Thermal system optimized for heat, energy, noise, vibration, and acoustic roughness

Abstract

Techniques are provided for optimizing the performance of each of the components of a vehicle thermal system, including a radiator system and an air conditioning system, to provide desired cooling within a vehicle cabin while reducing noise and potential vibrations caused by the operation of individual components of the thermal system and the collective operation of the components. Optimizing the operational settings of each component relative to one another provides desired internal vehicle cabin cooling while maintaining effective thermal loading and energy usage, as while the speed and / or duty cycle of one component can be increased, the speed and / or duty cycle of another component can be decreased, resulting in better overall thermal loading and energy efficiency.

Description

Cross Reference to Related Applications

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Application No. 18 / 622,975, filed March 31, 2024, entitled “THERMAL, ENERGY, NOISE, VIBRATION AND HARSHNESS OPTIMIZED THERMAL SYSTEM,” the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND

[0002] Control of noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) perceived by a user in an interior cabin of a vehicle while the vehicle is in operation is very important for usability and comfort of the user. Noise includes quantifiable sound perceived in the vehicle cabin, for example, sound generated by mechanical components such as radiator fan, air conditioning compressor, condenser and evaporator, ventilation system, and driveline. Such mechanical components can be considered as noise sources. Other noise perceived by the user can include sound outside the vehicle cabin, such as road noise, wind noise, and environmental background sound, such as street noise and pedestrian noise. Such sound outside the vehicle cabin can be referred to as noise sources, or such sound can be referred to as noise masking sound, as they can “mask” the vehicle mechanical sound. Vibration includes quantifiable oscillation felt by the user at various oscillation frequencies, where the user can perceive the vibration through contact with vehicle components such as seat, armrest, steering wheel, floor, pedal, etc. Like noise, vibration can be caused by mechanical components of the vehicle (noise sources), and can be caused by sound outside the vehicle cabin. Harshness is a subjective attribute of noise and vibration, where different users can have different perceptions of noise and vibration, and thus different degrees of reduction in comfort in the vehicle cabin due to objectionable noise and / or vibration.

[0003] To combat high ambient temperatures, it is known that the operating settings (e.g., speed and / or duty cycle) of each of the components of a vehicle thermal system (e.g., radiator system and / or air conditioning system) can simply be increased. However, making such changes typically only increases NVH, and increasing the operating settings of each component increases significant thermal loading on the radiator and air conditioning system, and results in inefficient energy consumption and undesirable thermal inefficiencies and loading. The inventions disclosed herein identify and optimize the operating settings of specific noise-maker mechanical components to improve noise, vibration, and harshness perceived by a user in an interior cabin of a vehicle, while optimizing thermal and energy usage performance of the associated systems that employ those mechanical components. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0004] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most (one or more) digit(s) of each reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similar or identical components or features.

[0005] Figure 1 is a flowchart diagram illustrating example techniques for determining and optimizing operational settings of one or more mechanical components to optimize energy utilization and thermal loading, noise, vibration, and acoustic roughness in a vehicle cabin, according to one or more examples of the present disclosure.

[0006] Figure 2 illustrates an example vehicle including components of a vehicle radiator system and an air conditioning system, according to one or more examples of the present disclosure.

[0007] Figure 3 illustrates an example computing system including thermal management components configured to optimize operational settings of one or more mechanical components to optimize energy utilization and thermal loading, noise, vibration, and acoustic roughness in a vehicle cabin, according to one or more examples of the present disclosure.

[0008] Figure 4 illustrates data containing operational settings of one or more thermal system components determined based at least in part on ambient air temperature and / or radiator coolant outlet temperature and / or observed interior cabin noise, according to one or more examples of the present disclosure.

[0009] Figure 5 depicts a block diagram of an example system for optimizing operational settings of one or more mechanical components to optimize energy utilization and thermal loading, noise, vibration, and acoustic roughness in a vehicle cabin, according to one or more examples of the present disclosure.

[0010] Figure 6 is a flowchart diagram illustrating an example process for optimizing operational settings of one or more thermal system components to optimize energy utilization and thermal loading, noise, vibration, and acoustic roughness in a vehicle cabin, according to one or more examples of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] As discussed above, noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) is a problem for vehicle users who experience discomforting noise and vibrations in the vehicle cabin, which is caused in part by the operation of vehicle systems such as the radiator system and the air conditioning system. Such noise makers can be particularly problematic when operating at high operating loads to overcome varying ambient temperatures outside or inside the vehicle cabin. As discussed above, the discomforting noise and / or vibrations individually or in combination create a harshness environment for the vehicle user(s), which can be of different importance to different users. In some cases, noise or vibrations from outside the vehicle cabin (such as road noise, wind noise, ambient background sounds such as pedestrian noise, etc.) can mask unwanted and discomforting noise and vibrations inside the vehicle cabin, but such masking of noise is not a reliable solution for vibrations inside the vehicle cabin because such noise masking sounds can also create a harshness environment for the vehicle user.

[0012] According to an example, a vehicle system according to the present disclosure includes a thermal system including a radiator system and an air conditioning system. The radiator system is operable to dissipate heat from inside a vehicle cabin via its integration with a vehicle air conditioning system, and to dissipate heat from outside the vehicle cabin from the vehicle drivetrain (e.g., an internal combustion engine, an electric motor, or a hybrid engine / motor) and from certain associated components such as a battery system and a computer system. The thermal system also includes an air conditioning system for cooling the interior cabin of the vehicle. The radiator system can include a radiator through which coolant fluid is passed for capturing heat from the vehicle motor, battery system, and / or vehicle computing system and expelling the heat to the ambient environment. A radiator fan can be included for passing cool air over the radiator to reduce the temperature of the coolant flowing through the radiator to further expel heat generated by the vehicle components (e.g., motor, battery system, computing system, etc.) to the ambient environment.

[0013] The air conditioning system is operable to cool the interior of the vehicle cabin to provide a comfortable temperature for the vehicle user. The air conditioning system includes an AC condenser having an air conditioning (AC) condenser blower for collecting and releasing heat from the vehicle cabin. An air conditioning compressor is typically included, which is responsible for pressurizing and heating the refrigerant for increasing system energy efficiency and for causing cooling when the pressurized refrigerant is released through an evaporator. The evaporator converts the pressurized liquid refrigerant to gaseous refrigerant, such that the gaseous refrigerant cooler is used to absorb heat from the air inside the vehicle cabin, and thus to provide cooling inside the vehicle cabin. An evaporator blower is typically provided for blowing air through the cooling coils of the evaporator and for moving the resulting cooled air into the vehicle cabin. A liquid cooling condenser (LCC) is provided, which integrates a radiator system with the air conditioning system. The LCC is a heat exchanger device that removes heat from the air conditioning refrigerant and transfers the heat to a liquid flowing through it, and then through the radiator system, for dissipating the heat to the outside environment. Additional techniques, systems, and methods for thermal management of the vehicle system (inside and outside the vehicle cabin) can be found, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 11\279,206 B1, titled “Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) System,” dated March 22, 2022, and in U.S. Patent No. 11\659,696 B2, titled “Vehicle Computer Cooling Architecture,” dated May 23, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0014] According to an example, the radiator system and the air conditioning system work in coordination, where the operational performance of one or more components of the radiator system affects the operational performance of one or more components of the air conditioning system. For example, for a given power usage of the various components of the radiator system and the air conditioning system, for a given ambient air temperature outside the vehicle and / or a noise or vibration level inside the vehicle cabin, the components of each of the radiator system and the air conditioning system can be adjusted dynamically, iteratively, and in real-time to achieve desired energy and thermal efficiency and desired NVH management. The adjustment of the components of the radiator system and the air conditioning system can also provide desired heat dissipation and cabin cooling, while optimizing thermal and energy efficiency and improving NVH performance inside the vehicle cabin.

[0015] As illustrated in the example, the operation of components in the radiator system and air conditioning system (thermal system) generates sound, which translates into cabin noise within the vehicle compartment. The operation of these components can also generate vibrations that can be perceived by users within the vehicle compartment. The resulting noise and potential vibrations can increase the acoustic roughness of the environment inside the vehicle compartment. In typical operating environments, as the temperature inside the vehicle compartment rises and the cooling effect of the air conditioning system is required, the operating speed or duty cycle (e.g., the percentage of time a component is operating) of each of these components can be increased, resulting in increased noise and potential vibrations from these components as the temperature rises, leading to worse noise, vibration, and acoustic roughness within the vehicle compartment. This is particularly problematic in the high-temperature environments that often occur in late spring, summer, and early autumn.

[0016] As discussed above, simply increasing the operating settings of each component of the radiator and air conditioning systems (e.g., speed and / or duty cycle) can increase cooling, but may worsen NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) in the vehicle cabin as noise and potential vibration from each component increase. Furthermore, increasing the operating settings of each component independently of the operating settings of other components in the radiator and air conditioning systems increases the significant heat load on the radiator and air conditioning system components, leading to inefficient energy consumption and thermal performance.

[0017] According to examples of this disclosure, techniques are provided for optimizing the performance of each component in a radiator system and an air conditioning system to provide desired cooling within the vehicle compartment while reducing noise and potential vibration caused by the operation of individual components and the combined operation of the components. Furthermore, optimizing the operating settings of each component relative to each other provides desired interior compartment cooling while maintaining efficient heat load and energy use, because while the speed and / or duty cycle of one component may be increased, the speed and / or duty cycle of another component may be decreased, resulting in better overall heat load and energy efficiency.

[0018] Each component in the radiator and air conditioning system generates varying levels of noise and potential vibration during operation, depending on its adjusted operating settings to account for changing temperature levels within the vehicle cabin. For example, noise and potential vibration from the radiator fan can be considered relatively low. Noise and potential vibration from the AC condenser blower can be considered low to moderate depending on its operating settings. Noise and potential vibration from the AC evaporator blower can be considered low to high depending on the ventilation settings used to allow airflow through the evaporator coils and into the vehicle cabin. And noise and potential vibration from the AC compressor can be considered high, especially during high-temperature environments where a more robust duty cycle for the AC compressor is required.

