Vehicle Battery Degradation Display Correction Logic

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Solution Overview

Problem

The display of secondary battery degradation levels in vehicles can be misleading due to detection errors and calculation inaccuracies, causing confusion for users as the displayed degradation may appear to decrease unexpectedly.

Innovation Solution

A display device with a controller that calculates the degradation level from measurement data at regular intervals and corrects any newly calculated lower values to be equal to or higher than the previously calculated values, ensuring the displayed degradation level does not appear to decrease, thereby reducing user confusion.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If the degradation level is calculated regularly from measurement data, then the display is updated frequently providing current information, but detection errors and calculation inaccuracies may cause the displayed degradation level to decrease unexpectedly, confusing users

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedegradation level calculation accuracyVSAvoiddisplay consistency
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary anti-action by preemptively preventing the display of degraded information (decreased degradation level) before it can confuse users. The controller is designed to reject any newly calculated degradation level that is lower than the previously displayed level, thereby preventing the harmful effect of misleading users with apparently reversed degradation trends.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #9Preliminary anti-action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements feedback by continuously comparing newly calculated degradation levels with previously displayed levels. This feedback mechanism ensures that only consistent degradation information (monotonically increasing or stable) is displayed, maintaining reliability while still providing updated degradation information to users.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Loss of information

If the degradation level is displayed as calculated without correction, then the display shows the true calculated values, but users may be confused when the degradation level appears to decrease due to errors

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinformation accuracyVSAvoiduser understanding
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent converts the harmful effect of calculation errors into a beneficial outcome by using the monotonic property of battery degradation. Instead of allowing errors to cause confusion, the system uses the expected monotonic increase to filter out erroneous decreases, thereby benefiting from the natural degradation pattern to improve user understanding while maintaining information integrity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #22Blessing in disguise (Convert harm into benefit)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies inversion by reversing the conventional approach of displaying whatever is calculated. Instead, it inverts the logic to display only values that conform to the expected monotonic pattern, rejecting calculated values that violate this pattern. This inversion prioritizes user understanding over raw calculation display.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

3Ease of operation

If the degradation level is corrected to prevent decreases, then user confusion is reduced, but the displayed value may differ from the actual calculated degradation level

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser understandingVSAvoiddegradation level accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies beforehand cushioning by preparing a correction mechanism in advance that cushions against the harmful effect of erroneous degradation decreases. When a calculated degradation level is lower than the previous level, the system cushions this error by displaying the previous level instead, thereby protecting users from confusion while maintaining acceptable information accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

Data Source

PatentEP3640071B1Display device and vehicle including the same
Publication Date: 2021.05.05 TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK
  • EP3640071B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3640071B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3640071B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A display device includes: a display unit (35) configured to display a degradation level of a secondary battery (10); and a controller (30) configured to calculate the degradation level from measurement data of the secondary battery (10) in every predetermined period and to control the display unit (35) so as to display the degradation level. The controller (30) is configured to, when a first degradation level indicating a newly calculated degradation level is lower than a second degradation level indicating a previously calculated degradation level, correct the first degradation level to a value equal to or higher than the second degradation level and to control the display unit (35) so as to display the corrected degradation level.