements, and / or combinations thereof.

[0049] Due to manufacturing techniques and / or tolerances, variations in the shape shown in the figures may occur. Therefore, the examples described herein are not limited to the specific shapes shown in the figures, but include shape variations that occur during manufacturing.

[0050] The features of the examples described herein can be combined in various ways, as will be apparent upon understanding the disclosure of this application. Furthermore, while the examples described herein have various configurations, other configurations are possible, as will be apparent upon understanding the disclosure of this application.

[0051] The object of this invention is to provide a method for configuring a lateral wireless charging chain by aligning it with an electric vehicle equipped with wireless power transmitting / receiving pads, as well as an apparatus and system for the method.

[0052] Another object of this disclosure is to provide a method for configuring a lateral wireless charging chain that can simultaneously charge multiple electric vehicles using a single wireless power supply device.

[0053] Another objective of this disclosure is to provide a low-cost wireless charging system for electric vehicles by flexibly configuring lateral wireless charging chains.

[0054] Another object of this disclosure is to provide an easy-to-maintain wireless charging system for electric vehicles.

[0055] Another object of this disclosure is to provide a wireless charging system that can simultaneously wirelessly charge multiple electric vehicles via a single supply device when electric vehicles are temporarily stopped or parked at an intersection, thereby effectively addressing issues related to the capacity and weight of electric vehicle batteries and effectively reducing the initial investment cost of the facility.

[0056] Additionally, this disclosure may provide a method for configuring a lateral wireless charging chain that can simultaneously charge multiple electric vehicles via a single wireless power supply device.

[0057] Furthermore, according to this disclosure, a low-cost wireless charging system for electric vehicles can be provided by flexibly configuring lateral wireless charging chains.

[0058] Furthermore, according to this disclosure, the wireless charging system for electric vehicles is easy to maintain.

[0059] Furthermore, according to this disclosure, multiple electric vehicles can be wirelessly charged via a supply device in a lateral chain configuration while the electric vehicles are temporarily stopped or parked at an intersection. Therefore, issues related to the capacity and weight of electric vehicle batteries can be effectively addressed, and the initial investment costs in the facility can be significantly reduced.

[0060] In the following text, reference will be made to Figures 1 to 10 The embodiments of this disclosure are described in detail.

[0061] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating the overall structure of a wireless power transmission system according to an embodiment.

[0062] Reference Figure 1 The wireless power transmission system 100 may include a supply device 10 and an electric vehicle (EV) charging device 20.

[0063] The supply device 10 can convert AC (or DC) power supplied from the power supply network 30 into AC power required by the EV charging device 20, and then send the converted AC power to the EV charging device 20 using a predetermined wireless power transmission method.

[0064] The supply device 10 and the EV charging device 20 can be wirelessly connected to exchange various information for wireless power transmission.

[0065] The EV charging device 20 can rectify the wireless power received from the supply device 10 and then supply the power to the vehicle (that is, the on-board rechargeable energy storage system (RESS)) to charge the battery used to drive the vehicle.

[0066] The supply device 10 according to this embodiment can be buried / installed in roads, parking lots, etc., but this is only one embodiment. The supply device 10 can be installed on a wall or disposed in the air.

[0067] The EV charging device 20 can be installed on one side of the lower part of the vehicle. However, this is only one embodiment. According to those skilled in the art, the electric device can be installed on one side of the front / rear bumper, one side of the left / right rearview mirror, or one side of the upper part of the vehicle.

[0068] According to the embodiment, the supply device 10 can be operationally connected to other supply devices via a wired or wireless communication system.

[0069] According to the embodiment, the EV charging device 20 can be operatively connected to another EV charging device via a wireless communication system. For this purpose, the EV charging device 20 can be connected to a vehicle terminal (not shown) via an in-vehicle communication network. For example, the wireless communication system can be a multiple access system that supports communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, power transmission, etc.). Examples of multiple access systems can include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) systems, and Multi-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (MC-FDMA) systems.

[0070] According to the embodiment, the EV charging device 20 can be wirelessly connected to another power supply device. As an example, the EV charging device 20 can be connected to multiple power supply devices 10. In this case, the EV charging device 20 can simultaneously receive wireless power from the power supply devices 10. Based on the wireless charging efficiency between the EV charging device 20 and the power supply devices 10, the EV charging device 20 can dynamically determine at least one power supply device 10 to receive power.

[0071] The EV charging device 20 according to the embodiment can be used as a power relay to send power received from the supply device 10 to another EV charging device. In this case, the EV charging device 20 may include a wireless power receiver configured to receive wireless power and a wireless power transmitter configured to transmit wireless power. The wireless power receiver and wireless power transmitter may be installed in different locations in the vehicle, but this is only one embodiment. The wireless power receiver and wireless power transmitter may be configured as a module and installed. As an example, the wireless power receiver for receiving power from the supply device 10 may be located on one side of the lower part of the vehicle, and the wireless power receiver for receiving power from the wireless power transmitter of another vehicle may be located in the center of the front bumper of the vehicle. Moreover, the wireless power transmitter for wirelessly transmitting power to another vehicle may be located in the center of the rear bumper of the vehicle. As another example, an integrated module implemented to realize wireless power transmission and reception (hereinafter referred to as an "integrated transceiver" for simplicity) may be located on one side of the side mirror of the vehicle, and the wireless power receiver for receiving power from the supply device 10 may be located on one side of the lower part (or upper part) of the vehicle. As another example, a wireless power receiver for receiving power from the supply device 10 can be located on one side of the lower (or upper) portion of the vehicle, and a wireless power receiver for receiving power from another vehicle in front of the vehicle can be located in the center of the vehicle's front bumper. Furthermore, a wireless power transmitter for sending power to another vehicle behind the vehicle can be located in the center of the vehicle's rear bumper, and an integrated transceiver can be located on one side of the vehicle's left / right side mirrors.

