Guided vehicle positioning for inductive charging with the assistance of a vehicle camera
First Claim
1. A control unit for a vehicle having a secondary coil for picking up electric power from a vehicle-external primary coil, wherein the vehicle has at least one camera configured to capture surroundings of the vehicle, wherein the control unit is configured to execute instructions stored on a computer-readable medium to:
- receive from the at least one camera, image data of the surroundings of the vehicle captured by the at least one camera;
access reference data comprising information about at least one predefined reference object located within the captured surroundings of the vehicle, the information at least determinative of an identity of the at least one predefined reference object and/or a position of the at least one predefined reference object relative to the primary coil;
detect a presence of the at least one predefined reference object in the received image data based on the accessed reference data;
ascertain the position of the secondary coil relative to the primary coil based on the detected at least one predefined reference object; and
generate a graphical representation of the secondary coil with respect to the primary coil based on the ascertained position of the secondary coil relative to the primary coil.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and a corresponding device are provided for positioning a vehicle above a primary coil for inductive charging of a rechargeable battery in the vehicle. A control device for a vehicle is described. The vehicle has a secondary coil for receiving electrical energy from a primary coil outside the vehicle. The vehicle further has at least one camera, which is designed to detect an environment of the vehicle. The control unit is designed to receive image data from the at least one camera of the vehicle and to access reference data. The reference data includes information on at least one predefined reference object in the detected environment of the vehicle and on a position of the at least one predefined reference object relative to the primary coil. The control unit detects the at least one predefined reference object in the received image data on the basis of the reference data. In addition, the control unit determines a position of the secondary coil relative to the primary coil on the basis of the detected at least one reference object.
16 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A control unit for a vehicle having a secondary coil for picking up electric power from a vehicle-external primary coil, wherein the vehicle has at least one camera configured to capture surroundings of the vehicle, wherein the control unit is configured to execute instructions stored on a computer-readable medium to:
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receive from the at least one camera, image data of the surroundings of the vehicle captured by the at least one camera; access reference data comprising information about at least one predefined reference object located within the captured surroundings of the vehicle, the information at least determinative of an identity of the at least one predefined reference object and/or a position of the at least one predefined reference object relative to the primary coil; detect a presence of the at least one predefined reference object in the received image data based on the accessed reference data; ascertain the position of the secondary coil relative to the primary coil based on the detected at least one predefined reference object; and generate a graphical representation of the secondary coil with respect to the primary coil based on the ascertained position of the secondary coil relative to the primary coil. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A vehicle, comprising:
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a secondary coil for picking up electric power from a vehicle-external primary coil; at least one camera configured to capture surroundings of the vehicle; a control unit for the vehicle, wherein the control unit is configured to; receive image data from the at least one camera of the vehicle; access reference data comprising information about at least one predefined reference object in the captured surroundings of the vehicle, the information at least determinative of a presence of the at least one predefined reference object and/or a position of the at least one predefined reference object relative to the primary coil; detect the presence of the at least one predefined reference object in the received image data based on the accessed reference data; ascertain the position of the secondary coil relative to the primary coil based on the detected presence of the at least one predefined reference object, and generate a graphical representation of the secondary coil with respect to the primary coil based on the ascertained position of the secondary coil relative to the primary coil; a memory unit configured to store the reference data; and a display configured to display the graphical representation. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for assisting in positioning a secondary coil of a vehicle relative to a vehicle-external primary coil, the method comprising the acts of:
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receiving image data from at least one vehicle camera configured to capture surroundings of the vehicle; receiving reference data comprising information about at least one predefined reference object in the captured surroundings of the vehicle, the information at least determinative of a presence of the at least one predefined reference object and/or a position of the at least one predefined reference object relative to the primary coil; detecting the at least one predefined reference object in the received image data based on the received reference data; ascertaining a position of the secondary coil relative to the primary coil based on the detected at least one reference object; and generating a graphical representation of the secondary coil with respect to the primary coil based on the ascertained position of the secondary coil relative to the primary coil. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification