Battery remaining amount management system

Abstract

To provide a battery residual amount management system capable of performing power management of all vehicles when a plurality of vehicles travel in tandem.SOLUTION: When a plurality of vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C capable of transmitting and receiving electric power are traveling in tandem, if the remaining battery level of any of the vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C is lower than a reference value, electric power is transmitted from the vehicles having a remaining battery level equal to or higher than the reference value to the vehicles having a remaining battery level lower than the reference value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a battery remaining capacity management system. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, paragraphs 0013-0015 of Patent Document 1 state that "Vehicle 1 is equipped with a platooning ECU 10, a receiving circuit unit 20, a transmitting circuit unit 30, a battery 40, receiving antennas 210, 220, and transmitting antennas 310, 320, and is configured to be able to perform control to enable platooning, in which multiple vehicles 1 travel while maintaining a predetermined distance between each other, as well as power transmission control to transmit power between vehicles." [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-099127 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the above Patent Document 1, for example, the technical idea of ​​managing the remaining charge of a plurality of vehicles traveling in a line is not apparent.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a battery remaining capacity management system that is capable of managing the power of all vehicles when multiple vehicles are traveling in a line. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The battery remaining capacity management system of the present invention is characterized in that when multiple vehicles capable of transmitting and receiving power are traveling in a line, if the remaining battery capacity of any of the vehicles is below a threshold, power is transmitted from a vehicle whose remaining battery capacity is above the threshold to a vehicle whose remaining battery capacity is below the threshold.

[0007] This configuration makes it possible to manage the power of all vehicles when multiple vehicles are traveling in a line, which is advantageous in extending the travel distance in a line as much as possible, such as by leveling the power of all vehicles when the multiple vehicles are traveling in a line.

[0008] The battery remaining capacity management system of the present invention comprises a plurality of vehicles capable of transmitting and receiving power, and a vehicle management device that executes processes for running the plurality of vehicles in a parallel line and for managing the power of the plurality of vehicles.The vehicle management device is characterized by comprising: an information acquisition unit that acquires charging information for all of the vehicles when the plurality of vehicles are running in a parallel line; a judgment unit that judges whether the remaining battery capacity of any of the vehicles is below a predetermined threshold based on the acquired charging information of all the vehicles; and an execution unit that, if the judgment unit makes a positive judgment, transmits power from vehicles whose remaining battery capacity is above the threshold to vehicles whose remaining battery capacity is below the threshold.

[0009] In addition, the vehicle of the present invention is configured to be able to send and receive power to and from other vehicles, and when traveling in a parallel line with the other vehicle, is characterized in that it is equipped with an estimation unit that estimates charging information (including at least the remaining battery power) of the rear vehicle based on driving information of the front vehicle, a determination unit that determines whether the remaining battery power of the front vehicle is less than a predetermined threshold, and an execution unit that transmits power from the rear vehicle to the front vehicle when the determination unit makes a positive determination. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a battery remaining capacity management system that is capable of managing the power of all vehicles when multiple vehicles are traveling in a line. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the vehicle shown in FIG. 2. [Figure 2]1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which a plurality of vehicles are traveling in a line in one embodiment of a battery remaining capacity management system according to the present invention; [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a flowchart used to explain power transmission and reception control. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0013] An embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figures 1 to 3. A battery remaining capacity management system according to the present invention includes a vehicle management device 10 and a plurality of vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C, as shown in Figure 2, for example.

[0014] The vehicle management device 10 performs at least the following processes: a process of implementing parallel driving, in which multiple vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C travel while maintaining a constant distance between each other (also called inter-vehicle distance); and a process of managing the power consumption of the multiple vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C. Since existing technology can be applied to parallel driving, a detailed explanation of this technology will be omitted. The vehicle management device 10 can be installed in any location.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 1, multiple vehicles 1A, 1B, 1C are equipped with control devices 2A, 2B, 2C, receiving circuit units 3A, 3B, 3C, transmitting circuit units 4A, 4B, 4C, batteries 5A, 5B, 5C, first receiving antennas 6A, 6B, 6C, second receiving antennas 7A, 7B, 7C, first transmitting antennas 8A, 8B, 8C, second transmitting antennas 9A, 9B, 9C, etc.

