vehicle

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle. The vehicle includes a power source; a load configured to supply power from the power source; a relay disposed between the power source and the load; and a processor. The processor is configured to control the relay to an on state based on a predetermined drive instruction. The processor is configured to obtain a value of a current flowing through the relay and a value of a voltage applied to the relay after a predetermined amount of time has elapsed after the relay is turned on based on the predetermined drive instruction. The processor is configured to transmit the obtained values ​​of the current and voltage to an exterior of the vehicle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle or the like equipped with a relay device or the like for controlling power supply from a power source to a load. Background Art

[0002] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-163403 (JP 2016-163403 A) discloses an interruption device that interrupts the supply of current to a load installed in a vehicle based on the temperature of an electric wire supplying current to the load. In this interruption device, interruption control is performed using a field effect transistor (FET) switch based on the difference between the temperature of the electric wire supplying current to the load and the temperature surrounding the electric wire. Summary of the Invention

[0003] When designing the diameter of electrical wires used in vehicles, the drive circuit components that control the power supply to vehicle-mounted loads, and other components, it is desirable to design with a margin for safety (a high safety factor) taking into account the temperature dependence of the current consumed by the loads and manufacturing variations. However, to effectively implement a design with a high safety factor, it is necessary to obtain the actual current consumed by the loads with high accuracy and stability. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the technology used to obtain this current.

[0004] The present disclosure provides a vehicle capable of acquiring the value of current actually consumed by a load installed in the vehicle with high accuracy and stability.

[0005] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle includes a power source; a load configured to receive power from the power source; a relay disposed between the power source and the load; and a processor. The processor is configured to control the relay to an on state based on a predetermined drive instruction. The processor is configured to obtain a value of a current flowing through the relay and a value of a voltage applied to the relay after a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the relay was turned on based on the predetermined drive instruction. The processor is configured to transmit the obtained values ​​of the current and voltage to an exterior of the vehicle.

[0006] In the vehicle according to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the predetermined amount of time may be set to be no less than an amount of time required for the current flowing through the relay to reach a maximum value after the relay is turned on.

[0007] In the vehicle according to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the processor may be configured to acquire a temperature of an environment in which the vehicle is located. The processor may be configured to transmit the acquired values ​​of the current and the voltage to the outside of the vehicle in association with the temperature of the environment.

[0008] In the vehicle according to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the load may be an on-vehicle device having a temperature dependency on an amount of current consumption.

[0009] In the vehicle according to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the processor may be configured to store the acquired value of the current and the acquired value of the voltage as a maximum current value and a maximum voltage value, respectively.

[0010] With the vehicle according to the present disclosure described above, it is possible to acquire the value of the current actually consumed by the loads installed in the vehicle with high accuracy and stability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like elements, and wherein:

[0012] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0013] Figure 2 is a graph showing an example of changes in current flowing through a relay after the relay is turned on; and

[0014] Figure 3 is a flowchart of an information acquisition process executed by a vehicle configuration. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] The vehicle according to the present disclosure waits for a predetermined amount of time to elapse after the relay, which supplies power from a power source to a load, is controlled to be in an on state before acquiring the values ​​of the current flowing through the relay and the voltage applied to the relay. This prevents variations in current and voltage during conduction from the power source to the load from affecting the acquisition process. As a result, the value of the current actually consumed by the load can be acquired with high accuracy and stability. Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0016] Example

[0017] Configuration

[0018] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 1 The illustrated vehicle 1 includes a power source 10, a load 20, a relay device 30, a temperature acquisition unit 40, an electronic control unit (ECU) 50, and a transmission unit 60. Examples of the vehicle 1 include hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and the like that use an electric motor as a power source.

[0019] The power supply 10 is a power supply source for supplying power to a load 20 installed in the vehicle 1. Examples of the power supply 10 include an auxiliary battery, which is a secondary battery configured to be capable of being charged and discharged, such as a lead-acid battery or a lithium-ion battery. In addition to the auxiliary battery, a drive battery and the like for driving the vehicle are installed in the vehicle 1, but the drive battery and the like are omitted from the illustration.

[0020] Load 20 is an onboard device, such as an electrical component, that operates on power supplied by power source 10. This load 20 is connected to power source 10 via relay device 30. Examples of load 20 include onboard devices such as the rear defogger and mirror heaters, which have a temperature-dependent current consumption. When the outside temperature of vehicle 1 is low, the rear defogger and mirror heaters require a higher current to heat the heaters to reduce fogging compared to when the outside temperature is high. Therefore, the current consumption of the rear defogger and mirror heaters is temperature-dependent.

