Description:FIELD OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE
[001] Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the field of electric vehicles. In
particular, embodiments of the present invention relate to a central controller, its method, and a
system for charging and controlling charging of electric vehicles.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
[002] Systems, for charging electric vehicles with multiple terminals, provision to charge
multiple vehicles at a time. Such a system’s architecture usually includes multiple control units
which control the charging. Each terminal may be connected with a dedicated control unit. Thus,
the complexity of deploying such systems may increase. Further, for an increasing number of
charging terminals, dedicated control units may also need to be included along with additional
charging terminals. Therefore, it may be required to alter the complete architecture of the system.
[003] Some conventional systems teach to provide a centralized controller. However, such a
system may not function efficiently to simultaneously charge all the connected electric vehicles.
Such a centralized controller merely teaches to receive data related to current details and state of
the electric vehicles to prioritize and decide the order of charging of the electric vehicle. Such
centralized controllers do not act as a replacement for the control units connected with the charging
terminals.
[004] The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for
enhancement of understanding of the general background of the disclosure and should not be taken
as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms existing information
already known to a person skilled in the art.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
[005] A system for charging plurality of electric vehicles is described in the present disclosure.
The system comprises plurality of charging terminals, a user input receiving interface, and a
central controller. The plurality of charging terminals are configured to establish a connection
between plurality of electric vehicles and a power source. The user input receiving interface is
configured to receive user inputs related to charging of each of one or more electric vehicles
connected with corresponding charging terminal of the plurality of charging terminals. The central
controller is connected, via data communication, with the power source and each of the plurality
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of charging terminals through a dedicated relay. The central controller is configured to control
simultaneous charging of the one or more electric vehicles based on real-time power consumption
parameters received from the power source and the user inputs.
[006] In an embodiment, the real-time power consumption parameters comprise power schedule,
power capacity, and power constraints associated with the power source. The user inputs comprise
electric vehicle details, payment details, and charging details, and the replay associated with each
of the plurality of charging terminals is a contactor relay
[007] In an embodiment, the central controller controls the simultaneous charging of the one or
more electric vehicles by switching ON and switching OFF of the relay connected to
corresponding charging terminal via a power and data communication interface, based on the realtime power consumption parameters and the user inputs.
[008] In an embodiment, the central controller is configured to perform at least one of detecting
an occurrence of at least one of a ground fault, earth presence and earth leakage in the system when
charging the one or more electrical vehicles, monitoring loads of the system, and supply of the
power to the one or more electric vehicles, providing surge protection and temperature protection
in the system when charging the one or more electric vehicles, checking earth continuity and
presence of leakage current in the system, facilitating communication module to establish
communication with other components of the system used for charging the plurality of electric
vehicles and controlling under and over voltage and frequency in the system.
[009] A central controller and its method for controlling charging of plurality of electric vehicles
are also described in the present disclosure. The central controller comprises one or more
processors and a memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors. The memory
stores processor-executable instructions, which, on execution, cause the one or more processors to
control the charging of the one or more electric vehicles. For controlling the charging, user inputs
related to charging of each of one or more electric vehicles connected with corresponding charging
terminals of plurality of charging terminals are received. Real-time power consumption parameters
from power source, providing power to charge the one or more electric vehicles, are received.
Simultaneous charging of the one or more electric vehicles is controlled based on the real-time
power consumption parameters and the user inputs.
[010] In an embodiment, the central controller controls the simultaneous charging of the one or
more electric vehicles by switching ON and switching OFF of the relay connected to
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corresponding charging terminal via power and data communication interface, based on the realtime power consumption parameters and the user inputs.
[011] In an embodiment, the central controller is configured to perform at least one of detecting
occurrence of at least one of ground fault earth presence and earth leakage in the system when
charging the one or more electrical vehicles, monitoring loads of the system, and supply of the
power to the one or more electric vehicles, providing surge protection and temperature protection
in the system when charging the one or more electric vehicles, checking earth continuity and
presence of leakage current in the system, facilitating communication module to establish
communication with other components of the system used for charging the plurality of electric
vehicles and controlling under and over voltage and frequency in the system.
