Automatic control system and method for thermal comfort of automobile seat

Abstract

The invention discloses an automatic control system and method for the thermal comfort of an automobile seat, and relates to the field of control, and the system comprises a sensor unit which is used for monitoring the riding condition of the automobile seat and detecting the thermal environment parameters of the contact position of a human body and the automobile seat, and outputting the thermal environment parameters to a controller unit; compared with the prior art, the system has the beneficial effects that through cooperative work of the sensor unit, the controller unit and the actuator unit, control over the thermal environment of the contact position of a driver and passengers and a seat is achieved, user characteristics are recognized according to collected pressure and thermal environment data, the thermal comfort value is calculated, the thermal comfort state is judged in real time, and the comfort degree of the driver is improved. According to a preset control MAP, the working states of a seat heating pad and a fan are automatically and cooperatively adjusted, so that the seat thermal environment is adjusted; the intelligent and personalized thermal comfort control can be provided, the comfort of a driver and passengers is improved, and the method is simple and easy to implement.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of control, and specifically to an automatic control system and method for the thermal comfort of automotive seats. Background Technique

[0002] In the development process of automobiles, the comfort of automotive seats has always been an important issue that has received much attention. Traditionally, people have paid more attention to the riding comfort caused by factors such as the structure, material, position, and angle of automotive seats, and have focused on studying the relationship between the supportiveness of automotive seats, pressure distribution, and the perceptions of occupants such as touch and vision. And the riding experience has been improved by optimizing mechanical design, selecting advanced materials, and automatically and individually controlling the position of automotive seats. However, with the rapid improvement of the intelligent level of automobiles and the increasing demands of people's lives, the requirements for automotive comfort are no longer limited to traditional riding comfort, but pay more attention to the thermal comfort brought by automotive seats at the physiological and psychological levels.

[0003] At present, the thermal comfort of automotive seats has become one of the key indicators for measuring the overall comfort of automobiles. Especially in hot summers and cold winters, the demand for the thermal comfort of automotive seats by drivers and passengers is more prominent. In order to optimize the thermal environment at the contact positions between the surface of automotive seats and the body and improve thermal comfort, researchers have integrated thermal environment adjustment devices such as heating pads and fans inside automotive seats. However, most of the existing heating and ventilation systems are independently controlled and mostly use simple switching, gear shifting, or self-regulation methods around the target temperature. This control method usually requires manual operation by drivers and passengers, with insufficient intelligence, which is not only inconvenient but also easily causes energy waste, and at the same time lacks personalization. In addition, some intelligent automatic control methods based on thermal comfort in the literature, although having a certain theoretical basis, have complex algorithms and are difficult to be applied in practice.

[0004] In summary, the existing control methods for the thermal comfort of automotive seats are inconvenient to use or difficult to be applied in practice and need to be improved. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an automatic control system and method for the thermal comfort of automotive seats to solve the problems raised in the above background technique.

[0006] To achieve the above purpose, the present invention provides the following technical solutions: An automatic control system for the thermal comfort of automotive seats, comprising: A sensor unit, used to monitor the riding situation of the automotive seat and detect the thermal environment parameters at the contact positions between the human body and the automotive seat, and output them to the controller unit; A controller unit, which is responsible for identifying the occupant's intention, receiving thermal environment parameters, calculating human thermal comfort, and sending control instructions to the actuator unit based on the thermal comfort adjustment MAP1 diagram of the car seat cushion and the thermal comfort adjustment MAP2 diagram of the backrest; An actuator unit, which is used to receive control instructions and adjust the microenvironment of the contact part between the human body and the car seat; The sensor unit is connected to the controller unit, and the controller unit is connected to the actuator unit.

[0007] The controller unit includes a communication module, a sensor signal conversion module, a thermal comfort calculation module, and an actuator drive module. The communication module is connected to the first end of the thermal comfort calculation module. The second end of the thermal comfort calculation module is connected to the sensor signal conversion module, and the third end of the thermal comfort calculation module is connected to the actuator drive module.

[0008] As a further solution of the present invention: The sensor unit includes a pressure sensor and a thermal environment sensor group. The thermal environment sensor group includes a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, and a wind speed sensor.

