Distributed Charging Station Allocation Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in improving user experience for electric vehicle charging lies in the inefficiencies of battery charging, including shorter ranges and longer charging times compared to combustion engine vehicles, and the complexity of managing highly distributed charging stations, which affects the optimization of detour distances, waiting times, and pricing.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method for optimizing the allocation of charging stations by receiving data on charging stations and vehicle requests, determining detour distances, and identifying optimal charging station candidates using linear constraints to minimize total detour distance, waiting times, and charging prices, allowing for weighted optimization across multiple targets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If charging stations are highly distributed to improve accessibility and reduce detour distances, then user experience improves, but system complexity increases making optimization difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a centralized optimization platform that acts as an intermediary between distributed charging stations and vehicles. This platform receives charging requests, processes them through linear optimization algorithms considering multiple constraints (detour distance, waiting time, pricing), and allocates charging stations optimally. The intermediary handles the complexity centrally while keeping individual charging stations simple and distributed.
2Ease of operation
If individual vehicle optimization is used to minimize each vehicle's detour distance, then individual user experience improves, but total system efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges individual vehicle optimization problems into a single centralized linear optimization problem. Instead of each vehicle being optimized separately, the system combines all charging requests and uses a unified objective function that minimizes the sum of detour distances, waiting times, and charging costs across all vehicles simultaneously, achieving both individual and system-wide optimization.
3Productivity
If charging station allocation is optimized for multiple targets simultaneously (detour distance, waiting time, pricing), then overall system performance improves, but computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms a complex multi-objective optimization problem into a single linear optimization problem by combining multiple targets (detour distance, waiting time, pricing) into a unified objective function with weighted parameters. This allows the system to optimize for multiple goals simultaneously while maintaining computational tractability through linear programming techniques.
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided a computer-implemented method for optimizing highly distributed charging stations efficiency and user experience, it is an objective of the present invention to optimally allocate charging stations. The objective is solved by the steps: a) receiving charging station data, the charging station data identifying one or more charging stations and charging station locations (Ic1, Ic2); b) receiving one or more requests (R) to charge one or more requesting vehicles, each request comprising data identifying a departure location (Is1, Is2) and an arrival location (Ie1, Ie2) of the respective requesting vehicle, being able to know feasible routes; c) receiving and/or determining detours data, the detours data indicating at least one charging station detour distance for a plurality of vehicles, the plurality of vehicles including the requesting vehicles; d) identifying charging station candidates for the requesting vehicles by optimizing an objective function (F) with linear constraints; and e) allocate at least some of the charging station candidates to the requesting vehicles; wherein optimizing the objective function (F) with linear constraints includes reducing a waiting time in the queue, price, a total detour distance for the requesting vehicles.