[012] The features and advantages of the subject matter hereof will become more apparent in
light of the following detailed description of selected embodiments, as illustrated in the
accompanying FIGUREs. As one of ordinary skill in the art will realize, the subject matter
disclosed is capable of modifications in various respects, all without departing from the scope of
the subject matter. Accordingly, the drawings and the description are to be regarded as illustrative.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[013] The present subject matter will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings,
which are provided as illustrative examples of the subject matter to enable those skilled in the art
to practice the subject matter. It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, features are
identified by like reference numerals. Notably, the FIGUREs and examples are not meant to limit
the scope of the present subject matter to a single embodiment, but other embodiments are possible
by way of interchange of some or all of the described or illustrated elements and, further, wherein:
[014] FIGURE 1A illustrates an exemplary environment of a system for charging plurality of
electric vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[015] FIGURES 1B and 2 show an exemplary block diagram of central controller for controlling
charging of one or more electric vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[016] FIGURE 3 illustrates exemplary embodiment of system for charging plurality of electric
vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
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[017] FIGURE 4 is an exemplary process of central controller for controlling charging of one or
more electric vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
[018] FIGURE 5 illustrates an exemplary computer unit in which or with which embodiments
of the present invention may be utilized.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[019] The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is
intended as a description of exemplary embodiments in which the presently disclosed process can
be practiced. The term "exemplary" used throughout this description means "serving as an
example, instance, or illustration," and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or
advantageous over other embodiments. The detailed description includes specific details for
providing a thorough understanding of the presently disclosed method and system. However, it
will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the presently disclosed process may be practiced
without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in
block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the presently disclosed method
and system.
[020] Embodiments of the present invention include various steps, which will be described
below. The steps may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in machineexecutable instructions, which may be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose
processor programmed with the instructions to perform the steps. Alternatively, steps may be
performed by a combination of hardware, software, firmware, and human operators.
[021] Embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a computer program product,
which may include a machine-readable storage medium tangibly embodying thereon instructions,
which may be used to program the computer (or other electronic devices) to perform a process.
The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, fixed (hard) drives,
semiconductor memories, such as ROMs, PROMs, random access memories (RAMs),
programmable read-only memories (PROMs), erasable PROMs (EPROMs), electrically erasable
PROMs (EEPROMs), flash memory or other types of media/machine-readable medium suitable
for storing electronic instructions (e.g., computer programming code, such as software or
firmware).
[022] Various methods described herein may be practiced by combining one or more machinereadable storage media containing the code according to the present invention with appropriate
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standard computer hardware to execute the code contained therein. An apparatus for practicing
various embodiments of the present invention may involve one or more computers (or one or more
processors within the single computer) and storage systems containing or having network access
to a computer program(s) coded in accordance with various methods described herein, and the
method steps of the invention could be accomplished by modules, routines, subroutines, or
subparts of a computer program product.
[023] The terms "connected" or "coupled" and related terms are used in an operational sense and
are not necessarily limited to a direct connection or coupling. Thus, for example, two devices may
be coupled directly, or via one or more intermediary media or devices. As another example, devices
may be coupled in such a way that information can be passed therebetween, while not sharing any
physical connection with one another. Based on the disclosure provided herein, one of ordinary
skill in the art will appreciate a variety of ways in which connection or coupling exists in
accordance with the aforementioned definition.
[024] If the specification states a component or feature "may," "can," "could," or "might" be
included or have a characteristic, that particular component or feature is not required to be included
or have the characteristic.
[025] As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of
"a," "an," and "the" includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also,
as used in the description herein, the meaning of "in" includes "in" and "on" unless the context
clearly dictates otherwise.
[026] The phrases "in an embodiment," "according to one embodiment," and the like generally
mean the particular feature, structure, or characteristic following the phrase is included in at least
one embodiment of the present disclosure and may be included in more than one embodiment of
the present disclosure. Importantly, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.
[027] It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the diagrams, schematics,
illustrations, and the like represent conceptual views or processes illustrating systems and methods
embodying this invention. The functions of the various elements shown in the figures may be
provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing
associated software. Similarly, any switches shown in the figures are conceptual only. Their
function may be carried out through the operation of program logic, through dedicated logic,
through the interaction of program control and dedicated logic, or even manually, the particular
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technique being selectable by the entity implementing this invention. Those of ordinary skill in the
art further understand that the exemplary hardware, software, processes, methods, and/or operating
systems described herein are for illustrative purposes and, thus, are not intended to be limited to
any particular name.
[028] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to charging of electric vehicles. The proposed
system includes a centralized controller which is configured to control the charging of the electric
vehicles using real-time power consumption parameters and user inputs. The centralized controller
dynamically controls simultaneous charging of the electric vehicles without the need for an
independent controller for each charging terminal. The centralized controller is programmable and
functions efficiently considering the real-time power consumption parameters.