[0009] As a further solution of the present invention: The car seat includes a seat cushion and a backrest. The pressure sensor is arranged inside the seat cushion, between the foam layer and the first air fiber layer. At least one group of thermal environment sensor groups are arranged on both the seat cushion and the backrest. Among them, a first heating pad is arranged under the surface of the seat cushion. The first temperature sensor and the first humidity sensor are arranged on the first heating pad, and the first wind speed sensor is arranged in the first air fiber layer of the seat cushion.

[0010] As a further solution of the present invention: The actuator unit includes a first heating pad, a second heating pad, a first fan, and a second fan. The first heating pad, the second heating pad, the first fan, and the second fan receive control signals from the controller unit to adjust the thermal environment of the car seat.

[0011] An automatic control method for the thermal comfort of a car seat includes the following steps: Step S1, monitor the pressure borne by the car seat (through the pressure sensor), judge whether the pressure magnitude meets the occupant's sitting condition. If it meets, identify the user characteristics and enter step S2. If it does not meet, maintain the judgment mode; Step S2, judge whether the user has turned off the automatic control mode of the car seat thermal comfort (through the communication module). If it has been turned off, the automatic control mode remains off, and enter the active adjustment mode of the user's central control system. If it has not been turned off, enter step S3; Step S3, calculate the thermal comfort values at the contact positions between the human body and the car seat cushion and the backrest respectively according to the collected thermal environment parameters (the thermal comfort calculation module calculates according to the thermal environment parameters collected by the sensor signal conversion module), and judge the thermal comfort states of the seat cushion and the backrest; Step S4: Based on the user characteristics and the current thermal comfort states of the seat cushion and the backrest, query the automotive seat cushion thermal comfort adjustment MAP1 diagram and the backrest thermal comfort adjustment MAP2 diagram respectively, and then automatically send adjustment control instructions. Step S5: (The actuator drive module determines the received adjustment control instructions) Based on the adjustment control instructions, drive the heating pads and fans of the seat cushion and the backrest to work together to adjust the thermal environment of the contact parts between the human body and the automotive seat cushion and backrest, and change the thermal comfort of the human body.

[0012] As a further solution of the present invention: In step S3, calculate the thermal comfort values at the contact positions between the human body and the automotive seat cushion and backrest respectively through the PMV algorithm.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: Through the collaborative work of the sensor unit, the controller unit and the actuator unit, the present invention realizes the control of the thermal environment at the contact positions between the driver and passenger and the seat, identifies the user characteristics and calculates the thermal comfort values according to the collected pressure and thermal environment data, judges the thermal comfort state in real time, and automatically and collaboratively adjusts the working states of the seat heating pads and fans according to the preset control MAP diagrams, so as to adjust the seat thermal environment; it can not only provide intelligent and personalized thermal comfort control, improve the comfort of the driver and passenger, but also be simple and easy to implement. Description of the Drawings

[0014] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of an automotive seat thermal comfort automatic control system.

[0015] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the controller unit.

[0016] Figure 3 It is a schematic flow diagram of an automotive seat thermal comfort automatic control method.

[0017] Figure 4 It is the MAP1 diagram of the seat cushion thermal comfort state and the adjustment instructions for the heating pad and the fan.

[0018] Figure 5 It is the MAP2 diagram of the backrest thermal comfort state and the adjustment instructions for the heating pad and the fan.

[0019] In the figure: 1 - Controller unit, 2 - Pressure sensor, 3 - Thermal environment sensor group, 4 - First temperature sensor, 5 - First humidity sensor, 6 - First wind speed sensor, 7 - Foaming layer, 8 - First air fiber layer, 9 - Seat cushion, 10 - Backrest, 11 - First heating pad, 12 - Second temperature sensor, 13 - Second heating pad, 14 - Second humidity sensor, 15 - Second wind speed sensor, 16 - Second air fiber layer, 17 - First fan, 18 - Second fan, 19 - Communication module, 20 - Sensor signal conversion module, 21 - Thermal comfort calculation module, 22 - Actuator drive module, 23 - CPU, 24 - Debug interface. Specific embodiments

[0020] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0021] Please refer to Figure 1 , an automatic control system for the thermal comfort of an automotive seat, comprising: A sensor unit for monitoring the occupancy of the automotive seat and detecting the thermal environment parameters at the contact position between the human body and the automotive seat, and outputting them to the controller unit 1; The controller unit 1 is responsible for identifying the occupant's intention, receiving the thermal environment parameters, calculating the human thermal comfort, and sending control instructions to the actuator unit based on the thermal comfort adjustment MAP1 diagram of the automotive seat cushion 9 and the thermal comfort adjustment MAP2 diagram of the backrest 10; An actuator unit for receiving the control instructions and adjusting the microenvironment at the contact part between the human body and the automotive seat; The sensor unit is connected to the controller unit 1, and the controller unit 1 is connected to the actuator unit.

