Display control device, display control method, and display control program

Abstract

This technology provides a way for users to easily recognize the correspondence between individual cells and battery packs. [Solution] The display control device 1 includes a display control means 32 that displays on the display unit D an image of the first battery set 110a corresponding to the first battery set 110, an image of the 11th single cell 111a corresponding to the 11th single cell 111 included in the first battery set 110, and an image of the 12th single cell 112a corresponding to the 12th single cell 112 included in the first battery set 110, in association with each other.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a display control device, a display control method, and a display control program.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, it has been practiced to combine a plurality of single cells to form one assembled battery. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an acquisition unit that acquires current output information indicating the current maximum output and degradation degree information indicating the degree of decrease in the future maximum output of each of a plurality of single cells included in a secondary battery, and for each of these plurality of single cells, based on this current maximum output and the degree of decrease in this future maximum output, a specifying unit that specifies the total work amount that can be charged and discharged in the future, and among these plurality of single cells, a determination unit that determines a combination composed of two or more single cells whose total work amount falls within a predetermined work amount range, and an output unit that outputs information indicating this combination as a combination of single cells connected in parallel to each other in this secondary battery to a display unit.

[0003] Also, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses that one module battery is formed by connecting a plurality of single cells, and further, one assembled battery is formed by connecting a plurality of module batteries. Also, Patent Document 2 discloses that measurement result information for each module battery is represented by a rectangular parallelepiped, and further, the value of the degradation rate is represented by the thickness of the rectangular parallelepiped, and the value of the charge rate is represented by the length (height in this example) of the rectangular parallelepiped. Patent Document 3 discloses that a schematic diagram of a battery is represented by a rectangular diagram. Also, Patent Document 3 discloses that for a battery in a degraded state, this schematic diagram is shaded.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

[0005] However, Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3 had room for improvement in making it easy for users to recognize the correspondence between single cells and battery packs.

[0006] This disclosure has been made in view of these problems and aims to provide a technology that allows users to easily recognize the correspondence between individual cells and battery packs. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The display control device of this disclosure includes a display control means that causes a display unit to display an image of a first battery set corresponding to a first battery set, an image of an eleventh single cell included in the first battery set corresponding to an eleventh single cell included in the first battery set, and an image of a twelfth single cell included in the first battery set corresponding to a twelfth single cell. The display control method of this disclosure displays on a display unit an image of a first battery set corresponding to a first battery set, an image of an eleventh single cell included in the first battery set corresponding to an eleventh single cell included in the first battery set, and an image of a twelfth single cell included in the first battery set corresponding to a twelfth single cell. The display control program disclosed herein causes a computer to function as a display control device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] This disclosure provides a technology that allows users to easily recognize the correspondence between individual cells and battery packs. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram showing the configuration of the display control device of this embodiment. [Figure 2] It is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit included in the display control device of the present embodiment. [Figure 3] It is a diagram showing the configuration of the storage battery. [Figure 4] It is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit of the display control device of the present embodiment. [Figure 5] It is an example of a screen in a state where the display modes of the 11th single battery image and the 22nd single battery image are changed. [Figure 6] It is an example of a screen in a state where the display mode of the 22nd single battery image is changed and the 23rd single battery image is displayed. [Figure 7] It is an example of a screen in a state where the 22nd single battery image is selected, the display mode of the 21st single battery image is changed, and the 23rd single battery image is displayed. [Figure 8] It is an example of a screen in a state where the 22nd single battery image and the 23rd single battery image are swapped and displayed. [Figure 9] It is an example of a screen in a state where the 22nd single battery image and the 23rd single battery image are superimposed and displayed. [Figure 10] It is an example of a screen in a state where the position of the reference image is changed and the display modes of the 12th single battery image and the 22nd single battery image are changed. [Figure 11] It is an example of a screen in a state where single battery images are swapped and displayed on the display unit. [Figure 12] It is an example of a screen in a state where an additional single battery image is displayed. [Figure 13] It is a flowchart showing the display control method of the present embodiment. [Figure 14] It is a flowchart showing the subroutine of the first mode process. [Figure 15] It is a flowchart showing the subroutine of the second mode process. [Figure 16] It is a flowchart showing the subroutine of the third mode process.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the display control device 1, the display control method, and the display control program according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] (Display control device 1) The display control device 1 of the present disclosure causes the display unit D to display a single cell image corresponding to a plurality of single cells and a battery pack image corresponding to a battery pack. The single cells in the present embodiment may be, for example, stationary batteries for power buffers reused as power sources for a power transmission grid or the like after being used in a vehicle driven by electricity. The single cells are preferably, for example, all-solid-state batteries, lithium-ion batteries, lead-acid batteries, etc. In the description of the display control device 1, first, each component included in the display control device 1 will be described.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the display control device 1 in the present embodiment. The display control device 1 includes a control unit 30 including a processor P such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) connected by a bus and a memory M, and executes a display control program. The display control program is, for example, a program that controls the display of the display unit D of the display control device 1. The display control device 1 functions as a device including a user interface 10, a storage unit 20, and a control unit 30 by executing the display control program. The display control program according to the present embodiment is a program that causes a computer to function as the display control device 1 according to the present embodiment.

[0013] More specifically, the display control device 1 reads out the display control program stored in the storage unit 20 by the processor P and stores the read display control program in the memory M. By the processor P executing the display control program stored in the memory M, the display control device 1 functions as a device including a user interface 10, a storage unit 20, and a control unit 30.

[0014] The user interface 10 comprises a display unit D and an input unit I. The display unit D displays various types of information. The display unit D includes output devices such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, a liquid crystal display, or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display. The display unit D may also be configured as an interface for connecting these output devices to a control device.