[029] FIGURE 1 illustrates an exemplary environment 100 of the system for charging the
plurality of electric vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As
shown in FIGURE 1, the exemplary environment 100 comprises a central controller 102, a
communication network 104, a user input receiving interface 106, a user 108, plurality of relays
110a…110n (together referred to as plurality of relays 110), plurality of charging terminals
112a…112n (together referred to as plurality of charging terminals 112), one or more electric
vehicles 114, and a power source 116. The one or more electric vehicles 114 are battery-driven
vehicles that need to be recharged to run. In an embodiment, the one or more electric vehicles 114
may be Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) or Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV). The one or
more electric vehicles 114 may be connected to the plurality of charging terminals 112 to establish
connections and receive power from the power source 116. The power source 116 is an energy
source that supplies power to the plurality of charging terminals 112. In an embodiment, the power
source 116 may be electrical grid or a renewable power source which may generate power required
for the power source 116. In the case of renewable power sources, the power may be generated
using wind, solar power, geothermal heat, or waste. In an embodiment, the power source 116 may
be in communication with the central controller 102 to provide real-time power consumption
parameters. In an embodiment, the real-time power consumption parameters include, but are not
limited to, power schedule, power capacity, and power constraints associated with the power
source 116. In an embodiment, the central controller 102 and the power interface may be connected
via a data communication interface.
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[030] The central controller 102 may be connected with each of the plurality of charging
terminals 112 via a dedicated relay. The central controller 102 may control the relay to control the
supply of power to corresponding charging terminal and thereby to the one or more electric
vehicles 114. Further, the user input receiving interface 106 of the system is configured to receive
user inputs from the user 108. The user 108 may be an electric vehicle user. The user 108 may
provide the user inputs to initiate the charging of an electric vehicle connected to a charging
terminal from the plurality of charging terminals 112. The central controller 102 may be connected
with the user input receiving interface 106 to dynamically receive the user inputs. In an
embodiment, the user inputs may include but are not limited to, electric vehicle details, payment
details, charging details, and so on.
[031] The central controller 102 is configured to control charging of the one or more electric
vehicles 114 based on the real-time power consumption parameters and the user inputs. As shown
in FIGURE 1b, the central controller 102 may include one or more processors 116, an
Input/Output (I/O) interface 118, one or more modules 120, and a memory 122. In some nonlimiting embodiments or aspects, the memory 122 may be communicatively coupled to the one or
more processors 116. The memory 122 stores instructions, executable by the one or more
processors 116, which on execution, may cause the central controller 102 to control charging of
the one or more electric vehicles 114. FIGURE 2 shows a detailed block diagram of the central
controller 102. In some non-limiting embodiments or aspects, the memory 122 may include
data 124. In an embodiment, the memory 122 may be associated with the central controller 102 as
an external peripheral to store the data 124. The one or more modules 120 may be configured to
perform the steps of the present disclosure using the data 124 to control the charging of the electric
vehicles 114. In some non-limiting embodiments or aspects, each of the one or more
modules 120 may be a hardware unit, which may be outside the memory 122 and coupled with the
central controller 102. In some non-limiting embodiments or aspects, the central controller
102 may be implemented in a variety of computing systems, such as a laptop computer, a desktop
computer, a Personal Computer (PC), a notebook, a smartphone, a tablet, e-book readers, a server,
a network server, a cloud server, and the like.
[032] The data 124 in the memory 122 and the one or more modules 120 of the central controller
102 are described herein in detail. In one implementation, the one or more modules 120 may
include, but are not limited to, user inputs receiving module 202, a power consumption parameters
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receiving module 204, a charging controlling module 206, and one or more other
modules 208 associated with the central controller 102. In some non-limiting embodiments or
aspects, the data 124 in the memory 122 may include user inputs data 210 (herewith also referred
to as user inputs 210), power consumption parameters 212 (herewith also referred to as one or
more power consumption parameters 212), charging control data 214, and other
data 216 associated with the central controller 102.
[033] In some non-limiting embodiments or aspects, the data 124 in the memory 122 may be
processed by the one or more modules 120 of the central controller 102. In some non-limiting
embodiments or aspects, the one or more modules 120 may be implemented as dedicated units and
when implemented in such a manner, the modules may be configured with the functionality
defined in the present disclosure to result in novel hardware. As used herein, the term module may
refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGA), a Programmable System-on-Chip (PSoC), a combinational
logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality. The one
or more modules 120 of the present disclosure function to control the access to the virtual and realworld environment. The one or more modules 120 along with the data 124, may be implemented
in any system for controlling charging of the one or more electric vehicles 114.
[034] FIGURE 3 illustrates exemplary embodiment of the system for charging electric vehicles,
in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the exemplary embodiment, the
system comprises the central controller 102, the user input receiving interface, the plurality of
relays 110, the plurality of charging terminals 112, and energy meters 302.
