Route Planning Device for Electric Vehicles with Charging Station Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electric vehicles face challenges in determining whether they can reach nearby charging stations within their remaining battery power, leading to potential strandings due to high processing loads on onboard terminals calculating routes and power requirements frequently.
Innovation Solution
A route planning device with an input means, minimum-cost route calculation, position calculation, search, guided route calculation, facility designation, and display means to continuously monitor and guide the vehicle to nearby charging stations, optimizing routes and power requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the onboard terminal constantly monitors the vehicle to ascertain whether it will be able to reach a charging station, then the reliability of avoiding vehicle stranding is improved, but the processing load on the onboard terminal increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating and storing power requirements for multiple candidate routes to charging stations before the vehicle actually needs them. When the vehicle's remaining power drops below a threshold, the system retrieves these pre-calculated routes rather than computing them in real-time, significantly reducing the processing load during critical monitoring phases while maintaining reliable stranding prevention
2Measurement precision
If the onboard terminal calculates the route and power requirement every time the vehicle position changes, then the accuracy of power requirement information is improved, but the processing time and frequency of calculations increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic action by triggering full route and power requirement calculations only when the vehicle's remaining power drops below a predetermined threshold, rather than continuously recalculating with every position change. Between threshold crossings, the system uses the previously calculated power requirements, reducing computational frequency while maintaining sufficient accuracy for safety decisions
3Reliability
If multiple candidate charging stations are identified and routes are calculated for each, then the reliability of finding a reachable charging station is improved, but the device complexity and calculation burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies segmentation by dividing the route planning into distinct phases: first identifying multiple candidate charging stations, then pre-calculating power requirements for routes to each candidate, and finally selecting the most appropriate candidate based on remaining power and pre-calculated requirements. This segmented approach manages complexity by handling candidate evaluation in discrete steps rather than simultaneously
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements partial action by calculating power requirements for only the most promising candidate charging stations rather than exhaustively evaluating every possible charging station in the network. The search is focused on stations along or near the minimum-cost route to the destination, performing sufficient calculations to ensure reliability without unnecessary computational overhead
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3
AI summary
A route planning device includes: a search means for searching for a plurality of facilities located near the minimum-cost route from a current position to the destination, where the battery can be charged; a guided route calculation means for setting a waypoint on the minimum-cost route via which the moving object can be guided to each facility, and for calculating a guided route from the waypoint to the each facility and a first power requirement indicating an amount of power required to travel through the guided route; and a facility designating means for designating a target facility to which the moving object is to be guided, based upon third power requirements each calculated by adding a second power requirement, indicating an amount of power required to allow the moving object to travel from the current position to the waypoint, to the first power requirement and remaining power in the battery.