Control device, control method, and control program

Abstract

To provide a power supply device and control method which can notify a user of timing at which automatic driving of a vehicle becomes possible.SOLUTION: A power supply device according to an embodiment includes a backup power supply and a control unit. The control unit detects the charging state of the backup power supply in the time of start-up of a vehicle, calculates the charging time of the backup power supply to the charging state in which automatic driving of the vehicle becomes possible on the basis of the charging state in the time of start-up, and notifies a user of timing at which automatic driving becomes possible.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The disclosed embodiments relate to a power supply device and a control method. [Background technology]

[0002] BACKGROUND ART There is a redundant power supply system that includes a main power supply and a backup power supply, and in the event of an abnormality in the main power supply, the backup power supply backs up the power supply to a load (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] On the other hand, for vehicles with autonomous driving functions, if the backup power supply is not sufficiently charged, autonomous driving cannot begin until the backup power supply is charged to a state where autonomous driving is possible, from a safety perspective. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-182316 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, the vehicle user cannot know when the backup power source will be charged and autonomous driving will be possible.

[0006] One aspect of the embodiment has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to provide a power supply device and a control method that can notify a user of when autonomous driving of a vehicle will be possible. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] According to one aspect of the embodiment, a power supply device includes a backup power supply and a control unit, wherein the control unit detects a charge state of the backup power supply at the time of starting a vehicle, calculates a charging time of the backup power supply until the backup power supply reaches a charge state that enables autonomous driving of the vehicle based on the charge state at the time of starting the vehicle, and notifies a user of a time when the autonomous driving will be enabled. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] A power supply device and a control method according to one aspect of the embodiment have the advantage of being able to notify a user of a time when autonomous driving of a vehicle will be possible. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a power supply device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the operation of the power supply device according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the operation of the power supply device according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the control unit according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of a power supply device and a control method will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. The following description will be given using an example of a power supply device that is installed in a vehicle with an autonomous driving function and supplies power to a load, but the power supply device according to the embodiment may also be installed in a vehicle that does not have an autonomous driving function.

[0011] The power supply device according to the embodiment is installed in an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, or an internal combustion engine vehicle. The power supply device according to the embodiment may be installed in any device that has a main power supply and a backup power supply, and that performs fail-operation (FOP) by backing up the main power supply with the backup power supply in the event of a power failure in the main power supply.

[0012] 1. Configuration and Operation of Power Supply Device According to Embodiment Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a power supply device 1 according to an embodiment, and Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the operation of the power supply device 1 according to an embodiment.

[0013] As shown in Fig. 1, power supply device 1 is connected to main power supply 10, FOP load 101, general load 102, automatic driving control device 110, and notification device 111. For example, when power supply device 1 is mounted on an engine vehicle, main power supply 10 includes a generator and a lead battery. Note that the battery of main power supply 10 may be any secondary battery other than a lead battery.

[0014] The generator is, for example, an alternator that generates electricity by converting the kinetic energy of a running vehicle into electricity. The generator uses the generated electricity to charge a lead battery and a backup power supply (described later), and supplies power to the FOP load 101 and the general load 102.

[0015] When power supply device 1 is installed in an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, main power supply 10 includes a DC / DC converter and a lead battery. In this case, the DC / DC converter is connected to a generator and a high-voltage battery having a higher voltage than the lead battery, and steps down the voltages of the generator and the high-voltage battery and outputs the voltage to power supply device 1. The high-voltage battery is, for example, a vehicle drive battery installed in an electric vehicle or hybrid vehicle.

[0016] The FOP load 101 is a load that operates during autonomous driving, such as a steering motor, an electric brake device, an on-board camera, and a radar. The general load 102 includes, for example, a display, an air conditioner, an audio device, a video device, and various lights. The autonomous driving control device 110 is a device that operates the FOP load 101 to control the autonomous driving of the vehicle.

[0017] The notification device 111 is, for example, a liquid crystal display device provided on an instrument panel of a vehicle. The notification device 111 displays information about the vehicle status to notify the user. The notification device 111 is not limited to a liquid crystal display device, and may be a notification lamp that notifies the user of information to be notified by color or the like, or a speaker that notifies the user of information to be notified by voice or the like.

[0018] The power supply device 1 includes a backup power supply 20. The backup power supply 20 includes, for example, a lithium ion battery. Note that the battery included in the backup power supply 20 may be a secondary battery other than a lithium ion battery. The backup power supply 20 is a backup power supply in the event that the main power supply 10 is unable to supply power.