[0019] According to the examples of this disclosure, instead of operating each component independently, the operation of the components is collectively controlled to optimize the cooling, heat dissipation, energy efficiency, and thermal performance of the components, while simultaneously reducing the noise and potential vibration of the assembly of individually operated components. For example, for a given ambient temperature outside the vehicle compartment, or alternatively, for a given noise or vibration level observed inside the vehicle compartment, the operating settings for each component can be adjusted to achieve the desired cooling and heat dissipation, but reduce the noise and potential vibration from the assembly of components and the resulting acoustic roughness. For example, for a given ambient temperature outside the vehicle compartment or a given noise or vibration level inside the vehicle compartment, the radiator fan speed can be increased, the AC condenser blower speed can be maintained at the current level, the operation of the AC compressor can be reduced, and the operation of the evaporator blower can be reduced, resulting in a reduction in noise and potential vibration from the assembly of components, while increasing the desired cooling and heat dissipation. It should be understood that this is merely an example optimization and does not limit the number of optimization settings that can be used at different ambient temperatures outside the vehicle compartment or at different observed noise or vibration levels inside the vehicle compartment.

[0020] According to the example, based on testing and observation, multiple different radiator system and air conditioning system operating settings can be generated to automatically adjust the operation of the radiator system and air conditioning system components under different ambient temperatures outside the vehicle compartment or different observed noise or vibration levels inside the vehicle compartment. For example, an optimization for the operation of the radiator system and air conditioning system components can be determined for an external ambient temperature of 25°C or an internal compartment noise level of 30 dB, while different optimizations can be determined for an external ambient temperature of 45°C or an internal compartment noise level of 90 dB. That is, for each external ambient temperature or observed internal compartment noise or vibration level, an optimization for the operation of individual components of the radiator system and air conditioning system can be determined, and when the external ambient temperature or observed internal compartment noise or vibration level reaches different levels, the operation of the individual components can be automatically reset using the optimization. Therefore, noise and potential vibration from the assembly of components (and the resulting acoustic roughness) can be automatically adjusted to optimize the operation of the assembly of components to reduce NVH under varying external ambient temperatures or observed internal cabin noise or vibration levels, while maintaining desired energy efficiency and thermal performance.

[0021] After determining the optimal settings for the components of the radiator and air conditioning systems based on testing and observation of varying levels of external ambient temperature and / or observed changes in interior cabin noise, the optimal settings for each of the varying temperature and noise or vibration levels are stored for subsequent use. Under different levels of external ambient temperature and / or interior cabin noise or vibration levels, the stored settings (or real-time "on-demand" settings, as described below) can be automatically set for various system components to optimize heat dissipation, cabin cooling, and NVH in an energy-efficient manner and to provide good thermal performance. That is, the optimal settings for experienced temperature and / or noise or vibration levels can then be automatically applied to the components of the radiator and / or air conditioning systems to provide the desired cooling within the vehicle cabin while reducing noise or vibration levels to or below threshold levels (e.g., 30 dB) experienced by the user within the vehicle cabin. Applying optimized settings for each component in the radiator and / or air conditioning system allows some components to operate at higher speeds or duty cycles, while others operate at lower speeds or duty cycles, and thus reduces the overall system heat load and / or allows the system to operate with improved energy consumption and thermal performance.

[0022] According to the example, the management and implementation of optimization for radiator and / or air conditioning system components is performed by a thermal management system (also referred to herein as a "thermal management component" or "thermal system manager"). The thermal management system can be configured to manage the operation of the radiator system and / or air conditioning system components, as described above, for detecting the ambient temperature outside the vehicle compartment and / or the noise or vibration level inside the vehicle compartment, and for determining the operating settings of these components to reduce NVH while providing desired vehicle compartment cooling in a thermally and energy-efficient manner. According to the example, the thermal management component can utilize various sensor devices to determine the ambient temperature of the environment in which the vehicle operates and to determine the current operating settings and / or duty cycle progress of one or more components of the radiator system and air conditioning system.

[0023] Additionally, the thermal management components may utilize acoustic sensors (e.g., microphones) or other noise capture or detection devices located inside the vehicle compartment to observe and record the noise level inside the vehicle compartment. This allows for the optimization of radiator and air conditioning system settings based on the noise level inside the vehicle compartment, rather than optimization based solely on the external ambient temperature. Similarly, the thermal management components may utilize vibration sensing or detection devices located inside the vehicle compartment to observe and record the vibration level inside the vehicle compartment. This allows for the optimization of radiator and air conditioning system settings based on the vibration level inside the vehicle compartment, rather than optimization solely based on the external ambient temperature.

[0024] The techniques discussed herein can improve the functionality of a vehicle's computing devices in a variety of ways. That is, in some examples, the techniques described herein can improve the functionality, safety, and / or efficiency of autonomous, semi-autonomous, and non-autonomous vehicles operating in various driving environments. In the examples, the thermal management component can optimize the performance of the vehicle's thermal system via a computing device operable for controlling the operation of components of the vehicle's thermal system. According to the examples, one or more sensors can be associated with each component of the thermal system (e.g., the radiator system component and the air conditioning system component). Each sensor can provide information such as radiator fan speed, AC condenser blower speed, evaporator blower speed, and / or performance data associated with each component, such as radiator coolant temperature, radiator outlet temperature, AC compressor pressure performance, and evaporator depressurization and / or cooling performance. As the ambient temperature outside the vehicle compartment increases and / or as the noise or vibration level inside the vehicle compartment increases, the computing system can receive sensor data for each component of the thermal system. The computing device can use the sensor data for each component of the thermal system to determine if the operating settings of each component of the thermal system may need to be rebalanced to optimize performance based on the received sensor data.

[0025] According to the example, the computing device can parse a database of pre-calculated optimized settings, and / or the computing device can rebalance the operating settings of each component of the thermal system to an optimized balance different from the previously constructed optimized balance. For example, if the current optimized setting balance places most of the heat dissipation responsibility on the radiator, which provides lower energy consumption and lower internal NVH impact, the computing device can detect via one or more sensors associated with the radiator fan or radiator outlet temperature that the radiator fan or outlet temperature has become inefficient and is affecting noise or vibration levels (e.g., the radiator fan is running continuously). In such a case, the computing device can parse the database of component optimized settings for settings associated with the current ambient temperature outside the vehicle compartment and / or settings associated with the currently observed noise or vibration levels inside the vehicle compartment.

[0026] According to the example, if the data in the database does not provide satisfactory results, for example, when the current optimal setting balance has already been set based on the current ambient temperature outside the vehicle compartment or the current noise or vibration level inside the vehicle compartment, the computing device can change the current optimal setting balance based on one or more known or synthesized variations. According to this example, the computing device can determine that, given the radiator fan is operating in an inefficient manner, the radiator fan speed or duty cycle should be reduced, and the AC condenser blower speed or duty cycle should be increased to reduce the load on the radiator fan, while maintaining the desired thermal performance, energy consumption, and NVH properties of the thermal system.

[0027] As illustrated in the example, multiple previously established paths can be provided to allow the computing device to generate thermal system optimization balances via pre-calculated and stored settings that are unavailable. For example, following the example above, if previously established settings for radiator fans are unavailable, the computing device can rely on additional information to optimize the performance of radiator and air conditioning settings to achieve the desired result. See, for example, the following references... Figure 4 As described, instead of storing pre-computed optimized settings, the computing device can utilize known performance information for various components (e.g., noise or vibration levels associated with the operating speed or duty cycle of various components) to generate "instantaneous" settings for various components in real time.

[0028] According to other examples, the computing device may implement one or more machine learning models, statistical models, or combinations thereof for determining changes to the optimal setup balance. That is, the computing device may utilize machine learning models learned from training datasets to improve the accuracy of outputs (e.g., predictions). Alternatively or additionally, the computing device may utilize statistical models representing logical and / or mathematical functions that generate approximations that can be used to predict and correspondingly change the current optimal setup balance of components of the vehicle's thermal system.

[0029] The techniques described herein can be implemented in a variety of ways. Example implementations are provided below with reference to the accompanying figures. Although discussed in the context of autonomous vehicles, the methods, apparatus, and systems described herein can be applied to a wide range of systems, and are not limited to autonomous vehicles. In another example, the techniques can be utilized in an aviation or maritime context or in any system using sensor data. Furthermore, the techniques described herein can be used with real data (e.g., captured using one or more sensors), simulated data (e.g., generated by a simulator), or any combination of both.

[0030] Figure 1 This is an illustrated flowchart illustrating example techniques for determining and optimizing the operating settings of one or more mechanical components according to one or more examples of this disclosure to optimize energy utilization and thermal load, noise, vibration and acoustic roughness in a vehicle compartment.

[0031] exist Figure 1 The illustrated flowchart provided in the diagram offers a high-level overview of the components of vehicle 108 and how the operation of vehicle 108's thermal system can be optimized to improve NVH in the vehicle compartment 109 in a manner that maintains or improves thermal and energy usage performance. See below for reference. Figures 2-6 Detailed illustrations and descriptions of the components and operation of the vehicle's thermal system are provided.

[0032] As shown in this example, some or all of the operations in example process 100 can be performed by a thermal management component 102 integrated within an autonomous, semi-autonomous, or non-autonomous vehicle. As shown in this example, process 100 can be implemented using the thermal management component 102. As described in more detail below, the thermal management component 102 may include various components that can be configured to determine or otherwise receive ambient temperatures outside the vehicle compartment and / or noise or vibration levels inside the vehicle compartment to determine an optimal balance of thermal system components to be applied to components including the vehicle radiator system and the vehicle air conditioning system, in order to reduce or maintain noise, vibration, and acoustic harshness (NVH) inside the vehicle compartment while maintaining thermal and energy dissipation performance.

