Intelligent motor vehicles, systems, and control logic for driver behavior coaching and on-demand mobile charging

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10809733-B2
Application number	US-201816161350-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 16, 2018
Priority date	Oct 16, 2018
Publication date	Oct 20, 2020
Grant date	Oct 20, 2020

Abstract

Presented are intelligent vehicle systems and control logic for driver coaching and on-demand vehicle charging, methods for making/using such systems, and motor vehicles with real-time eco-routing and automated driving capabilities. A method for controlling operation of a vehicle includes: determining an origin and destination for the vehicle; conducting a geospatial query to identify a candidate route for traversing from the origin to the destination; determining, based on current electrical characteristics of the vehicle's battery pack, an estimated driving range for the vehicle; responsive to the estimated driving range being less than the candidate route's distance, evaluating energy characteristics of the candidate route to derive an estimated energy expenditure to reach the destination; using the estimated energy expenditure, generating an action plan with vehicle maneuvering and/or accessory usage actions that extend the estimated driving range; and commanding a resident vehicle subsystem to execute a control operation based on the action plan.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A method for controlling operation of a motor vehicle, the motor vehicle including a plurality of road wheels, a prime mover operable to drive at least one of the road wheels to thereby propel the motor vehicle, an energy storage device operable to power the prime mover, and a vehicle controller operable to control the prime mover, the method comprising:
determining, via the vehicle controller, a vehicle origin and a vehicle destination for the motor vehicle;
conducting, via the vehicle controller with a memory-stored map database, a geospatial query to identify a candidate route with a candidate route distance for the motor vehicle to traverse from the vehicle origin to the vehicle destination;
determining, via the vehicle controller based on a current state of the energy storage device, an estimated driving range for the motor vehicle;
evaluating, via the vehicle controller responsive to the estimated driving range being less than the candidate route distance, a plurality of energy characteristics of the candidate route to determine an estimated energy expenditure to reach the vehicle destination;
generating, via the vehicle controller based on the estimated energy expenditure, an action plan with a vehicle maneuvering action and/or an accessory usage action determined to increase the estimated driving range to an extended driving range; and
transmitting, via the vehicle controller, a command signal to a resident vehicle subsystem to execute a control operation based on the action plan.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
responsive to the estimated driving range being less than the candidate route distance, conducting a second geospatial query to identify a second candidate route with a second candidate route distance for traversing from the vehicle origin to the vehicle destination; and
responsive to the estimated driving range not being less than the second candidate route distance, outputting an instruction to traverse from the vehicle origin to the vehicle destination using the second candidate route.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
responsive to the estimated driving range being less than the second candidate route distance, evaluating a plurality of energy characteristics of the second candidate route to determine a second estimated energy expenditure to reach the vehicle destination;
generating, via the vehicle controller based on the second estimated energy expenditure, a second action plan with a second vehicle maneuvering action and/or a second accessory usage action determined to extend the estimated driving range; and
transmitting, via the vehicle controller, a second command signal to a resident vehicle subsystem to execute a second control operation based on the second action plan.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
determining, prior to generating the action plan or the second action plan, whether the estimated energy expenditure is greater or less than the second estimated energy expenditure,
wherein generating the action plan is responsive to the estimated energy expenditure being less than the second estimated energy expenditure, and
wherein generating the second action plan is responsive to the estimated energy expenditure being greater than the second estimated energy expenditure.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
evaluating a maneuver opportunity cost and an accessory opportunity cost for executing the vehicle maneuvering action and the accessory usage action, respectively;
responsive to the maneuver opportunity cost exceeding a first calibrated threshold, determining an alternative vehicle maneuvering action for the action plan; and
responsive to the accessory opportunity cost exceeding a second calibrated threshold, determining an alternative accessory usage action for the action plan.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a plurality of drive profile details specific to the candidate route; and
modifying the vehicle maneuvering action and/or the accessory usage action based on one or more of the drive profile details to minimize a vehicle occupant limitation while maximizing a destination arrival success percentage.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
monitoring, via the vehicle controller in real-time, a driver performance relative to the action plan while driving the motor vehicle on the candidate route to the vehicle destination;
determining if the driver performance is less than a minimum performance threshold; and
responsive to the driver performance being less than the minimum performance threshold, determining a revised action plan using an energy expenditure calculation to reach the vehicle destination on the candidate route based on the driver performance.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prime mover includes a traction motor and the energy storage device includes a traction battery pack, the method further comprising:
determining a coaching time increase to reach the vehicle destination on the candidate route using the action plan;
determining a recharging time increase to coordinate and execute a charging of the traction battery pack via a mobile charging vehicle; and
responsive to the recharging time increase being less than the coaching time increase by at least a preset value, transmitting a deploy request to the mobile charging vehicle.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prime mover includes a traction motor and the energy storage device includes a traction battery pack, the method further comprising:
determining if the extended driving range is less than the candidate route distance; and
responsive to the extended driving range being less than the candidate route distance, transmitting a deploy request to a mobile charging vehicle to execute a charging of the traction battery pack of the motor vehicle.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prime mover includes a traction motor and the energy storage device includes a traction battery pack, the method further comprising:
identifying a vehicle charging source within a predetermined proximity of the vehicle origin or the candidate route;
identifying a mobile charging vehicle available to execute a charging of the traction battery pack of the motor vehicle along the candidate route;
calculating, for the vehicle charging source and the mobile charging vehicle, respective reduced cost functions based on corresponding time, distance, and cost data; and
selecting, via the vehicle controller, one of the vehicle charging source or the mobile charging vehicle based on which of the respective reduced cost functions is the lowest.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a vehicle charging source within a predetermined proximity of the vehicle origin or the candidate route;
identifying a mobile charging vehicle available to execute a charging of the electric storage device of the motor vehicle along the candidate route;
displaying, via an electronic display device of a vehicle navigation system, an option to select from the vehicle charging source and the mobile charging vehicle; and
receiving, via the vehicle controller from an input device, a signal indicative of a user selection of one of the vehicle charging source or the mobile charging vehicle.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resident vehicle subsystem includes an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) module operable to govern driving of the motor vehicle, and wherein the control operation includes the ADAS module implementing a set of enhanced low-energy-consumption driving rules.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resident

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Lindemann Todd P
• Benfield Bryce J
• Clarahan John M
• Stacey Robert
• Rayes Freddy V
• Verma Kunaal
• Lewis Allan K
• Hara Apral S

Classifications

• Y02T10/62

  Hybrid vehicles · CPC title

• Y02T10/84

  Data processing systems or methods, management, administration · CPC title

• Y02E60/00

  Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation · CPC title

• B60W2556/50

  of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data · CPC title

• B60L53/63 Primary

  in response to network capacity · CPC title