Vehicle and Method of Controlling the Same

Abstract

An embodiment method for controlling a vehicle includes receiving state information of the vehicle and state information of a battery, identifying a present state of charge of the battery and calculating a preset reference value of the battery based on the state information of the vehicle and the state information of the battery, and displaying a message based on a difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a vehicle, the method comprising: receiving state information of the vehicle and state information of a battery; identifying a present state of charge of the battery and calculating a preset reference value of the battery based on the state information of the vehicle and the state information of the battery; and displaying a message based on a difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, in response to a difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery being greater than a first preset value, the message comprising information indicating a present state of the battery without an alarm.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the information indicating the present state of the battery comprises a usage graph of the battery, a usable time, and a usable time up to the preset reference value.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein in response to the difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery being greater than a second preset value smaller than the first preset value and being less than or equal to the first preset value, the message comprises the information indicating the present state of the battery and a preset first alarm message.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the preset first alarm message is a caution message to induce a driver of the vehicle to notice the state of the battery.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein in response to the difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery being greater than a third preset value smaller than the second preset value and being less than or equal to the second preset value, the message comprises the information indicating the present state of the battery and a preset second alarm message.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the preset second alarm message is a warning message to induce a driver of the vehicle to continuously notice the state of the battery.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein in response to the difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery being less than or equal to the third preset value, the message comprises the information indicating the present state of the battery, and the method further comprises cutting off power supply from the battery.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising displaying an additional message informing a driver of the vehicle that the power supply is being cut off before cutting off the power supply.

10. A vehicle comprising: a battery management system configured to obtain state information of a battery; and a controller configured to: receive state information of the vehicle and the state information of the battery; identify a present state of charge of the battery and calculate a preset reference value of the battery based on the state information of the vehicle and the state information of the battery; and display a message based on a difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery.

11. The vehicle according to claim 10 wherein in response to the difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery being greater than a first preset value, the controller is configured to display the message comprising information indicating a present state of the battery without an alarm message.

12. The vehicle according to claim 11, wherein the information indicating the present state of the battery comprises a usage graph of the battery, a usable time, and a usable time up to the preset reference value.

13. The vehicle according to claim 11, wherein in response to the difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery being greater than a second preset value smaller than the first preset value and being less than or equal to the first preset value, the controller is configured to display the message comprising the information indicating the present state of the battery and a preset first alarm message.

14. The vehicle according to claim 13, wherein the preset first alarm message is a caution message configured to induce a driver of the vehicle to notice the state of the battery.

15. The vehicle according to claim 13, wherein in response to the difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery being greater than a third preset value smaller than the second preset value and being less than or equal to the second preset value, the controller is configured to display the message comprising the information indicating the present state of the battery and a preset second alarm message.

16. The vehicle according to claim 15, wherein the preset second alarm message is a warning message configured to induce a driver of the vehicle to continuously notice the state of the battery.

17. The vehicle according to claim 15, wherein in response to the difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery being less than or equal to the third preset value, the controller is configured to: display the message comprising the information indicating the present state of the battery; and cut off power supply from the battery.

18. The vehicle according to claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to display an additional message to inform a driver of the vehicle that the power supply is to be cut off before the power supply is cut off.

19. A method comprising: receiving state information of a vehicle and state information of a battery; identifying a present state of charge of the battery and calculating a preset reference value of the battery based on the state information of the vehicle and the state information of the battery; displaying information indicating a present state of the battery, wherein the information indicating the present state of the battery comprises a usage graph of the battery, a usable time, and a usable time up to the preset reference value; displaying a first preset alarm message in response to a difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery being greater than a second preset value smaller than a first preset value and being less than or equal to the first preset value; and displaying a second preset alarm message in response to the difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery being greater than a third preset value smaller than the second preset value and being less than or equal to the second preset value.

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising cutting off power supply from the battery in response to the difference between the present state of charge of the battery and the preset reference value of the battery being less than or equal to the third preset value.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] These and/or other embodiments of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0027] FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a control system of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0028] FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a control method of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0029] FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an example of a battery management standard of a vehicle control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

[0030] Like numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification. Not all elements of embodiments of the present invention will be described, and description of what are commonly known in the art or what overlap each other in the embodiments will be omitted. The terms as used throughout the specification, such as “˜ part”, “˜ module”, “˜ member”, “˜ block”, etc., may be implemented in software and/or hardware, and a plurality of “˜ parts”, “˜ modules”, “˜ members”, or “˜ blocks” may be implemented in a single element, or a single “˜ part”, “˜ module”, “˜ member”, or “˜ block” may include a plurality of elements.