[0072] According to the above embodiments, a vehicle equipped with the EV charging device 20 according to the present disclosure can be configured with a flexible longitudinal wireless charging chain and / or a lateral wireless charging chain.

[0073] The EV charging device 20 can control at least one switch corresponding to the wireless power transmitter and wireless power receiver to turn the operation of the wireless power transmitter and wireless power receiver on / off.

[0074] According to one embodiment, the EV charging device 20 of the first vehicle can be operatively connected to the EV charging device 20 located in the second vehicle to distribute and transmit wireless power to the second vehicle. In this case, the amount of electricity to be charged for the first and second vehicles can be dynamically determined based on the battery charging level of each vehicle.

[0075] According to the embodiment, the EV charging device 20 can determine whether to allow power relay to another vehicle based on the battery charging level of RESS 40. For example, when the battery charging level (or battery output voltage) of the first vehicle is greater than or equal to a predetermined reference value, the EV charging device 20 of the first vehicle can send the power received from the supply device 10 to the EV charging device 20 of the second vehicle. On the other hand, when the battery charging level (or battery charging voltage) of the first vehicle is less than the predetermined reference value, the EV charging device 20 of the first vehicle can control the power received from the supply device 10 not to be relayed to the EV charging device 20 of the second vehicle.

[0076] The vehicle terminal can connect to another vehicle terminal or base station (or roadside unit (RSU)) to exchange various information.

[0077] V2X refers to a communication technology used to exchange information with other vehicles, pedestrians, and infrastructure via wired / wireless communication. V2X can be categorized into four types: vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication; vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication; vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication; and vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication. V2X communication can be provided via PC5 and / or Uu interfaces.

[0078] Sidelink (SL) is a communication scheme that establishes a direct wireless link between vehicle terminals to enable the direct exchange of information between them without the intervention of a base station (BS) or infrastructure (e.g., a remote unit). SL is considered a way to alleviate the burden on the BS and minimize transmission latency in vehicle-to-vehicle communication in response to rapidly increasing data traffic.

[0079] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating the detailed structure of a wireless charging system for electric vehicles according to an embodiment.

[0080] Specifically, Figure 2 The detailed structure of an electric vehicle wireless charging system for providing a lateral wireless charging chain is illustrated, as well as the process of configuring the lateral wireless charging chain therethrough.

[0081] Reference Figure 2 The wireless charging system 200 for electric vehicles may include a supply device 10, a power supply network 30, a first electric vehicle 201, and a second electric vehicle 202. Figure 2In this implementation, a configuration for a lateral wireless charging chain for two electric vehicles is described as an example, but this is merely one implementation. The number of electric vehicles constituting the lateral wireless charging chain can be greater than or equal to two. The maximum number of electric vehicles that can participate in the configuration of a lateral wireless charging chain according to a supply device 10 can be predefined or adaptively determined based on the battery charging level (and / or battery output voltage) of the electric vehicles participating in the lateral wireless charging chain.

[0082] The first electric vehicle 201 and the second electric vehicle 202 may be equipped with EV charging devices 210 and 240, respectively. The first electric vehicle 201 may receive wireless power from the supply device 10 via the first EV charging device 210 in an electromagnetic induction manner. The first EV charging device 210 may, upon request from the second EV charging device 240, transmit a portion (or all) of the power received from the supply device 10 to the second EV charging device 240 via inter-vehicle wireless power transmission pads. As an example, the first EV charging device 210 may dynamically determine whether to transmit wireless power to the second EV charging device 240 and the magnitude and / or amount of power transmitted based on the battery charging level (or battery output voltage) of the first EV charging device 210's RESS 230 and the battery charging level (or battery output voltage) of the second electric vehicle 260's RESS 260.

[0083] Reference Figure 2 Each of the first EV charging device 210 and the second EV charging device 240 may include control communication units 211 and 241, power converters 212 and 242, main receiving pads 213 and 243, vehicle-to-vehicle power receiving pads 214 and 244, and vehicle-to-vehicle power transmitting pads 215 and 245.

[0084] Control communication units 211 and 241 can control the input / output and overall operation of the corresponding EV charging devices and can communicate with external devices. As an example, control communication unit 211 of the first EV charging device 210 can send and receive various control signals and status information to and from control communication unit 241 of the second EV charging device 240 via in-band (or out-of-band) communication. Additionally, control communication unit 211 can send and receive various control signals and status information to and from vehicle terminal 220 via an in-vehicle communication network. Here, the status information sent between EV charging devices may include, but is not limited to, information about battery charging level and information about battery output voltage. In this embodiment, information about the battery charging level and information about the battery output voltage of each electric vehicle can be exchanged through communication between vehicle terminals.