[0015] Input unit I includes input terminals such as a mouse, keyboard, and touch panel. Input unit I may also be configured as an interface for connecting these input terminals to the display control device 1. Input unit I accepts various types of information for input to the display control device 1 (details will be described later). The display unit D and the input unit I may be configured as a single touch panel.

[0016] The storage unit 20 is configured using a non-temporarily computer-readable storage medium device such as a magnetic hard disk drive or a semiconductor memory device. The storage unit 20 stores various information related to the display control device 1. For example, the storage unit 20 pre-stores a display control program.

[0017] Examples of single cells include solid-state batteries, lithium-ion batteries, and lead-acid batteries. When single cells are combined and reused as a stationary battery (battery 100) for power buffers used in power grids and the like, multiple single cells may be connected in parallel to form a single battery pack, as shown in Figure 3, for reasons such as the need for high output. In the illustrated example, two battery packs (first battery pack 110, second battery pack 120) each have two single cells, but the number of battery packs in battery 100 and the number of single cells in each battery pack are not limited. The number of single cells in each battery pack may differ; for example, the first battery pack 110 may have two single cells, and the second battery pack 120 may have three single cells.

[0018] The control unit 30 controls the operation of each functional unit provided by the display control device 1. Figure 2 shows an example of the functional configuration of the control unit 30 according to the embodiment. As shown in Figure 2, the control unit 30 comprises a receiving unit 31 (input means) and a display control means 32.

[0019] The receiving unit 31 receives information input to the input unit I, for example. In this embodiment, the receiving unit 31 receives the result of mode selection. The receiving unit 31 acquires arrangement information, which is information regarding the arrangement of the single cells, for example. Details of mode selection and arrangement information will be described later.

[0020] The display control means 32 causes the display unit D to display various information. Figures 4 to 12 show examples of screens displayed on the display unit D. The screen displayed on the display unit D by the display control means 32 changes, for example, depending on the result of the mode selection received by the receiving unit 31 (details will be described later).

[0021] The display control means 32 causes the display unit D to display, for example, the first battery set image 110a corresponding to the first battery set 110, the 11th single cell image 111a corresponding to the 11th single cell 111 included in the first battery set 110, and the 12th single cell image 112a corresponding to the 12th single cell 112 included in the first battery set 110, in association with each other, as shown in Figure 4. Here, displaying these images in association means, for example, that they may be displayed side by side, as shown in the illustrated example. In the illustrated example, the second battery set image 120a corresponding to the second battery set 120, the 21st single cell image 121a corresponding to the 21st single cell 121 contained in the second battery set 120, and the 22nd single cell image 122a corresponding to the 22nd single cell 122 contained in the second battery set 120 are associated and displayed on the display unit D along with the first battery set image 110a, the 11th single cell image 111a, and the 12th single cell image 112a. However, the second battery set image 120a, the 21st single cell image 121a, and the 22nd single cell image 122a do not necessarily have to be displayed on the display unit D. The following explanation will describe the case where there are two battery set images displayed on the display unit D, but there may be one battery set image or three or more.

[0022] In this embodiment, the size of the single cell image corresponds to the performance information of the single cell. Specifically, as shown in Figure 4, the size of the 11th single cell image 111a corresponds to the performance information of the 11th single cell 111, the size of the 12th single cell image 112a corresponds to the performance information of the 12th single cell 112, the size of the 21st single cell image 121a corresponds to the performance information of the 21st single cell 121, and the size of the 22nd single cell image 122a corresponds to the performance information of the 22nd single cell 122. In the illustrated example, the size of the single cell image is the horizontal size of the single cell image, which is the size in the direction in which the single cells included in each battery pack are lined up. Here, performance information refers to, for example, the degree of storage capacity, degradation, maximum output, and remaining capacity. Note that the size of the single cell image does not necessarily correspond to the performance information of the single cell image.

[0023] In the example shown in Figure 4, the single-cell image is a bar graph (stacked bar graph), and the length (horizontal size) of the single-cell image corresponds to the performance information of the single-cell image. The single-cell image may also be, for example, a pie chart or a scale. Furthermore, the display control means 32 of this embodiment displays on the display unit D as a bar graph in which multiple single-cell images corresponding to multiple single cells contained in one battery pack are arranged horizontally and stacked. As a result, in the illustrated example, the performance information of the first battery set 110 is shown by the sum of the length of the 11th single cell image 111a corresponding to the 11th single cell 111 included in the first battery set 110 and the length of the 12th single cell image 112a corresponding to the 12th single cell 112 included in the first battery set 110, and the performance information of the second battery set 120 is shown by the sum of the length of the 21st single cell image 121a corresponding to the 21st single cell 121 included in the second battery set 120 and the length of the 22nd single cell image 122a corresponding to the 22nd single cell 122 included in the second battery set 120.

[0024] The overall performance of a battery storage system 100, which is composed of multiple battery packs connected together, is limited by the performance of the battery pack with the lowest performance among them (the bottleneck). Therefore, in order to maximize the performance of the multiple battery packs and improve the performance of the battery storage system 100, it is preferable to make the performance information of the multiple battery packs as similar as possible. The display control means 32 of this embodiment determines, for example, a suitable combination of the multiple individual cells in the battery pack according to the mode selected by the user, and changes the display mode of the image of the individual cell that needs to be replaced, etc., and displays it on the display unit D.

[0025] As shown in Figure 5, the display control means 32 of this embodiment changes the display mode (e.g., color) of the 21st single cell image 121a if replacing one of the 11th single cell 111 and the 12th single cell 112 with the 21st single cell 121 results in a closer match between the performance information of the first battery set 110 and the performance information of the second battery set 120 than replacing the other with the 22nd single cell 122. Furthermore, since the example illustrates the suggestion to replace the 11th single cell 111 with the 21st single cell 121, the display modes of both the 11th single cell image 111a and the 21st single cell image 121a are changed; however, only the display mode of the 21st single cell image 121a may be changed. The determination of whether the performance information of the first battery set 110 and the performance information of the second battery set 120 become closer can be performed, for example, by the control unit performing a calculation based on the individual cell information stored in the memory unit. Similarly, each of the decisions described below may also be determined by the control unit performing calculations based on the information stored in the memory unit.