[0019] The power supply device 1 includes a first system 11 that supplies power from a main power supply 10 to an FOP load 101 and a general load 102, and a second system 21 that supplies power from a backup power supply 20 to the FOP load 101 and a general load 102.

[0020] Furthermore, the power supply device 1 includes a connection unit 2, a control unit 3, a battery switch 4, a first voltage sensor 51, a second voltage sensor 52, and a DC / DC converter (hereinafter referred to as "DC / DC 6"). The first voltage sensor 51 detects the voltage of the first system 11 and outputs the detection result to the control unit 3. The second voltage sensor 52 detects the voltage of the second system 21 and outputs the detection result to the control unit 3.

[0021] The connection unit 31 connects the first system 11 and the second system 21 so as to be able to make and break the connection. The connection unit 2 is, for example, an inter-system switch that connects the first system 11 and the second system 21. The connection unit 2 is switched between being made and being cut off under the control of the control unit 3.

[0022] The connection unit 2 may be, for example, a DC / DC. In this case, the control unit 3 operates the DC / DC to connect the first system 11 and the second system 21, and stops the operation of the DC / DC to disconnect the first system 11 and the second system 21.

[0023] The battery switch 4 is a switch that connects the backup power supply 20 and the second system 21 so that they can be connected or disconnected. The battery switch 4 is switched between connected and disconnected states under the control of the control unit 3. The DC / DC 6 is connected in parallel with the battery switch 4. For example, when the backup power supply 20 is being charged, the DC / DC 6 steps up or steps down the voltage of the first system 11 and supplies it to the backup power supply 20.

[0024] The control unit 3 includes various circuits and a microcomputer having, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. Note that the control unit 3 may be partially or entirely configured with hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0025] The control unit 3 controls the connection unit 2, battery switch 4, and DC / DC 6 by having the CPU execute a program stored in the ROM using the RAM as a work area. For example, during normal operation when no power supply failure such as a ground fault has occurred, the control unit 3 stops the DC / DC 6, cuts off the battery switch 4, and turns on the connection unit 2. As a result, the power supply device 1 supplies power from the main power supply 10 to the FOP load 101 and general load 102, as shown in FIG. 1 .

[0026] Also, as shown in Figure 2, when the control unit 3 detects the occurrence of a ground fault 200 in the first system 11 based on the detection results of the first voltage sensor 51 or the second voltage sensor 52, it cuts off the connection unit 2 and turns on the battery switch 4.

[0027] The power supply device 1 then supplies power from the backup power supply 20 to the FOP load 101 and the general load 102. As a result, even if a ground fault 200 occurs in the first system 11 during autonomous driving, the automatic driving control device 110 can operate the FOP load 101 using the power supplied to the FOP load 101 from the backup power supply 20, and cause the vehicle to evacuate and stop in a safe place.

[0028] The power supply device 1 may supply the power of the backup power supply 20 only to the FOP load 101, without supplying it to the general load 102. This allows the evacuation travel time using the backup power supply 20 to be extended.

[0029] However, from the viewpoint of safety, the automatic driving control device 110 cannot perform automatic driving if the backup power supply 20 is not sufficiently charged. Therefore, the control unit 3 acquires information indicating the charging state from the backup power supply 20 and determines whether the backup power supply 20 is sufficiently charged.

[0030] For example, the control unit 3 acquires the SOC (State of Charge) of the backup power supply 20 from the backup power supply 20 as information indicating the charging state, and determines that the backup power supply 20 is sufficiently charged if the SOC is 80% or higher, and determines that the backup power supply 20 is not sufficiently charged if the SOC is less than 80%.

[0031] The control unit 3 may be configured to acquire the voltage of the backup power supply 20 as information indicating the charging state, and determine that the backup power supply 20 is sufficiently charged if the voltage is equal to or higher than a predetermined voltage, and determine that the backup power supply 20 is not sufficiently charged if the voltage is lower than the predetermined voltage.

[0032] When the control unit 3 determines that the backup power supply 20 is not sufficiently charged, it charges the backup power supply 20. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 3 , the control unit 3 operates the DC / DC 6 while keeping the connection unit 2 in the connected state and the battery switch 4 in the disconnected state, and supplies power from the first power supply to the backup power supply 20 via the DC / DC 6 to charge the backup power supply 20.

