Battery sharing system, management device, control method, and program

Abstract

Provided is a battery sharing system comprising a battery exchange station that enables lending of a battery to a successfully authenticated user, a terminal application that is executed by a user's terminal device and that displays on the terminal device information relating to the battery exchange station, and a management device that acquires, from the battery exchange station, station information including information relating to a battery which can be lent from the battery exchange station, and that transmits the station information to the terminal device, wherein terminal application causes the terminal device to execute: a user authentication process for requesting user authentication of the user with respect to the management device; and a display control process for displaying on a map the position of the battery exchange station on the basis of the station information and for displaying on the map the remaining power of the battery that can be lent from the battery exchange station, in a manner according to the result of the user authentication, and in association with the battery exchange station.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a battery sharing system, a management device, a control method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, research and development has been conducted on battery sharing services that contribute to energy efficiency in order to ensure that more people have access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and advanced energy. Battery sharing services are services that allow removable batteries (secondary batteries) used in electric vehicles and the like to be rented, collected, or exchanged at dedicated battery stations. Regarding such battery sharing services, for example, a technology has been proposed that, when a removable battery becomes available, displays on a map the stations that can provide the removable battery and the number of removable batteries available at the station (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Special Publication No. 2014-529118 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the prior art, in battery sharing services, there are cases where information suitable for users is not always provided regarding the availability of battery exchange stations.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a battery sharing system, a management device, a control method, and a program that can provide users with more appropriate information regarding the availability of battery exchange stations in a battery sharing service, which will ultimately contribute to energy efficiency. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The battery sharing system, management device, control method, and program according to the present invention employ the following configuration. (1): A battery sharing system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a battery exchange station that enables a user who has successfully completed user authentication to lend, return, or exchange a battery; an application program executed on a user terminal device used by the user, the application program being a terminal app that displays information about the battery exchange station; and a management device that acquires station information from the battery exchange station, including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can lend, and transmits the station information to the user terminal device. The terminal app causes the user terminal device to perform a user authentication process that requests user authentication of the user from the management device, and a display control process that displays the location of the battery exchange station on a map based on the station information, and displays the remaining capacity of the battery that the battery exchange station can lend on the map in correspondence with the battery exchange station in a manner that corresponds to the result of the user authentication.

[0007] (2): In the above aspect (1), the terminal application further causes the user terminal device to execute a required number recognition process to recognize the required number of batteries required by the user to operate the desired device depending on the result of the user authentication, and the display control process displays the amount of batteries that the battery exchange station can lend out as the remaining capacity, expressed in units of the required number recognized by the required number recognition process, and if the number of batteries that the battery exchange station can lend out is less than the required number, the remaining capacity is not displayed.

[0008] (3): In the above aspect (1) or (2), the terminal application further causes the user terminal device to execute a connection configuration recognition process that recognizes the connection configuration of the batteries in the device driven by the battery by the user, depending on the result of the user authentication, and the display control process recognizes the number of batteries that the battery exchange station can lend out based on a combination of batteries that results in a difference in remaining capacity between the batteries that is less than a threshold value when a parallel connection is recognized by the connection configuration recognition process.

[0009] (4): In any of the above aspects (1) to (3), the terminal application further causes the user terminal device to execute a trend analysis process that analyzes the usage trends of the battery by the user depending on the result of the user authentication, and the display control process determines the battery exchange station to be displayed on the map depending on the usage trends analyzed by the trend analysis process.

[0010] (5): In any of the above aspects (1) to (4), the terminal application further causes the user terminal device to execute a trend analysis process that analyzes the usage trends of the battery by the user depending on the result of the user authentication, and the display control process determines the batteries that the battery exchange station can lend out depending on the usage trends analyzed by the trend analysis process.

[0011] (6): A management device according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a battery exchange station that enables a user who has successfully been authenticated to lend, return, or replace a battery, and a user terminal device used by the user that is capable of communicating with the user terminal device and that displays information about the battery exchange station, the management device comprising: a station information acquisition unit that acquires station information from the battery exchange station, including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can lend; a user authentication unit that performs user authentication of the user; and a terminal device used by the user that displays the location of the battery exchange station on a map. The management device generates display control information based on the station information to display on the map the remaining capacity of the batteries that the battery exchange station can lend, in correspondence with the battery exchange station, in a manner corresponding to the result of the user authentication, and transmits the display control information to the user terminal device.

[0012] (7): A control method according to one aspect of the present invention is a control method for a battery sharing system comprising: a battery exchange station that enables a user who has successfully authenticated to lend, return, or replace a battery; an application program executed on a user terminal device used by the user, the application program being a terminal app that displays information about the battery exchange station on the user terminal device; and a management device that can communicate with the battery exchange station and the user terminal device, wherein the management device acquires station information from the battery exchange station, including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can lend, and transmits the station information to the user terminal device, and the terminal app causes the user terminal device to perform a user authentication process in which the management device requests user authentication of the user; and a display control process in which, based on the station information, the location of the battery exchange station is displayed on a map and the remaining capacity of the batteries that the battery exchange station can lend is displayed on the map in correspondence with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication.

[0013] (8): A program according to one aspect of the present invention is a terminal application that is executed on a user terminal device used by a user and that displays, for a user who has successfully been authenticated, information regarding battery exchange stations that allow the user to rent, return, or replace batteries. The program causes a processor of the user terminal device to execute a user authentication process that requests user authentication of the user from a management device, and a display control process that displays the location of the battery exchange station on a map based on station information that the management device has acquired from the battery exchange station and that includes information regarding batteries that the battery exchange station can rent out, and displays on the map the remaining capacity of the battery that the battery exchange station can rent out, in correspondence with the battery exchange station, in a manner that corresponds to the result of the user authentication. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to aspects (1) to (8), a battery sharing system, a management device, a control method, and a program can be provided that can provide more appropriate information to users regarding the availability of removable batteries in a battery sharing service. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a battery sharing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a detachable battery. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an electric motorcycle. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a battery exchange station. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the configuration of a lending management unit. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a system configuration of a management device. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a user terminal device. [Figure 8] 10 is a sequence chart showing an example of a processing flow in which a management device provides availability information of each battery exchange station to a user via a user terminal device. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a battery exchange station in which the number of units of batteries available for rental for a certain user is recognized to be one or more. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display of a battery exchange station in a terminal application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Hereinafter, embodiments of a battery sharing system, a management device, a control method, and a program according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0017] [1. Overview of the battery sharing system] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a battery sharing system 1 in this embodiment. The battery sharing system 1 is a system that lends batteries to users on the premise that the batteries will be shared by multiple users. Hereinafter, such a battery lending service will be referred to as a "battery sharing service." FIG. 1 shows a configuration in which the battery sharing system 1 provides a battery sharing service to a user U. The battery sharing system 1 includes, for example, a battery exchange station 300, a management device 400, and a terminal device 500 of the user U (hereinafter referred to as a "user terminal device"). The battery exchange station 300, the management device 400, and the user terminal device 500 can communicate with each other via a communication network NW. For simplicity, one battery exchange station 300 is shown in the figure, but the battery sharing system 1 may include multiple battery exchange stations 300.