[0026] As shown in Figure 6, the display control means 32 in this embodiment displays a 23rd single cell image 123a, which corresponds to a 23rd single cell (not shown), a spare single cell not included in the battery pack, on the display unit D. The size of the 23rd single cell image 123a corresponds to the performance information of the 23rd single cell image 123a, and the size of the 23rd single cell image 123a is larger than the size of either the 21st single cell image 121a or the 22nd single cell image 122a. The display control means 32 changes the display mode of one of the 21st single cell image 121a or the 22nd single cell image 122a. In the illustrated example, the display control means 32 changes the display mode of the 22nd single cell image 122a because replacing the 22nd single cell 122 with the 23rd single cell brings the performance information of the first battery pack 110 closer to the performance information of the second battery pack 120 than replacing the 21st single cell 121 with the 23rd single cell. If replacing the 21st cell 121 with the 23rd cell brings the performance information of the first battery set 110 closer to that of the second battery set 120 than replacing the 22nd cell 122 with the 23rd cell, the display mode of the 21st cell image 121a may be changed.

[0027] As shown in Figure 7, the display control device 1 of this embodiment further includes a designation means (e.g., input unit I) for designating one of the 21st single cell image 121a and the 22nd single cell image 122a and the other. The display control means 32 causes the display unit D to display the 23rd single cell image 123a, which corresponds to the 23rd single cell, a spare single cell not included in the battery pack, and the display control means 32 changes the display mode of the other single cell not designated by the designation means. In the illustrated example, the 22nd single cell image 122a is designated by the designation means, and the display mode of the 21st single cell image 121a is changed. However, if the 21st single cell image 121a is designated by the designation means, the display mode of the 22nd single cell image 122a may also be changed. In the illustrated example, the display mode of the designated 22nd single cell image 122a is changed (the image frame is changed to a thick frame), but the change in the display mode of the designated single cell image is not limited to the illustrated example. The display mode of the designated single cell image does not have to be changed.

[0028] The designation means may be, for example, an input unit I. Designating an image may also involve the user inputting information into the input unit I, for example, by the user selecting a single cell image displayed on the display unit D. Specifically, the user may input the identification number of the single cell to be designated into the input unit I. For example, if the input unit I is a touch panel integrated with the display unit D, the user may designate a single cell by touching a single cell image displayed on the display unit D. The display control device 1 of this embodiment does not necessarily have a designation means.

[0029] As shown in Figures 6 and 7, the display control means 32 of this embodiment changes the display mode of either the 21st single cell image 121a or the 22nd single cell image 122a as the single cell image corresponding to the single cell that is proposed to be replaced with the 23rd single cell, which is a spare single cell not included in the battery pack. In order to confirm the performance of the battery pack when the single cell with the changed display mode is replaced with the 23rd single cell, the single cell image with the changed display mode from the 21st single cell image 121a and the 22nd single cell image 122a and the 23rd single cell image 123a may be swapped and displayed on the display unit D according to the user's instructions, for example as shown in Figure 8, or they may be superimposed and displayed on the display unit D, for example as shown in Figure 9. Figures 8 and 9 show the case where the cell being proposed to be replaced with the 23rd cell is the 22nd cell 122, but the cell being proposed to be replaced with the 23rd cell may also be the 21st cell 121.

[0030] As shown in Figure 10, the display control means 32 of this embodiment displays a reference image on the display unit D that corresponds to the reference for the performance information of the battery pack, and changes the display mode of the 12th single cell image 112a when replacing one of the 21st single cell 121 and the 22nd single cell 122 with the 12th single cell 112 brings the performance information of both the 1st battery pack 110 and the 2nd battery pack 120 closer to the reference than replacing it with the 11th single cell 111. In the illustrated example, the display modes of the 12th cell image 112a and the 22nd cell image 122a are changed because the replacement of the 12th cell 112 with the 22nd cell 122 is proposed. However, only the display mode of the 12th cell image 112a may be changed. In this embodiment, the reference image is displayed as a bar 140, but the reference image is not limited to a bar 140 and only needs to have a form that allows the user to recognize the reference for the performance information of the battery pack.

[0031] Furthermore, the display control device 1 of this embodiment includes a modification means. In this embodiment, the control unit includes a modification means. The modification means, for example, modifies a part of the image displayed by the display control means 32 and notifies the modification control means that the modification has been made. The modification means modifies the reference image displayed by the display control means 32, and the display control means 32 may change the display mode of one of the 11th cell image 111a and the 12th cell image 112a when the reference image is modified by the modification means, as shown in Figure 10.

[0032] The modification means may, for example, accept input from the input unit I when the user inputs various information into the input unit I, or it may accept input from the input unit I when the user selects and moves a reference image displayed on the display unit D through the input unit I. Specifically, when the user inputs reference performance information (reference performance information) as a numerical value into the input unit I, the modification means may accept that input and modify the reference image displayed by the display control means 32. For example, if the input unit I is a touch panel integrated with the display unit D, the modification means may accept input such as the user touching the reference image displayed on the display unit D and dragging (moving) the reference image, and modify the displayed reference image. The display control device 1 of this embodiment does not necessarily have a means for changing the display. The display control means 32 does not necessarily have to display the reference image on the display unit D.

