Cement tank transport vehicle tank body control system and method and vehicle

Abstract

The invention provides a cement tank transport vehicle tank body control system and method and a vehicle, and relates to the field of new energy automobiles, and the system comprises a remote control terminal which is in Ethernet communication with a cloud server and is used for obtaining whole vehicle information sent by the cloud server and issuing a control instruction to the cloud server; the cloud server is communicated with the whole vehicle gateway through the Ethernet; the cloud server is used for acquiring the whole vehicle information sent by the whole vehicle gateway, receiving a control instruction sent by the remote control end and issuing the control instruction to the whole vehicle gateway; the whole vehicle gateway is in communication connection with the whole vehicle controller and is used for acquiring whole vehicle information acquired by the whole vehicle controller, converting a control instruction into a CAN signal and issuing the CAN signal to the whole vehicle controller; the whole vehicle controller is in communication connection with the cement tank controller; the whole vehicle controller is used for collecting whole vehicle information and issuing a CAN signal to the cement tank controller; and the cement tank controller is used for executing the CAN signal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of new energy vehicles, and in particular to a tank control system, method and vehicle for a cement tanker transport vehicle. Background Technology

[0002] Cement tanker trucks are transport vehicles composed of a specialized vehicle chassis, a tank body, an air piping system, and an automatic unloading device. In existing technology, these vehicles generally use CAN communication to control the cement tank, thereby achieving local control of the tank and realizing loading, unloading, and other functions. Specifically, CAN communication uses a pair of twisted-pair cables to achieve information exchange between vehicle controllers. With the increasing demand for vehicle automation, intelligence, and connectivity, the need for information exchange between related functions is becoming more urgent and significant. Relying solely on the transmission rate and quantity of CAN communication is no longer sufficient to meet the demands of these functions. Furthermore, CAN communication can only achieve localized control of the upper tank, and cannot achieve remote control of the upper tank to meet the needs of autonomous driving scenarios and external control of the tank operation. In addition, local CAN communication control can only achieve existing point-to-point communication and cannot expand communication with new nodes. Therefore, each time a new transceiver node is added, the relevant controller needs to be upgraded and expanded with software. In other words, CAN communication can only achieve communication between specific controllers. If a new controller needs to be added, the entire vehicle communication matrix needs to be upgraded and the programs of all communicators on the relevant links need to be updated. Otherwise, the controller cannot be identified and responded to, resulting in a large amount of software development workload, difficulty in version control, and poor software compatibility. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The present invention aims to at least solve the aforementioned technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, the first aspect of the present invention proposes a tank control system for a cement tanker transport vehicle, the system comprising:

[0004] The remote control terminal communicates with the cloud server via Ethernet to obtain vehicle information sent by the cloud server and to send cement hopper control commands to the cloud server.

[0005] A cloud server communicates with the vehicle gateway via Ethernet. The cloud server is used to obtain vehicle information sent by the vehicle gateway and to receive control commands sent by the remote control terminal and send them to the vehicle gateway. The control commands include a cement tank high-pressure power-on request, a cement tank working mode request, and a cement tank speed control request.

[0006] A vehicle gateway, which is communicatively connected to the vehicle controller, is used to acquire vehicle information collected by the vehicle controller and to convert the control commands into CAN signals and send them to the vehicle controller; wherein, the vehicle gateway includes a service interface; the CAN signal is a cement tank control signal;

[0007] The vehicle controller is communicatively connected to the cement silo controller; the vehicle controller is used to collect vehicle information and send the CAN signal to the cement silo controller.

[0008] A cement silo controller, which is used to execute the CAN signal.

[0009] Optionally, the service interface includes a cement tank high-voltage power-on interface, a cement tank operating mode interface, and a cement tank speed control interface.

[0010] Optionally, there may be multiple remote control terminals; the remote control terminals include, but are not limited to, mobile APP, cloud platform, and autonomous driving controller.

[0011] A second aspect of the present invention provides a method for controlling the tank body of a cement tanker truck, the method being based on the system described in the first aspect, the method comprising:

[0012] The remote control terminal is connected to the vehicle. After obtaining the vehicle information, the control command for the cement hopper is sent to the vehicle gateway through the cloud server. The vehicle gateway includes a service interface. The service interface includes a cement hopper high-voltage power-on interface, a cement hopper working mode interface, and a cement hopper speed control interface.

