Exterior Biometric Sensor Heating Under Vehicle Key-Off Power Limits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Biometric sensors on vehicles face performance degradation or inhibition due to ice and snow, and existing solutions for maintaining sensor functionality through heating are inefficient, leading to power drain and potential battery depletion.
Innovation Solution
A data acquisition system collects baseline and current data to determine whether to activate a heating device for biometric sensors, using a set of rules to minimize power consumption by prioritizing data collection and only activating heating when necessary, such as when the vehicle is outdoors, the temperature is below a threshold, or when user activity is detected.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If continuous monitoring and immediate heating activation is implemented to maintain sensor functionality, then sensor performance is improved, but power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary data collection during the key-off state to assess ice/snow conditions before the vehicle is fully powered down. Based on this preliminary assessment, the heating device is activated only when necessary, avoiding continuous operation. This preliminary action allows the system to prepare sensor clearing conditions in advance while minimizing power consumption during the off state.
2Reliability
If heating is activated early or for extended periods to ensure sensor availability, then sensor performance is maintained, but battery power is depleted
Solution Approach 1:
The heating duration and activation timing are dynamically adjusted based on real-time conditions. The system monitors environmental factors (temperature, precipitation, humidity) and sensor status, extending heating only as long as necessary to clear ice/snow. This dynamic adjustment ensures sensor availability while minimizing energy loss and preventing battery depletion.
3Reliability
If more data is collected to improve heating activation accuracy, then heating reliability is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system collects only the essential data needed to make heating decisions during the key-off state, rather than continuously gathering all possible environmental and sensor data. This partial data collection approach provides sufficient information to determine heating activation with acceptable accuracy while significantly reducing power consumption compared to comprehensive continuous monitoring.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach effectively maintains biometric sensor functionality by only activating heating when needed, thereby reducing power consumption and preventing battery drain, while ensuring the sensors remain operational for keyless entry and other vehicle systems.
Implementation Method 1
This feature performance can be restored by applying heat to melt or remove the ice or snow in the vicinity of the sensors
Data Source
AI summary
While a vehicle is off, an automatic trigger strategy activates a heating device that melts snow and ice off exterior vehicle sensors as it is needed. The automatic trigger strategy determines when to turn on the heating device while the vehicle is in a limited power state by using data pulled from memory or data obtained from a current data check. Collected, analyzed, and stored during key-off, data pulled from memory allows the invention to accurately choose the correct time to start the heating device without consuming additional power. If current data checks are required because data saved at key-off is not enough information to execute a decision, the invention may determine the least power consuming data checks. A power manager extends a threshold that is dependent on the energy reserve. Once the energy reserve is below the threshold, the power manager inactivates the heating device and voids manual commands.