Patent ID: 12235326

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the present disclosure, a portable or mobile computing device such as a laptop or smartphone may execute an application that receives input of planned off-board loads to estimate the effect of such usage on the charge level of the traction battery and estimated range of a vehicle. Using the application, a user such may retrieve data including a current charge level of the traction battery in the vehicle and an estimated range of the vehicle based on the charge level over a wireless network. The user can then input or select a set of devices within the application for the planned power usage of the traction battery. The application may then determine an estimated change of the current charge level based upon the planned power usage by taking the current charge level, the estimated range, and the planned power usage into account. Based on the estimated change of the current charge level, the application can then determine a revised charge level of the traction battery and a revised estimated range of the vehicle, and output the revised charge level of the traction battery and the revised estimated range of the vehicle on the laptop or smartphone. Thus, a user may be able to plan power usage for off-board loads of a traction battery without having to be in or at the vehicle.

In an implementation, a computing device may have a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor, with the instructions including instructions to retrieve data including a current charge level of a traction battery in a vehicle and an estimated range of the vehicle based on the charge level remotely from the vehicle, receive input of planned power usage of the traction battery by a set of devices external to the vehicle, determine an estimated change of the current charge level based upon the planned power usage based on the current charge level, the estimated range, and the planned power usage, based on the estimated change of the current charge level, determine a revised charge level of the traction battery and a revised estimated range of the vehicle, and output the revised charge level of the traction battery and the revised estimated range of the vehicle.

The instructions to receive input of planned power usage may include instructions to select a power usage type based on a type of each device in the set from a plurality of stored power usage types, and set a time period of the planned power usage for each device in the set.

A power level may be stored for each stored power usage type.

The instructions to receive input of planned power usage may include instructions to set a power level of the planned power usage for each device, and set a time period of the planned power usage for each device.

The instructions to receive input of planned power usage may include instructions to search a database or scrape data from a webpage to determine a power level of the planned power usage for at least one device in the set, and set a time period of the planned power usage for each device in the set.

The instructions to search the database may include instructions to capture an image of the at least one device, identify the at least one device based on the captured image, and determine a power level of the identified at least one device.

The instructions to receive input of the planned power usage may include instructions to receive a measurement of current power usage of at least one device in the set accessing power of the traction battery, and set a time period of the planned power usage of the at least one device. The set time period may be limited based upon the measurement of current power usage.

The instructions to receive input of planned power usage may include instructions to record power usage of at least one set of devices over a period of time, determine power usage patterns, and predict the planned power usage.

The instructions to determine power usage patterns and predict the planned power usage may include instructions to input usage pattern data to a neural network that outputs predicted usage of at least one set of devices.

The instructions to receive input of planned power usage may include instructions to receive input of a set of two or more of a plurality of stored power usage types for the set of devices, including: usage of a power tool, charging of a power tool battery, usage of an appliance, usage of lighting, usage of an electronic device, charging of an electronic device, or charging of an electric vehicle.

The instructions may further include instructions to group two or more of the plurality of stored power usage types in a selectable bundle comprising the set of devices.

The instructions may further include instructions to operate all devices of the selectable bundle, measure a power level of the selectable bundle during operation, and store the measured power level of the selectable bundle.

The instructions may further include instructions to store a default power level for a stored power usage type of a selected device in the set of devices, measure a power level during use of the selected device, and store a revised power level for the stored power usage type of the selected device based upon the measured power level.

In another implementation, a method of planning external electric power usage of a vehicle includes retrieving, remotely from the vehicle, data including a current charge level of a traction battery in the vehicle and an estimated range of the vehicle based on the charge level, receiving, remotely from the vehicle, input of planned power usage of the traction battery by a set of devices, determining an estimated change of the current charge level based upon the planned power usage based on the current charge level, the estimated range, and the planned power usage, based on the estimated change of the current charge level, determining a revised charge level of the traction battery and a revised estimated range of the vehicle, and outputting the revised charge level of the traction battery and the revised estimated range of the vehicle.

The data may be wirelessly retrieved from the vehicle or a cloud storage connected to the vehicle.

The receiving input of planned power usage may include setting a power level of the planned power usage for each device, and setting a time period of the planned power usage for each device.

The planned power usage of the set of devices may be saved as a selectable bundle.

Receiving input of planned power usage may include searching a database or scraping data from a webpage to determine a power level of the planned power usage, and setting a time period of the planned power usage.

Searching the database may include capturing an image of at least one device, identifying the at least one device based on the captured image, and determining a power level of the identified at least one device.

With reference toFIG.1, a system100can provide communications between vehicle102, a portable computer118, and a central computer120to provide services, such as to an operator of the vehicle102. The portable computer118can communicate directly or indirectly with vehicle102over a wireless link and/or wide area network116via a communication module112.

