System and method for modulating a charging rate for charging a battery of a vehicle as a function of an expected passenger load

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11247579-B2
Application number	US-201916722035-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2019
Priority date	Dec 20, 2018
Publication date	Feb 15, 2022
Grant date	Feb 15, 2022

Abstract

A system and a method for managing a charging station allow charging a battery of a connected autonomous electric vehicle for carrying passengers in a controlled environment. A controller connected to the charging station determines and modulates a charging rate with which the charging station charges the battery based on a duration between a start of charging the vehicle and a forecasted time of start of duty mode of the vehicle. The duration is determined by the controller based on a forecasted passenger load as a function of time.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for managing a charging station for charging a battery of a connected autonomous electric vehicle for carrying passengers in a controlled environment, the method comprising:
accessing information about a passenger load as a function of time;
determining a forecasted time of start of duty mode based on the passenger load;
determining a duration between a time of start of charging the battery and the forecasted time of start of duty mode of the connected autonomous electric vehicle;
determining a charging rate, the charging rate being a function of the duration; and
charging the battery of the connected autonomous electric vehicle at the determined charging rate.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the passenger load is based on historical data.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the passenger load based on an image analysis of passengers circulating in an airport.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the passenger load based on passenger information of passengers flying aboard incoming flights.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the determining the passenger load comprises selecting the passenger information from the group consisting of: flight number, arriving gate identification, destination, connection flight number, departing gate, quantity of passengers, and quantity of flight crew.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the time of start of duty mode of the connected autonomous electric vehicle is a function of a vehicle passenger capacity.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the charging the battery comprises using a charging rate that is proportional to the passenger load.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the charging the battery comprises using a charging rate that is inversely proportional to the duration.

9. A system for controlling the charging of a battery of an autonomous electric vehicle, the system comprising:
a charging station adapted to charge the battery at a variable charging rate; and
a controller, the controller being connected to the charging station, the controller being operative to determine and modulate the charging rate based on a duration between a time of start of charging the vehicle and a forecasted time of start of duty mode of the vehicle, the duration being determined by the controller based on a forecasted passenger load as a function of time.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the controller is operative to increase the charging rate when the forecasted passenger load increases.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the controller is operative to modulate the charging rate inversely proportionally to the duration.

12. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a database containing historical data on the forecasted passenger load.

13. The system of claim 9 , further comprising an image analysis system, the image analysis system being connected to the controller and to a camera system, the image analysis system being operative to determine the forecasted passenger load based on an image analysis of passengers circulating in an airport.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the controller is operatively connected to receive information about travelers flying aboard incoming flights and to determine the forecasted passenger load based on the information.

15. A system for carrying passengers within a controlled environment, the system comprising:
a fleet of autonomous electric vehicles for carrying passengers, each vehicle of the fleet of autonomous electric vehicles having a battery, the fleet having:
at least one vehicle in duty mode, the at least one vehicle in duty mode being operative to carry passengers from a first area to a second area of the controlled environment;
at least one vehicle in idle mode;
a charging station, the at least one vehicle in idle mode being connected to the charging station for recharging its battery; and
a controller connected to the charging station,
wherein the controller is operative to modulate a charging rate used by the charging station for charging the battery of the at least one vehicle in idle mode, the charging rate being based on a duration between a time of start of a charging and a forecasted time of start of duty mode of the at least one vehicle in idle mode.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the charging rate is inversely proportional to the duration.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the controller is operative to determine the duration based on a forecasted load of passengers to be carried from the first area to the second area of the controlled environment as a function of time.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the forecasted load of passengers is determined from historical data.

19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the load of passengers is determined based on an image analysis of passengers circulating in an airport.

20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the load of passengers is based on information about travelers flying aboard incoming flights.

Assignees

• Bombardier Transp Gmbh

Inventors

• Houle Martin

Classifications

• H02J7/971

  the charge cycle being controlled or terminated in response to non-electric parameters · CPC title

• H02J7/92 Primary

  with prioritisation of loads or sources · CPC title

• B60L58/16

  responding to battery ageing, e.g. to the number of charging cycles or the state of health [SoH] · CPC title

• B60L2240/72

  Charging station selection relying on external data · CPC title

• Y02T90/12

  Electric charging stations · CPC title