Electric Work Vehicle Charging Availability and Location Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Operators of electric work vehicles face challenges in locating available and functional charging points, leading to wasted time and resources, as they often travel to charging points without prior knowledge of their status or location.
Innovation Solution
A method and device for charging management that communicates charger properties, such as location and availability, from charging modules to electric work vehicles, and vehicle properties, like state of charge, from vehicles to charging modules, providing operators with informed charging decisions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If operators travel to charging points without prior knowledge of their status, then they can potentially find a charging point, but they waste time and resources traveling to unavailable or non-functional charging points
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by communicating charger properties (location, availability, health status) to the electric work vehicle before the operator travels to the charging point. This allows the vehicle to receive advance information about which charging points are available and functional, enabling informed travel decisions and avoiding wasted trips to unavailable charging points.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes a feedback loop where charging module status information is continuously communicated to the electric work vehicle, and vehicle properties (such as battery state of charge) are communicated back to the charging module. This two-way communication ensures the operator has real-time information about charging point availability and can make informed decisions about where to travel for charging.
2Reliability
If operators travel to charging points without knowledge of their properties, then they can attempt to charge, but they risk encountering charging points that are in use, low on power, out of order, or incompatible
Solution Approach 1:
The system communicates charger properties including availability, health status, and compatibility information to the electric work vehicle before the operator arrives at the charging point. This preliminary information provision ensures that operators only travel to charging points that are confirmed to be available, functional, and compatible with their vehicle, thereby increasing the reliability of charging attempts.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides real-time feedback about charging module status (availability, health, power levels) to the electric work vehicle, enabling the operator to assess whether a charging point is suitable before traveling there. This feedback mechanism significantly reduces the risk of encountering unavailable or incompatible charging points.
3Adaptability or versatility
If charging points are located at different locations or are mobile, then charging flexibility is improved, but operator ability to locate charging points deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system communicates location information of charging modules to the electric work vehicle through continuous feedback. Whether charging points are stationary at different locations or mobile, their position data is transmitted to the vehicle, enabling the operator to easily locate and navigate to the appropriate charging point regardless of its mobility or location variability.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of charge management for electric work vehicles comprises communicating charger properties from a charging module to an electric work vehicle and communicating vehicle properties from the electric work vehicle to the charging module. Charging information is provided to an operator, wherein the charging information is based on the charger properties and the vehicle properties. The charger properties comprise a location of the charging module and an availability of the charging module. The vehicle properties comprise a current state of charge of a battery of the electric work vehicle and a capacity of the battery of the electric work vehicle.