Control system, vehicle, traffic signal and method

Abstract

The present invention provides a function for selecting a vehicle to be fed with power from among vehicles for which charging during traveling is desired. A control system (10) comprises: an identification unit (11) that identifies a vehicle (21, 22) which enters a charging section (CS) where contactless-type charging devices (50) are installed; a prediction unit (12) that calculates a predicted value of the charge amount expected when contactless-type charging of the vehicle is carried out by the charging devices; and a determination unit (13) that determines, on the basis of the predicted value, whether or not to set the vehicle as an object to be charged by the contactless-type charging devices.

Description

Control system, vehicle, charging device, traffic signal, method, and recording medium

[0001] The present invention relates to a control system, a vehicle, a charging device, a traffic signal, a method, and a recording medium.

[0002] Patent Literature 1 discloses an example of a contactless power supply system in which a power supply section is established in which a ground power supply device is buried underground, allowing a vehicle to receive the necessary power while traveling. The driving mode suggestion device described in this document has a function to suggest, in addition to a normal driving route to the destination that does not take power supply into consideration, a second driving route that travels through the power supply section and ensures that the expected power supply amount is equal to or greater than a reference power amount.

[0003] JP 2023-20483 A

[0004] Charging while in motion is said to require a larger amount of power than charging while the vehicle is stationary, due to the constantly changing distance between the power supply device and the vehicle's power receiving device. Therefore, there is a possibility that a limit will be placed on the number of vehicles that can be charged in one power supply section, given the available power sources and the power transmission capacity of the ground power supply device. For example, as with the driving mode suggestion device in Patent Document 1, guiding vehicles to a specific power supply section increases the number of vehicles heading to that section, but in that case, it is conceivable that power cannot be supplied to all vehicles.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a control system, vehicle, charging device, traffic signal, method, and recording medium for selecting a vehicle to be supplied with power from among the above-mentioned vehicles that wish to be charged while in motion.

[0006] According to a first aspect, a control system is provided that includes an identification unit that identifies a vehicle entering a charging section where a contactless charging device is installed, a prediction unit that calculates a predicted value of the expected charging amount when the vehicle is charged contactlessly by the charging device, and a decision unit that decides whether or not to make the vehicle a target for charging by the contactless charging device based on the predicted value.

[0007] According to a second aspect, a vehicle is provided that includes a receiving unit that receives a charging instruction from a control system that selects a vehicle to be charged by a non-contact charging device from among vehicles entering a charging section where the non-contact charging device is installed, and a charging control unit that communicates with the non-contact charging device based on the charging instruction and starts non-contact charging.

[0008] According to a third aspect, there is provided a contactless charging device that includes a receiving unit that receives a charging instruction from a control system that selects a vehicle to be charged by the contactless charging device from among vehicles entering a charging section where the contactless charging device is installed, and a charging control unit that communicates with the vehicle and starts contactless charging based on the charging instruction.

[0009] According to a fourth aspect, a traffic signal is provided that changes its display pattern based on instructions from a control system that selects vehicles to be charged by a non-contact charging device from among vehicles entering a charging section where the non-contact charging device is installed.

[0010] According to a fifth aspect, a charging control method is provided that identifies a vehicle entering a charging section where a contactless charging device is installed, calculates a predicted value of the expected charging amount when the vehicle is charged contactlessly by the charging device, and determines whether or not the vehicle is to be charged by the contactless charging device based on the predicted value.

[0011] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a method for charging a vehicle, which receives a charging instruction from a control system that selects a vehicle to be charged by a non-contact charging device from among vehicles entering a charging section where the non-contact charging device is installed, and communicates with the non-contact charging device based on the charging instruction to start non-contact charging.

[0012] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided a recording medium having recorded thereon a program for realizing the functions of the vehicle, the charging device, and the traffic signal.

[0013] According to the present disclosure, a control system, a vehicle, a charging device, a traffic signal, a method, and a recording medium are provided that can select a vehicle to be supplied with power from among vehicles that wish to be charged while in motion.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation between a vehicle and a charging device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is another sequence diagram illustrating the operation between a vehicle and a charging device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of vehicle information used by the control system of the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of vehicle information used by the control system of the second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a computer constituting an information processing device of the present disclosure.

