Monitoring system

Abstract

A monitoring system of the present invention monitors the surroundings of a vehicle when receiving a charging service of an automatic charging robot. The monitoring system monitors the surroundings of a vehicle when the vehicle is automatically charged by a charging device provided with: a charger to which a charging cable having a charging connector is connected; the monitoring system includes a camera that captures an image of the surroundings of the vehicle between a charging preparation state and a charging completion state, and that automatically inserts and pulls the charging connector into and out of the charging port of the vehicle, and an automatic charging robot having a robot arm that automatically inserts and pulls the charging connector into and out of the charging port of the vehicle. The charging preparation state is a state from a state in which the vehicle is stopped at a predetermined stop position in order to receive automatic charging at the charging equipment to a state in which the robot arm starts to work, and the charging completion state is a state in which automatic charging is completed until work of the robot arm is completed; a display device held by a user of the vehicle; and a control device that causes the display device to display the image captured by the camera in real time.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a monitoring system. BACKGROUND

[0002] An automatic charging system is disclosed in Patent Literature 1, which is provided with a charger to which a charging cable including a charging connector is connected, and an automatic charging robot which grasps the charging connector and automatically plugs into a charging port of a vehicle.

[0003] Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-079759

[0004] When the appearance of a vehicle is compared before the vehicle receives a charging service by an automatic charging robot, and after the vehicle receives the charging service by the automatic charging robot, compensation is required when there is a noticeable damage or breakage on the body after the charging service. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application was completed in view of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a monitoring system capable of monitoring the surroundings of a vehicle when receiving a charging service by an automatic charging robot.

[0006] The present application is a monitoring system which monitors the surroundings of a vehicle when the vehicle is automatically charged by a charging device, the charging device being provided with a charger to which a charging cable having a charging connector is connected, and an automatic charging robot having a robot arm which automatically plugs and unplugs the charging connector to and from a charging port of the vehicle, characterized in that the monitoring system is provided with a camera which photographs the surroundings of the vehicle between a charging preparation state and a charging completion state, the charging preparation state being a state from when the vehicle is parked at a prescribed stop position in order to receive an automatic charge at the charging device to when the robot arm starts to work, and the charging completion state being a state from when the automatic charge is completed to when the work of the robot arm is completed, a display device held by a user of the vehicle, and a control device which causes an image photographed by the camera to be displayed in real time on the display device.

[0007] In the present application, it is possible to monitor the surroundings of a vehicle when receiving a charging service by an automatic charging robot. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0008] Figure 1 is a view showing the overall configuration of the monitoring system in the embodiment.

[0009] Figure 2 is a view showing the monitoring system in the modified example.

[0010] EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0011] 1 … monitoring system; 2 … vehicle; 3 … charging device; 4 … charger; 5 … automatic charging robot; 6 … infrastructure; 8 … user terminal; 11 … camera; 12 … display device; 21 … charging cable; 22 … charging connector; 31 … robot arm; 32 … robot hand; 41 … camera. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] Hereinafter, the monitoring system in the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail. Furthermore, the present application is not limited to the embodiment described below.

[0013] Figure 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the monitoring system in the embodiment. The monitoring system 1 is a system that monitors the surroundings of the vehicle 2 during automatic charging when the vehicle 2 receives a charging service of the automatic charging robot 5 using the charger 4 of the charging device 3. For the monitoring system 1, the camera 11 provided to the vehicle 2 captures the surroundings of the vehicle 2 including the automatic charging robot 5, and displays the image on the display device 12 provided to the vehicle 2.

[0014] The vehicle 2 is an electric vehicle capable of external charging. The vehicle 2 is provided with the camera 11, the display device 12, the charging port 13, the control device 14, and the communication device 15.

[0015] The camera 11 is a vehicle-mounted camera mounted on the vehicle 2, and captures the surroundings of the vehicle 2. The camera 11 includes a plurality of cameras, and can capture the surroundings of the vehicle 2 in a 360° range. The image data captured by the camera 11 is output to the control device 14.

