System and method for operation of electric and hybrid vehicles

• US 8,086,364 B2
• Filed: 03/09/2010
• Issued: 12/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Xue, Ya, Salasoo, Lembit, Richter, Timothy Gerard, Yan, Weizhong
• Primary Examiner(s): Zanelli, Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US12/719,921
• Publication Number:
  US 20100235030A1
• Time in Patent Office: 658 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 701/22
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/20 the prime-movers consisting of electric motors and internal combustion engines, e.g. HEVs
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 1/02 to electric heating circuits
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 15/2045 for optimising the use of energy
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/26 Rail vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2220/20 DC electrical machines
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2220/44 Wheel Hub motors, i.e. integrated in the wheel hub
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/62 Vehicle position
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/16 with provision for separate direct mechanical propulsion
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/30 for monitoring or controlling fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/34 by heating
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/40 for controlling a combination of batteries and fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 7/12 for vehicles propelled by dc motors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/08 including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/26 for electrical energy, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/00 Control systems specially adapted for hybrid vehicles hybrid vehicle design, B60K6/00; electric vehicles B60L
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/12 using control strategies taking into account route information estimation or calculation of non-directly measurable driving parameters B60W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0075 Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/085 Power
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/244 Charge state
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 : Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/20 : Road profile, i.e. the change in elevation or curvature of a plurality of continuous road segments
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/10 : Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 : of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/244 : Charge state
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0097 : Predicting future conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 : using electronic data carriers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/62 : Hybrid vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/64 : Electric machine technologies in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 : Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 : Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/40 : Application of hydrogen technology to transportation, e.g. using fuel cells

Abstract

A system for operating an electric or hybrid-electric vehicle includes a computer programmed to identify a location of a vehicle, access a map and identify a plurality of links therein, pre-screen the plurality of links to identify if any of the plurality of links is within a given bounds of the current location, and if one or more possible links are identified, then match the current location of the vehicle to one of the identified links, and upload power data for the vehicle corresponding to the matched location into a database.

Claims

1. An electric or hybrid-electric vehicle comprising a computer programmed to:

identify a current location of a vehicle;

access a map within a database and identify a plurality of links therein;

pre-screen the plurality of links to identify if any of the plurality of links is within a given bounds of the current location; and

if one or more possible links are identified, then;

calculate a distance from the current location to one identified link of the one or more possible links;

if the calculated distance, and a plurality of previously identified current locations, are within a given distance to the one identified link, then forgo calculating the distance to the one identified link when determining a subsequent current location; and

upload power data for the vehicle corresponding to the subsequently determined current location into the database, the uploaded power data corresponding to the one identified link.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the computer, in being programmed to pre-screen the plurality of links, is programmed to identify which links are within the given bounds of the current location using a maximum link length within the database.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the computer, in being programmed to match the current location of the vehicle to one of the identified links, is programmed to match the current location of the vehicle to the one of the identified links via a subsequential matching algorithm.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the computer is programmed to determine that the current location of the vehicle is off-road if no possible link is identified.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the computer is programmed to:

determine a number K of consecutive identified current locations that have been determined to be off-road; and

set a next number M of subsequent identified current locations to be off-road if K is greater than a threshold value, wherein K and M are each integers greater than 1.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the computer, if one or more possible links are identified, is programmed to:

acquire historical power data from the database that corresponds to the link matched to the current location; and

control operation of the vehicle based on the acquired historical data.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the computer is programmed to identify the current location of the vehicle via a global positioning system (GPS) sensor.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the computer is programmed to identify the one identified link as a link within the plurality of links that is nearest the identified current location of the vehicle.

9. A method of energy management of an electric or hybrid-electric vehicle comprising:

identifying a current location of a vehicle;

applying a pre-screening algorithm with respect to a link within a map and the current location, the pre-screening algorithm based on a maximum link length of a historical power-use database;

determining if one or more links are within a given bounds, and, if so, then;

matching the current location of the vehicle to the link within the map via a subsequential matching algorithm; and

uploading power information used by the vehicle along the link and at the current location into the historical power-use database.

10. The method of claim 9 comprising determining that the vehicle is off-road if one or more links are determined not to be within the given bounds.

11. The method of claim 10 comprising assuming M subsequent current locations to be off-road if K consecutive current locations are determined to be off-road, wherein K and M are each integers greater than 1.

12. The method of claim 9 comprising controlling operating parameters of the vehicle based on historical information stored in the power-use database regarding the link.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein identifying the current location of the vehicle comprises identifying the current location via a global positioning system (GPS).

14. A computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon and representing a set of instructions that when executed by a computer causes the computer to:

measure a current location of a vehicle;

execute a pre-screening algorithm to determine possible links of a map that are within a predetermined distance from the current location; and

;

if one or more links are within the predetermined distance from the current location, then the computer is caused to;

execute a map-matching algorithm to determine which of the one or more links corresponds to the actual link along which the vehicle is traveling; and

upload power information related to the vehicle at the current location to a historical database;

if no link is within the predetermined distance from the current location, the instructions cause the computer to determine that the current location of the vehicle is off-road, and if K consecutive current locations are determined to be off-road, then the instructions cause the computer to assume that a next M subsequent current locations are off-road, wherein K and M are each integers greater than 1.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14 wherein the instructions that cause the computer to execute the pre-screening algorithm cause the computer to determine the possible links via a location-to-link test.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14 wherein, if one or more links are within the predetermined distance from the current location, the instructions that cause the computer to execute the map-matching algorithm cause the computer to match the current location of the vehicle to the actual link within the map via a subsequential matching algorithm.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14 wherein the instructions cause the computer to control operation of the vehicle using operating parameters based on historical information stored in the historical database.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17 wherein the instructions cause the computer to determine the operating parameters based on historical power-use data regarding the current link.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14 wherein the instructions cause the computer to measure the current location of the vehicle via a global positioning system (GPS).

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14 wherein the pre-screening algorithm is calculated based on a maximum link length of the historical database.