[0015] First, an overview of one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the reference numerals in this overview are added to each element for convenience as an example to facilitate understanding, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure to the illustrated form. Furthermore, connecting lines between blocks in the drawings and the like referred to in the following description include both bidirectional and unidirectional lines. Unidirectional arrows are used to schematically indicate the flow of main signals (data) and do not exclude bidirectionality. A program is executed via a computer device, which includes, for example, a processor, a storage device, an input device, a communication interface, and, if necessary, a display device. Furthermore, this computer device is configured to be able to communicate with internal or external devices (including computers) via the communication interface, whether wired or wireless. Furthermore, ports or interfaces are present at the input / output connection points of each block in the drawings, but are not shown.

[0016] In one embodiment, the present disclosure can be realized in a configuration including a control system 10, vehicles 21 and 22, and a charging device 50, as shown in Fig. 1. The control system 10 includes an identification unit 11, a prediction unit 12, and a determination unit 13. In the following description, the vehicles 21 and 22 are described as electric vehicles that can be charged by the charging device 50 while traveling. Of course, the vehicles 21 and 22 are not limited to electric vehicles equipped with only a motor as a drive source, and may be hybrid cars equipped with an internal combustion engine, etc.

[0017] The identification unit 11 identifies a vehicle 21 entering a charging section CS where a contactless charging device 50 is installed. The prediction unit 12 calculates a predicted value of the expected charge amount when the vehicle 21 is charged contactlessly by the charging device 50. The determination unit 13 determines whether or not the vehicle is to be charged by the contactless charging device 50 based on the predicted value.

[0018] The control system 10 configured as described above operates as follows. First, the control system 10 identifies the vehicle 21 entering the charging section CS using an image captured by the camera C or the like (step S01 in FIG. 2 ). Note that instead of the camera C, various sensors that detect the entry of a vehicle may be used to identify the vehicle 21 entering the charging section CS. Alternatively, the vehicle 21 entering the charging section CS may be identified by acquiring position information or the like from the vehicle, as in the first embodiment described below.

[0019] Next, the control system 10 calculates a predicted value of the expected charge amount when the vehicle 21 is charged contactlessly by the charging device (step S02 in FIG. 2 ). Next, the control system 10 determines whether or not the vehicle 21 is to be charged by the contactless charging device 50 based on the predicted value (step S03 in FIG. 2 ). The determination (charging instruction) of whether or not the vehicle 21 is to be charged is notified directly or indirectly to at least one of the vehicle 21 and the charging device 50. This determination (charging instruction) may include a password, electronic certification information, or the like that is used by the vehicle 21 and the charging device 50 to authenticate each other in order to prevent use by a third party.

[0020] 3 is a sequence diagram showing the operation between the vehicle and the charging device that is started when the vehicle 21 is notified of the decision (charging instruction) as to whether or not to charge the vehicle 21. When the vehicle 21 receives the charging instruction from the control system 10 (step S11), the vehicle 21 communicates with the non-contact charging device 50 based on the charging instruction and starts non-contact charging (step S12).

[0021] 4 is a sequence diagram showing the operation between the vehicle and the charging device that is started when the decision (charging instruction) as to whether or not to charge the vehicle is notified to the charging device 50. When the charging device 50 receives the charging instruction from the control system 10 (step S21), the charging device 50 communicates with the vehicle 21 using a non-contact method based on the charging instruction and starts non-contact charging (step S22).

[0022] As described above, according to this embodiment, when contactless charging is performed using a charging device, it is possible to determine whether or not the vehicle 21 entering the charging section CS is to be charged based on the predicted value of the expected charge amount. For example, if the predicted value of the expected charge amount is very low, the vehicle 21 can be excluded from being charged by the contactless charging device 50. In this way, it is possible to allocate limited charging resources to other vehicles.

[0023] [First Embodiment] Next, a first embodiment in which a vehicle to be charged is determined collectively from among multiple vehicles located in one or more charging sections CS will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, for convenience, a vehicle to be charged is selected using the charging time, which is the time the vehicle travels through the charging section, as a predicted value of the charge amount. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the first embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 5, a configuration is shown in which an EV charging control system 100 and vehicles 200a to 200c are connected via a base station 310 and a mobile communication network 320. A display device 104a that displays a management screen is connected to the EV charging control system 100. The hatched area in FIG. 5 indicates a charging section (charging lane) 400. Charging devices are arranged along the road in the direction of travel in this charging section. Of the vehicles that have entered the charging section 400, selected vehicles 200a and 200b are capable of on-the-go charging, which means charging while traveling. In the following description, when vehicles 200a to 200c are not particularly distinguished from one another, they will be referred to as "vehicle 200," and EV charging control system 100 will be referred to as "control system 100." In the following description, vehicle 200 will be described as an electric vehicle that can be charged by power supply device 500 while traveling.

