Fuel Cell Vehicle Control Device for Towing Gradient Prediction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fuel cell vehicles experience excessive temperature increases when towing a heavy load up steep gradients, leading to power limitations and decreased vehicle speed, which can be unpredictable for drivers.
Innovation Solution
A control device for fuel cell vehicles that includes a power limiter, calculation unit, gradient acquirer, predictor, and controller to assess the weight of the towed vehicle and road gradients, predicting potential power limitations and alerting the driver to expected speed decreases, allowing for route adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the fuel cell is kept in a high-power state to maintain vehicle speed, then the vehicle speed is maintained, but the temperature of the fuel cell increases excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by predicting future fuel cell temperature increases based on planned route gradients and towing conditions before the actual temperature problem occurs. This allows advance notification to the driver and potential route adjustments to prevent excessive temperature rise that would otherwise force power limitation and speed decrease
2Temperature
If the power of the fuel cell is limited to reduce temperature, then the temperature of the fuel cell is reduced, but the vehicle speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by predicting future power limitation events based on planned route gradients and current towing conditions before they occur. This allows advance notification to the driver, enabling proactive route adjustments or speed management to maintain vehicle speed while avoiding actual power limitation and temperature reduction
3Device complexity
If the driver is not notified of predicted speed decreases, then the system remains simple, but the driver cannot take preventative measures
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by providing information to the driver about predicted power limitation and speed decrease events based on planned route analysis. This feedback loop enables the driver to make informed decisions about route adjustments or speed management, improving operational ease while maintaining relatively simple system architecture through existing sensors and communication channels
Data Source
AI summary
A control device for a fuel cell vehicle includes a power limiter limiting power of a fuel cell when a temperature correlation value correlated to a temperature of the fuel cell indicates that the temperature is equal to or higher than a temperature threshold, a calculation unit calculating a weight of a towed vehicle, a gradient acquirer acquiring upward gradients at respective points on a planned traveling route, a predictor predicting whether the power of the fuel cell is limited when the fuel cell vehicle is traveling along the planned traveling route in a towing travel state, and a controller issuing, when the predictor predicts that the power of the fuel cell is limited, an alert that a vehicle speed of the fuel cell vehicle is expected to decrease when the fuel cell vehicle is traveling along the planned traveling route in the towing travel state.