[0022] In this embodiment: Please refer to Figure 2 , the controller unit 1 includes a communication module 19, a sensor signal conversion module 20, a thermal comfort calculation module 21, and an actuator drive module 22. The communication module 19 is connected to the first end of the thermal comfort calculation module 21. The second end of the thermal comfort calculation module 21 is connected to the sensor signal conversion module 20. The third end of the thermal comfort calculation module 21 is connected to the actuator drive module 22. Among them, the thermal comfort calculation module 21 is provided with a debug interface 24 for simulation debugging and modifying the control code.

[0023] The communication module 19 communicates with the vehicle central control system using the LIN communication method or other communication protocols, and is used to receive the shutdown request signal of the vehicle seat thermal comfort automatic control system; if the user turns off the automatic control function, the user can actively adjust the seat thermal comfort via the central control system through LIN communication.

[0024] The sensor signal conversion module 20 converts the analog signal containing pressure and environmental variable information into a voltage signal recognizable by the controller unit 1.

[0025] The thermal comfort calculation module 21 converts the voltage signal containing environmental variable information into a digital signal, and then obtains the value of the environmental variable. By calculating these values, the thermal comfort calculation module 21 obtains the current thermal comfort value, and determines the thermal comfort state based on this. Subsequently, the module automatically sends a thermal environment adjustment instruction for the contact part between the human body and the seat according to the thermal comfort state. Further, the thermal comfort calculation module 21 includes a CPU 23 and a debugging interface 24 for the control program, which can be used for simulation debugging and downloading control codes.

[0026] The actuator drive module 22 receives the adjustment instruction from the thermal comfort calculation module 21 and drives the actuator unit to work.

[0027] In this embodiment: Please refer to Figure 1 , the sensor unit includes a pressure sensor 2 and a thermal environment sensor group 3, and the thermal environment sensor group 3 includes a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, and a wind speed sensor.

[0028] The pressure sensor 2 is a multi-contact thin-film pressure sensor. The thin-film technology endows the pressure sensor with extremely low temperature sensitivity and long-term stability, and can maintain sensitivity and accuracy in complex environments.

[0029] Through the micro-strain response of the thin-film strain resistance, high-precision pressure measurement is achieved, and the anti-interference ability is outstanding.

[0030] In this embodiment: Please refer to Figure 1 , the vehicle seat includes a seat cushion 9 and a backrest 10. The pressure sensor 2 is disposed inside the seat cushion 9, between the foam layer 7 and the first air fiber layer 8; at least one set of thermal environment sensor groups 3 are provided on both the seat cushion 9 and the backrest 10. Among them, a first heating pad 11 is disposed under the surface of the seat cushion 9, the first temperature sensor 4 and the first humidity sensor 5 are disposed on the first heating pad 11, and the first wind speed sensor 6 is disposed in the first air fiber layer 8 of the seat cushion 9.

[0031] The areas of the thermal environment sensor groups 3 provided on the seat cushion 9 and the backrest 10 are similar, so the thermal environment sensor group 3 provided on the backrest 10 will not be described in detail.

[0032] The pressure sensor 2 is arranged inside the seat cushion 9 to detect whether an occupant is sitting, and feeds back information to the controller unit 1. The thermal environment sensor group 3 arranged on the seat cushion 9 and the backrest 10 respectively feeds back the environmental information of the seat cushion 9 and the backrest 10 to the controller unit 1, so that the controller unit 1 can judge the thermal comfort state of the vehicle seat and control the actuator unit to adjust the microenvironment of the contact part between the human body and the vehicle seat.

[0033] In this embodiment: Please refer to Figure 1 , the actuator unit includes a first heating pad 11, a second heating pad 13, a first blower 17, and a second blower 18. The first heating pad 11, the second heating pad 13, the first blower 17, and the second blower 18 receive control signals from the controller unit 1 to adjust the thermal environment of the vehicle seat. Among them, when the blower rotates forward, it is used for blowing, and when it rotates backward, it is used for sucking. At least one independently heatable heating pad and one independently ventilable blower are arranged inside the seat cushion and the backrest of the vehicle seat.