[0024] 6 is a functional block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The control system 100 includes a communication unit 101, a prediction unit 102, a selection unit 103, a screen display unit 104, and a storage unit 105.

[0025] The communication unit 101 receives information (route, speed, SoC information, etc.) necessary for predicting the charging time from the vehicle 200 via the base station 310 and the mobile communication network 320. The route may be, for example, time-series data of location information acquired by a GPS (Global Positioning System) or RTK (Real Time Kinematic) positioning function installed in the vehicle 200. The communication unit 101 stores the information received from the vehicle 200 as vehicle information in the storage unit 105. In this embodiment, the communication unit 101 identifies the vehicle 200 entering the charging section CS and therefore corresponds to the identification unit 11 described above.

[0026] The prediction unit 102 predicts the charging time for each vehicle using the vehicle information and charging section information stored in the storage unit 105. This charging time can be calculated very simply by dividing the length of the charging section by the speed of each vehicle. Of course, instead of the charging time, the chargeable amount may be calculated directly. In this case, the charge amount can be calculated by multiplying the charging power per unit time for the combination of the vehicle and charging device by the charging time. Furthermore, if the direction information of the vehicle 200 can be acquired from the vehicle information, the prediction unit 102 may predict that the vehicle 200 will enter or exit the charging section by changing lanes, and thereby predict the charging time.

[0027] The screen display unit 104 displays the result of the selection of the vehicle to be charged by the selection unit 103, information stored in the storage unit, and the like on the display device 104a.

[0028] The storage unit 105 stores vehicle information 1051 and charging section information 1052. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the vehicle information 1051. The example in Fig. 7 shows vehicle information that can manage license plate information (vehicle ID), speed information, route information, and SoC information for each vehicle. Of this information, the vehicle ID may be acquired by the communication unit 101 from the vehicle 200, or may be set in advance during initial setup.

[0029] The charging section information is information that indicates the range of the charging section on a map. By plotting the route of the vehicle 200 on this charging section information, the distance that the vehicle 200 travels in the charging section can be determined. When the vehicle 200 enters and exits the charging section without changing lanes, the charging time is the time required to travel the entire length of the charging section. As described above, when the vehicle 200 enters or exits the charging section by changing lanes, the charging time is shorter than when the vehicle 200 travels the entire length of the charging section. The charging section information may include the capacity of the power supply device 500 installed in each charging section.

[0030] The selection unit 103 selects vehicles to be charged based on the predicted charging time of each vehicle. The selection unit 103 may use one or more of the following various rules in combination as the selection rule for vehicles to be charged. The number of vehicles to be selected by the selection unit 103 as vehicles to be charged may be a predetermined number based on the capacity of the power supply device 500, or a number based on traffic volume within the capacity of the power supply device 500. (0) Exclude vehicles that do not pass through the charging section. Whether or not a vehicle passes through the charging section can be determined based on route information acquired from the vehicle 200. For example, by excluding vehicle 200c, which is located outside the charging section in FIG. 5, the vehicles to be charged can be narrowed down to vehicles 200a and 200b. (1) Exclude vehicles with charging times less than a predetermined threshold. This is because if the charging time is very short, the amount of charge will also be small. (2) Prioritize vehicles with short charging times among vehicles with charging times equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. By prioritizing vehicles with short charging times, vehicles with short charging times can also be given the opportunity to charge. (3) Prioritize vehicles with low SoC or low mileage. Based on the SoC value of each vehicle, vehicles with low SoC values ​​are selected as the vehicles to be charged. In this way, vehicles that are likely to run out of power can be prioritized as the vehicles to be charged. Alternatively, the mileage can be calculated based on the SoC and data related to the vehicle. In this case, vehicles with short mileage can be prioritized as the vehicles to be charged. Examples of vehicle data include data related to mileage, such as fuel efficiency and cargo weight. (4) Adjust the amount of charge so that vehicles located in the same charging section receive a uniform amount of charge. The idea is to avoid only selecting specific vehicles as the vehicles to be charged and to ensure that as many vehicles as possible receive equal amounts of charge.

[0031] Furthermore, the communication unit 101 notifies the vehicle 200 selected by the selection unit 103 whether charging is possible or not.

