Method and apparatus for providing parking instructions to reduce environmental vehicle effects

• US 9,248,823 B2
• Filed: 02/04/2014
• Issued: 02/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2014
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: MacNeille, Perry Robinson, Liu, Yimin, Loftus, Michael Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): ARTHUR JEANGLAUD, GERTRUDE
• Application Number:
  US14/172,274
• Publication Number:
  US 20150217754A1
• Time in Patent Office: 728 Days
• Field of Search: 701/22, 701/36, 701/96, 701/117, 340/932.2, 340/903, 340/905, 340/988, 340/4.6
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/62 Vehicle position
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/66 Ambient conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/10 for monitoring or controlling batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/12 responding to state of charge [SoC]
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/48 for parking purposes
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/26 for electrical energy, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/244 Charge state
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/246 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2555/20 Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/14 indicating individual free spaces in parking areas
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/147 where the parking area is within an open public zone, e.g. city centre
• 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

A system includes a processor configured to receive parking space environmental characteristics, from a vehicle parked in a parking space. The processor is also configured to download weather data for an area in which the parking space is located, covering a time duration for which the vehicle was parked. The processor is further configured to correlate the weather data to the received environmental characteristics to build a parking space environment profile for the duration of time and update a parking space model based on the environment profile.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive parking space environmental characteristics, from a parked vehicle;

download weather data for an area containing the parking space, during a time while the vehicle was parked;

correlate the weather data to the environmental characteristics to build a parking space environment profile; and

update a stored parking space model based on the environment profile to reflect how the particular space is affected by weather conditions.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental characteristics are based on vehicle sensor data.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental characteristics are wirelessly received from a vehicle computer.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental characteristics include temperature.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental characteristics include humidity.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental characteristics include wind speed.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental characteristics include ambient light.

8. A system comprising:

a processor configured to;

retrieve an environmental model for a parking location;

retrieve weather data for the parking location;

build a forecast model for the parking location covering an estimated parking duration, including the affect of the weather data on individual parking spaces based on the environmental model;

determine a first parking space having better battery life preservation likelihood than another parking space, within the parking location, based on the forecast model; and

recommend the first parking space.

9. The system of claim 8, the processor further configured to determine that a vehicle is proximate to a parking location including a determination that a vehicle is near a destination.

10. The system of claim 8, the processor further configured to determine that a vehicle is proximate to a parking location including a determination that a vehicle is in a parking lot.

11. The system of claim 8, the processor further configured to determine that a vehicle is proximate to a parking location including a determination that a vehicle transmission is in a parked state.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the environmental model is based on data stored with respect to the parking location.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the environmental model is extrapolated from data stored with respect to a proximate-parking-location sharing predefined characteristics with the parking location.

14. A system comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive a forecast model for a parking space in which the vehicle is parked, for an estimated parking duration;

determine surplus battery energy;

determine a cooling strategy for a vehicle battery, based on the surplus energy and the forecast model; and

implement the cooling strategy by using surplus power to cool the battery in accordance with the strategy while the vehicle remains parked.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the surplus amount of battery energy is energy above and beyond that needed to complete a planned trip.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the surplus amount of battery energy is reduced by a predetermined reserve amount.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the forecast model is based at least in part on data gathered from vehicles previously parked in the parking space.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the forecast model is based at least in part on retrieved weather data.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the estimated parking duration is based on driver input.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein the estimated parking duration is based on observed driver behavior.