[0034] When the first blower 17 and the second blower 18 rotate forward, they blow air, and when they rotate backward, they suck air. At least one independently heatable first heating pad 11 and one independently ventilable first blower 17 are installed inside the seat cushion 9 of the vehicle seat, and at least one independently heatable second heating pad 13 and one independently ventilable second blower 18 are installed inside the backrest 10 of the vehicle seat.

[0035] In this embodiment: Please refer to Figure 3 , an automatic control method for the thermal comfort of a vehicle seat includes the following steps: Step S1, using the pressure sensor 2 to monitor the pressure borne by the seat, judging whether the pressure magnitude meets the riding conditions of the occupant. If it meets, identify the characteristics of the user and enter step S2. If it does not meet, maintain the judgment state; Step S2, using the communication module 19 to judge whether the user has turned off the automatic control mode of the thermal comfort of the vehicle seat. If so, terminate the automatic control mode and enter the active adjustment mode of the user's central control system. If not, enter step S3 and start the automatic thermal comfort control; Step S3, the thermal comfort calculation module 21 calculates the thermal comfort values at the contact positions between the human body and the seat cushion 9 and the backrest 10 of the vehicle seat respectively according to the thermal environment parameters collected by the sensor signal conversion module 20, and judges the thermal comfort states of the seat cushion 9 and the backrest 10; the thermal comfort value is obtained by the PMV algorithm, and the values are (-3, -2.5), (-2.5, -1.5), (-1.5, -0.5), (-0.5, 0.5), (0.5, 1.5), (1.5, 2.5), (2.5, 3), and the corresponding thermal comfort states are: cold - very uncomfortable, slightly cold - uncomfortable, cool - comfortable, moderate - very comfortable, warm - comfortable, slightly hot - uncomfortable, hot - very uncomfortable.

[0036] Please refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 In step S4, according to the user characteristics and the thermal comfort states of the current seat cushion 9 and backrest 10, the thermal comfort adjustment MAP1 diagram of the vehicle seat cushion 9 and the thermal comfort adjustment MAP2 diagram of the backrest 10 are respectively queried, and then an adjustment control instruction is automatically sent; wherein, the MAP1 and MAP2 diagrams are obtained through subjective tests and objective experimental data analysis; In step S5, the actuator drive module determines the received adjustment instruction and drives the first heating pad 11, the second heating pad 13, the first blower 17, and the second blower 18 of the seat cushion 9 and the backrest 10 to work together to adjust the thermal environment of the contact parts between the human body and the vehicle seat cushion 9 and the backrest 10, and change the thermal comfort of the human body; Furthermore, in the MAP1 and MAP2, the first heating pad 11 and the second heating pad 13 are adjusted in three levels, namely level 1 - 1, level 2 - 2, and level 3 - 3, and the heating powers at different levels are different; the first blower 17 and the second blower 18 are adjusted in forward and reverse rotations and three levels, namely forward rotation level 1 - P1, forward rotation level 2 - P2, forward rotation level 3 - P3, reverse rotation level 1 - N1, reverse rotation level 2 - N2, and reverse rotation level 3 - N3.

[0037] In this embodiment: Please refer to Figure 3 , in step S3, the thermal comfort values at the contact positions between the human body and the vehicle seat cushion 9 and the backrest 10 are respectively calculated by the PMV algorithm.

[0038] In step S4, the thermal comfort adjustment MAP1 diagram of the seat cushion 9 and the thermal comfort adjustment MAP2 diagram of the backrest 10 are obtained through subjective tests and objective experimental data analysis. If the thermal comfort preference of the user changes, the MAP1 and MAP2 in the program can be adjusted individually through the debugging interface 24 of the thermal comfort calculation module.

[0039] PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) is a thermal comfort evaluation index defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 7730). Its core purpose is to quantify the subjective thermal sensation (such as cold, hot, comfortable) of people in a specific environment through the human body heat balance equation, and it is widely used in fields such as building environment design and air conditioning system optimization.

[0040] Through the collaborative work of the sensor unit, the controller unit 1, and the actuator unit, the present invention realizes the control of the thermal environment at the contact positions between the vehicle occupants and the seat, identifies user characteristics and calculates the thermal comfort value based on the collected pressure and thermal environment data, judges the thermal comfort state in real time, and automatically and collaboratively adjusts the working states of the seat heating pad and the blower according to the preset control MAP diagram, thereby adjusting the seat thermal environment; it can not only provide intelligent and personalized thermal comfort control, improve the comfort of vehicle occupants, but also be simple and easy to implement.