[0032] Vehicle 200 includes a communication unit 201, a storage battery 202, and a power receiving unit 203. When the communication unit 201 enters a charging zone, it notifies control system 100 that it has entered the charging zone. Furthermore, when communication unit 201 receives a notification from control system 100 that charging is possible, it transfers the notification to power receiving unit 203.

[0033] When the power receiving unit 203 receives the notification that charging is possible, it receives power from the power supply device 500 installed on the road surface and charges the storage battery 202 .

[0034] The power supply device 500 is installed on the road surface and charges a traveling vehicle while it is traveling.

[0035] The base station 310 is a base station of a mobile communication network 320. The mobile communication network 320 is, for example, a mobile communication network of a fifth generation mobile communication system (5G) or LTE (Long Term Evolution). Instead of the base station 310 and the mobile communication network 320, equipment for road-to-vehicle communication may be used.

[0036] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 8 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the first embodiment. Referring to Fig. 8, first, when vehicle 200 detects that it has entered or is about to enter a charging section (step S001), it transmits information such as route, speed, and SoC information to control system 100 (step S002). As described above, this information includes the vehicle's route, speed, SoC information, etc.

[0037] The control system 100 acquires the vehicle information from each vehicle 200 as described above and registers it in the storage unit 105 (step S003).

[0038] Next, the control system 100 aggregates vehicle information for each charging section (step S004) and determines the vehicles to be charged (step S005). At this time, the control system 100 selects the vehicles to be charged based on the charging time and SoC details of each vehicle.

[0039] Next, the control system 100 notifies each vehicle 200 whether charging is possible or not (step S006).

[0040] Of the vehicles 200 that have received the notification, the vehicle 200 that has received the notification that charging is possible activates the power receiving unit 203 and starts charging (step S007).

[0041] The control system 100 and the vehicle 200 execute the above steps S001 to S007 at predetermined time intervals. The predetermined time intervals are set appropriately depending on the length of the charging section, the expected average speed of the vehicle, and the like.

[0042] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to select an appropriate vehicle from among the vehicles located in the charging section and instruct it to charge. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, even vehicles that have not been selected as vehicles to be charged can be given the opportunity to be charged by slowing down. Conversely, vehicles traveling at high speeds are given priority in being selected as vehicles to be charged, but the faster the vehicle travels, the shorter the charging time and the less charge there will be. As a result, it is possible to provide an advantage in that it is possible to provide an opportunity for many vehicles located in the charging section to be charged.

[0043] [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described in which charging capacity, vehicle model, and subscribed service information are added to the vehicle information to enable more detailed selection of charging targets. FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the second embodiment. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 6 in that the vehicle information 1051a in the storage unit 105 is enriched and the operations of the prediction unit 102a and the selection unit 103a have been modified. Since the other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the following description will focus on the differences.

[0044] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of vehicle information acquired from a vehicle 200 by a control system 100a according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. This differs from the vehicle information of the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 in that the charging capacity, vehicle model, and details of currently subscribed services for each vehicle are added. The charging capacity is set as the charging capacity per unit time for each vehicle. The vehicle model is set as information indicating the body type, such as an EV minivan or EV sedan. Information indicating whether the EV is a plug-in EV may be added to the vehicle model. Furthermore, instead of the vehicle model, the manufacturer's vehicle name and grade may be set. The currently subscribed services are set as information indicating whether the vehicle is subscribed to a prioritized service for in-motion charging services. In other words, the control system 100a according to the present embodiment includes a second acquisition means for acquiring information regarding the charging function of the vehicle 200 from the vehicle 200.

[0045] The prediction unit 102a predicts the amount of power that each vehicle can charge in the charging section using the charging time and the charging capacity described above. For example, even among vehicles traveling in the same charging section, a vehicle with a higher charging capacity can charge more power. Also, if a vehicle with a high charging capacity travels a short distance in the charging section, a vehicle with a low charging capacity but a long distance in the charging section can charge more power.

