US-12624675-B2 - User device vehicle charger strategy

US12624675B2US 12624675 B2US12624675 B2US 12624675B2US-12624675-B2

Abstract

A depletion amount of energy required to charge a user device connected to a device port of a vehicle is estimated based on a state of charge (SoC) of a device battery of the connected user device. Responsive to an expected SoC of a LV battery of the vehicle after providing the depletion amount of energy exceeding a calibrated threshold amount of energy of the LV battery, the connected user device is charged during key off. Otherwise, an engine start/stop schedule defining a time to start an engine of the vehicle and a duration of run time for the engine is utilized to generate additional energy to charge the connected user device to ensure the LV battery remains above the calibrated threshold amount of energy.

Inventors

Stuart C. Salter
Jessica Louise Smith
Todd Ansbacher
David Celinske
Brendan F. Diamond
Leann Kridner

Assignees

FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240925

Claims (20)

1 . A vehicle for charging user devices, comprising: a plurality of device ports each configured to provide power from a low-voltage (LV) battery of the vehicle to a device battery of a respective connected user device; and one or more controllers, configured to: monitor for presence of a plurality of connected user devices, estimate a depletion amount of energy required to charge the plurality of connected user devices based on a sum of a state of charge (SoC) of the respective device batteries, responsive to an expected SoC of the LV battery after providing the depletion amount of energy exceeding a calibrated threshold amount of energy of the LV battery, charge the plurality of connected user devices during key off, and otherwise, utilize an engine start/stop schedule defining a time to start an engine of the vehicle and a duration of run time for the engine to generate additional energy to charge the plurality of connected user devices to ensure the LV battery remains above the calibrated threshold amount of energy.
2 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to, responsive to the expected SoC exceeding the calibrated threshold amount of energy and the vehicle being unable to start the engine, charge the plurality of connected user devices during key off until the LV battery reaches the calibrated threshold amount of energy.
3 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to, responsive to the duration of run time for the engine exceeding a predefined threshold amount of time, display a consent prompt to a human machine interface (HMI) to confirm to allow the engine to run for the duration of run time.
4 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to determine presence of at least one of the plurality of connected user devices by monitoring discharge current at the plurality of device ports.
5 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to determine presence of at least one of the plurality of connected user devices by monitoring one or more of: positional sensors, resistive based measurements, interior cameras, and/or interior radar.
6 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are configured to receive information indicative of the SoC of the device batteries over respective data connections between the plurality of connected user devices and the one or more controllers.
7 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to: determine a location of the vehicle using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) controller; responsive to the location requiring user input to confirm that the vehicle can be remotely started during key off, display a consent prompt to a human machine interface (HMI); and utilize the engine start/stop schedule responsive to receiving permission via the consent prompt to start the engine during key off.
8 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to: detect presence of the plurality of connected user devices during key on of the vehicle; and charge the LV battery to a level of SoC exceeding a default key off SoC of the LV battery, to increase the expected SoC of the LV battery during key off.
9 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to: responsive to an expected future trip for the vehicle, defer a start time of the engine start/stop schedule until a predefined minimum period of time from key off.
10 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to display a settings interface to an HMI, the settings interface allowing for configuration of one or more of: a start time of the engine for the engine start/stop schedule; a run time of the engine for the engine start/stop schedule; or a SoC to charge the LV battery.
11 . The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the settings interface further includes an option to charge the plurality of connected user devices as much as possible without starting the engine.
12 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to display a settings interface to an HMI, the settings interface allowing for separate configuration of charging preferences for each of the plurality of connected user devices.
13 . The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the settings interface indicates, for each of the plurality of connected user devices, a SoC to charge the respective connected user device.
14 . The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the settings interface indicates, for each of the plurality of connected user devices, a current SoC of the respective connected user device.
15 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to: display, to an HMI, a plurality of options in the engine start/stop schedule, each option indicating a different device SoC level or amount of time to charge each of the plurality of connected user devices; receive a selection of one of the plurality of options; and utilize the engine start/stop schedule to charge the plurality of connected user devices based on the selected one of the plurality of options.
16 . A method for charging user devices, comprising: estimating a depletion amount of energy required to charge a plurality of user devices connected to a plurality of device ports of a vehicle based on a sum of state of charge (SoC) of device batteries of the plurality of connected user devices; responsive to an expected SoC of a LV battery of the vehicle after providing the depletion amount of energy exceeding a calibrated threshold amount of energy of the LV battery, charge the connected plurality of user devices during key off; and otherwise, utilizing an engine start/stop schedule defining a time to start an engine of the vehicle and a duration of run time for the engine to generate additional energy to charge the connected plurality of user devices to ensure the LV battery remains above the calibrated threshold amount of energy.
