E-Bike and E-Scooter Blocking for Battery Swap Scheduling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Dynamic transportation networks face challenges in ensuring that personal mobility vehicles, such as e-bikes and e-scooters, have sufficient battery charge for trips, leading to inefficiencies in maintenance and operations.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system that periodically blocks electrically-assisted personal mobility vehicles for battery swapping or maintenance based on criteria like technician availability, location, and battery threshold levels, optimizing operations efforts and vehicle availability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If vehicles are continuously monitored and blocked for maintenance based on battery threshold levels, then vehicle reliability is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to increased downtime
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary maintenance actions by blocking vehicles for battery swapping or charging before the battery is completely depleted. The management system monitors battery levels and proactively schedules maintenance when batteries reach threshold levels, preventing vehicle failures and ensuring reliability while planning maintenance during low-demand periods to minimize productivity impact
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts maintenance scheduling based on real-time conditions including battery threshold levels, technician availability, vehicle location, and demand patterns. The blocking decisions are not static but adapt to changing operational conditions, allowing the system to maintain reliability while optimizing productivity by performing maintenance when it least disrupts service
2Ease of repair
If vehicles are blocked for maintenance based on technician availability and location, then ease of repair is improved, but loss of time increases due to vehicle unavailability
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service battery swapping at automated stations where vehicles can be quickly serviced without requiring technician intervention for every maintenance event. This improves ease of repair by allowing rapid battery replacement while minimizing loss of time, as the automated process is faster than manual technician service
Solution Approach 2:
The management system acts as an intermediary that coordinates between vehicles, technicians, and maintenance facilities. It optimizes the scheduling of technician interventions by considering technician availability and vehicle location, grouping maintenance tasks to improve ease of repair while minimizing overall loss of time through efficient resource allocation
3Reliability
If battery swapping is performed frequently to ensure sufficient charge, then reliability is improved, but loss of time increases due to maintenance interruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses partial action by monitoring battery levels and performing maintenance only when batteries reach threshold levels rather than on a fixed schedule. This approach ensures reliability by maintaining sufficient charge while reducing loss of time by avoiding unnecessary maintenance interruptions. The system performs maintenance proactively but only when needed, optimizing the balance between reliability and time loss
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosed computer-implemented method may include identifying a personal mobility vehicle that is available to reserve for a trip, determining that at least one metric for a level of maintenance for the personal mobility vehicle indicates a need for performing the maintenance on the personal mobility vehicle, determining at least one metric for an operations effort for performing the maintenance at a current location of the personal mobility vehicle, and blocking use of the personal mobility vehicle, to facilitate the operations effort for the performing of the maintenance, based at least in part on the metric for the level of maintenance and at least in part on the metric for the operations effort indicating an advantage to performing the maintenance at the current location. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.