[0033] At operation 104, the thermal management component 102 can determine the external ambient temperature of the vehicle compartment 109 of vehicle 108 and / or the noise or vibration level inside the vehicle compartment 109 of vehicle 108. For example, at operation 104, the thermal management component 102 can determine that the external ambient temperature of the vehicle compartment 109 is 30 degrees Celsius and the noise level inside the vehicle compartment 109 is 40 decibels (dB). It should be appreciated that these are examples of possible ambient temperatures and noise or vibration levels. In some examples, vehicle 108 may include multiple sensor devices mounted at various positions and angles relative to the vehicle to capture ambient temperature data of the driving environment. For example, block 106 illustrates sensor data of the autonomous vehicle 108 capturing ambient air temperature. In one example, the autonomous vehicle 108 may include a temperature sensor device 110 mounted or otherwise installed at an end of the vehicle; however, in other examples, the temperature sensor device 110 may be located at different locations on the autonomous vehicle 108. For example, sensor device 110 may alternatively be located on the horizontal or vertical end of the vehicle and / or within one or more sensor compartments or groups disposed on the top portion of vehicle 108. In some examples, sensor device 110 may capture the ambient temperature near sensor device 110. In such a case, ambient temperature 112 may represent the temperature of the air outside the vehicle and near sensor device 110. Additionally, vehicle 108 may include one or more acoustic sensors (e.g., in…) Figure 1 Not shown in the text, but referenced below. Figure 2 (A microphone, described in further detail below) or other suitable noise capture devices within the vehicle compartment 109 for capturing noise levels inside the vehicle compartment. Vehicle 108 may also include one or more vibration sensors (see below) for capturing vibration levels inside the vehicle compartment. Figure 2 (as described).

[0034] At operation 114, thermal management component 102 can determine the current operating settings for one or more components of thermal system 120. According to one example, thermal management component 102 can query a database (in [the database]) for the current operating settings applied to the components of thermal system 120. Figure 1 Not shown in the text, but referenced below. Figure 3 (Further discussion). If the current operating settings are not stored for thermal system 120, thermal management component 102 can capture the current operating settings for components of thermal system 120 via one or more sensors. Box 116 illustrates the thermal management component 102 of autonomous vehicle 108 capturing sensor data representing components of the thermal system (see [link]). Figure 2 Examples include, but are not limited to: radiator fan speed and / or duty cycle, radiator coolant outlet temperature, AC condenser blower speed and / or duty cycle, evaporator fan speed and / or duty cycle, evaporator target exhaust temperature entering the vehicle compartment 109, and / or AC compressor duty cycle.

[0035] At operation 118, thermal management component 102 can determine the applicable thermal system operating settings for the components of thermal system 120 based on the external ambient temperature and / or interior cabin noise or vibration levels captured at operation 104. In this example, thermal management component 102 uses the external ambient temperature and / or interior cabin noise or vibration levels to resolve thermal, energy, and NVH system data 130 (also referred to herein as “system data”) to obtain operating settings for each component of thermal system 120 applicable to the current external ambient temperature and / or interior cabin noise or vibration levels. Alternatively, as discussed above, thermal management component 102 can determine the operating settings in real time based on the current operating settings, the external ambient temperature, cabin noise and / or vibration levels, and based on known information about the system components (e.g., cabin noise associated with a given radiator fan speed).

[0036] Box 124 illustrates the system components (see...) Figure 4The stored data relates to the thermal management component 102, which is used to provide the thermal management component 101 with operating settings for the components of the thermal system 120, as described herein. If the current operating settings for the components of the thermal system 120 match the operating settings for components corresponding to external ambient temperature and / or internal cabin noise or vibration levels, the thermal management component 102 can guide the components of the thermal system to continue operating with the current operating settings. On the other hand, if the operating settings for the components of the thermal system 120 obtained from system data 130 based on external ambient temperature and / or internal cabin noise or vibration levels differ from the current operating settings, the system can rebalance the operating settings for the components of the thermal system 120 to the settings obtained from system data 130 or dynamically determine them based on the current conditions.

[0037] At operation 122, the thermal management component 102 controls the operation of one or more components of the thermal system 120 by dynamically and definitively setting each component of the thermal system 120 to a corresponding operating setting obtained from system data 130 based on the external ambient temperature and / or the noise or vibration level inside the vehicle compartment 109, or as dynamically and definitively based on the current conditions. At operation 122, the thermal management component 102 can operate the components of the thermal system 120 according to the retrieved or determined operating settings. Block 136 illustrates the operation of the vehicle 108 according to the operating settings applied to the components of the thermal system 120.

[0038] Figure 2 The above reference is illustrated in the diagram. Figure 1 Detailed components of the described vehicle 108. (Reference) Figure 2 Vehicle 108 is illustrated as a bidirectional autonomous vehicle capable of seamless operation in both directions as needed. It should be recognized that, in Figure 2 The bidirectional vehicle 108 illustrated herein is for illustrative purposes only and does not limit the implementation of other types of vehicles that can practice the aspects of this disclosure. For example, alternatives to... Figure 2 The bidirectional automated vehicle 108 illustrated herein is applicable to one-way vehicles, semi-automated vehicles, non-automated vehicles and / or any other vehicles.

[0039] Vehicle 108 includes a vehicle compartment 109 in which a vehicle user can be transported as needed. Vehicle 108 is supported on wheels 111 for providing vehicle movement. The movement of vehicle 108 can be achieved by an electric drive system (not shown), a hybrid electric / internal combustion engine drive system (not shown), or an internal combustion engine drive system (not shown). A front end 202 and a rear end 204 are shown, but when bidirectional vehicle 108 travels in opposite directions, end 202 serves as the rear end and end 204 serves as the front end.

[0040] As referenced above Figure 1 As described, the autonomous vehicle 108 may include a temperature sensor device 110 mounted or otherwise installed at an end of the vehicle; however, in other examples, the temperature sensor device 110 may be located at different locations on the autonomous vehicle 108. For example, the temperature sensor device 110 may alternatively be located at a horizontal or vertical end of the vehicle and / or within one or more sensor compartments disposed at the top portion of the vehicle 108. In some examples, the temperature sensor device 110 may capture the ambient temperature in the vicinity of the temperature sensor device 110. In such a case, the ambient temperature 112 may represent the temperature of the air outside the vehicle and near the temperature sensor device 110. Figure 2 As illustrated, vehicle 108 may include multiple instances of temperature sensor device 110.

[0041] Vehicle 108 may include one or more acoustic sensors 240 (e.g., microphones) or other suitable noise capture devices inside vehicle compartment 109 to capture noise levels inside vehicle compartment 109. Thermal management components may utilize the captured noise levels to modify component operating settings to reduce noise levels inside vehicle compartment 109. Additionally, vehicle 108 may include one or more vibration sensors 242 for detecting and capturing vibration levels inside vehicle compartment 109. Multiple vibration sensors may be used to detect and capture vibration levels, such as accelerometers or other suitable vibration detection devices that detect vibration based on movement detected within interior compartment devices and components. Vibration sensors are known to detect the frequency and amplitude of vibration instantaneously or over time and may be used, according to examples of this disclosure, to determine vibration levels and then to determine whether operating settings (e.g., radiator or compressor fan speeds) should be changed to reduce vibration.

[0042] Still referencing Figure 2Vehicle 108 includes a thermal system 120 comprising a radiator system 215 and an air conditioning system 223. The radiator system 215 includes a radiator 216 through which coolant fluid flows to capture heat from one or more vehicle operating components and dissipate said heat to the surrounding environment. Such components can include a vehicle motor 220, a battery system and / or a vehicle computing system 222 and / or any other components that may require cooling. A radiator fan 214 may include a process for passing cool air over the radiator to reduce the temperature of the coolant flowing through the radiator, further dissipating heat generated by vehicle components (e.g., motor, battery system, computing system, etc.) to the surrounding environment. In some examples, the radiator system portion of thermal system 120 may include one or more sensor devices (located near the radiator(s)) configured to determine radiator coolant temperatures, such as inlet and / or outlet temperatures, which can be used to determine operating settings for the radiator(s) according to various aspects of this disclosure. In the case of two radiators, both radiator fans 214 may require sensors to allow independent monitoring and adjustment of radiator operating settings for each radiator.

[0043] According to the example, the radiator system 215 can operate at one end of the vehicle 108, such as in Figure 2 As illustrated in the diagram. However, in... Figure 2 In the case of the bidirectional vehicle illustrated, operating a dual radiator system 215 may be advantageous, wherein a first instance of radiator 216 and radiator fan 214 is positioned at a first end 202 of the vehicle, and a second instance of radiator 216 and radiator fan 214 is positioned at a second end of the vehicle 108. Therefore, when the vehicle 108 is operating in both directions, airflow into the radiator 216 assisted by the radiator fan 214 will be available in both directions of travel. It should be appreciated that, depending on the heat load required to dissipate heat from the vehicle motor 220 and the battery and computing system 222, the radiator 216 at only the ends 202, 204 in the travel direction can operate at any given time. Alternatively, if the vehicle 108 is equipped with two radiators 216, both radiators 216 can always operate during vehicle operation.

[0044] According to the example, vehicle 108 may include two battery / computer compartments (one at each end 202, 204 of the vehicle) to provide sufficient battery and computing power for vehicle 108. In such a dual battery / computer system arrangement, a dual radiator system may be necessary for sufficient cooling. Ultimately, the use of one or both radiators 216 depends on the heat dissipation and cooling load required to maintain the thermal performance of motor 220 and battery / computer system 222. If the drivetrain of vehicle 108 is electric, the battery and computer system may require more heat dissipation. Alternatively, if the drivetrain of vehicle 108 is hybrid (electric and internal combustion) or internal combustion only, a significant portion of the heat dissipation resources of radiator 216 may be required for cooling associated with engine / motor performance.