[0018] [2. Overview of each part of the battery sharing system] The communication network NW may be a wired communication transmission path, a wireless communication transmission path, or a combination of a wireless communication transmission path and a wired communication transmission path. The communication network NW may include a wireless packet communication network, the Internet, a P2P network, a dedicated line, a VPN (Virtual Private Network), a power line communication line, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication line, a road-to-vehicle communication line, etc. The communication network NW may include (i) a mobile communication network such as a mobile phone network, or (ii) a wireless communication network such as a wireless MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) (e.g., WiMAX (registered trademark)), a wireless LAN (e.g., Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), Bluetooth (registered trademark), Zigbee (registered trademark), or NFC (Near Field Communication).

[0019] The battery 100 is a battery device that is detachably mounted on the electric motorcycle 200. The battery 100 supplies power to the mounted electric motorcycle 200. The battery 100 is charged by a battery exchange station 300. For example, when the remaining capacity of the battery 100 mounted on the electric motorcycle 200 becomes low, a user U requests the management device 400 to lend out a battery 100 held in a specific battery exchange station 300. When the user U arrives at the battery exchange station 300, the user U removes the battery 100 from the electric motorcycle 200 and returns it to a return space provided at the battery exchange station 300. The battery exchange station 300 charges the returned battery 100 at an appropriate time, preparing the battery 100 for its next use.

[0020] The electric motorcycle 200 consumes power supplied by the battery 100. More specifically, the electric motorcycle 200 moves using the power supplied by the battery 100. If the battery 100 has a storage device, the electric motorcycle 200 may store at least one of the traveling history and operation history of the electric motorcycle 200 in the storage device.

[0021] In FIG. 1 , the electric motorcycle 200 is shown as an example of a use of the battery 100 by the user U, and the use of the battery 100 is not limited to the electric motorcycle 200. The battery 100 may be used as a power source for any electrical device. For example, the battery 100 may be used as a power source for a mobile object that obtains propulsion power from a motor, or as a power source for a stationary power supply device. Examples of mobile objects include automobiles, motorcycles, stand-up vehicles with power units, ships, and aircraft. Examples of automobiles include gasoline-powered vehicles, diesel-powered vehicles, electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, hybrid vehicles, small commuter vehicles, and electric carts. Examples of motorcycles include motorcycles, tricycles, and electric bicycles. Examples of ships include ships, hovercrafts, jet skis, submarines, submersibles, and underwater scooters. Examples of aircraft include airplanes, airships, balloons, helicopters, and drones.

[0022] The battery exchange station 300 holds one or more batteries 100. The battery exchange station 300 charges each of the one or more batteries 100. The battery exchange station 300 executes a lending process for the battery 100 in response to a request from a user U. For example, the lending process for the battery 100 includes user authentication for the user U and a disbursement process for the battery 100.

[0023] For example, user authentication is realized by cooperative processing between the battery exchange station 300 and the management device 400. More specifically, the battery exchange station 300 requests the management device 400 to authenticate a user U who is about to start using the battery exchange station 300, and can determine whether the authentication has been successful based on the authentication result returned from the management device 400. That is, in this embodiment, the management device 400 has a user authentication function, and the battery exchange station 300 permits a user who has been successfully authenticated to use the battery exchange station 300.

[0024] The management device 400 performs various management operations related to the battery sharing system 1. For example, the management device 400 monitors the status and manages the operation of the battery exchange station 300. Furthermore, for example, the management device 400 manages the use of each of the one or more batteries 100. For example, the battery sharing system 1 manages the lending status (e.g., available for lending, unavailable for lending, being lent, etc.), operating status (e.g., charging, discharging, standby, etc.), charging status (e.g., current SOC), storage status (e.g., temperature, humidity, etc.), degradation status, etc. of each of the one or more batteries 100.

[0025] The management device 400 also has a function of providing information regarding the availability of the battery sharing service (hereinafter referred to as "availability information") to the user U by operating in cooperation with the user terminal device 500. For example, the management device 400 accepts various requests from the user U via the user terminal device 500, executes processing related to the accepted requests, and returns the processing results to the user terminal device 500. Examples of such requests include a search request for searching for a battery exchange station 300 that meets specific conditions, a reservation request for reserving any or a specific battery 100 stored in a specific battery exchange station 300, etc. The user terminal device 500 also outputs information received from the management device 400. The information output may be in the form of an image output, an audio output, an output (recording) to a storage medium, an output (transmission) to another communication device, or other forms.

[0026] The details of the user terminal device 500 are not particularly limited as long as it is an information processing terminal that can communicate with the battery exchange station 300 and the management device 400 via the communication network NW. The user terminal device 500 may be a personal computer, or a portable terminal such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a PDA, a tablet, a notebook computer or laptop computer, or a wearable computer.

[0027] [3. Battery Rental] The battery exchange station 300 determines which batteries 100 to lend to the user U from among the batteries 100 housed therein, based on the state of the batteries 100 housed therein and various attribute information (hereinafter referred to as "user information") managed for the user U. The user information may include any information managed for each user regarding the battery sharing service. For example, the user information of the user U may include information such as the content of the service contract concluded between the user U and the service provider when using the battery sharing service, the user U's usage history of the battery 100, a reservation for use of the battery exchange station 300, and a reservation for lending the battery 100. For example, if the user U has a service contract for using two batteries 100, the battery exchange station 300 selects two batteries 100 to lend from among the batteries 100 housed therein whose charging rates exceed the lending threshold.

[0028] [4. Removable battery configuration] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the battery 100. The battery 100 includes, for example, a power storage unit 120, a BMU 130, and a connection unit 140. The BMU 130 includes, for example, a measurement sensor 131 and a memory unit 132. The power storage unit 120 is, for example, a battery pack formed by connecting a plurality of unit cells in series. The unit cells constituting the power storage unit 120 are, for example, secondary batteries that can be repeatedly charged and discharged, such as lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), nickel-metal hydride batteries, and all-solid-state batteries. The secondary batteries constituting the power storage unit 120 may include, for example, lead-acid batteries, sodium-ion batteries, capacitors such as electric double-layer capacitors, or combined batteries that combine secondary batteries and capacitors. The configuration of the secondary batteries constituting the power storage unit 120 is not particularly limited.

[0029] The BMU 130 controls charging and discharging of the power storage unit 120, performs cell balancing, detects abnormalities in the power storage unit 120, derives the cell temperature of the power storage unit 120, derives the charge / discharge current of the power storage unit 120, and estimates the SOC of the power storage unit 120. The BMU 130 stores the measurement results of the measurement sensor 131 and abnormalities or failures of the power storage unit 120 detected based on the measurement results in the memory unit 132 as battery state information. The measurement sensor 131 is a voltage sensor, a current sensor, a temperature sensor, etc. for measuring the state of charge of the power storage unit 120. The measurement sensor 131 outputs the measured voltage, current, temperature, etc. to the BMU 130. Note that a battery 100 that is not electrically operating may be defined as a battery 100 for which a predetermined time or more has elapsed since the end of its previous operation. Any battery 100 other than those defined as such may be defined as an electrically operating battery 100. The electrically operating state may be defined as, for example, a state in which the battery 100 is being charged or a state in which the battery 100 is being discharged. The BUM 130 may record, as the measurement result of the measurement sensor 131, information associating the measurement value with the measurement time in the memory unit 132, or may record, in the memory unit 132, information associating the measurement value with the measurement frequency (a so-called histogram).