[0016] The control devices 2A, 2B, and 2C are each made up of an ECU (Electronic Control Unit). Although not shown in detail, the ECU includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM (also called memory), a communication I / F, and an input / output I / F, which are communicably connected to each other via a bus.

[0017] These control devices 2A, 2B, 2C perform at least the following processes: obtain various information (driving information, charging information, etc.) received by the receiving circuit units 3A, 3B, 3C, store the obtained information in the memory, and transmit it to the vehicle management device 10; transmit power (power transmission) to other vehicles based on instructions from the vehicle management device 10; receive power (power transmission) from other vehicles based on instructions from the vehicle management device 10; and perform parallel driving in which vehicles drive while maintaining an oncoming distance from other vehicles based on instructions from the vehicle management device 10.

[0018] The receiving circuits 3A, 3B, 3C are configured to enable the vehicles 1A, 1B, 1C to receive electric power from each other via the first receiving antennas 6A, 6B, 6C or the second receiving antennas 7A, 7B, 7C. The electric power received by the receiving circuits 3A, 3B, 3C is stored in the batteries 5A, 5B, 5C.

[0019] The transmitting circuits 4A, 4B, and 4C are configured to enable the vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C to transmit power to each other via the first transmitting antennas 8A, 8B, and 8C or the second transmitting antennas 9A, 9B, and 9C. The power transmitted from the transmitting circuits 4A, 4B, and 4C is supplied from batteries 5A, 5B, and 5C.

[0020] Batteries 5A, 5B, and 5C are power storage means such as lithium ion batteries, etc. In order to determine whether batteries 5A, 5B, and 5C need to be charged or whether power can be transmitted from batteries 5A, 5B, and 5C, the state of charge (SOC) of batteries 5A, 5B, and 5C, that is, the remaining battery capacity, is output to control devices 2A, 2B, and 2C at predetermined intervals.

[0021] The first receiving antennas 6A, 6B, 6C and the second receiving antennas 7A, 7B, 7C are configured to be able to receive power transmitted contactlessly from the first transmitting antennas 8A, 8B, 8C and second transmitting antennas 9A, 9B, 9C of other vehicles.

[0022] The first transmitting antennas 8A, 8B, 8C and the second transmitting antennas 9A, 9B, 9C are configured to be able to transmit power contactlessly to the first receiving antennas 6A, 6B, 6C and the second receiving antennas 7A, 7B, 7C of other vehicles. Note that various existing methods, such as a radio wave method, can be applied as the method of contactless power transmission.

[0023] The first receiving antennas 6A, 6B, 6C and the first transmitting antennas 8A, 8B, 8C are disposed at the front of the vehicles 1A, 1B, 1C.

[0024] The second receiving antennas 7A, 7B, 7C and the second transmitting antennas 9A, 9B, 9C are disposed at the rear of the vehicles 1A, 1B, 1C.

[0025] For example, as shown in Figure 2, when multiple vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C are traveling in a line, the second transmitting antenna 9A and second receiving antenna 7A of the leading vehicle 1A and the first receiving antenna 6B and first transmitting antenna 8B of the middle vehicle 1B are positioned facing each other at a predetermined distance, and the second transmitting antenna 9B and second receiving antenna 7B of the middle vehicle 1B and the first receiving antenna 6C and first transmitting antenna 8C of the last vehicle 1C are positioned facing each other at a predetermined distance.

[0026] This makes it possible for multiple vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C traveling in a line to transmit and receive power contactlessly between the leading vehicle 1A and the middle vehicle 1B, and between the middle vehicle 1B and the trailing vehicle 1C.

