Method of docking an electric vehicle for charging
First Claim
1. A method of docking an electric vehicle with a charging station, comprising:
- collecting data at the electric vehicle;
periodically transmitting information, derived at least partly from the collected data, from the electric vehicle to the charging station as the electric vehicle travels from a first location towards the charging station, the transmitted information including;
a distance (d) travelled by the electric vehicle from the first location towards the charging station; and
a speed (v) of the electric vehicle;
receiving the transmitted information at the charging station;
computing an incremental distance (Δ
d) travelled by the electric vehicle in a time interval (Δ
t) between when the data is collected at the electric vehicle and when the transmitted information is received at the charging station, wherein computing the incremental distance (Δ
d) includes determining a product of the time interval (Δ
t) and the received speed (v);
calculating a corrected distance (d′
) based on the computed incremental distance (Δ
d) and the received distance (d), wherein calculating the corrected distance (d′
) includes calculating the corrected distance as the sum of the received distance (d) and the computed incremental distance (Δ
d);
determining a relative position of the electric vehicle with respect to the charging station based on at least the calculated corrected distance (d′
); and
automatically connecting a charge head of the charging station with a charging interface of the electric vehicle based on the determined relative position.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of docking an electric vehicle with a charging station includes periodically transmitting data from the vehicle to the charging station. The transmitted data may include a distance travelled by the vehicle location towards the charging station and its speed. An incremental distance travelled by the vehicle in a time interval between when the data is collected and received is calculated, and the distance corrected based on this calculated value. The relative position of the vehicle with respect to the charging station is determined based on the corrected distance, and a charge head of the charging station is automatically connected with the charging interface of the vehicle based on the determined relative position.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of docking an electric vehicle with a charging station, comprising:
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collecting data at the electric vehicle; periodically transmitting information, derived at least partly from the collected data, from the electric vehicle to the charging station as the electric vehicle travels from a first location towards the charging station, the transmitted information including; a distance (d) travelled by the electric vehicle from the first location towards the charging station; and a speed (v) of the electric vehicle; receiving the transmitted information at the charging station; computing an incremental distance (Δ
d) travelled by the electric vehicle in a time interval (Δ
t) between when the data is collected at the electric vehicle and when the transmitted information is received at the charging station, wherein computing the incremental distance (Δ
d) includes determining a product of the time interval (Δ
t) and the received speed (v);calculating a corrected distance (d′
) based on the computed incremental distance (Δ
d) and the received distance (d), wherein calculating the corrected distance (d′
) includes calculating the corrected distance as the sum of the received distance (d) and the computed incremental distance (Δ
d);determining a relative position of the electric vehicle with respect to the charging station based on at least the calculated corrected distance (d′
); andautomatically connecting a charge head of the charging station with a charging interface of the electric vehicle based on the determined relative position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 18)
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10. A method of docking an electric vehicle at a charging station, comprising:
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identifying the electric vehicle at a first location as the electric vehicle approaches the charging station, wherein the identifying includes determining whether the electrical vehicle is supposed to be charged at the charging station; periodically transmitting data packets from the electric vehicle to the charging station, wherein the periodically transmitting includes transmitting successive data packets at a time interval (Δ
t), the transmitted data packets including;a distance (d) travelled by the electric vehicle from the first location towards the charging station; and a speed (v) of the electric vehicle; computing an incremental distance (Δ
d) travelled by the electric vehicle in the time interval (Δ
t);calculating a corrected distance (d′
) as a sum of the computed incremental distance (Δ
d) and the received distance (d); andautomatically moving a charge head of the charging station to contact a charging interface of the electric vehicle when the calculated corrected distance (d′
) reaches a predetermined value, wherein automatically moving the charge head includes lowering the charge head from an initial position to an intermediate pre-deployment position when the calculated corrected distance (d′
) reaches a first value, and further lowering the charge head from the intermediate pre-deployment position to rest on a roof of the electric vehicle when the calculated corrected distance (d′
) reaches the predetermined value. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 19)
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14. A method of docking an electric vehicle at a charging station, the charging station including a charge head configured to make electrical contact with a charging interface positioned on a roof of the vehicle, comprising:
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identifying the electric vehicle at a first location as the electric vehicle approaches the charging station; periodically transmitting data packets from the electric vehicle to the charging station, wherein the periodically transmitting includes transmitting successive data packets at a time interval (Δ
t), the transmitted data packets including;a distance (d) travelled by the electric vehicle from the first location towards the charging station; and a speed (v) of the electric vehicle; computing an incremental distance (Δ
d) travelled by the electric vehicle in the time interval (Δ
t), wherein computing the incremental distance (Δ
d) includes computing the incremental distance (Δ
d) based on a product of the received speed (v) and the time interval (Δ
t);calculating a corrected distance (d′
) based on the computed incremental distance (Δ
d), wherein calculating the corrected distance (d′
) includes calculating the corrected distance (d′
) as a sum of the computed incremental distance (Δ
d) and the received distance (d);detecting structural features on the electric vehicle using one or more sensors located in the charging station; checking an accuracy of the calculated corrected distance (d′
) based on the detected structural features; andif the checking indicates that the calculated correct distance (d′
) is accurate, automatically lowering the charge head to contact the charging interface of the electric vehicle when the calculated corrected distance (d′
) reaches a predetermined value. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 20)
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Specification