Charging assistance system

Abstract

To provide a charging support system capable of improving comfort of a driver while supporting charging of a storage battery through a solar panel.SOLUTION: A charging support system, for a vehicle which comprises a solar panel mounted on a vehicle body and a storage battery which stores electricity generated through a solar panel, includes: an acquisition section which acquires information on a planned boarding time of a driver of a parked vehicle; a measurement section which measures a charging rate of the storage battery; a temperature sensor which detects a temperature inside the vehicle; and a travel control section which causes the vehicle to perform automatic travel to a parking position where the charging rate of the storage battery becomes equal to or more than a predetermined rate and the temperature inside the vehicle becomes equal to or less than a predetermined temperature at the planned boarding time of the driver.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a charging assistance system. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, development of vehicles equipped with solar panels has been progressing. Related technology is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes a vehicle driving control device that moves the vehicle to a sunny location during non-driving hours to maximize solar power generation. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2016 / 072165 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem in that the temperature inside the vehicle may become too high, decreasing the comfort of the driver.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above background, and has an object to provide a charging assistance system that can improve the comfort of the driver while assisting in charging a storage battery using a solar panel. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The charging support system according to the present disclosure is a charging support system for a vehicle equipped with a solar panel attached to a vehicle body and a storage battery that stores electricity generated by the solar panel, and includes an acquisition unit that acquires information regarding a planned boarding time of a driver of the parked vehicle, a measurement unit that measures a charging rate of the storage battery, a temperature sensor that detects a temperature inside the vehicle, and a driving control unit that automatically drives the vehicle to a parking position where the charging rate of the storage battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate and the temperature inside the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature at the planned boarding time of the driver of the parked vehicle. This charging support system can improve the comfort of the driver while supporting the charging of the storage battery by the solar panel by automatically driving the vehicle to a parking position where the charging rate of the storage battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate and the temperature inside the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature at the planned boarding time of the driver of the parked vehicle. Effect of the Invention

[0008] The present disclosure makes it possible to provide a charging assistance system that can improve driver comfort while assisting in charging a storage battery using a solar panel. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle to which a charging support system according to a first embodiment is applied. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a charging support device according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the charging support device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the charging support device according to the first embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] The present invention will be described below through embodiments of the invention, but the invention according to the claims is not limited to the following embodiments. In addition, not all of the configurations described in the embodiments are necessarily essential means for solving the problems. For clarity of explanation, the following description and drawings are omitted and simplified as appropriate. In each drawing, the same elements are given the same reference numerals, and repeated explanations are omitted as necessary.

[0011] <Embodiment 1> Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a vehicle 1 to which a charging support system according to a first embodiment is applied. The charging support system according to the present embodiment can improve the comfort of the driver while supporting charging of the storage battery by a solar panel by automatically driving the vehicle to a parking position where the charging rate of the storage battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate and the temperature inside the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature at the scheduled boarding time of the driver of the parked vehicle 1. The details will be described below.

[0012] As shown in Fig. 1, the charging support system according to the present embodiment is mounted on an autonomous vehicle 1, and includes a charging support device 10, a solar panel 20, a storage battery 30, and a charging cable 40. The charging support device 10 can be referred to as a charging support system by itself. The charging support device 10 is installed in a state in which it can monitor the power generation status of the solar panel 20 and the charging status of the storage battery 30.

[0013] The solar cell panel 20 is a panel that generates electricity from sunlight, and is attached to a part of the body of the vehicle 1. For example, the solar cell panel 20 is attached to the roof, hood, door, or the like of the vehicle 1. In this embodiment, a case in which the solar cell panel 20 is attached on the roof of the vehicle 1 will be described as an example.

[0014] The storage battery 30 is connected to the solar panel 20 via a charging cable 40, and stores electricity generated by the solar panel 20. The storage battery 30 can be used as a standby power source, or as a power source if the vehicle 1 is an electric vehicle.