[0021] The relay device 30 is a device for interrupting the current supply from the power supply 10 to the load 20 when an overcurrent is about to occur to the load 20. Examples of the relay device 30 include a power distribution box (PDB), etc. The relay device 30 includes a relay 31, a drive control unit 32, a current-voltage acquisition unit 33, an output unit 34, and a storage control unit 35.

[0022] The relay 31 is provided between the power supply 10 and the load 20. The relay 31 is configured to control the state of power supply from the power supply 10 to the load 20. For example, a semiconductor relay such as a field effect transistor (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET)) can be used as the relay 31. Based on the control of the drive control unit 32 described below, the relay 31 can be switched between an on state in which the load 20 is connected to the power supply 10 and an off state in which the load 20 is disconnected from the power supply 10.

[0023] The drive control unit 32 controls the driving state of the relay 31. The drive control unit 32 is configured to control the state of the power supply from the power source 10 to the load 20. Based on a predetermined drive instruction that instructs the load 20 to operate, the drive control unit 32 can control the relay 31 to be in the on state (relay on). The predetermined drive instruction, for example, is to apply an on voltage to the gate of a field effect transistor.

[0024] The current-voltage acquisition unit 33 is a configuration for acquiring the value of the current flowing through the relay 31 (hereinafter referred to as the "relay current value") and the value of the voltage applied to the relay 31 (hereinafter referred to as the "relay voltage value"). Detection elements such as a current sensor and a voltage sensor (omitted from the illustration) provided in the relay 31 can be used to acquire the relay current value and the relay voltage value. The current-voltage acquisition unit 33 acquires the relay current value and the relay voltage value after a predetermined amount of time has passed after the relay 31 is placed in the on state (relay is on) by the drive control unit 32 in response to a drive instruction. The predetermined amount of time is a time period during which the relay current value is unstable, such as Figure 2 As illustrated in , and is a mask time (mask time) during which processing is performed to standby so that the acquisition action is not performed ( Figure 2 ). Therefore, the predetermined amount of time is set to be no less than the amount of time (e.g., one second) required for the relay current value to reach its maximum value after the relay 31 enters the conducting state (relay on).

[0025] The output unit 34 is a configuration for outputting the relay current value and the relay voltage value acquired by the current-voltage acquisition unit 33 to the ECU 50. An in-vehicle network such as a controller area network (CAN) can be used for this output.

[0026] The storage control unit 35 is a configuration for storing the relay current value and the relay voltage value acquired by the current-voltage acquisition unit 33. The storage control unit 35 stores the relay current value and the relay voltage value as a maximum current value and a maximum voltage value, respectively.

[0027] The temperature acquisition unit 40 acquires the temperature of the environment in which the vehicle 1 is located. Specifically, the temperature acquisition unit 40 may acquire the temperature outside the vehicle 1 from a detection element such as a temperature sensor (omitted from illustration) installed in the vehicle 1 .

[0028] The ECU 50 is one of multiple electronic control units installed in the vehicle 1 for controlling vehicle operation. An electronic control unit is typically configured to include a processor, memory, input / output interfaces, and the like. The electronic control unit implements various functions by having the processor read and execute programs stored in the memory. A body ECU that controls the functions of the vehicle body system can be used as the ECU 50 in this embodiment. The ECU 50 acquires the relay current and relay voltage values ​​from the relay device 30 and also acquires the current ambient temperature from the temperature acquisition unit 40. The ECU 50 then performs processing to correlate the relay current and relay voltage values ​​with the ambient temperature.

[0029] The transmission unit 60 transmits the relay current value and relay voltage value associated with the ECU 50 and the ambient temperature to the outside of the vehicle 1. Examples of the transmission destination include a center, a server, etc. that collects / manages various types of data related to the vehicle 1. The transmission unit 60 may be, for example, a data communication module (DCM) configured to be able to communicate with the center, the server, etc.

[0030] Note that part or all of the above-described relay device 30 , temperature acquisition unit 40 , and transmission unit 60 may be configured as an ECU.

[0031] control

[0032] Next, we will refer to Figure 3 Control performed by the vehicle 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. Figure 3 : is a flowchart showing the procedure of the information acquisition process performed by the configuration of the vehicle 1. The information acquisition process is started when an instruction to drive the load 20 is issued to the drive control unit 32.

[0033] Step S301

[0034] The storage control unit 35 clears the maximum current value, which is the maximum value of the relay current value, and the maximum voltage value, which is the maximum value of the relay voltage value. This resets the corresponding maximum values ​​stored in the previous process. Once the maximum current value and the maximum voltage value are cleared, the process proceeds to step S302.

