Wireless vehicle charging

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10814736-B2
Application number	US-201715845969-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2017
Priority date	Dec 18, 2017
Publication date	Oct 27, 2020
Grant date	Oct 27, 2020

Abstract

A wireless charging system for a vehicle is described, as well as methods of using the system. The system may include a computer programmed with instructions stored in memory and executable by a processor, and a radar device controlled by the computer. One method includes: aligning a reception coil on a vehicle with a charging coil using ground penetrating radar data; and then receiving inductive charge at the reception coil.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for wirelessly charging a vehicle, comprising:
determining, via a computer, when a vehicle is within a geofence region that includes a charging coil embedded within a roadway;
actuating, via the computer, a radar system to emit ground penetrating radar signals, wherein a frequency of the ground penetrating radar signals is increased as a distance between the vehicle and the charging coil decreases; and
aligning a reception coil on the vehicle with the charging coil using ground penetrating radar data.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, via a human machine interface (HMI) device, an indication from a user prior to determining and aligning.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the indication is based on roadway pressure sensor data.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the indication is based on wireless signal strength data, angle of arrival data, or time of flight data.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining further comprises displaying an image of the vehicle and a charging station on a human machine interface (HMI) device.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein displaying further comprises transitioning from a split-screen mode to a full-screen mode as the vehicle moves into the region, wherein at least one screen portion of the human machine interface device comprises an image depicting a top view of the vehicle relative to a representation of the charging coil in the split-screen mode.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the charging coil is in an inactive state during aligning.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising charging a battery of the vehicle via the reception coil.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising, when a threshold level of charge is received, transmitting a message, to a controller of the charging coil, to terminate charging.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein aligning further comprises autonomously controlling the vehicle using dead reckoning.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein aligning further comprises determining whether an axis of a reception coil on the vehicle is within a threshold distance of a centroid of the charging coil.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein during the aligning, the vehicle is in a fully-autonomous mode.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, via the computer, a shape of a centroid of the charging coil based on the ground penetrating radar data; and
aligning, via the computer, the vehicle until a distance between a vertically downwardly extending axis corresponding to the reception coil and the centroid is less than a distance threshold.

14. A method for wirelessly charging a vehicle, comprising:
actuating, via the computer, a radar system to emit ground penetrating radar signals, wherein a frequency of the ground penetrating radar signals is increased as a distance between the vehicle and the charging coil decreases;
determine a shape of a centroid of the charging coil based on ground penetrating radar data;
aligning a reception coil on a vehicle with a charging coil using ground penetrating radar data until a distance between a vertically downwardly extending axis corresponding to the reception coil and the centroid is less than a distance threshold; and then,
receiving inductive charge at the reception coil.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the charging coil is in an inactive state during aligning.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein aligning further comprises autonomously controlling the vehicle using dead reckoning.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
displaying an image at a human interface device, wherein the image depicts a top view of the vehicle relative to a representation of the charging coil.

18. A wireless charging system for a vehicle, comprising:
a processor; and
memory storing instructions executable by the processor to cause the processor to:
actuate a radar system to emit ground penetrating radar signals, wherein a frequency of the ground penetrating radar signals is increased as a distance between the vehicle and a charging coil decreases;
align a reception coil on the vehicle with the charging coil using the ground penetrating radar data; and then,
receiving inductive charge at the reception coil.

19. The system of claim 18 , further comprising: an antenna circuit, comprising at least one antenna, configured to transmit and receive an ultra-wide band radio wave.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Van Wiemeersch John Robert
• Hermann Thomas Joseph
• Hassani Ali

Classifications

• B60L2250/16

  by display · CPC title

• B60L2260/32

  Auto pilot mode · CPC title

• B60L2240/62

  Vehicle position · CPC title

• B60L53/66

  Data transfer between charging stations and vehicles · CPC title

• G01S13/885

  for ground probing (prospecting or detecting using electromagnetic waves G01V3/12) · CPC title