[0033] The automatic driving control device 110 cannot start automatic driving during this period, that is, until charging of the backup power supply 20 is completed. However, the user cannot know when automatic driving will become possible. Therefore, the power supply device 1 is configured to notify the user of the time when automatic driving of the vehicle will become possible.

[0034] The control unit 3 detects the state of charge of the backup power supply 20 when the vehicle is started, and calculates the charging time of the backup power supply 20 until it reaches a charged state that allows automatic driving of the vehicle, based on the state of charge at the time of start-up.

[0035] Then, the control unit 3 notifies the user of the time when autonomous driving will be possible based on the calculated charging time. This allows the power supply device 1 to notify the user of the time when autonomous driving of the vehicle will be possible. Therefore, the user can know when autonomous driving will be possible at startup.

[0036] Specifically, for example, when the ignition switch (hereinafter referred to as "IG") of the vehicle is turned on, the control unit 3 detects the state of charge of the backup power supply 20. Then, the control unit 3 determines whether the current state of charge is a state of charge that allows automatic driving.

[0037] When the control unit 3 determines that the charging state is not suitable for automatic operation, it starts charging the backup power supply 20. The control unit 3 notifies the user that automatic operation is not possible while the backup power supply 20 is being charged.

[0038] For example, the control unit 3 notifies the user by displaying a message such as "Automatic driving cannot be started because charging is in progress" on the notification device 111. The control unit 3 may also notify the user that automatic driving is not possible by, for example, changing the background of the automatic driving start button displayed on the touch panel of the notification device 111 to red. This allows the power supply device 1 to accurately make the user aware that automatic driving cannot currently be started.

[0039] Then, the control unit 3 calculates the charging time of the backup power supply 20 until the backup power supply 20 reaches a charging state that allows automatic driving, based on the charging state of the backup power supply 20 at the time of startup. Furthermore, the control unit 3 calculates the predicted time until automatic driving starts.

[0040] For example, when a new vehicle is delivered and the IG is turned on for the first time, the predicted time is set to 5 seconds as the default (initial value). However, some users may not start autonomous driving immediately after turning on the IG.

[0041] For example, if the area around the vehicle's parking lot is not suitable for autonomous driving, the user may switch to autonomous driving after leaving that area. Also, some users may start driving manually and then switch to autonomous driving after entering a highway. As such, the time from when the IG is turned on until autonomous driving begins varies depending on the user.

[0042] Therefore, the control unit 3 performs machine learning using, for example, AI (artificial intelligence) to predict the time from startup to the start of autonomous driving based on the actual time until autonomous driving starts, which is measured each time the vehicle starts traveling. This allows the control unit 3 to calculate a highly reliable predicted time for each user from when the IG is turned on to when autonomous driving starts.

[0043] Then, the control unit 3 calculates a predicted time until the start of autonomous driving, and compares the calculated predicted time with the calculated charging time until autonomous driving becomes possible. If the predicted time is less than the charging time, the control unit 3 notifies the user of the time when autonomous driving will become possible. This allows the power supply device 1 to notify the user of the time when autonomous driving will become possible.

[0044] For example, the control unit 3 notifies the user by displaying a message such as "Autonomous driving will be possible to start in XX minutes" on the notification device 111. Furthermore, the control unit 3 may also cause the notification device 111 to display the time until autonomous driving becomes possible in a countdown format, for example.

[0045] In addition, the control unit 3 may, for example, change the background of the automatic driving start button to red if the charging time until automatic driving becomes possible is 10 minutes or more, change the background to yellow if the charging time is less than 10 minutes, and change the background to green when automatic driving becomes possible.

[0046] Furthermore, if the predicted time for starting automatic driving is equal to or longer than the charging time, the control unit 3 prohibits notification of the time when automatic driving will be possible. This prevents the power supply device 1 from annoying the user who is not planning to switch to automatic driving by sending unnecessary notifications every time.

[0047] [2. Processing Executed by the Control Unit According to the Embodiment] Next, an example of processing executed by the control unit 3 according to the embodiment will be shown in a flowchart with reference to Fig. 4. When the IG of the vehicle is turned on, the control unit 3 executes the processing shown in Fig. 4.

[0048] 4, when the IG is turned on, the control unit 3 first detects the state of charge of the backup power supply 20 (step S101). Then, the control unit 3 determines whether the acquired state of charge is a state of charge that allows automatic driving of the vehicle (step S102).

