EV Charging Reservation Guidance for Nearby Facility Availability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of electrified vehicles face challenges in utilizing facilities such as restaurants while their vehicles are being charged, as existing systems do not efficiently provide information on available facilities during charging periods, leading to suboptimal use of time.
Innovation Solution
A server system that extracts and notifies users about available facilities during a reservation period for power controller use, considering factors like predicted stay time, waiting periods, movement time, and facility type, while also managing power control to prevent overcharging and adjust incentives based on crowding levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the system provides comprehensive facility information during charging periods, then user convenience and time utilization improve, but system complexity and information processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary component that centralizes the collection, processing, and distribution of facility information. This server acts as a mediator between power controllers and users' information devices, handling the complex tasks of extracting available facilities during charging periods and transmitting this information to users. By concentrating the information processing functionality in a dedicated intermediary server, the system achieves comprehensive facility information provision without significantly increasing the complexity of individual components.
2Measurement precision
If the system extracts facilities based on multiple factors (predicted stay period, waiting period, movement period), then extraction accuracy improves, but calculation complexity and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing key time parameters such as predicted stay periods, waiting periods, and movement periods in advance. The server extracts these time parameters beforehand and stores them in storage units, so that during the actual facility extraction process, the system can directly retrieve and combine these pre-computed values rather than performing complex real-time calculations. This approach maintains high extraction accuracy while significantly reducing the computational complexity and processing time during operation.
3Loss of time
If the system provides real-time facility availability information, then user time utilization improves, but information transmission frequency and network load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic action by having the server transmit facility information at regular intervals or at specific trigger points during the charging period. Instead of continuously streaming real-time updates, the system periodically provides facility availability information to users' information devices. This periodic transmission approach ensures users have timely access to facility information for effective time utilization while significantly reducing the network load and energy consumption compared to continuous real-time transmission.
Data Source
AI summary
A server includes a control unit configured to extract, among facilities different from a power controller configured to execute power control including at least one of charging and discharging of an electrified vehicle, the facility that is available, during a reservation period for use of the power controller, to a user who uses the power controller during the reservation period and a communication unit configured to transmit information on the extracted facility to at least one of the electrified vehicle and an information device that are associated with the user.