Control system and control device

Abstract

This control system includes: one or a plurality of processors; and one or a plurality of memories connected to the one or plurality of processors. Each processor executes a process including: acquiring dimensional information indicating the dimensions of a vehicle entering a charging station; generating, on the basis of the dimensional information, travel path information indicating a travel path within the charging station; and executing, on the basis of the travel path information, a first autonomous travel control by which the vehicle autonomously travels to a charger within the charging station without relying on an operation by a driver of the vehicle within the charging station.

Description

Control Systems and Control Devices

[0001] The present invention relates to a control system and a control device.

[0002] Electric vehicles that can run on a motor using power stored in a battery are known. To charge the battery of the electric vehicle, charging stations equipped with chargers capable of supplying power to the battery are installed in various locations. Patent Document 1 (JP-A-2005-102626) discloses a charging station in which a control device installed in the vehicle communicates with a control device installed in the charging station, and the charging completion time of the vehicle is predicted based on the information communicated.

[0003] JP 2011-114969 A

[0004] However, when a vehicle is traveling under automatic driving control on a public road outside a charging station, the automatic driving control cannot be continued when the vehicle enters the charging station because the detailed coordinate data within the charging station is not available. Therefore, the vehicle needs to be driven manually by the driver within the charging station.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a control system and a control device that are capable of controlling automatic driving within a charging station.

[0006] In order to solve the above problem, the control system of the present invention has one or more processors and one or more memories connected to the processors, and the processor performs processing including: acquiring dimension information indicating the dimensions of a vehicle entering a charging station; generating driving trajectory information indicating the driving trajectory within the charging station based on the dimension information; and performing a first automatic driving control based on the driving trajectory information to automatically drive the vehicle within the charging station to a charger at the charging station without operation by the driver of the vehicle.

[0007] According to the present invention, automatic driving control within a charging station becomes possible.

[0008] Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a control system according to this embodiment. Fig. 2 is a schematic configuration block diagram of a first control device and a second control device according to this embodiment. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a first control device according to this embodiment. Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a second control device according to this embodiment. Fig. 5 is a flowchart diagram of control processing in the control system according to this embodiment.

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Specific dimensions, materials, numerical values, etc. shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In this specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same functions and configurations are designated by the same reference numerals to avoid redundant explanation, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not shown.

[0010] 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a control system 100 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the control system 100 includes an entrance gate 200, an exit gate 300, a plurality of chargers 400, a first control device 500, and a second control device 600.

[0011] The entrance gate 200, the exit gate 300, the plurality of chargers 400, and the first control device 500 are provided at the charging station S. The second control device 600 is provided in a vehicle 700 that can enter and exit the charging station S.

[0012] The entrance gate 200 is provided at the entrance of the charging station S and opens and closes the entrance of the charging station S. The exit gate 300 is provided at the exit of the charging station S and opens and closes the exit of the charging station S. When the entrance gate 200 is in an open state, the vehicle 700 can pass through the entrance of the charging station S and can enter the charging station S from outside the charging station S. On the other hand, when the entrance gate 200 is in a closed state, the vehicle 700 cannot pass through the entrance of the charging station S and cannot enter the charging station S from outside the charging station S.

[0013] When the exit gate 300 is in an open state, the vehicle 700 can pass through the exit of the charging station S and can exit from inside the charging station S to outside the charging station S. On the other hand, when the exit gate 300 is in a closed state, the vehicle 700 cannot pass through the exit of the charging station S and cannot exit from inside the charging station S to outside the charging station S.

[0014] Charger 400 has a charging gun. The charging gun includes a cable and a connector. The cable connects the connector to a power source (not shown) of charger 400. The cable has, for example, an expandable portion with a retractable structure, and is configured to be expandable and contractible from charger 400 to the charging port of vehicle 700. The connector of charger 400 is configured to be electrically connectable to the charging port of vehicle 700. The connector can supply AC or DC current from a power source (not shown) to the charging port of vehicle 700.

[0015] Charger 400 can supply a larger current when it supplies DC current than when it supplies AC current. When charger 400 supplies AC current, charger 400 can perform normal charging of the battery of vehicle 700. On the other hand, when charger 400 supplies DC current, charger 400 can perform rapid charging of the battery of vehicle 700.