[0045] Air conditioning system 223 is operable for cooling the interior of a vehicle compartment, for example, providing a comfortable temperature for vehicle occupants. Air conditioning system 223 includes an air conditioning (AC) condenser 224 with an AC condenser blower 226 for collecting and releasing heat from the vehicle compartment. An air conditioning compressor 234 is included, which is responsible for pressurizing and heating the refrigerant to improve system energy efficiency and for inducing cooling as the pressurized refrigerant is released through the evaporator. Evaporator 230 converts the pressurized liquid refrigerant into a gaseous refrigerant, thereby enabling the gaseous refrigerant cooler to absorb heat from the air inside the vehicle compartment and thus provide cooling inside the vehicle compartment. An evaporator blower 232 is provided for blowing air across the cooling coils of the evaporator and for moving the resulting cooled air into the vehicle compartment 109. An air conditioning dryer 228 is provided for removing moisture from the gaseous refrigerant before it enters the evaporator 230.

[0046] A liquid-cooled condenser (LCC) 236 is provided to integrate a radiator system with an air conditioning system. An LCC is a heat exchanger device that removes heat from the air conditioning refrigerant and transfers the heat to a liquid flowing through it and then through the radiator system to dissipate the heat to the external environment. According to examples of this disclosure, LCC 236 integrates the operation of radiator system 215 with air conditioning system 223 by dissipating heat from the air conditioning system refrigerant via the radiator system. Therefore, the radiator system and the air conditioning system depend on each other for optimized performance, and the operating settings for the radiator system directly affect the operating settings for the air conditioning system, and vice versa.

[0047] As described herein, according to the example, the operation of components of the radiator system and air conditioning system (thermal system) generates sound, which translates into cabin noise in the vehicle compartment. The operation of these components can also generate vibrations that can be felt by passengers in the vehicle compartment. The generated noise and / or potential vibrations can increase the acoustic roughness of the environment inside the vehicle compartment. Controlling the performance of each component of thermal system 120 (radiator system 215 and air conditioning system 223) can provide the desired heat dissipation of the radiator and associated components and provide cooling within the vehicle compartment, while reducing noise and potential vibrations caused by the operation of individual components and the combined operation of components. Furthermore, controlling the operating settings of various components relative to each other can provide efficient heat load and energy use, because while the speed and / or duty cycle of one component may increase, the speed and / or duty cycle of another component may decrease, resulting in better overall heat load and energy efficiency.

[0048] Figure 3 An example computing system 300 is illustrated, including a thermal management component 102 configured to optimize the operational settings of components of a thermal system 120 (e.g., radiator system 215 and air conditioning system 223) to reduce noise, vibration, and acoustic roughness while maintaining thermal and energy consumption efficiency. According to examples of this disclosure, the thermal management component 102 is configured to receive sensor information (e.g., radiator fan speed and radiator coolant outlet temperature) from components of the radiator system and sensor information (e.g., AC condenser, evaporator, AC compressor) from the air conditioning system, as well as sensor information regarding environmental conditions (such as external ambient temperature and interior cabin noise and / or vibration). Based on this sensor information, the thermal management component 102 is operable to determine and implement optimized settings of the components of the thermal system 120 as described herein via the computing system 300. In some cases, the thermal management component 102 may be implemented within or otherwise associated with sensing components, prediction components, planning components, and / or any other components of an autonomous vehicle.

[0049] Still referencing Figure 3Radiator sensor device 302 is operable to detect and report radiator outlet temperature 304, allowing thermal management component 102 to adjust radiator fan settings as needed to optimize radiator performance relative to other system components. Liquid Cooling Condenser (LCC) sensor device 308 is operable to detect LCC duty cycle progress and associated information affecting coolant temperature and system operating settings. AC condenser sensor device 314 is operable to detect AC condenser blower speed and duty cycle progress, allowing thermal management component 102 to adjust AC condenser settings as needed to optimize AC condenser performance relative to other system components. Sensors 320 and 326 similarly detect and report performance data for evaporator and AC compressor, respectively, allowing thermal management component 102 to adjust its operating settings as needed for optimization relative to other system components. Additionally, thermal management component 102 receives external ambient temperature and interior cabin noise and vibration sensor data 332 to determine whether balancing or rebalancing is needed to reduce or maintain noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) in vehicle cabin 109.

[0050] After the thermal management component 102 receives all sensor data, the sensor data is processed by the system setting determination component 338. The processed data is formatted as a data query 340 to the database 342 to obtain the operating settings for each of the thermal system components, and is returned to the system setting determination component 338 in a response 344. The required operating settings for the thermal system components are passed back to the thermal management component 102 as output 346, and the thermal management component 102 then uses them to optimize the operating settings of the thermal system components as described herein.

[0051] Figure 4 The illustration depicts system data 130, according to one or more examples of this disclosure, containing operating settings of one or more thermal system components determined at least in part based on ambient air temperature and / or observed interior cabin noise or vibration. According to the example, system data 130 is maintained at a database 342 and includes correlations between first operating settings associated with components of the radiator system and second operating settings associated with components of the air conditioning system, to provide overall thermal cooling requirements and noise or vibration levels within the vehicle cabin associated with the first and second operating settings. As described above, according to the example, thermal management component 102 queries system data 130 for operating settings of one or more components of thermal system 120 to optimize the performance of thermal system 120 to maintain or improve NVH in vehicle cabin 109 while maintaining thermal and energy consumption performance.

[0052] Referring to system data 130, multiple units are located across the top row, these units encompassing different levels of ambient temperature detected outside the vehicle compartment. In addition to the ambient temperature levels, interior compartment noise or vibration levels are also provided. It should be understood that interior compartment noise or vibration levels are not correlated with the ambient temperature levels, but rather serve as another way to optimize the operating settings of thermal system components. The leftmost column of system data 130, from top to bottom, contains identifiers for thermal system component attributes, such as evaporator blower duty cycle 404 or radiator outlet temperature 410. Operating settings for each thermal system component can be specified by reading down from the header of a given ambient temperature level or interior compartment noise or vibration level.

[0053] According to the example, operating settings for each thermal system component are generated through testing and research to produce an optimal sound field that includes observations of either external ambient temperature or internal cabin noise or vibration levels. For example, if the external temperature outside vehicle cabin 109 is observed to be 35 degrees Celsius, the thermal management component 102 will query system data 130 and obtain the operating settings for each corresponding thermal system component at that ambient temperature level. Alternatively, if the noise or vibration level inside vehicle cabin caused by the operation of a combination of thermal system components is observed to be noise level 4, such as 55 dB, or at a given vibration level, the thermal management component 102 will query system data 130 and obtain the operating settings for each corresponding thermal system component at that noise or vibration level. Therefore, system data 130 can be queried based on either the ambient temperature outside vehicle cabin 109 or the noise or vibration levels observed inside vehicle cabin 109 caused by the operation of the thermal system components.

[0054] Still referencing Figure 4 The system data 130 illustrated for various ambient temperature levels and example noise or vibration levels is for illustrative purposes and does not limit the possible ambient temperature and / or noise or vibration levels for which operating settings of the thermal system components can be generated. According to one example, the system data 130 may be stored and accessed via a lookup table that allows the thermal management component 102 to resolve the lookup table for a given ambient temperature, noise level, vibration level, or combination thereof to retrieve a set of system operating settings that can be automatically applied. However, it should be understood that for a given ambient temperature, there may be multiple observed cabin noise or vibration levels caused by other factors. For example, the ambient temperature may be relatively low, but the cabin noise level may be high due to other factors such as occupant noise (e.g., talking, music playing, etc.).

[0055] Additionally, as described above, if a given external vehicle ambient temperature or noise or vibration level is not represented in system data 130, the thermal management component 102 is operable to intelligently interpolate or infer component operating settings based on one or more software computer-controlled solutions, machine learning models, statistical models, or combinations thereof to determine changes to optimize the balance of settings. The thermal management component 102 may access known data associated with known noise and / or vibration levels. For example, data that the thermal management component 102 may be able to access shows a given cabin noise level experienced at a specific minute rotational speed (rpm) currently observed for the radiator fan 214. Similarly, data that the thermal management component may be able to access shows a given vibration level experienced for a given combination of radiator outlet temperature and current air conditioning compressor duty cycle. For another example, if the thermal management component detects a high level of cabin noise not caused by radiator or air conditioning system components (e.g., caused by noisy cabin components playing loud music, engaging in loud conversations, etc.), the thermal management component may determine that the interior cabin noise is masking system component noise, making changes to system operating settings unnecessary. On the other hand, if changing the system operating settings can improve the combination of non-system cabin noise and system component noise, then the management component 102 can make changes as described herein to improve the resulting NVH. Based on this information, the thermal management component 102 can dynamically determine changes to the operating settings of one or more system components without needing to access, as described herein... Figure 4 The pre-calculated operation settings are shown in the diagram.

[0056] As described above, after the thermal management component 102 obtains or determines the operating settings for the components of the thermal system 120, the thermal management component 102 balances the operation of the components with the obtained or determined settings to optimize the performance of the assembly of components to improve NVH in the vehicle compartment. According to the example, this process can be performed iteratively, continuously, and in real time. That is, the thermal management component 102 can employ feedback lookup, continuously feeding current ambient temperature, noise level, and vibration level to the thermal management component, allowing the thermal management component to continuously detect and adjust the operating settings based on current environmental conditions.

[0057] Figure 5 This is a block diagram of an example system 500 for implementing the techniques described herein. In at least one example, system 500 may include a vehicle, such as vehicle 108. Vehicle 108 may include one or more vehicle computing devices 504, one or more sensor systems 506, one or more transmitters 508, one or more communication connections 510, at least one direct connection 512, and one or more drive systems 514.

[0058] Vehicle computing device 504 may include one or more processors 516 and memory 518 communicatively coupled to the processors(s) 516. In the illustrated example, vehicle 108 is an autonomous vehicle; however, vehicle 108 may be any other type of vehicle, such as a semi-autonomous vehicle, or any other system with at least an image capture device (e.g., a camera-enabled smartphone). In some cases, autonomous vehicle 108 may be an autonomous vehicle configured to operate according to a Level 5 classification issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which describes a vehicle capable of performing all safety-critical functions throughout the journey and not expecting a driver (or occupant) to control the vehicle at any time. However, in other examples, autonomous vehicle 108 may be a fully or partially autonomous vehicle with any other level or classification.