[035] For controlling the charging of the one or more electric vehicles 114 connected to charging
terminals from the plurality of charging terminals 112. The user inputs receiving module 202 of
the central controller 102 is configured to receive the user inputs 210 related to charging of each
of one or more electric vehicles 114 connected with corresponding charging terminal of the
plurality of charging terminals 112. The user inputs 210 may be obtained from the user 108 via the
user input receiving interface 106. In an embodiment, the user input receiving interface 106 may
be accessed by the user 108 via one or more means, known to a person skilled in the art. The one
or more means may include, but are not limited to, an application or a web-page accessed via a
user device of a user, a kiosk placed near charging terminals, and so on. In an embodiment, the
user input receiving interface 106 may be a local interfaced deployed using a dedicated server. In
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an embodiment, the user input receiving interface 106 may be deployed as a cloud-based server
configured to receive the user inputs 210 and manage the central controller 102 for controlling the
charging. The user input receiving interface 106 may provide options to the user 108 to inputs the
user inputs 210. In an embodiment, the user inputs 210 may include, but are not limited to, electric
vehicle details, payment details, charging details, and so on, required for charging the electric
vehicle of the user 108. In an embodiment, the electric vehicle details may indicate information
related to the electric vehicle which is to be charged. For example, the model of the electric vehicle
may be the electric vehicle details. In an embodiment, payment details indicate amount paid by
the user 108 to recharge the electric vehicle. In an embodiment, the user input receiving interface
106 may provision to make financial transactions for recharging the electric vehicle. The amount,
transacted by the user 108 for recharging the electric vehicle, may be stored and provided as the
user inputs 210 to the central controller 102. In an embodiment, the charging details may indicate
how much the vehicle is to be charged. For example, the charging details may indicate the time
duration for which the electric vehicle is to be charged or threshold percentage to which battery to
electric vehicle is to be charged. The central controller 102 may be connected with the user input
receiving interface 106 via a data communication interface. In a non-limiting embodiment, the
data communication interface between the central controller 102 and the user input receiving
interface 106 may be achieved using the communication network 104, as shown in FIGURE 1A.
In an embodiment, the communication network 104 may include, without limitation, a direct
interconnection, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a wireless network
(e.g., using Wireless Application Protocol), the Internet, and the like. Via the communication
network 104, the user inputs receiving module 202 of the central controller 102 may receive the
user inputs 210.
[036] Further, for controlling the charging of the electric vehicles 114, the power consumption
parameters receiving module 204 may be configured to the real-time power consumption
parameters 212 from the power source 116 providing power to charge the electric vehicles 114.
The power consumption parameters receiving module 204 may be connected with the power
source 116 through one or more energy meters 302 to receive the real-time power consumption
parameters 212. In an embodiment, the one or more energy meters 302 may be configured to
monitor and measure the power provided by the power source 116 to each of the plurality of
charging terminals 112. In an embodiment, the real-time power consumption parameters 212
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include, but are not limited to, power schedule, power capacity, and power constraints associated
with the power source 116. In an embodiment, the power schedule indicates time durations at
which the power may be provided by the power source 116. The power schedule may depend on
power cuts, maintenance timings of the power source 116, and so on. In an embodiment, the power
capacity may indicate the amount of power that is stored in the power source 116 at an instant of
time. In an embodiment, the power constraints may indicate constraints and restrictions set for the
power source 116. Consider, the proposed system is established within a campus with working
professionals who own electric vehicles 114 and use the proposed system to charge the electric
vehicles 114. The power constraints may indicate on how much power in the power is to be
dedicated for the charging of electric vehicles 114 and how much to use for other facilities on the
campus. One or more other such power consumption parameters 212, known to a person skilled in
the art, may be received by the power consumption parameters receiving module 204. In an
embodiment, some of the real-time power consumption parameters 212 may be predefined
parameters and some of the real-time power consumption parameters 212 may dynamically vary.
Value of the real-time power consumption parameters 212, at the time of initiating the charging of
the electric vehicles 114, may be received by the power consumption parameters receiving module
204 as the real-time power consumption parameters 212. In an embodiment, the power
consumption parameters receiving module 204 may be connected with the one or more energy
meters 302 and the data communication interface. The data communication interface may be used
to receive the real-time power consumption parameters 212. In an embodiment, the data
communication interface may be a direct interconnection. In an embodiment, the direct
interconnection may be achieved via one or more means, known to a person skilled in the art. The
direct interconnection may be achieved using cables, data transmission circuits, and so on. In an
embodiment, the direct interconnection may be achieved via interfaces such as, but not limited to,
RS-485, RS-232, RS-422, and so on.
[037] In an embodiment, each of the plurality of charging terminals 112 may be associated with
a dedicated electric meter from the one or more energy meters 302. In an embodiment, the one or
more energy meters 302 are connected to the plurality of charging terminals 112 via the plurality
of relays 110. The power from the power source 116 may be provided to the plurality of charging
terminals 112 via the one or more energy meters 302 and the plurality of relays 110. However, the
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supply of the power and thereby, charging of the electric vehicles 114 are controlled by the central
controller 102 via the plurality of relays 110.
