Vehicle control system

Abstract

This vehicle control system controls an electrically driven vehicle, and is provided with: an analysis unit that analyzes the deterioration factors of the power consumption of the vehicle; an output unit that outputs one or more power consumption improvement cases that improve the cause of deterioration of the power consumption; an acquisition unit that acquires an arbitrary power consumption improvement table selected at the operation terminal among the one or more power consumption improvement tables output from the output unit; and a control unit that controls the vehicle with control content in accordance with the power consumption improvement table acquired by the acquisition unit.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control system. Background Art

[0002] For electric vehicles, improvement in power consumption is required. In Japanese Patent No. 7015395, a vehicle that displays an appropriate usage method of a storage battery according to the usage condition of the storage battery is disclosed. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The vehicle disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 7015395 merely displays an appropriate usage method of the storage battery regardless of the user's requirements, and there is a problem that it is impossible to improve the usage method of the storage battery corresponding to the user's requirements.

[0004] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above background, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle control system capable of improving the power consumption of a vehicle corresponding to the user's requirements.

[0005] The vehicle control system of the present disclosure is a vehicle control system that controls a vehicle driven by electricity, and the vehicle control system includes: an analysis unit that analyzes a cause of deterioration of the power consumption of the vehicle; an output unit that outputs one or more power consumption improvement plans for improving the cause of deterioration of the power consumption; an acquisition unit that acquires any power consumption improvement plan selected at an operation terminal from the one or more power consumption improvement plans output from the output unit; and a control unit that controls the vehicle in accordance with the control content of the power consumption improvement plan acquired by the acquisition unit. This vehicle control system controls the vehicle based on any power consumption improvement plan selected by the user from among one or more power consumption improvement plans for improving the cause of deterioration of the power consumption output from the output unit to a monitor or the like. Thus, this vehicle control system can improve the power consumption of the vehicle corresponding to the user's requirements.

[0006] Through the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a vehicle control system capable of improving the power consumption of a vehicle corresponding to the user's requirements. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007] Hereinafter, the features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In these drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same elements, and:

[0008] Figure 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a vehicle control system provided with a vehicle control device according to Embodiment 1.

[0009] Figure 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the vehicle control device according to Embodiment 1.

[0010] Figure 3 This is a diagram showing an example of the analysis result of the deterioration factors of the power consumption of the vehicle control device according to Embodiment 1.

[0011] Figure 4 This is a diagram showing an example of a power consumption improvement plan displayed on the monitor.

[0012] Figure 5 This is a diagram showing an example of a power consumption improvement plan displayed on the monitor. Detailed Embodiment

[0013] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described by way of embodiments of the invention, but the invention of the claims is not limited to the following embodiments. In addition, not all of the configurations described in the embodiments are necessarily essential as means for solving the problems. For the sake of clarity of explanation, the following descriptions and drawings are appropriately omitted and simplified. In each drawing, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same elements, and repeated explanations are omitted as needed.

[0014] <Embodiment 1>

[0015] Figure 1 This is a diagram showing a configuration example of the vehicle control system 1 provided with the vehicle control device according to Embodiment 1. The vehicle control system 1 of the present embodiment controls the vehicle based on any power consumption improvement plan selected by the user from one or more power consumption improvement plans for the deterioration factors of improving power consumption output to a monitor or the like, so that it is possible to improve the power consumption of the vehicle according to the requirements of the user. Hereinafter, a specific description will be given.

[0016] As Figure 1 shown, the vehicle control system 1 includes a vehicle control device 10, a vehicle 20, an operation terminal 30, and a network 50. The vehicle control device 10, the vehicle 20, and the operation terminal 30 are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a wired or wireless network 50.

[0017] The vehicle 20 is a vehicle driven by electricity, such as an electric vehicle, owned by the user U1 of this system. In the present embodiment, the case where the vehicle 20 is an electric vehicle is taken as an example for explanation, but it is not limited thereto, and it may also be a hybrid vehicle driven by electricity and gasoline. A rechargeable secondary battery (storage battery) 21 such as a lithium-ion battery is mounted on the vehicle 20. The vehicle 20 is driven by electricity supplied from the secondary battery 21.

[0018] The operation terminal 30 is a communicable terminal owned by the user U1 or temporarily assigned to the user U1. For example, it is a PC (Personal Computer) terminal, a portable terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal, or a terminal of a navigation system mounted on the vehicle 20.