[0085] The control communication unit 211 can obtain information about the current location of the second electric vehicle 202 and its capabilities via the vehicle terminal 220. Here, the vehicle terminal 220 of the first electric vehicle 201 can connect to the vehicle terminal 250 of the second electric vehicle 202 via V2X communication or the like to exchange various information. The capabilities information may include information about whether the corresponding electric vehicle is capable of inter-vehicle wireless charging. When the corresponding electric vehicle is capable of inter-vehicle wireless charging, the capabilities information may include identification information about whether the vehicles can form a longitudinal or lateral wireless charging chain. However, the implementation is not limited to this.

[0086] The control communication unit 211 can exchange various control signals and status information with the control communication unit 13 of the supply device 10 through in-band (or out-of-band) communication.

[0087] When the main receiving pad 213 of the first electric vehicle 201 is aligned with the main transmitting pad 11, the control communication unit 13 of the supply device 10 can convert the power supplied from the power supply network 30 into the power required by the first electric vehicle 201. Thereafter, the converted power can be transmitted via the main transmitting pad 11 to the main receiving pad of the first electric vehicle 201 through electromagnetic induction.

[0088] In one embodiment, the control communication unit 13 of the supply device 10 can send location information (e.g., lane information, position in the lane, etc.) about the main transmitting pad 11 to the vehicle terminal (or control communication unit) of a nearby electric vehicle via V2X communication (or short-range wireless communication). Additionally, the control communication unit 13 of the supply device 10 can provide the vehicle terminal (or control communication unit) of a nearby electric vehicle with information such as whether wireless charging is currently in progress, information about available power (and / or charging amount), information about the type of rechargeable vehicle, information about the number of electric vehicles that can be additionally charged (or information about the number of electric vehicles constituting the current lateral wireless charging chain), etc.

[0089] In this implementation, detailed information about the supply device 10, including the location information of the main sending pad 11, can be provided through a vehicle navigation system. The vehicle navigation system can periodically receive supply device update information from a server to maintain up-to-date information about the supply device.

[0090] When the second electric vehicle 202 approaches the first electric vehicle 201 within a predetermined distance, the control communication unit 211 can establish a short-range wireless communication connection with the second EV charging device 240. Here, the short-range wireless communication can be in-band communication using a frequency band used for wireless power transmission or out-of-band communication using a separate frequency band different from the frequency band used for wireless power transmission. As an example, out-of-band communication can include, but is not limited to, IEEE 802.11p communication, 4G LTE communication, and 5G New Radio (NR) mmWave communication. Alternatively, Bluetooth communication, radio frequency identification (RFID) communication, near field communication (NFC), dedicated short-range infrared (DSRC) communication, or optical wireless communication (OWC) can be used.

[0091] The control communication unit 211 can adaptively select a short-range communication method based on communication capability information about neighboring electric vehicles. In this case, the capability information may include information about communication schemes supported by the vehicle terminals.

[0092] When wireless power transmission to the second electric vehicle 202 is required, the control communication unit 211 can generate the AC power required by the second electric vehicle 202 via the power converter 212, and output the generated power via the inter-vehicle power transmission pad 215. The second EV charging device 240 can receive the wireless power signal generated by the first electric vehicle 201 as output via the inter-vehicle power receiving pad 244. The AC power received via the inter-vehicle power receiving pad 244 can be converted by the power converter 242 into the power required by the RESS 260 to charge the battery.

[0093] Figure 3 This is a configuration diagram of a horizontal wireless charging chain according to an implementation method.

[0094] The method of configuring a lateral wireless charging chain according to this disclosure can be provided as an alternative to address the shortage of wireless charging facilities for electric vehicles.

[0095] like Figure 3 As shown, each electric vehicle may include a main receiving pad, a first inter-vehicle power transmitting / receiving pad and a second inter-vehicle power transmitting / receiving pad mounted on one side of the left / right side mirror, a power converter, and a battery.

[0096] Reference Figure 3When the first electric vehicle detects the main receiving pad of the supply device located on the road surface, it can close the first switch SW0 to align the main transmitting pad and the main receiving pad. Once the alignment of the main transmitting pad and the main receiving pad between the supply device and the first electric vehicle is complete, the supply device can negotiate the power supply with the first electric vehicle to determine the amount of power to transmit, perform AC power conversion based on the determined amount of power, and transmit wireless power to the main receiving pad of the first electric vehicle.

[0097] The power converter of the first electric vehicle can charge the battery by converting the power received via the main receiving pad into the power required by the battery of the first electric vehicle.

[0098] like Figure 3 As shown, when a second electric vehicle approaches the lane to the right of a first electric vehicle that is charging, the second electric vehicle can use various sensors installed therein to align the right inter-vehicle power transmit / receive pads of the first electric vehicle with the left inter-vehicle power transmit / receive pads of the second electric vehicle. In other words, the first and second electric vehicles can configure a lateral wireless charging chain by aligning their inter-vehicle power transmit / receive pads.

[0099] When the right inter-vehicle power transmit / receive pad of the first electric vehicle aligns with the left inter-vehicle power transmit / receive pad of the second electric vehicle and the second electric vehicle stops, the first electric vehicle can close the third switch SW2 to control the power required by the second electric vehicle to be sent to the left inter-vehicle power transmit / receive pad of the second electric vehicle via the right inter-vehicle power transmit / receive pad of the first electric vehicle. In this case, the second switch SW1 of the second electric vehicle can be turned on, and thus the power received via the left inter-vehicle power transmit / receive pad can be sent to the power converter of the second electric vehicle. The power converter of the second electric vehicle can convert the power into the power required by the battery of the second electric vehicle to charge the battery.