[0015] The charging support device 10 is a device that supports charging of the storage battery 30 by the solar panel 20, while automatically driving the vehicle to a parking position where the temperature inside the vehicle will be equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature at the driver's scheduled boarding time.

[0016] Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the charging support device 10. As shown in Fig. 2, the charging support device 10 includes an acquisition unit 11, a measurement unit 12, a temperature sensor 13, and a driving control unit 14.

[0017] The acquisition unit 11 acquires information regarding the planned boarding time of the driver of the parked vehicle 1. The planned boarding time of the driver of the parked vehicle 1 is input to the charging support device 10 via a mobile terminal such as a smartphone owned by the driver when the driver parks the vehicle 1 and leaves the vehicle 1, or is input to the charging support device 10 via a dedicated operation terminal mounted on the vehicle 1, for example.

[0018] In addition, the acquisition unit 11 may be further configured to acquire information regarding a weather forecast around the vehicle, which is used to predict the output voltage of the solar panel 20 (i.e., the current charging efficiency of the storage battery 30 by the solar panel 20) and the future output voltage of the solar panel 20 (i.e., the future charging efficiency of the storage battery 30 by the solar panel 20).

[0019] The measurement unit 12 measures the charging rate of the storage battery.

[0020] The temperature sensor 13 detects the temperature inside the vehicle.

[0021] The driving control unit 14 automatically drives the vehicle 1 to a parking position where the charging rate of the storage battery 30 is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate and the temperature inside the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature at the driver's scheduled boarding time. The predetermined rate and the predetermined temperature can be set arbitrarily. For example, the predetermined rate and the predetermined temperature may be set manually or automatically based on the period from the current time to the driver's scheduled boarding time. For example, when the period from the current time to the driver's scheduled boarding time is short, the predetermined rate may be set to a low value (or the predetermined temperature may be set to a high value), and when the period from the current time to the driver's scheduled boarding time is long, the predetermined rate may be set to a high value (or the predetermined temperature may be set to a low value). Also, for example, when it is desired to prioritize an increase in the charging rate of the storage battery 30 over temperature adjustment inside the vehicle, the predetermined rate may be set to a high value (or the predetermined temperature may be set to a high value), and when it is desired to prioritize temperature adjustment inside the vehicle over an increase in the charging rate of the storage battery 30, the predetermined rate may be set to a low value (or the predetermined temperature may be set to a low value).

[0022] For example, the driving control unit 14 automatically drives the vehicle 1 from a sunny area to a shady area when the charging rate of the storage battery 30 reaches a predetermined rate (e.g., 75%) before the driver's scheduled boarding time. Alternatively, the driving control unit 14 may predict a transition in the charging rate of the storage battery 30 during the parking period of the vehicle 1 based on at least one of the current output voltage of the solar panel 20 and the future output voltage of the solar panel 20, and determine the timing to automatically drive the vehicle 1 from a sunny area to a shady area based on the predicted transition of the charging rate of the storage battery 30.

[0023] In this way, the charging assistance system of this embodiment can improve the comfort of the driver while assisting in charging of the storage battery 30 by the solar panel 20 by automatically driving the vehicle 1 to a parking position where the charging rate of the storage battery 30 is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate and the temperature inside the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature at the scheduled boarding time of the driver of the parked vehicle 1.

[0024] (Operation of charging support device 10) Next, the operation of the charging support device 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the charging support device 10. Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the charging support device. In the example of Fig. 4, a vehicle 1 is parked in the sunny area 101 of a parking area 100 having a sunny area 101 and a shaded area 102.

[0025] First, the charging support device 10 acquires information on the planned boarding time of the driver of the parked vehicle 1, which is inputted, for example, via a mobile terminal owned by the driver or an operation terminal in the vehicle (step S101). The charging support device 10 also measures the charging rate of the storage battery 30 (step S102). Furthermore, the charging support device 10 detects the temperature inside the vehicle using the temperature sensor 13 (step S103). After that, the charging support device 10 automatically drives the vehicle 1 to a parking position where the charging rate of the storage battery 30 is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate and the temperature inside the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature at the driver's planned boarding time (step S104). For example, the charging support device 10 automatically drives the vehicle 1 from the sunny area 101 to the shaded area 102 at the timing when the charging rate of the storage battery 30 reaches a predetermined rate (for example, 75%) before the driver's planned boarding time.

