Method for displaying real range of electric vehicles on a map

• US 10,247,562 B2
• Filed: 08/07/2014
• Issued: 04/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GPS Tuner Systems Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag
• Original Assignee: GPS Tuner Systems Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag
• Inventors: Nagy, Tamas, Tarnok, Gabor, Horvath, Jozsef
• Primary Examiner(s): Tissot, Adam D
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pipala, Edward J
• Application Number:
  US14/914,632
• Publication Number:
  US 20160209227A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,699 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/174 Economic driving
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/28 characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/12 Bikes
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/622 by satellite navigation
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/642 Slope of road
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/645 Type of road
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/16 by display
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/52 drive range estimation, e.g. of estimation of available travel distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/20 using propulsion power generated by humans or animals
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3469 Fuel consumption; Energy use; Emission aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3676 Overview of the route on the road map
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

Method for displaying the actual range of an electric vehicle from a starting point shown on a map, in the course of which based on the given parameters of the vehicle it is determined that on a horizontal surface for a covering a certain distance how much electric consumption is necessary, how much the maximum consumption can be, it is also determined that with respect to roads with different steepness to what extent (correction factors) the actual consumption varies from the consumption on a horizontal surface, then the map data is input into the map database with respect to a hypothetical range from the starting point and from the starting point the set of discrete peak points on the map is indicated, where the steepness of the surface between two neighboring peak points is considered steady, then the costs of the various available routes are determined from the starting point with Dijkstra algorithm and using a successive iteration, where the cost between two peak points mean the value modified by the correction factor related to the given steepness of the consumption measured on a horizontal surface, then with respect to those peak points where the costs reach the determined maximum consumption, it is specified as the points indicating the real range, and the location of such points are displayed on the map.

Claims

1. Method for determining the actual range that can be taken by a vehicle with electric drive counted from a starting point, and displaying the actual range on a map;

comprising storing first in a non-volatile database predetermined data of the vehicle that have influence on the energy consumption thereof including the load of the vehicle, storing in the non-volatile database the maximum energy allowed to be used by the vehicle till the range is reached, also storing map data of an area around said starting point in said non-volatile memory wherein said area is expected to be at least as large as the range to be determined, the map data including coordinate and altitude data, stored in said non-volatile memory, as well as route data, stored in said non-volatile memory, if built routes exist in the area; and

a non-volatile program memory storing a computer program for calculating the expected energy consumption of the vehicle based on said stored data along different routes extending in said area and including or being close to the starting point, and defining boundary points of the actual range in which the calculated energy consumption is at most equal to said allowed energy consumption; and

displaying on a human readable display the so obtained boundary points of the actual range on the map, wherein a central processing unit is responsive to said non-volatile program memory to execute said computer program to calculate and store during said storing step the average electrical consumption of the vehicle associated with taking a unity distance along a horizontal road section; and

also to store by what coefficients the actual consumption differs on road sections with differing steepness from the consumption measured along a horizontal road of the same length, and said map data include data of artificially generated virtual routes if the vehicle can move off road; and

during said calculating step said central processing unit dividing all routes in said area into a plurality of edge sections with respective constant steepness, each edge section is defined between respective pairs of peak points, wherein all route junctions represent a respective peak point; and

in said calculating step edge costs are calculated by multiplying the stored unity energy consumption with the length of the edge and with the stored coefficient associated with the steepness of the edge, then beginning from said starting point determining the cost of any possible route by using a successive iteration and the Dijkstra algorithm, wherein the cost of a peak point is the sum of the cost of the edge section leading directly to that peak point and the cost of the peak point at the other end of the edge section, wherein if a peak point can be accessed through different routes, the cost of the peak point is the smallest one out of the costs calculated for the same peak point, and the boundary point along each of said routes is the peak point that have a calculated cost at most equal to said stored allowed energy consumption.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein during said calculation step the cost calculated for a peak point is stored in a temporary database referred to as the set of examined peaks;

and if in a later iterative cycle the cost of a previously examined peak is determined again and this is smaller than the value already stored for that peak the cost of the same peak is replaced in the temporary database with this smaller cost, and in the calculation of the costs of the edges starting at an examined peak point the stored cost will be added to the cost calculated for this starting edge.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the vehicle can move along a land without built roads, comprising the steps of covering said area on the map by a virtual net of regular shapes that comprise corners points and sides of predetermined length connecting the corner points, and the net includes said starting point, wherein the corner points represent said peak points on the map, and the sides represent said edge sections of a virtual route system.

4. The method as claimed in any one of claim 1, and 2, wherein the boundary points are interconnected and the so obtained closed configuration is shown on the map.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the area comprises built routes, and the associated boundary points and the built routes are displayed in a distinctive way from the way how the boundary line for non-built routes is shown.

6. Method for displaying the actual range of a vehicle with electric drive on a map counted from a starting point, comprising the steps of determining the electrical consumption associated with taking a unity distance along a horizontal road section based on predetermined parameters of the vehicle;

and storing the maximum consumption that defines the actual range, characterized by the steps of storing in a database by what coefficients the actual consumption differs on road sections with differing steepness from the consumption measured along a horizontal road of the same length;

storing map data corresponding to an estimated range around the starting point;

assigning a plurality of discrete peak points on the map around the starting point, wherein the steepness of the landscape is constant between two neighboring peaks;

then beginning from said starting point determining the cost of any possible route by using a successive iteration and the Dijkstra algorithm, wherein the cost along a road section between two neighboring peaks is given by the consumption measured on a horizontal road with the same length as modified by the coefficient corresponding to the steepness of said road section;

then storing the peak points where the value of the associated cost reaches said maximum consumption as points of the actual range, and displaying these points on the map.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein during the repeated examinations storing the coordinate data and the associated cost in a temporary database referred to as the set of examined peaks;

and in the subsequent cycle examining the previously non-examined peak points which are ends of edges starting from the examined peak points and determining the costs associated with these peak points; and

if a peak is associated with different costs, then storing the smallest one of such costs in said temporary database of the set of examined peaks.

8. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the cost associated with a peak point is the sum of the modified cost of the edge ending at said peak point and of the cost of the peak point where said edge starts.

9. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein for the processing of the respective cycles only the data of the peak points obtained at the end of the immediately previous cycle and of those peak points which are located at the ends of the edges starting from said previous peak points are read from the map database and used.

10. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the peak points and the edges are characteristic parts of the roads that can be taken by the vehicle and being on said map.

11. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the vehicle can move along a land without built roads, and said peak points and edges are represented by corners and edges of a net that includes said starting point and has edges of predetermined length, and the cost of the peak points of the net are determined beginning from said starting point, and when such a cost reaches the maximum consumption, then the associated peak is indicated on the map as a boundary point.

12. The method as in claim 11, wherein the boundary points are interconnected in a closed configuration, and said closed configuration is shown on the map.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein if on the given land there are also roads that can be driven by vehicles, then within said configuration said roads and their associated range points are also indicated on the map.

14. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the vehicle can move on land without built roads.

15. The method as claimed in claim 6 or 13, wherein the routes than can be reached and are within the actual range are show in a distinctive way.