[0016] The charger 400 of this embodiment includes a first charger 400A, a second charger 400B, a third charger 400C, and a fourth charger 400D. The first charger 400A and the second charger 400B are chargers that correspond to the first model information and the first version information of the battery mounted in the vehicle 700. Hereinafter, the version information refers to the version information of the software used for charging in the vehicle 700. Hereinafter, the version information of the software will also be simply referred to as the version information.

[0017] The third charger 400C and the fourth charger 400D are chargers that correspond to the second model information and second version information of the battery installed in the vehicle 700. The first model information and the first version information are older model information and older version information than the second model information and the second version information.

[0018] Of these multiple types of chargers 400, the first charger 400A and the second charger 400B are compatible with older battery model information and older software version information that are not the latest, while the third charger 400C and the fourth charger 400D are compatible with the latest battery model information and the latest software version information.

[0019] If the battery of vehicle 700 is charged using a charger 400 that does not support the battery model information and software version information, charging efficiency may decrease or charging may not be possible. Therefore, it is preferable to charge the battery of vehicle 700 using a charger 400 that supports the battery model information and software version information.

[0020] Here, the vehicle 700 will be described as an electric vehicle equipped with a motor and a battery (not shown). However, the vehicle 700 only needs to have at least a motor (not shown) for propelling the vehicle 700 and a battery for driving the motor, and may be, for example, a hybrid vehicle equipped with an engine and a motor.

[0021] 2 is a schematic block diagram of the first control device 500 and the second control device 600 according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 2, the first control device 500 includes an I / F unit 510, a data storage unit 520, a system bus 530, one or more processors 540, and one or more memories 550. The I / F unit 510 is an interface for communicating with the second control device 600.

[0022] The data storage unit 520 is composed of RAM, flash memory, HDD, etc., and stores various information necessary for the processing of the processor 540, which will be described below. For example, the data storage unit 520 stores information about the vehicle 700 acquired via the second control device 600. Specifically, the data storage unit 520 stores identification information, dimension information, vehicle information, information about each charger 400, information about the charging stand S, and the like, which are acquired from the vehicle 700, as will be described in detail later. The information about each charger 400 includes, for example, information about the model and software version of the battery compatible with each charger 400, the base end position of the cable in the charger 400, and the maximum length of the cable. The information about the charging stand S includes coordinate data of the charging stand S, such as coordinate data indicating the width of the passageway and the curvature of any curves in the charging stand S, and coordinate data indicating the installation position of the charger 400. The system bus 530 electrically connects the I / F unit 510, the data storage unit 520, the processor 540, and the memory 550, and is a transmission path for transmitting data among them.

[0023] The processor 540 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The memory 550 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The ROM is a storage element that stores programs and calculation parameters used by the CPU. The RAM is a storage element that temporarily stores data such as variables and parameters used in processing executed by the CPU.

[0024] 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of the first control device 500 according to the present embodiment. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the first control device 500 includes a first communication unit 500a, a determination unit 500b, and a generation unit 500c.

[0025] In the first control device 500, various processes including the processes described below that are performed by the first communication unit 500a, the determination unit 500b, and the generation unit 500c can be executed by the processor 540 in cooperation with a program stored in the memory 550. In detail, the various processes are performed by the processor 540 executing the program stored in the memory 550.

[0026] The first communication unit 500a communicates with the second control device 600 mounted on the vehicle 700. The determination unit 500b determines the charger 400 corresponding to the battery mounted on the vehicle 700 based on information related to the vehicle 700. The generation unit 500c generates travel trajectory information indicating the travel trajectory within the charging station S. The first communication unit 500a, the determination unit 500b, and the generation unit 500c will be described in detail later.

[0027] 2 , the second control device 600 includes an I / F unit 610, a data storage unit 620, a system bus 630, one or more processors 640, and one or more memories 650. The I / F unit 610 is an interface for communicating with the first control device 500.

[0028] The data storage unit 620 is composed of RAM, flash memory, HDD, etc., and stores various information necessary for the processing of the processor 640 described below. For example, the data storage unit 620 stores information related to the vehicle 700. Specifically, the data storage unit 620 stores identification information, dimension information, vehicle information, and information acquired from the first control device 500 of the vehicle 700, which will be described in detail later. The system bus 630 is a transmission path that electrically connects the I / F unit 610, the data storage unit 620, the processor 640, and the memory 650, and transmits data between them.

[0029] The processor 640 includes, for example, a CPU. The memory 650 includes, for example, a ROM and a RAM. The ROM is a storage element that stores programs and calculation parameters used by the CPU. The RAM is a storage element that temporarily stores data such as variables and parameters used in processing executed by the CPU.

