JP7652045B2 - Charging control device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a charging control device, and in particular to a charging control device mounted on a vehicle.

Patent document 1 discloses a vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery. The vehicle can generate commercial AC voltage with an appropriate frequency according to the region and supply it to a load outside the vehicle.

JP 2006-333551 A

The present inventors have discovered the following problems.
The battery of such a vehicle can be charged in various locations, but the voltage varies depending on the charging location and time of day, which can reduce the accuracy of calculating the remaining charge time.

In view of the above, the present invention aims to provide a charging control device that can calculate the remaining charging time with high accuracy depending on the charging location.

A charging control device according to one aspect of the present invention includes:
a charge start detection unit that detects the start of charging of a battery of the vehicle;
a current position acquisition unit that acquires a current position of the vehicle;
a remaining charging time calculation unit that calculates a remaining charging time required until charging of the battery of the vehicle is completed,
The remaining charging time calculation unit
When the current position of the vehicle is a predetermined position where acquisition of a learning value using data related to power during a previous charge has been completed, the remaining charge time is calculated based on the learning value;
If the current location of the vehicle is other than the predetermined location, the remaining charge time is calculated based on the power value within a predetermined time from the start of charging.

With this configuration, the remaining charging time can be calculated with high accuracy based on the learned value or the power value within a specified time from the start of charging, depending on the charging location.

The present invention provides a charging control device that can calculate the remaining charging time with high accuracy depending on the charging location.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a charge control device according to a first embodiment; 4 is a flowchart showing a method for calculating a remaining charge time of the charge control device according to the first embodiment.

Specific embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. In addition, the following descriptions and drawings have been simplified as appropriate for clarity of explanation.

(Embodiment 1)
A configuration example of the charge control device according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the charge control device according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the charging control device 100 includes a charging start detection unit 110, a current location acquisition unit 120, and a remaining charging time calculation unit 130. The charging control device 100 according to this embodiment can be configured with a general computer. The computer includes a central processing unit (CPU), storage devices such as a read-only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM), input/output ports, etc. The charging control device 100 according to this embodiment controls charging of a battery C1 mounted on a vehicle C10. The charging control device 100 according to this embodiment is mounted on the vehicle C10.

The charging start detection unit 110 detects the start of charging the battery C1 of the vehicle C10. The charging start detection unit 110 detects that charging of the battery C1 has started based on, for example, the terminal voltage value of the battery C1.

The current position acquisition unit 120 acquires the current position of the vehicle C10. The current position acquisition unit 120 detects the current position of the vehicle C10, for example, based on a wireless signal from outside the vehicle for detecting the current position of the vehicle C10. This wireless signal is, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) signal or a signal from a beacon. The current position acquisition unit 120 is, for example, a navigation system.

The remaining charging time calculation unit 130 calculates the time it takes to complete charging the battery C1 of the vehicle C10.

When the current position of the vehicle C10 is a predetermined position, the remaining charge time calculation unit 130 calculates the remaining charge time at the predetermined position based on a learning value using data related to the power during charging before detecting the start of charging the battery C1. The predetermined position is a charging location where the battery C1 has been charged at least once and where a learning value using data related to the power during charging has been obtained. The predetermined position is preferably a charging location where the battery C1 is frequently charged. A specific example of a charging location where the battery C1 is frequently charged is the home of the user of the vehicle C10. A location other than the predetermined position is a location where the battery C1 is charged for the first time, specifically a location where the user visits for the first time on a trip or the like.

The learning value can be obtained by the following procedure. First, before the charging start detection unit 110 detects the start of charging, data on the power when charging is performed at the charging location where the battery C1 is charged is acquired. Next, smoothing learning is performed on the acquired data to calculate an average voltage value. Here, smoothing learning is a method in which, when there is an opportunity to acquire data multiple times, each time data is acquired, a smoothing process is performed on the data acquired up to that point to obtain an smoothed learning value and learn it. As the smoothing process, for example, an averaging process can be used. Here, each time the battery C1 is charged at the same charging location, data on the power from the charging start time to the charging end time is measured and acquired, and the data on the power acquired up to that point is averaged. In this way, an average value of the data on the power is generated. The average value of the data on the power includes the average voltage from the charging start time to the charging end time when the battery C1 is charged at the same charging location. Since the battery C1 is frequently charged at the charging location, the calculated average voltage value is in accordance with the country, region, and time period, and tends to be highly accurate.

When the current location of vehicle C10 is not a predetermined location, the remaining charge time calculation unit 130 calculates the remaining charge time using the power within a predetermined time from the start of charging. The power within a predetermined time from the start of charging can be calculated, for example, using the terminal voltage value of battery C1 of vehicle C10 at the start of charging. In addition, the power within a predetermined time from the start of charging tends to be highly accurate because it corresponds to the location where vehicle C10 is located.

The remaining charge time can be calculated using the voltage measurement method that obtains the power within a predetermined time from the start of charging or the learned value described above. The remaining charge time may also be calculated using, for example, a coulomb counter method, a battery cell modeling method, or an impedance track method.

(How to calculate remaining charging time)
Next, a method for calculating the remaining charge time of the charge control device 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a flow chart showing a method for calculating the remaining charge time of the charge control device 100 shown in Fig. 1.

Determine whether charging has started (step S101). This determination is repeated until it is detected that charging has started (step S101: NO).

When it is detected that charging has started (step S101: YES), it is determined whether the vehicle is in a specified position (step S102).

If it is determined that the vehicle is in a specified position (step S102: YES), the remaining charging time is calculated using the learned voltage (step S103).

On the other hand, if it is determined that the vehicle is not in the specified position (step S102: NO), the remaining charging time is calculated using the voltage at the start of charging (step S104).

As described above, according to the calculation method described above, when the vehicle is in a specified location, the remaining charge time is calculated using the learned voltage. Since the learned value corresponds to the country, region, and time zone, it is possible to suppress voltage fluctuations due to the country, region, and time zone. Therefore, when the vehicle is in a specified location, it is possible to suppress voltage fluctuations due to the charging location and time zone, and calculate the remaining charge time with good accuracy. Furthermore, when the vehicle is not in a specified location, the remaining charge time is calculated using power within a specified time from the start of charging. Since the power within a specified time from the start of charging corresponds to the charging location, it is possible to suppress voltage fluctuations due to the charging location. Therefore, when the vehicle is not in a specified location, it is possible to suppress the influence of voltage due to the charging location, and calculate the remaining charge time with good accuracy. In other words, since a calculation method according to the location of the vehicle can be used, it is possible to calculate the remaining charge time with good accuracy.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The present invention may also be implemented by combining the above-described embodiment or an example thereof as appropriate. For example, the charging control device 100 shown in FIG. 1 is mounted on the vehicle C10, but may also be disposed outside the vehicle C10.

100 Charging control device 110 Charging start detection unit 120 Current position acquisition unit 130 Remaining charging time calculation unit C10 Vehicle C1 Battery

Claims (1)

a charge start detection unit that detects the start of charging of a battery of the vehicle;
a current position acquisition unit that acquires a current position of the vehicle;
a remaining charging time calculation unit that calculates a remaining charging time required until charging of the battery of the vehicle is completed,
The remaining charging time calculation unit
When the current position of the vehicle is a predetermined position where acquisition of a learning value using data related to power during a previous charge has been completed, the remaining charge time is calculated based on the learning value;
When the current location of the vehicle is other than the predetermined location, the remaining charge time is calculated based on a power value within a predetermined time from the start of charging.
Charging control device.

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