Vehicular information processing device

• US 9,643,589 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2015
• Issued: 05/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Hokoi, Koji, Morisaki, Keisuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Badii, Behrang
• Assistant Examiner(s): TESTARDI, DAVID A
• Application Number:
  US14/877,400
• Publication Number:
  US 20160137184A1
• Time in Patent Office: 580 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/08 including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/26 for electrical energy, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/00 Control systems specially adapted for hybrid vehicles hybrid vehicle design, B60K6/00; electric vehicles B60L
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/12 using control strategies taking into account route information estimation or calculation of non-directly measurable driving parameters B60W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/40 Controlling the engagement or disengagement of prime movers, e.g. for transition between prime movers power-up or power-down of the driveline B60W30/192
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2530/209 Fuel quantity remaining in tank
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/00 Input parameters relating to infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/15 Road slope, i.e. the inclination of a road segment in the longitudinal direction
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/06 Combustion engines, Gas turbines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/08 Electric propulsion units
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/244 Charge state
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0097 Predicting future conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/082 Selecting or switching between different modes of propelling
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/62 Hybrid vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 903/93 Conjoint control of different elements

Abstract

A vehicle in a first mode consumes a charge amount of a battery. The vehicle in a second mode maintains the charge amount of the battery. An obtaining circuitry obtains, as a first distance, a total distance for which the vehicle has traveled in the first mode. When the vehicle is assumed to have traveled with the first mode preferentially assigned to the travel route separately from the travel plan, an estimating circuitry estimates, as a second distance, a total distance for which the vehicle would have traveled in the first mode. A notifying circuitry notifies the first distance information and the second distance information.

Claims

1. A vehicular information processing device of a vehicle having an internal combustion engine, a battery and a motor, the vehicular information processing device comprising:

a memory storing;

a travel route between a departure place and a destination, the travel route including a plurality of sections, and

a travel plan identifying one of a first mode or a second mode as a traveling condition of the vehicle for each of the sections in the travel route based on a road load of each section; and

a processor programmed to;

select one of;

(i) the first mode that restrains or prohibits operation of the internal combustion engine to prioritize an operation of the motor that consumes a charge amount of the battery, or (ii) the second mode that activates at least one of the engine and the motor to maintain the charge amount of the battery,

obtain a total distance that the vehicle has traveled in the first mode as a first distance based on a result of traveling of the vehicle according to the travel plan,

estimate a total distance for which the vehicle would have traveled in the first mode on the condition that the vehicle travels with the first mode preferentially assigned to the travel route separately from the travel plan as a second distance, and

display information corresponding to the first distance and information corresponding to the second distance after the vehicle has traveled, in order to notify a user of a change in distance of the first mode resulting from traveling according to the travel plan.

2. The vehicular information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor obtains, as the first distance, a total distance for which the vehicle has traveled only by the motor for sections to which the first mode is assigned by the travel plan.

3. The vehicular information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor obtains a distance for which the vehicle has traveled only by the motor for sections to which the second mode is assigned by the travel plan, and obtains a total distance of the obtained distance added to the first distance as a newly obtained first distance.

4. The vehicular information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor displays the first distance and the second distance side by side.

5. The vehicular information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor notifies a difference between the first distance and the second distance.

6. The vehicular information processing device according to claim 5, wherein the processor divides a range within which the difference varies into a plurality of levels and notifies the difference based on the levels.

7. The vehicular information processing device according to claim 6, wherein the processor determines weighting for each of the levels, and determines a range for each level based on the weighting.

8. The vehicular information processing device according to claim 7, wherein the processor changes the weighting according to at least one of a state of charge of the battery, a driving environment of the vehicle, a driving state of the vehicle, and a condition of the vehicle.