[0030] 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the second control device 600 according to this embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the second control device 600 includes a second communication unit 600a and an automatic driving control unit 600b.

[0031] Note that various processes, including the processes described below, performed by second communication unit 600a and automatic driving control unit 600b can be executed by processor 640 in cooperation with programs stored in memory 650. In detail, various processes are performed by processor 640 executing programs stored in memory 650.

[0032] The second communication unit 600a communicates with the first communication unit 500a of the first control device 500. The automatic driving control unit 600b executes automatic driving control that causes the vehicle 700 to drive automatically without operation by the driver. In this embodiment, the automatic driving control includes first automatic driving control, second automatic driving control, and third automatic driving control. The first automatic driving control is control that causes the vehicle 700 to automatically drive from the entrance gate 200 to the charger 400 within the charging station S. The second automatic driving control is control that causes the vehicle 700 to automatically drive from the charger 400 to the exit gate 300 within the charging station S. The third automatic driving control is control that causes the vehicle 700 to automatically drive outside the charging station.

[0033] The operation of the control system 100 will be described in detail below with reference to Fig. 1. First, when the vehicle 700 arrives at the entrance gate 200 of the charging station S, communication is established between the first control device 500 of the charging station S and the second control device 600 of the vehicle 700.

[0034] At this time, the first control device 500 acquires information about the vehicle 700 entering the charging station S from the second control device 600. The information about the vehicle includes, for example, identification information for identifying the vehicle 700, dimensional information indicating the dimensions of the vehicle 700, vehicle information, location information, information about the battery installed in the vehicle 700, and information about the software used for charging the vehicle 700. The identification information is, for example, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) information. The VIN information includes a serial number used to identify each vehicle 700. Note that the identification information is not limited to VIN information and may include vehicle number information. The dimension information includes, for example, information such as vehicle height, overall length, and overall width. The vehicle information includes, for example, information such as a reference position on the vehicle 700, a charging port position, a vehicle model type, and a manufacturer. The reference position on the vehicle 700 is, for example, a position that is the leading edge of the vehicle 700 in the direction of travel. The position of the charging port on vehicle 700 is, for example, a position expressed as a relative position with respect to a reference position, and includes relative position information such as information on the right or left side of vehicle 700, or XX meters from the reference position in the direction of angle α. Note that, hereinafter, the information on the charging port position is also referred to as information on the position of the charging port on vehicle 700. The position information is, for example, information indicating the latitude and longitude of vehicle 700 detected by a GNSS sensor mounted on vehicle 700.

[0035] The information about the battery includes, for example, battery model information and State of Charge (SOC) information indicating the state of charge of the battery. The information about the software used for charging in the vehicle 700 includes, for example, version information of the software used when charging the battery.

[0036] Such vehicle-related information is stored in advance in the data storage unit 620 of the second control device 600 and is transmitted from the second communication unit 600 a of the second control device 600 to the first communication unit 500 a of the first control device 500 .

[0037] When the first communication unit 500a acquires information about the vehicle 700, the determination unit 500b of the first control device 500 calculates the relative positional relationship between the reference position of the vehicle 700 and the reference position within the charging stand S based on the acquired vehicle information. The reference position within the charging stand S is, for example, a position that serves as the origin of a coordinate system within the charging stand S. The reference position within the charging stand S is, for example, a position established with respect to the entrance gate 200, and is the center position of the bar of the entrance gate 200 when it is in a closed state. The reference position within the charging stand S is stored in advance in the data storage unit 520 as position information expressed in latitude and longitude.

[0038] The determination unit 500b calculates the reference position of the vehicle 700, which is expressed as latitude and longitude, based on, for example, the vehicle information and the position information. The determination unit 500b then calculates the coordinates of the reference position of the vehicle 700 relative to the reference position within the charging station S, which is expressed as latitude and longitude, and stores the calculated coordinate data in the data storage unit 520. In this way, coordinate data indicating the positional relationship between the reference position of the vehicle 700 and the reference position within the charging station S is generated. Hereinafter, the coordinate data indicating the positional relationship between the reference position of the vehicle 700 and the reference position within the charging station S will also be simply referred to as reference position coordinate data.