[038] Based on the user inputs 210 and the real-time power consumption parameters 212, the
charging controlling module 206 of the central controller 102 may be configured to control the
simultaneous charging of the one or more electric vehicles 114. In an embodiment, the central
controller 102 controls the simultaneous charging of the one or more electric vehicles 114 by
switching ON and switching OFF of the relay connected to corresponding charging terminal. The
decision of switching ON and OFF of each of the plurality of relays 110 may be based on the realtime power consumption parameters 212 and the user inputs 210. The decision taken to switch
ON and OFF the plurality of relays 110 and instructions provided by the charging controlling
module 206 to the plurality of relays 110 may be stored as the charging control data 214 in the
memory 122. In an embodiment, the charging controlling module 206 may be connected with the
plurality of relays 110 via the data communication interface. In an embodiment, the data
communication interface may be a direct interconnection. In an embodiment, the direct
interconnection may be achieved via one or more means, known to a person skilled in the art. For
example, the direct interconnection may be achieved using cables, data transmission circuits, and
so on. In an embodiment, the direct interconnection may be achieved via interfaces such as, but
not limited to, RS-485, RS-232, RS-422, and so on. In an embodiment, the plurality of relays 110
may be contactor relays. One or more other known kinds of relays may be implemented in the
proposed system, for controlling the charging of the electric vehicles 114. The plurality of relays
110 may be connected with the plurality of charging terminals 112 via the power and data
communication interface. In a non-limiting embodiment, the power and data communication
interface may be achieved using, without limitation, Power-Line Communication (PLC).
[039] In an embodiment, the central controller 102 may be further configured to detect
occurrence of at least one of ground fault, earth presence and earth leakage in the system when
charging the one or more electrical vehicles. One or more other modules of the central controller
102 may be configured to monitor continuously to detect the ground fault, earth presence and the
earth leakage. A module for detecting the ground fault and earth presence may include a circuitry
or detectors to detect conductor insulation resistance to ground. A module for detecting the earth
leakage may include a circuitry or detectors to measure leakage resistance on meter.
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[040] In an embodiment, the central controller 102 may be further configured to monitor loads
of the system and supply the power to the one or more electric vehicles 114. The loads may be
monitored to identify operating conditions of the loads and determine consumption of power of
each of the loads in the system. The one or more other modules may include a load manager to
monitor the loads and manage the consumption of power by the loads.
[041] In an embodiment, the central controller 102 may be further configured to provide surge
protection and temperature protection when charging the one or more electric vehicles 114. The
one or more other modules may implement one or more techniques, known to a person skilled in
the art, to provide the surge protection and the temperature protection. In an embodiment, the
central controller 102 may be further configured to check earth continuity in the system. The
central controller 102 checks to maintain earth continuity within minimum and maximum earth
continuity required in the system. In an embodiment, the central controller 102 may be further
configured to check presence of leakage current in the system. One or more techniques, known to
a person skilled in the art, may be implemented to conduct test of the earth continuity and the
leakage current. In another embodiment, in case of any abnormalities detected, the central
controller 102 may be configured to provide alerts for the abnormalities.
[042] In an embodiment, the central controller 102 may be further configured to facilitate a
communication module to establish communication with other components of the system. In an
embodiment, the other components include, but are not limited to, the user input receiving interface
106, the plurality of relays 110, the one or more electric meters 302 and so on.
[043] In an embodiment, the central controller 102 may be further configured to control under
voltage, over voltage, under frequency and over frequency occurrences in the system. Such
controlling aids in maintaining optimal voltage and frequency of power signals in the system.
[044] In an embodiment, the central controller 102 along with the one or more energy meters 302
and the plurality of relays 110 may be implemented as a central Distribution board (DB) unit 304
in the system. The central DB unit 304 may be placed proximal to the plurality of charging
terminals 112. In another embodiment, the system provisions to deploy additional charging
terminals as per requirements. In such cases, corresponding additional relays and corresponding
additional energy meters are also added within the central DB unit 304. The central controller 102
is fed with appropriate data related to the additional charging terminals, additional relays, and
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additional energy meters to support charging and controlling of charging of the electric vehicles
114 using the additional charging terminals.
[045] In some non-limiting embodiments or aspects, the central controller 102 may receive data
for controlling the charging via the I/O interface 118. The received data may include, but is not
limited to, at least one of the user inputs 210, real-time power consumption parameters 212, and
the like. Also, the central controller 102 may transmit data for generating the application source
code via the I/O interface 118. The transmitted data may include, but is not limited to, the charging
control data 214, and the like.
[046] The other data 216 may comprise data, including temporary data and temporary files,
generated by modules for performing the various functions of the central controller 102. The one
or more modules may also include other modules 208 to perform various miscellaneous
functionalities of the central controller 102. It will be appreciated that such modules may be
represented as a single module or a combination of different modules
[047] FIGURE 4 shows an exemplary process of a central controller 102 for controlling charging
of the one or more electric vehicles 114, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
disclosure. Process 400 for controlling the charging includes steps coded in form of executable
instructions to be executed by the central controller 102 using the diagram.
