VEHICLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND VEHICLE MANAGEMENT METHOD

• US 20160246303A1
• Filed: 09/29/2014
• Published: 08/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH (Continental AG), Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: CHINOMI, Satoshi, HARA, Kayoko
• Granted Patent: US 9,989,971 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/10 for monitoring or controlling batteries
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0276 using signals provided by a source external to the vehicle involving a plurality of vehicles G05D1/0287; automatically controlling vehicle speed responsive to externally generated signals B60K31/0058
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/00 Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism healthcare informatics G16H
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/00 Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points handling coins or valuable papers, e.g. banknotes, G07D; apparatus for vending or hiring articles or services activated by coins, credit cards, paper currency or the like G07F7/00, G07F17/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries

Abstract

A vehicle management system for managing vehicles used by users has a usage managing unit configured to accept a user'"'"'s request for using to use one of the vehicles, and manage the vehicles and parking spaces in which the vehicles are parked, an acquisition unit configured to acquire energy information from the vehicles, the energy information indicating a remaining amount of energy used for traveling of the vehicle, a determination unit configured to compare the remaining amount acquired by the acquisition unit with a remaining amount threshold that represents a shortage of energy, determine that the vehicle needs supply of energy when the remaining amount is lower than the remaining amount threshold, and specify a recovery vehicle that has been determined as needing supply of energy as a recovery vehicle, and a command outputting unit configured to output a recovery command for recovering the recovery vehicle from the parking space.

Claims

1. A vehicle management system for managing vehicles used by users, comprising:

a usage managing unit configured to;

accept a user'"'"'s request to use one of the vehicles; and

manage the vehicles and parking spaces in which the vehicles are parked;

an acquisition unit configured to acquire energy information from the vehicles, the energy information indicating a remaining amount of energy used for traveling of the vehicle;

a determination unit configured to;

compare the remaining amount acquired by the acquisition unit with a remaining amount threshold that represents a shortage of energy;

determine that the vehicle needs supply of energy when the remaining amount is lower than the remaining amount threshold; and

specify a recovery vehicle that has been determined as needing supply of energy; and

a command outputting unit configured to output a recovery command for recovering the recovery vehicle from the parking space,

wherein the acquisition unit is configured to acquire positional information of the parking space, and

wherein the command outputting unit is configured to output the recovery command such that the recovery command includes the positional information for the recovery vehicle.

2. The vehicle management system according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit is configured to acquire information of a state of charge of a battery provided in the vehicle as the energy information.

3. The vehicle management system according to claim 1,

wherein the usage managing unit is configured to set a planned return space among the parking spaces, the planned return space being a space to which the user is to return the one of the vehicles, and

wherein the acquisition unit is configured to acquire the energy information from the one of the vehicles returned to the planned return space by the user.

5. The vehicle management system according to claim 1,

wherein the usage managing unit is configured to:

manage a position of a substitute vehicle for the recovery vehicle and a position of the recovery vehicle; and

set the substitute vehicle to an available vehicle when the substitute vehicle is parked in a particular parking space,

wherein the available vehicle is a vehicle which can be used by the user, and

wherein the particular parking space is the parking space in which the recovery vehicle is parked before the recovery vehicle is recovered.

6. The vehicle management system according to claim 1,

wherein the acquisition unit is configured to acquire charge information of a battery in the recovery vehicle from the recovery vehicle, and

wherein the usage managing unit is configured to determine whether or not charging of the battery is completed on a basis of the charge information.

7. The vehicle management system according to claim 6,

wherein the usage managing unit is configured to set a charged recovery vehicle to the substitute vehicle when determining that the charging of the battery in the charged recovery vehicle is completed,

wherein the substitute vehicle is substituted for a vehicle which needs supply of energy.

8. The vehicle management system according to claim 1,

wherein the usage managing unit is configured to:

set unreserved vehicles among the vehicles to available vehicles; and

exclude the recovery vehicle from the available vehicles.

9. The vehicle management system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a return determining unit configured to determine whether or not the vehicle is returned to a planned return space when the vehicle is actually used and returned by the user; and

a return permitting unit configured to permit return of the vehicle when the return determining unit determines that the vehicle is returned to the planned return space,

wherein the usage managing unit is configured to set the planned return space among the parking spaces when the user'"'"'s request is accepted, the planned return space being a space to which the user is to return the vehicle after using the vehicle.

4. (canceled)

10. A vehicle management method for managing vehicles used by users, comprising:

accepting a user'"'"'s request for using the vehicle;

managing the vehicles and parking spaces in which the vehicles are parked;

acquiring energy information from the vehicles, the energy information indicating a remaining amount of energy used for traveling of the vehicle;

comparing the acquired remaining amount with a remaining amount threshold that represents a shortage of energy;

determining that the vehicle needs supply of energy when the acquired remaining amount is lower than the remaining amount threshold;

specifying the vehicle determined to need supply of energy as a recovery vehicle; and

outputting a recovery command for recovering the recovery vehicle from the parking space such that the recovery command includes the positional information for the recovery vehicle.