[0039] The first communication unit 500a communicates with the second communication unit 600a of the second control device 600, and confirms with the driver of the vehicle 700 whether or not to permit the execution of the first automatic driving control and the second automatic driving control within the charging station S. If the driver does not permit the execution of the first automatic driving control and the second automatic driving control within the charging station S, the vehicle 700 is manually driven within the charging station S by operation of the driver.

[0040] On the other hand, if the driver allows the execution of the first automatic driving control and the second automatic driving control within the charging station S, the generation unit 500c generates driving trajectory information indicating the driving trajectory within the charging station S based on the dimension information.

[0041] At this time, the determination unit 500b determines the charger 400 to which the vehicle 700 should be guided based on the dimension information, information related to the battery, and information related to the software. Specifically, the determination unit 500b determines the available charger 400 by determining the usage status of each charger 400 shown in FIG. 1 and excluding any chargers 400 that are currently in use among the four chargers 400. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the first charger 400A, the second charger 400B, and the fourth charger 400D are currently being used by three vehicles 700. The determination unit 500b determines the third charger 400C, excluding the first charger 400A, the second charger 400B, and the fourth charger 400D, as the available charger 400 among the four chargers 400.

[0042] The determination unit 500b also determines whether the dimensions of the vehicle 700 will fit into the parking spaces provided on both sides of each charger 400. The determination unit 500b also determines whether the model information and version information of the battery of the vehicle 700 are compatible with the charger 400. Specifically, the determination unit 500b references the model information and version information of the battery and information about the charger 400 stored in the data storage unit 520, and determines the charger 400 that is compatible with the model information and version information of the battery of the vehicle 700.

[0043] For example, if the model information and version information are the second model information and second version information, the determination unit 500b determines that the model information and version information of the battery of the vehicle 700 correspond to the third charger 400C and the fourth charger 400D. Note that in this embodiment, an example will be described in which the charger 400 to be recommended for the vehicle 700 is determined based on both the model information and version information of the battery of the vehicle 700. However, this is not limited thereto, and the determination unit 500b may determine the charger 400 to be recommended for the vehicle 700 based on either the model information or the version information of the battery of the vehicle 700. For example, the determination unit 500b may determine the charger 400 to be recommended for the vehicle 700 based only on the model information of the battery of the vehicle 700. Furthermore, the determination unit 500b may determine the charger 400 to be recommended for the vehicle 700 based only on the version information of the vehicle 700.

[0044] Based on these determinations, the determination unit 500b determines one charger 400 to be introduced. Specifically, the determination unit 500b selects a charger 400 whose dimensions allow the vehicle 700 to fit into the parking spaces provided on both sides of the available charger 400 and that corresponds to the model information and version information of the battery of the vehicle 700. In the example shown in FIG. 1 , the determination unit 500b determines whether the dimensions of the vehicle 700 can fit into the parking spaces provided on both sides of the available third charger 400C. The determination unit 500b also determines whether the available third charger 400C corresponds to the model information and version information of the battery installed in the vehicle 700. In this example, the determination unit 500b determines that the dimensions of the vehicle 700 can fit into the parking spaces provided on both sides of the third charger 400C. The determination unit 500b also determines that the third charger 400C corresponds to the model information and version information of the battery installed in the vehicle 700. Based on such a determination result, the determination unit 500b determines the third charger 400C as the charger 400 to which the vehicle 700 should be guided.

[0045] Based on the information determined by the determination unit 500b, the generation unit 500c generates travel locus information indicating travel loci T1 and T2 within the charging station S. Specifically, the generation unit 500c generates travel locus information indicating travel loci T1 and T2 within the charging station S based on the charger 400, coordinate data within the charging station S, reference position coordinate data, dimensional information of the vehicle 700, and vehicle information determined by the determination unit 500b.

[0046] The traveling locus T1 is a locus along which the vehicle 700 automatically travels from the entrance gate 200 to the charger 400 within the charging station S without any operation by the driver of the vehicle 700. The generation unit 500c generates traveling locus information of the traveling locus T1 based on the coordinate data indicating the position of the charger 400, the coordinate data indicating the position of the entrance gate 200, the reference position coordinate data, and the dimension information of the vehicle 700, all determined by the determination unit 500b. The traveling locus T2 is a locus along which the vehicle 700 automatically travels from the charger 400 to the exit gate 300 within the charging station S without any operation by the driver. The generation unit 500c generates traveling locus information of the traveling locus T2 based on the coordinate data indicating the position of the charger 400, the coordinate data indicating the position of the exit gate 300, the reference position coordinate data, and the dimension information of the vehicle 700, all determined by the determination unit 500b.