[0013] The vehicle gateway sends a high-voltage power-on request for the cement tank to the vehicle controller and waits for the return of execution information. After receiving the high-voltage power-on information from the cement tank controller sent by the vehicle controller, the vehicle gateway sends a cement tank working mode request and a cement tank speed control request to the vehicle controller.

[0014] After the cement silo controller returns the execution result to the vehicle controller, the execution result is fed back to the remote control terminal through the vehicle gateway and the cloud server in sequence.

[0015] Optionally, sending a high-voltage power-on request for the cement tank to the vehicle controller via the vehicle gateway includes:

[0016] The high-voltage power-on request of the cement tank is converted into a CAN signal and sent to the vehicle controller.

[0017] Optionally, the step of sending the cement hopper operating mode request and the cement hopper speed control request to the vehicle controller through the vehicle gateway includes:

[0018] The cement hopper operating mode request and the cement hopper speed control request are converted into CAN signals and then sent to the vehicle controller.

[0019] Optionally, if both the remote control terminal and the local control terminal control the tank, the working mode and speed of the cement tank are controlled according to the principle of last-to-first; the speed of the cement tank is the target rotational speed of the tank.

[0020] Optionally, if multiple remote control terminals call the service interface to control the tank, the service interface is called sequentially according to the order of the calls to control the tank.

[0021] Optionally, after the vehicle is powered on, the tank is driven according to the set working mode and speed; when the vehicle is powered off, the current working mode of the cement tank is stopped and the tank rotation is stopped.

[0022] A third aspect of the present invention provides a vehicle including a tank control system for a cement tanker truck as described in the first aspect.

[0023] The beneficial effects of a cement tanker transport vehicle tank control system, method, and vehicle are as follows: This solution incorporates a service-oriented interface within the vehicle gateway, forming a unified interface that can be accessed and controlled by a mobile app and other controllers. Through service-oriented communication design, remote control of the cement tank and multiple controllers is achieved. Even if new controllers are added, it is not necessary to upgrade the software of all related controllers, reducing the development costs and management difficulties for vehicle manufacturers. Furthermore, Ethernet communication is used between the remote control terminal and the cloud server, and between the cloud server and the vehicle gateway, thereby improving the transmission rate. Attached Figure Description

[0024] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a cement tanker transport vehicle tank control system provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 2 A flowchart of a method for controlling the tank body of a cement tanker truck provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0026] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0027] Hereinafter, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of embodiments of this disclosure, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more. Furthermore, the use of "based on" or "according to" implies openness and inclusiveness, because processes, steps, calculations, or other actions "based on" or "according to" one or more of the stated conditions or values ​​may in practice be based on additional conditions or beyond the stated values.

[0028] Existing cement tanker trucks use local control, with a dedicated controller and operating devices installed in the driver's cab. To operate the cement tank, the driver needs to power on the entire vehicle. After the tank is powered on, the driver executes commands via buttons. To achieve remote control of the cement tank, this application proposes a service-based remote control system that adds a service interface while retaining the local control functionality.

[0029] This invention provides a control system for the tank body of a cement tanker truck, such as... Figure 1 As shown, the system includes:

[0030] The remote control terminal communicates with the cloud server via Ethernet to obtain vehicle information sent by the cloud server and to send control commands for the cement hopper to the cloud server.

[0031] In one possible implementation, there are multiple remote control terminals; the remote control terminals include, but are not limited to, mobile apps, cloud platforms, and autonomous driving controllers.

[0032] A cloud server communicates with the vehicle gateway via Ethernet. The cloud server is used to obtain vehicle information sent by the vehicle gateway, and to receive control commands sent by the remote control terminal and send them to the vehicle gateway. The control commands include a cement tank high-pressure power-on request, a cement tank working mode request, and a cement tank speed control request.

[0033] A vehicle gateway, which is communicatively connected to the vehicle controller, is used to acquire vehicle information collected by the vehicle controller and to convert the control commands into CAN signals and send them to the vehicle controller; wherein, the vehicle gateway includes a service interface; the CAN signal is a cement tank control signal.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the service interface includes a cement tank high-voltage power-on interface, a cement tank operating mode interface, and a cement tank speed control interface.

[0035] The vehicle controller is communicatively connected to the cement hopper controller; the vehicle controller is used to collect vehicle information and send the CAN signal to the cement hopper controller.

[0036] Specifically, the vehicle controller includes a cement hopper control service module, which, after successful power-on, continues to execute the user's control commands and requests the cement hopper controller to execute operating mode and speed control instructions.

[0037] A cement silo controller, which is used to execute the CAN signal.