[0030] The storage unit 132 includes a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or a flash memory. The storage unit 132 stores the battery status information described above. The storage unit 132 may also store identification information (battery ID) assigned to the battery 100. When the battery 100 is attached to the electric motorcycle 200, the connection unit 140 is electrically connected to the battery connection unit 210 of the electric motorcycle 200. In this state, the battery 100 supplies the power stored in the power storage unit 120 to the electric motor provided in the electric motorcycle 200.

[0031] [5. Electric bike configuration] 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an electric motorcycle 200. The electric motorcycle 200 runs on the driving force of an electric motor driven by power supplied from a battery 100. However, the electric motorcycle 200 may also be a hybrid electric vehicle that runs on the driving force of a combination of the battery 100 and an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine or a gasoline engine. The electric motorcycle 200 includes, for example, a battery connection unit 210, a vehicle control unit 220, a traveling driving force output device 230, vehicle sensors 18, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) 20, and a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver 22.

[0032] The battery connection unit 210 is electrically connected to the battery 100 when the battery 100 is attached to the electric motorcycle 200. The battery connection unit 210 includes a connection terminal for a power line that receives power from the battery 100, a connection terminal for a communication line that performs data communication between the battery 100 and the vehicle control unit 220, and the like.

[0033] The vehicle control unit 220 acquires measurement results from the vehicle sensors 18, acquires various information (such as SOC and DOD) related to the power storage unit 120 from a BMU (Battery Management Unit) 110 included in the battery 100, and acquires the position of the electric motorcycle 200 from the GNSS receiver 22. The vehicle control unit 220 controls the traveling driving force output device 230 based on the acquired data. The vehicle control unit 220 may transmit the position information of the electric motorcycle 200 acquired from the GNSS receiver 22 to the battery 100 via the battery connection unit 210.

[0034] The vehicle control unit 220 also has a function of acquiring information (hereinafter referred to as "restriction information") relating to usage restrictions on the battery 100 mounted on the electric motorcycle 200 from the battery 100, and restricting the use of the battery 100 based on the restriction information. The usage restrictions on the battery 100 will be described later.

[0035] The traveling driving force output device 230 includes, for example, an electric motor, an inverter, and an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that controls the inverter. The ECU controls the power supplied from the battery 100 to the electric motor, for example, by controlling the inverter. The vehicle sensors 18 include various sensors mounted on the electric motorcycle 200, such as a speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, a rotational speed sensor, an odometer, and others. The vehicle sensors 18 output the measurement results to the vehicle control unit 220.

[0036] The HMI 20 outputs various information to the user of the electric motorcycle 200 and accepts input operations by the user. The HMI 20 includes, for example, various display devices (which may be touch panels) such as a HUD (Head Up Display) and a meter display unit, a speaker, etc. The GNSS receiver 22 determines the position of the electric motorcycle 200 based on radio waves received from GNSS satellites (such as GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites), for example.

[0037] [6. Battery exchange station configuration] 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the battery exchange station 300. The battery exchange station 300 includes an operation unit 301, one or more charging units 320, and a control unit 340. Each of the one or more charging units 320 includes a battery storage chamber 322, a measuring instrument 324, and a charging circuit 326. The operation unit 301 is an input interface for operations to the battery exchange station 300. The operation unit 301 includes, for example, a display device such as a touch panel or a liquid crystal display, and an input device such as a trackball, switches, or buttons. The operation unit 301 outputs information about the input operations to the control unit 340 and displays information output by the control unit 340.

[0038] The charging unit 320 charges the battery 100. A single charging unit 320 may charge a single battery 100, or a single charging unit 320 may charge multiple batteries 100. The battery storage compartment 322 stores the battery 100. The measuring device 324 measures various physical quantities related to the battery 100 stored in the battery storage compartment 322. For example, the measuring device 324 measures the voltage of the battery 100. The measuring device 324 may measure at least one of the charging current and discharging current of the battery 100. The charging circuit 326 supplies power to the battery 100 to charge the battery 100.

[0039] The control unit 340 controls the operation of the battery exchange station 300. For example, the control unit 340 may control the operation of the battery exchange station 300 using information acquired from the management device 400, or may control the operation of the battery exchange station 300 based on instructions from the management device 400. The control unit 340 includes, for example, a communication control unit 342, a charge / discharge control unit 344, a lending management unit 346, and a storage unit 348.

[0040] The communication control unit 342 controls communication between the battery exchange station 300 and external devices. Examples of the external devices include at least one of the battery 100, the management device 400, and the user terminal device 500. The communication control unit 342 may be a communication interface. The communication control unit 342 may be compatible with one or more types of communication methods.

[0041] The charge / discharge control unit 344 controls the charging / discharging of the battery 100 by each of the one or more charging units 320. For example, the charge / discharge control unit 344 controls the charging of the battery 100 by controlling the charging circuit 326. The charge / discharge control unit 344 may also control the discharging of the battery 100 by controlling a discharging circuit (not shown). The charge / discharge control unit 344 controls, for example, the timing to start charging or discharging each of the one or more batteries 100, the timing to end the charging or discharging, the charging rate or discharging rate, etc. The charge / discharge control unit 344 may control the charging operation of at least some of the one or more charging units 320 in accordance with instructions from the lending management unit 346.

[0042] The lending management unit 346 manages the lending of batteries 100 in the battery exchange station 300. For example, the lending management unit 346 may manage the charging of the batteries 100 so that the batteries 100 are lent out in accordance with information (sometimes referred to as reservation information) relating to the reservation of one or more batteries 100 that is held in the battery exchange station 300. The reservation information is managed by the management device 400, for example, as information that associates the identification information of the user who reserved the battery 100, the time at which the user wishes to lend the battery 100, the number of batteries 100 that the user wishes to lend, and the conditions desired by the user regarding the charge state of the batteries 100.

[0043] The rental management unit 346 may manage the status of one or more batteries 100 stored in the battery exchange station 300. For example, the rental management unit 346 manages at least one of the operating status, charging status, storage status, and degradation status of the above-mentioned batteries 100. The rental management unit 346 may manage the status of one or more batteries 100 based on the measurement results of the measuring device 324. The rental management unit 346 may detect an abnormality or defect in the battery 100.

[0044] The storage unit 348 includes, for example, a non-volatile storage device such as an HDD, an SSD, or a flash memory. The storage unit 348 is used as a storage area for various information related to the operation of the battery exchange station 300. For example, the storage unit 348 stores measurement information that associates a time with the measurement result of the measuring device 324 at that time.

[0045] 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the lending management unit 346. The lending management unit 346 includes a status monitoring unit 352, a priority determination unit 354, and a lending target determination unit 358. At least some of the functional units included in the lending management unit 346 may be arranged in the management device 400. For example, at least one of the priority determination unit 354 and the lending target determination unit 358 may be arranged in the management device 400.

[0046] The status monitoring unit 352 monitors the status of each of the one or more batteries 100 held in the battery exchange station 300. For example, the status monitoring unit 352 acquires various types of information related to each of the one or more batteries 100. The status monitoring unit 352 may acquire information related to at least one of the operating status, charging status, storage status, and degradation status of each of the one or more batteries 100. The status monitoring unit 352 may transmit this information to the management device 400.