A vehicle102is a set of components or parts, including hardware components and typically also software and/or programming, to perform a function or set of operations to operate the vehicle102. Vehicle102in the present disclosure includes a traction battery124as found, for example, in an electric or hybrid vehicle for providing or assisting in propulsion of vehicle102. Vehicle subsystems110include a battery subsystem, a braking system, a propulsion system, and a steering system as well as additional subsystems including but not limited to a navigation system, a climate control system, a lighting system, and an infotainment system. The battery subsystem will typically include a battery control module (BCM) and will interface with the propulsion subsystem that converts energy to rotation of vehicle102wheels to propel the vehicle102forward and/or backward, and with regenerative portions of the braking subsystem that can slow and/or stop vehicle102movement. The steering subsystem can control a yaw, e.g., turning left and right, maintaining a straight path, of the vehicle102as it moves.

Computers, including the herein-discussed vehicle computer104, portable computer118, and central computer120, include respective processors and memories. A computer memory can include one or more forms of computer readable media, and stores instructions executable by a processor for performing various operations, including as disclosed herein. For example, the computer can be a generic computer with a processor and memory as described above and/or a vehicle computer104, for example, may include an electronic control unit (ECU), controller, or the like for a specific function or set of functions, and/or a dedicated electronic circuit including an ASIC that is manufactured for a particular operation, e.g., an ASIC for processing sensor data and/or communicating the sensor data. In another example, computer may include an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) which is an integrated circuit manufactured to be configurable by a user. Typically, a hardware description language such as VHDL (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language) is used in electronic design automation to describe digital and mixed-signal systems such as FPGA and ASIC. For example, an ASIC is manufactured based on VHDL programming provided pre-manufacturing, whereas logical components inside an FPGA may be configured based on VHDL programming, e.g., stored in a memory electrically connected to the FPGA circuit. In some examples, a combination of processor(s), ASIC(s), and/or FPGA circuits may be included in a computer.

A computer memory can be of any suitable type, e.g., hard disk drives, solid state drives, servers, or any volatile or non-volatile media. The memory can store data, e.g., a memory of a vehicle computer104can store data sent from the battery subsystem110. The memory can be a separate device from the computer, and the computer can retrieve information stored in the memory, e.g., a vehicle computer104can obtain data to be stored via a vehicle network114in the vehicle102, e.g., over a CAN bus, a wireless network, etc. Alternatively, or additionally, the memory can be part of the computer, i.e., as a memory of the computer.

The vehicle computer104can be included in the vehicle102that may be any suitable type of ground vehicle102with a traction battery124, e.g., a passenger or commercial automobile such as a sedan, a coupe, a truck, a sport utility, a crossover, a van, a minivan, etc. A vehicle computer104may include programming to operate one or more of vehicle102brakes, propulsion (e.g., control of acceleration in the vehicle102by controlling one or more of an electric motor, hybrid engine, etc.), steering, climate control, interior and/or exterior lights, etc., as well as to determine whether and when the computer, as opposed to a human operator, is to control such operations. Additionally, a vehicle computer104may be programmed to determine whether and when a human operator is to control such operations.

A vehicle computer104may include or be communicatively coupled to, e.g., via a vehicle network114such as a communications bus as described further below, more than one processor, e.g., included in components such as subsystems110, electronic controller units (ECUs) or the like included in the vehicle102for monitoring and/or controlling various vehicle components, e.g., a powertrain controller, a brake controller, a steering controller, etc. The computer is generally arranged for communications on a vehicle102communication network that can include a bus in the vehicle102such as a controller area network (CAN) or the like, and/or other wired and/or wireless mechanisms. Alternatively, or additionally, in cases where the computer actually comprises a plurality of devices, the vehicle102communication network may be used for communications between devices represented as the computer in this disclosure.

The vehicle network114is a network via which messages can be exchanged between various devices in vehicle102. The vehicle computer104can be generally programmed to send and/or receive, via vehicle network114, messages to and/or from other devices in vehicle102e.g., any or all of ECUs, sensors108, actuators, components, communications module112, a human machine interface HMI106, etc. Additionally, or alternatively, messages can be exchanged among various such other devices in vehicle102via a vehicle network114. In cases in which the computer includes a plurality of devices, vehicle network114may be used for communications between devices represented as a computer in this disclosure. Further, as mentioned below, various controllers and/or battery subsystem110may provide data to the computer. In some implementations, vehicle network114can be a network in which messages are conveyed via a vehicle102communications bus. For example, vehicle network114can include a controller area network (CAN) in which messages are conveyed via a CAN bus, or a local interconnect network (LIN) in which messages are conveyed via a LIN bus. In some implementations, vehicle network114can include a network in which messages are conveyed using other wired communication technologies and/or wireless communication technologies e.g., Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, Ultra-Wide Band (UWB), etc. Additional examples of protocols that may be used for communications over vehicle network114in some implementations include, without limitation, Media Oriented System Transport (MOST), Time-Triggered Protocol TTP, and FlexRay. In some implementations, vehicle network114can represent a combination of multiple networks, possibly of different types, that support communications among devices in vehicle102. For example, vehicle network114can include a CAN in which some devices in vehicle102communicate via a CAN bus, and a wired or wireless local area network in which some device in vehicle102communicate according to Ethernet or WI-FI communication protocols.

