JP2007199034A - Route guidance device for vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle route guidance apparatus or system capable of efficiently storing electricity in a vehicle equipped with a solar cell is provided.
A vehicle route guidance apparatus according to the present invention includes a search means for searching for a route to a destination inputted by a user in a vehicle equipped with a solar cell, and a route searched by the search means. A vehicle route guidance apparatus having display means 8 for displaying to a user,
The search means 3 includes a route search means 3 for searching for a plurality of specific routes as candidates, and a calculation means 3 for calculating the solar cell power generation amount and the power consumption amount of the plurality of specific routes. An appropriate route is selected based on a comparison between the solar cell power generation amount and the power consumption amount from the specific route.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle route guidance apparatus suitable for application to a vehicle using solar cells.

  In recent years, it has been studied to install solar cells in vehicles in accordance with demands for energy saving and improvements in the performance of solar cells. In such a vehicle, in order to generate power more efficiently using a solar cell, it is necessary to select a route on which more sunlight can be enjoyed.

For this reason, for example, a vehicle route guidance apparatus as described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. In this vehicle route guidance device, the weather information receiver receives the weather information transmitted from the center, and searches for a route with a large amount of sunlight that can receive more sunlight based on the received weather information. The amount of power generated by the solar cell is increased as much as possible.
JP 2000-353295 A

  However, in such a route guidance device for a vehicle, the amount of power consumed by the solar cell can be increased because the amount of power consumed by the cooling system load, such as an air conditioner, inevitably increases on a route with a large amount of sunlight. However, since the amount of power consumption increases accordingly, there is a problem in that the power storage efficiency decreases when the power generated by the solar cell is stored in the battery.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular route guidance device that can perform efficient power storage in a vehicle equipped with a solar cell.

In order to solve the above-described problem, a vehicle having a solar cell mounted vehicle having search means for searching for a route to the destination input by the user and display means for displaying the route searched by the search means to the user. A route guidance device for
Route search means for searching for a plurality of specific routes as candidates, and calculation means for calculating the solar cell power generation amount and the power consumption amount of the plurality of specific routes, the search means for the plurality of specific routes An appropriate route is selected based on a comparison between the solar cell power generation amount and the power consumption amount.

  Here, it is preferable that the search means selects, as an appropriate route, a route in which the solar cell power generation amount is larger than the power consumption amount.

  In addition, the power consumption is preferably a cooling system load power consumption.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the calculation unit calculates the power consumption based on user operation tendency information.

  Further, in order to increase the accuracy of the calculation, the calculation means calculates based on the measured value and position information of the solar battery power generation amount and the power consumption amount of another vehicle obtained by the center collecting the solar cell power generation amount and the power consumption amount. It is preferable to do.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, efficient electrical storage can be performed in the vehicle carrying a solar cell.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a vehicle route guidance apparatus according to the present invention.

  The vehicle route guidance device 1 searches for a route to a destination input by the user in a vehicle equipped with the solar battery 2, guides the route to the user, and searches for a specific candidate route. Navigation ECU 3 that functions as search means for searching for a route to the destination, touch panel 4 as input means for the user to input the destination, GPS 5 for grasping the current position of the vehicle, A database 6 that stores map information used for route search, a receiver 7 that receives weather information such as temperature, sunlight illuminance, and precipitation probability that is also used for route search from the roadside center, and a display that displays the searched route to the user. A display 8 as means and a speaker 9 for outputting voice for route guidance are provided. In addition, the positive side of the solar cell 2 is connected to the positive side of the battery 10 and the cooling system load 11, and the navigation ECU 3 receives the power generation amount of the solar cell 2 and the power consumption amount of the cooling system load 11. A transmitter 12 is provided that transmits the solar cell power generation amount, the cooling system load power consumption amount, and the current position of the vehicle to the roadside center.

  The solar cell 2 is provided, for example, on the upper surface of the roof of the vehicle, converts solar energy into electric power, and supplies it to the battery 10 and the cooling system load 11.

  GPS5 (Global Positioning System) receives radio waves from a plurality of military satellites over the earth and measures the longitude and latitude of the vehicle based on the principle of triangulation.

  The database 6 is constituted by a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM, and stores and stores display map information and search map information.