[0047] The state monitoring unit 352 acquires information indicating the amount of power stored in each of one or more batteries 100 held by the battery exchange station 300. For example, the state monitoring unit 352 acquires information indicating the state of charge of the battery 100 to be measured from each of the measuring devices 324 arranged in one or more charging units 320. The information indicating the state of charge may be information indicating the SOC or information for calculating the SOC. Examples of information for calculating the SOC include information indicating the voltage and information indicating the cumulative value of the charging current.

[0048] The priority determination unit 354 determines, for each of the multiple batteries 100 held by the battery exchange station 300, a priority order in which the battery is to be loaned or charged. The priority order in which the battery 100 is to be loaned may be whether the battery 100 is available for loan or may be a priority level for loaning the battery 100. The priority order in which the battery 100 is to be charged may be whether the battery 100 is available for charging or may be a priority level for charging the battery 100. The above priority levels may be indicated by continuous numerical values ​​or by graded divisions. The priority order in which the battery 100 is to be loaned may be the same as the priority order in which the battery 100 is to be charged.

[0049] The lending object determination unit 358 determines a battery 100 to be provided to a specific user in response to a request from the user from among one or more batteries 100 stored in the battery storage chambers 322 of one or more charging units 320. The lending object determination unit 358 may determine a battery 100 to be lent from among the multiple batteries 100 held in the battery exchange station 300.

[0050] For example, the lending target determination unit 358 accesses the user management information 416 described below to acquire information indicating the user attributes of the user. Based on the user attributes of the user, the lending target determination unit 358 extracts a battery 100 to be provided to the user from among the plurality of batteries 100 held by the battery exchange station 300. This allows the lending target determination unit 358 to determine the battery 100 to be provided to the user from among the plurality of batteries 100 in response to a request from the user.

[0051] [7. Management Device Configuration] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the system configuration of the management device 400. The management device 400 includes, for example, a storage unit 410, a station information acquisition unit 420, a status monitoring unit 430, a battery management unit 440, a user authentication unit 450, and a station information transmission unit 460. These components are implemented by, for example, a hardware processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be implemented by hardware (including circuitry) such as a large-scale integration (LSI), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a graphics processing unit (GPU), or may be implemented by a combination of software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance on a storage device (a storage device having a non-transitory storage medium) such as an HDD, SSD, or flash memory, or may be stored on a removable storage medium (a non-transitory storage medium) such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed by inserting the storage medium into a drive device.

[0052] The storage unit 410 includes, for example, a non-volatile storage device such as an HDD, an SSD, or a flash memory. The storage unit 410 is used as a storage area for various information related to the operation of the management device 400. The storage unit 410 stores, for example, battery management information 412, station management information 414, and user management information 416.

[0053] The battery management information 412 includes various types of information related to each battery 100 to be managed. For example, the battery management information 412 includes, for each battery 100, information on the amount of power stored in the battery 100 (for example, the SOC value). The battery management information 412 also includes, for each battery 100, degradation information indicating the degree of degradation of the battery 100. For example, the degradation information may include the full charge capacity of the battery 100, changes in the full charge capacity (amount of decrease or rate of decrease), charging time, temperature during charging, changes in internal resistance (amount of increase or rate of increase), etc.

[0054] The station management information 414 includes various information related to each of the battery exchange stations 300 to be managed. For example, the station management information 414 includes, for each battery exchange station 300, information indicating the status of the battery exchange station 300, its installation location, and identification information for each of the one or more batteries 100 held by each station.

[0055] The user management information 416 is information indicating the user attributes of each user. As described above, the user attributes include the user U's contract information regarding the battery sharing service, the user U's usage history of the battery 100, and the like. In addition to these, the user attributes may also include the usage trends of the battery 100 analyzed for each user. The usage trends of the battery 100 here refer to the tendency of how the user uses the battery 100, and are analyzed by the trend analysis unit 547, which will be described later.

[0056] The station information acquisition unit 420 acquires necessary information from the battery exchange station 300 and the user terminal device 500 as needed, and generates or updates the battery management information 412, station management information 414, and user management information 416 described above.

[0057] The status monitoring unit 430 monitors each of the battery exchange stations 300 that are the subject of management based on the station management information 414. The station management information 414 is updated by the station information acquisition unit 420 as appropriate according to the monitoring cycle of the status monitoring unit 430.

[0058] The battery management unit 440 manages one or more batteries 100 housed in each battery exchange station 300 based on the battery management information 412. The battery management unit 440 manages, for example, at least one of the operating state, charging state, storage state, and degradation state of the battery 100 to be managed.

[0059] The user authentication unit 450 performs user authentication for users of the battery sharing service. User authentication may be based on a combination of a user ID and a password, or on biometric information such as a fingerprint, voiceprint, or iris information. The user authentication unit 450 may also perform user authentication for users of the battery exchange station 300 in response to a request from the battery exchange station 300.

[0060] The station information transmission unit 460 generates station information including information about the batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300 can lend out, and transmits the station information to the user terminal device 500. For example, the station information transmission unit 460 may generate the station information based on the battery management information 412 and station management information 414 that have already been acquired in the storage unit 410, or may generate the station information by inquiring of the battery exchange station 300 for necessary information at the appropriate time.

[0061] [8. Configuration of user terminal device] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a user terminal device 500. The user terminal device 500 includes, for example, a storage unit 510, an input unit 520, a display unit 530, and a control unit 540. These components are realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI, ASIC, FPGA, or GPU, or may be realized by a combination of software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device such as an HDD, SSD, or flash memory (a storage device having a non-transitory storage medium), or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transitory storage medium) such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed by inserting the storage medium into a drive device.

[0062] The storage unit 510 includes, for example, a non-volatile storage device such as an HDD, SSD, or flash memory. The storage unit 510 is used as a storage area for various information related to the operation of the user terminal device 500. For example, the storage unit 510 stores a user application program (hereinafter referred to as a "terminal application") 511 that displays availability information of battery exchange stations 300 in the form of a map. More specifically, the terminal application 511 displays the installation locations of the battery exchange stations 300 on a map, and displays information indicating the remaining capacity of the batteries 100 that each battery exchange station 300 can rent (hereinafter referred to as "remaining capacity information") on the map in association with each station. For example, the remaining capacity information may be displayed near the corresponding battery exchange station 300, or may be displayed at any location on the map together with a display indicating the corresponding battery exchange station 300.

[0063] The input unit 520 includes input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, and touch panel. The input unit 520 accepts various operations input by the user, converts the input operations into electrical signals, and outputs the electrical signals to the control unit 540. The input unit 520 may be equipped with an audio input device such as a microphone and configured to accept operation input by audio input. Furthermore, if the input unit 520 includes a touch panel, the input unit 520 may be configured integrally with the display unit 530. Furthermore, the input unit 520 is not limited to being an input device configured as a part of the user terminal device 500. For example, the input unit 520 may be configured as an input interface that inputs electrical signals indicating operations for the user terminal device 500 from an external device configured separately from the user terminal device 500.

[0064] Display unit 530 is configured using a display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, a liquid crystal display, or an organic EL display. Alternatively, display unit 530 may be configured as an interface that connects these display devices to its own device. For example, the screen of terminal application 511 is displayed on display unit 530.

