Vehicle Battery Awareness for Trip Plan Energy Deviations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Operators of electric aerial vehicles face challenges in accurately assessing battery health and operational capacity, particularly in autonomous flight modes, leading to potential inefficiencies and safety risks due to limited time and knowledge in handling adverse situations.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle battery situational awareness (VBSA) system that integrates with a vehicle operations center and onboard systems to monitor and predict energy expenditure, display color-coded energy overlays, and provide recommendations for mitigating adverse situations, ensuring safe and efficient trip planning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If multiple sensors and monitors provide raw data to operators, then situational awareness information is available, but operators have limited time and knowledge to evaluate adverse situations and determine appropriate mitigative actions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system (adverse situation identification system) that processes raw sensor data and presents processed information to operators. This intermediary layer filters and prioritizes information, reducing the cognitive burden on operators while maintaining comprehensive situational awareness. The system acts as a mediator between the complex sensor network and the human operator, translating raw data into actionable insights.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis of sensor data to identify adverse situations before they become critical. By proactively detecting and flagging potential issues, the system prepares operators in advance, giving them time to evaluate and respond to situations before they escalate. This preliminary action reduces the reactive time pressure on operators during critical events.
2Measurement precision
If operators monitor multiple battery system performance parameters, then battery health and operational capacity are known, but operators may not be able to accurately determine appropriate mitigative action with limited time and knowledge
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the system continuously monitors battery parameters and provides real-time guidance to operators. When adverse situations are detected, the system feeds back specific recommendations for mitigative actions based on the detected conditions. This feedback loop transforms complex parameter monitoring into guided decision-making, making it easier for operators to determine appropriate actions even with limited time and knowledge.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-service by automatically analyzing battery parameters and generating mitigative action recommendations without requiring deep operator expertise. The adverse situation identification system autonomously processes the complex data analysis and presents actionable recommendations, reducing the operational burden on operators while maintaining precise monitoring of battery health parameters.
3Productivity
If the vehicle operates in autonomous flight mode, then operational efficiency is improved, but battery health and operational capacity must be continuously monitored to prevent safety risks
Solution Approach 1:
The autonomous vehicle performs self-service by automatically monitoring its own battery health and operational capacity through integrated sensors and processors. The vehicle's own computing resources are used to analyze battery parameters and identify adverse situations, eliminating the need for constant human oversight while maintaining high reliability. This self-monitoring capability allows autonomous operation to proceed efficiently with built-in safety checks.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback monitoring of battery parameters during autonomous operation. When adverse situations are detected, the system provides feedback to both the vehicle's control systems and remote operators, enabling timely intervention if needed. This feedback mechanism ensures that autonomous operation maintains high reliability through automated safety monitoring while preserving operational efficiency.
Data Source
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AI summary
Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a vehicle battery situational awareness (VBSA) platform configured to monitor one or more vehicles. An onboard VBSA system associated with a vehicle is communicably coupled to a vehicle operations center associated with the VBSA platform and can monitor a current energy expenditure of the vehicle as the vehicle executes a trip plan. The onboard VBSA system can also determine that the current energy expenditure of the vehicle does not match a predicted energy expenditure. The onboard VBSA system can generate, based on output from a vehicle performance prediction model, a predicted energy overlay representing the predicted energy expenditure. The onboard VBSA system can also determine a safety boundary characterized by a maximum safe travel time. The onboard VBSA system can also cause display of the predicted energy overlay and the safety boundary on one or more computing devices.