[0038] The vehicle gateway includes a cement tank high-voltage power-on interface, a cement tank working mode interface, and a cement tank speed control interface. When a user connects to the vehicle via the remote control terminal and obtains the vehicle's current status, if they want to control the vehicle's cement tank, they need to operate the vehicle's high-voltage power-on on the remote control terminal, that is, to perform a high-voltage operation on the vehicle through the cement tank high-voltage power-on interface. Specifically, the high-voltage power-on request, i.e., the high-voltage power-on control command, is uploaded to the cloud server via the remote control terminal. The cloud server then sends the command to the gateway, which in turn transmits it to the vehicle controller. The vehicle controller then performs the high-voltage operation on the vehicle and cement tank. After the operation is completed, it sends back relevant status information and back to the remote control terminal, indicating successful operation to the user. The user then operates the cement tank's working mode, such as feeding, discharging, or stopping. The operation of the cement tank's working mode is similar to the high-voltage power-on operation. The remote control terminal calls the cement tank's working mode interface to upload the control command for the working mode to the vehicle controller. The vehicle controller then controls the cement tank controller to execute the command and sends the execution result back to the remote control terminal. Later, when the user intends to manipulate the tank's rotation speed in different working modes, the remote control terminal transmits the control command to the vehicle controller for execution through the cement tank speed control interface. Since the process of cement tank speed control is the same as that of high-voltage power-on control, it will not be described in detail here.

[0039] It should be noted that the remote control terminal communicates with the cloud server via Ethernet, the cloud server communicates with the vehicle gateway via Ethernet, while the vehicle gateway communicates with the vehicle controller, and the vehicle controller communicates with the cement hopper controller via CAN. Therefore, before transmitting control commands to the vehicle controller, the vehicle gateway needs to perform signal conversion, i.e., convert to CAN communication. In the process of feeding back the relevant execution results to the remote control terminal, the vehicle gateway also needs to perform SOME / IP conversion, that is, convert to Ethernet for transmission.

[0040] In existing CAN communication methods, CAN communication is used between the gateway and the controller on the controlling side, and also between the gateway and the controller on the vehicle. The gateway acts as an intermediary for information pass-through. In this embodiment of the invention, based on a service-oriented communication design, the gateway can release the necessary communication information interfaces for any controller to call. The gateway sends relevant control commands to the controller on the vehicle. Because the information interaction between the gateway and the controller on the vehicle remains unchanged, the execution of control commands is not affected. This greatly reduces the iteration and management difficulty of related control software versions, and also releases the vehicle's expansion capabilities. For vehicles based on the service-oriented design, if there are new controller control requirements, only the new controller needs to have Ethernet interaction capabilities and call the relevant vehicle control interfaces to realize the relevant control of the vehicle's tank.

[0041] This invention also provides a method for controlling the tank of a cement tanker truck, the method being based on the system described in the above embodiments, such as... Figure 2 As shown, the method includes:

[0042] 201. Connect the remote control terminal to the vehicle. After obtaining the vehicle information, send the cement hopper control command to the vehicle gateway through the cloud server. The vehicle gateway includes a service interface. The service interface includes a cement hopper high-voltage power-on interface, a cement hopper working mode interface, and a cement hopper speed control interface.

[0043] 202. Send a high-voltage power-on request for the cement hopper to the vehicle controller through the vehicle gateway and wait for the return of execution information. After receiving the high-voltage power-on information from the cement hopper controller sent by the vehicle controller, send a cement hopper working mode request and a cement hopper speed control request to the vehicle controller through the vehicle gateway.

[0044] In one possible implementation, sending a high-voltage power-on request for the cement tank to the vehicle controller via the vehicle gateway includes:

[0045] The high-voltage power-on request of the cement tank is converted into a CAN signal and sent to the vehicle controller.

[0046] In one possible implementation, the step of sending the cement hopper operating mode request and the cement hopper speed control request to the vehicle controller via the vehicle gateway includes:

[0047] The cement hopper operating mode request and the cement hopper speed control request are converted into CAN signals and then sent to the vehicle controller.

[0048] Specifically, before transmitting control commands to the vehicle controller, the vehicle gateway first converts the command information into CAN communication.

[0049] The cement silo speed control includes the acceleration and deceleration of the silo and the target rotation speed. The high-voltage power-on request is used to realize the high-voltage power-on and power-off of the cement silo.

[0050] 203. After the cement silo controller returns the execution result to the vehicle controller, the execution result is fed back to the remote control terminal through the vehicle gateway and the cloud server in sequence.