[0047] At this time, generation unit 500c also generates the driving trajectory information taking into account vehicle information about vehicle 700. Specifically, generation unit 500c generates the driving trajectory information based on information about the position of the charging port of vehicle 700, the base end position of the cable of the charging gun in charger 400, and the maximum length of the cable, so that the position of the charging port of vehicle 700 is within the movable range of the charging gun. Furthermore, generation unit 500c generates the driving trajectory information based on the width of the passages in charging station S, the curvature of curves, and dimensional information about vehicle 700, so that the route that vehicle 700 can travel within charging station S is determined. The dimensional information about vehicle 700 is used, for example, to calculate a collision avoidance route to avoid vehicle 700 colliding with an obstacle in charging station S.

[0048] The first communication unit 500a transmits the generated driving trajectory information to the second communication unit 600a of the second control device 600. Based on the acquired driving trajectory information, the automatic driving control unit 600b executes first automatic driving control to automatically drive the vehicle 700 from the entrance gate 200 to the charger 400 within the charging station S without any operation by the driver. The first automatic driving control causes the vehicle 700 to automatically drive from the entrance gate 200 to the charger 400 along the driving trajectory T1 shown in Fig. 1 . In the example shown in Fig. 1 , the first automatic driving control causes the vehicle 700 to automatically drive to a position where the charging port of the vehicle 700 is within the movable range of the charging gun of the third charger 400C.

[0049] When vehicle 700 moves to the parking space of charger 400 under the first automatic driving control, it automatically stops and the charging gun is connected to the charging port to charge the battery. At this time, the connection between the charging port of vehicle 700 and the charging gun of charger 400 may be performed automatically by an automatic connection device (not shown) without driver operation, or may be performed manually by driver operation.

[0050] When charging of the battery of vehicle 700 is completed, automatic driving control unit 600b executes second automatic driving control based on the driving trajectory information to automatically drive vehicle 700 from charger 400 to exit gate 300 within charging station S without any operation by the driver. In the second automatic driving control, vehicle 700 is automatically driven from charger 400 to exit gate 300 along driving trajectory T2 shown in FIG. 1 .

[0051] Since the driving trajectory information includes information regarding coordinates within the charging station S, the automatic driving control unit 600b can execute the first automatic driving control and the second automatic driving control of the vehicle 700 within the charging station S.

[0052] As described above, in this embodiment, the first control device 500 generates travel locus information that indicates the travel locus T1 within the charging station S, based on the dimension information of the vehicle 700. Then, the second control device 600 executes first automatic driving control, based on the travel locus information, to cause the vehicle 700 to automatically travel to the charger 400 within the charging station S without operation by the driver of the vehicle 700. By performing the first automatic driving control based on the generated travel locus information, the vehicle 700 can be automatically driven from the entrance gate 200 to the charger 400 without colliding with obstacles within the charging station S.

[0053] Furthermore, based on the travel trajectory information indicating the travel trajectory T2, the second control device 600 executes second automatic driving control to cause the vehicle 700 to automatically travel from the charger 400 to the exit gate 300 within the charging station S without any operation by the driver. By performing the second automatic driving control based on the generated travel trajectory information, the vehicle 700 can be automatically driven from the charger 400 to the exit gate 300 without colliding with any obstacles within the charging station S.

[0054] Furthermore, the generation unit 500c generates driving trajectory information based on the positional relationship between the reference position of the vehicle 700 and the reference position within the charging station S. This makes it possible to align the origin position of the reference position of the vehicle 700 with the reference position within the charging station S, and allows the vehicle 700 to automatically drive to an accurate position within the charging station S.

[0055] Furthermore, generation unit 500c generates traveling trajectory information based on information about the position of a charging port on vehicle 700. As a result, generation unit 500c can determine whether the charging port is provided on the right or left side of vehicle 700, based on the information about the position of the charging port. Therefore, generation unit 500c can determine the parking space corresponding to the side where the charging port of vehicle 700 is provided, out of multiple parking spaces provided on both sides of charger 400. As a result, it is possible to generate traveling trajectory information that guides vehicle 700 to the determined parking space.

[0056] Furthermore, generation unit 500c generates driving trajectory information so that, at the stopping position of vehicle 700 under the first automatic driving control, the charging port of vehicle 700 is within the movable range of the charging gun of charger 400. This ensures that the charging gun can reach the charging port when vehicle 700 stops in the parking space.

