Autonomous Vehicle Climate Control Timing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fully autonomous vehicles often waste energy by maintaining a climate-controlled cabin environment while traveling to a pickup location without occupants, as the climate control system remains active during the entire journey.
Innovation Solution
A passenger comfort system dynamically controls the vehicle's climate by determining the travel time, present cabin environment, and target cabin environment, activating climate controls only when necessary to ensure the cabin is climate-controlled upon arrival, optimizing energy usage and passenger comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the climate control system remains active during the entire journey to pickup location, then the cabin environment is maintained, but energy is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The system calculates the time required to adjust the cabin environment to the target temperature and activates the climate control system only during the necessary period before passenger arrival. This preliminary calculation of adjustment time allows the system to perform climate control actions only when needed, rather than maintaining continuous operation throughout the entire journey.
Solution Approach 2:
The climate control system dynamically adjusts its operation based on real-time conditions. The system determines whether to activate climate control by comparing the current cabin temperature, target temperature, and calculated adjustment time against the remaining travel time. This dynamic decision-making allows the system to adapt between active and inactive states, optimizing energy usage while ensuring comfort when passengers arrive.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the climate control system is activated only when necessary, then energy usage is optimized, but the cabin environment may not be ready by arrival
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors the cabin environment temperature and compares it against the target temperature. Based on this feedback, along with the calculated adjustment time and remaining travel time, the system makes informed decisions about when to activate climate control. This feedback mechanism ensures that the cabin environment will be ready by arrival time while avoiding unnecessary energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary calculations of the time required to adjust the cabin environment to the target temperature before making activation decisions. By knowing the adjustment time in advance, the system can ensure that climate control is activated early enough to achieve the desired environment by passenger arrival, thereby maintaining reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A passenger comfort system determines a travel time to a pickup location, detects a present cabin environment, determines a target cabin environment, and determines an environment adjustment time to adjust the present cabin environment to the target cabin environment. The passenger comfort system activates at least one vehicle climate control in accordance with the environment adjustment time and the travel time.