[0065] Control unit 540 controls the operation of each unit of user terminal device 500. Control unit 540 includes, for example, authentication request unit 541, display control unit 543, connection mode recognition unit 545, trend analysis unit 547, and unit number recognition unit 549. For example, authentication request unit 541, display control unit 543, connection mode recognition unit 545, trend analysis unit 547, and unit number recognition unit 549 are generated by control unit 540 executing terminal application 511.

[0066] The authentication request unit 541 requests the management device 400 to perform user authentication for the user. At this time, the authentication request unit 541 transmits to the management device 400 authentication information of the user required for user authentication.

[0067] The display control unit 543 executes a display control process for controlling the screen display of the terminal application 511. More specifically, the display control unit 543 displays the position of the battery exchange station 300 on a map based on the station information received from the management device 400, acquires remaining capacity information of the batteries 100 that can be rented out by the battery exchange station 300 based on the station information, and displays the acquired remaining capacity information on the map in association with the battery exchange station 300 in a manner according to the result of the user authentication. The remaining capacity information may be the actual number of batteries 100 that can be rented out by the battery exchange station 300, or may be a quantity acquired based on that number.

[0068] The connection form recognition unit 545 recognizes the connection form of the battery 100 for the electric device for which the user uses the battery 100 (hereinafter referred to as "purpose device"). In the example of FIG. 1, the purpose device of user U is the electric motorcycle 200, so in this case the connection form recognition unit 545 recognizes the connection form of the battery 100 in the electric motorcycle 200. Here, the connection form of the battery 100 refers to a form in which multiple batteries 100 are connected when multiple batteries 100 are required to drive the purpose device, and is classified as either a series connection or a parallel connection.

[0069] The user's intended use device is managed by the management device 400 as part of the user management information 416, and can be recognized according to the result of user authentication by the management device 400. For example, when the authentication request unit 541 requests user authentication of the user from the management device 400 and the user authentication is successful, the authentication result and the user information of the user are returned. The connection mode recognition unit 545 can recognize the intended use device of the user from the user information returned from the management device 400 in response to the user authentication of the user.

[0070] The trend analysis unit 547 analyzes the usage trend of the battery 100 by the user. For example, the trend analysis unit 547 estimates the degree of deterioration of the battery 100 caused by the user's use and analyzes the deterioration pattern based on the user's usage history of the battery 100. For example, the degree of deterioration of the battery 100 can be recognized from changes in the SOC, changes in the full charge capacity, changes in the time required for charging, etc.

[0071] Note that the usage history of the battery 100 by the user is managed by the management device 400 as part of the user management information 416, similar to the above-mentioned application devices, and can be recognized according to the result of user authentication by the management device 400. The trend analysis unit 547 can recognize the usage history of the battery 100 by the user based on the user information returned from the management device 400 in response to the user authentication of the user.

[0072] The unit number recognition unit 549 recognizes the number of units of batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300 can lend as remaining capacity information of the batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300 can lend. The unit number is the quantity of batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300 can lend, expressed as a unit number where one unit is the number of batteries 100 required to drive the intended device (hereinafter referred to as the "required number"). For example, if the number of batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300 can lend (hereinafter referred to as the "rentable number") is five and the required number is two, the unit number is two. Also, for example, if the lendable number is three and the required number is two, the unit number is one.

[0073] Specifically, the unit number recognition unit 549 recognizes the number of units available for rental at the battery exchange station 300 based on the station information provided by the management device 400, and also recognizes the required number of application devices by, for example, referring to catalog information for the application devices recognized for the user. The unit number recognition unit 549 can calculate the number of units by dividing the recognized number of units available for rental by the required number of application devices. In this case, the catalog information for the application devices may be managed by the management device 400 as part of the user management information 416. Alternatively, instead of the catalog information, the required number may be managed by the management device 400 together with the application devices as part of the user management information 416. In other words, the required number is recognized based on the result of user authentication, just like the usage history of the application devices and the battery 100.

[0074] [9. Availability information provision process] 8 is a sequence chart showing an example of a processing flow in which the user terminal device 500 cooperates with the management device 400 to display the remaining capacity information of each battery exchange station 300 on a map in association with the installation location of each station as availability information of each battery exchange station 300. First, an operation to start the terminal application 511 is input in the user terminal device 500 (step S101). In response to this start-up operation, the control unit 540 starts the terminal application 511, whereby an authentication request unit 541 and a display control unit 543 are generated in the user terminal device 500.

[0075] Next, the authentication request unit 541 transmits a request for providing station information to the management device 400 in order to display the availability information of the battery exchange station 300 on the user terminal device 500 (step S102). At this time, the authentication request unit 541 also transmits the authentication information of the user (e.g., a user ID and a password) for user authentication of the user.

[0076] Next, in the management device 400, the user authentication unit 450 receives a request for providing station information from the user terminal device 500 and performs user authentication for the requesting user (step S103). If the user authentication is successful, the user authentication unit 450 acquires user information for the user by referring to the user management information 416 (step S104), acquires station information based on the battery management information 412 and the station management information 414 (step S105), and notifies the acquired user information and station information together with the authentication result (success) to the user terminal device 500 (step S106). On the other hand, if the user authentication fails in step S104, the user information and station information are not acquired, and the authentication result (failure) is notified to the requesting user terminal device 500, and the request for providing station information is rejected.

[0077] Depending on the timing of receiving the request for providing station information, there is a possibility that the management device 400 has not acquired sufficient management information. If such a possibility is anticipated, the station information acquisition unit 420 may be configured to request update information from the battery exchange station 300 in response to successful user authentication (step S201) and acquire the update information from the battery exchange station 300 (step S202). In this case, the station information acquisition unit 420 may perform information update processing on various pieces of management information in the storage unit 410 based on the update information acquired from the battery exchange station 300 (step S203), and then proceed to step S104. By performing such information update processing, the management device 400 can provide more appropriate station information to the user terminal device 500.

[0078] Next, in the user terminal device 500, the connection configuration recognition unit 545 recognizes the connection configuration of the battery 100 for the user's intended use device based on the station information and user information provided from the management device 400 (step S107). On the other hand, the tendency analysis unit 547 analyzes the usage tendency of the battery 100 by the user based on the station information and user information (step S108). On the other hand, the unit number recognition unit 549 recognizes the number of units of the battery 100 that can be rented out by the battery exchange station 300 based on the station information and user information (step S109). Note that the unit number recognition unit 549 may recognize the unit number based on the connection configuration recognized in step S107 and the usage tendency of the battery 100 by the user analyzed in step S108.

[0079] Next, the display control unit 543 executes a display control process to recognize battery exchange stations 300 that accommodate batteries 100 available for loan to users based on the station information and user information provided by the management device 400, display their installation locations on a map, and display the number of units recognized for each station on the map in association with the corresponding battery exchange station 300 (step S110). For example, the display control unit 543 can determine, as the display target, battery exchange stations 300 that accommodate one or more units of loanable batteries 100. The display control unit 543 may also determine the battery exchange stations 300 to display on the map based on the connection topology recognized in step S107 and the usage trends of the batteries 100 by users analyzed in step S108.

[0080] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a battery exchange station 300 in which the number of units of batteries 100 available for rental for a certain user is recognized as one or more. The example in FIG. 9 shows a battery exchange station 300A having 12 batteries 100 with a charge rate of 30% or more. In the example in FIG. 9, the charge rate of a battery 100 (not shown) is assumed to be less than 30%. In this example, if a battery 100 with a charge rate of 80% or more is available for rental, the unit number recognition unit 549 recognizes the number of units of batteries 100 available for rental at the battery exchange station 300A as eight. In this case, if the required number is two, the unit number recognition unit 549 recognizes the number of units of batteries 100 available for rental at the battery exchange station 300A as four.