[0059] In the illustrated example, the vehicle computing device 504's memory 518 stores a positioning component 520, a sensing component 522, a thermal management component 102, a prediction component 526, a planner component 528, one or more system controllers 532, and one or more maps 530 (or map data). Although for illustrative purposes... Figure 5 The system is depicted residing in memory 518, but it is contemplated that the positioning component 520, sensing component 522, prediction component 526, planner component 528, thermal management component 102, system controller(s)(s) 532, and / or maps(s) may additionally or alternatively be accessible to vehicle 108 (e.g., stored in memory remote from vehicle 108 or otherwise accessible by memory remote from vehicle 108, such as, for example, stored in memory 540 of one or more computing devices 536). In some examples, memory 540 may include fan activity component 542.

[0060] In at least one example, the localization component 520 may include the ability to receive sensor data from one or more sensor systems 506 to determine the position and / or orientation (e.g., one or more of x, y, z position, roll, pitch, or yaw) of the vehicle 108. For example, the localization component 520 may include and / or request / receive a map of the environment, such as a map from one or more map systems 530, and may continuously determine the position and / or orientation of the vehicle 108 within the environment. In some cases, the localization component 520 may utilize SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), CLAMS (Simultaneous Calibration, Localization and Mapping), relative SLAM, beamforming, nonlinear least squares optimization, etc., to receive image data, lidar data, radar data, inertial measurement unit (IMU) data, GPS data, wheel encoder data, etc., to accurately determine the position of the vehicle 108. In some cases, the localization component 520 may provide data to various components of the vehicle 108 to determine the initial position of the vehicle 108 for determining the relevance of objects to the vehicle 108, as discussed herein.

[0061] In some cases, the perception component 522 may include functions for performing object detection, segmentation, and / or classification. In some examples, the perception component 522 may provide processed sensor data indicating the presence of objects (e.g., entities) approaching the vehicle 108 and / or classifying objects into object types (e.g., cars, pedestrians, cyclists, animals, buildings, trees, road surfaces, curbs, sidewalks, unknowns, etc.). In some examples, the perception component 522 may provide processed sensor data indicating the presence of stationary entities approaching the vehicle 108 and / or classifying stationary entities into types (e.g., buildings, trees, road surfaces, curbs, sidewalks, unknowns, etc.). In other or alternative examples, the perception component 522 may provide processed sensor data indicating one or more features associated with the detected object (e.g., a tracked object) and / or the environment in which the object is located. In some examples, features associated with an object may include, but are not limited to: x-position (global and / or local), y-position (global and / or local), z-position (global and / or local), orientation (e.g., roll, pitch, yaw), object type (e.g., category), object velocity, object acceleration, object extent (size), etc. Features associated with the environment may include, but are not limited to: the presence of another object in the environment, the state of another object in the environment, time of day, day of week, season, weather conditions, dark / light indicators, etc.

[0062] Prediction component 526 can generate one or more probability maps representing the predicted probabilities of the possible locations of one or more objects in the environment. For example, prediction component 526 can generate one or more probability maps for vehicles, pedestrians, animals, etc., within a threshold distance from vehicle 108. In some cases, prediction component 526 can measure the trajectory of an object and generate a discretized predicted probability map, heatmap, probability distribution, discrete probability distribution, and / or trajectory for said object based on observed and predicted behavior. In some cases, one or more probability maps can represent the intent of one or more objects in the environment.

[0063] In some examples, prediction component 526 can generate predicted trajectories of objects in the environment (e.g., objects). For example, prediction component 526 can generate one or more predicted trajectories of objects within a threshold distance from vehicle 108. In some examples, prediction component 526 can measure the trajectory of an object and generate the object's trajectory based on observed and predicted behavior.

[0064] Typically, planner component 528 can determine the path that vehicle 108 follows to traverse the environment. For example, planner component 528 can determine various routes and trajectories, as well as various levels of detail. For example, planner component 528 can determine a route from a first location (e.g., the current location) to a second location (e.g., the target location). For the purposes of this discussion, the route may include a sequence of waypoints for traveling between the two locations. As a non-limiting example, waypoints include streets, intersections, Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates, etc. Furthermore, planner component 528 can generate instructions for guiding vehicle 108 along at least a portion of the route from the first location to the second location. In at least one example, planner component 528 can determine how to guide vehicle 108 from a first waypoint in the waypoint sequence to a second waypoint in the waypoint sequence. In some examples, multiple trajectories may be generated substantially simultaneously (e.g., within technical tolerances) according to a rolling time-domain technique. The path with the highest confidence among multiple paths in the rolling data horizon can be selected to operate the vehicle. In various examples, the planning component 528 can select a trajectory for vehicle 108.

[0065] In other examples, planner component 528 may alternatively or additionally use data from positioning component 520, perception component 522, and / or prediction component 526 to determine the path that vehicle 108 should follow to traverse the environment. For example, planner component 528 may receive data (e.g., object data) from positioning component 520, perception component 522, and / or prediction component 526 regarding objects associated with the environment. In some examples, planner component 528 receives data on relevant objects within the environment. Using this data, planner component 528 can determine a route from a first location (e.g., the current location) to a second location (e.g., the target location) to avoid objects in the environment. In at least some examples, such planner component 528 can determine that no such collision-free path exists and thus provide a path that brings vehicle 108 to a safe stop, thereby avoiding all collisions and / or otherwise mitigating damage.

[0066] Regarding determining the optimal operating settings for components of the radiator and air conditioning system, the thermal management component 102 can perform the following: Figures 1-4 and Figure 6 Any technology described in the text.

[0067] In at least one example, the vehicle computing device 504 may include one or more system controllers 532, which may be configured to control the steering, propulsion, braking, safety, transmitter, communication, and other systems of the vehicle 108. The system controllers 532 may communicate with and / or control corresponding systems of the drive systems 514 and / or other components of the vehicle 108.

[0068] The memory 518 may also include one or more maps 530 that can be used by the vehicle 108 for navigation within the environment. For the purposes of this discussion, a map can be any number of data structures modeled in two, three, or N dimensions that provide information about the environment, such as, but not limited to: topology (such as intersections), streets, mountains, roads, terrain, and environment. In some cases, a map may include, but is not limited to: texture information (e.g., color information (e.g., RGB color information, Lab color information, HSV / HSL color information) etc.), intensity information (e.g., LiDAR information, radar information, etc.); spatial information (e.g., image data projected onto a grid, individual "surfels" (e.g., polygons associated with individual color and / or intensity)), reflectivity information (e.g., specular reflection information, backreflectivity information, BRDF information, BSSRDF information, etc.). In one example, the map may include a three-dimensional mesh of the environment. In some examples, the vehicle 108 may be controlled at least in part based on one or more of the maps 530. That is, map(s) 530 can be used in conjunction with positioning component 520, perception component 522, prediction component 526 and / or planner component 528 to determine the position of vehicle 108, detect objects in the environment, generate routes, and determine actions and / or trajectories to be navigated in the environment.

[0069] In some examples, one or more maps 530 may be stored on one or more remote computing devices (such as one or more computing devices 536) accessible via one or more networks 534. In some examples, multiple maps 530 may be stored based on characteristics such as entity type, time of day, day of week, season of year, etc. Storing multiple maps 530 may have similar memory requirements but increase the speed at which data can be accessed in the maps.

[0070] In some cases, aspects of some or all of the components discussed herein may include arbitrary models, techniques, and / or machine learning techniques. For example, in some cases, the components in memory 518 (and memory 540 discussed below) may be implemented as neural networks.

[0071] As described herein, an exemplary neural network is a technique that passes input data through a series of connected layers to produce an output. Each layer in a neural network may also include another neural network, or may include any number of layers (whether convolutional or not). As will be understood in the context of this disclosure, a neural network may utilize machine learning, which can refer to a wide range of such techniques in which outputs are generated based on learned parameters.

[0072] Although discussed in the context of neural networks, any type of machine learning can be used in accordance with this disclosure. For example, machine learning techniques may include, but are not limited to: regression techniques (e.g., ordinary least squares regression (OLSR), linear regression, logistic regression, stepwise regression, multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS), local estimation scatter plot smoothing (LOESS)), instance-based techniques (e.g., ridge regression, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), elastic networks, least angle regression (LARS)), decision tree techniques (e.g., classification and regression trees (CART), iterative dichotomy 3 (ID3), chi-square automatic interaction detection (CHAID), decision stumps, conditional decision trees), Bayesian techniques (e.g., Naive Bayes, Gaussian Naive Bayes, multinomial Naive Bayes, average single dependency estimator (AODE), Bayesian belief networks (BNN), Bayesian networks), clustering techniques (e.g., k-means, k-median, expectation maximization (EM), hierarchical clustering), association rules, etc. This includes learning techniques (e.g., perceptron, backpropagation, Hopfield network, radial basis function network (RBFN)), deep learning techniques (e.g., deep Boltzmann machine (DBM), deep belief network (DBN), convolutional neural network (CNN), stacked autoencoder), dimensionality reduction techniques (e.g., principal component analysis (PCA), principal component regression (PCR), partial least squares regression (PLSR), Sammon map, multidimensional scaling (MDS), projection pursuit, linear discriminant analysis (LDA), mixture discriminant analysis (MDA), quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), flexible discriminant analysis (FDA)), ensemble techniques (e.g., boosting, self-help aggregation (bagged), AdaBoost, stacked generalization (mixed), gradient boosting machine (GBM), gradient boosting regression tree (GBRT), random forest), SVM (support vector machine), supervised learning, unsupervised learning, semi-supervised learning, etc.).