  The navigation ECU 3 also functions as a calculation means for calculating the solar battery power generation amount and the power consumption amount when passing through a plurality of specific routes from the weather information received by the receiver 7 and the map information in the database 6. From the specific route, an appropriate route is selected based on the comparison between the solar battery power generation amount and the power consumption amount, and the route information is stored in the database 6 with the map information, the destination, and the current position of the vehicle. At the same time, it is displayed and guided to the user using the display 8.

  Here, the amount of solar cell power generation is based on, for example, the degree to which there are obstacles such as buildings, tunnels, and mountains that block sunlight in the map information using sunlight illuminance in the weather information. Calculated. Further, the power consumption is calculated based on, for example, how much the user operates the cooling system load based on the temperature and the sunlight illuminance in the weather information. In the latter calculation, the user's operation tendency (set temperature or the like) is investigated in advance and stored as the user's operation tendency information, and the power consumption is calculated based on the user's operation tendency information.

  Alternatively, the power consumption may be uniquely determined from the set temperature and temperature of the air conditioner, which is the current cooling system load, and the sunlight illuminance. In other words, it is estimated how much the temperature in the car at that point will be based on the current car temperature and the temperature and sunlight illuminance at the specific point, and compare it with the set temperature of the air conditioner that is the cooling system load. It calculates whether the air conditioner operates with the power consumption.

  The calculation of the amount of photovoltaic power generation and the amount of power consumption may be performed for the total of the specific route from the current position to the destination, or the unit route based on the accuracy of the weather information described above is set, It may be performed for each unit route.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when there is a specific route from the current position A of the vehicle to the destination B input by the user, the calculated value of the solar cell power generation amount in the route AC is Gac, The calculated value of the power consumption is Lac, the calculated value of the solar cell power generation amount in the path CB is Gcb, the calculated value of the power consumption of the cooling system load is Lcb, the calculated value of the solar battery power generation amount in the path AB is Gab, The calculated value of the power consumption of the cooling system load is Lab, the calculated value of the solar battery power generation amount in the path AD is Gad, the calculated value of the power consumption of the cooling system load is Lad, and the calculation of the solar battery power generation amount is performed in the path DB. If the value is Gdb and the calculated value of the power consumption of the cooling system load is Ldb, the value obtained by subtracting the calculated value of the power consumption of the cooling system load from the calculated value of the solar cell power generation amount of the specific path ACB is Gac + Gcb Lac-Lcb, a value obtained by subtracting the calculated value of the power consumption of the cooling system load from the calculated value of the solar cell power generation amount of the specific route AB is Gab-Lab, and the calculated value of the solar cell power generation amount of the specific route ADB The value obtained by subtracting the calculated value of the power consumption of the cooling system load from the above is Gad + Gdb−Lad−Ldb.

  The specific route having the largest value obtained by subtracting the total power consumption of the cooling system load from the total solar cell power generation amount passing through the specific route thus obtained is selected. This makes it possible to search for a route from the current position A to the destination B that increases the power generation amount of the solar cell 2 and decreases the power consumption of the cooling system load, and stores power from the solar cell 2 to the battery 10. Can increase the efficiency.

  Here, the power consumption of the cooling system load is used as the power consumption because the cooling system load power consumption is easily affected by the amount of sunlight irradiated. Of course, the power consumption can include power consumption other than the cooling system load. In this case, particularly when the vehicle on which the solar cell is mounted is an electric vehicle, the power consumption may be calculated based on operation tendency information such as the user's accelerator work. Further, even in a normal vehicle that is not an electric vehicle, it is possible to predict the amount of power consumption from the average vehicle speed, the number of times of temporary stop prediction, and the like.

  Here, in order to increase the calculation accuracy of the solar battery power generation amount and the cooling system load power consumption amount, the solar battery power generation amount and consumption of other vehicles collected in the center are calculated in calculating the solar battery power generation amount and the power consumption amount. It is also possible to use an actual measurement value of electric energy. In this case, from the transmitter 12 together with the current position obtained by the GPS 5 the actual measurement value of the power generation amount of the solar cell 2 of the car navigation system 1 installed in the other company and the actual measurement value of the power consumption of the cooling system load 11. Current position once transmitted to the roadside center, from which the car navigation system 1 of the own vehicle obtains the measured value of the power generation amount of these solar cells 2 and the measured value of the power consumption of the cooling system load 11 by the GPS 5 It is necessary to receive

  To do these things with higher accuracy. The vehicle route guidance apparatus according to the present invention can construct a system having the following form.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a vehicle route guidance system constituted by the vehicle search device according to the present invention.