[048] At block 402, the central controller 102 is configured to receive user inputs 210 related to
charging of each of the one or more electric vehicles 114 connected with corresponding charging
terminals of plurality of charging terminals 112. In an embodiment, the user inputs 210 include
electric vehicle details, payment details and charging details, and the replay associated with each
of the plurality of charging terminals 112.
[049] At block 404, the central controller 102 is configured to receive the real-time power
consumption parameters 212 from power source 116 providing power to charge the one or more
electric vehicles 114. The real-time power consumption parameters 212 comprise power schedule,
power capacity, and power constraints associated with the power source 116.
At block 406, the central controller 102 is configured to control simultaneous charging of the one
or more electric vehicles 114 based on the real-time power consumption parameters 212 and the
user inputs 210. In an embodiment, the controlling of the simultaneous charging of the one or more
electric vehicles 114 includes switching ON and switching OFF of the relay connected to
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corresponding charging terminal via power and data communication interface, based on the realtime power consumption parameters 212 and the user inputs 210.
[050] Overall, with the proposed system, operation and maintenance overhead may be reduced,
as there is single control to control charging using plurality of charging terminal. Even with
increase in number of charging terminals, the single control unit may be configured to function for
controlling the charging.
[051] Further, the proposed system reduces operational cost as each charging point does need
data GPRS sim/any other network connectivity. Further, the need to deploy charging terminals
with a controller part is eliminated. The single controller connectivity may be shared among
multiple charging terminals. Thus, wiring cost is reduced in bulk implementation. In the system,
data points are received from one controller with redundant network connectivity. Thus, more
accurate and precise data may be received. Accurate, precise and real-time data is the basis of the
perfect demand management solution. Further, the proposed system provisions flexibility to
add/remove chargers using same infrastructure making it a modular system. Centralized control
unit is implement on distributing load as per input capacity and has an ability to integrate with
building being systems centrally and locally for all chargers in one go. The central controller of
the proposed system has the ability to provide load metering for any 3rd party charger of any type.
[052] FIGURE 5 illustrates an exemplary computer system in which or with which embodiments
of the present invention may be utilized. Depending upon the particular implementation, the
various process and decision blocks described above may be performed by hardware components,
embodied in machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a general-purpose or
special-purpose processor programmed with the instructions to perform the steps, or the steps may
be performed by a combination of hardware, software, firmware and/or involvement of human
participation/interaction. As shown in FIGURE 5, the computer system 500 includes an external
storage device 510, bus 520, main memory 530, read-only memory 540, mass storage device 550,
communication port(s) 560, and processing circuitry 570.
[053] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the computer system 500 may include more
than one processing circuitry 570 and one or more communication ports 560. The processing
circuitry 570 should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or more microprocessors,
microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices, Field-Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), etc., and may include a
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multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quadcore, Hexa-core, or any suitable number of cores) or
supercomputer. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 570 is distributed across multiple
separate processors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same type of processing units
(e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multiple different processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor
and an Intel Core i7 processor). Examples of the processing circuitry 570 include, but are not
limited to, an Intel® Itanium® or Itanium 2 processor(s), or AMD® Opteron® or Athlon MP®
processor(s), Motorola® lines of processors, System on Chip (SoC) processors, or other future
processors. The processing circuitry 570 may include various modules associated with
embodiments of the present disclosure.
[054] The communication port 560 may include a cable modem, Integrated Services Digital
Network (ISDN) modem, a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, an
Ethernet card, or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or any other
suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involve the Internet or any other
suitable communications networks or paths. In addition, communications circuitry may include
circuitry that enables peer-to-peer communication of electronic devices or communication of
electronic devices in locations remote from each other. The communication port 560 may be any
RS-232 port for use with a modem-based dialup connection, a 10/100 Ethernet port, a Gigabit, or
a 10 Gigabit port using copper or fiber, a serial port, a parallel port, or other existing or future
ports. The communication port 560 may be chosen depending on a network, such as a Local Area
Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or any network to which the computer system 500
may be connected.
[055] The main memory 530 may include Random Access Memory (RAM) or any other dynamic
storage device commonly known in the art. Read-only memory (ROM) 540 may be any static
storage device(s), e.g., but not limited to, a Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM) chips for
storing static information, e.g., start-up or BIOS instructions for the processing circuitry 570.