[0046] The selection unit 103a selects a vehicle to be charged based on the predicted charging power value of each vehicle. In doing so, the selection unit 103 references vehicle model information and the currently subscribed services for each vehicle to select the vehicle to be charged. For example, if a rule is set that prioritizes EV minivans and EV cargo vehicles over EV sedans, the selection unit 103 preferentially selects vehicle ID "XX X 501 AA-01" over vehicle ID "XX X 301 BB-02" as the vehicle to be charged. Similarly, the selection unit 103 preferentially selects a vehicle subscribed to a prioritized service for in-motion charging over a vehicle with no currently subscribed service as the vehicle to be charged. Furthermore, the selection unit 103 may prioritize non-plug-in EVs over plug-in EVs, which have more opportunities to be charged. When selecting a vehicle to be charged, a score may be calculated based on the content of each of the above items, and the vehicle to be charged may be selected by comparing the scores tallied for each vehicle.

[0047] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to select vehicles to be charged in a detailed manner based on the charging capacity, vehicle type, subscribed services, etc. of each vehicle.

[0048] [Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment will be described in which a charging target is selected using information about a traffic signal ahead of the charging section. Fig. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of the third embodiment of the present disclosure. The difference from the first embodiment shown in Fig. 5 is that the control system 100b is capable of acquiring light pattern information about the traffic signal S.

[0049] Fig. 12 is a functional block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the third embodiment of the present disclosure. The first difference from the detailed configuration of the first embodiment shown in Fig. 6 is that a signal control information acquisition unit 106 is added to a control system 100b. The second difference from the detailed configuration of the first embodiment is that a prediction unit 102b predicts the charging time of each vehicle using light pattern information of a traffic signal S in addition to vehicle information and charging section information. Since the other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the following description will mainly focus on the differences.

[0050] The signal control information acquisition unit 106 acquires signal control information as light pattern information for the traffic signal S from the signal control device 600 that controls the traffic signal S. This signal control information indicates the light pattern that the signal control device 600 instructs the traffic signal S to use, and by referring to this signal control information, it is possible to predict the stopping time of the vehicle 200 located in the charging section, etc.

[0051] The prediction unit 102b predicts the charging time for each vehicle using the vehicle information, the charging section information, and the signal control information of the traffic signal S. For example, if the traffic signal in FIG. 11 remains green for a while, the prediction unit 102b calculates the time required for each vehicle 200 to pass through the charging section as the charging time, as in the first embodiment. On the other hand, if the traffic signal in FIG. 11 changes and it is expected that each vehicle 200 will stop, the prediction unit 102b adds the stop time to the charging time.

[0052] 13 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the third embodiment of the present disclosure. The difference from FIG. 8 illustrating the operation of the first embodiment is that after acquiring the vehicle information, the control system 100b acquires signal control information from the signal control device 600 (step S108).

[0053] After collecting the vehicle information (step S004), the control system 100b predicts the charging time for each vehicle using the light pattern information of the traffic signal S described above, and then determines the vehicle to be charged (step S005a). The other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described again.

[0054] As described above, according to this embodiment, even when a traffic light S is present ahead of the charging section and the time it takes for the vehicle 200 to pass through the charging section varies, it is possible to accurately predict the charging time and appropriately select the vehicle to be charged. Note that, in the above embodiment, an example was given in which a traffic light S is present ahead of the charging section, but even when a railroad crossing or the like is present instead of a traffic light S, it is possible to similarly predict the charging time using a train timetable or the like.

[0055] It is also possible that the sections before and after the charging section are locations where congestion is likely to occur. In this case, the control system 100b may acquire information about the congestion occurrence status and predict the charging time based on this information, using the same concept as the traffic light control information described above. The congestion occurrence status may be acquired as vehicle information, or the control system 100b may estimate the congestion occurrence status from images, etc., taken by a camera installed near the charging section.

[0056] [Fourth Embodiment] Next, a fourth embodiment will be described in which a traffic signal control function is added to a control system 100c. Fig. 14 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure. The differences from the first embodiment shown in Fig. 5 are that a signal control unit 107 is added to the control system 100c and the operation of a selection unit 103c. Since the other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the following description will focus on the differences.

[0057] The signal control unit 107 has a function of changing the light pattern of the traffic signal S by transmitting signal control information to a signal control device 600 that controls the traffic signal S.

[0058] The selection unit 103c selects a vehicle to be charged based on the predicted charging time of each vehicle. Furthermore, the selection unit 103 instructs the signal control unit 107 to change the light state of the traffic signal S so that the vehicle 200 to be charged remains in the charging section, as necessary, in order to increase the amount of charge of the vehicle 200 to be charged. For example, if the expected SoC of the vehicle 200 to be charged after passing through the charging section is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the selection unit 103c instructs the signal control unit 107 to change the light of the traffic signal S to red to prevent the vehicle 200 from running out of power, thereby causing the vehicle 200 to remain in the charging section.