17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising, responsive to the expected SoC exceeding the calibrated threshold amount of energy and the vehicle being unable to start the engine, charging the plurality of connected user devices during key off until the LV battery reaches the calibrated threshold amount of energy.
18 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising, responsive to the duration of run time for the engine exceeding a predefined threshold amount of time, displaying a consent prompt to a human machine interface (HMI) to confirm to allow the engine to run for the duration of run time.
19 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising one or more of: determining presence of the plurality of connected user devices by monitoring discharge current at the device port; determining presence of the plurality of connected user devices via a data connection to the connected user device connected to the device port; and/or receiving information indicative of the SoC of the device battery over the data connection.
20 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising: determining a location of the vehicle using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) controller; responsive to the location requiring user input to confirm that the vehicle can be remotely started during key off, displaying a consent prompt to a human machine interface (HMI); and utilizing the engine start/stop schedule responsive to receiving permission via the consent prompt to start the engine during key off.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 18/533,594 filed Dec. 8, 2023, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 12,123,384 on Oct. 22, 2024, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference herein. TECHNICAL FIELD Aspects of the disclosure generally relate to strategies for charging user devices connected to the vehicle during key off. BACKGROUND A vehicle may be used to charge various devices. These devices may include cell phones or tablet computers. The devices may be connected to the vehicle's alternator and/or battery to receive power. This may be done, for instance, using wired universal serial bus (USB) connections or wireless charging pads. SUMMARY In one or more illustrative examples, a vehicle for charging user devices includes a device port configured to provide power from a low-voltage (LV) battery of the vehicle to a device battery of a connected user device and one or more controllers. The one or more controllers are configured to estimate a depletion amount of energy required to charge the connected user device based on a state of charge (SoC) of the device battery, responsive to an expected SoC of the LV battery after providing the depletion amount of energy exceeding a calibrated threshold amount of energy of the LV battery, charge the connected user device during key off, and otherwise, utilize an engine start/stop schedule defining a time to start an engine of the vehicle and a duration of run time for the engine to generate additional energy to charge the connected user device to ensure the LV battery remains above the calibrated threshold amount of energy. In one or more illustrative examples, a method for charging user devices is provided. A depletion amount of energy required to charge a user device connected to a device port of a vehicle is estimated based on a state of charge (SoC) of a device battery of the connected user device. Responsive to an expected SoC of a LV battery of the vehicle after providing the depletion amount of energy exceeding a calibrated threshold amount of energy of the LV battery, the connected user device is charged during key off. Otherwise, an engine start/stop schedule defining a time to start an engine of the vehicle and a duration of run time for the engine is utilized to generate additional energy to charge the connected user device to ensure the LV battery remains above the calibrated threshold amount of energy. In one or more illustrative examples, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions for charging a user device that, when executed by one or more controllers of a vehicle, cause the one or more controllers to perform operations including to estimate a depletion amount of energy required to charge a user device connected to a device port of a vehicle based on a SoC of a device battery of the connected user device; responsive to an expected SoC of a LV battery of the vehicle after providing the depletion amount of energy exceeding a calibrated threshold amount of energy of the LV battery, charge the connected user device during key off; responsive to the expected SoC exceeding the calibrated threshold amount of energy and the vehicle being unauthorized to start an engine of the vehicle, charging the connected user device during key off until the LV battery reaches the calibrated threshold amount of energy; and otherwise, utilizing an engine start/stop schedule defining a time to start the engine of the vehicle and a duration of run time for the engine to generate additional energy to charge the connected user device to ensure the LV battery remains above the calibrated threshold amount of energy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding of the invention and to show how it may be performed, embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 illustrates an example portion of a vehicle configured to power user devices via device ports of the vehicle; FIG. 2 illustrates further details of the vehicle and the user device; FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the vehicle displaying a user interface for requesting user consent to activate the engine while the vehicle is in an off mode; FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the vehicle displaying a user interface illustrating the settings for charging the user devices; FIG. 5 illustrates an example process for the operation of the vehicle controller for providing power to the user device via the device ports; and FIG. 6 illustrates an example computing device for use in the charging of user devices by a vehicle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale;