JPH031458A - Battery life detecting method for unmanned car - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately detect the life of a battery by memorizing the number of charge discharge cycles on the premise that the discharge amount of the battery or the operation time of an unmanned car makes constant, and giving an alarm when the number of chargedischarge cycles reached a set value. CONSTITUTION:An unmanned car 1 is operated by the instruction from a control center 4. When a specified time elapsed, a signal is sent to a CPU 3a from a timer 6, and the unmanned car 1 is forced to proceed to a charging station and a battery 2 is charged. When the car is operated for a specified time, that is, a specified amount of capacity is discharged, the battery 2 is charged and a counter 7 counts the number of charging and memorizes cumurative cycle numbers. The CPU 3a compares the cycle numbers counted with the counter 7 with a previously memorized value in a memory 8, and instrucs to an alarm unit 5 to give an alarm when both values become the same. An operator knows the life of the battery 2 and renews the battery.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for detecting the lifespan of a battery as a drive source mounted on an unmanned vehicle that automatically travels on a floor surface.

[Prior Art] A battery's capacity decreases due to use (or neglect), and if it continues to be used, eventually it will no longer be able to discharge at the specified current. This maintains its performance.

In addition, the capacity of new batteries gradually increases through repeated charging and discharging, but after reaching a certain maximum value, the capacity decreases with each charge and discharge, until the capacity becomes extremely small and the performance cannot be maintained and it cannot be used. It disappears.

Similarly, batteries installed in unmanned vehicles are charged after being used for a specified period of time to maintain their performance.
If the battery is charged and discharged many times, it will not be able to maintain its performance, and the battery will eventually reach the end of its lifespan and become unusable.

By the way, in an unmanned vehicle that uses a battery as its driving source, if the battery becomes unusable during operation, it will cause many problems such as stopping on the driving route and interrupting work, so it is important to know the battery lifespan. The battery must be replaced with a new one before it becomes unusable.

Conventionally, methods for detecting the lifespan of an unmanned vehicle's battery include detecting when the operating time of the unmanned vehicle from a fully charged state to the time when it becomes necessary to charge the vehicle is extremely reduced, or when the lifespan guarantee period indicated on the battery is detected. A method was used in which the lifespan of the battery was calculated as follows.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the former method, the worker uses his or her own judgment, so there are cases where the worker makes a mistake in judgment or forgets to replace the product, and only realizes this after the unmanned vehicle has stopped. In addition, with the latter method, the lifespan of the battery is greatly affected by the number of charging and discharging cycles, so the lifespan warranty period is generally set quite short in consideration of safety, and in many cases there is still plenty of time to use the battery. I ended up having to replace the battery.

The present invention was made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method that can accurately detect the battery life of an unmanned vehicle.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the method for detecting the battery life of an unmanned vehicle according to the present invention requires that the amount of discharge be constant between when the battery is charged to a fully charged state and when the next charge is attempted. In this method, an alarm is issued when the number of charging/discharging cycles reaches a predetermined number of charging/discharging cycles at which the battery reaches the end of its life, which is determined in accordance with the amount of discharge.

In addition, since the amount of battery discharge is approximately proportional to the operating time of the unmanned vehicle, even if we assume that the operating time of the unmanned vehicle is constant between charging the battery and attempting to charge the next time. good.

Further, the number of charging/discharging cycles at which the stored battery reaches its service life is stored in advance in a memory provided in the control device of the unmanned vehicle, and the number of charging/discharging cycles of the battery is the number of cycles stored in the memory. It is convenient to issue an alarm when the control means determines that