[0027] Next, power transmission control when a plurality of vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C are traveling in tandem will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0028] The vehicle management device 10 starts the flowchart shown in Fig. 3 after, for example, causing vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C to travel in a line. First, in step S1, charging information (e.g., charge amount, remaining battery capacity, power consumption, etc.) is obtained from all vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C traveling in a line.

[0029] In the next step S2, it is determined whether there is a vehicle with a low remaining battery charge. Specifically, in this step S2, the remaining battery charge levels are obtained based on the charging information of all vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C obtained in step S1, and it is determined whether the difference between the obtained remaining battery charges is equal to or greater than a predetermined first threshold. In short, here, it is determined whether the difference between the remaining battery charges of all vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C is large. The first threshold is set arbitrarily in advance.

[0030] If the determination in step S2 is negative, the process returns to step S1, whereas if the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step S3, where power transmission is performed.

[0031] In step S3, specifically, the vehicle with a relatively high remaining battery charge transmits power to the vehicle with a relatively low remaining battery charge, and then the process of this flowchart ends.

[0032] The vehicle with a relatively low remaining battery charge can be identified as, for example, a vehicle with a remaining battery charge less than a predetermined second threshold. The vehicle with a relatively high remaining battery charge can be identified as, for example, a vehicle with a remaining battery charge equal to or greater than a second threshold. The second threshold is set arbitrarily in advance.

[0033] In the flowchart executed by the vehicle management device 10, step S1 corresponds to the information acquisition section of the vehicle management device 10, step S2 corresponds to the determination section of the vehicle management device 10, and step S3 corresponds to the execution section of the vehicle management device 10.

[0034] As described above, according to the embodiment to which the present invention is applied, it is possible to manage the power of all of the vehicles 1A to 1C when the vehicles 1A to 1C are traveling in a line. This makes it possible to equalize the power of all of the vehicles 1A to 1C when the vehicles 1A to 1C are traveling in a line, which is advantageous in extending the travel distance in a line as much as possible.

[0035] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the claims and the equivalents thereof.

[0036] In the above embodiment, an example is given in which the vehicle management device 10 is configured to control the processing of parallel driving of multiple vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C and the processing of power management, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0037] For example, in another embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle management device 10 of Figure 2 is eliminated, and the device is configured to perform processes such as performing a process of performing tandem driving in which multiple vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C each maintain a constant distance between themselves and other vehicles (also called inter-vehicle distance), and a process in which multiple vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C each manage the power of the vehicle in front of them.

[0038] In this embodiment, each of the multiple vehicles 1A, 1B, 1C includes an estimation unit (step) that acquires driving information and charging information of its own vehicle and estimates charging information (e.g., charge amount, remaining battery charge, power consumption, etc.) of the vehicle driving ahead based on the driving information, a determination unit (step) that determines whether the remaining battery charge of each of the vehicles ahead is less than (low) a predetermined threshold, and an execution unit (step) that transmits power from the vehicle behind it to the vehicle ahead if the determination in the step is affirmative. The threshold is set arbitrarily in advance.

[0039] In this embodiment, compared to the case where information is sent and received between multiple vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C traveling in a line and a vehicle management device 10 located at a distance from them as in the above embodiment, it is possible to improve reliability, such as reducing the risk of information acquisition loss. [Industrial Applicability]

[0040] The present invention can be suitably used in a battery remaining capacity management system. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] Vehicles 1A, 1B, and 1C 2A,2B,2C control device 3A,3B,3C Receiving circuit section 4A, 4B, 4C Transmitting circuit section 5A,5B,5C battery 6A, 6B, 6C First receiving antenna 7A, 7B, 7C Second receiving antenna 8A, 8B, 8C First transmitting antenna 9A, 9B, 9C Second transmitting antenna 10 Vehicle management device

Claims

[Claim 1] A battery remaining capacity management system characterized in that, when multiple vehicles capable of transmitting and receiving electric power are traveling in a line, if the remaining battery capacity of any of the vehicles is below a threshold, electric power is transmitted from a vehicle whose remaining battery capacity is above the threshold to a vehicle whose remaining battery capacity is below the threshold.

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