[0019] The operation terminal 30 transmits information related to the target power consumption input by the user U1 to the vehicle control device 10 via the network 50. In addition, on the monitor of the operation terminal 30, for example, the factors causing deterioration of the power consumption of the vehicle 20 and the power consumption improvement plans output from the vehicle control device 10 described later are displayed. For example, the user U1 selects any one of the power consumption improvement plans displayed on the monitor of the operation terminal 30. The operation terminal 30 transmits the power consumption improvement plan selected by the user U1 to the vehicle control device 10 via the network 50. In addition, the operation terminal 30 and the monitor can be provided independently of each other.

[0020] The vehicle control device 10 is a device that improves the power consumption of the vehicle 20 corresponding to the requirements of the user U1 by controlling the vehicle 20 in accordance with the power consumption improvement plan corresponding to the requirements of the user U1. Specifically, the vehicle control device 10 includes a data collection unit 11, an analysis unit 12, an output unit 13, an acquisition unit 14, and a control unit 15. In addition, the data collection unit 11, the analysis unit 12, the acquisition unit 14, and the control unit 15 can be provided in different devices respectively. In this case, these devices constitute a vehicle control system that realizes the functions of the vehicle control device 10.

[0021] The data collection unit 11 collects the information required to calculate the power consumption of the vehicle 20. Based on the information collected by the data collection unit 11, the power consumption of the vehicle 20 is calculated. The power consumption of the vehicle 20 is the driving distance (km) of the vehicle 20 per 1 kWh. In addition, the data collection unit 11 collects information related to the factors causing deterioration of the power consumption of the vehicle 20. Specifically, the data collection unit 11 collects the frequency of sudden acceleration, the frequency of sudden deceleration, the frequency of rapid charging, the degree of deterioration of the capacity of the secondary battery 21, the load, and the air conditioner usage amount, etc. as information related to the factors causing deterioration of the power consumption. Moreover, the data collection unit 11 collects information related to the surrounding environment of the vehicle 20. Specifically, the data collection unit 11 collects information such as the climate of the driving area of the vehicle 20 (information such as whether it is a cold area or a tropical area), the traffic conditions (information such as whether it is driving in an urban area with a lot of congestion), the proportion of slopes, the proportion of curves, and the pavement condition, etc. as information related to the surrounding environment of the vehicle 20. The information related to the surrounding environment of the vehicle 20 can be collected from an external device such as a GPS, or can be obtained from the operation terminal 30 based on the operation of the user U1. In addition, the data collection unit 11 also collects the same information as the situation of the vehicle 20 from a plurality of vehicles (not shown) other than the vehicle 20. The plurality of vehicles other than the vehicle 20 are, for example, vehicles of the same model as the vehicle 20, but are not limited thereto.

[0022] When the power consumption of the vehicle 20 does not reach the target power consumption, the analysis unit 12 uses the data collected by the data collection unit 11 to analyze the deterioration factors of the power consumption of the vehicle 20. For example, the analysis unit 12 calculates the respective indices (deviation values) of multiple power consumption deterioration factors of the vehicle 20 by comparing the vehicle 20 with multiple other vehicles. Specifically, the analysis unit 12 calculates the respective indices (deviation values) of the frequency of sudden acceleration, the frequency of sudden deceleration, the frequency of rapid charging, the degree of deterioration of the capacity of the secondary battery 21, the load, and the air conditioner usage amount, etc. of the vehicle 20. Then, the analysis unit 12 extracts, as the power consumption deterioration factors to be improved, the power consumption deterioration factors among the multiple power consumption deterioration factors of the vehicle 20 that show indices higher than a predetermined threshold value.

[0023] In addition, the analysis unit 12 can also calculate the contribution rate of the power loss amount of each power consumption deterioration factor. Here, the contribution rate of the power loss amount of each power consumption deterioration factor refers to the proportion of the power loss amount of each power consumption deterioration factor to the total power loss amount of all power consumption deterioration factors. In addition, the power loss amount of each power consumption deterioration factor refers to the difference between the power consumption of the vehicle 20 and the market average under each power consumption deterioration factor. By improving the power consumption deterioration factors with a high contribution rate of the power loss amount, the power consumption can be effectively suppressed.

[0024] In addition, the analysis unit 12 can also extract the power consumption deterioration factors to be improved by considering the surrounding environment of the vehicle 20. For example, it can be that when the driving area of the vehicle 20 is a cold area, since it is difficult to suppress the high possibility of using the air conditioner, even if the index of the air conditioner usage amount is higher than the predetermined threshold value, the air conditioner usage amount is excluded from the power consumption deterioration factors to be improved. Or, it can be that when the driving area of the vehicle 20 is a cold area, the threshold value set for the air conditioner usage amount is adjusted to a higher value. In addition, for example, it can be that when the driving area of the vehicle 20 is an area with many slopes, since it is difficult to suppress the high possibility of the frequency of sudden acceleration, even if the index of the frequency of sudden acceleration is higher than the predetermined threshold value, the frequency of sudden acceleration is excluded from the power consumption deterioration factors to be improved. Or, it can be that when the driving area of the vehicle 20 is an area with many slopes, the threshold value set for the frequency of sudden acceleration is adjusted to a higher value.