[0035] Step S302

[0036] Based on the instruction to drive the load 20, the drive control unit 32 controls the relay 31 to the conductive state (relay on). As a result, power is supplied from the power supply 10 to the load 20, and a predetermined operation of the load 20 is started. When the relay 31 is controlled to the conductive state, the process proceeds to step S303.

[0037] Step S303

[0038] The current-voltage acquisition unit 33 determines whether a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the relay 31 was controlled to the conductive state by the drive control unit 32. If the predetermined amount of time has elapsed ("Yes" in step S303), the process proceeds to step S304. If the predetermined amount of time has not elapsed ("No" in step S303), the process does not proceed to the next process until the predetermined amount of time has elapsed.

[0039] Step S304

[0040] The current-voltage acquisition unit 33 acquires the relay current value and relay voltage value from the relay 31. Since the current-voltage acquisition unit 33 waits for a predetermined amount of time in step S303, the current-voltage acquisition unit 33 can acquire stable relay current value and relay voltage value. Once the relay current value and relay voltage value are acquired, the process proceeds to step S305.

[0041] Step S305

[0042] The storage control unit 35 stores, as the maximum current value and the maximum voltage value, the relay current value and the relay voltage value acquired by the current-voltage acquisition unit 33. When the maximum current value and the maximum voltage value are stored, the process proceeds to step S306.

[0043] Step S306

[0044] The temperature acquisition unit 40 acquires the temperature of the environment in which the vehicle 1 is located. Once the temperature of the environment is acquired, the process proceeds to step S307.

[0045] Step S307

[0046] The ECU 50 and the transmission unit 60 associate the relay current value and the relay voltage value with the temperature of the environment and transmit the relay current value, the relay voltage value, and the temperature of the environment to the outside of the vehicle 1. When the associated relay current value, the relay voltage value, and the temperature of the environment are transmitted to the outside of the vehicle 1, the information acquisition process ends.

[0047] Operation and Effect

[0048] As described above, according to the vehicle 1 of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay current value and the relay voltage value are acquired after waiting for a predetermined amount of time to elapse after the relay 31 is controlled to the on state by the drive control unit 32 .

[0049] This suppresses the change in current and voltage when conducting electricity from the power supply 10 to the load 20 from affecting the acquired action. Therefore, the value of the current actually consumed by the load 20 can be acquired with high accuracy and stability.

[0050] In addition, using the vehicle 1 of this embodiment, each time the relay 31 is controlled to be in the on state by the driving control unit 32, the maximum values ​​of the relay current value and the relay voltage value stored in the previously performed processing are cleared, and the newly acquired maximum values ​​of the relay current value and the relay voltage value are associated with the temperature of the environment in which the vehicle 1 is located, and the maximum values ​​of the relay current value and the relay voltage value and the temperature of the environment are sent to the outside of the vehicle 1.

[0051] This allows the maximum current and voltage values ​​corresponding to the ambient temperature to be continuously provided to the outside world. Therefore, a center or server receiving this information can appropriately design the wire diameters, drive circuit elements, and other components of the wiring harness used in vehicle 1 with a margin for safety.

[0052] Although an embodiment of the technology according to the present disclosure has been described above, in addition to a vehicle, the present invention can also be understood as a method executed by a vehicle provided with a processor and a memory, a program of the method, a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium storing the program, etc.

[0053] The present disclosure can be used in a vehicle equipped with a relay device or the like for controlling the supply of electric power from a power source to a load.

Claims

1. A vehicle, characterized in that include: power supply; a load configured to supply power from the power source; a relay disposed between the power source and the load; as well as processor, which is configured to Controlling the relay to be in an on state based on a predetermined driving instruction, acquiring a value of a current flowing through the relay and a value of a voltage applied to the relay after a predetermined amount of time has elapsed after the relay is turned on based on the predetermined drive instruction, and The acquired value of the current and the acquired value of the voltage are transmitted to the outside of the vehicle.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that The predetermined amount of time is set to be no less than an amount of time required for the current flowing through the relay to reach a maximum value after the relay is turned on.

3. The vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The processor is configured to: Obtaining the temperature of the environment in which the vehicle is located; and The acquired value of the current and the acquired value of the voltage are transmitted to the outside of the vehicle in association with the temperature of the environment.

4. The vehicle according to claim 3, characterized in that The load is an in-vehicle device whose current consumption is temperature-dependent.

5. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The processor is configured to store the acquired value of the current and the acquired value of the voltage as a maximum current value and a maximum voltage value, respectively.

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