Passive Activation System Fob Alert and Battery Conservation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Passengers may become stranded or unable to re-start or re-enter their vehicles if the fob used for passive activation systems becomes unavailable, such as when lost, out of power, or incapacitated, leading to issues with re-starting or re-entering the vehicle.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system that alerts passengers to the unavailability of the fob and limits fob transmissions to conserve battery life by determining fob availability through proximity and communication with the vehicle, thereby preventing unintended deactivation of passive systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the fob continuously transmits signals to maintain communication with the vehicle, then the reliability of passive activation system is improved, but the fob battery life deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic transmission only at specific trigger events (vehicle shutdown, door opening/closing, ignition on/off) rather than continuous transmission. This periodic activation at critical moments maintains system reliability while dramatically reducing overall power consumption and extending fob battery life.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle system actively queries the fob for availability and receives feedback responses. This feedback mechanism allows the vehicle to determine fob status without requiring continuous transmission from the fob, thereby maintaining reliable communication while conserving battery power.
2Duration of action of moving object
If the vehicle limits fob transmissions to conserve battery, then the fob battery life is improved, but the ability to detect fob unavailability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary checks of fob availability at key transition points (before shutdown, before door locking) to detect unavailability in advance. This preliminary detection ensures that passengers are alerted before critical operations occur, maintaining system reliability while using minimal transmissions.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle system sends query signals to the fob and analyzes the feedback response to determine availability. This active querying approach with feedback analysis enables reliable detection of fob unavailability even with limited transmission events.
3Ease of operation
If the system alerts passengers to fob unavailability, then the ease of operation is improved, but the use of energy by the vehicle system deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Alerts are generated periodically only at specific trigger events (vehicle shutdown, door operations, ignition changes) rather than continuously. This periodic alerting provides passengers with necessary information to operate the vehicle easily while minimizing the energy consumption of the alerting system.
Solution Approach 2:
The alerting system uses existing vehicle communication infrastructure and alert mechanisms (display screens, audio warnings) that are already part of the vehicle's self-service capabilities. This approach provides enhanced passenger information without requiring additional dedicated energy-consuming alerting hardware or continuous operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of alerting a vehicle passenger or other entity of an inability to re-active a previously activated passive vehicle system. The method being suitable for use with any number of passive activation systems, including but not limited to passive entry and passive starting systems. The method alerting the passenger of the inability to re-active the previously activated passive vehicle system if a fob associated with the passive operation of the same is unavailable.