[0025] The output unit 13 outputs one or more power consumption improvement plans for the power consumption deterioration factors to be improved extracted by the analysis unit 12. The power consumption improvement plan can be derived through the analysis of the analysis unit 12, or can be extracted from a database storing combinations of power consumption deterioration factors and their improvement plans.

[0026] For example, when the air conditioner usage is excessive, the output unit 13 outputs a power consumption improvement plan that limits the air conditioner usage to a predetermined amount or less (or a power consumption improvement plan that issues a notice urging the limitation). In addition, when the frequency of sudden deceleration is excessive, the output unit 13 outputs a power consumption improvement plan that slowly decelerates the vehicle 20 according to the distance from the stop line or the vehicle ahead (or a power consumption improvement plan that issues a notice urging a slow deceleration). In addition, when the frequency of rapid charging of the secondary battery 21 is excessive, the output unit 13 outputs a power consumption improvement plan that limits the frequency of rapid charging of the secondary battery 21 to a predetermined frequency or less (or a power consumption improvement plan that issues a notice urging the limitation). In addition, when the deterioration of the capacity of the secondary battery 21 is excessive, the output unit 13 outputs a power consumption improvement plan that suppresses the deterioration of the secondary battery 21 by, for example, maintaining the temperature of the secondary battery 21 below a predetermined temperature.

[0027] In addition, the output unit 13 may also output the power consumption deterioration factor to be improved together with the power consumption improvement plan. In addition, the output unit 13 may also output the contribution rate of the power loss amount of each power consumption deterioration factor. In addition, the output unit 13 may output the target power consumption of the vehicle 20 and the calculation result of the power consumption of the vehicle 20. Moreover, the output unit 13 may also output the recommended degree corresponding to the surrounding environment of the vehicle 20 for each of one or more power consumption improvement plans.

[0028] These pieces of information output from the output unit 13 are displayed, for example, on the monitor of the operation terminal 30. When the monitor is provided independently of the operation terminal 30, they are displayed on the monitor provided independently of the operation terminal 30. Alternatively, these pieces of information output from the output unit 13 may be output from other output devices other than the monitor, such as by voice output from a speaker.

[0029] When the output unit 13 also outputs the recommended degree corresponding to the surrounding environment of the vehicle 20 for each of one or more power consumption improvement plans, on the monitor of the operation terminal 30, the power consumption improvement plan and the recommended degree may be displayed in pairs, the power consumption improvement plan with a high recommended degree may be emphasized and displayed, or the power consumption improvement plan with a low recommended degree may be displayed in a non-selectable manner.

[0030] The user U1 operates the operation terminal 30 to select any power consumption improvement plan among one or more power consumption improvement plans displayed on the monitor or the like. The operation terminal 30 sends the power consumption improvement plan selected by the user U1 to the vehicle control device 10 via the network 50. Here, the power consumption improvement plan may be referred to as the control content (control mode) of the vehicle 20 for improving the power consumption.

[0031] In the vehicle control device 10, an acquisition unit 14 acquires an electricity consumption improvement plan transmitted from the operation terminal 30. A control unit 15 controls the vehicle 20 in accordance with the control content of the electricity consumption improvement plan acquired by the acquisition unit 14.

[0032] In this way, the vehicle control system 1 of the present embodiment controls the vehicle based on any one of the one or more electricity consumption improvement plans output to a monitor or the like and selected by the user, so that it is possible to improve the electricity consumption of the vehicle according to the requirements of the user. As a result, the user can obtain a sense of recognition for the improvement of the vehicle's electricity consumption. In addition, the user can grasp their own driving habits from the electricity consumption improvement plans presented by the vehicle control device 10, so they can strive to improve their driving.

[0033] Next, use Figure 2 to describe the operation of the vehicle control device 10. Figure 2 It is a flowchart showing the operation of the vehicle control device 10.

[0034] First, when the vehicle control device 10 acquires information related to the target electricity consumption of the vehicle 20 input by the user U1 to the operation terminal 30 (Yes in step S101), it calculates the electricity consumption of the vehicle 20 (step S102). Then, the vehicle control device 10 outputs the calculation result of the electricity consumption of the vehicle 20 and the target electricity consumption of the vehicle 20 (step S103). The calculation result of the electricity consumption of the vehicle 20 and the target electricity consumption of the vehicle 20 output from the vehicle control device 10 are displayed on the monitor of the operation terminal 30, for example.