[0026] In this way, the charging assistance system of this embodiment can improve the comfort of the driver while assisting in charging of the storage battery 30 by the solar panel 20 by automatically driving the vehicle 1 to a parking position where the charging rate of the storage battery 30 is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate and the temperature inside the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature at the scheduled boarding time of the driver of the parked vehicle 1.

[0027] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The present invention is also an invention related to the use of solar panels, and contributes to carbon neutrality, decarbonization, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

[0028] In addition, in the present disclosure, a part or all of the processing of the charging support device 10 can be realized by causing a CPU (Central Processing Unit) to execute a computer program.

[0029] The above-mentioned program includes a set of instructions (or software code) for making the computer perform one or more functions described in the embodiment when the program is loaded into the computer. The program may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium or a tangible storage medium. By way of example and not limitation, the computer-readable medium or the tangible storage medium includes a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory, a solid-state drive (SSD) or other memory technology, a CD-ROM, a digital versatile disc (DVD), a Blu-ray® disk or other optical disk storage, a magnetic cassette, a magnetic tape, a magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device. The program may be transmitted on a transitory computer-readable medium or a communication medium. By way of example and not limitation, the transitory computer-readable medium or the communication medium includes an electrical, optical, acoustic, or other form of propagating signal.

[0030] A part or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as, but is not limited to, the following supplementary notes.

[0031] (Appendix 1) A charging support method for a vehicle including a solar panel attached to a vehicle body and a storage battery that stores electricity generated by the solar panel, comprising: Obtaining information regarding a planned pick-up time of a driver of the parked vehicle; Measure the charging rate of the storage battery; Detects the temperature inside the car The vehicle is automatically driven to a parking position where the charging rate of the storage battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate and the temperature inside the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature at a scheduled boarding time of the driver. Charging support method.

[0032] (Appendix 2) A control program for causing a computer to execute a charging assistance process for a vehicle including a solar panel attached to a vehicle body and a storage battery that stores electricity generated by the solar panel, the control program comprising: Obtaining information about a planned pick-up time of a driver of the parked vehicle; A process of measuring a charging rate of the storage battery; A process for detecting the temperature inside the vehicle; A process of automatically driving the vehicle to a parking position where the charging rate of the storage battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate and the temperature inside the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature at a scheduled boarding time of the driver; A control program that causes a computer to execute the above. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] 1 vehicle, 10 charging support device, 20 solar panel, 30 storage battery, 40 charging cable, 11 acquisition unit, 12 measurement unit, 13 temperature sensor, 14 driving control unit, 100 parking area, 101 sunny area, 102 shaded area

Claims

1. A charging support system for a vehicle including a solar panel attached to a vehicle body and a storage battery for storing electricity generated by the solar panel, An acquisition unit that acquires information regarding a planned boarding time of a driver of the parked vehicle; A measurement unit for measuring a charging rate of the storage battery; A temperature sensor for detecting the temperature inside the vehicle; a driving control unit that automatically drives the vehicle to a parking position where the charging rate of the storage battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined rate and the temperature inside the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature at a scheduled boarding time of the driver; Equipped with The acquisition unit acquires information related to a scheduled boarding time of the driver inputted via a mobile terminal owned by the driver. Charging assistance system.

2. The driving control unit automatically drives the vehicle to a parking position where the temperature inside the vehicle will be equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature at a scheduled boarding time of the driver after the charging rate of the storage battery has reached a predetermined rate or higher. The charging assistance system according to claim 1 .

3. The acquisition unit further acquires at least one of an output voltage of the solar cell panel and information on a weather forecast around the vehicle for predicting a future output voltage of the solar cell panel. The charging assistance system according to claim 1 .

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