[0057] Furthermore, the generation unit 500c generates the travel locus information based on information about the battery of the vehicle 700. This allows the vehicle 700 to charge the battery using a charger 400 that corresponds to the model information of the battery mounted on the vehicle 700. This allows the battery to be charged efficiently.

[0058] Furthermore, generation unit 500c generates driving locus information based on information related to the software used for charging in vehicle 700. This allows vehicle 700 to charge using charger 400 that corresponds to the version information of the software used for charging. This allows the battery to be charged efficiently.

[0059] When the vehicle 700 moves to the exit gate 300, the first communication unit 500a communicates with the second communication unit 600a of the second control device 600, and notifies the driver of the vehicle 700 of the end of the second automatic driving control within the charging station S. With the end of the second automatic driving control, the driver selects either switching from the second automatic driving control to the third automatic driving control, or switching to manual driving control by driver operation. Here, if switching to manual driving control is selected, the vehicle 700 is manually driven outside the charging station S by driver operation.

[0060] On the other hand, when switching from the second automatic driving control to the third automatic driving control is selected, the automatic driving control unit 600b executes the third automatic driving control based on map data and information on the latitude and longitude of the vehicle 700. The map data includes coordinate data of roads outside the charging station S, etc. The information on the latitude and longitude of the vehicle 700 is detected by, for example, a GNSS sensor mounted on the vehicle 700.

[0061] 5 is a flowchart of the control process in the control system 100 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, first, the first communication unit 500a communicates with the second control device 600 mounted on the vehicle 700 located at the entrance gate 200 to acquire information about the vehicle 700 entering the charging station S (step S100). At this time, the first control device 500 controls the entrance gate 200 to change from a closed state to an open state, thereby allowing the vehicle 700 to enter the charging station S.

[0062] The determination unit 500b calculates reference position coordinate data indicating the positional relationship between the reference position of the vehicle 700 and the reference position of the charging station S based on the acquired information about the vehicle (step S102). The first communication unit 500a confirms with the driver permission to execute the first automatic driving control and the second automatic driving control within the charging station S (step S104).

[0063] If the execution of the first automatic driving control and the second automatic driving control is not permitted (NO in step S104), the driver manually drives the vehicle 700 within the charging station S (step S106). On the other hand, if the execution of the first automatic driving control and the second automatic driving control is permitted (YES in step S104), the generation unit 500c generates driving trajectory information indicating the driving trajectories T1 and T2 (step S108).

[0064] The generated driving trajectory information is transmitted from the first communication unit 500a to the second control device 600 via the second communication unit 600a. The automatic driving control unit 600b causes the vehicle 700 to automatically drive from the entrance gate 200 to the charger 400 by first automatic driving control based on the acquired driving trajectory information (step S110). When the vehicle 700 arrives at the charger 400, the vehicle 700 automatically stops in the parking space of the charger 400. The charging port of the vehicle 700 is then automatically or manually connected to the charging gun, and charging of the vehicle 700 battery begins.

[0065] When charging of the battery of the vehicle 700 is completed, the automatic driving control unit 600b causes the vehicle 700 to automatically drive from the charger 400 to the exit gate 300 by second automatic driving control based on the driving trajectory information (step S112).

[0066] When the vehicle 700 reaches the exit gate 300, the first communication unit 500a communicates with the second communication unit 600a of the second control unit 600, and the first control unit 500 controls the exit gate 300 from a closed state to an open state, allowing the vehicle 700 to exit the charging station S. The first communication unit 500a also notifies the driver of the vehicle 700 of the end of the second automatic driving control within the charging station S. Following the end of the second automatic driving control, the driver selects either switching from the second automatic driving control to the third automatic driving control or switching to manual driving control by driver operation (step S114).

[0067] If switching to manual driving control is selected (NO in step S114), the driver operates the vehicle 700 to manually drive outside the charging station S (step S116).

[0068] On the other hand, if switching from the second automatic driving control to the third automatic driving control is selected (YES in step S114), the automatic driving control unit 600b executes the third automatic driving control based on the map data and the latitude and longitude information of the vehicle 700 (step S118).

[0069] While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to such embodiments. It is clear that those skilled in the art can conceive of various modifications and alterations within the scope of the claims, and it is understood that such modifications and alterations also fall within the technical scope of the present invention.