[0100] At this time, the power converter of the first electric vehicle can allocate the wireless power received from the supply device based on its battery charging level (and / or battery output level), and then use the allocated power to simultaneously perform the operation of charging its battery and supplying power to the second electric vehicle.

[0101] Of course, the first electric vehicle may cut off the relay supply of wireless power to the second electric vehicle based on the charging level of its battery and / or the charging level of the second electric vehicle's battery.

[0102] After configuring the lateral wireless power transmission chain, the first electric vehicle can provide information to the supply unit (or a specific charging billing server) regarding the wireless power supplied to the second electric vehicle. This information provided to the supply unit (or the specific billing server) can then be used to charge both the first and second electric vehicles.

[0103] Figure 4 An example is provided of a method for configuring a lateral charging chain by aligning electric vehicle-to-vehicle power transmission / reception pads according to an embodiment.

[0104] To increase the power transmission / reception efficiency of the wireless charging chain, the power transmission / reception pads between vehicles should be aligned with minimal distance.

[0105] When the second electric vehicle, which is in motion, is within a first distance of the first electric vehicle stopped for wireless charging, it can perform lateral alignment control using the surround view monitor (SVM) front camera and Smart Parking Assist System (SPAS) sensors housed therein. For example, the first distance could be set to 700 cm, but this is only one implementation. The first distance can be adaptively set based on vehicle speed, weather, temperature, time zone, etc.

[0106] The second electric vehicle can calculate its position and angle by processing images captured by an SVM front camera according to a predetermined image processing technique to perform lateral alignment control. As an example, images captured by the SVM front camera can be input into a deep learning-based semantic segmentation network to calculate the vehicle's position and angle.

[0107] In addition, to prevent collisions with the first electric vehicle during lateral alignment control, the second electric vehicle can change the number of pulses sent by the SPAS sensor.

[0108] The second electric vehicle can perform control operations during lateral alignment control to reduce the number of drive pulses from the SPAS sensor, enabling short-range obstacle detection. In other words, by reducing the number of drive pulses from the SPAS sensor, the position of a vehicle on one side can be identified even below the short-range measurement limitations of existing SPAS sensors, and the position of the primary vehicle can be controlled. Therefore, lateral collisions can be effectively prevented, and lateral entry can be made at the minimum distance to the measured vehicle. This maximizes wireless charging efficiency. For example, when the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads are mounted on the side mirrors, closed-loop steering control can be performed without lateral collisions until the lateral distance between the two vehicles becomes equal to the sum of the dimensions of the side mirrors of both vehicles.

[0109] According to the lateral alignment control, when the distance to the first electric vehicle falls within the second distance, the second electric vehicle can use the SVM lateral camera to perform longitudinal alignment control. For example, the second distance can be set to 300cm, but this is only one implementation. The second distance can be adaptively set according to vehicle speed, weather, temperature, time zone, etc.

[0110] The second electric vehicle can input images captured by the SVM side camera into a deep learning-based semantic segmentation network to calculate the side mirror pixels.

[0111] The second electric vehicle can slowly move in the longitudinal direction to align the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads between the first and second electric vehicles, so that the average lateral position of the side mirror pixels becomes the center of the image captured by the SVM side camera.

[0112] Once the alignment of the power transmission / reception pads between the vehicles is complete, the second electric vehicle can stop and receive wireless power from the first electric vehicle.

[0113] SVM cameras can be mounted on the front / rear / left / right side of a vehicle to provide a wide view (via the front camera), a top-down view (via the front / left / right cameras), a left-side view (via the left camera), a right-side view (via the right camera), a rear view (via the rear camera), and more.

[0114] Figure 5 An example is provided of a method for estimating the position and angle of a vehicle wirelessly charging in front, based on images captured by an SVM front camera, according to an embodiment.

[0115] A bird's-eye view of the SVM front camera image can be used to identify the location of a vehicle that is wirelessly charging in front of it.

[0116] Reference Figure 5 In (a), the image captured by the SVM front camera can be converted into a bird's-eye view. Each pixel position in the converted bird's-eye view image 510 is matched to a physical distance in a one-to-one correspondence. Therefore, by estimating the position of the target vehicle in the image, the vehicle's actual location can be identified.

[0117] The deep learning-based semantic segmentation network 520 can be used to classify image pixels.

[0118] When the image 510, transformed into a bird's-eye view, and the labeled images classified as vehicles / roads / obstacles are input into the semantic segmentation network 520, an image in which vehicle regions are divided can be obtained, as shown in the portion labeled with the attached figure 530.

[0119] In order to align laterally with a parked vehicle that is wirelessly charging, it is necessary to identify the angle of the parked vehicle.

[0120] To identify the angle of a stopped vehicle, when the row direction in the image captured by the SVM front camera is defined as the x-axis, the maximum lateral pixel position of the vehicle's pixels (when the vehicle being wirelessly charged is on the left) or the minimum lateral pixel position (when the vehicle being wirelessly charged is on the right) should be identified.

[0121] like Figure 5 As shown in (b), when the vehicle being wirelessly charged is located to the left of the direction of travel of the main vehicle, it has two peaks due to the wheel area of ​​the vehicle, and the two inflection points where the tilt value changes from positive to negative can be extracted, and the angle of the stopped vehicle (that is, the slope of the straight line) can be obtained from the equation of the straight line connecting the two inflection points.