[0073] Additional examples of architectures include neural networks such as ResNet-50, ResNet-101, VGG, DenseNet, PointNet, Xception, ConvNeXt, etc.; visual transformers (ViTs) such as Bidirectional Encoder from Image Transformer (BEiT), Visual Bidirectional Encoder from Transformer (VisualBERT), Image Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ImageGPT), Data Efficient Image Transformer (DeiT), Deeper Vision Transformer (DeepViT), Convolutional Vision Transformer (CvT), Detection Transformer (DETR), Miti-DETR, etc.; and / or general or natural language processing transformers such as BERT, GPT, GPT-2, GPT-3, etc. In some examples, the ML models discussed herein may include PointPillars, SECOND, top-down feature layers (e.g., see U.S. Patent Application No. 15 / 963,833, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes), and / or VoxelNet. Architectural latency optimization can include MobilenetV2, ShuffleNet, ChannelNet, PeleeNet, etc. In some examples, the ML model can include residual blocks, such as Pixor.

[0074] In at least one example, sensor system 506 may include lidar sensors, radar sensors, ultrasonic transducers, sonar sensors, position sensors (e.g., GPS, compass, etc.), inertial sensors (e.g., inertial measurement units (IMUs), accelerometers, magnetometers, gyroscopes, etc.), cameras (e.g., RGB, IR, intensity, depth, time-of-flight, etc.), microphones, wheel encoders, environmental sensors (e.g., temperature sensors, humidity sensors, light sensors, pressure sensors, etc.), etc. Sensor system 506 may include multiple instances of each of these or other types of sensors. For example, lidar sensors may include individual lidar sensors located at corners, front, rear, sides, and / or top of vehicle 108. As another example, camera sensors may include multiple cameras positioned at various locations around the exterior and / or interior of vehicle 108. Sensor system 506 may provide input to vehicle computing device 504. Additionally or alternatively, sensor system 506 may transmit sensor data to one or more computing devices 536 via one or more networks 534 after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, in near real-time, etc.

[0075] Vehicle 108 may also include one or more transmitters 508 for emitting light and / or sound. One or more transmitters 508 may include internal audio and visual transmitters for communicating with passengers of vehicle 108. By way of example, and not limitation, internal transmitters may include speakers, lights, signs, displays, touchscreens, haptic transmitters (e.g., vibration and / or force feedback), mechanical actuators (e.g., seatbelt tensioners, seat positioners, headrest positioners, etc.), etc. One or more transmitters 508 may also include external transmitters. By way of example, and not limitation, external transmitters may include lights for signaling the direction of travel or other indicators (e.g., indicator lights, signs, light arrays, etc.) of vehicle movement, and one or more audio transmitters (e.g., speakers, speaker arrays, horns, etc.) for audible communication with pedestrians or other nearby vehicles, one or more of which may include beam steering technology.

[0076] Vehicle 108 may also include one or more communication connections 510 enabling communication between vehicle 108 and one or more other local or remote computing devices. For example, communication connection 510 may facilitate communication with vehicle 108 and / or one or more other local computing devices on drive system 514. Similarly, communication connection 510 may allow the vehicle to communicate with other nearby computing devices (e.g., computing device 536, other nearby vehicles, etc.) and / or one or more remote sensor systems for receiving sensor data. Communication connection 510 also enables vehicle 108 to communicate with remotely operated computing devices or other remote services.

[0077] One or more communication connections 510 may include physical and / or logical interfaces for connecting the vehicle computing device 504 to another computing device or network (such as one or more networks 534). For example, one or more communication connections 510 may enable Wi-Fi-based communication, such as via frequencies defined by the IEEE 802.11 standard, short-range wireless frequencies such as Bluetooth, cellular communication (e.g., 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G LTE, 5G, etc.), or any suitable wired or wireless communication protocol that enables the respective computing device to interface with other computing devices.

[0078] In at least one example, vehicle 108 may include one or more drive systems 514. In some examples, vehicle 108 may have a single drive system 514. In at least one example, if vehicle 108 has multiple drive systems 514, individual drive systems 514 may be positioned at opposite ends of vehicle 108 (e.g., front and rear, etc.). In at least one example, drive system(s) 514 may include one or more sensor systems to detect the conditions of drive system(s) 514 and / or the surrounding environment of vehicle 108. By way of example and not limitation, sensor systems(s) may include: one or more wheel encoders (e.g., rotary encoders) for sensing the rotation of the wheels of the drive module, inertial sensors (e.g., inertial measurement units, accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, etc.) for measuring the orientation and acceleration of the drive module, cameras or other image sensors, ultrasonic sensors, lidar sensors, radar sensors, etc., for acoustically detecting objects in the surrounding environment of the drive module. Some sensors, such as wheel encoders, may be unique to drive system(s) 514(s). In some cases, the sensor systems on the drive system 514 may overlap or complement the corresponding systems of the vehicle 108 (e.g., sensor systems 506).

[0079] One or more drive systems 514 may include a number of vehicle systems, including a high-voltage battery, a motor for propelling the vehicle, an inverter for converting direct current from the battery to alternating current for use by other vehicle systems, a steering system including a steering motor and a steering rack (which may be electric), a braking system including hydraulic or electric actuators, a suspension system including hydraulic and / or pneumatic components, a stability control system for distributing braking force to mitigate traction loss and maintain control, an HVAC system, lighting devices (e.g., headlights / taillights for illuminating the exterior of the vehicle), and one or more other systems (e.g., cooling systems, safety systems, on-board charging systems, other electrical components such as DC / DC converters, high-voltage connectors, high-voltage cables, charging systems, charging ports, etc.). Additionally, one or more drive systems 514 may include a drive module controller that can receive and preprocess data from one or more sensor systems and control the operation of various vehicle systems. In some examples, the drive module controller may include one or more processors and a memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors. The memory may store one or more modules to perform various functions of one or more drive systems 514. In addition, drive systems 514 may also include one or more communication connections that enable the respective drive modules to communicate with one or more other local or remote computing devices.

[0080] In at least one example, the direct connection 512 can provide a physical interface to couple one or more drive systems 514 to the body of vehicle 108. For example, the direct connection 512 can allow the transfer of energy, fluid, air, data, etc., between the drive system(s) 514 and the vehicle. In some cases, the direct connection 512 can further releasably secure the drive system(s) 514 to the body of vehicle 108.

[0081] In at least one example, as described above, the positioning component 520, sensing component 522, thermal management component 102, prediction component 526, planner component 528, one or more system controllers 532, and one or more maps 530 can process sensor data and send their respective outputs to one or more computing devices 536 via one or more networks 534. In at least one example, the positioning component 520, sensing component 522, thermal management component 102, prediction component 526, planner component 528, one or more system controllers 532, and one or more maps 530 can send their respective outputs to one or more computing devices 536 at a specific frequency, such as after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, near real-time, etc.

[0082] In some examples, vehicle 108 may transmit sensor data to computing devices 536 via one or more networks 534. In some examples, vehicle 108 may receive sensor data from computing devices 536 and / or remote sensor systems via one or more networks 534. The sensor data may include raw sensor data and / or processed sensor data and / or representations of sensor data. In some examples, the sensor data (raw or processed) may be sent and / or received as one or more log files.

[0083] One or more computing devices 536 may include one or more processors 538 and memory 540, which may include fan activation component 542. In some examples, memory 540 may store one or more components similar to those stored in memory 518 of vehicle 108. In such examples, computing devices 536 may be configured to perform one or more processes described herein with respect to vehicle 108. In some examples, fan activation component 542 may perform functions substantially similar to thermal management component 102.

[0084] The processor(s) 516(s) of vehicle 108 and the processor(s) 538(s) of computing device(s) 536(s) can be any suitable processor capable of executing instructions to process data and perform the operations described herein. By way of example and not limitation, the processor(s) may include one or more central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), or any other device or portion thereof that processes electronic data to convert that electronic data into other electronic data that can be stored in registers and / or memory. In some examples, integrated circuits (e.g., ASICs, etc.), gate arrays (e.g., FPGAs, etc.), and other hardware devices may also be considered such processors, provided they are configured to implement coded instructions.

[0085] Memory 518 and memory 540 are examples of non-transitory computer-readable media. Memory 518 and memory 540 can store an operating system and one or more software applications, instructions, programs, and / or data to implement the methods described herein and the functions belonging to various systems. In various embodiments, the memory can be implemented using any suitable memory technology, such as static random access memory (SRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), non-volatile / flash memory, or any other type of memory capable of storing information. The architectures, systems, and individual elements described herein can include many other logical, programming, and physical components, wherein those shown in the accompanying drawings are merely examples relevant to the discussion herein.

[0086] It should be noted that, although Figure 5The system is illustrated as a distributed system, but in alternative examples, components of vehicle 108 may be associated with one or more computing devices 536 and / or components of one or more computing devices 536 may be associated with vehicle 108. That is, vehicle 108 may perform one or more functions associated with computing devices 536, and vice versa. The methods described herein represent sequences of operations that can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In the context of software, a block represents computer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-readable storage media that perform the operations when run by one or more processors. Typically, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform a particular function or implement a particular abstract data type. The order in which operations are described is not intended to be construed as limiting, and any number of described operations may be combined in any order and / or in parallel to implement the process. In some examples, one or more operations of the method may be omitted entirely. For example, the operations may include determining a first and second action of the vehicle relative to a selected trajectory without determining the respective costs of one or more actions of the vehicle. Furthermore, the methods described in this paper can be combined with each other, in whole or in part, or with other methods.

[0087] The various techniques described herein can be implemented within the context of computer-executable instructions or software, such as program modules, which are stored in computer-readable storage and executed by a processor of one or more computing devices, such as those shown in the figure. Typically, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., and define operational logic for performing specific tasks or implementing specific abstract data types.

[0088] Other architectures may be used to implement the described functionality and are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, although specific assignments of responsibility have been defined above for ease of discussion, various functions and responsibilities may be assigned and divided in different ways as appropriate.

