ROUTE BASED ENERGY CONSUMPTION ESTIMATION USING PHYSICAL MODELS

• US 20160061611A1
• Filed: 08/29/2014
• Published: 03/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Meyer, Jason, Tseng, Fling Finn, Kristinsson, Johannes Geir
• Granted Patent: US 9,759,573 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3469 Fuel consumption; Energy use; Emission aspects

Abstract

This disclosure generally relates to a system, apparatus, method, and process for generating a route based energy consumption estimation based on physical models. More particularly, the disclosure describes the generation of the route based energy consumption estimation based on physical models for a vehicle traveling on a specific road segment. The energy consumption estimation may be based on information related to historical energy consumption information for the vehicle, external information that may affect energy consumption by the vehicle, vehicle systems information that may affect energy consumption by the vehicle, and/or selected road segment information that may be used to predict energy consumption by the vehicle.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory configured to store road segment information corresponding to a road segment; and

a processor in communication with the memory and configured to generate an energy consumption profile for a vehicle traveling within the road segment based on an estimated vehicle speed.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein estimated vehicle speed is based on the road segment information.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the road segment information includes a posted speed limit for the road segment, and wherein the processor is further configured to determine the estimated speed by:

obtaining, from the memory, historical speed information for the vehicle traveling on a past road segment having a historical speed limit same as the posted speed limit; and

setting the estimated speed to be the historical speed.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein road segment information includes traffic stop information identifying traffic stop locations along the road segment, and the processor is further configured to:

determine an estimated stopping probability that identifies a probability the vehicle will stop at traffic stop locations along the road segment based on the road segment information;

determine an estimated stopping time for each traffic stop location the vehicle is determined to have a probability of stopping at; and

generate the energy consumption profile for the vehicle traveling within the road segment based on the estimated speed, estimated stopping probability, and the estimated stopping time.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive, from the memory, energy consumption information that identifies external conditions and vehicle components that affect energy consumption for the vehicle; and

generate the energy consumption profile for the vehicle traveling within the road segment based on the estimated speed and the energy consumption information.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the external conditions includes at least one of vehicle cabin temperature information, initial vehicle engine temperature information, initial vehicle tire pressure information, or initial vehicle fluid temperature information.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the vehicle components includes at least one of lighting components, audio system components, infotainment system components, speaker system components, heated seats components, solenoid valves components, electric fans components, vehicle control modules components, sensor components, vehicle climate control components, or electric engine components for providing propulsion for moving the vehicle.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

an interface in communication with an external server, and configured to;

transmit a request to the external server for the road segment information; and

receive at least a part of the road segment information from the external server in response to the request.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

an interface in communication with an external server, and configured to;

transmit a request to the external server for external information that includes at least one of temperature information, barometric pressure information, road condition information, traffic information, posted speed information, road elevation information, travel distance information for a known vehicle route, or travel time estimation information for a known vehicle route;

receive at least a part of the external information from the external server in response to the request;

wherein the processor is further configured to generate the energy consumption profile for the vehicle traveling within the road segment based on the estimated speed and external information.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the memory is further configured to store energy conversion efficiency information for an energy source of the vehicle, and

wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive the energy conversion efficiency information;

adjust the energy consumption profile in view of the energy conversion efficiency information; and

generate an overall energy consumption profile based on the adjusted energy consumption profile.

11. A method for predicting energy consumption of a vehicle, comprising:

generating, by a processor, an energy consumption profile for the vehicle traveling within an identified road segment based on an estimated speed of the vehicle.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, road segment information including a posted speed limit for the road segment; and

determining, by the processor, the estimated speed by setting the estimated speed to be the posted speed limit for the road segment included in the road segment information.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, road segment information including a posted speed limit for the road segment;

obtaining, from a memory, historical speed information for the vehicle traveling on a past road segment having a historical speed limit same as the posted speed limit, and

determining, by the processor, the estimated speed by setting the estimated speed to be the historical speed.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, road segment information including traffic stop information identifying traffic stop locations along the road segment;

determining an estimated stopping probability that identifies a probability the vehicle will stop at traffic stop locations along the road segment based on the road segment information;

determining an estimated stopping time for each traffic stop location the vehicle is determined to have a probability of stopping at; and

generating the energy consumption profile for the vehicle traveling within the road segment based on the estimated speed, estimated stopping probability, and the estimated stopping time.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, from the memory, energy consumption information that identifies external conditions and vehicle components that affect energy consumption for the vehicle, and

generating, by the processor, the energy consumption profile for the vehicle traveling within the road segment based on the estimated speed and the energy consumption information.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the external conditions includes at least one of internal vehicle temperature information, initial vehicle engine temperature information, initial vehicle tire pressure information, or initial vehicle fluid temperature information.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the vehicle components includes at least one of lighting components, audio system components, infotainment system components, speaker system components, heated seats components, solenoid valves components, electric fans components, vehicle control modules components, sensor components, vehicle climate control components, or electric engine components for providing propulsion for moving the vehicle.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

transmitting a request to an external server for road segment information; and

receiving at least a part of the road segment information from the external server in response to the request.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

transmitting a request to an external server for external information that includes at least one of temperature information, barometric pressure information, road condition information, traffic information, posted speed information, road elevation information, travel distance information for a known vehicle route, or travel time estimation information for a known vehicle route;

receiving at least a part of the external information from the external server in response to the request;

wherein generating the energy consumption profile comprises generating the energy consumption profile based on the estimated speed and external information.

20. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving energy conversion efficiency information stored in a memory;

adjusting the energy consumption profile in view of the energy conversion efficiency information; and

generating an overall energy consumption profile based on the adjusted energy consumption profile.