[0049] If the control unit 3 determines that the charging state is such that the vehicle can be driven automatically (step S102, Yes), the control unit 3 proceeds to step S110. If the control unit 3 determines that the charging state is not such that the vehicle can be driven automatically (step S102, No), the control unit 3 charges the backup power supply 20 (step S103).

[0050] Thereafter, the control unit 3 notifies the user that automatic operation is not possible (step S104), and calculates the charging time of the backup power supply 20 until the charging state becomes such that automatic operation is possible, based on the charging state at the time of startup (IG on) (step S105).

[0051] Then, the control unit 3 determines whether the predicted time until the start of autonomous driving is less than the charging time calculated in step S105 (step S106). If the control unit 3 determines that the predicted time is less than the charging time (step S106, Yes), it notifies the user of the time when autonomous driving will be possible (step S107), and proceeds to step S109.

[0052] Furthermore, if the control unit 3 determines that the predicted time is not less than the charging time (step S106, No), it prohibits notification of the time when autonomous driving will be possible (step S108) and proceeds to step S109. In step S109, the control unit 3 determines whether charging has been completed to a charging state where autonomous driving is possible.

[0053] If the control unit 3 determines that charging is not complete (step S109, No), it proceeds to step S103. If the control unit 3 determines that charging is complete (step S109, Yes), it determines whether autonomous driving has started (step S110). If the control unit 3 determines that autonomous driving has not started (step S110, No), it repeats the determination process of step S110 until autonomous driving starts.

[0054] If the control unit 3 determines that the automatic driving has started (step S110, Yes), it learns the predicted time from the start until the automatic driving starts (step S111) and ends the process. After that, the control unit 3 starts the process again from step S101.

[0055] 4, S106 and S108 may be deleted, and notification of the time when autonomous driving becomes possible may be provided each time in S107. In this case, since this indicates that autonomous driving is not possible until the time when autonomous driving becomes possible, the notification in S104 may be omitted.

[0056] Further advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described above. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0057] 1 Power supply 2 Connection 3. Control Unit 4 Battery switch 51 First voltage sensor 52 Second voltage sensor 6 DC / DC 10 Main power 20 Backup power supply 11 1st system 21 2nd system 110 Automatic driving control device 111 Notification device

Claims

1. A control unit that calculates, based on the charge state of a backup power supply at the time of starting a vehicle, a charging time for the backup power supply until the charge state reaches a state where autonomous driving of the vehicle is possible, and notifies a user of a time when autonomous driving will be possible if the predicted time until autonomous driving begins is less than the charge time, and prohibits notification of the time if the predicted time is equal to or greater than the charge time. A control device comprising:

2. The control unit The predicted time is learned based on an actual measured time until the autonomous driving starts, which is measured every time the vehicle starts traveling. The control device according to claim 1 .

3. A control unit that calculates, based on the charging state of a backup power supply at the time of starting a vehicle, the charging time of the backup power supply until the charging state reaches a state where automatic driving of the vehicle is possible, and notifies a user of the time when the automatic driving will be possible and that the automatic driving is not possible while the backup power supply is charging. A control device comprising:

4. Based on the charge state of a backup power supply at the time of starting a vehicle, the charging time of the backup power supply until the charge state where the vehicle can be driven automatically is calculated, and if the predicted time until the start of the automatic driving is less than the charging time, the user is notified of the time when the automatic driving will be enabled, and if the predicted time is equal to or greater than the charging time, notification of the time is prohibited. A control method controlled by a control device.

5. Based on the charge state of the backup power supply at the time of starting the vehicle, the charging time of the backup power supply until the charge state becomes such that the vehicle can be driven automatically is calculated, and the user is notified of the time when the automatic driving will be possible and that the automatic driving will not be possible while the backup power supply is charging. A control method controlled by a control device.

6. Based on the charge state of a backup power supply at the time of starting a vehicle, the charging time of the backup power supply until the charge state where the vehicle can be driven automatically is calculated, and if the predicted time until the start of the automatic driving is less than the charging time, the user is notified of the time when the automatic driving will be enabled, and if the predicted time is equal to or greater than the charging time, notification of the time is prohibited. A control program executed by a computer.

7. Based on the charge state of the backup power supply at the time of starting the vehicle, the charging time of the backup power supply until the charge state becomes such that the vehicle can be driven automatically is calculated, and the user is notified of the time when the automatic driving will be possible and that the automatic driving will not be possible while the backup power supply is charging. A control program executed by a computer.

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