Determination and provision of information relating to a motor vehicle battery

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for determining and providing information about a motor vehicle battery (200). The invention also relates to a computer device (100) implementing such a method. Figure for the abstract: 1

Description

Title of the invention: Determining and providing information relating to a battery of a motor vehicle Technical field of the invention

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of computerized systems for facilitating the monitoring and use of batteries in electric vehicles. The invention relates in particular to a method for determining and providing information relating to a battery of a motor vehicle by means of a computer device. The invention further relates to a computer device implementing such a method. The invention applies to all types of electric vehicles, in particular cars. State of the prior art

[0002] It is known that more and more consumers prefer electric vehicles. It is also known that the lifespan of the batteries of these vehicles is influenced by certain factors, in particular the outside temperature, the charging habits of users (e.g. charging to 20% remaining charge, complete discharge, incomplete charge, etc.), the implementation of maintenance operations and the specificities of charges (e.g. type of current, type of charging station). However, until now, no solution exists to be able to gather and take into account all these factors in order to determine and provide in real time information capable of providing relevant information about the lifespan of a battery of an electric vehicle, and this, in a way that makes it possible to certify the authenticity of such information.From this perspective, the ergonomics of electric vehicles remains deficient due to the inability to provide users with relevant information about battery life in a certified manner. In addition, research and development tasks carried out by car manufacturers and battery manufacturers are hampered by the lack of information on factors that significantly influence battery life. Summary of the invention

[0003] The invention aims to overcome these drawbacks. The invention aims to provide a solution for determining and providing relevant information in real time about the lifespan of a battery on board a motor vehicle, in a way that makes it easy to check and certify the authenticity of the information provided. In this way, the invention aims to improve the relevance, ease of access and authentication of information made available concerning the lifespan of a battery of a motor vehicle, thereby contributing to better ergonomics of electric vehicles and facilitating research and development tasks implemented by car manufacturers and battery manufacturers.

[0004] In order to achieve these aims, the invention relates, according to a first aspect, to a method for determining and providing information relating to a battery of a motor vehicle by means of a computer device, the method comprising the steps of: i. obtain data characterizing a current location of the vehicle and a charging habit of a vehicle user; ii. obtain data characterizing a vehicle maintenance operation; and iii. obtain data characterizing a specificity of a load; iv. record the data obtained in steps i) to iii) and / or metadata generated therefrom in a blockchain; and v. determining, from the data received during steps i) to iii), at least data characterizing at least one estimate of the battery life.

[0005] According to a variant, step v) may comprise a step consisting of determining data characterizing personalized content.

[0006] According to another variant, step i) may comprise a step consisting of determining data characterizing a temperature value as a function of the current location.

[0007] According to yet another variant, the specificity of a load can define a type of charging terminal, a power delivered or a type of electric current.

[0008] According to a second aspect, the invention relates to a device for determining and providing information relating to a battery of a motor vehicle, said device comprising at least one information processing unit, comprising at least one processor, and a data storage medium, which are configured to implement a method as described above.

[0009] According to one variant, the device may be hosted within a cloud computing infrastructure.

[0010] According to a third aspect, the invention relates to a computer program comprising program code instructions for executing the steps of a method as described above when said program is executed by at least one processor.

[0011] According to a fourth aspect, the invention relates to a medium usable in a computer on which a program as described above is recorded. Brief description of the drawings

[0012] Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on examining the detailed description below, and the appended drawings, in which:

[0013] [Fig-1] is a diagram illustrating the context of the invention;

[0014] [Fig.2] is a functional diagram of a device according to the invention;

[0015] [Fig.3] is a diagram illustrating the steps of a method according to the invention. Detailed description of the invention

[0016] [Fig. 1] schematically illustrates the context of the invention. It shows in particular a device 100 for determining and providing information relating to a battery of a motor vehicle 200 within the meaning of the present invention, which advantageously interacts with a blockchain 300 and which advantageously implements a method for determining and providing information relating to a battery of a motor vehicle, as briefly summarized below and described in detail below.