[0033] In the example shown in Figure 10, the reference image displayed by the display control means 32 is changed from the position of the reference image before change (first bar 141) to the position of the reference image after change (second bar 142) by the modification means. In the illustrated example, the reference image before change (first bar 141) is shown with a dashed line, but the reference image before change (first bar 141) does not necessarily have to be displayed on the display unit D. As described above, when the reference image displayed by the display control means 32 is changed from the position of the reference image before change (first bar 141) to the position of the reference image after change (second bar 142) by the changing means, the display control means 32 may simply change the display mode of the single cell images to be replaced (for example, the 12th single cell image 112a and the 22nd single cell image 122a), as shown in Figure 10, or it may swap the single cell images to be replaced (for example, the 12th single cell image 112a and the 22nd single cell image 122a) and display them on the display unit D, as shown in Figure 11.

[0034] As shown in Figure 12, the display control means 32 may change the display mode of the additional single cell image 150 corresponding to the single cell to be added to the 11th single cell 111 and the 12th single cell (reserve single cell) in order to bring the performance information of the first battery set 110 closer to the reference image changed by the modification means. Specifically, for example as shown in Figure 12, the 13th single cell image 113a is displayed on the display unit D as the additional single cell image 150 corresponding to the single cell to be added to the 11th single cell 111 and the 12th single cell 112 (13th single cell). In this display, the display mode of the additional single cell image 150 may differ from the display mode of the other single cell images (i.e., the display mode may change).

[0035] In the above explanation, the case in which the display control means 32 displays a reference image on the display unit D that corresponds to the reference of performance information of the battery pack, is used as an example. However, as a variation of the reference image, the display unit D may also display a sum image on the display unit D that corresponds to the sum of the first battery pack (performance information of the first battery pack 110), which is the sum of the size (performance information) of the 11th single cell image 111a and the 12th single cell image 112a that correspond to the single cells included in the first battery pack 110. Specifically, the first bar 141 shown in Figure 10 may be a sum image corresponding to the first battery set sum (performance information of the first battery set 110), which is the sum of the size (performance information) of the 11th single cell image 111a and the size (performance information) of the 12th single cell image 112a, which are included in the first battery set 110. The sum image may be the same as the reference image. The sum image may, for example, be an image that corresponds to the size of the performance information of the specified battery set in the initial state. On the other hand, the reference image may, for example, not correspond to the size of the performance information of the battery set in the initial state, but be an image that shows the target value of the performance information of the battery set.

[0036] Similar to the reference image, the combined image may be modified by the modification method. The display control means 32 may change the display mode of the image to be replaced from the 11th single cell image 111a and the 12th single cell image 112a in order to associate the sum of the first set of batteries with

[0037] In the illustrated example, a sum image corresponding to the sum of the first battery set is displayed on the display unit D. However, the sum image may also correspond to the sum of the second battery set (performance information of the second battery set 120), which is the sum of the size (performance information) of the 21st single cell image 121a and the 22nd single cell image 122a, both of which are included in the second battery set 120. It may also correspond to both the sum of the first and second battery sets.

[0038] The details of when the display control means 32 displays the sum image on the display unit D are the same as when the reference image is displayed on the display unit D as described above, so the explanation will be omitted.

[0039] <Display control method> The display control method of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in Figure 13. The receiving unit 31 receives arrangement information and performance information of multiple single cells (S110). The information received by the receiving unit 31 may be stored in the storage unit. The display control means 32 displays a battery pack image and multiple single-cell images on the display unit D based on the arrangement information and performance information of the multiple single-cells received by the receiving unit 31, for example, as shown in Figure 4 (S120). Here, the arrangement information of single-cells refers to the arrangement information of single-cells necessary to determine which battery pack a single-cell belongs to. The arrangement information of single-cells may be, for example, the position information of a single-cell, or it may be, for example, connection information indicating which single-cells a single-cell is connected to. The display control means 32 determines whether it has received input for mode selection from the user (S130). User input for mode selection is made, for example, via the input unit I. When the display control means 32 determines that it has received input from the user to select a mode, it changes the display on the display unit D according to the selected mode, for example, as follows:

[0040] For example, if the system determines that the user has selected the first mode (S131), the display control means 32 executes the first mode processing S200 and changes the display on the display unit D in order to propose a combination that brings the performance information of other unspecified battery packs as close as possible to the performance information of the specified battery pack specified by the user. Here, the specified battery pack refers to a battery pack specified by the user, for example, a battery pack specified as a criterion for bringing the performance information of other battery packs closer together. For example, if the system determines that the user has selected the second mode (S132), the display control means 32 executes the second mode processing S300 and changes the display on the display unit D in order to propose a combination that will bring the performance information of multiple battery packs as close as possible to equal by swapping individual cells included in the storage battery 100 when the mode is accepted. For example, if the system determines that the user has selected a third mode (S133), the display control means 32 executes the third mode processing S400 and changes the display on the display unit D in order to propose a combination that brings the performance information of the battery pack as close as possible to a specific criterion.

[0041] The specific processing in each mode will be explained with reference to Figures 14-16.

[0042] (First mode processing) The flow of the first mode processing S200 is shown in Figure 14. The receiving unit 31 receives designated information (S210) that specifies a battery pack as the designated battery pack among the battery pack images displayed on the display unit D. The display control means 32 determines suitable conditions to bring the performance information of other unspecified battery packs as close as possible to the performance information of the specified battery pack (S220). The display control means 32 changes the display mode of the single cell image corresponding to the single cell to be replaced, etc., according to the determined conditions and displays it (S230).