[0059] Therefore, the traffic signal S has the function of changing the display pattern based on instructions from the control system.

[0060] 15 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure. The difference from FIG. 8 showing the operation of the first embodiment is that after notifying each vehicle 200 whether charging is possible (step S006), the control system 100c transmits signal control information to the signal control device 600 (step S109). The other operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described.

[0061] As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to select the vehicle 200 to be charged and also to increase the required amount of charge for the vehicle 200. Note that in the above example, an instruction to change the light of the traffic signal S to red is given to cause the vehicle 200 to stay in the charging section, but the manner in which the control system 100c controls the traffic signal S is not limited to this. For example, the control system 100c may shorten the time that the light of the traffic signal S is red to cause the vehicle 200 to move out of the charging section earlier.

[0062] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and further modifications, substitutions, and adjustments can be made without departing from the basic technical concept of the present disclosure. For example, the network configurations, element configurations, and data representation formats shown in the drawings are examples intended to aid in understanding the present disclosure, and are not limited to the configurations shown in these drawings.

[0063] (Hardware Configuration) In each embodiment of the present disclosure, each component of each device represents a functional unit block. Some or all of the components of each device are realized by an arbitrary combination of an information processing device 900 and a program, for example, as shown in FIG. 16 . FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 900 that realizes each component of each device. The information processing device 900 includes, as an example, the following configuration: - CPU (Central Processing Unit) 901 - ROM (Read Only Memory) 902 - RAM (Random Access Memory) 903 - Program 904 loaded into RAM 903 - Storage device 905 that stores the program 904 - Drive device 907 that reads and writes to a recording medium 906 - Communication interface 908 that connects to a communication network 909 - Input / output interface 910 that inputs and outputs data - Bus 911 that connects each component

[0064] Each component of each device in each embodiment is realized by the CPU 901 acquiring and executing a program 904 that realizes the function. That is, the CPU 901 in FIG. 16 executes a vehicle information aggregation program and a charging target selection program, and performs processing to update each calculation parameter stored in the RAM 903, the storage device 905, etc. The program 904 that realizes the function of each component of each device is stored in the storage device 905 or the ROM 902 in advance, for example, and is read by the CPU 901 as needed. The program 904 may be supplied to the CPU 901 via the communication network 909, or may be stored in advance on the recording medium 906, and the drive device 907 may read the program and supply it to the CPU 901.

[0065] There are various variations in the method of realizing each device. For example, each device may be realized by any combination of a separate information processing device 900 and a program for each component. Furthermore, multiple components of each device may be realized by any combination of a single information processing device 900 and a program. That is, each unit (processing means, function) of the information processing device shown in the first to fourth embodiments can be realized by a computer program that causes a processor installed in the device to execute each of the above-mentioned processes using its hardware.

[0066] In addition, some or all of the components of each device may be realized by other general-purpose or dedicated circuits, processors, etc., or a combination of these. These may be configured by a single chip, or by multiple chips connected via a bus.

[0067] Some or all of the components of each device may be realized by a combination of the above-mentioned circuits and programs.

[0068] When some or all of the components of each device are realized by multiple information processing devices, circuits, etc., the multiple information processing devices, circuits, etc. may be centrally or decentralized. For example, the information processing devices, circuits, etc. may be realized as a client-server system, a cloud computing system, or the like, in a form in which each device is connected via a communication network.

[0069] It should be noted that the above-described embodiments are preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to only the above-described embodiments. In other words, those skilled in the art can modify or substitute the above-described embodiments to construct various modified forms without departing from the gist of the present disclosure.

[0070] For example, in the first to fourth embodiments described above, all of the vehicles 200 are described as electric vehicles (EVs), but some of the vehicles 200 may be gasoline vehicles or diesel vehicles. In this case, the control systems 100 to 100c can distinguish between electric vehicles (EVs), vehicles driven by internal combustion engines, and hybrid vehicles by acquiring information from each vehicle 200 as vehicle information indicating whether the vehicle is an EV.

[0071] The third embodiment and the fourth embodiment may be combined. In this case, the control system has both a function of predicting the charging time from the lighting state of the traffic signal S and a function of controlling the traffic signal S to increase or decrease the charging period.

[0072] A part or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as, but not limited to, the following supplementary notes.