[0017] For this, the device 100 according to the invention is preferably hosted within a cloud computing infrastructure, with which the vehicle 200 communicates by means of conventional communication networks and protocols, which comprises a monitoring system 201 interacting at least with an on-board charger 202 and with a navigation system 203 of the vehicle, a maintenance operations management system 400 hosted within an IT infrastructure of a garage or car dealership and a charge management system 500 hosted within an IT infrastructure of a company or organization which manages a network of charging stations.

[0018] When implementing the method, the device 100 according to the invention gathers data that relate to aspects that influence the lifespan of a battery of a motor vehicle (outside temperature, charging habits, maintenance) that are generated by the systems mentioned above. This gathered data is used to estimate the overall or remaining lifespan of the battery of the vehicle 200 using artificial intelligence, as well as personalized content intended for a user of the vehicle. Advantageously, the device 100 according to the invention records the data obtained and / or metadata generated therefrom in the blockchain 300 so that it can be acquired and processed by entities interested in obtaining it (e.g., car manufacturers, battery manufacturers, users).Personalized content related to battery usage may be provided to a vehicle user, for example, via a wireless communication device 600 that the user possesses. In this way, the invention significantly improves the ease of access, relevance, and authentication of information relating to a battery of a motor vehicle. It is also by this . The invention improves the ergonomics of electric vehicles and facilitates research and development tasks carried out by car manufacturers and battery manufacturers.

[0019] The device 100 for determining and providing information relating to a battery of a motor vehicle according to the invention is illustrated in more detail in [Fig. 2]. It is fundamentally a computer device, for example a server, which comprises at least one information processing unit 101, with one or more processors, a data storage medium 102, on which is recorded in particular a program which comprises program code instructions for executing the steps of the method according to the invention described below, and an input and output interface 103 allowing the reception and transmission of data.Advantageously, these materials are configured to execute in particular an artificial intelligence module 104, which uses for example an artificial neural network 105 trained to establish at least one estimate of the overall or remaining lifespan of a battery as a function of external temperatures, charging habits of a user, the implementation of maintenance operations and specific charging characteristics.

[0020] Preferably, the device 100 according to the invention is hosted within a cloud computing infrastructure, to which the vehicle 200 (via an on-board radiofrequency signal communication system), the maintenance operations management system 400 and the charging management system 500 can connect, and it interacts with the blockchain 300 by means of the Internet network. The blockchain 300, for its part, comprises all the characteristics and configurations of a conventional blockchain in order to allow the storage of data and the authentication thereof. Thus, it is conventionally shared between several remote communicating entities connected by means of a peer-to-peer network.

[0021] According to the invention, all the elements described above contribute to enabling the implementation of a method for determining and providing information relating to a battery of a motor vehicle, as described below in connection with [Fig.3]

[0022] [Fig. 3] illustrates by means of a diagram the steps of the method according to the invention. According to a first step 701 of the method according to the invention, the device 100 according to the invention obtains data characterizing a current location of the vehicle and a charging habit of a user of the vehicle (e.g. charging to 20% remaining charge, extreme discharge, charging to less than 100%, etc.). To do this, the device 100 according to the invention can for example transmit a request to obtain this data to the monitoring system 201 of the vehicle 200 and the latter transmits in response the current location of the vehicle 200, which it determines by interacting with the navigation system 203, and a charging habit of a user of the vehicle, which it determines by interacting with the on-board charger 202. Alternatively, it is common nowadays for vehicles to be configured to “upload data”, i.e. regularly transmit data to a cloud computing infrastructure, for example to allow remote updating of components or functionalities. Thus, according to an alternative, the monitoring system 201 of the vehicle 200 is immediately configured to transmit the current location and a charging habit of a user to a communicating entity of the cloud computing infrastructure which hosts the device 100 according to the invention.

[0023] Advantageously, the device 100 according to the invention uses the current location of the vehicle to determine data characterizing at least one value of the air temperature in the environment in which the vehicle 200 is moving, for example by interacting to do this with a supplier of meteorological and / or climatic data (not shown). At this stage, the device 100 according to the invention has therefore advantageously obtained data which makes it possible to establish a first factor which significantly influences the lifespan of a battery of an electric vehicle.