[0043] As a specific example, we will explain the case where the screen shown in Figure 4 is displayed on the display unit D, the first mode is selected by the user, and the first battery pack 110 is designated as the specified battery pack. When the first battery set 110 shown in Figure 4 is designated as the designated battery set, the receiving unit 31 receives designation information that the first battery set 110 has been designated as the designated battery set (S210). The display control means 32 determines conditions for bringing the performance information of the second battery set 120 closer to the performance information of the first battery set 110, based on the performance information of the first battery set 110 (S220). For example, if it is determined that the replacement of the 22nd single cell 122 included in the second battery set 120 with the spare single cell 23rd single cell is preferable as a condition for bringing the performance information of the second battery set 120 closer to the performance information of the first battery set 110, the display mode of the 22nd single cell image 122a corresponding to the 22nd single cell 122 is changed and displayed on the display unit D, for example, as shown in Figure 6 (S230). In the example above, we described a case where the performance information of other battery packs is brought closer to that of the designated battery pack by adding spare single cells that are not included in the battery pack, but the conditions are not limited to this. For example, if there are multiple battery packs that are not designated, the performance information of the other battery packs may be brought closer to that of the designated battery pack by, for example, swapping single cells from multiple other battery packs that are not designated.

[0044] (Second mode processing) The flow of the second mode processing S300 is shown in Figure 15. The display control means 32 determines suitable replacement conditions to bring the performance information of the multiple battery packs included in the storage battery 100 as close to the same as possible (S310). The display control means 32 changes the display mode of the single cell image corresponding to the single cell to be replaced, etc., according to the determined conditions and displays it (S320).

[0045] As a specific example, we will explain the case where the screen shown in Figure 4 is displayed on the display unit D, and the user selects the second mode. When the user selects the second mode, the display control means 32 considers combinations of multiple single cells included in the storage battery 100 and determines conditions for making the performance information of the multiple battery packs as similar as possible (S310). For example, if it is determined that it is preferable to replace the 11th single cell 111 included in the first battery pack 110 with the 21st single cell 121 included in the second battery pack 120 as a condition for making the performance information of the multiple battery packs as similar as possible, then, for example as shown in Figure 5, the display mode of the 11th single cell image 111a corresponding to the 11th single cell 111 and the 21st single cell image 121a corresponding to the 21st single cell 121 are changed and displayed on the display unit D (S320). The above example describes the case where one single cell in one battery pack is exchanged for one single cell in another battery pack, but the conditions are not limited to this. For example, one single cell in one battery pack may be exchanged for two or more single cells in another battery pack. For example, one single cell in one battery pack may be moved to another battery pack. For example, two or more single cells in one battery pack may be moved to another battery pack.

[0046] (Third mode processing) The flow of the third mode processing S400 is shown in Figure 16. The display control means 32 causes the display unit D to display a reference image corresponding to the performance information standard of the battery pack (S410). The display control means 32 determines preferred conditions (first preferred conditions) to bring the performance information of the battery pack as close as possible to the specified criteria (S420). The display control means 32 changes the display mode of the single cell image corresponding to the single cell to be replaced, etc., according to the determined conditions and displays it (S430). Furthermore, when the receiving unit 31 receives a notification of a change in the reference image (when the display control means 32 determines that the reference image has been changed (S440)), the display control means 32 re-determines suitable conditions (second suitable conditions) to bring the performance information of the battery pack as close as possible to the changed reference (S450). The display control means 32 determines whether the second suitable conditions are different from the first suitable conditions determined based on the reference image before the change (S460), and if it determines that they are different, it changes the display mode of the single cell image corresponding to the single cell to be replaced, etc., according to the second suitable conditions and displays it (S470).

[0047] As a concrete example, we will explain the case where the screen shown in Figure 4 is displayed on the display unit D, the third mode is selected by the user, and then the reference image is changed. Note that the example will be that the reference image is changed from the original reference image (first bar 141) to the modified reference image (second bar 142), as shown in Figure 10. The display control means 32, for example, displays the modified reference image on the display unit D and determines a suitable condition (second suitable condition) for bringing the performance information of the battery pack as close as possible to the specified standard (S450). Here, it is determined that exchanging the 12th single cell 112 and the 22nd single cell 122 is suitable as a condition for bringing the performance information of the battery pack as close as possible to the specified standard. Therefore, the display modes of the 12th single cell image 112a corresponding to the 12th single cell 112 and the 22nd single cell image 122a corresponding to the 22nd single cell 122 are changed and displayed on the display unit D (S470). Note that if the first suitable condition determined based on the reference image before modification (first bar 141) and the second suitable condition determined based on the modified reference image (second bar 142) are the same, the single cell image with the display mode changed according to the first suitable condition is maintained, so the display control means 32 does not need to change the display mode of the single cell image again.

[0048] The above example describes the case of exchanging one single cell in one battery pack for one single cell in another battery pack, but the conditions are not limited to this. For example, one single cell in one battery pack may be exchanged for two or more single cells in another battery pack. For example, one single cell in one battery pack may be moved to another battery pack. For example, two or more single cells in one battery pack may be moved to another battery pack. For example, spare single cells not included in a battery pack may be added.

[0049] The determination of suitable conditions by the display control means 32 may be performed, for example, by AI or simulation.

[0050] The display control program according to this embodiment is a program that causes a computer to function as the display control device 1 according to this embodiment.

[0051] As described above, the display control device 1 of this disclosure includes a display control means 32 that displays on the display unit D an image of a first battery set 110a corresponding to the first battery set 110, an image of an eleventh single cell 111a corresponding to the eleventh single cell 111 included in the first battery set 110, and an image of a twelfth single cell 112a corresponding to the twelfth single cell 112 included in the first battery set 110, in association with each other. The image of the first battery set 110a and the images of the 11th single cell 111a and the 12th single cell 112a included in the image of the first battery set 110a are displayed in association with each other on the display unit D. Therefore, the user can easily understand which battery set the displayed single cell belongs to, and can also easily understand which single cells are included in the battery set. Thus, the user can easily recognize the correspondence between single cells and battery sets.