[0122] After extracting the position and angle of the stationary vehicle, the moving vehicle can reduce the number of pulses sent by the SPAS sensor in order to minimize the lateral distance between vehicles. (As described later...) Figure 6 As shown in (a), the general-purpose SPAS sensor uses multiple (32) transmitted pulses for long-range obstacle detection. On the other hand, in the proposed method, as... Figure 6 As shown in (b), reverberation time is reduced and short-range detection limit distance is shortened by setting the number of transmitted pulses to a minimum (1). Thus, the steering mechanism can be adjusted to have a minimum distance between the power transmission / reception pads between vehicles without collision by continuously monitoring the lateral vehicle-to-vehicle distance during lateral alignment control based on the position and angle extracted for the stopped vehicle.

[0123] Figure 6 The waveform shows the number of transmission (drive) pulses of the SPAS sensor according to the embodiment.

[0124] Figure 6 (a) shows the reverberation waveform obtained when the number of pulses transmitted by the SPAS sensor is 32 EA. Figure 6 (b) shows the reverberation waveform obtained when the number of pulses transmitted by the SPAS sensor is 1EA.

[0125] According to this disclosure, the number of pulses transmitted by the SPAS sensor in a driving vehicle can be minimized in order to maintain a minimum lateral distance from the parked vehicle used for wireless charging.

[0126] Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating a method for configuring a horizontal wireless charging chain according to an embodiment.

[0127] Reference Figure 7The first vehicle, which is in motion, can detect a second vehicle in front of it that can be configured with a lateral wireless charging chain, and measure the position and angle of the second vehicle (S710). As an example, the first vehicle can analyze an image from an SVM front camera to measure the position of the second vehicle that is stopped for wireless charging, and measure the stopping (or parking) angle of the second vehicle based on the maximum (or minimum) inflection point of the vehicle's pixels.

[0128] Based on the distance to the second vehicle within a first distance, the first vehicle can perform lateral alignment control based on the measured position and angle (S720). As an example, an SVM front camera and a SPAS sensor can be used to perform lateral alignment control.

[0129] The first vehicle can perform longitudinal alignment control within a second distance based on its distance from the second vehicle (S730). As an example, longitudinal alignment control can be performed using an SVM side camera.

[0130] Based on the alignment of the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads completed by longitudinal alignment control, the first vehicle can receive wireless power from the second vehicle and charge the vehicle's battery (S740).

[0131] Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating a method for configuring a lateral wireless charging chain according to another embodiment.

[0132] Reference Figure 8 When a first vehicle, which is in motion, detects a second vehicle ahead equipped with a lateral wireless charging chain via V2X communication, it can measure the position and angle of the second vehicle by analyzing images from an SVM front camera (S810). For example, the first vehicle can classify the pixels of each object using machine learning from the SVM front camera images, measure the position of the second vehicle stopped (or parked) for wireless charging, and measure the stopping (or parking) angle of the second vehicle based on the maximum (or minimum) inflection point of the vehicle pixels. That is, the stopping (or parking) angle of the second vehicle can be measured based on the slope of the straight line connecting the maximum (or minimum) inflection point of the vehicle pixels.

[0133] Based on the distance to the second vehicle within a first distance, the first vehicle can reduce the number of pulses transmitted by the SPAS sensor based on whether there is an obstacle between the first and second vehicles (S820). As an example, the number of pulses transmitted by the SPAS sensor can be changed to a minimum value. As an example, the minimum value could be 1, but this is merely one implementation. The minimum value can be adaptively set based on the specifications of the SPAS sensor installed in the first vehicle, weather, temperature, time zone, and driving speed, etc.

[0134] The first vehicle can perform lateral alignment control based on the position and angle measured using the SVM front camera and SPAS sensor (S830).

[0135] Based on the distance to the second vehicle being within a second distance, the first vehicle can use the SVM side camera to perform longitudinal alignment control (S840). As an example, when the distance to the vehicle in front is within a certain distance (e.g., 3m), the first vehicle can use the SVM side camera to perform longitudinal alignment control because the entire vehicle in front cannot be observed through the SVM front camera.

[0136] Based on the alignment of the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads, achieved through longitudinal alignment control, the first vehicle can receive wireless power from the second vehicle and charge its battery (S850). As an example, the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads can be mounted on the side mirrors of each vehicle. Furthermore, when the side mirror of the first vehicle approaches the side mirror of the second vehicle at a minimum distance and thus the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads are aligned, the first vehicle can receive wireless power by negotiating with the second vehicle.

[0137] Figure 9 This is a flowchart illustrating a method for configuring a lateral wireless charging chain according to another embodiment.

[0138] Reference Figure 9 The first vehicle can receive capability information about neighboring vehicles via V2X communication and identify a stopped (or parked) second vehicle ahead that can be configured with a lateral wireless charging chain (S910).

[0139] The first vehicle can transform an image from the SVM front camera into a bird's-eye view image, and then input the transformed image into a semantic segmentation network for machine learning to classify objects at the pixel level (first object classification) (S920). Here, the classified objects may include, but are not limited to, vehicles, roads, road bumps, lanes, pedestrians, pillars, obstacles, and parking lines.

[0140] The first vehicle can measure the position and angle of the second vehicle based on the result of the first object classification (S930). Here, for the detailed method of measuring the position and angle of the second vehicle, please refer to the description given above.