The vehicle computer104, portable computer118, and/or central computer120can communicate via a wide area network116. Further, various computing devices discussed herein may communicate with each other directly, e.g., via direct radio frequency communications according to protocols such as Bluetooth or the like. For example, a vehicle102can include a communication module112to provide communications with devices and/or networks not included as part of the vehicle102, such as the wide area network116and/or a portable computer118, for example. The communication module112can provide various communications, e.g., vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure or everything (V2X) or vehicle-to-everything including cellular communications (C-V2X) wireless communications cellular, dedicated short range communications (DSRC), etc., to another vehicle102, to an infrastructure element typically via direct radio frequency communications and/or typically via the wide area network116, e.g., to the central computer120. The communication module112could include one or more mechanisms by which a vehicle computer104may communicate, including any desired combination of wireless e.g., cellular, wireless, satellite, microwave and radio frequency communication mechanisms and any desired network topology or topologies when a plurality of communication mechanisms are utilized. Exemplary communications provided via the module can include cellular, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, DSRC, cellular V2X, CV2X, and the like.

The portable computer118may use any suitable wireless communications, such as cellular or WI-FI, such as to communicate with the central computer120via the wide area network116.

The traction battery124of vehicle102is typically provided to power various vehicle subsystems110including a propulsion subsystem, and may be connected to or part of battery subsystem110, which further includes a DC-to-AC inverter and electrical outlets for powering electrical devices122using the power stored in traction battery124. Devices122could include, for example, one or more of a power tool (electric drill, electric saw, etc.), a computer charger, a hotplate, or any other suitable device that consumes electrical power. Sensors108may measure the voltage and other operational values of traction battery124used for determining a current charge level of the traction battery124and may communicate these values to the battery subsystem110.

FIG.2is a flow diagram of an example process200to plan power usage of a traction battery124of a vehicle102. The process200can be executed in a portable computer118, such as a laptop or smartphone of a user, but is not necessarily limited to such portable computers, as discussed below.FIGS.3A-3Hillustrate example user interfaces of an application executing a non-limiting implementation of process200on a smartphone. The present disclosure is not limited to operation on a smartphone or portable computer, per se, and may be performed on a tablet, laptop computer, or desktop computer running an application or accessing a server, such as central computer120, running an application accessible through a web browser or other client on the tablet, laptop computer, or desktop computer. While a portable computer118is typically preferred to permit direct wireless communication with a vehicle102, when the vehicle102wirelessly connects and shares the appropriate data with a central computer120that is accessible over a wide area network116such as the Internet, a desktop computer could be used.

The process200to plan a power usage starts with instantiation of an application, and proceeds to a first block210in which a portable computer118or the like remotely retrieves data including a current charge level of a traction battery124in a vehicle102and an estimated range of the vehicle102based on the charge level. As used herein, “remote” or “remotely” refers to any location not requiring access to an HMI of the vehicle102. The portable computer118may retrieve the data directly from a battery subsystem110of a vehicle102via communication module112, may retrieve the data directly from battery subsystem110of vehicle102and communication module112via wide area network, or may retrieve the data uploaded from battery subsystem110of vehicle102to central server120(i.e., uploaded to the cloud) via wide area network116from central computer120. Upon retrieving this data, it may be displayed to a user in the application, as illustrated inFIG.3A, which shows an example vehicle as having a 90% charge level and a 203 mile estimated range. While a charge level may be represented or displayed as a percentage of a capacity of a full charge level, it may also be represented or displayed in other forms, such as in units of kilowatt-hours (kWh).

Next, in a block212, the application receives input of planned usage of the traction battery124by a set of devices122external of the vehicle102. The external devices122may be plugged into electrical outlets on vehicle102that provide AC power via an inverter or the like from DC power provided by the traction battery124. As illustrated inFIG.3B, a user may be prompted by the application to add power usage types which, as illustrated inFIGS.3C and3D, may be selected from a plurality of stored power usage types. As illustrated inFIG.3C, the application may also provide for input of a planned usage time of the planned usage type and a default or custom power level (e.g., load in kW). As illustrated inFIG.3D, some planned usage types may be saved as favorites. A power level may be stored for each of the usage types.