[0052] Furthermore, the display control means 32 may associate the second battery set image 120a corresponding to the second battery set 120, the 21st single cell image 121a corresponding to the 21st single cell 121 included in the second battery set 120, and the 22nd single cell image 122a corresponding to the 22nd single cell 122 included in the second battery set 120, and display them on the display unit D together with the first battery set image 110a, the 11th single cell image 111a, and the 12th single cell image 112a. The second battery set image 120a, the 21st single cell image 121a, and the 22nd single cell image 122a are associated with each other, and these images are displayed on the display unit D together with the first battery set image 110a, the 11th single cell image 111a, and the 12th single cell image 112a. As a result, the user can easily understand which single cells are included in the first battery set 110 and which are included in the second battery set 120, and can also easily understand which of the first or second battery set 120 each individual cell belongs to. Therefore, the user can easily recognize the correspondence between individual cells and battery sets.

[0053] Furthermore, the size of the 11th cell image 111a corresponds to the performance information of the 11th cell 111, the size of the 12th cell image 112a corresponds to the performance information of the 12th cell 112, the size of the 21st cell image 121a corresponds to the performance information of the 21st cell 121, and the size of the 22nd cell image 122a corresponds to the performance information of the 22nd cell 122. The performance information may indicate one of the following: storage capacity, degree of degradation, maximum output, and remaining capacity. With this configuration, users can easily grasp the performance information of each individual cell by checking the size of the individual cell image. Therefore, users can easily recognize the correspondence between individual cells and the battery pack, and easily grasp the performance information of each individual cell.

[0054] Furthermore, the display control means 32 may change the display mode of the 21st cell image 121a if exchanging one of the 11th cell 111 and the 12th cell 112 for the 21st cell 121 results in a closer match between the performance information of the first battery set 110 and the performance information of the second battery set 120 than exchanging one of the 11th cell 111 and the 12th cell 112 for the 22nd cell 122. The overall performance of the battery storage system 100, which is composed of multiple battery packs connected together, is limited by the performance of the battery pack with the lowest performance among them. Therefore, in order to make the most of the overall performance of the multiple battery packs, it is preferable to make the performance information of the multiple battery packs as close as possible. With the above configuration, the user can easily identify which of the 11th single cell 111 and the 12th single cell 112 needs to be replaced in order to bring the performance information of the first battery pack 110 closer to that of the second battery pack 120.

[0055] Furthermore, the display control means 32 causes the display unit D to display a 23rd single cell image 123a corresponding to a 23rd single cell not included in the battery pack, and the size of the 23rd single cell image 123a corresponds to the performance information of the 23rd single cell image 123a, and the size of the 23rd single cell image 123a is larger than the size of either the 21st single cell image 121a or the 22nd single cell image 122a, and the display control means 32 may change the display mode of one of them. With this configuration, users can easily identify which individual cells need to be replaced with a spare cell (cell 23) in order to increase the performance information of the battery pack.

[0056] Furthermore, the display control means 32 may display a 23rd single cell image 123a corresponding to a 23rd single cell not included in the battery pack on the display unit D. The display control means 32 may change the display mode of the 22nd single cell image 122a if replacing the 22nd single cell 122 with the 23rd single cell brings the performance information of the first battery pack 110 closer to that of the second battery pack 120 than replacing the 21st single cell 121 with the 23rd single cell. The display control means 32 may also change the display mode of the 21st single cell image 121a if replacing the 21st single cell 121 with the 23rd single cell brings the performance information of the first battery pack 110 closer to that of the second battery pack 120 than replacing the 22nd single cell 122 with the 23rd single cell. With this configuration, the user can easily determine whether to replace the 21st single cell 121 or the 22nd single cell 122 with the spare single cell (23rd single cell) in order to bring the performance information of the second battery set 120 closer to that of the first battery set 110.

[0057] Furthermore, the system includes a designation means for specifying one of the 21st single cell image 121a and the 22nd single cell image 122a, and the display control means 32 may cause the display unit D to display the 23rd single cell image 123a, which corresponds to the 23rd single cell not included in the battery pack, and the display control means 32 may change the display mode of the other that is not specified by the designation means. With this configuration, the user can easily specify which single cells from the 21st single cell 121 and the 22nd single cell 122 they do not want to replace with the 23rd single cell, or which single cells they want to continue using in the second battery set 120. This allows them to consider replacing only the single cells that have not been specified with spare single cells.

[0058] Furthermore, the display control means 32 may swap the other image not specified by the designation means with the 23rd single cell image 123a and display them on the display unit D. With this configuration, the user can more reliably understand the performance information of the second battery set 120 when the unspecified single cell (either the 21st single cell 121 or the 22nd single cell 122) is replaced with the 23rd single cell.

[0059] Furthermore, the display control means 32 may superimpose the 23 single cell image 123a onto the other side not specified by the designation means and display it on the display unit D. With this configuration, the user can compare the performance information of the second battery set 120 when the unspecified single cell (among the 21st single cell 121 and the 22nd single cell 122) is replaced with the 23rd single cell, and when it is not replaced, and more reliably understand the difference in the performance information of the second battery set 120 in each case.

[0060] Furthermore, the display control means 32 may cause the display unit D to display a reference image corresponding to the performance information of the battery pack, and the display control means 32 may change the display mode of the 11th single cell image 111a if replacing one of the 21st single cell 121 and the 22nd single cell 122 with the 11th single cell 111 brings the performance information of the first battery pack 110 and the performance information of the second battery pack 120 closer to the reference than replacing it with the 12th single cell 112. With this configuration, users can easily determine which individual cell should be replaced in order to bring the performance information of the first battery pack 110 and the second battery pack 120 closer to the standard performance information of the battery pack.

[0061] Furthermore, the system includes a modification means, in which the display control means 32 causes the display unit D to display a sum image corresponding to the first set of battery sums, which is the sum of the size of the 11th single cell image 111a and the size of the 12th single cell image 112a; the modification means modifies the sum image displayed by the display control means 32; and the display control means 32 may change the display mode of one of the 11th single cell image 111a and the 12th single cell image 112a when the sum image is modified by the modification means. With this configuration, the user can easily determine whether to replace the 11th single cell 111 or the 12th single cell 112 in order to match the performance information of the first battery set 110 with the changed first battery set.

