Vehicle Navigation System for Utility-Specific Charging Facility Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face difficulties in identifying public charging facilities managed by a specific electric utility for participating in demand response programs, as no service provides information on the managing utility, making it hard to participate in demand response requests from contracted utilities.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle equipped with a controller that obtains and provides facility information, including position and utility information, allowing users to identify charging facilities managed by a prescribed electric utility through notification units, facilitating participation in demand response programs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If no service provides information on the managing utility of charging facilities, then the system remains simple, but users cannot identify public facilities managed by contracted utilities for demand response participation
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-acquires and stores facility information including managing utility data before demand response requests are issued. This preliminary preparation ensures that when a demand response request is received, the navigation system can immediately provide relevant charging facility information without delay, resolving the contradiction between information availability and system simplicity.
2Ease of operation
If the system provides comprehensive facility information including utility management data, then users can identify charging facilities for demand response, but the system becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation system acts as an intermediary between the charging facility management system and the user. It receives facility information from the management system, processes and filters the data to extract relevant information (position, managing utility), and presents it in a user-friendly format. This intermediary role simplifies the user interface while maintaining comprehensive backend functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts only the essential information needed for demand response participation (facility position, managing utility identification) from the comprehensive facility database, rather than presenting all available data. This extraction approach maintains ease of operation by showing only relevant information while the system retains full capability to access additional details when needed.
3Reliability
If demand response requests are issued for distant locations, then utility load balancing is improved, but user convenience decreases due to travel requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation system dynamically adjusts the demand response participation strategy based on real-time conditions. When a demand response request is received for a distant location, the system evaluates the user's current position, vehicle state, and travel plans to determine the optimal response. It can suggest alternative nearby facilities managed by the same utility or adjust the timing, making the demand response process adaptive to user convenience while maintaining effectiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
A controller in a vehicle includes an obtaining unit that obtains facility information on a charging facility that can charge a power storage mounted on the vehicle, the facility information including position information and utility information in association with each other, the position information indicating a position of the charging facility, the utility information indicating an electric utility that manages the charging facility. The controller further includes at least one of a first notification unit and a second notification unit. The first notification unit causes a notification apparatus to give first information that indicates an electric utility, by using the facility information obtained by the obtaining unit. The second notification unit causes the notification apparatus to give second information that indicates a position of a charging facility, by using the facility information obtained by the obtaining unit.