Car Wash Quality Evaluation Using Virtual Vehicle Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle wash systems lack a systematic and effective quality assessment mechanism, making it difficult to identify and address issues in the washing process, which hampers quality improvement and optimization.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system that uses a mobile device to provide a human-machine interface for evaluating vehicle washes, generating interactive virtualized representations of vehicles to identify problem areas, and sending feedback signals to control modules for initiating maintenance measures, based on user evaluations and sensor data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If systematic quality assessment is implemented using mobile devices and virtualized representations, then measurement precision and manufacturing precision are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a virtualized representation (copy) of the vehicle that mirrors its physical state. This digital twin allows quality assessment without physically inspecting the actual vehicle, enabling precise measurement of wash quality while keeping the physical assessment infrastructure simple. The virtual model captures all necessary geometric and contamination data for evaluation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual visual inspection and physical assessment mechanisms with automated image processing and computational analysis. Machine learning algorithms analyze the virtualized vehicle representation to detect contamination and assess wash quality, substituting human expertise with automated systems that provide consistent, precise measurements without requiring complex physical inspection equipment.
2Ease of operation
If decentralized quality assessment is implemented through mobile devices, then ease of operation is improved, but loss of information increases due to distributed data collection
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a feedback loop where quality assessment results are automatically transmitted back to the car wash control system. This closed-loop feedback ensures that information collected by mobile devices is immediately actionable, allowing real-time adjustments to washing processes. The feedback mechanism prevents information loss by ensuring all assessment data reaches the central system for analysis and process optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile device application serves multiple functions: capturing vehicle images, creating virtualized representations, performing quality assessment, and transmitting results. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise require separate systems, ensuring comprehensive data collection without increasing complexity. The universal platform handles all quality assessment tasks in one integrated solution.
3Manufacturing precision
If interactive virtualized representations are generated and analyzed, then manufacturing precision is improved through targeted maintenance, but use of energy increases due to computational processing
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis by generating the virtualized vehicle representation and identifying contamination patterns before final quality determination. This preliminary action allows the system to focus computational resources only on areas of interest rather than processing the entire vehicle model uniformly. By pre-identifying problem areas, the system reduces overall computational energy requirements while maintaining high precision in quality assessment.
Solution Approach 2:
The quality assessment focuses computational analysis on specific local areas of the vehicle that show contamination or washing deficiencies, rather than uniformly processing the entire vehicle. The system identifies and concentrates processing power on objectionable areas detected in the virtualized representation, applying detailed analysis only where needed. This localized approach maintains high manufacturing precision for critical areas while reducing total energy consumption.
Data Source
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AI summary
In one aspect, the invention relates to a system for modifying process data of a car wash (WA) based on recorded evaluations of vehicle washes performed on the car wash (WA), comprising: a set of mobile end devices (H), each configured to execute an algorithmic evaluation procedure; and a control module (SM) implemented on the car wash (WA) that serves to control and/or regulate the car wash (WA) based on the recorded feedback signals (rs) encoding evaluations of vehicle washes performed on the car wash (WA), and which exchanges data with the mobile end devices (H) via the control interface.