[0073] [Supplementary Note 1] A control system comprising: an identification unit that identifies a vehicle entering a charging section where a contactless charging device is installed; a prediction unit that calculates a predicted value of an expected charge amount when the vehicle is contactlessly charged by the charging device; and a decision unit that decides whether or not to select the vehicle for charging by the contactless charging device based on the predicted value. [Supplementary Note 2] The prediction unit of the above control system can be configured to predict a charging time as the predicted value of the charge amount, and the decision unit can decide whether or not to select the vehicle for charging by the contactless charging device based on the predicted value of the charge time. [Supplementary Note 3] The prediction unit of the above control system can be configured to predict the charge amount based on a passage time through the charging section calculated from the vehicle's speed. [Supplementary Note 4] The prediction unit of the above control system can further be configured to predict the charge amount based on a congestion status in a section including the charging section. [Supplementary Note 5] The above-mentioned control system may further include an acquisition means for acquiring light pattern information of a traffic signal located ahead of the charging section, and the prediction unit may be configured to predict the time the vehicle will pass through the charging section based on the light pattern information of the traffic signal. [Supplementary Note 6] The above-mentioned control system may further include a second acquisition means for acquiring information related to the vehicle's charging function from the vehicle, and the prediction unit may be configured to predict the expected charging amount based on the information related to the vehicle's charging function. [Supplementary Note 7] The determination unit of the above-mentioned control system may be configured to prioritize vehicles with smaller prediction values ​​as vehicles to be charged. [Supplementary Note 8] The determination unit of the above-mentioned control system may be configured to exclude vehicles with prediction values ​​below a predetermined threshold from vehicles to be charged. [Supplementary Note 9] The determination unit of the above-mentioned control system may be configured to select multiple vehicles to be charged so that the amounts of charge for the multiple vehicles passing through the charging section are equal. [Supplementary Note 10] The determination unit of the control system described above may be configured to start charging the vehicle to be charged by transmitting a charging instruction to at least one of the contactless charging device and the vehicle.[Supplementary Note 11] A vehicle comprising: a receiver that receives a charging instruction from a control system that selects a vehicle to be charged by the non-contact charging device from among vehicles entering a charging section where the non-contact charging device is installed; and a charging control unit that communicates with the non-contact charging device and starts non-contact charging based on the charging instruction. [Supplementary Note 12] A non-contact charging device comprising: a receiver that receives a charging instruction from a control system that selects a vehicle to be charged by the non-contact charging device from among vehicles entering a charging section where the non-contact charging device is installed; and a charging control unit that communicates with the vehicle and starts non-contact charging based on the charging instruction. [Supplementary Note 13] A traffic signal that changes its display pattern based on an instruction from a control system that selects a vehicle to be charged by the non-contact charging device from among vehicles entering a charging section where the non-contact charging device is installed. [Supplementary Note 14] A charging control method comprising: identifying a vehicle entering a charging section where a contactless charging device is installed; calculating a predicted value of an expected amount of charge when the vehicle is contactlessly charged by the charging device; and determining whether or not the vehicle is to be charged by the contactless charging device based on the predicted value. [Supplementary Note 15] A vehicle charging method comprising: receiving a charging instruction from a control system that selects a vehicle to be charged by the contactless charging device from among vehicles entering a charging section where a contactless charging device is installed; communicating with the contactless charging device based on the charging instruction, and starting contactless charging. [Supplementary Note 16] A vehicle charging method comprising: receiving a charging instruction from a control system that selects a vehicle to be charged by the contactless charging device from among vehicles entering a charging section where a contactless charging device is installed; communicating with the vehicle based on the charging instruction, and starting contactless charging.[Supplementary Note 17] A recording medium having recorded thereon a program that causes a computer to execute the following processes: identifying a vehicle entering a charging section where a contactless charging device is installed, calculating a predicted value of the amount of charge that is expected when the vehicle is contactlessly charged by the charging device, and determining, based on the predicted value, whether or not the vehicle is to be charged by the contactless charging device. Charging control method. [Supplementary Note 18] A recording medium having recorded thereon a program that causes a computer to execute the following processes: receiving a charging instruction from a control system that selects a vehicle to be charged by the contactless charging device from among vehicles entering a charging section where a contactless charging device is installed, and communicating with the contactless charging device and starting contactless charging based on the charging instruction. [Supplementary Note 19] A recording medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute the following steps: receiving a charging instruction from a control system that selects a vehicle to be charged by a contactless charging device from among vehicles entering a charging section where the contactless charging device is installed; and communicating with the vehicle and starting contactless charging based on the charging instruction. The embodiments described in each of the above supplementary notes can be combined with each other after making necessary modifications. For example, a configuration that combines the contents of Supplementary Note 2 and the contents of Supplementary Note 3 is also included within the scope of the present specification. The embodiments of Supplementary Notes 11 to 19 can be expanded into the embodiments of Supplementary Notes 2 to 9, similar to Supplementary Note 1.

