Electric Road Segment Activation Using Vehicle ID Keys
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electric road systems face challenges in providing electrical safety, especially in urban areas, and accurate billing for users, as they require efficient activation and deactivation of power segments to prevent unauthorized access and ensure correct payment for electricity usage.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for an electric road system that uses identification data from vehicles to activate and deactivate power segments through a base station, employing short-range and mid-range radio communication to associate and transmit activation keys, allowing for individual power delivery and monitoring, ensuring safety and accurate billing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If power segments are continuously activated to ensure power delivery, then power availability is improved, but electrical safety deteriorates due to increased risk of electrocution
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by transmitting activation keys to segments in advance before the vehicle arrives. The base station identifies the approaching vehicle and pre-activates the necessary power segments, so that when the vehicle reaches the segment, power delivery can begin immediately without continuous activation of all segments along the track.
Solution Approach 2:
The power delivery system is divided into discrete segments along the track. Each segment can be independently activated or deactivated based on vehicle position and requirements. This segmentation allows the system to provide power only where and when needed, rather than continuously activating the entire track, thereby improving safety while maintaining power availability.
2Productivity
If activation keys are transmitted to multiple segments in advance, then power delivery readiness is improved, but system complexity increases due to key management
Solution Approach 1:
The activation key serves multiple functions: it acts as an authorization credential for the vehicle, a positioning signal for the system, and a trigger for power delivery. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate complex key management protocols for each function, simplifying the overall system while maintaining readiness.
Solution Approach 2:
The base station acts as an intermediary that manages the distribution and validation of activation keys between the vehicle and multiple segments. Rather than requiring direct complex interactions between the vehicle and each segment, the base station mediates key transmission and verification, simplifying the key management process while enabling rapid segment activation.
3Measurement precision
If individual segment activation is implemented for billing accuracy, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases due to monitoring requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system is segmented to correspond with the physical segmentation of the power delivery track. Each power segment has its own monitoring capabilities that report to the base station, allowing precise measurement of power consumption at each segment level. This distributed monitoring approach achieves high measurement precision while distributing system complexity across multiple simple, identical units rather than requiring one complex centralized system.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for activating a segment for enabling electrical power delivery to vehicles, the segment being one of a plurality of segments consecutively arranged along a single track line of an electric road system that further comprises a base station, the method comprising: receiving, at the base station, identification data transmitted from a vehicle, the identification data identifying the vehicle; associating an activation key with the identification data with each other; transmitting the activation key from the base station to the segment; receiving, at the segment and via short range radio communication, an activation request sent from the vehicle, wherein the activation request comprises an identification key associated with the identification data; confirming, at the segment, that the received identification key is associated with the received activation key; and upon positive confirmation, activating the segment for enabling power delivery to the vehicle.