[0035] In addition, if the vehicle control device 10 does not acquire information related to the target electricity consumption of the vehicle 20 (No in step S101), it does not perform control to improve the electricity consumption of the vehicle 20.

[0036] After the vehicle control device 10 calculates the electricity consumption of the vehicle 20, if the electricity consumption of the vehicle 20 reaches the target electricity consumption (Yes in step S104), that is, if the electricity consumption of the vehicle 20 is equal to or higher than the target electricity consumption, it does not perform control to improve the electricity consumption of the vehicle 20. In contrast, if the electricity consumption of the vehicle 20 does not reach the target electricity consumption (No in step S104), that is, if the electricity consumption of the vehicle 20 is lower than the target electricity consumption, it performs control to improve the electricity consumption of the vehicle 20.

[0037] Specifically, first, the vehicle control device 10 analyzes the factors causing deterioration of the power consumption of the vehicle 20 (step S105). For example, the vehicle control device 10 calculates the respective indices (deviation values) of the multiple factors causing deterioration of the power consumption of the vehicle 20 by comparing the vehicle 20 with multiple other vehicles. Specifically, the vehicle control device 10 calculates the respective indices (deviation values) of the frequency of rapid acceleration, the frequency of rapid deceleration, the frequency of rapid charging, the degree of deterioration of the capacity of the secondary battery 21, the load, and the air conditioner usage amount, etc. of the vehicle 20. Then, the vehicle control device 10 extracts, as the factors causing deterioration of the power consumption to be improved, the factors causing deterioration of the power consumption among the multiple factors causing deterioration of the power consumption of the vehicle 20 that show indices higher than a predetermined threshold.

[0038] Figure 3 FIG. is an example showing the analysis result of the factors causing deterioration of the power consumption of the vehicle control device 10. In Figure 3 the example, the relationship between the frequency of rapid acceleration and the power consumption, the relationship between the frequency of rapid deceleration and the power consumption, the relationship between the frequency of rapid charging and the power consumption, and the relationship between the degree of deterioration of the battery capacity and the power consumption are shown. In Figure 3 the example, the index of the frequency of rapid acceleration of the vehicle 20 shows below the predetermined threshold, whereas the indices of the frequency of rapid deceleration, the frequency of rapid charging, and the index of the degree of deterioration of the battery capacity of the vehicle 20 show values higher than the predetermined threshold. Therefore, in Figure 3 the example, among the four factors causing deterioration of the power consumption, the factors causing deterioration of the power consumption to be improved are three.

[0039] Then, the vehicle control device 10 outputs one or more power consumption improvement plans for the factors causing deterioration of the power consumption to be improved (step S106).

[0040] For example, the vehicle control device 10 outputs power consumption improvement plans such as restricting the frequency of rapid deceleration of the vehicle 20, restricting the frequency of rapid charging of the secondary battery 21 to below a predetermined frequency, and suppressing the deterioration of the secondary battery 21 by maintaining the temperature of the secondary battery 21 below a predetermined temperature. These power consumption improvement plans output from the vehicle control device 10 are displayed, for example, on the monitor of the operation terminal 30.

[0041] When any of the one or more power consumption improvement plans displayed on the monitor is selected by the user U1 (Yes in step S107), the vehicle control device 10 acquires the selected power consumption improvement plan (step S108) and controls the vehicle 20 in accordance with the control content of the acquired power consumption improvement plan (step S109). When the user U1 does not select any power consumption improvement plan (No in step S107), the vehicle control device 10 does not perform the control for improving the power consumption of the vehicle 20.

[0042] Figure 4 and Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of an electric power consumption improvement plan displayed on a monitor. First, in Figure 4 's example, an electric power consumption improvement plan for restricting the frequency of rapid deceleration of the vehicle 20, an electric power consumption improvement plan for restricting the frequency of rapid charging of the secondary battery 21 to a predetermined frequency or less, and an electric power consumption improvement plan for suppressing deterioration of the secondary battery 21 are shown. For example, the user U1 selects an electric power consumption improvement plan for suppressing deterioration of the secondary battery 21. In addition, the user U1 can also select multiple electric power consumption improvement plans.