[056] The mass storage device 550 may be an electronic storage device. As referred to herein,
the phrase "electronic storage device" or "storage device" should be understood to mean any device
for storing electronic data, computer software, or firmware, such as random-access memory, readonly memory, hard drives, optical drives, Digital Video Disc (DVD) recorders, Compact Disc
(CD) recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders, Digital Video
Recorders (DVRs, sometimes called a personal video recorder or PVRs), solid-state devices,
17
quantum storage devices, gaming consoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or
removable storage devices, and/or any combination of the same. Nonvolatile memory may also be
used (e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-based storage may be used
to supplement the main memory 530. The mass storage device 550 may be any current or future
mass storage solution, which may be used to store information and/or instructions. Exemplary
mass storage solutions include, but are not limited to, Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment
(PATA) or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disk drives or solid-state drives
(internal or external, e.g., having Universal Serial Bus (USB) and/or Firmware interfaces), e.g.,
those available from Seagate (e.g., the Seagate Barracuda 7200 family) or Hitachi (e.g., the Hitachi
Deskstar 7K1000), one or more optical discs, Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)
storage, e.g., an array of disks (e.g., SATA arrays), available from various vendors including Dot
Hill Systems Corp., LaCie, Nexsan Technologies, Inc. and Enhance Technology, Inc.
[057] The bus 520 communicatively couples the processing circuitry 570 with the other memory,
storage, and communication blocks. The bus 520 may be, e.g., a Peripheral Component
Interconnect (PCI) / PCI Extended (PCI-X) bus, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), USB,
or the like, for connecting expansion cards, drives, and other subsystems as well as other buses,
such a front side bus (FSB), which connects processing circuitry 570 to the software system.
[058] Optionally, operator and administrative interfaces, e.g., a display, keyboard, and a cursor
control device, may also be coupled to the bus 520 to support direct operator interaction with the
computer system 500. Other operator and administrative interfaces may be provided through
network connections connected through the communication port(s) 560. The external storage
device 510 may be any kind of external hard drives, floppy drives, IOMEGA® Zip Drives,
Compact Disc - Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM), Compact Disc - Re-Writable (CD-RW), Digital
Video Disk - Read Only Memory (DVD-ROM). In an embodiment, the external storage device
510 may be associated with the computer system 500 as either an internal component or an external
peripheral. The components described above are meant only to exemplify various possibilities. In
no way should the aforementioned exemplary computer system limit the scope of the present
disclosure.
[059] The computer system 500 may be accessed through a user interface. The user interface
application may be implemented using any suitable architecture. For example, it may be a standalone application wholly implemented on the computer system 500. The user interfaces application
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and/or any instructions for performing any of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded
on computer-readable media. Computer-readable media includes any media capable of storing
data. In some embodiments, the user interface application is a client-server-based application. Data
for use by a thick or thin client implemented on electronic device computer system 500 is retrieved
on-demand by issuing requests to a server remote to the computer system 500. For example,
computer system 500 may receive inputs from the user via an input interface and transmit those
inputs to the remote server for processing and generating the corresponding outputs. The generated
output is then transmitted to the computer system 500 for presentation to the user.
[060] While embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be
clear that the invention is not limited to these embodiments only. Numerous modifications,
changes, variations, substitutions, and equivalents, will be apparent to those skilled in the art
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as described in the claims.
[061] Thus, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the diagrams,
schematics, illustrations, and the like represent conceptual views or processes illustrating systems
and methods embodying this invention. The functions of the various elements shown in the figures
may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing
associated software. Similarly, any switches shown in the figures are conceptual only. Their
function may be carried out through the operation of program logic, through dedicated logic,
through the interaction of program control and dedicated logic, or even manually, the particular
technique being selectable by the entity implementing this invention. Those of ordinary skill in the
art further understand that the exemplary hardware, software, processes, methods, and/or operating
systems described herein are for illustrative purposes and, thus, are not intended to be limited to
any particular name.
[062] As used herein, and unless the context dictates otherwise, the term "coupled to" is intended
to include both direct coupling (in which two elements that are coupled to each other contact each
other) and indirect coupling (in which at least one additional element is located between the two
elements). Therefore, the terms "coupled to" and "coupled with" are used synonymously. Within
the context of this document, terms "coupled to" and "coupled with" are also used euphemistically
to mean "communicatively coupled with" over a network, where two or more devices are able to
exchange data with each other over the network, possibly via one or more intermediary device.
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[063] It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those
already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive
subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.
Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in
the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms "comprises" and
"comprising" should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a nonexclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present,
or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly
referenced. Where the specification claims refer to at least one of something selected from the
group consisting of A, B, C …. and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element
from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc.
[064] While the foregoing describes various embodiments of the invention, other and further
embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. The
scope of the invention is determined by the claims that follow. The invention is not limited to the
described embodiments, versions, or examples, which are included to enable a person having
ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention when combined with information and
knowledge available to the person having ordinary skill in the art.