[Example] Next, an example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, 1 indicates the entire unmanned vehicle, and 2 is a battery, which constitutes the power source of the unmanned vehicle 1.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a control device that exchanges signals with the control center 4, and uses a built-in microprocessor (hereinafter referred to as CPU) to control the running of the unmanned vehicle 1, as well as other controls to be described later. Reference numeral 5 denotes an alarm device consisting of, for example, a buzzer, which issues an alarm in response to a command from the control device 3. Also,
As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 3 includes a timer 6 that issues a signal to the CPU 3a when the unmanned vehicle 1 operates for a predetermined period of time, a counter 7 that counts and stores the number of times the battery 2 has been charged, and a set time for the timer 6. Corresponding to this, the battery 2 is provided with a memory 8 for storing the number of charging/discharging cycles determined based on empirical rules to determine how many times the battery 2 must be repeatedly charged/discharged to reach the end of its lifespan. The CPU 3a moves the unmanned vehicle 1 to a charging station (not shown) upon receiving a signal from the timer 6, and activates the alarm device 5 when the count value of the counter 7 reaches the value stored in the memory 8. It has become.

[Function] In the above configuration, the unmanned vehicle 1 is operated according to a command from the control center 4, and when a predetermined period of time has elapsed, a signal is sent from the timer 6 to the CPU 3a, and this CP tJ
3 a and the command from the control center 4, the unmanned vehicle 1 heads to a charging station (not shown), and the battery 2 is charged. Therefore, the battery 2 is charged after a substantially constant operating time has elapsed, that is, after a constant amount of discharge has occurred. Here, the counter 7 counts the number of times of charging and stores the cumulative number of times. on the other hand,
The CPU 3a compares the number of integrations stored in the counter 7 with the numerical value stored in advance in the memory 8, and when the former number of integrations and the latter value become the same, the CPU 3a
a sends a command to the alarm device 5, and this alarm device 5 issues an alarm. When the operator learns the lifespan of the battery 2 from this alarm and replaces the battery 2 with a new one, the counter 7 is reset.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiment merely shows one example of implementing the method of the present invention, and the unmanned vehicle side is provided with only a warning device to notify the battery life, and other controls are carried out at the vehicle control center. There are many possible ways to carry out the invention, including:

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, in the present invention, the number of charge/discharge cycles is set to a constant amount of discharge from the time when the battery is charged to a fully charged state until the next charge. The lifespan of an unmanned vehicle's battery is detected by issuing an alarm when the battery reaches a predetermined number of charging/discharging cycles that reach its lifespan.
You can accurately know the lifespan of an unmanned car's battery.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a front view of an unmanned vehicle, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the control device shown in FIG. 1. 1 ・ 2 ・ 3 ・ a 5 ・ 8 ・ ・Unmanned vehicle◆Battery・Control device・CPU・Alarm device memory Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an unmanned vehicle that automatically travels based on a set program using an onboard battery as a driving source, the battery is charged to a fully charged state and then the next charge is attempted. The battery life of an unmanned vehicle is such that the amount of discharge between the batteries is always kept constant and an alarm is issued when the number of charge/discharge cycles of the battery reaches the number of charge/discharge cycles at which the battery reaches its lifespan, which is determined according to the amount of discharge. Detection method. 2. In an unmanned vehicle that automatically travels based on a set program using an installed battery as a driving source, the unmanned vehicle charges the battery to a fully charged state and then attempts to charge the unmanned vehicle next time. A method for detecting battery life of an unmanned vehicle, in which the operating time is always constant and an alarm is issued when the number of charging/discharging cycles of the battery reaches the number of charging/discharging cycles determined according to the operating time at which the battery reaches its lifespan. . 3. The method for detecting battery life of an unmanned vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the number of charging/discharging cycles at which the battery reaches a life determined according to the amount of discharge is stored in advance in a memory provided in the control means of the unmanned vehicle. The battery life detection method for an unmanned vehicle is characterized in that the control means issues an alarm when the control means determines that the number of charging/discharging cycles of the battery has reached the number stored in the memory. 4. The method for detecting battery life of an unmanned vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the number of charging/discharging cycles at which the battery reaches a life span determined according to the operating time of the unmanned vehicle is stored in a memory provided in a control means of the unmanned vehicle. A battery life detection method for an unmanned vehicle, wherein the battery life detection method for an unmanned vehicle is stored in advance and an alarm is issued when the control means determines that the number of charging/discharging cycles of the battery has reached the number stored in the memory.