Information processing device

Abstract

This provides useful information for battery reuse. [Solution] An information processing device comprising a control unit configured to acquire a diagnostic result regarding battery degradation, determine the value of the battery according to the acquired diagnostic result, and output the determined value of the battery, wherein the diagnostic result includes information regarding the resistance detected when the battery is energized at a predetermined frequency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] An auction system for trading a vehicle body and a battery at an appropriate price has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide information useful for battery reuse.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] One aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus including a control unit configured to execute acquiring a diagnosis result regarding battery degradation, determining the value of the battery according to the acquired diagnosis result, and outputting the determined value of the battery, wherein the diagnosis result includes information regarding a resistance detected when the battery is energized at a predetermined frequency.

Effects of the Invention

[0006] According to the present invention, information useful for battery reuse can be provided.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007] [Figure 1] It is a block diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of each of a user terminal, a server, and a diagnosis terminal constituting a system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] This figure shows the relationship between the frequency of the current input to the battery and the response ratios of the structure, ionic components, and electronic components. [Figure 3] This is a flowchart illustrating the processing performed by the server's control unit. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] The battery in question is, for example, a battery installed in a vehicle. The diagnostic results include information that allows for the determination of whether or not the battery is degraded. As battery degradation progresses, the battery becomes unusable. Therefore, the diagnostic results of the battery correlate with the battery's value. Battery degradation includes degradation due to lithium deposition. If the amount of lithium deposition increases, there is a risk that a short circuit will occur inside the battery, rendering it unusable. Thus, the value of the battery can be determined according to the amount of lithium deposition. Furthermore, the amount of lithium deposition correlates with the resistance detected when the battery is energized at a predetermined frequency. The predetermined frequency may be, for example, a frequency band and its vicinity where the response ratio of the electronic component is higher than the response ratio of the ionic component and the response ratio of the influence of structures such as terminals. By detecting resistance in such a frequency band, the resistance value corresponding to the amount of lithium deposition can be detected with high accuracy. In this way, by obtaining the resistance value, the state of battery degradation can be grasped more accurately. Then, by using this resistance value to determine the battery's value, its value can be properly evaluated. Determining the battery's value includes determining whether or not the battery is usable.

[0009] The embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The configurations of the following embodiments are illustrative, and the present invention is not limited to the configurations of these embodiments.

[0010] <First Embodiment> Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the user terminal 20, server 30, and diagnostic terminal 40 that constitute System 1 according to the first embodiment. The user terminal 20 is a terminal used by a user who wants to view information about the value of a battery 10, for example. The diagnostic terminal 40 is a terminal that provides the diagnostic results of the battery 10 to the server 30. The server 30 is a server that determines the value of the battery 10 according to the diagnostic results of the battery 10 and provides the determination result to the user terminal 20.

[0011] The user terminal 20, server 30, and diagnostic terminal 40 are interconnected by network N1. Network N1 may be a global public communication network such as the Internet, a Wide Area Network (WAN), or other telephone and wireless communication networks.

[0012] Battery 10 is used in vehicles such as BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles) and PHEVs (Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles). This refers to a secondary battery installed in an electric vehicle (Electric Vehicle) or a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), such as a lithium-ion battery (LiB).

[0013] The user terminal 20, server 30, and diagnostic terminal 40 can be configured as computers having a processor, RAM, ROM, EPROM, hard disk drive, removable media, etc.

[0014] The user terminal 20 is, for example, a terminal used by a battery reuse business. Users register with the server 30 in advance via the user terminal 20. The user terminal 20 can access the server 30 to obtain information regarding the value of used batteries 10.

[0015] The diagnostic terminal 40 measures the resistance of the battery 10. The resistance of the battery 10 is a value related to the amount of lithium deposited in the battery 10. In the case of lithium-ion batteries, if the battery 10 is subjected to excessive stress, such as by rapid charging, lithium ions inside may be deposited on the surface of the negative electrode. The amount of lithium deposited serves as an indicator of the degradation of the battery 10.