[0016] The display device 12 displays the image captured by the camera 11. The display device 12 is a monitor provided in the cabin of the vehicle 2, and is constituted by a navigation device or the like, for example. The display device 12 displays the image data input from the control device 14.

[0017] The charging port 13 is an entrance that connects the charging connector 22 of the charger 4 at the time of external charging. By connecting the charging connector 22 to the charging port 13 in a state where the vehicle 2 is parked, the vehicle 2 can receive electric power supplied from an external power source. The vehicle 2 is provided with a battery that accumulates electric power supplied from the external power source.

[0018] The control device 14 is an electronic control device that controls the vehicle 2. The control device 14 controls the camera 11, the display device 12, and the communication device 15. The image data captured by the camera 11 is input to the control device 14. The control device 14 processes the image data captured by the plurality of cameras 11, and generates image data of a range of 360° including the surroundings of the vehicle 2. The control device 14 outputs the generated image data of the range of 360° including the surroundings of the vehicle 2 to the display device 12.

[0019] The communication device 15 performs wireless communication with a device outside the vehicle. The communication device 15 is capable of communicating with a portable terminal held by the user of the vehicle 2. The communication device 15 is capable of performing wireless communication with the charger 4.

[0020] The charging device 3 is provided with the charger 4 and the automatic charging robot 5.

[0021] The charger 4 has a charging cable 21 and a charging connector 22. The charging cable 21 is a cable connected to the charger 4. The charging connector 22 is connected to the charging cable 21. The charger 4 and the charging connector 22 are connected via the charging cable 21.

[0022] The automatic charging robot 5 has a robot arm 31 and a mechanical hand 32. The automatic charging robot 5 is disposed in the vicinity of the charger 4, and automatically inserts the charging connector 22 into the charging port 13 of the vehicle 2 to perform charging.

[0023] The robot arm 31 automatically plugs and unplugs the charging connector 22 at the charging port 13 of the vehicle 2. The mechanical hand 32 is provided at the front end of the robot arm 31. The mechanical hand 32 holds the charging connector 22. The robot arm 31 operates in such a manner that the position of the mechanical hand 32 is displaced to a desired position.

[0024] The monitoring system 1 captures, by the camera 11, the range of movement of the robot arm 31 and the range of movement of the charging cable 21 accompanying the operation of the robot arm 31 of the automatic charging robot 5, and discloses the image to the user of the vehicle 2.

[0025] Specifically, the monitoring system 1 takes, as a monitoring target, the period from a charging preparation state to a charging completion state. The charging preparation state is a state from when the vehicle 2 is parked at a prescribed stop position in order to accept automatic charging in the charging device 3 to when the robot arm 31 starts operating. The charging preparation state is a state before the robot arm 31 and the mechanical hand 32 start operating, and is a state before charging starts. The charging completion state is a state from when automatic charging by the charger 4 is completed to when the operation of the robot arm 31 is completed.

[0026] The camera 11 captures the surroundings of the vehicle 2 during the period from the charging preparation state to the charging completion state. At this time, the camera 11 captures in such a manner as to include the range of movement of the robot arm 31 and the range of movement of the charging cable 21 accompanying movement of the charging connector 22 by the robot arm 31. The range of movement of the camera 11 includes a range in which the robot arm 31 is likely to come into contact with the vehicle body and a range in which the charging cable 21 is likely to come into contact with the vehicle body. The camera 11 outputs the image data to the control device 14.

[0027] The control device 14 performs display control to display the images captured by the camera 11 on the display device 12 in real time. During automatic charging, for example, while the user is riding in the vehicle 2, the surrounding images are displayed in real time on the display device 12. Furthermore, after charging is complete, the control device 14 can display the images captured by the camera 11 for a specified period according to a predetermined audiovisual request.

[0028] As explained above, according to the embodiment, during the charging service received from the charging device 3, the camera 11 can capture images of the movement of the robotic arm 31 around the vehicle 2 and the movement of the charging cable 21. Therefore, it is possible to monitor any damage or breakage that may occur to the vehicle body during the charging service received by the vehicle 2 from the charging device 3. Consequently, the condition of the charging service can be confirmed afterward using the image data, and the cause of the damage or breakage can be determined.