[0051] Specifically, when a user wants to control the cement hopper via their mobile phone, they can perform related control operations through a mobile app. First, the mobile app connects to the vehicle, obtaining the vehicle's VIN and other identification information. Then, the user operates the mobile app to control the cement hopper's operation. At this point, the app uploads control commands to the cloud server. The cloud server retrieves the relevant commands, queries the VIN of the vehicle to be controlled, matches it, and then invokes a remote cement hopper control request to remotely control the vehicle, issuing relevant control commands such as cement hopper high-voltage power-on requests, cement hopper operating mode requests, and cement hopper speed control requests. Here, the cement hopper speed refers to the target rotational speed of the hopper. After the commands are issued, the gateway converts the relevant request commands into CAN communication and transmits them to the vehicle controller. The vehicle controller executes the control logic and then sends the final command to the cement hopper controller for execution. The cement hopper controller feeds back the execution result to the vehicle controller and the gateway. The gateway, based on the execution result, transmits the execution feedback response to the cloud server. The cloud server receives the execution feedback and transmits it to the mobile app. After receiving the feedback, the mobile app displays the execution result to the user. It should be noted that this explanation only uses a mobile app as an example. Implementers may also choose other remote control terminals. The comparison of the embodiments of this invention does not impose any specific limitations.

[0052] In one possible implementation, if multiple remote control terminals call the service interface to control the tank, the service interface is called sequentially to control the tank according to the order of the calls.

[0053] Specifically, since the service interface can be called by different demand sources, i.e., remote control terminals, it must follow the logic of sequential execution, that is, the control interface is called in the order in which the command is received to control the tank.

[0054] In one possible implementation, if both the remote control terminal and the local control terminal control the tank, the working mode and speed of the cement tank are controlled according to the principle of last-to-first; the speed of the cement tank is the target rotational speed of the tank.

[0055] Specifically, controlling the cement silo involves logical arbitration between local and remote control. For example, when controlling the cement silo's operating mode and speed via a mobile app, the driver performs local control operations, or the mobile app controls the silo while the driver performs local operations. This embodiment of the invention adopts a principle of "last-come, first-served" for local and remote control.

[0056] When a user wants to control the tank body via a mobile app, there are several scenarios regarding the vehicle's status. For example, when the mobile app controls the tank body, the vehicle may be under high voltage and needs to be powered off. Alternatively, the mobile app may be controlling the tank body, but the vehicle may be de-energized and needs to be powered on to meet the tank control requirements.

[0057] In one possible implementation, after the vehicle is powered on, the tank is driven according to the set working mode and speed; when the vehicle is powered off, the current working mode of the cement tank is stopped and the rotation of the tank is stopped.

[0058] Specifically, after the vehicle is powered on with high voltage, the set operating mode and speed are executed. Operating modes include, but are not limited to, stop, feeding, discharging, and paving modes. Speeds include, but are not limited to, acceleration, deceleration, low speed, high speed, or speeds set by the user. It should be noted that acceleration and deceleration here refer to increases or decreases in speed compared to the previous moment, and low speed and high speed can be set by the user. All speeds here refer to rotational speed. The purpose of stopping the current operating mode and stopping the tank rotation when the high voltage is de-energized is to protect the lifespan of the vehicle's high-voltage relay and ensure vehicle safety.

[0059] After the vehicle completes remote control of the cement silo, or in the event of an unexpected interruption during the control process, it is necessary to power off the entire vehicle and the silo.

[0060] For new energy vehicles, the high-voltage circuits of the entire vehicle are distributed in a spider web pattern. If any high-voltage circuit has a problem, the entire vehicle will report an insulation fault to protect the vehicle and the safety of the occupants. This means that if an insulation problem occurs in a non-critical component, either the entire vehicle must be powered off and wait for repair, or the faulty high-voltage branch must be actively disconnected to restore the insulation resistance of the entire vehicle. However, actively disconnecting the faulty high-voltage branch is unsafe and requires repair personnel with professional knowledge. Powering off the entire vehicle and waiting for repair will cause a "lockdown," resulting in economic losses for the relevant personnel.

[0061] When a non-superstructure malfunction occurs in a new energy vehicle, the remote high-voltage power-on function is executed. The vehicle receives a high-voltage power-on request from the cloud server and performs an abnormal high-voltage power-on process for the superstructure. This means that only the necessary high-voltage relays required for high-voltage power-on of the superstructure circuit are closed, while other electrical appliances and relays remain open. This minimizes the risk of superstructure malfunctions caused by other circuit problems, prevents cement tanks from becoming "stuck," ensures the normal operation of the superstructure tank as much as possible, reduces the user's economic losses, protects personnel safety, and improves the problem handling response rate.