[0081] When recognizing the number of batteries 100 available for lending for the battery exchange station 300, the unit number recognition unit 549 may recognize batteries 100 that satisfy conditions related to the connection configuration as available for lending, in addition to the required number. Generally, when batteries 100 are connected in series, it is not necessary to match the charge rates of the connected batteries 100. In this case, for example, if batteries 100 with a charge rate of 50% or more are available for lending, the unit number recognition unit 549 can recognize that 10 batteries 100 included in the battery group 100B are available for lending. In this case, if the required number is 2, the number of units of batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300A can lend is 5. In addition, the overall output in this case is the average value of the output of the individual batteries 100.

[0082] In contrast, when batteries 100 are connected in parallel, the charging rates of the connected batteries 100 must be matched to some extent to prevent reflux. For this reason, for example, if the allowable difference in charging rate (difference in remaining capacity) is set to less than 5% and the charging rate of the batteries 100 available for lending is set to 80% or more, the unit number recognition unit 549 can recognize that eight batteries 100 included in the battery group 100A are available for lending. However, in this case, if the required number is two, the number of units of batteries 100 that the battery exchange station 300A can lend may not simply be half (four) of the number of batteries 100 available for lending (eight) because of the restriction on the allowable difference in charging rate (less than 5%). For example, in the battery group 100A in FIG. 9, there are at most three combinations of batteries 100 that satisfy the condition of "a difference in charging rate of less than 5%" (e.g., combinations of {100%, 98%}, {95%, 93%}, and {85%, 83%}), so the number of units in this case is three.

[0083] Furthermore, when recognizing the number of batteries 100 available for rental at the battery exchange station 300, the unit number recognition unit 549 may recognize batteries 100 that satisfy conditions related to usage trends, in addition to the required number, as available for rental. For example, for a user who has a strong tendency to deteriorate their batteries 100, the available batteries 100 may be limited to a specific range of batteries 100. For example, by defining the specific range of batteries 100 as having a degree of deterioration equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, it is possible to prevent batteries 100 with a low degree of deterioration from being rented to a user who has a strong tendency to deteriorate their batteries 100. Furthermore, by defining the specific range of batteries 100 as having a degree of deterioration equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, it is possible to rent batteries 100 with a low degree of deterioration to a user who has a strong tendency to deteriorate their batteries 100. Note that the range of batteries 100 that constitutes the specific range may be determined arbitrarily depending on the user's contract details, the battery 100 management policy, etc.

[0084] Furthermore, the unit number recognition unit 549 may combine the above-mentioned recognition methods to recognize that the battery 100 that satisfies the conditions of the required number, the connection form, and the usage tendency is available for lending.

[0085] Through this processing, the user terminal device 500 displays on a map the battery exchange stations 300 available to the user in association with the remaining capacity information of the available batteries 100. Furthermore, through the above processing, the remaining capacity information displayed in association with the battery exchange stations 300 is determined according to the user information recognized for the user who has successfully been authenticated. This allows the user to recognize the availability of each battery exchange station 300 in accordance with their own user attributes.

[0086] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display of a battery exchange station 300 in the terminal application 511. For example, the display example of FIG. 10 displays icons indicating the presence of battery exchange stations 300 in a certain area, in association with points on a map corresponding to their installation locations. The example of FIG. 10 shows an example of a display for an area in which 16 battery exchange stations 300 exist. In this example, of the icons C11 to C28 displayed on the map, the icons C11 to C18 displaying remaining power information indicate battery exchange stations 300 available to users, while the icons C21 to C28 not displaying remaining power information indicate battery exchange stations 300 that are unavailable to users. Here, a battery exchange station 300 available to users refers to a battery exchange station 300 that can lend the user the required number of batteries 100. In this way, by displaying remaining power information in association with the battery exchange station 300 on a map showing the installation locations of the battery exchange stations 300, users can recognize the availability of the battery exchange stations 300 provided by the battery sharing service.

[0087] 10, the user can easily recognize whether each battery exchange station 300 is available to the user based on the presence or absence of remaining power information. Furthermore, the user can appropriately recognize the level of availability to the user based on the remaining power information displayed on the battery exchange station 300. For example, in the example of FIG. 10, a user located at the current location P can select the battery exchange stations 300 associated with icons C13 (8 units) and C14 (1 unit) as candidates for the battery exchange station 300 to use, and can recognize the battery exchange station 300 associated with icon C13, which has more units, as the battery exchange station 300 with the higher availability to the user.

[0088] The display control unit 543 may display on the map all battery exchange stations 300 provided by the battery sharing service, or may display on the map only battery exchange stations 300 that are recognized as having rentable batteries 100 based on the station information, or may display on the map only battery exchange stations 300 that are recognized as available to the user based on the user information. In other words, if the number of batteries 100 that a battery exchange station 300 can rent is less than the required number of batteries 100 recognized for the user's intended use device, the display control unit 543 may not display such battery exchange station 300 on the map.

[0089] The display control unit 543 may also be configured to limit the display of battery exchange stations 300 and / or remaining capacity information on the map according to the user's tendency to use the battery 100. For example, for a user who has a strong tendency to deteriorate the battery 100, the battery exchange stations 300 that can be displayed may be limited to a specific range of battery exchange stations 300. In this way, the user who has a strong tendency to deteriorate the battery 100 can only use battery exchange stations 300 within the specific range. Furthermore, the display control unit 543 may be configured to determine the battery exchange stations 300 to be displayed on the map, or to determine the batteries 100 that the battery exchange stations 300 can rent, based on the user's tendency to use the battery 100 with respect to deterioration and the deterioration state of the batteries 100 stored in the battery exchange stations 300.

[0090] According to the battery sharing system 1 of the embodiment configured as described above, it is possible to provide more suitable information to users regarding the availability of the battery exchange station 300 in the battery sharing service.

[0091] <Modification> In the above embodiment, the case where the user terminal device 500 includes the display control unit 543, the connection configuration recognition unit 545, the trend analysis unit 547, and the unit number recognition unit 549 has been described. However, some or all of these functional units, or some or all of the functions of each functional unit, may be included in the management device 400. For example, the management device 400 may execute steps S107 to S109 in FIG. 8 to determine the battery exchange stations 300 to be displayed on the map, and transmit station information including their identification information and unit numbers to the user terminal device 500. In this case, the display control unit 543 in the user terminal device 500 may recognize the battery exchange stations 300 to be displayed based on the station information provided from the management device 400, identify their installation locations, display them on the map, and display the respective unit numbers corresponding to the locations of the battery exchange stations 300. In this case, the content to be displayed on the map in the user terminal device 500 is determined on the management device 400 side, and therefore the function of generating station information in the management device 400 and transmitting it to the user terminal device 500 can be regarded as a display control unit that controls the display of the map application 511. That is, the management device 400 in this case can be expressed as "a management device comprising: a battery exchange station that allows a user who has successfully been authenticated to rent, return, or exchange a battery; and a user terminal device used by the user, which is capable of communicating with the user terminal device that displays information about the battery exchange station, the management device comprising: a station information acquisition unit 420 that acquires, from the battery exchange station, station information including information about batteries that can be rented by the battery exchange station; a user authentication unit that performs user authentication of the user; and a display control unit that generates, based on the station information, display control information for transmitting to the user terminal device, the display control information for causing the terminal device used by the user that displays the location of the battery exchange station on a map to display on the map the remaining capacity of the battery that can be rented by the battery exchange station in association with the battery exchange station in a manner corresponding to the result of the user authentication."The management device 400 may also be configured to generate an image showing the battery exchange stations 300 and the number of units thereof on a map, and transmit the image to the user terminal device 500.

