Gear Feedback System for Optimal Shift Recommendation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Heavy vehicle drivers face difficulty in determining the optimal gear for fuel-efficient driving, especially when multiple gears are suitable from a rotational speed perspective, leading to inefficient fuel consumption and environmental impact.
Innovation Solution
A gear feedback system that recommends an optimal gear based on parameters like vehicle weight, velocity, and road topography, and evaluates the driver's gear choice by comparing it to the recommended gear, providing a grade to encourage economical and environmentally friendly driving.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a driver manually selects gear based on rotational speed alone, then the gear selection is simple and quick, but fuel efficiency deteriorates because the driver cannot determine which of multiple suitable gears is optimal
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors vehicle parameters (weight, velocity, rotational speed, road topography) and provides feedback to the driver through gear recommendations and grading. This feedback loop enables the driver to make informed gear selections that optimize fuel consumption while maintaining ease of operation through automated assistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The evaluation means acts as an intermediary between the complex multi-parameter optimization problem and the driver's simple gear selection decision. It processes multiple influencing parameters and translates them into a straightforward grade indicator, allowing the driver to make optimal decisions without needing to understand the complex underlying calculations.
2Loss of information
If a gear shift indicator is used to show preferred gear, then fuel consumption information is provided to the driver, but the driver still lacks motivation to consistently choose the optimal gear
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides continuous feedback through the grade indicator that directly reflects the driver's gear selection performance. This quantitative feedback transforms abstract fuel consumption information into actionable performance metrics that motivate the driver to improve, directly linking information provision to performance enhancement.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter presentation from raw fuel consumption data to a normalized grade scale that is easier for drivers to understand and compete with. This parameter transformation makes the information more actionable and motivating, directly improving fuel efficiency performance through behavioral change.
3Use of energy by moving object
If multiple parameters are considered for gear recommendation, then fuel efficiency is optimized, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The evaluation means serves multiple functions simultaneously: it calculates the optimal gear recommendation, evaluates the driver's actual gear selection, generates the grade, and presents it to the driver. This multi-functionality consolidates what could be separate complex systems into a single integrated unit, optimizing fuel efficiency while managing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges the gear recommendation function with the evaluation and grading function into a unified system. By combining these functions that operate on the same input parameters (vehicle weight, velocity, rotational speed, road topography), the system achieves fuel efficiency optimization without proportionally increasing complexity, as the same sensing infrastructure serves multiple purposes.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a gear feedback system for use in a vehicle, comprising a gear recommendation means adapted to determine an optimal gear value in dependence of various influencing parameters, e.g. weight of the vehicle, velocity, rotational speed, road topography, and based upon the optimal gear value to recommend an optimal gear of the vehicle. The system further comprises a gear sensing means for sensing a currently used gear and to determine a used gear value in dependence thereto, an evaluation means to analyse and grade the currently used gear, by comparing the currently used gear value with the optimal gear value and based upon the comparison generate a grade. The system further comprises a presentation means to present the grade to the driver of the vehicle, and said grade depends on the time using a non-optimal gear, such that the grade is decreased if the non-optimal gear is used longer than a dynamic time duration, and said grade depends on the time using an optimal gear, such that the grade is increased if the optimal gear is used longer than a dynamic time duration.