[0043] Then, in Figure 5 's example, electric power consumption improvement plans of multiple intensities for suppressing deterioration of the secondary battery 21 are shown. The user U1 can select an electric power consumption improvement plan of a desired intensity from among the electric power consumption improvement plans of multiple intensities for suppressing deterioration of the secondary battery 21. That is, the user U1 can adjust, for example, the ratio of maintaining the temperature of the secondary battery 21 below a predetermined temperature in order to suppress deterioration of the secondary battery 21. For example, when an electric power consumption improvement plan of a strong intensity (Hard) is selected, the vehicle control device 10 controls the vehicle 20 in such a way as to always maintain the temperature of the secondary battery 21 below a predetermined temperature in order to suppress deterioration of the secondary battery 21. In contrast, when an electric power consumption improvement plan of a weak (Low) intensity is selected, the vehicle control device 10 controls the vehicle 20 by, for example, reducing the ratio of maintaining the temperature of the secondary battery 21 below a predetermined temperature.

[0044] In this way, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment controls the vehicle based on any electric power consumption improvement plan selected by the user from among one or more electric power consumption improvement plans output to a monitor or the like, thereby enabling improvement of the vehicle's electric power consumption corresponding to the user's requirements. As a result, the user can obtain a sense of approval regarding the improvement of the vehicle's electric power consumption. In addition, since the user can grasp their own driving habits from the electric power consumption improvement plans presented by the vehicle control device 10, the user can strive to improve their driving.

[0045] In addition, the present disclosure can implement a part or all of the processing of the vehicle control device 10 by causing a CPU (Central Processing Unit) to execute a computer program.

[0046] The above program includes a group of commands (or software code) that, when read into a computer, cause the computer to execute one or more functions described in the embodiments. The program can be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium or a tangible storage medium. By way of example and not limitation, the computer-readable medium or tangible storage medium includes RAM (Random-Access Memory), ROM (Read-Only Memory), flash memory, SSD (Solid-State Drive), or other memory technologies, CD-ROM, DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc, or other optical disc storage, magnetic tape cartridges, tapes, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices. The program can be transmitted on a transitory computer-readable medium or a communication medium. By way of example and not limitation, the transitory computer-readable medium or communication medium includes electrical, optical, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals.

[0047] Part or all of the above embodiments may be described as follows in the following appendices, but are not limited to the following.

[0048] (Appendix 1)

[0049] A vehicle control method is a vehicle control method in which a vehicle control system controls an electrically driven vehicle.

[0050] The vehicle control method

[0051] Analyze the deterioration factors of the power consumption of the vehicle.

[0052] Output one or more power consumption improvement plans for improving the deterioration factors of the power consumption.

[0053] Obtain any power consumption improvement plan selected at the operation terminal from the one or more power consumption improvement plans output.

[0054] Control the vehicle according to the control content of the obtained power consumption improvement plan.

[0055] (Appendix 2)

[0056] A control program is a control program that causes a computer to execute vehicle control processing for controlling an electrically driven vehicle. The control program causes the computer to execute the following processing:

[0057] A process of analyzing the deterioration factors of the power consumption of the vehicle;

[0058] A process of outputting one or more power consumption improvement plans for improving the deterioration factors of the power consumption;

[0059] Processing of any power consumption improvement plan selected at the operation terminal among the output one or more power consumption improvement plans; and

[0060] Processing of controlling the vehicle according to the control content of the obtained power consumption improvement plan.

Claims

1. A vehicle control system is a vehicle control system for controlling an electrically driven vehicle, and the vehicle control system includes: An analysis unit that analyzes the deterioration factors of the power consumption of the vehicle; An output unit that outputs one or more power consumption improvement plans for improving the deterioration factors of the power consumption; An acquisition unit that acquires any power consumption improvement plan selected at an operation terminal from the one or more power consumption improvement plans output by the output unit; And A control unit that controls the vehicle according to the control content of the power consumption improvement plan acquired by the acquisition unit.

2. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, The analysis unit analyzes the deterioration factors of the power consumption based on at least any one of the frequency of rapid acceleration, the frequency of rapid deceleration, the frequency of rapid charging, the degree of deterioration of the battery capacity, the load, and the air conditioner usage.

3. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, The output unit also outputs information related to the deterioration factors of the power consumption.

4. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, The acquisition unit also acquires information related to the target power consumption of the vehicle via the operation terminal, The analysis unit analyzes the deterioration factors of the power consumption of the vehicle when the power consumption of the vehicle deteriorates compared to the target power consumption.

5. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, The acquisition unit also acquires information related to the surrounding environment of the vehicle, The output unit also outputs the recommendation degree corresponding to the surrounding environment of the vehicle for each of the one or more power consumption improvement plans for improving the deterioration factors of the power consumption.

Images