MOTOR VEHICLE COMPRISING AN INDUCTION CHARGING COIL AND A VEHICLE LEVELING SYSTEM, PROCESS AND PROGRAMMING BASED ON SUCH A VEHICLE

Abstract

The invention relates to a motor vehicle configured to move on a running surface (S) equipped with primary charging coils. The motor vehicle comprises: - a traction battery; - at least one secondary charging coil connected to the traction battery, located on an underside of the motor vehicle with reference to the vertical axis; - wheels (R) equipped with suspensions; - a suspension control means (MP); - a charge control means evaluating at least one inductive coupling factor (k) relative to the coils, and in the event of variations in said factor, the control means (MP) controls the suspensions so as to correct the vehicle's attitude accordingly. The invention also relates to a method and a program based on such a vehicle. Figure 7

Description

Title of the invention: MOTOR VEHICLE COMPRISING AN INDUCTION RECHARGING COIL AND A VEHICLE LEVEL CORRECTION SYSTEM, METHOD AND PROGRAM BASED ON SUCH A SYSTEM VEHICLE

[0001] The invention relates to the field of systems for recharging motor vehicle batteries, in particular a system for recharging using primary coils integrated into the roadway, coupled to at least one secondary coil fixed to the vehicle.

[0002] The invention relates more particularly to the positioning of the secondary coil during rolling.

[0003] Electric vehicles, like hybrid electric vehicles, need to recharge their batteries to increase their range. Many charging systems are being implemented, such as charging stations, charging robots, or electrified roads with coils integrated into the road surface. The most common case currently involves a charging station where the vehicle is connected to an electrical network, but the vehicle must remain stationary for this purpose.

[0004] An alternative to this charging station is the inductive charging illustrated in [Fig. 1]. It allows the vehicle to be recharged while moving on a rolling support S such as a roadway. For this, an inductive charging system is, in part, integrated into the roadway S. It is composed of two coils, one of which, called the “primary” coil B1, is integrated into the roadway S, and the other, called the “secondary” coil B2, is fixed under the vehicle or under a trailer.

[0005] When the secondary coils B2 are opposite the primary coils Bl installed in the road S, the inductive charging system delivers a magnetic field M. The interaction between these two coils Bl, B2 generates a current making it possible to recharge a traction battery of the motor vehicle.

[0006] However, the angular misalignment of the secondary coil B2, and therefore of the car, by its rolling and / or pitching relative to the road, leads to a drop in the energy sent to the battery because the charge factor decreases. [Fig.2] shows the influence of both the misalignment (horizontal part of the figure) and the vertical gap (vertical part of the figure) between the primary coil and the secondary coil. This illustrates the drop in the coupling factor k. This [Fig.2] is taken from a report by DESDOUS Lotfi and LECHEHEB Abderrahime entitled “Multi-coil inductive coupling: application to the transfer of contactless electrical energy”.

[0007] On the same principle, the angular misalignment of the secondary coil B2 and the primary coil B1 also causes a change in the coupling factor k. [Fig. 3] illustrates the effect of an angle 0 of angular misalignment on the coupling factor k. This misalignment 0 reveals an asymmetry in the coupling factor k which causes a drop in mutual inductance and therefore in recharging. This asymmetry effect caused by the misalignment increases with the distance between the primary coil B1 and the secondary coil B2. This [Fig. 3] is taken from the publication entitled “Energy transmission by inductive coupling. Applications to integrated biomedical sensors” by BETTAIEB et al.

[0008] The rolling and / or pitching of the car caused by the deformation of the road and / or the movements of the body generate variations in the coupling factor k and therefore variations in the charging power. It should be remembered that the secondary coil B2 is preferably fixed to the body rigidly (without independent movements).

[0009] Under these circumstances, the recharge function may not be fully satisfied. [Fig.3] shows the evolution of the coupling factor k as a function of the angular misalignment and the gap between the primary and secondary coils (dl being a distance corresponding to the closest position, and d4 to the most distant position).

[0010] An objective of the present invention is to remedy the defects of the prior art, and in particular to propose a solution for limiting the effects of angular misalignments, and maintaining the vehicle's attitude to optimize the dynamic induction recharging of the traction battery of the motor vehicle.