  The vehicle route guidance system 51 searches for a route to a destination input by a user in a vehicle equipped with a solar battery and guides the route to the user. One or more other vehicles equipped with a solar cell are provided. Vehicle-side measuring means 52 for measuring the respective solar cell power generation amount, power consumption, and position information, and the solar cell power generation by totaling the solar cell power generation amount, power consumption, and position information measured by the vehicle-side measurement means 52 Based on the comparison between the center 53 for creating the amount map α and the cooling system load power consumption map β, and the solar cell power generation amount map α received from the center 53 and the cooling system load power consumption map β, The vehicle is provided with a vehicle-side route search means 54 equipped with a solar cell that calculates a position γ that exceeds the cooling system load power consumption and searches for the route based on the position.

  The vehicle-mounted side measuring means 52 can be constituted by the vehicle route guidance device 1 shown in FIG. 1, and the navigation ECU 3 of the device 1 includes the power generation amount of the solar battery 2 of each other vehicle and the cooling system load 11. Is transmitted, and the transmitter 12 transmits to the center 53 information obtained by combining the solar cell power generation amount, the cooling system load power consumption amount, and the current position of the vehicle.

  The center 53 receives and aggregates the solar cell power generation amount, power consumption, and position information measured by the in-vehicle side measuring means 52, and for example, the solar cell power generation amount map α and the cooling system load power consumption map as shown in FIG. β is created and transmitted to the on-vehicle side route search means 54.

  The vehicle-side route searching means 54 can also be configured by the vehicle route guidance device 1 shown in FIG. 1, and the navigation ECU 3 of the device 1 receives the solar cell power generation amount map α received from the center 53 by the receiver 7 and the cooling. Based on the system load power consumption map β, the position γ where the solar cell power generation amount exceeds the cooling system load power consumption is calculated, the route is searched so as to include many positions γ, and the route is displayed to the user 8. Display and guide using.

  As a result, it is possible to search for a route that is efficient for the solar cell to store in the battery based on the solar cell power generation amount and cooling system power consumption of other vehicles measured in real time. A route search can be performed. In addition, since it is not necessary for the navigation ECU 3 as the search means to search for a plurality of candidate specific routes in advance, the processing content of route guidance can be simplified.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions are made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. be able to.

  The present invention relates to a vehicular route guidance device that increases the efficiency of power storage in a battery of a vehicle equipped with solar cells, and can increase the efficiency of battery storage by solar cells without significant changes. Therefore, any vehicle equipped with a solar cell can be applied to various vehicles such as passenger cars, trucks, and buses.

It is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a route guidance device for vehicles concerning the present invention. It is a mimetic diagram explaining a route search method of one embodiment of a route guidance device for vehicles concerning the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows other embodiment of the route guidance system for vehicles which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining the route search method of other embodiment of the route guidance system for vehicles which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle route guidance apparatus 2 Solar cell 3 Navigation ECU
4 Touch panel 5 GPS
6 Database 7 Receiver 8 Display 9 Speaker 10 Battery 11 Cooling System Load 51 Vehicle Route Guidance System 52 On-Vehicle Measurement Unit 53 Center 54 On-Vehicle Route Search Unit

Claims (5)

A vehicle route guidance device comprising: search means for searching for a route to a destination input by a user in a vehicle equipped with solar cells; and display means for displaying a route searched by the search means to the user.
Route search means for searching for a plurality of specific routes as candidates, and calculation means for calculating the solar cell power generation amount and the power consumption amount of the plurality of specific routes, the search means for the plurality of specific routes A route guidance apparatus for a vehicle, wherein an appropriate route is selected based on a comparison between the solar cell power generation amount and the power consumption amount.   2. The vehicle route guidance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the search unit selects, as an appropriate route, a route in which the solar battery power generation amount is larger than the power consumption amount.   The vehicle route guidance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the power consumption is a cooling system load power consumption.   The vehicular route guidance apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the calculation means calculates the power consumption based on user operation tendency information.   The said calculating means calculates based on the measured value and positional information of the solar cell power generation amount and power consumption of the other vehicle which the center totaled the said solar cell power generation amount and the said power consumption. 5. A route guidance device for a vehicle according to any one of 4 above.

Images