[0031] It will be further understood that the term “connect” or its derivatives refer both to direct and indirect connection, and the indirect connection includes a connection over a wireless communication network.

[0032] It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, identify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0033] In the specification, it will be understood that, when a member is referred to as being “on/under” another member, it can be directly on/under the other member, or one or more intervening members may also be present.

[0034] The terms including ordinal numbers like “first” and “second” may be used to explain various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. The terms are only for the purpose of distinguishing a component from another.

[0035] As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0036] Reference numerals used for method steps are just used for convenience of explanation, but not to limit an order of the steps. Thus, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the written order may be practiced otherwise.

[0037] Hereinafter, the operating principles and embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0038] FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a control system of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 1, a controller 102 monitors a state of batteries 122 and 124 mounted in the vehicle, and displays a guide message indicating the state of the batteries 122 and 124 step by step. Accordingly, a driver of the vehicle may recognize the state of the batteries 122 and 124 in advance step by step before discharging.

[0040] To this end, a battery management system (BMS) 110 monitors the state of a main battery 122 and an auxiliary battery 124, and provides state information of the batteries 122 and 124 to the controller 102 as a monitoring result. The state information of the batteries 122 and 124 may include current and liquid temperature of each of the batteries 122 and 124, state of health (SOH), state of charge (SOC), and internal resistance.

[0041] The main battery 122 and the auxiliary battery 124 constitute a dual power supply. That is, the controller 102 generates a relatively high voltage and a low voltage through two batteries, the main battery 122 and the auxiliary battery 124, and controls the battery management system 110 so that high voltage power or low voltage power is supplied as needed to each electronic element. According to the need, only one of the main battery 122 and the auxiliary battery 124 may be used as a single power source.

[0042] A generator 126 is provided to charge the main battery 122 and the auxiliary battery 124 through power generation. State information indicating whether the generator 126 is operating is provided to the controller 102. The controller 102 may identify whether the generator 126 operates based on the state information received from the generator 126.

[0043] An engine 130 is provided to provide power to the vehicle. Status information of the engine 130 is provided to the controller 102. The state information of the engine 130 provided to the controller 102 includes information indicating ‘IG ON state’ and ‘ACC state’. The controller 102 identifies whether the vehicle is in a parking standby mode from the state information of the engine 130. The parking standby mode means a state in which the engine 130 of the vehicle is in the IG ON state and the generator 126 is not operated.

[0044] In response to the state of the batteries 122 and 124 being identified, the controller 102 displays the state information of the batteries 122 and 124 through a display 140, and also displays a predetermined guide message (warning message) to correspond to the state of the batteries 122 and 124 through the display 140.

[0045] FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a control method of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The vehicle control method of FIG. 2 operates based on the device configuration of FIG. 1.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 2, the controller 102 receives state information of the vehicle and state information of the batteries 122 and 124 in response to the vehicle being in the parking standby mode (202). The state information of the vehicle may include state information indicating whether or not the generator 126 operates, and temperature outside the vehicle. The state information of the batteries 122 and 124 may include current and liquid temperature of each of the batteries 122 and 124, state of health (SOH), state of charge (SOC), and internal resistance.

[0047] Subsequently, the controller 102 sets a management standard based on the state of the batteries 122 and 124 (204). A management standard is a standard for generating an alarm to notify the driver in response to the state of the batteries 122 and 124 being a state that requires attention and interest of the driver.

[0048] For example, the controller 102 may set the management standard based on the liquid temperature and the state of health (SOH) of the batteries 122 and 124.

[0049] FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an example of a battery management standard of a vehicle control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, points are given according to the respective values of the liquid temperature and the state of health (SOH) of the batteries 122 and 124. For example, the lower the liquid temperature of the batteries 122 and 124 and the higher the state of health (SOH), the greater the management standard. Conversely, the higher the liquid temperature of the batteries 122 and 124 and the lower the state of health (SOH), the smaller the management standard.

[0050] Returning to FIG. 2, the controller 102 identifies the state of the batteries 122 and 124 and calculates various values related to the batteries 122 and 124 based on the state information of the batteries 122 and 124 (206). The values calculated at this time may include ‘available time’ and ‘usage’ of the batteries 122 and 124, ‘main battery saving amount (dual power supply)’, and ‘restartability’.