[0011] To achieve this objective, the invention proposes a motor vehicle in a spatial reference frame comprising a longitudinal axis along a direction of movement of the motor vehicle; a lateral axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, and a vertical axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and to the lateral axis, the motor vehicle being configured to move on a rolling support equipped with primary recharging coils, the motor vehicle comprising: - a traction battery; - at least one secondary charging coil connected to the traction battery, said secondary charging coil being arranged on a lower face of the motor vehicle with reference to the vertical axis; - wheels equipped with suspensions; - a means of controlling the suspensions and / or steering; - a charge control means connected to said secondary charging coil, the control means evaluating at least one inductive coupling factor relating to the coupling of said secondary charging coil to the primary charging coils, the control means detecting variations in said inductive coupling factor relating to variations in the vehicle's attitude, and the control means controls the suspensions and / or the steering so as to correct the attitude and / or the steering of the vehicle accordingly.

[0012] Advantageously, the invention makes it possible to correct the attitude of the vehicle and to maintain the alignment of the secondary coil with the primary coil, to improve the efficiency of induction charging.

[0013] In particular, the invention can be implemented dynamically, that is to say while driving, and also while stationary when the motor vehicle is stationary. Thus, the control means is configured to modify the attitude when the vehicle is stationary (vehicle on standby or not).

[0014] According to a variant, the control means evaluates a coupling factor with reference to the vertical axis and to the lateral axis, and the control means controls the suspensions so as to correct the attitude of the vehicle accordingly vertically with reference to the vertical axis and / or the direction laterally with reference to the lateral axis.

[0015] This allows the attitude to be corrected laterally.

[0016] According to a variant, the control means evaluates a coupling factor with reference to the vertical axis and to the longitudinal axis, and the control means controls the suspensions so as to correct the attitude of the vehicle accordingly longitudinally with reference to the longitudinal axis.

[0017] This allows the longitudinal trim to be corrected.

[0018] According to a variant, the motor vehicle comprises suspensions on front right, front left, rear right and / or rear left wheels, with reference to the longitudinal axis and the lateral axis, at least one suspension being controlled by the control means.

[0019] This makes it easy to control the correction of the vehicle's attitude.

[0020] According to a variant, the control means controls the suspensions of the right and left wheels with reference to the lateral axis, to correct the attitude laterally.

[0021] This allows the attitude to be corrected laterally from the right or left side.

[0022] According to a variant, the control means controls the suspensions of the front and rear wheels with reference to the longitudinal axis, to correct the attitude longitudinally.

[0023] This allows the longitudinal attitude to be corrected from the front or rear side.

[0024] According to one variant, the motor vehicle further comprises: - at least one means for detecting angular alignment of the primary and secondary coils; - at least one means of obstacle detection on the rolling support; - at least one means for detecting deformation of the rolling support, said detection means being connected to the control means.

[0025] This makes it possible to detect external organs influencing the orientation of the coil. secondary.

[0026] According to a variant, the motor vehicle further comprises a means for predicting the movement of the body of the vehicle, connected to the control means.

[0027] This makes it possible to anticipate changes in the orientation of the secondary coil.

[0028] The invention further relates to a method for controlling the attitude of a motor vehicle according to the invention, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: - a charge control step for evaluating at least one inductive coupling factor relating to the coupling of said secondary charging coil to the primary charging coils, and detecting variations in said inductive coupling factor linked to variations in the vehicle's attitude; - a steering step to control the suspensions and / or steering so as to correct the vehicle's attitude and / or direction accordingly.

[0029] Another object of the invention relates to a computer program comprising program code instructions for executing the steps of the control method according to the invention, when said program operates on a computer.

[0030] The invention will be further detailed by the description of non-limiting embodiments, and on the basis of the appended figures illustrating variants of the invention, in which: - [Fig.l] schematically illustrates a front view of an induction charging system in which the invention can be implemented; - [Fig.2] schematically illustrates the evolution of the inductive coupling factor as a function of the vertical distance of two aligned coils, and the lateral offset of two coils; - [Fig.3] schematically illustrates changes in coupling factors as a function of coil distances and an angular misalignment angle 0 of the coils; - [Fig.4] schematically illustrates a front view of a vehicle on its rolling support in the rest position and in the lateral pitching position, and the corresponding suspension controls; - [Fig.5] schematically illustrates a side view of a vehicle on its rolling support in the forward pitching position, and corresponding suspension controls; - [Fig.6] schematically illustrates a front view of a vehicle on its rolling support in a laterally offset position, and of the corresponding steering controls; and - [Fig.7] schematically illustrates a control method according to the invention.