[0062] Furthermore, the sum image may also correspond to the second set of battery sums, which is the sum of the size of the 21st single-cell image 121a and the size of the 22nd single-cell image 122a. With this configuration, users can more easily understand the corresponding first battery sum and the corresponding second battery sum by understanding a single sum image.

[0063] Furthermore, the display control means 32 may change the display mode of the image to be replaced among the 11th single cell image 111a and the 12th single cell image 112a in order to associate the first set of battery sums with the sum image changed by the modification means. With this configuration, the user can easily determine whether to replace the 11th single cell 111 or the 12th single cell 112 in order to match the first set of batteries 110 with the changed first set of batteries.

[0064] Furthermore, the display control means 32 may change the display mode of the additional single cell image 150 corresponding to the single cell to be added to the 11th single cell 111 and the 12th single cell 112 in order to associate the sum of the first set of single cells with the sum of the first set of single cells that is changed by the modification means. With this configuration, the user can easily determine which individual cells need to be added to the first battery set 110 in order to match the first battery set 110 with the changed sum of the first battery set.

[0065] Furthermore, the 11th single cell 111 and the 12th single cell 112 included in the first battery set 110 may be connected in parallel. With this configuration, the performance information of multiple individual cells contained within a single battery pack can be summed up to determine the overall performance information of the battery pack.

[0066] Furthermore, the performance information of the first battery set 110 and the performance information of the second battery set 120 may be different. If the performance information of the first battery pack 110 and the performance information of the second battery pack 120 differ, as mentioned above, it is preferable to bring the performance information of the first battery pack 110 and the performance information of the second battery pack 120 closer together in order to improve the performance of the storage battery 100. With the display control device 1 of this disclosure, the correspondence between individual cells and battery packs, and the differences between the performance information of the first battery pack 110 and the performance information of the second battery pack 120 can be easily recognized by the user.

[0067] Furthermore, the display control means 32 may display the 11th single cell image 111a and the 12th single cell image 112a as a graph on the display unit D, and also display the 21st single cell image 121a and the 22nd single cell image 122a as a graph on the display unit D. With this configuration, users can more easily grasp the performance information of each of the 11th cell 111 and the 12th cell 112, as well as the performance information of each of the 21st cell 121 and the 22nd cell 122.

[0068] The display control method of this disclosure displays the following images on the display unit D in association with each other: a first battery set image 110a corresponding to the first battery set 110, an eleventh single cell image 111a corresponding to the eleventh single cell 111 included in the first battery set 110, and a twelfth single cell image 112a corresponding to the twelfth single cell 112 included in the first battery set 110. With this configuration, users can easily understand which battery pack a displayed single cell belongs to, and also easily understand which single cells are included in the battery pack. Therefore, users can easily recognize the correspondence between single cells and battery packs.

[0069] The program of this disclosure causes a computer to function as the display control device 1 of this disclosure. With this configuration, users can easily understand which battery pack a displayed single cell belongs to, and also easily understand which single cells are included in the battery pack. Therefore, users can easily recognize the correspondence between single cells and battery packs.

[0070] Although one embodiment of this disclosure has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment and may include modifications, combinations, deletions, etc., of the configuration that do not depart from the gist of this disclosure.

[0071] For example, the display control means 32 does not need to have a function to suggest cell replacement, etc., in order to bring the performance information of multiple battery packs as close as possible. For example, the display control means 32 does not need to have any of the first to third modes described above, and may have only one. In this embodiment, changes in the display pattern of the cell image are shown by hatching, but changes in the display pattern of the cell image are not limited to this. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0072] 1 Display control device 10 User Interface 20 Memory section 30 Control Unit 31 Receiver 32 Display control means D Display section I Input section P Processor M Memory 100 Battery 110 First Battery Set 111 The 11th cell 111a Image of the 11th cell 112 12th single cell 112a Image of the 12th cell 113a Image of the 13th cell 120 Battery Set 2 121 Cell No. 21 121a Image of the 21st cell 122 Cell No. 22 122a Image of the 22nd cell 123a Image of the 23rd cell 130 spare single battery images 140 bar 141 First Bar 142 Second Bar 150 additional single cell images

Claims

1. The system includes a display control means that displays on a display unit, in association with an image of the first battery set corresponding to the first battery set, an image of the eleventh single cell included in the first battery set corresponding to the eleventh single cell included in the first battery set, and an image of the twelfth single cell included in the first battery set corresponding to the twelfth single cell. The display control means associates the second battery set image corresponding to the second battery set, the 21st single cell image included in the second battery set, and the 22nd single cell image included in the second battery set, and displays them on the display unit together with the first battery set image, the 11th single cell image, and the 12th single cell image. The image of the 11th single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 11th single cell. The image of the 12th single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 12th single cell, The image of the 21st single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 21st single cell, The image of the 22nd single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 22nd single cell, The aforementioned performance information indicates the degree of one of the following: storage capacity, degradation level, maximum output, and remaining capacity. The first battery set and the second battery set are different. The display control means is characterized in that, when swapping one of the 11th and 12th single cells with the 21st single cell results in the performance information of the first battery set being closer to the performance information of the second battery set than swapping one of the 11th and 12th single cells with the 22nd single cell, the display control device changes the display mode of the 21st single cell image.

2. The display control means causes the display unit to display an image of the 23rd single cell, which is a spare single cell not included in the battery pack, corresponding to the 23rd single cell. The size of the 23 single cell image corresponds to the performance information of the 23 single cell image. The size of the 23rd single cell image is larger than the size of either the 21st single cell image or the 22nd single cell image. The display control device according to claim 1, characterized in that the display control means changes one of the display modes corresponding to a single cell that proposes replacement with the 23 single cell.