[0041] For those skilled in the art, it is obvious that the present invention is not limited to the details of the above-described exemplary embodiments, and the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or basic characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, from any point of view, the embodiments should be regarded as exemplary and non-limiting.

[0042] In addition, it should be understood that although this specification is described according to the embodiments, not every embodiment only contains an independent technical solution. This narrative way of the specification is only for clarity. Those skilled in the art should regard the specification as a whole, and the technical solutions in each embodiment can also be appropriately combined to form other embodiments that can be understood by those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. An automatic control system for thermal comfort of automobile seats, characterized in that: The automotive seat thermal comfort automatic control system includes: A sensor unit, used to monitor the sitting condition of the car seat and detect the thermal environment parameters at the contact position between the human body and the car seat, and output them to the controller unit; The controller unit is responsible for identifying the intention of the occupant, receiving thermal environment parameters, calculating the thermal comfort of the human body, and sending control instructions to the actuator unit based on the thermal comfort adjustment MAP1 map of the car seat cushion and the thermal comfort adjustment MAP2 map of the backrest; An actuator unit is used to receive control instructions and adjust the microenvironment of the contact area between the human body and the car seat; The sensor unit is connected to the controller unit, and the controller unit is connected to the actuator unit; The controller unit includes a communication module, a sensor signal conversion module, a thermal comfort calculation module and an actuator drive module. The communication module is connected to a first end of the thermal comfort calculation module, a second end of the thermal comfort calculation module is connected to the sensor signal conversion module, and a third end of the thermal comfort calculation module is connected to the actuator drive module.

2. The automotive seat thermal comfort automatic control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sensor unit includes a pressure sensor and a thermal environment sensor group, and the thermal environment sensor group includes a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor and a wind speed sensor.

3. The automatic control system for thermal comfort of automobile seats according to claim 2, characterized in that: The car seat includes a seat cushion and a backrest, a pressure sensor is arranged inside the seat cushion, and is located between a foam layer and a first air fiber layer; the seat cushion and the backrest are both provided with at least one group of thermal environment sensor groups, wherein a first heating pad is arranged under the surface of the seat cushion, a first temperature sensor and a first humidity sensor are arranged on the first heating pad, and a first wind speed sensor is arranged in the first air fiber layer of the seat cushion.

4. The automatic control system for thermal comfort of automobile seats according to claim 1, characterized in that: The actuator unit includes a first heating pad, a second heating pad, a first fan, and a second fan. The first heating pad, the second heating pad, the first fan, and the second fan receive a control signal from a controller unit to adjust the thermal environment of the car seat.

5. A method for automatically controlling thermal comfort of a car seat, applied to the automatic control system for thermal comfort of a car seat according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The method for automatically controlling thermal comfort of a car seat comprises the following steps: Step S1, monitoring the pressure of the car seat, judging whether the pressure meets the passenger's riding conditions, if so, identifying the user characteristics and entering step S2, if not, maintaining the judgment mode; Step S2, determining whether the user has turned off the automatic control mode of the thermal comfort of the car seat. If it has been turned off, the automatic control mode remains turned off and the user central control system enters the active adjustment mode. If it has not been turned off, entering step S3; Step S3, calculating the thermal comfort values ​​of the contact positions between the human body and the seat cushion and the backrest of the automobile seat respectively according to the collected thermal environment parameters, and judging the thermal comfort states of the seat cushion and the backrest; Step S4, querying the thermal comfort adjustment MAP1 map of the automobile seat cushion and the thermal comfort adjustment MAP2 map of the backrest respectively according to the user characteristics and the thermal comfort status of the current seat cushion and backrest, and then automatically sending the adjustment control instruction; Step S5, based on the adjustment control instruction, drives the heating pad and the fan of the seat cushion and the backrest to work together to adjust the thermal environment of the contact part between the human body and the car seat cushion and the backrest, and change the thermal comfort of the human body.

6. The method for automatically controlling thermal comfort of a car seat according to claim 5, characterized in that: In step S3, the thermal comfort values ​​at the contact positions between the human body and the seat cushion and the backrest of the automobile seat are calculated respectively by using the PMV algorithm.

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