[0070] The series of processes performed by each of the first control device 500 and the second control device 600 according to the present embodiment may be implemented using software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The programs constituting the software are stored in advance, for example, in a non-transitory storage medium provided inside or outside each device. The programs are then read from the non-transitory storage medium (for example, ROM) to a temporary storage medium (for example, RAM) and executed by a processor such as a CPU.

[0071] A program for realizing each function of each of the above devices can be created and installed on the computer of each of the above devices. The processor executes the program stored in memory, thereby performing the processing of each of the above functions. At this time, the program may be shared and executed by multiple processors, or the program may be executed by a single processor. Furthermore, the functions of each of the above devices may be realized by cloud computing using multiple computers interconnected by a communication network.

[0072] The program may be provided to the computer of each device by distribution from an external device via a communication network and installed therein. Alternatively, the program may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium and provided to the computer of each device via the storage medium and installed therein.

[0073] According to this embodiment, a program for executing the processing of each function of each of the above devices can be provided. Furthermore, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium storing the program can also be provided. The non-transitory storage medium may be, for example, a disk-type storage medium such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, or a magneto-optical disk, or may be a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory or a USB memory.

[0074] In the present embodiment, an example has been described in which both the first automatic driving control and the second automatic driving control are executed within the charging station S. However, as long as at least the first automatic driving control is executed within the charging station S, the vehicle 700 can be guided to the charger 400. Therefore, the second automatic driving control is not essential within the charging station S, and only the first automatic driving control may be executed. In other words, the generation unit 500c may generate only the traveling locus information for the traveling locus T1, and may not generate the traveling locus information for the traveling locus T2.

[0075] In addition, in the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the traveling locus information is generated based on the positional relationship between the reference position of the vehicle 700 and the reference position within the charging station S. However, the traveling locus information does not have to be generated based on this positional relationship.

[0076] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the traveling locus information is generated based on information relating to the position of a charging port in vehicle 700. However, the traveling locus information does not have to be generated based on information relating to the position of the charging port.

[0077] Furthermore, in this embodiment, an example has been described in which the driving trajectory information is generated so that the charging port of vehicle 700 is within the movable range of the charging gun of charger 400 at the stopping position of vehicle 700 under the first automatic driving control. However, the driving trajectory information does not have to be generated so that the charging port is within the movable range of the charging gun of charger 400.

[0078] S Charging station 100 Control system 400 Charger 500 First control device 500a First communication unit 500b Determination unit 500c Generation unit 600 Second control device 600a Second communication unit 600b Automatic driving control unit 700 Vehicle

Claims

1. One or more processors, One or more memories connected to the processor, It has, The aforementioned processor, To obtain dimensional information indicating the dimensions of a vehicle entering a charging station, Based on coordinate data within the charging station, which differs from map data consisting of coordinate data of each location outside the charging station, and the dimensional information, driving trajectory information indicating the driving trajectory within the charging station is generated. Based on the aforementioned driving trajectory information, a first automatic driving control is performed to automatically drive the vehicle to the charger of the charging station within the charging station without operation by the vehicle's driver. Execute the process that includes Control system.

2. The processor performs a process that includes, based on the driving trajectory information, executing a second automatic driving control that causes the vehicle to automatically drive from the charger to the exit of the charging station within the charging station without operation by the driver. The control system according to claim 1.

3. The processor performs a process that includes generating the driving trajectory information based on the positional relationship between a reference position in the vehicle and a reference position within the charging station. The control system according to claim 1.

4. The processor performs a process that includes generating the driving trajectory information based on information regarding the location of the charging port in the vehicle. The control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The processor performs a process that includes generating the driving trajectory information such that, at the stopping position of the vehicle in the first automatic driving control, the charging port of the vehicle is within the movable range of the charging gun of the charger. The control system according to claim 4.

6. The processor performs a process that includes generating the driving trajectory information based on information about the vehicle's battery. The control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

7. The processor performs a process that includes generating the driving trajectory information based on information about the software used for charging in the vehicle. The control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

8. One or more processors, One or more memories connected to the processor, It has, The aforementioned processor, The process includes executing a first automatic driving control that automatically drives the vehicle to the charger of the charging station without operation by the vehicle driver, based on map data which is coordinate data of each location outside the charging station, coordinate data inside the charging station which is different from the coordinate data inside the charging station, and driving trajectory information which is generated based on dimensional information indicating the dimensions of the vehicle entering the charging station and indicates the driving trajectory inside the charging station. Control device.