Fleet Operation Management System for Fuel-Efficient Vehicle Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fleet operation management systems fail to effectively guide drivers on optimal accelerator and brake operations for fuel-efficient vehicle travel, particularly in dump trucks that operate on varied terrain with changing surface resistance, leading to inefficiencies in fuel consumption.
Innovation Solution
A fleet operation management system that predicts future vehicle speed changes based on current position, speed, and travel route information, and provides real-time instructions for acceleration, deceleration, or coasting to maintain a predetermined speed range, taking into account surface resistance and gradient changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If a route minimizing fuel consumption is presented to the driver, then fuel efficiency is improved, but the driver's accelerator/brake work can deteriorate fuel efficiency to a greater degree than the benefit of route selection
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides real-time feedback to the driver by notifying them of optimal accelerator and brake operations based on predicted vehicle speed and road conditions. This feedback loop enables the driver to adjust their operations to match the optimal pattern, resolving the contradiction between route optimization and driver operation quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The notification device acts as an intermediary between the route information and the driver's operations. It translates complex route and condition data into simple, actionable guidance for the driver, enabling them to perform optimal accelerator/brake work without requiring deep understanding of the underlying parameters.
2Ease of operation
If coasting start timing is calculated based on fixed travel course information, then the system is simple to operate, but the accuracy of timing calculation deteriorates when road surface condition changes
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the coasting start timing calculation by incorporating real-time road surface resistance information into the vehicle speed prediction. This allows the calculation to adapt to changing road conditions while maintaining operational simplicity, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and calculation accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters used in timing calculation from fixed course information to include variable road surface resistance data. This parameter adjustment enables accurate timing calculation under varying road conditions without complicating the operational interface.
3Device complexity
If the system only indicates coasting start timing, then the system complexity is reduced, but the driver cannot learn about concrete accelerator/brake work suitable for reducing fuel consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculation of optimal accelerator and brake operations based on predicted vehicle speed and road conditions, then presents this information to the driver in advance. This allows the driver to learn and adopt optimal operations without requiring complex real-time decision-making, resolving the contradiction between system simplicity and information completeness.
Data Source
AI summary
A fleet operation management system for a vehicle traveling on a predetermined travel route comprises: a storage unit (128, 142) which stores travel route information including the position, height and surface resistance of the vehicle's travel route; a speed prediction unit (102) which predicts future change in the speed of the vehicle coasting on the travel route based on the current position, the current speed, and the travel route information; and an operation timing calculation unit (104) which judges which of acceleration, deceleration and coasting should be performed at the current position based on the change in the coasting speed so that the vehicle speed after the lapse of a predetermined time will be within a predetermined range. This configuration makes it possible to properly judge which of the acceleration, the deceleration and the coasting should be performed on the vehicle's travel route from the viewpoint of fuel-efficient operation.