IP Library Granted Patent US 10,923,779
Granted Patent B2
US 10,923,779 · App. 16/137,858 · Granted Feb 16, 2021

Method for coordinating a charging operation of a piloted motor vehicle, storage medium, mobile terminal device, and server apparatus

Inventors: Tobias Enzinger (Freinhausen, DE); Benjamin Soehnle (Ingolstadt, DE); Florian Schuller (Ismaning, DE); Sebastian Falk (Ingolstadt, DE)
Assignee: AUDI AG
H01M10/486B60L15/20B60L53/50B60L53/62B60L53/65B60L53/665B60L53/68B60L58/12B66B1/30G05B23/0283G07C5/008G07C5/0808B60L2250/14B60L2260/32
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,923,779
App. No.
16/137,858
Granted
Feb 16, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method for coordinating a charging operation for charging an energy storage mechanism of a piloted motor vehicle. A control mechanism that is external to the vehicle carries out: provision of a state-of-charge signal, which describes a current state of charge; provision of a schedule calendar signal, which describes schedule information of a user, on the basis of the provided schedule calendar signal; establishing a point in time of the time schedule; establishment of a state of charge as a threshold value required for adhering to the time schedule; if the current state of charge corresponds to the threshold value or drops below the threshold value, setting of geographic coordinates of a charging station as a drive destination that makes available at least one charging facility for charging the energy storage mechanism, and generation of a control signal for steering the motor vehicle.

Claims (33)

1. A method for coordinating a charging operation for charging an energy storage mechanism of a piloted motor vehicle, the method comprising the following steps, which are carried out by a control mechanism external to the vehicle:

provision of a state-of-charge signal, which describes a current state of charge of the energy storage mechanism;

provision of a schedule calendar signal from a mobile terminal device, wherein the schedule calendar signal describes schedule information that is stored in a digital calendar and relates to a time schedule of a user of the motor vehicle and of the mobile terminal device;

conducting a textual analysis on descriptive text of the schedule calendar signal to identify a scheduled destination corresponding to a future scheduled event, wherein the scheduled destination identified through the textual analysis may lack a specific address;

on the basis of the provided schedule calendar signal: establishing a point in time of the time schedule which corresponds to the future scheduled event;

establishing of a required state of charge as a threshold value for enabling travel to the scheduled destination of the future scheduled event which eliminates a need to charge the energy storage mechanism and/or minimizes a number of recharging operations necessary to reach the scheduled destination of the future scheduled event;

provision of a data set that describes the respective geographic coordinates relating to a plurality of charging stations;

for each of the plurality of charging stations, determination of a workload of the respective charging facilities;

on the basis of the determined workload, determining at least one charging station as a travel destination that provides a freely available charging facility at a specified point in time or for a specified period of time in relation to the future scheduled event;

if the current state of charge corresponds to the threshold value or drops below the threshold value: choosing one of the at least one charging station which has or makes available at least one charging facility for charging the energy storage mechanism and setting geographic coordinates of a chosen charging station as the travel destination;

depending on the schedule information, generation of a control signal for steering the motor vehicle to the set geographic coordinates of the chosen charging station; and

transmission of the generated control signal to a driver assistance mechanism of the motor vehicle.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

on the basis of the provided schedule calendar signal: establishment of a parking parameter that describes a parking period in which the motor vehicle will not be used by the user and/or establishment of a parking location of the motor vehicle,

wherein the setting of the geographic coordinates of the charging station is made as a function of the established parking parameter.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

generation of a notification signal, which describes a message to the user relative to information about the current state of charge and/or a current remaining range of travel of the motor vehicle and/or a thematic context of the time schedule;

transmission of the generated notification signal to the mobile terminal device for emission by the mobile terminal device; and

after the transmission of the generated notification signal: receiving an activation signal from the mobile terminal device,

wherein the generation of the control signal and the transmission thereof to the driver assistance mechanism take place as a function of the received activation signal.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

determination of a maintenance action for providing a functional state of a motor vehicle system of the motor vehicle;

determination of whether the charging station offers a particular provided service in order to carry out the maintenance action;

if the charging station offers the particular provided service: generation of a service query signal that describes the maintenance action and/or the particular provided service;

transmission of the generated service query signal to the mobile terminal device for output by the mobile terminal device;

depending on a confirmation signal received from the mobile terminal device: generation of an order signal, which describes a release for carrying out the maintenance action and/or the particular provided service; and

transmission of the generated order signal to a communication mechanism of the charging station.

5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising:

setting of a price of the maintenance action and/or of the particular provided service,

wherein a) the generated service query signal describes the determined price and/or wherein b), when the confirmation signal is received, the control mechanism debits a monetary value in the amount of the determined price from an account of the user.

6. A tangible non-transitory storage medium containing a program code, which, when executed by a processor mechanism of a mobile terminal device and/or a motor vehicle and/or a server apparatus, is equipped to carry out a method comprising the steps according to claim 1 .

7. A mobile, portable terminal device with a storage medium according to claim 5 .

8. A server device for operation in the Internet, having a storage medium according to claim 5 .

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 9, 2018
From: ENZINGER, TOBIAS; SOEHNLE, BENJAMIN; SCHULLER, FLORIAN; FALK, SEBASTIAN
To: AUDI AG
Reel/Frame 047111/0038 →
Priority Claims (1)
DE 102017216748.3 · Sep 21, 2017 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20190089024A1 · Mar 21, 2019