Travel Support Device Optimizes Battery Charge via Altitude Section Prioritization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing travel support devices for hybrid vehicles fail to optimize battery consumption due to inaccuracies in road gradient prediction from map information, leading to deviations in battery charge at the destination.
Innovation Solution
A travel support device that divides the route into sections, prioritizes the HV travel mode for excessive altitude change sections and assigns travel modes based on road load, ensuring the internal combustion engine is not operated in sections intended for EV mode.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If travel modes are assigned based on road load calculated from map information, then battery consumption is optimized for the entire route, but road gradient prediction errors cause the internal combustion engine to operate in EV-mode sections, failing to maintain zero battery charge at destination
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary identification of excessive altitude change sections by comparing map information altitude data before finalizing travel mode assignments. By detecting sections where altitude change exceeds a predetermined threshold in advance, the system can pre-assign HV mode to these sections, preventing the combustion engine from operating in EV-mode sections due to prediction errors.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from altitude change detection to adjust travel mode assignments. By continuously monitoring predicted altitude changes in each section and comparing them against threshold values, the system dynamically adjusts mode assignments to ensure EV-mode sections truly remain in EV mode, correcting for road gradient prediction inaccuracies.
2Productivity
If EV travel mode is assigned to sections with predicted low road load, then energy efficiency is improved, but inaccurate road gradient data causes combustion engine operation in EV sections, preventing zero battery charge at arrival
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary identification of excessive altitude change sections by comparing map information altitude data before finalizing travel mode assignments. By detecting sections where altitude change exceeds a predetermined threshold in advance, the system can pre-assign HV mode to these sections, preventing the combustion engine from operating in EV-mode sections.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different quality standards to different route sections by identifying excessive altitude change sections with specific criteria (altitude change >= predetermined value). These identified sections receive special treatment with HV mode assignment, while other sections follow the standard road load-based EV/HV mode assignment, creating localized quality differentiation based on altitude characteristics.
Data Source
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AI summary
A travel support device includes a planner adapted to plan vehicle travel modes to be respectively assigned to each of a plurality of sections into which a travel route from a current location to a destination is divided. To each of the sections, the planner is adapted to assign, based on a road load associated with each section, a travel mode among a first mode, in which the remaining energy charge of the battery of the vehicle is not maintained, and a second mode, in which the remaining energy charge of the battery is maintained. The planner is adapted to identify, from among the sections, an excessive altitude change section, in which a change of altitude is predicted to be greater than or equal to a predetermined value, and assign the second mode with priority to the excessive altitude change section.