[0074] The disclosures of the above-cited patent documents are incorporated herein by reference and may be used as the basis or part of this disclosure, as necessary. Modifications and adjustments of the embodiments and examples are possible within the scope of this disclosure (including the claims), and further based on its basic technical concept. Furthermore, various combinations and selections (including partial deletions) of various disclosed elements (including elements of each claim, each element of each embodiment or example, each element of each drawing, etc.) are possible within the scope of this disclosure. In other words, this disclosure naturally includes various modifications and alterations that would be possible by a person skilled in the art in accordance with the entire disclosure, including the claims, and the technical concept. In particular, with regard to the numerical ranges described herein, any numerical value or subrange within that range should be construed as specifically described, even if not otherwise specified. Furthermore, the disclosures of the above-cited documents, when used in part or in whole in combination with the disclosures herein as part of this disclosure, in accordance with the spirit of this disclosure, are also deemed to be included in the disclosures of this application.

[0075] 10 Control system 11 Identification unit 12 Prediction unit 13 Decision unit 21, 22 Vehicle 50 Charging device 100, 100a to 100c EV charging control system 200, 200a to 200c Vehicle 310 Base station 320 Mobile communication network 101 Communication unit 102, 102a Prediction unit 103, 103a Selection unit 104 Screen display unit 104a Display device 105 Memory unit 1051, 1051a Vehicle information 1052 Charging section information 201 Communication unit 202 Storage battery 203 Power receiving unit 500 Power supply device 600 Signal control device 900 Information processing device 901 CPU (Central Processing Unit) 902 ROM (Read Only Memory) 903 RAM (Random Access Memory) 904 Program 905 Storage device 906 Recording medium 907 Drive device 908 Communication interface 909 Communication network 910 Input / output interface 911 Bus CS Charging section S Traffic signal

Claims

1. an identification unit that identifies a vehicle that enters a charging section where a non-contact charging device is installed; a prediction unit that calculates a predicted value of an expected charging amount when the vehicle is charged by the charging device in a contactless manner; a determination unit that determines whether or not the vehicle is to be charged by the wireless charging device based on the predicted value; A control system comprising:

2. the prediction unit predicts a charging time as the predicted value of the charged amount, The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the determination unit determines whether or not the vehicle is to be charged by the contactless charging device based on the predicted charging time.

3. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the prediction unit predicts the charge amount based on a time required for the vehicle to pass through the charging section, the time being calculated from the speed of the vehicle.

4. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the prediction unit further predicts the charging amount based on a traffic congestion situation in a section including the charging section.

5. The charging device further includes an acquisition unit for acquiring light pattern information of a traffic signal ahead of the charging section, The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the prediction unit predicts a time period during which the vehicle will pass through the charging section based on information about a lighting pattern of the traffic signal.

6. Further, a second acquisition means is provided for acquiring information relating to a charging function of the vehicle from the vehicle, 6. The control system according to claim 1, wherein the prediction unit predicts the expected charging amount based on information related to a charging function of the vehicle.

7. a receiving unit that receives a charging instruction from a control system that selects a vehicle to be charged by the contactless charging device from among vehicles that enter a charging section where the contactless charging device is installed; a charging control unit that communicates with the non-contact charging device based on the charging instruction and starts non-contact charging.

8. A traffic signal that changes its display pattern based on instructions from a control system that selects vehicles to be charged by a non-contact charging device from among vehicles entering a charging section where the non-contact charging device is installed.

9. Identifying vehicles entering a charging section where a non-contact charging device is installed, calculating a predicted value of an expected charging amount when the vehicle is charged by the charging device in a contactless manner; determining whether or not the vehicle is to be charged by the wireless charging device based on the predicted value; Charging control method.

10. receiving a charging instruction from a control system that selects a vehicle to be charged by the contactless charging device from among vehicles entering a charging section where the contactless charging device is installed; The method for charging a vehicle includes communicating with the non-contact charging device based on the charging instruction and starting non-contact charging.