[0031] The invention relates to a system for recharging a motor vehicle battery by means of primary coils B1 integrated into the roadway S, coupled to at least one secondary coil B2 fixed to the vehicle. The vehicle may be electric or hybrid re- chargeable.

[0032] The invention relates more particularly to the positioning of the secondary coil B2 during rolling.

[0033] It is desired to limit the energy loss due to angular misalignments between the primary coils B1 and said secondary coil B2 during the inductive dynamic load. For this, the detection of the drop in load efficiency (variation, for example drop in the coupling factor k) causes an action on the control of the front SA, rear SP, right SD and / or left SG suspensions of the body on which the secondary coil B2 is fixed, to return to maximum efficiency and load power for a given roll and / or pitch. Roll is defined as a rotation around a central axis of the vehicle parallel to the longitudinal axis X, and pitch, around a transverse axis parallel to the lateral axis Y.

[0034] The problem of angular misalignments essentially causes a loss of efficiency during dynamic recharging, and therefore a loss of energy that we wish to limit by actively acting on the vehicle's attitude. For this, the detection of the drop in charging efficiency (via the coupling factor k) leads to an action on the control of the suspensions SA, SP, SD, SG, to return to maximum efficiency and charging power.

[0035] If an obstacle is detected, the SA, SP, SD, SG suspensions can be adjusted to overcome the obstacle while optimizing the load.

[0036] A vehicle without controlled suspensions, but still equipped with a fixed secondary coil B2 dedicated to inductive charging, will not be able to maintain its charge at the optimum in the case of angular misalignment.

[0037] Being able to measure this loss linked to the deformation of the road surface and / or to body movements while making it possible to compensate for these disturbances thanks to the active control of the SA, SP, SD, SG suspensions minimizes misalignment and maximizes the inductive dynamic load. This results in a leveling corrector system based on the measurement of the coupling factor k.

[0038] The fact of being able to automatically limit the angular misalignments of the secondary coil B2 with respect to the primary coil B1 allows the vehicle, carrying this secondary coil B2 alone and without any action by the driver on the vehicle, to maintain optimal dynamic recharging. It is optimal in the sense that the two coils (primary B1 and secondary B2) are coplanar to maximize recharging. This coplanarity between the secondary coil B2 and the primary coil B1, limiting the angular misalignments, is obtained by controlling the suspensions SA, SP, SD, SG of the vehicle.

[0039] The angle adjustment is obtained by an “automatic” action controlled by the SA, SP, SD, SG suspension system of the vehicle, allowing independent action pending on each wheel R to limit angular misalignments between the secondary coil B2 relative to the primary coil Bl. This means that the vehicle must be equipped with controllable suspension for each wheel R.

[0040] In addition to coplanarity, lateral centering is performed to align the coils B1 and B2 as the vehicle moves forward on the road. For this purpose, the control module MP controls the steering, for example by means of a yaw acting on the steering wheel, so as to correct the direction of the vehicle and center the coils B1, B2.

[0041] A dynamic inductive load monitoring system (or MC control means) provides the major advantage of maintaining an optimal inductive dynamic load despite road disturbances or body movements. These disturbances cause angular misalignments and possibly gaps between the secondary coil B2 (fixed to the vehicle) and the primary coil Bl (integrated into the road). The regulation system seeks to have a coupling factor k close to 1.

[0042] Maintaining the optimum dynamic induction charging involves controlling the vehicle's suspensions SA, SP, SD, SG to the coupling factor k, for example. In this way, the secondary coil B2 fixed to the vehicle body is maintained in a position where angular misalignments in rolling and / or pitching are minimal to optimize the inductive charging.

[0043] In the present case, what is aimed at is the reduction of angular misalignments linked to rolling and / or pitching (illustrated in figures 4 and 5). If possible, the difference e between k Req=l and k (illustrated in [Fig.7]), is reduced by acting on the controlled suspensions SA, SP, SD, SG of the vehicle. The difference e is taken into account by a regulation module Reg. This makes it possible to adjust the angular misalignments to tend towards coplanarity between the secondary coil B2 installed under the car and that of the primary coil B1 in the road S. These angular adjustments (on the roll and on the pitch) reducing the gap e by means of the suspensions SA, SP, SD, SG controlled by the control means MP, raise the coupling factor k towards its maximum by putting the secondary coil B2 (fixed on the vehicle) in a position as parallel as possible to that of the primary coil B1 which is integrated in the road.