[0016] The more lithium is deposited in battery 10, the easier it is for current to flow, and the lower the internal resistance of battery 10. Therefore, by detecting the resistance of battery 10, the degree of degradation due to lithium deposition can be detected. The resistance of battery 10 can be detected, for example, by using MaMoRiS® (Magnified Metal Object Response Inspecting Sensor). That is possible.

[0017] Compared to conventional electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, MaMoRiS (registered trademark) uses a higher frequency band for measurement and detects resistance from the response to high-frequency current. Here, a phenomenon called the skin effect is known, where, when a high-frequency current flows through a conductor, the current concentrates on the surface of the conductor. When lithium is deposited on the surface of the negative electrode of battery 10, current flows more easily in the high-frequency band, thus reducing the resistance of battery 10. By utilizing this phenomenon, lithium deposited on the surface of the negative electrode can be detected.

[0018] Figure 2 shows the relationship between the frequency of the current input to battery 10 and the response ratios of the structure, ionic component, and electronic component. Here, in a certain high-frequency band (for example, a frequency band around 10 MHz), the response ratio of the ionic component and the response ratio of the structure's influence become lower than the response ratio of the electronic component. That is, in a certain high-frequency band, the ionic component Since the movement and the influence of structures such as terminals are small, the movement of electrons inside the battery 10 can be captured by emphasizing it. And in this specific high-frequency band, as the amount of lithium deposition on the negative electrode surface increases, the resistance inside the battery 10 changes in a direction in which electrons flow more easily. By detecting this change in the resistance value, the amount of lithium deposition can be detected non-destructively and in real time.

[0019] The diagnostic terminal 40 detects the resistance value in a specific high-frequency band. The specific high-frequency band may be, for example, a frequency band in which the response ratio of electronic components is higher than the response ratio of ionic components and the response ratio of the influence of structures, and a frequency band in the vicinity thereof. The specific high-frequency band is an example of a predetermined frequency.

[0020] The diagnostic terminal 40 may provide the detected resistance value to the server 30, or may calculate the resistance reduction rate from the resistance value and provide it to the server 30. The resistance reduction rate is a value indicating how much the resistance value has decreased with respect to the reference value of the resistance value of the battery 10. That is, the resistance reduction rate is a value indicating the degree of decrease of the resistance of the battery 10 from the reference value. The resistance reduction rate is calculated as the ratio of the decreased resistance value to the reference value of the resistance value of the battery 10. The decreased resistance value is a value obtained by subtracting the detected resistance value from the reference value of the resistance value of the battery 10. The reference value is the resistance value when the battery 10 is new or at the time of certification. The diagnostic terminal 40 associates information related to the resistance of the battery 10 or information related to the resistance reduction rate of the battery 10 with the battery ID and transmits it to the server 30.

[0021] The server 30 includes a control unit 31, a storage unit 32, and a communication module 33. The control unit 31 of the server 30 is an arithmetic unit that realizes various functions by executing a predetermined program. The control unit 31 of the server 30 may include, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU, RAM, ROM, cache memory, etc. The communication module 33 of the server 30 is a communication interface for connecting to the network N1.

[0022] The storage unit 32 of the server 30 is a means for storing information and is composed of storage media such as RAM, magnetic disks, and flash memory. A database (battery information DB321) is also constructed in the storage unit 32, and information about the battery 10 is stored in this database. The battery information DB321 has fields for battery ID, manufacturer, chemical composition, model, manufacturing date, resistance, resistance degradation rate, and usability. The battery ID field stores identification information unique to the battery 10. The manufacturer field stores information about the manufacturer. The chemical composition field stores information about the chemical composition of the battery 10. The model field stores information about the model of the battery 10. The manufacturing date field stores information about the year and month the battery 10 was manufactured. The resistance field stores information about the resistance of the battery 10 obtained from the diagnostic terminal 40. The resistance degradation rate field stores information about the resistance degradation rate of the battery 10 calculated by the control unit 31. The usability field stores information that allows for the determination of whether or not the battery 10 can be used as a used battery. The availability field stores information such as "Available" to indicate that something is available, and "Not Available" to indicate that something is not available.