[0092] Furthermore, terminal application 511 may provide the user with means (such as a button) for changing the display mode of the available capacity information on the map. By providing such means, the user can appropriately switch the display mode of the available capacity information between, for example, the number of units and the number of loanable units.

[0093] In the above embodiment, the case where the management device 400 is configured separately from the battery exchange station 300 has been described, but some or all of the functions of the management device 400 may be provided on the battery exchange station 300 side. For example, the function of the management device 400 to manage the user management information 416 may be provided in the battery exchange station 300. In this case, the management device 400 may be configured to inquire of the battery exchange station 300 about the user information of the target user.

[0094] In the above embodiment, the details of the battery sharing system 1 have been described using an example in which the management device 400 manages one or more batteries 100 and one or more battery exchange stations 300. However, the battery sharing system 1 is not limited to this embodiment. At least one of the one or more battery exchange stations 300 may have at least some of the functions of the above-described management device 400. For example, at least one of the one or more battery exchange stations 300 may manage one or more batteries 100. At least one of the one or more battery exchange stations 300 may manage other battery exchange stations 300. In this case, the battery sharing system 1 may or may not include the management device 400.

[0095] In this embodiment, the details of the battery sharing system 1 have been described using as an example a case where the battery exchange station 300 determines a battery 100 to be lent out from among the plurality of batteries 100 stored therein. However, the battery sharing system 1 is not limited to this embodiment. The management device 400 may determine a battery 100 to be lent out from among the plurality of batteries 100 stored in the battery exchange station 300.

[0096] The above-described embodiment can be expressed as follows. A battery sharing system comprising: a battery exchange station that enables a user who has successfully been authenticated to lend, return, or exchange a battery; an application program executed on a user terminal device used by the user, the application program being a terminal app that displays information about the battery exchange station on the user terminal device; and a management device that can communicate with the battery exchange station and the user terminal device, one or more storage media storing computer-readable instructions; one or more processors coupled to the one or more storage media; The one or more processors execute the computer-readable instructions to the management device acquires station information from the battery exchange station, the station information including information about batteries that can be rented by the battery exchange station, and transmits the acquired station information to the user terminal device; The terminal application a user authentication process for requesting the management device to authenticate the user; a display control process for displaying the location of the battery exchange station on a map based on the station information, and displaying the remaining capacity of the battery that can be rented out by the battery exchange station on the map in association with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication; causing the user terminal device to execute the Battery sharing system.

[0097] The above describes the form for carrying out the present invention using an embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various modifications and substitutions can be made within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0098] 1...battery sharing system, 100...detachable battery, 120...power storage unit, 130...BMU, 131...measurement sensor, 132...memory unit, 140...connection unit, 200...electric motorcycle, 18...vehicle sensor, 20...HMI, 22...GNSS receiver, 210...battery connection unit, 220...vehicle control unit, 230...driving force output device, 300...battery exchange station, 301...operation unit, 320...charging unit, 322...battery storage chamber, 324...measuring instrument, 326...charging circuit, 340...control unit, 342...communication control unit, 344...charge / discharge control unit, 346...rental management unit, 348...memory unit, 352...status monitoring unit, 3 54...priority determination unit, 358...lending object determination unit, 400...management device, 410...storage unit, 412...battery management information, 414...station management information, 416...user management information, 420...station information acquisition unit, 430...status monitoring unit, 440...battery management unit, 450...user authentication unit, 460...station information transmission unit, 500...user terminal device, 510...storage unit, 511...terminal application, 520...input unit, 530...display unit, 540...control unit, 541...authentication request unit, 543...display control unit, 545...connection form recognition unit, 547...trend analysis unit described later, 547...trend analysis unit, 549...unit number recognition unit

Claims

1. a battery exchange station that allows a user who has been successfully authenticated to borrow, return, or exchange a battery; an application program executed on a user terminal device used by the user, the application program being a terminal application that displays information about the battery exchange station; a management device that acquires station information from the battery exchange station, the station information including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can rent, and transmits the station information to the user terminal device; A battery sharing system comprising: The terminal application a user authentication process for requesting the management device to authenticate the user; a display control process for displaying the location of the battery exchange station on a map based on the station information, and displaying the remaining capacity of the battery that can be rented out by the battery exchange station on the map in association with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication; a connection configuration recognition process in which the user recognizes a connection configuration of the plurality of batteries in a device driven by two or more of the plurality of batteries according to a result of the user authentication; The user terminal device executes the following: When the connection configuration recognition process recognizes that the connection configuration is a parallel connection, the display control process recognizes the number of batteries that the battery exchange station can lend out based on a combination of multiple batteries in which a difference in remaining capacity between the multiple batteries is less than a threshold. Battery sharing system.

2. A battery exchange station that allows a user who has successfully completed user authentication to borrow, return, or exchange a battery; an application program executed on a user terminal device used by the user, the application program being a terminal application that displays information about the battery exchange station; a management device that acquires station information from the battery exchange station, the station information including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can rent, and transmits the station information to the user terminal device; A battery sharing system comprising: The terminal application a user authentication process for requesting the management device to authenticate the user; a display control process for displaying the location of the battery exchange station on a map based on the station information, and displaying the remaining capacity of the battery that can be rented out by the battery exchange station on the map in association with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication; a trend analysis process for analyzing a usage trend of the battery by the user according to a result of the user authentication; The user terminal device executes the following: the display control process determines the battery exchange stations to be displayed on the map in accordance with the usage trends of the batteries by the users analyzed by the trend analysis process. Battery sharing system.

3. A battery exchange station that allows a user who has successfully completed user authentication to borrow, return, or exchange a battery; an application program executed on a user terminal device used by the user, the application program being a terminal application that displays information about the battery exchange station; a management device that acquires station information from the battery exchange station, the station information including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can rent, and transmits the station information to the user terminal device; A battery sharing system comprising: The terminal application a user authentication process for requesting the management device to authenticate the user; a display control process for displaying the location of the battery exchange station on a map based on the station information, and displaying the remaining capacity of the battery that can be rented out by the battery exchange station on the map in association with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication; a required number recognition process for recognizing the required number of the batteries required for the user to drive the target device according to the result of the user authentication; The user terminal device executes the following: The display control process displays, as the remaining capacity, a unit number representing the amount of the batteries that can be rented from the battery exchange station in units of the required number recognized by the required number recognition process. Battery sharing system.

4. The terminal application further causing the user terminal device to execute a trend analysis process for analyzing a usage trend of the battery by the user according to a result of the user authentication; the display control process determines the battery available for rental by the battery exchange station in accordance with the usage tendency of the battery by the user analyzed by the trend analysis process. The battery sharing system according to claim 1 .