[0024] Then, according to a second step 702 of the method according to the invention, the device 100 according to the invention obtains data characterizing a maintenance operation of the vehicle. As in the previous step, it is either the device 100 according to the invention which transmits a request to obtain this data, which provides information on the maintenance operations carried out on the vehicle 200, to the maintenance operations management system 400, or it is the latter which periodically sends such data to the cloud in which the device 100 according to the invention is hosted. Thus, at this stage of the implementation of the method, the device 100 according to the invention advantageously has data which provides information on a second factor which significantly influences the lifespan of a battery.

[0025] Then, according to a third step 703 of the method according to the invention, the device 100 according to the invention obtains data characterizing a specificity of a load. As in the two previous steps, it is either the device 100 according to the invention which transmits a request to obtain this data, which, for example, defines a type of charging station used, a power delivered by a charging station or a type of electric current, to the load management system 500, or it is the latter which sends such data to the cloud in which the device 100 according to the invention is hosted. Thus, at this stage of the implementation of the method, the device 100 according to the invention advantageously has data which provides information on a third factor which significantly influences the lifespan of a battery.

[0026] Then, according to a fourth step 704 of the method according to the invention, the device 100 according to the invention records the data obtained during the preceding steps and / or metadata generated from them in the blockchain 300. Thus, at the end of this fourth step of the method, such data can advantageously be acquired by various entities interested in obtaining them (e.g. car manufacturers, battery manufacturers, users), and this, in a way which makes it possible to easily control and certify the authenticity of the information provided, with a view, in particular, to using these data for the accomplishment of research and development tasks.

[0027] Finally, according to a fifth and final step 705 of the method according to the invention, the device 100 according to the invention determines, from the data received during the first three steps, at least data characterizing at least one estimate of the battery life. To do this, the device 100 according to the invention feeds the artificial neural network 105 of its artificial intelligence module 104 with the previously obtained data, and the latter produces, as a function of this data, an estimate of the battery life of the vehicle 200. According to an advantageous alternative, the device 100 according to the invention then proceeds by determining personalized content related to the battery life and / or use (e.g. advice for a better battery life established according to charging habits, rewards for good use, end-of-life alerts, etc.), which it transmits to the user's portable communication device 600, for example by accessing correspondence coordinates recorded in a user profile based on an identifier of the vehicle 200.

[0028] Thus, thanks to the method and the device according to the invention described above, it is possible to determine and provide in real time relevant information about the lifespan of a battery on board a motor vehicle, and this, in a way which makes it possible to easily check and certify the authenticity of the information provided. Thanks to these means, the invention improves the relevance, ease of access and authentication of information made available concerning the lifespan of a battery of a motor vehicle, thus contributing to better ergonomics of electric vehicles and facilitating certain research and development tasks carried out by car manufacturers and battery manufacturers.

Claims

Claims

1. Method for determining and providing information relating to a battery of a motor vehicle (200) by means of a computing device (100), characterized in that the method comprises the steps of: i. obtaining data characterizing a current location of the vehicle and a charging habit of a user of the vehicle; ii. obtaining data characterizing a maintenance operation of the vehicle; iii. obtaining data characterizing a specificity of a charge; iv. recording the data obtained during steps i) to iii) and / or metadata generated therefrom in a blockchain (300); and v. determining, from the data received during steps i) to iii), at least data characterizing at least one estimate of the battery life.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that step v) comprises a step consisting of determining data characterizing personalized content.

3. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that step i) comprises a step consisting of determining data characterizing a temperature value as a function of the current location.

4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the specificity of a load defines a type of charging station, a power delivered or a type of electric current.

5. Device (100) for determining and providing information relating to a battery of a motor vehicle (200), characterized in that the device comprises at least one information processing unit (101), comprising at least one processor, and a data storage medium (102), which are configured to implement a method according to any one of the preceding claims.

6. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that it is hosted

7. within a cloud computing infrastructure. A computer program comprising program code instructions for performing the steps of a method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 when said program is

8. executed by at least one processor. Support usable in a computer, characterized in that a program according to claim 7 is recorded therein.

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