[0089] Similarly, software can be stored and distributed in various ways and using different means, and the specific software storage and execution configurations described above can vary in many different ways. Therefore, software implementing the above techniques can be distributed across various types of computer-readable media, and is not limited to the memory forms specifically described.

[0090] Figure 6This is a flowchart illustrating an example process for optimizing the operating settings of one or more thermal system components to improve noise, vibration, and acoustic roughness in a vehicle compartment, according to one or more examples of this disclosure. As described below, process 600 can be performed by one or more computer-based components configured to perform the various functions described herein. For example, some or all of the operations of process 600 can be performed by thermal management component 102. As described above, in some examples, thermal management component 102 can be integrated as an in-vehicle system. However, in other examples, thermal management component 102 can be integrated as a separate server-based system.

[0091] Process 600 is illustrated as a set of boxes in a logic flowchart, representing a sequence of operations, some or all of which can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In the context of software, a box represents a computer-executable instruction stored on one or more computer-readable media that performs the operation when run by one or more processors. Typically, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects, components, encryption, decryption, compression, recording, data structures, etc., that perform a specific function or implement a specific abstract data type. The order in which the operations are described should not be construed as restrictive. Any number of boxes described can be combined in any order and / or in parallel to implement or replace the process, and not all boxes need to be executed in all examples. For the purposes of discussion, the processes described herein are described with reference to the frameworks, architectures, and environments described in the examples herein; however, processes can be implemented in a wide variety of other frameworks, architectures, or environments.

[0092] At operation 602, the thermal management component 102 may receive sensor data representing the ambient air temperature detected by one or more sensors. Ambient air may be air outside the vehicle and / or outside the engine compartment (e.g., outside air). In some examples, the vehicle may include multiple sensor devices configured to receive sensor data indicating the ambient air temperature of a proximity sensor device. Furthermore, each sensor device may provide unique sensor data representing the ambient air temperature of the proximity sensor device. Alternatively, at operation 602, the thermal management component 102 may receive sensor data representing the level of noise or vibration detected by one or more sensors (e.g., acoustic sensor 240, vibration sensor 242) inside the vehicle compartment 109.

[0093] At operation 604, thermal management component 102 can query database 342 and system data 130 for sensor data representing the ambient air temperature outside vehicle compartment 109 or the noise or vibration level inside vehicle compartment 109. Based on the query to system data 130, thermal management component 102 can receive or determine the operating settings for each thermal system component associated with the ambient air temperature or the noise or vibration level inside the vehicle compartment. If the ambient air temperature or the noise or vibration level inside the vehicle compartment does not correspond to the value represented in system data 130, thermal management component 102 can interpolate, extrapolate, or synthesize the thermal system component operating settings based on information available to thermal management component 102, as referenced above. Figure 4 The changes to the balance of the optimization settings are determined as described above, and / or based on one or more machine learning models, statistical models, or combinations thereof.

[0094] At operation 606, the thermal management component can compare the thermal system component operating settings obtained at operation 604 with the operating settings for the current application of the thermal system components. If the operating settings for the current application have been optimized, wherein the operating settings for the current application are the same as or fall within the acceptable setting range for each thermal system component, then process 600 can proceed to the "yes" branch of operation 602 and wait for a change in ambient air temperature or interior cabin noise or vibration levels. If one or more of the thermal system component operating settings returned from system data 130 do not match or fall within the acceptable operating range for ambient air temperature or observed interior cabin noise or vibration levels, then process 600 can proceed to the "no" branch of operation 608. For example, as described herein, the thermal management component 102 can determine whether a current system operating setting (such as radiator outlet temperature) has been set for the current conditions, and that setting can remain unchanged, but other operating settings can be changed to achieve a desired operating level.

[0095] At operation 608, the thermal management component 102 automatically rebalances the operating settings of the thermal system components via the computing system 300 using operating settings returned from a lookup table associated with ambient air temperature or observed levels of internal vehicle noise or vibration.

[0096] At operation 610, the thermal management component 102 operates the thermal system component based on operating settings returned from system data 130 or determined by the thermal management component for current settings and environmental conditions. For example, if the operating settings for the thermal system component indicate that the radiator fan speed is currently higher than the radiator fan speed setting data obtained from system data 130 based on ambient air temperature and the AC condenser blower speed is too low, the thermal management component 102 can optimize the settings of the thermal system component by reducing the radiator fan speed and increasing the AC condenser blower speed. By rebalancing the operating settings for the thermal system component, the noise, vibration, and acoustic roughness environment inside the vehicle compartment 109 will be improved, and the thermal performance and energy consumption of the thermal system will be improved because the operational burden on the radiator fan will be alleviated by transferring a portion of the performance operating requirements to the AC condenser blower.

[0097] According to the example, the steps of process 600 are executed iteratively in a continuous feedback loop. That is, after operation 610, process 600 returns to operation 602 and receives sensor data, as described above. Therefore, the thermal management component 102 continuously monitors ambient air temperature and cabin noise and / or vibration to determine whether changes are needed to improve NVH in a way that optimizes thermal system efficiency and performance. Example Terms

[0098] A: A vehicle includes a radiator system associated with an end of the vehicle and configured to dissipate heat from outside the vehicle's passenger compartment, the radiator system including a radiator and a radiator fan; an air conditioning system configured to cool the interior of the vehicle, the air conditioning system having one or more air conditioning system components including a compressor, a condenser, a condenser fan, an evaporator, and an evaporator fan; and a thermal management system configured to perform one or more operations, the one or more operations including: determining a first operating setting for the radiator fan and a second operating setting for the one or more cooling system components based at least in part on ambient air temperature; adjusting operating settings for the current application of the radiator fan based on the first operating setting, and adjusting operating settings for the current application of the one or more air conditioning system components based on the second operating setting, the first operating setting and the second operating setting being operable to maintain a noise level inside the vehicle's passenger compartment at or below a threshold noise level and optimize energy consumption of the thermal system components.

[0099] B: According to the vehicle described in paragraph A, the first operating setting and the second operating setting can also be operated to provide overall thermal cooling requirements to one or more systems of the vehicle.

[0100] C: The vehicle described in paragraph A also includes a database, which includes a first operating setting and a second operating setting for providing overall thermal cooling requirements and a correlation of noise levels inside the vehicle cabin with respect to the first operating setting and the second operating setting.

[0101] D: According to the vehicle described in paragraphs A and C, the one or more operations further include querying a lookup table in the database for the first setting and the second setting, at least in part based on the ambient air temperature.

[0102] E: The vehicle according to paragraph A, and the vehicle according to claim 1, further includes an acoustic sensor configured to generate acoustic data associated with the noise level inside the vehicle cabin, wherein determining a first operating setting for the radiator fan and a second operating setting for the one or more air conditioning system components based at least in part on ambient air temperature is based at least in part on the acoustic data.

[0103] F: A vehicle comprising a thermal system having one or more operating components configured to dissipate heat from a portion of the vehicle outside the vehicle compartment and cool the interior of the vehicle compartment; a thermal management system configured to determine an operating setting for each of the one or more components based at least in part on ambient air temperature; and the thermal management system further configured to adjust the currently applied operating setting of each of the one or more components to the determined operating setting for each of the one or more components, the determined operating setting being operable to minimize noise from the operation of the one or more components within the vehicle compartment and optimize overall thermal system component energy consumption.

[0104] G: According to the vehicle described in paragraph F, wherein the thermal management system is further configured to query a database based on determined operating settings for each of one or more components at the ambient air temperature, the lookup table including operating settings for each of the one or more components associated with each of a plurality of different ambient air temperatures; and wherein, when a query is received at the database based on a given ambient air temperature, the query retrieves operating settings for each of the one or more components associated with the given ambient air temperature.

[0105] H: According to the vehicle described in paragraphs F and G, the thermal management system is configured to query the database based on a second determined operating setting for each of the one or more components at a second ambient air temperature; and the thermal management system is further configured to adjust the determined operating setting applied to the one or more components to the second determined operating setting for each of the one or more components.

[0106] I: The vehicle according to paragraph F further includes: an ambient air temperature sensor configured to output the ambient air temperature to the thermal management system; and the thermal management system configured to automatically query a database for determined operating settings of each of the one or more components in response to receiving the ambient air temperature from the ambient air temperature sensor.

[0107] J: According to the vehicle described in paragraph F, the one or more operating components configured to dissipate heat from a portion of the vehicle outside the vehicle compartment include a radiator system operable to dissipate heat associated with the vehicle's drivetrain; and the one or more components configured to cool the interior of the vehicle compartment include an air conditioning system operable to cool the interior of the vehicle compartment.

[0108] K: The vehicle described in paragraphs F and J, wherein the one or more components including the radiator system operate according to the applied operating settings based on the ambient air temperature; and the one or more components including the air conditioning system operate according to the applied operating settings based on the ambient air temperature.

[0109] L: According to paragraphs F, J, and K, the vehicle comprising the radiator system includes a radiator fan; and the one or more components comprising the air conditioning system include an air conditioning condenser, an air conditioning condenser blower, an evaporator, an evaporator blower, and an air conditioning compressor.

[0110] M: The vehicle according to paragraph F further includes a noise detection sensor configured to detect noise inside the vehicle compartment associated with the operation of the one or more components, the noise detection sensor being operable to output the noise level detected inside the vehicle compartment to the thermal management system; and the thermal management system being configured to automatically query a database for noise-based operating settings of each of the one or more components in response to receiving the detected noise level from the noise detection sensor.

[0111] N: According to the vehicle described in paragraphs F and M, wherein the thermal management system is further configured to adjust the currently applied operating settings of each of the one or more components to the noise-based operating settings for each of the one or more components, the noise-based operating settings being operable to minimize noise from the operation of the one or more components inside the vehicle compartment.

[0112] O: According to the vehicle described in paragraph F, wherein the thermal management system is further configured to adjust the currently applied operating settings of each of the one or more components to the noise-based operating settings for each of the one or more components, the noise-based operating settings being operable to minimize noise from the operation of the one or more components inside the vehicle compartment.