5. A management device capable of communicating with a battery exchange station that enables a user who has been successfully authenticated to lend, return, or exchange a battery, and capable of communicating with a user terminal device that is used by the user and displays information about the battery exchange station, a station information acquisition unit that acquires station information from the battery exchange station, the station information including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can lend; a user authentication unit that performs user authentication of the user; a display control unit that generates, based on the station information, display control information for causing the user terminal device that displays the location of the battery exchange station on a map to display, on the map, the remaining capacity of the battery that can be rented out by the battery exchange station in association with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication; a connection configuration recognition unit that recognizes a connection configuration of the batteries in a device driven by two or more batteries by the user according to a result of the user authentication; Equipped with When the connection configuration recognition unit recognizes that the connection configuration is a parallel connection, the display control unit recognizes the number of the batteries that the battery exchange station can lend out based on a combination of the plurality of batteries in which a difference in remaining capacity between the plurality of batteries is less than a threshold. Management device.

6. A management device capable of communicating with a battery exchange station that enables a user who has successfully been authenticated to borrow, return, or exchange a battery, and capable of communicating with a user terminal device that is used by the user and displays information about the battery exchange station, a station information acquisition unit that acquires station information from the battery exchange station, the station information including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can lend; a user authentication unit that performs user authentication of the user; a display control unit that generates, based on the station information, display control information for causing the user terminal device that displays the location of the battery exchange station on a map to display, on the map, the remaining capacity of the battery that can be rented out by the battery exchange station in association with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication; a tendency analysis unit that analyzes a tendency of use of the battery by the user according to a result of the user authentication; Equipped with the display control unit determines the battery exchange station to be displayed on the map in accordance with the usage tendency of the battery by the user analyzed by the tendency analysis unit. Management device.

7. A management device capable of communicating with a battery exchange station that enables a user who has successfully been authenticated to borrow, return, or exchange a battery, and capable of communicating with a user terminal device that is used by the user and displays information about the battery exchange station, a station information acquisition unit that acquires station information from the battery exchange station, the station information including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can lend; a user authentication unit that performs user authentication of the user; a display control unit that generates, based on the station information, display control information for causing the user terminal device that displays the location of the battery exchange station on a map to display, on the map, the remaining capacity of the battery that can be rented out by the battery exchange station in association with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication; a required number recognition unit that recognizes the required number of batteries required for the user to drive the target device according to the result of the user authentication; Equipped with the display control unit displays, as the remaining capacity, a unit number representing the amount of the batteries that can be rented out by the battery exchange station in units of the required number recognized by the required number recognition unit. Management device.

8. A method for displaying, on a user terminal device used by a user who has been successfully authenticated, information about a battery exchange station that allows the user to rent, return, or exchange a battery, the method comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring station information from the battery exchange station, the station information including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can lend; an authentication step for performing user authentication of the user; a display step of displaying the location of the battery exchange station on a map based on the station information, and displaying the remaining capacity of the battery that can be rented out by the battery exchange station on the map in association with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication; a recognition step in which the user recognizes a connection state of the plurality of batteries in the device driven by two or more of the plurality of batteries according to a result of the user authentication; and When the recognition step recognizes that the connection configuration is a parallel connection, the display step recognizes the number of the batteries that the battery exchange station can lend out based on a combination of the plurality of batteries in which a difference in remaining capacity between the plurality of batteries is less than a threshold value. Control method.

9. A method for displaying, on a user terminal device used by a user who has successfully been authenticated, information about a battery exchange station that allows the user to rent, return, or exchange a battery, comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring station information from the battery exchange station, the station information including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can lend; an authentication step for performing user authentication of the user; a display step of displaying the location of the battery exchange station on a map based on the station information, and displaying the remaining capacity of the battery that can be rented out by the battery exchange station on the map in association with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication; an analysis step of analyzing a usage trend of the battery by the user according to a result of the user authentication; and the display step determines the battery exchange stations to be displayed on the map in accordance with the usage tendency of the battery by the user analyzed in the analysis step. Control method.

10. A method for displaying, on a user terminal device used by a user who has successfully been authenticated, information about a battery exchange station that allows the user to rent, return, or exchange a battery, comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring station information from the battery exchange station, the station information including information about batteries that the battery exchange station can lend; an authentication step for performing user authentication of the user; a display step of displaying the location of the battery exchange station on a map based on the station information, and displaying the remaining capacity of the battery that can be rented out by the battery exchange station on the map in association with the battery exchange station in a manner according to the result of the user authentication; a recognition step of recognizing the number of batteries required for the user to operate the target device according to the result of the user authentication; and The display step displays, as the remaining capacity, a number of units representing the amount of the batteries that can be rented from the battery exchange station in units of the required number recognized in the recognition step. Control method.

11. A terminal application program that is executed on a user terminal device used by a user and displays information about a battery exchange station that allows a user who has successfully been authenticated to borrow, return, or exchange a battery, A processor of the user terminal device a user authentication process for requesting a management device to authenticate the user; a display control process for displaying the positions of the battery exchange stations on a map based on station information acquired by the management device from the battery exchange stations, the station information including information on batteries available for lending from the battery exchange stations, and displaying the remaining capacity of the batteries available for lending from the battery exchange stations on the map in association with the battery exchange stations in a manner according to the result of the user authentication; a connection configuration recognition process in which the user recognizes a connection configuration of the plurality of batteries in a device driven by two or more of the plurality of batteries according to a result of the user authentication; It is a program for executing When the connection configuration recognition process recognizes that the connection configuration is a parallel connection, the display control process recognizes the number of batteries that the battery exchange station can lend out based on a combination of multiple batteries in which a difference in remaining capacity between the multiple batteries is less than a threshold. program.

12. A terminal application program that is executed on a user terminal device used by a user and displays, for a user who has successfully been authenticated, information about a battery exchange station that allows the user to borrow, return, or exchange a battery, A processor of the user terminal device a user authentication process for requesting a management device to authenticate the user; a display control process for displaying the positions of the battery exchange stations on a map based on station information acquired by the management device from the battery exchange stations, the station information including information on batteries available for lending from the battery exchange stations, and displaying the remaining capacity of the batteries available for lending from the battery exchange stations on the map in association with the battery exchange stations in a manner according to the result of the user authentication; a trend analysis process for analyzing a usage trend of the battery by the user according to a result of the user authentication; It is a program for executing the display control process determines the battery exchange stations to be displayed on the map in accordance with the usage trends of the batteries by the users analyzed by the trend analysis process. program.

13. A terminal application program that is executed on a user terminal device used by a user and displays information about a battery exchange station that allows a user who has successfully authenticated to borrow, return, or exchange a battery, A processor of the user terminal device a user authentication process for requesting a management device to authenticate the user; a display control process for displaying the positions of the battery exchange stations on a map based on station information acquired by the management device from the battery exchange stations, the station information including information on batteries available for lending from the battery exchange stations, and displaying the remaining capacity of the batteries available for lending from the battery exchange stations on the map in association with the battery exchange stations in a manner according to the result of the user authentication; a required number recognition process for recognizing the required number of the batteries required for the user to drive the target device according to the result of the user authentication; It is a program for executing The display control process displays, as the remaining capacity, a unit number representing the amount of the batteries that can be rented from the battery exchange station in units of the required number recognized by the required number recognition process. program.

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