Emergency Vehicle Throttle Control for Life Safety Fault Bypass
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Solution Overview
Problem
Emergency vehicles face operational failures due to proprietary communication protocols between life safety systems, making it difficult for on-site personnel to diagnose and bypass faults, leading to vehicle inoperability during critical situations.
Innovation Solution
An emergency vehicle throttle management system with a system controller that communicates with the vehicle powertrain and life safety systems, allowing for coordinated resource management, conflict resolution, and manual powertrain operation to ensure continued functionality of critical systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If proprietary communication protocols are used between life safety systems, then each system can be independently designed for specific tasks, but the systems cannot communicate with each other, leading to vehicle inoperability when faults occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal communication bus system that enables all proprietary life safety systems to communicate through a common interface. The system controller can translate between different proprietary protocols and the universal bus protocol, allowing systems to maintain their independent design while achieving inter-system communication and coordinated operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system controller acts as an intermediary between proprietary life safety systems and the powertrain control. It receives throttle requests from various systems, translates them into standardized powertrain control commands, and manages power distribution. This intermediary role enables systems with different protocols to work together without direct communication between them.
2Ease of operation
If a single auxiliary throttle source with external interlocks is provided, then specific engine throttle operation can be controlled, but when a fault occurs in the multiplex system, the vehicle becomes inoperable and cannot be diagnosed or bypassed by on-site personnel
Solution Approach 1:
The system controller provides self-diagnostic capabilities by monitoring the status of all connected life safety systems and the powertrain. It can automatically detect faults, identify the source of problems, and provide diagnostic information to operators. The system also allows operators to bypass certain interlocks by providing appropriate credentials or following diagnostic procedures, enabling on-site repairs without extensive disassembly or specialized equipment.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple life safety systems require application specific control of powertrain parameters, then each system can be optimized for its function, but conflicts arise when multiple systems request powertrain resources simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The system controller implements a feedback mechanism where it monitors powertrain resource availability and the requests from various life safety systems. When conflicts arise, the controller prioritizes requests based on system criticality and current operational state, then provides feedback to the requesting systems about powertrain allocation decisions. This coordinated approach allows multiple systems to access powertrain resources without direct conflicts.
Data Source
AI summary
An emergency vehicle throttle management system includes a system controller having a main body, a processor, a memory, a multiplex connectivity component, a powertrain connectivity component, and a life safety connectivity component. The life safety connectivity component functioning to communicate directly with one of the life safety systems onboard the emergency vehicle. The powertrain connection component functioning to communicate with the powertrain components of the emergency vehicle which are mechanically coupled to the life safety system. The system controller including functionality for transmitting a powertrain resource request to the powertrain of the emergency vehicle in response to a throttle adjustment request received from the life safety system or a command from the throttle pedal of the vehicle. A throttle rule management unit evaluates error notifications received from the multiplex system, and selectively instructs the throttle source circuit to generate powertrain resource requests.