[0044] A Sup supervision module checks the resulting coupling factor k, readjusts the regulation, and so on.

[0045] In order to ensure optimal angular alignments between the primary coil B1 and the secondary coil B2 (action on the roll and on the pitch) to maximize the coupling factor k, several methods are possible and can be combined: - detection of the angular alignments of the coils; - detection of an obstacle on the road; - detection of road deformation; and - prediction of the vehicle body movement.

[0046] The prediction may be based on driving data integrated into a machine learning module.

[0047] The invention further relates to a method and a corresponding control program. The program can be loaded into a controller of the motor vehicle.

Claims

Claims

1. Motor vehicle in a spatial reference frame comprising a longitudinal axis (X) along a direction of movement of the motor vehicle; a lateral axis (Y) perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (X), and a vertical axis (Z) perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (X) and to the lateral axis (Y), the motor vehicle being configured to move on a rolling support (S) equipped with primary charging coils (B1), the motor vehicle comprising: - a traction battery; - at least one secondary charging coil (B2) connected to the traction battery, said secondary charging coil (B2) being arranged on a lower face of the motor vehicle with reference to the vertical axis (Z); - wheels (R) equipped with suspensions (SA, SP, SD, SG); - a means for controlling the suspensions (MP) and / or the steering;- a charge control means (MC) connected to said secondary charging coil (B2), the control means (MC) evaluating at least one inductive coupling factor (k) relating to the coupling of said secondary charging coil (B2) to the primary charging coils (B1), the control means (MC) detecting variations in said inductive coupling factor (k) linked to variations in the vehicle's attitude, and the control means (MP) controlling the suspensions (SA, SP, SD, SG) and / or the steering so as to correct the attitude and / or the steering of the vehicle accordingly.;

2. Motor vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that the control means evaluates a coupling factor (k) with reference to the vertical axis (Z) and to the lateral axis (Y), and the control means (MP) controls the suspensions (SA, SP, SD, SG) so as to correct the attitude of the vehicle accordingly vertically with reference to the vertical axis (Z) and / or the direction laterally with reference to the lateral axis (Y).

3. Motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that the control means (MC) evaluates a coupling factor (k) with reference to the vertical axis (Z) and to the longitudinal axis (X), and the control means (MP) controls the suspensions (SA, SP, SD, SG) so as to correct the attitude of the vehicle accordingly longitudinally with reference to the longitudinal axis (X).

4. Motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising suspensions (SA, SP, SD, SG) on front right, front left, rear right and / or rear left wheels (R), with reference to the longitudinal axis (X) and the lateral axis (Y), at least one suspension (SA, SP, SD, SG) being controlled by the control means (MP).

5. Motor vehicle according to claim 4, characterized in that the control means (MP) controls the suspensions (SD, SG) of the right and left wheels (R) with reference to the lateral axis (Y), to correct the attitude laterally.

6. Motor vehicle according to any one of claims 4 to 5, characterized in that the control means (MP) controls the suspensions (SA, SP) of the front and rear wheels with reference to the longitudinal axis (X), to correct the attitude longitudinally.

7. Motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it further comprises: - at least one means for detecting angular alignment of the primary (B1) and secondary (B2) coils; - at least one means for detecting an obstacle on the rolling support (S); - at least one means for detecting deformation of the rolling support (S), said detection means being connected to the control means (MP).

8. Motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it further comprises means for predicting the movement of the body of the vehicle, connected to the control means (MP).

9. Method for controlling the attitude of a motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: - a load control step for evaluating at least one inductive coupling factor (k) relating to the coupling of said secondary charging coil (B2) to the primary charging coils (B1), and detecting variations in said inductive coupling factor (k) linked to variations in the attitude of the vehicle; - a control step for controlling the suspensions (SA, SP, SD, SG) and / or the steering so as to correct the attitude and / or the steering of the vehicle accordingly.

10. Computer program comprising code instructions program for carrying out the steps of the control method according to claim 9, when said program operates on a computer.

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