Hybrid Vehicle Drive System Automatic Shutdown Logic
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hybrid vehicles often consume battery charge and fuel unnecessarily when drivers forget to shut down the vehicle drive system, leading to potential safety and usability issues due to the vehicle being left in a ready-on state.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle control apparatus that includes a vehicle state evaluator, an exit evaluator, a shutdown evaluator, and a request output unit, which conducts evaluations to determine if the vehicle is stopped and if the occupant has exited, and automatically initiates a shutdown after a predetermined duration if conditions are met, ensuring safe and efficient operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the vehicle drive system is left in a ready-on state after driver exit, then the vehicle can be quickly restarted if needed, but battery charge and fuel are consumed unnecessarily
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs a preliminary evaluation of shutdown conditions (vehicle stopped, driver exited, engine not running) before automatically shutting down the drive system. This preliminary action ensures that shutdown occurs only when appropriate, preventing unnecessary energy consumption while maintaining the ability to quickly restart when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The control apparatus continuously monitors vehicle state parameters (engine running state, vehicle motion state, driver presence) and uses this feedback to dynamically determine whether shutdown conditions are met. This feedback mechanism allows the system to automatically adjust the drive system state based on real-time conditions, optimizing energy consumption while ensuring reliability.
2Loss of energy
If automatic shutdown is implemented without proper evaluation, then energy consumption is reduced, but safety and usability are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The shutdown determination is divided into multiple independent evaluation steps: vehicle stop evaluation, driver exit evaluation, and engine state evaluation. Each step independently assesses a specific condition, and all must be satisfied for shutdown to occur. This segmentation ensures comprehensive safety checking while enabling energy savings.
Solution Approach 2:
Before executing shutdown, the system performs preliminary evaluations to confirm all shutdown conditions are met (vehicle stopped, driver exited, engine not running). This preliminary verification prevents unsafe or inappropriate shutdowns, ensuring reliability while achieving energy reduction.
3Measurement precision
If the system continuously monitors vehicle state for shutdown conditions, then automatic shutdown accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control apparatus uses existing vehicle control units and sensors for multiple purposes: monitoring engine state, detecting vehicle motion, and determining driver presence. By making these components multi-functional for shutdown evaluation, the system achieves high detection accuracy without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The shutdown evaluation functions are merged into the existing vehicle control system architecture, combining multiple evaluation steps (vehicle stop, driver exit, engine state) within the current control apparatus. This integration avoids adding separate complex monitoring systems while maintaining precise shutdown condition detection.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle control apparatus for a vehicle provided with an engine and an electric motor includes a vehicle state evaluator, an exit evaluator, a shutdown evaluator, and a request output unit. The vehicle state evaluator conducts a vehicle stop evaluation and a driving state evaluation on the engine. The vehicle state evaluator evaluates whether the vehicle is stopped in a ready-on state in the vehicle stop evaluation. The exit evaluator conducts an exit evaluation as to whether an exit of an occupant from the vehicle is detected. The shutdown evaluator conducts a shutdown evaluation as to whether a vehicle drive system is to be shut down based on the results of the vehicle stop evaluation, the driving state evaluation, and the exit evaluation. The request output unit outputs a request for shutting down the vehicle drive system based on the result of the shutdown evaluation.