In an implementation, the application may access a database of various usage types or scrape the web (e.g., scrape data from a product webpage) to determine a power level for a particular power usage type, such as by input of a model number for a particular device122. In another implementation, a camera (for example, associated with a smartphone executing the application or with the vehicle102) may capture an image of a particular device122, and identify the device122based on the captured image, such as by accessing an online service. After identification, a database may be accessed to determine a power level of the identified device122.

Next, in block214, the application determines an estimated change of the current charge level based upon the planned power usage based on the current charge level, the estimated range, and the planned power usage. For example, in an example implementation, a traction battery may have a percentage of a full capacity in kWh, and the planned usage in kWh may be subtracted therefrom to estimate a change. In other implementations, other variables such as temperature may affect the estimation and/or the particular traction battery124may have a non-linear discharge curve based upon its chemistry and the number of cells (e.g., 48 V LiFePO4 with 16 cells, 48 V LiMnO2 with 13 cells, etc.), and the curve may be used to estimate the change of the current charge level based upon the planned power usage based.

Next, in block216, based on the estimated change of the current charge level, the application may determine a revised charge level of the traction battery124and a revised estimated range of the vehicle102based upon the characteristics of the traction battery124. Again, implementations of the estimates may vary in complexity from simple linear estimations to more complex estimations that take temperature, battery condition, vehicle location, vehicle loading, etc. into account.

Next, in block218, the application outputs the revised charge level and the revised estimated range, after which the process200ends.FIG.3Eillustrates, based on a planned usage of a set of devices labeled as “Future Battery Usage,” output of the revised charge level and the revised estimated range in the form of “Battery Remaining: 82% charge=188 miles” in the user interface of the smartphone executing the application.

As illustrated inFIG.3F, the application may provide for a planned usage of a set of devices to be saved as a bundle, wherein a usage type and a usage time for each device122in the set of devices may be bundled together for input of a planned power usage to the application. In the present context, a “bundle” therefore refers to a set of devices that are planned to be used together and have a usage type with a set power level and a set usage time for each device122.FIG.3Flists three example bundles, including a “Camping” bundle, that may operate lights, a coffee maker, a portable refrigerator, and phone chargers in an implementation, a “Worksite” bundle that may operate a power saw, an air compressor, and a set of work lights in an implementation, and a “Power Outage” bundle as discussed further with respect toFIG.3G. For example,FIG.3Gillustrates details of an implementation of a “Power Outage Bundle” that includes usage of a range, a refrigerator, a heat pump, a hot water heater, lights, and a microwave oven for estimated times, so as to plan for the powering of external devices typically operated in a home in the event of a power outage.

When a power level for one or more devices122in a set of devices or a bundle is unknown for a planned power usage, the application may be used to determine a power level or “load” of one or more devices122by running the device122for a short period and tracking the usage with the sensors108and the battery subsystem110or a dedicated sensor108measuring power usage at the inverter. As illustrated inFIG.3H, the application may prompt a user to run all the devices122of a set of devices for 30 seconds to stabilize the usage levels and then press a start button to begin a power reading. This may be done for all devices122in a set/bundle simultaneously or, alternately, for each device122of the set individually. The resulting power levels may be saved for future use, and in an implementation, the set time period may limited based upon the measurement of current power usage.

While disclosed above with respect to certain implementations, various other implementations are possible without departing from the current disclosure. In an implementation, the application may also record power usage of at least one set of devices over a period of time, determine power usage patterns, and predict the planned power usage. For example, the usage pattern data may be input into a neural network that outputs predicted usage of at least one set of devices.

Use of in response to, based on, and upon determining herein indicates a causal relationship, not merely a temporal relationship. Further, all terms used in the claims are intended to be given their plain and ordinary meanings as understood by those skilled in the art unless an explicit indication to the contrary is made herein. Use of the singular articles “a,” “the,” etc. should be read to recite one or more of the indicated elements unless a claim recites an explicit limitation to the contrary.

In the drawings, the same reference numbers indicate the same elements. Further, some or all of these elements could be changed. With regard to the media, processes, systems, methods, etc. described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to a certain ordered sequence, unless indicated otherwise or clear from context, such processes could be practiced with the described steps performed in an order other than the order described herein. Likewise, it further should be understood that certain steps could be performed simultaneously, that other steps could be added, or that certain steps described herein could be omitted. In other words, the descriptions of processes herein are provided for the purpose of illustrating certain implementations and should in no way be construed so as to limit the claimed invention.

The disclosure has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation. Many modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible in light of the above teachings, and the disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.