[0023] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the control unit 31 of the server 30. The flowchart shown in Figure 3 is executed by the server 30 at predetermined intervals. In step S101, the control unit 31 determines whether or not it has received a diagnostic result for the battery 10 from the diagnostic terminal 40. This diagnostic result includes information regarding the resistance value of the battery 10. Alternatively, the control unit 31 may determine whether or not it has received a resistance reduction rate instead of the resistance value.

[0024] In step S102, the control unit 31 calculates the resistance reduction rate of the battery 10. The resistance reduction rate is the ratio (%) of the decrease in the resistance value at the time of diagnosis to the reference value of the battery 10's resistance value. The reference value is the resistance value of the battery 10 when it is new or at the time of authentication. The control unit 31 reads the reference value of the battery 10's resistance from the storage unit 32, or obtains the reference value of the battery 10's resistance from an external server. In this case, for example, the reference value of the resistance corresponding to the battery ID may be obtained. The control unit 31 calculates the ratio of the reduced resistance value to the reference value of the battery 10's resistance. The control unit 31 calculates the "reduced resistance value" by subtracting the resistance value at the time of diagnosis included in the received result from the reference value of the battery 10's resistance value.

[0025] In step S103, the control unit 31 determines whether the resistance reduction rate is above a threshold. The threshold for the resistance reduction rate is the resistance reduction rate when the amount of lithium deposited exceeds a limit, or a value that takes into account a certain margin of safety when the resistance reduction rate exceeds that limit. This threshold may be, for example, the resistance reduction rate at which there is a risk of internal short circuit. The threshold for the resistance reduction rate may also be set for each type of battery 10. The threshold for the resistance reduction rate is stored in the storage unit 32. In step S104, the control unit 31 determines that the battery 10 has no value. On the other hand, in step S105, the control unit 31 determines that the battery 10 has value.

[0026] In step S106, the control unit 31 stores information regarding the value of the battery 10 (hereinafter also referred to as value information) in the storage unit 32, according to the determination result in step S104 or step S105. At this time, the control unit 31 stores information regarding the battery ID, manufacturer, chemical composition, model, manufacturing date, resistance, resistance degradation rate, and usability in the battery information DB 321. If the control unit 31 determines in step S104 that the battery 10 has no value, it stores "No" in the usability field. On the other hand, if the control unit 31 determines in step S105 that the battery 10 has value, it stores "Yes" in the usability field.

[0027] In step S201, the control unit 31 determines whether or not it has received a value information request from the user terminal 20. This value information request may include information about the target battery 10. The target battery 10 is a battery that has been searched for on the user terminal 20, for example, based on its model number. In step S202, the control unit 31 generates value information according to the information stored in the battery information DB 321. If the value information request includes information about the target battery 10, the control unit 31 extracts the record corresponding to the target battery 10 from the battery information DB 321. The control unit 31 generates the value information so that the screen corresponding to the battery information DB 321 is displayed on the display of the user terminal 20. Then, in step S203, the control unit 31 transmits the value information to the user terminal 20. At this time, the control unit 31 may transmit a command to the user terminal 20 to display the value information on the display.

[0028] As described above, according to this embodiment, the control unit 31 can provide the user with information regarding the value of the battery 10. This improves usability.

[0029] <Other Embodiments> In the above embodiment, the control unit 31 of the server 30 acquires the resistance from the diagnostic terminal 40 on a battery-by-battery basis, but instead, the resistance may be acquired on a cell-by-cell or module-by-module basis of the battery 10.

[0030] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, resistance is detected in the diagnostic terminal 40 or server 30, but as another example, the resistance may be detected in the vehicle equipped with the battery 10, and the detected value may be transmitted from the vehicle to the server 30. For example, a resistance measuring sensor may be attached to the battery 10, and the resistance value may be measured in the vehicle.