[065] The foregoing description of embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the
art to make and use the subject matter. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily
apparent to those skilled in the art, and the novel principles and subject matter disclosed herein
may be applied to other embodiments without the use of the innovative faculty. The claimed
subject matter set forth in the claims is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein
but is to be accorded to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed
herein. It is contemplated that additional embodiments are within the spirit and true scope of the
disclosed subject matter.
, Claims:We claim:
1. A system for charging plurality of electric vehicles, the system comprising:
plurality of charging terminals (112) configured to establish connection between
plurality of electric vehicles and a power source (116);
a user input receiving interface configured to receive user inputs related to charging
of each of one or more electric vehicles connected with corresponding charging terminal
of the plurality of charging terminals (112); and
a central controller (102) connected, via data communication, with the power
source (116) and each of the plurality of charging terminals (112) through a dedicated relay,
wherein the central controller (102) is configured to control simultaneous charging of the
one or more electric vehicles based on real-time power consumption parameters received
from the power source (116) and the user inputs.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the real-time power consumption parameters
comprise power schedule, power capacity and power constraints associated with the power
source (116), and the user inputs comprise electric vehicle details, payment details and
charging details, and the replay associated with each of the plurality of charging terminals
(112) is a contactor relaye
pl
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the central controller (102) controls the
simultaneous charging of the one or more electric vehicles by switching ON and switching
OFF of the relay connected to corresponding charging terminal via power and data
communication interface, based on the real-time power consumption parameters and the
user inputs.
4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the acentral controller (102) is configured to
perform at least one of:
detecting occurrence of at least one of ground fault, earth presence and earth
leakage in the system when charging the one or more electrical vehicles;
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monitoring loads of the system, and supply of the power to the one or more electric
vehicles;
providing surge protection and temperature protection in the system when charging
the one or more electric vehicles;
checking, by the central controller (102), earth continuity and presence of leakage
current in the system;
facilitating communication module to establish communication with other
components of the system used for charging the plurality of electric vehicles; and
controlling under and over voltage and frequency in the system.
5. A central controller for controlling charging of plurality of electric vehicles, the central
controller (102) comprises:
one or more processors; and
a memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the
memory stores processor-executable instructions, which, on execution, cause the one or
more processors to:
receive user inputs related to charging of each of one or more electric
vehicles connected with corresponding charging terminal of plurality of charging
terminals (112);
receive real-time power consumption parameters from power source (116)
providing power to charge the one or more electric vehicles; and
control simultaneous charging of the one or more electric vehicles based on
the real-time power consumption parameters and the user inputs.
6. The central controller as claimed in claim 5, wherein the central controller (102) controls
the simultaneous charging of the one or more electric vehicles by:
switching ON and switching OFF of the relay connected to corresponding charging
terminal via power and data communication interface, based on the real-time power
consumption parameters and the user inputs.
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7. The central controller as claimed in claim 5, wherein the central controller (102) is
configured to perform at least one of:
detecting occurrence of at least one of ground fault, earth presence and earth
leakage in a system associated with the central controller, when charging the one or more
electrical vehicles;
monitoring loads of the system, and supply of the power to the one or more electric
vehicles;
providing surge protection and temperature protection in the system when charging
the one or more electric vehicles;
checking, by the central controller (102), earth continuity and presence of leakage
current in the system;
facilitating communication module to establish communication with other
components of the system used for charging the plurality of electric vehicles; and
controlling under and over voltage and frequency in the system.
8. A method for controlling charging of plurality of electric vehicles, the method comprising:
receiving, by a central controller (102), user inputs related to charging of
each of one or more electric vehicles connected with corresponding charging
terminal of plurality of charging terminals (112);
receiving, by the central controller (102), real-time power consumption
parameters from power source (116) providing power to charge the one or more
electric vehicles; and
controlling, by the central controller (102), simultaneous charging of the
one or more electric vehicles based on the real-time power consumption parameters
and the user inputs.
9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein controlling the simultaneous charging of the
one or more electric vehicles comprises:
switching ON and switching OFF of the relay connected to corresponding charging
terminal via power and data communication interface, based on the real-time power
consumption parameters and the user inputs.
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10. The method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising at least one of:
detecting, by the central controller (102), occurrence of at least one of ground fault,
earth presence and earth leakage in a system associated with the central controller, when
charging the one or more electrical vehicles;
monitoring, by the central controller (102), loads of the system, and supply of the
power to the one or more electric vehicles;
providing, by the central controller (102), surge protection and temperature
protection in the system when charging the one or more electric vehicles;
checking, by the central controller (102), earth continuity and presence of leakage
current in the system;
facilitating, by the central controller (102), communication module to establish
communication with other components of the system used for charging the plurality of
electric vehicles; and
controlling, by the central controller (102), under and over voltage and frequency
in the system.