[0029] Furthermore, the device for displaying the images captured by camera 11 can be any display device owned by the user of vehicle 2, and is not limited to display device 12 of vehicle 2. User terminals such as smartphones and personal computers owned by the user can also be display devices. In this case, communication device 15 communicates wirelessly with the user terminal to send and receive image data.

[0030] Furthermore, when using the panoramic image captured by the camera 11 mounted on vehicle 2, it is not limited to the user being inside vehicle 2; the user can also be outside the vehicle. In this case, the panoramic image data can also be transmitted from vehicle 2 to the user terminal.

[0031] Furthermore, the camera included in the surveillance system 1 is not limited to the camera 11 mounted on the vehicle 2. As a variation, such as... Figure 2 As shown, a monitoring system 1 can be configured to monitor vehicles 2 in a charging service using a camera 41 installed on infrastructure 6. A modified monitoring system 1 uses the camera 41 of infrastructure 6 instead of a vehicle-mounted camera.

[0032] The infrastructure 6 is provided with a camera 41, a control device 42, and a communication device 43. The camera 41 is an infrastructure camera provided at a parking lot where the charging device 3 is installed. The camera 41 includes a plurality of infrastructure cameras. The control device 42 is an electronic control device that controls the camera 41 and the communication device 43. The control device 42 is inputted with image data captured by the camera 41. The control device 42 provides the image data to the user terminal 8 based on the image data inputted from the camera 41. The control device 42 provides the image data to the user of the vehicle 2 reflected in the image data captured by the camera 41. The control device 42 determines in advance the vehicle 2 that becomes a capturing target of the camera 41 and the user terminal 8 held by the user of the vehicle 2. Therefore, the image data is transmitted to the determined user terminal 8. The communication device 43 communicates with the vehicle 2 and the user terminal 8 via the network 7.

[0033] The vehicle 2 is able to automatically drive to a prescribed stop position using the image captured by the camera 41 of the infrastructure 6.

[0034] The user terminal 8 is a portable terminal held by the user of the vehicle 2. The user terminal 8 is, for example, a terminal such as a smartphone, a personal computer, and the like. The user terminal 8 has a communication device 51, a control device 52, and a display device 53. The communication device 51 communicates with the infrastructure 6 via the network 7. The control device 52 controls the communication device 51 and the display device 53. The display device 53 displays the image captured by the camera 41 of the infrastructure 6.

[0035] According to the modification, the existing camera 41 provided at the infrastructure 6 can be used to monitor the surroundings of the vehicle 2 during automatic charging.

Claims

1. A monitoring system that monitors surroundings of a vehicle when the vehicle is automatically charged by a charging device, the charging device having: a charger to which a charging cable having a charging connector is connected; and an automatic charging robot having a robot arm that automatically plugs and unplugs the charging connector to and from a charging port of the vehicle, characterized in that the monitoring system has: a camera that captures the surroundings of the vehicle between a charging preparation state and a charging completion state, the charging preparation state being a state from when the vehicle is parked at a prescribed stop position in order to receive automatic charging at the charging device to when the robot arm starts work, and the charging completion state being a state from when automatic charging is completed to when work of the robot arm is completed; a display device held by a user of the vehicle; and a control device that causes an image captured by the camera to be displayed in real time on the display device.

2. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the camera is provided on the robot arm.

3. The monitoring system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the camera is provided on the charging device.

4. The monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the camera is provided on the vehicle.

5. The monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the camera is provided on a charging cable that is connected to the charging device.

6. The monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the camera is provided on a charging cable that is connected to the vehicle.

7. The monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the camera is provided on a charging cable that is connected to the vehicle and the charging device.

8. The monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the camera is provided on a charging cable that is connected to the vehicle and the charging device, and the charging cable is provided with a connector that is connected to the charging connector of the charging cable.

9. The monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the camera is provided on a charging cable that is connected to the vehicle and the charging device, and the charging cable is provided with a connector that is connected to the charging connector of the

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