3. The system includes a display control means that displays on a display unit, in association with an image of the first battery set corresponding to the first battery set, an image of the eleventh single cell included in the first battery set corresponding to the eleventh single cell included in the first battery set, and an image of the twelfth single cell included in the first battery set corresponding to the twelfth single cell. The display control means associates the second battery set image corresponding to the second battery set, the 21st single cell image included in the second battery set, and the 22nd single cell image included in the second battery set, and displays them on the display unit together with the first battery set image, the 11th single cell image, and the 12th single cell image. The image of the 11th single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 11th single cell. The image of the 12th single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 12th single cell, The image of the 21st single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 21st single cell, The image of the 22nd single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 22nd single cell, The aforementioned performance information indicates the degree of one of the following: storage capacity, degradation level, maximum output, and remaining capacity. The first battery set and the second battery set are different. The display control means causes the display unit to display an image of a 23rd single cell corresponding to a 23rd single cell that is not included in the battery pack. The display control means is characterized in that, if replacing the 22nd single cell with the 23rd single cell results in the performance information of the first battery set being closer to the performance information of the second battery set than replacing the 21st single cell with the 23rd single cell, the display mode of the 22nd single cell image is changed, and if replacing the 21st single cell with the 23rd single cell results in the performance information of the first battery set being closer to the performance information of the second battery set than replacing the 22nd single cell with the 23rd single cell, the display control means is changed to change the display mode of the 21st single cell image.

4. The system further comprises a designation means for designating one of the 21st single cell image and the 22nd single cell image, and the other of the other, The display control means causes the display unit to display an image of the 23rd single cell, which is a spare single cell not included in the battery pack, corresponding to the 23rd single cell. The display control device according to claim 1, characterized in that the display control means is not specified by the designation means and changes the display mode of the other cell corresponding to the cell that proposes replacement with the 23 cell.

5. The display control device according to claim 4, characterized in that the display control means swaps the other image with the 23 single cell image and displays them on the display unit.

6. The display control device according to claim 4, characterized in that the display control means superimposes the 23 single cell image onto the other and displays it on the display unit.

7. The system includes a display control means that displays on a display unit, in association with an image of the first battery set corresponding to the first battery set, an image of the eleventh single cell included in the first battery set corresponding to the eleventh single cell included in the first battery set, and an image of the twelfth single cell included in the first battery set corresponding to the twelfth single cell. The display control means associates the second battery set image corresponding to the second battery set, the 21st single cell image included in the second battery set, and the 22nd single cell image included in the second battery set, and displays them on the display unit together with the first battery set image, the 11th single cell image, and the 12th single cell image. The image of the 11th single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 11th single cell. The image of the 12th single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 12th single cell, The image of the 21st single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 21st single cell, The image of the 22nd single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 22nd single cell, The aforementioned performance information indicates the degree of one of the following: storage capacity, degradation level, maximum output, and remaining capacity. The first battery set and the second battery set are different. The display control means causes the display unit to display a reference image corresponding to the reference of the performance information of the battery pack. The display control means is characterized in that it changes the display mode of the 11th cell image when replacing one of the 21st cell and the 22nd cell with the 11th cell brings the performance information of the first cell set and the performance information of the second cell set closer to the standard than replacing one of them with the 12th cell.

8. Further equipped with means of modification, The reference image is a sum image corresponding to the first set of battery sums, which is the sum of the size of the 11th single cell image and the size of the 12th single cell image. The modification means modifies the sum image displayed by the display control means, When the sum image is changed by the modification means, the display control means, in order to associate the sum of the first battery set with the sum image changed by the modification means, changes the display mode of the image of the battery to be replaced when the performance information of the first battery set approaches the standard by replacing one of the 11th and 12th single-cell images, which is either the 21st or 22nd single-cell image, with the other of the 11th or 12th single-cell images. The display control device according to claim 7, characterized in that the sum image corresponds to the performance information of the first battery pack.

9. The display control device according to claim 8, characterized in that the sum image includes an image corresponding to a second set of battery sums, which is the sum of the size of the 21st single cell image and the size of the 22nd single cell image.

10. The display control device according to claim 8, characterized in that the display control means changes the display mode of the additional single cell image corresponding to the single cell to be added to the 11th single cell and the 12th single cell in order to associate the sum of the first set of single cells with the sum of the first set of single cells, which is modified by the modification means.

11. The display control device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the 11th single cell and the 12th single cell included in the first battery pack are connected in parallel.

12. The display control device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the degree of performance information of the first battery pack and the degree of performance information of the second battery pack are different.

13. The system includes a display control step that causes the display unit to display, in association with an image of the first battery set corresponding to the first battery set, an image of the eleventh single cell included in the first battery set corresponding to the eleventh single cell included in the first battery set, and an image of the twelfth single cell included in the first battery set corresponding to the twelfth single cell. In the display control step, the second battery set image corresponding to the second battery set, the 21st single cell image corresponding to the 21st single cell included in the second battery set, and the 22nd single cell image corresponding to the 22nd single cell included in the second battery set are associated with each other and displayed on the display unit together with the first battery set image, the 11th single cell image, and the 12th single cell image. The image of the 11th single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 11th single cell. The image of the 12th single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 12th single cell, The image of the 21st single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 21st single cell, The image of the 22nd single cell corresponds to the performance information of the 22nd single cell, The aforementioned performance information indicates the degree of one of the following: storage capacity, degradation level, maximum output, and remaining capacity. The first battery set and the second battery set are different. A display control method characterized in that, in the display control step, if replacing one of the 11th and 12th single cells with the 21st single cell results in the performance information of the first battery set being closer to the performance information of the second battery set than replacing one of the 11th and 12th single cells with the 22nd single cell, the display mode of the 21st single cell image is changed.

14. A display control program characterized by causing a computer to function as a display control device according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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