[0141] The first vehicle can use the SVM front camera and LiDAR to begin calculating the distance to the identified second vehicle (S940).

[0142] Based on the distance to the second vehicle within a first distance, the first vehicle can determine whether there is an obstacle between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the result of the first object classification (S950).

[0143] The first vehicle can change the number of pulses transmitted by the SPAS sensor based on the absence of obstacles (S960). Here, the number of pulses transmitted by the SPAS sensor can be changed to a settable minimum number of pulses, but this is only one implementation. The number of pulses transmitted can be adaptively set based on the specifications of the SPAS sensor installed in the first vehicle, weather, temperature, time zone, and driving speed, etc.

[0144] According to this embodiment, the first vehicle can measure the reverberation time corresponding to the change in the number of drive pulses of the SPAS sensor, and set the short-range detection limit distance of the SPAS sensor based on the measured reverberation time.

[0145] The first vehicle can perform lateral alignment control (S970) through steering control based on the measured position and angle of the second vehicle. In one embodiment, the first vehicle can perform lateral alignment control until the sum of the dimensions of the side mirrors of the first vehicle and the side mirrors of the second vehicle reaches the short-range detection limit distance.

[0146] Based on the distance to the second vehicle within a second distance, the first vehicle can input the image from the SVM side camera into the semantic segmentation network and classify the objects at the pixel level (second object classification) (S980). Here, the classified objects may include, but are not limited to, the vehicle body, side mirrors, tires, wheels, and roads.

[0147] Based on the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads being mounted on the side mirrors of the respective vehicles, the first vehicle can calculate the lateral average position u of the side mirror pixels based on the result of a second object classification, and then perform longitudinal alignment control (S990) by comparing u with the lateral resolution center of the image from the SVM side camera (i.e., half the lateral resolution of the SVM side camera). As an example, when u is greater than half the lateral resolution, the first vehicle can be controlled to move backward. When u is less than or equal to half the lateral resolution, the first vehicle can be controlled to move forward. In an embodiment, the first vehicle can display the longitudinal control target position on a provided display, and the driver can perform forward / reverse movement control based on the longitudinal control target position displayed on the display. When the alignment of the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads is completed, the first vehicle can display a corresponding notification message on the display.

[0148] In this implementation, a machine learning-based semantic segmentation network can be used to identify the location of side mirrors in images from an SVM side camera. The semantic segmentation network can receive images from the SVM side camera as input and classify pixels into vehicle body, side mirrors, and road.

[0149] For example, when the first vehicle supports autonomous driving mode, the first vehicle can switch the driving mode from driver mode to autonomous driving mode (or semi-autonomous driving mode) based on the vehicle being within a first distance. After entering autonomous driving mode (or semi-autonomous driving mode), the first vehicle can sequentially and automatically perform the aforementioned lateral and longitudinal controls without driver intervention to align the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads.

[0150] Based on the alignment of the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads by longitudinal alignment control, the first vehicle can receive wireless power from the second vehicle and charge its battery by negotiating with the second vehicle (S995).

[0151] In this implementation, the first vehicle can obtain information about the dimensions of the side mirrors of the second vehicle via V2X communication. This information about the dimensions of the second vehicle's side mirrors can be included in the aforementioned capability information about the second vehicle and is received by the first vehicle.

[0152] Figure 10 This is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an electric vehicle according to an embodiment.

[0153] Reference Figure 10 The electric vehicle 1000 may include a vehicle sensor 1010, a battery 1020, a vehicle terminal 1030, an output device 1040, an electrical control unit (ECU) 1050, a memory 1060, and an EV charging device 1070.

[0154] Vehicle sensor 1010 may include, but is not limited to, at least one of camera 1011, LiDAR 1012, ultrasonic sensor 1013, or SPAS sensor 1014. It may also include radar. According to an embodiment, camera 1011 may include an SVM camera. The SVM camera may include a front camera, left / right side view cameras, and a rear camera.

[0155] Vehicle sensors 1010, vehicle terminal 1030, output device 1040, and ECU 1050 can be connected to EV charging device 1070 via an in-vehicle communication network. This in-vehicle communication network may include, but is not limited to, Controller Area Network (CAN), Local Interconnect Network (LIN), FlexRay, and Media Oriented System Transmission (MOST) communication networks.

[0156] The EV charging device 1070 can detect (or identify) another parked (or stopped) vehicle that can be configured with a lateral wireless charging chain ahead during driving. The EV charging device 1070 can use the vehicle terminal 1030 to collect various information about other nearby vehicles via V2X communication, and based on the collected information, detect (or identify) other vehicles that can be configured with a lateral wireless charging chain. For example, the information collected from other vehicles may include, but is not limited to, information about the vehicle's current location, vehicle type, whether a lateral wireless charging chain is configurable, the location of the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads, whether wireless charging is in progress, battery charge level, and the size of the side mirrors.

[0157] The EV charging device 1070 can measure the stopping (or parking) position and angle of another vehicle configured with a lateral wireless charging chain. As an example, the EV charging device 1070 can transform an image from an SVM front camera into a bird's-eye view image and classify objects at the pixel level by inputting the transformed image into a semantic segmentation network. The EV charging device 1070 can measure the position and angle of the other vehicle based on the object classification results. For a specific method of measuring the position and angle of another vehicle using the EV charging device 1070, refer to the description in the accompanying drawings given above.