[0031] In the above embodiment, the value of the battery 10 is determined according to the resistance reduction rate, but further... The value of battery 10 may be determined by taking the following parameters into account. For example, SoCE(State of Taking into account the Certified Energy, vehicle model, and specifications of Battery 10, the value of Battery 10 is You may make a determination. Alternatively, you may use SOH (State of Health) instead of SoCE. i. SoCE or SOH decreases in proportion to the decrease in the capacity of the battery 10 and is a value that represents the current state of degradation of the battery 10, and is therefore a value that correlates with the value of the battery 10. Even if the resistance reduction rate is below a threshold, if SoCE or SOH is below the threshold, the control unit 31 may determine that the battery 10 has no value. The vehicle model may be the grade or type of vehicle. For example, there are differences in popularity depending on the vehicle model. For example, popular vehicles have higher resale values, so the price of the battery 10 may also be higher in proportion to the price of the vehicle. Therefore, by taking the vehicle model into account, the value of the battery 10 can be determined more appropriately. In addition, the specifications of the battery 10 are related to how the battery 10 is used, for example, and even batteries of the same type may have different specifications depending on whether they are installed in a BEV, PHEV, or HEV. For example, a battery 10 installed in a BEV is used until the charge level is closer to 0%, and is also charged until the charge level is closer to 100%. In other words, the range of charge levels that the battery 10 can be in during use is wide. Battery 10 used in this manner is more prone to degradation. Therefore, by taking the specifications of battery 10 into consideration, the value of battery 10 can be determined more appropriately.

[0032] Furthermore, the control unit 31 may calculate a value based on, for example, "resistance reduction rate × first SoCE coefficient × first vehicle model coefficient × first specification coefficient," and if this value is above a threshold, it may determine that the battery 10 has no value. Here, the first SoCE coefficient is a coefficient that increases in proportion to the decrease in SoCE. The SoCE may be detected by the diagnostic terminal 40 and transmitted to the server 30. The relationship between the first SoCE coefficient and SoCE is stored in the storage unit 32. The first vehicle model coefficient is a coefficient that increases as the vehicle model becomes less popular. For example, the ratio of the used car price to the new car price may be set as the first vehicle model coefficient, or a value correlated with this ratio may be set as the first vehicle model coefficient. The new car price is stored in the storage unit 32. The used car price may be obtained, for example, from an external server that manages used car auctions. The first specification coefficient is a coefficient that increases as the specifications of the battery 10 deteriorate faster. The relationship between the first specification coefficient and the specifications of the battery 10 is stored in the storage unit 32. Furthermore, the value of battery 10 may be calculated not only based on the resistance reduction rate, but also based on at least one of the following coefficients: the first SoCE coefficient, the first vehicle model coefficient, and the first specification coefficient.

[0033] Furthermore, the control unit 31 may calculate the value of the battery 10 by determining the resale price of the battery 10 as follows. Used price = Initial price × Second SoCE coefficient × Second vehicle model coefficient × Second specification coefficient × Resistance reduction coefficient The initial price is the price of a new battery 10 and is stored in the memory unit 32. The second SoCE coefficient is a coefficient that decreases as SoCE decreases. The second vehicle model coefficient is a coefficient that decreases for less popular vehicle models. The second specification coefficient is a coefficient that decreases for specifications that cause faster degradation of the battery 10. The relationship between the second specification coefficient and the specifications of the battery 10 is stored in the memory unit 32. The resistance reduction coefficient is a coefficient that increases as the resistance reduction rate decreases. The lower the resistance reduction rate of the battery 10, the higher the value of the battery 10, and therefore the higher the used price. For example, the resistance reduction coefficient may be set as the ratio of the resistance of the battery 10 at the time of diagnosis to the resistance of the battery 10 at the time of certification or when new, or a value correlated with this ratio may be set as the resistance reduction coefficient. The used price may be calculated based on the initial price and the resistance reduction coefficient, as well as at least one of the second SoCE coefficient, the second vehicle model coefficient, and the second specification coefficient. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0034] 1 System 10 batteries 30 servers 31 Control Unit

Claims

[Claim 1] To obtain diagnostic results regarding battery degradation, The value of the battery is determined according to the diagnostic results obtained, Outputting the determined value of the battery, An information processing device comprising a control unit configured to perform the following: The diagnostic result includes information regarding the resistance detected when the battery is energized at a predetermined frequency. Information processing device.

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