[0051] Calculation of values related to the state of the batteries 122 and 124 may be performed in different ways depending on whether both batteries 122 and 124 are used (dual power) or only one main battery 122 is used. In the case of using dual power, the ‘available time’ and ‘usage’ of the aforementioned batteries 122 and 124, ‘main battery saving amount (dual power)’, and ‘restartability’ are all calculated. Unlike this, in the case of only using the main battery 122, only the ‘available time’ and ‘usage’ of the batteries 122 and 124, and ‘restartability’ are calculated. That is, in the case of only using the main battery 122, there is no need to calculate the ‘main battery saving amount (dual power supply)’. ‘Available time’, ‘usage’, ‘main battery saving amount (dual power)’, and ‘restartability’ can be calculated as follows, respectively.

Available Time=(Present SOC−Management standard)/Current Filter Value  i)

Usage=Accumulated amount of each main battery and auxiliary battery (accumulated amount of auxiliary battery is calculated only during dual power supply)  ii)

Main battery saving amount=Accumulation of main battery−Accumulation of auxiliary battery (main battery saving amount is calculated only during dual power supply)  iii)

Restartability=f(SOC,Liquid Temperature,SOH)  iv)

[0052] Here, the ‘restartability’ of the engine 130 means whether the engine 130 may be restarted with a present state of the batteries 122 and 124, and is calculated by substituting the present state of charge (SOC), the liquid temperature, and the state of health (SOH) of the batteries 122 and 124 into a predefined function.

[0053] In response to this calculation being completed, the controller 102 identifies how much the state of charge (SOC) of the battery exceeds a preset management standard (210 to 230). The preset management standard may be defined as the minimum value that the driver should pay attention to and requires interest in the state of the batteries 122 and 124 of the vehicle. For example, the preset management standard may be defined based on the total amount of electric power consumed by the vehicle's electric components per unit time.

[0054] In response to the state of charge (SOC) of the batteries 122 and 124 being greater than the preset management standard by 15% or more (‘Yes’ of 210), the controller 102 displays information related to the present state of the batteries 122 and 124 through the display 140 (212). At this time, the information related to the present state of the batteries 122 and 124 displayed through the display 140 includes a graph of usage, available time, available time to management standard, and the like of the batteries 122 and 124. However, since the state of charge (SOC) of the batteries 122 and 124 exceeds the preset management standard by 15% or more, the driver only refers to the state of the batteries 122 and 124, and there is no need to display a specific alarm or to perform a control of the batteries 122 and 124.

[0055] In response to the state of charge (SOC) of the batteries 122 and 124 being greater than the preset management standard by 10% or more (‘Yes’ of 220), the controller 102 displays information related to the present state of the batteries 122 and 124 through the display 140 (222). At this time, the information related to the present state of the batteries 122 and 124 displayed through the display 140 includes a graph of usage, available time, available time to management standard, and the like of the batteries 122 and 124. In addition, the controller 102 displays through the display 140 that the present state of charge (SOC) of the batteries 122 and 124 is ‘management standard+10% or more (15% or less)’. In addition, the controller 102 induces the driver to be interested to the state of the batteries 122 and 124 by displaying a ‘caution message’ through the display 140 (224).

[0056] In response to the state of charge (SOC) of the batteries 122 and 124 being greater than the preset management standard by 5% or more (‘Yes’ of 230), the controller 102 displays information related to the present state of the batteries 122 and 124 through the display 140 (232). At this time, the information related to the present state of the batteries 122 and 124 displayed through the display 140 includes a graph of usage, available time, available time to management standard, and the like of the batteries 122 and 124. In addition, the controller 102 displays through the display 140 that the present state of charge (SOC) of the batteries 122 and 124 is ‘management standard+5% or more (10% or less)’. In addition, the controller 102 induces the driver to continuously pay attention to the state of the batteries 122 and 124 by displaying a ‘warning message’ through the display 140 (234).

[0057] In response to the state of charge (SOC) of the batteries 122 and 124 being greater than the preset management standard by 5% or less (‘No’ of 230), the controller 102 displays information related to the present state of the batteries 122 and 124 through the display 140 (242). At this time, the controller 102 displays the present state of charge (SOC) of the batteries 122 and 124 through the display 140 ‘management standard+5% or less’. In addition, the controller 102 cuts off power supply from the batteries 122 and 124 so that the power of the batteries 122 and 124 is not consumed (244).

[0058] However, in this case, it is preferable that the controller 102 informs that the power supply may be cut off soon through the display 140 before cutting off the power supply from the batteries 122 and 124, and enables the driver to prepare in advance for the cut off of the power supply.

[0059] As is apparent from the above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, by comparing the charge amount of the battery with a predetermined reference value and outputting the warning message in stages, the driver can prepare in advance for a change in the state of charge of the battery.

[0060] Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Therefore, exemplary embodiments of the present invention have not been described for limiting purposes.