[0113] P: The vehicle according to paragraph F also includes a vibration detection sensor configured to detect vibrations inside the vehicle compartment associated with the operation of the one or more components, the vibration detection sensor being operable to output the vibration level detected inside the vehicle compartment to the thermal management system; and the thermal management system being configured to automatically query a database for vibration-based operation settings of each of the one or more components in response to receiving the detected vibration level from the vibration detection sensor.

[0114] Q: According to the vehicle described in paragraph F, wherein the thermal management system is further configured to continuously determine the operating settings for each of the one or more components, at least in part, based on ambient air temperature; and the thermal management system is further configured to adjust the currently applied operating settings of each of the one or more components to the determined operating settings for each of the one or more components, as the operating settings change and as one or more environmental conditions, including at least one of ambient air temperature, cabin noise level, and cabin vibration level, change.

[0115] R: A system comprising one or more processors; and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations including: receiving data representing ambient air temperature from a temperature sensor associated with a vehicle in the environment; determining, at least in part, an operating setting for each of one or more components of a vehicle thermal system based on the temperature sensor data; applying the determined operating setting to each of the one or more components; and operating the one or more components based on the determined operating setting for each of the one or more components to maintain a noise level inside the vehicle compartment at or below a threshold noise level.

[0116] S: According to the system described in paragraph R, receiving data from the temperature sensor representing an updated ambient air temperature; determining updated operating settings for each of one or more components of the vehicle thermal system based at least in part on the temperature sensor data representing the updated ambient air temperature; and operating the one or more components based on the updated operating settings for each of the one or more components.

[0117] T: According to the system described in paragraph R, before determining the operating settings for each of the one or more components of the vehicle thermal system based at least in part on the temperature sensor data, the operating settings for each of the one or more components of the vehicle thermal system are queried in a database.

[0118] U: According to the system in paragraphs R and S, querying the database for the operational settings of each of one or more components of the vehicle thermal system includes: querying a database lookup table, the database lookup table including the operational settings of each of the one or more components associated with each of a plurality of different ambient air temperatures; and wherein, when a query is received at the database based on a given ambient air temperature, the operational settings of each of the one or more components associated with the given ambient air temperature are retrieved. in conclusion

[0119] Although one or more examples of the techniques described herein have been described, the scope of the techniques described herein includes various alterations, additions, substitutions and equivalents thereof.

[0120] In the description of the examples, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form part of the invention, illustrating specific examples of the claimed subject matter. It should be understood that other examples may be used, and changes or alterations, such as structural changes, may be made. Such examples, changes, or alterations do not necessarily depart from the scope of the claimed subject matter. Although the steps herein may be presented in a specific order, in some cases the order may be changed so that certain inputs are provided at different times or in different orders without altering the functionality of the described system and method. The disclosed processes may also be performed in different orders. Furthermore, it is not necessary to perform the various calculations in the disclosed order herein, and other instances using alternative orders of calculations can be readily implemented. In addition to being reordered, calculations may be decomposed into sub-computations having the same result.

[0121] Although the subject matter has been described using language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described. Rather, specific features and actions are disclosed as exemplary forms for implementing the claims.

[0122] The components described herein represent instructions that can be stored in any type of computer-readable medium and can be implemented in software and / or hardware. All the methods and processes described above can be embodied in software code modules and / or computer-executable instructions executed by one or more computers or processors, hardware, or some combination thereof, and are fully automated. Some or all of these methods may alternatively be embodied in dedicated computer hardware.

[0123] Unless otherwise explicitly stated, conditional languages ​​such as “may,” “can,” “can,” or “may” are understood in context to imply that certain examples include certain features, elements, and / or steps, while other examples do not. Therefore, such conditional languages ​​are generally not intended to suggest that certain features, elements, and / or steps are required in any way by one or more examples, or that one or more examples necessarily include logic for determining whether to include or perform certain features, elements, and / or steps in any particular example, with or without user input or prompts.

[0124] Unless otherwise explicitly stated, constructive language such as the phrase "at least one of X, Y, or Z" will be understood to mean that an item, term, etc., can be X, Y, or Z or any combination thereof, including multiples of each element. Unless explicitly stated as singular, "one" indicates both singular and plural.

[0125] Any routine description, element, or block depicted in the flowcharts described herein and / or in the accompanying drawings should be understood as potentially representing a module, segment, or portion of code comprising one or more computer-executable instructions for implementing a particular logical function or element in the routine. Alternative implementations are included within the scope of the examples described herein, wherein elements or functions may be removed or performed out of order from the order shown or discussed, including substantially synchronously, in reverse order, with additional operations, or omitted operations, depending on the functionality that a person skilled in the art would understand.

[0126] Many variations and modifications can be made to the above examples, and the elements of these examples should be understood as existing in other acceptable examples. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising: A thermal system having one or more operating components configured to dissipate heat from a portion of the vehicle outside the vehicle compartment and to cool the interior of the vehicle compartment; A thermal management system configured to determine operating settings for each of the one or more components based at least in part on ambient air temperature; and The thermal management system is also configured to adjust the current operating settings of each of the one or more components to determined operating settings for each of the one or more components, the determined operating settings being operable to minimize noise from the operation of the one or more components inside the vehicle compartment and optimize overall thermal system component energy consumption.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1, in, The thermal management system is also configured to query a database lookup table based on determined operating settings for each of the one or more components at the ambient air temperature, the lookup table including operating settings for each of the one or more components associated with each of a plurality of different ambient air temperatures; and When a query is received at the database lookup table based on a given ambient air temperature, the query retrieves the operational settings for each of the one or more components associated with the given ambient air temperature.

3. The vehicle according to claim 2, wherein: The thermal management system is configured to query the database lookup table based on a second determined operating setting for each of the one or more components, according to a second ambient air temperature; and The thermal management system is also configured to adjust the determined operating settings applied to the one or more components to the second determined operating settings for each of the one or more components.

4. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: An ambient air temperature sensor is configured to output the ambient air temperature to the thermal management system; and The thermal management system is configured to automatically query a database lookup table in response to receiving the ambient air temperature from the ambient temperature sensor, for each of the one or more components, based on a determined operating setting.

5. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The one or more components configured to dissipate heat from a portion of the vehicle outside the vehicle compartment include a radiator system operable to dissipate heat associated with the vehicle's drivetrain; and The one or more components configured to cool the interior of the vehicle compartment include an air conditioning system operable to cool the interior of the vehicle compartment.

6. The vehicle according to claim 5, wherein: The one or more components of the heat sink system operate according to applied operating settings based on the ambient air temperature; and The one or more components of the air conditioning system operate according to applied operating settings based on the ambient air temperature.

7. The vehicle according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein: The one or more components of the heat sink system include a heat sink and a heat sink fan; and The one or more components of the air conditioning system include an air conditioning condenser, an air conditioning condenser blower, an evaporator, an evaporator blower, and an air conditioning compressor.

8. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: A noise detection sensor is configured to detect noise inside the vehicle compartment associated with the operation of the one or more components, and the noise detection sensor is operable to output the noise level detected inside the vehicle compartment to the thermal management system. The thermal management system is configured to automatically query a database lookup table in response to receiving a detected noise level from the noise detection sensor, for each of the one or more components, based on noise-based operating settings.

9. The vehicle according to claim 8, wherein, The thermal management system is further configured to adjust the current operating settings of each of the one or more components to the noise-based operating settings for each of the one or more components, the noise-based operating settings being operable to minimize noise from the operation of the one or more components inside the vehicle compartment.

10. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising: A vibration detection sensor is configured to detect vibrations inside the vehicle compartment that are associated with the operation of the one or more components, and the vibration detection sensor is operable to output the vibration level detected inside the vehicle compartment to the thermal management system. The thermal management system is configured to automatically query a database lookup table in response to receiving a detected vibration level from the vibration detection sensor, for each of the one or more components, based on vibration-based operating settings.

11. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein: The thermal management system is also configured to continuously determine the operating settings for each of the one or more components, at least in part, based on ambient air temperature; and The thermal management system is further configured to adjust the current operating settings of each of the one or more components to determined operating settings for each of the one or more components, as the operating settings change and as one or more environmental conditions, including at least one of ambient air temperature, carriage noise level, and carriage vibration level, change.

12. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the one or more operating components include: A radiator system associated with an end of the vehicle and configured to dissipate heat from a portion of the vehicle outside the vehicle's passenger compartment, the radiator system including a radiator and a radiator fan; as well as An air conditioning system configured to cool the interior of the vehicle, the air conditioning system having one or more air conditioning system components, the one or more air conditioning system components including a compressor, a condenser, a condenser fan, an evaporator, and an evaporator fan. The thermal management system is configured to perform one or more of the following operations: The first operating setting for the radiator fan and the second operating setting for the one or more cooling system components are determined at least in part based on the ambient air temperature. as well as The first operation setting adjusts the current application operation settings of the radiator fan based on the first operation setting, and the second operation setting adjusts the current application operation settings of the one or more air conditioning system components based on the second operation setting. The first operation setting and the second operation setting are operable to maintain the noise level inside the vehicle compartment at or below a threshold noise level and optimize the energy consumption of the thermal system components.

13. The vehicle according to claim 12, wherein: The first and second operating settings can also be operated to provide overall thermal cooling requirements for one or more systems of the vehicle.

14. The vehicle of claim 12 or claim 13, further comprising a database including a first operating setting and a second operating setting for providing overall thermal cooling requirements and a correlation of noise levels inside the vehicle cabin with respect to the first operating setting and the second operating setting.

15. The vehicle according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the one or more operating components further include an acoustic sensor configured to generate acoustic data associated with the noise level inside the vehicle cabin, wherein, The determination of the first operating setting for the radiator fan and the second operating setting for the one or more air conditioning system components, based at least in part on the ambient air temperature, is based at least in part on the acoustic data.

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