On-board-unit for use in vehicle identification

摘要

A system and method for automatic identification and recording of vehicles passing a road user charging point or location. A system and method for powering an on-board-unit (OBU) that can be mounted in a vehicle by including an energy harvester capable of providing at least a part of the energy required to operate the on-board-unit.

主权项

1. An on-board unit (10) for automatic identification of a vehicle on a road user charging system, the on-board unit (10) including an identification module and a power unit (12), energy storage unit (14) being a capacitive device, power management unit (15), main components (17), and an antenna (18) for communication with a reader unit of roadside equipment (100) proximate a road in a road charging system, comprising an energy harvester (11) connected to the power unit (12) via an impedance and voltage matching module (13), the energy harvester (11) comprising at least one tunable resonant mechanical device in a material capable of generating electrical power when subjected to mechanical influence and being configured for providing at least a portion of energy required to operate the antenna (18) and main components (17) of the on-board-unit (10) for communication with the reader unit of roadside equipment (100).