[0158] The EV charging device 1070 can calculate the distance to another vehicle configured with a lateral wireless charging chain. As an example, the EV charging device 1070 can calculate the distance to another vehicle in operative connection with at least one of an SVM front camera, a SPAS sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and a LiDAR.

[0159] Based on the calculated distance within a first distance, the EV charging device 1070 can determine whether there is an obstacle between its vehicle and another vehicle based on the result of object classification.

[0160] Based on the absence of obstacles between the vehicle and another vehicle, the EV charging device 1070 can reduce the short-range measurement limit distance by attenuating and adjusting the number of pulses transmitted by the SPAS sensor. As an example, the EV charging device 1070 can reduce the number of pulses transmitted by the SPAS sensor to a minimum (1EA).

[0161] The EV charging device 1070 can perform lateral alignment control based on the measured position and angle. As an example, the EV charging device 1070 can perform steering control based on the measured position and angle to control the lateral distance between the vehicle and another vehicle to achieve the short-range measurement limit distance.

[0162] Based on the distance to another vehicle within a second distance, the EV charging device 1070 can drive the SVM side camera.

[0163] The EV charging device 1070 can input images from the SVM side camera into the machine learning engine (that is, the semantic segmentation network installed in the memory 1060) and classify objects at the pixel level. Here, the classified objects can include the body / side mirror / tire / wheel of another vehicle and the road.

[0164] Based on the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads mounted on the side mirrors of the respective vehicles, the EV charging device 1070 can calculate the average lateral position u of the side mirror pixels based on the results of object classification from the image from the SVM side camera, and then perform longitudinal alignment control of the vehicle by comparing u with the lateral resolution center of the image from the SVM side camera.

[0165] As an example, based on u being greater than half of the lateral resolution, the EV charging device 1070 can be operatively connected to the steering system to control the vehicle to move backward. Based on u being less than half of the lateral resolution, the EV charging device 1070 can be operatively connected to the steering system to control the vehicle to move forward.

[0166] In this implementation, the EV charging device 1070 can display the longitudinal control target position on a display installed in the vehicle, and the driver can perform forward / backward movement control based on the longitudinal control target position displayed on the display. When the alignment of the power transmission / reception pads between the vehicles is completed through longitudinal alignment control, the EV charging device 1070 can output a corresponding notification message through the output device 940.

[0167] When the alignment of the power transmission / reception pads between vehicles is completed, the EV charging device 1070 can receive wireless power and charge the battery 1020 therein by negotiating with the EV charging device of another vehicle.

[0168] While the above embodiments have described how a vehicle classifies objects by analyzing images from an SVM measurement camera and performs longitudinal alignment control with another vehicle based on the average lateral position of the side mirrors among the classified objects, this is merely one implementation. The object used as a reference for longitudinal alignment control may differ from the location where the inter-vehicle power transmit / receive pads are mounted in the vehicle. For example, depending on the location of the inter-vehicle power transmit / receive pads, the specific object used as a reference for longitudinal alignment control may be a side door, tire, wheel, etc.

[0169] The EV charging apparatus described in the embodiments disclosed in this disclosure may include: at least one transceiver configured to transmit signals to and receive signals from a vehicle display, a vehicle terminal, various ECUs connected via an in-vehicle communication network, external network devices connected via an external wired / wireless communication network, an EV charging apparatus of another vehicle, and a user equipment; at least one processor connected to the at least one transceiver to control overall operation; and a memory containing programs for the operation of the at least one processor.

[0170] The supply device described in the embodiments disclosed in this disclosure may include: a first transceiver configured to transmit and receive signals from an EV charging device via in-band (or out-of-band) communication, and to receive power from a power supply network; a second transceiver configured to receive power from the power supply network, and to transmit and receive various control signals from the power supply network; at least one processor connected to the first and second transceivers to control overall operation; and a memory containing programs for the operation of the processor.

[0171] The steps in the methods or algorithms described in the embodiments disclosed herein can be directly implemented in hardware, software modules, or a combination of both, executed by a processor. The software modules can reside in storage media (i.e., memory and / or storage units) such as RAM, flash memory, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disks, removable disks, or CD-ROMs.

[0172] An exemplary storage medium can be coupled to a processor, which can read information from and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium can be integrated with the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside within an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The ASIC can reside within the user terminal. Alternatively, the processor and storage medium can reside as separate components within the user terminal.

[0173] The above description is merely an illustration of the technical spirit of this disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to this disclosure without departing from its spirit and scope.

[0174] While this disclosure includes specific examples, it will be apparent upon understanding the disclosure of this application that various changes in form and detail may be made in these examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and their equivalents. The examples described herein are to be considered descriptive in nature only and not for limiting purposes. The description of a feature or aspect in each example is to be considered applicable to similar features or aspects in other examples. Suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order, and / or if the components in the described system, architecture, apparatus, or circuit are combined in a different manner, and / or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents. Therefore, the scope of this disclosure is not limited by the specific embodiments but by the claims and their equivalents, and all variations within the scope of the claims and their equivalents shall be construed as included in this disclosure.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a lateral wireless charging chain via a first vehicle, the method comprising the following steps: The second vehicle capable of being configured with a lateral wireless charging chain was detected. Calculate the distance to the second vehicle; Lateral alignment control with the second vehicle is performed within a first distance based on the calculated distance; Based on the calculated distance, longitudinal alignment control with the second vehicle is performed within a second distance; and Based on the distance to the second vehicle being within the second distance, images from the SVM side cameras of the surround view monitor are input into the semantic segmentation network and objects are classified at the pixel level. The longitudinal alignment control is performed by comparing the lateral average position of a specific object among the classified objects with the lateral resolution center of the image from the SVM side camera.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the following steps: The position and angle of the second vehicle are measured using images from the front camera of the surround view monitor (SVM). The lateral alignment control with the second vehicle is performed based on the measured position and angle.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the following steps: The image is transformed into a bird's-eye view, and the transformed image is then input into a semantic segmentation network to classify objects at the pixel level. The position and angle of the second vehicle are measured based on the classification results of the object.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The angle of the second vehicle is determined based on the slope of the straight line connecting the pixels of the second vehicle that are classified as objects, at the maximum or minimum inflection point.

5. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the following step: Based on the fact that the distance to the second vehicle is within the first distance, the existence of an obstacle between the first vehicle and the second vehicle is determined based on the classification result of the object; as well as Based on the absence of the obstacle, the number of pulses sent by the SPAS sensor in the intelligent parking assistance system is reduced.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the following step: Based on the reduction in the number of transmitted pulses, the reverberation distance of the SPAS sensor is measured; and The short-range measurement limit distance is set based on the reverberation distance.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The distance to the second vehicle is measured using any one or any combination of two or more of the following: a surround view monitor (SVM) front camera, an ultrasonic sensor, and a light detection and ranging LiDAR.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The steps for performing the longitudinal alignment control include: Based on the fact that the average lateral position is greater than 1 / 2 of the lateral pixels corresponding to the image, the first vehicle is controlled to move backward; and The first vehicle is controlled to move forward based on the fact that the average lateral position is less than or equal to 1 / 2 of the lateral pixels corresponding to the image.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The specific object is one equipped with inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads are mounted on one of the side mirrors, side doors, or tires / wheels.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein, Based on the fact that the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads are mounted on the side mirrors, the lateral alignment control is performed until the distance between the side mirrors of the first vehicle and the side mirrors of the second vehicle reaches the short-range measurement limit distance.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first distance is longer than the second distance.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the following steps: Information about the second vehicle is obtained through vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. The information regarding the second vehicle includes any combination of any two of the following: information about the vehicle type; information about the current location; information about one or both of the battery charging level and battery output voltage; information about the location of the inter-vehicle power transmission / reception pads; information about whether the target vehicle can be configured with one or both of the lateral and longitudinal wireless charging chains; and information about whether wireless charging is being performed.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the following steps: Based on the vehicle-to-vehicle power transmission / reception pads of the first and second vehicles aligned by the longitudinal alignment control, wireless power is received and the battery in the first vehicle is charged by negotiating with the second vehicle.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, said instructions, when executed by one or more processors, configuring said one or more processors to perform operations for configuring a lateral wireless charging chain in a vehicle operatively connected to another vehicle via a communication network, said operations comprising the steps of: The other vehicle in which a lateral wireless charging chain can be configured is detected; Calculate the distance to the other vehicle; Lateral alignment control with the other vehicle is performed based on the calculated distance within a first distance. Based on the calculated distance, longitudinal alignment control with the other vehicle is performed within a second distance; and Based on the distance to the other vehicle being within the second distance, images from the SVM side cameras of the surround view monitor are input into the semantic segmentation network and objects are classified at the pixel level. The longitudinal alignment control is performed by comparing the lateral average position of a specific object among the classified objects with the lateral resolution center of the image from the SVM side camera.

16. An electric vehicle configured for wireless charging, the electric vehicle comprising: A vehicle terminal configured to communicate with another vehicle; A vehicle sensor, comprising at least one sensor, for measuring the distance to the other vehicle and the position and angle of the other vehicle; and Electric vehicle (EV) charging device, the EV charging device being configured to: Based on the operative detection, via the vehicle terminal, that the other vehicle can be configured with a lateral wireless charging chain, the distance to the other vehicle is calculated via the vehicle sensor in an operative connection; and The lateral alignment control and longitudinal alignment control with the other vehicle are performed based on the calculated distance. Specifically, based on the distance to the other vehicle within a first distance, the EV charging device performs the lateral alignment control. Specifically, based on the distance to the other vehicle within a second distance, the EV charging device performs the longitudinal alignment control, and Based on the distance to the other vehicle being within the second distance, images from the SVM side cameras of the surround view monitor are input into the semantic segmentation network and objects are classified at the pixel level. The longitudinal alignment control is performed by comparing the lateral average position of a specific object among the classified objects with the lateral resolution center of the image from the SVM side camera.

17. The electric vehicle according to claim 16, wherein, The first distance is longer than the second distance.

18. The electric vehicle according to claim 16, wherein, The vehicle sensors include any one or any combination of two or more of the following: a surround view monitor (SVM) front camera, a light detection and ranging LiDAR, and ultrasonic sensors. The distance to the other vehicle is calculated using any one or any combination of two or more of the SVM front camera, the ultrasonic sensor, or the LiDAR.

19. The electric vehicle according to claim 18, wherein, The EV charging device uses the SVM front camera to measure the position and angle of the other vehicle, and performs the lateral alignment control with the other vehicle based on the measured position and angle.