[0062] In the above embodiments, a service-oriented interface is built into the vehicle gateway, forming a unified interface that can be called and controlled by a mobile APP and other control parties. Through service-oriented communication design, remote control of the cement hopper and multiple controllers is achieved. Even if a new control party needs to be added, it is not necessary to upgrade the software of all related controllers, reducing the development costs and management difficulty for automakers. Furthermore, Ethernet communication is used between the remote control terminal and the cloud server, and between the cloud server and the vehicle gateway, thereby improving the transmission rate.

[0063] This invention also provides a vehicle, including the cement tanker tank control system described in the above system embodiments.

[0064] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention should be covered within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A control system for a cement tanker truck, characterized in that, include: The remote control terminal communicates with the cloud server via Ethernet to obtain vehicle information sent by the cloud server and to send cement hopper control commands to the cloud server. A cloud server communicates with the vehicle gateway via Ethernet. The cloud server is used to obtain vehicle information sent by the vehicle gateway and to receive control commands sent by the remote control terminal and send them to the vehicle gateway. The control commands include a cement tank high-pressure power-on request, a cement tank working mode request, and a cement tank speed control request. A vehicle gateway, which is communicatively connected to the vehicle controller, is used to acquire vehicle information collected by the vehicle controller and to convert the control commands into CAN signals and send them to the vehicle controller; wherein, the vehicle gateway includes a service interface; the CAN signal is a cement tank control signal; The vehicle controller is communicatively connected to the cement silo controller; the vehicle controller is used to collect vehicle information and send the CAN signal to the cement silo controller. A cement silo controller, which is used to execute the CAN signal.

2. The cement tanker transport vehicle tank control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The service interfaces include a cement silo high-voltage power-on interface, a cement silo working mode interface, and a cement silo speed control interface.

3. The cement tanker transport vehicle tank control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The remote control terminals are multiple; the remote control terminals include, but are not limited to, mobile APP, cloud platform, and autonomous driving controller.

4. A method for controlling the tank body of a cement tanker truck, characterized in that, The method is based on the system according to any one of claims 1-3, and the method includes: The remote control terminal is connected to the vehicle. After obtaining the vehicle information, the control command for the cement hopper is sent to the vehicle gateway through the cloud server. The vehicle gateway includes a service interface. The service interface includes a cement hopper high-voltage power-on interface, a cement hopper working mode interface, and a cement hopper speed control interface. The vehicle gateway sends a high-voltage power-on request for the cement tank to the vehicle controller and waits for the return of execution information. After receiving the high-voltage power-on information from the cement tank controller sent by the vehicle controller, the vehicle gateway sends a cement tank working mode request and a cement tank speed control request to the vehicle controller. After the cement silo controller returns the execution result to the vehicle controller, the execution result is fed back to the remote control terminal through the vehicle gateway and the cloud server in sequence.

5. The method for controlling the tank body of a cement tanker truck according to claim 4, characterized in that, The step of sending a high-voltage power-on request for the cement tank to the vehicle controller via the vehicle gateway includes: The high-voltage power-on request of the cement tank is converted into a CAN signal and sent to the vehicle controller.

6. The method for controlling the tank body of a cement tanker truck according to claim 4, characterized in that, The step of sending cement hopper operating mode requests and cement hopper speed control requests to the vehicle controller through the vehicle gateway includes: The cement hopper operating mode request and the cement hopper speed control request are converted into CAN signals and then sent to the vehicle controller.

7. The method for controlling the tank body of a cement tanker truck according to claim 4, characterized in that, If both the remote control terminal and the local control terminal control the tank, the working mode and speed of the cement tank are controlled according to the principle of last-in priority; the speed of the cement tank is the target rotational speed of the tank.

8. The method for controlling the tank body of a cement tanker truck according to claim 4, characterized in that, If multiple remote control terminals call the service interface to control the tank, the service interface will be called sequentially according to the order of the calls to control the tank.

9. The method for controlling the tank body of a cement tanker truck according to claim 4, characterized in that, After the vehicle is powered on, the tank is driven according to the set working mode and speed; when the vehicle is powered off, the current working mode of the cement tank is stopped and the tank rotation is stopped.

10. A vehicle, characterized in that, Includes the cement tanker tank control system as described in any one of claims 1-3.

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