Refueling Event Detection Diagnosis via Fuel Consumption Cross-Validation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing refueling event detection systems in motor vehicles often malfunction, leading to erroneous detection or failure to detect refueling events, which can result in suboptimal emission control performance due to disabled monitoring and regulatory compliance issues.
Innovation Solution
A method to diagnose the performance of the refueling event detection system by calculating the fuel change amount and consumed fuel since the last refueling event, using a series of steps to determine if a refueling event has been accurately detected, including calculating a refueling ratio and blended ratio to assess system functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If refueling event detection is implemented to improve emission control performance, then emission control performance is improved, but false detections occur due to system malfunctions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism by comparing the detected refueling event against calculated fuel consumption data. The system monitors fuel level changes and cross-validates them with engine fuel consumption rates, creating a feedback loop that confirms whether a detected fuel level change represents a true refueling event or a false detection caused by system malfunction
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary calculations of expected fuel consumption based on engine operating parameters before confirming a refueling event. By pre-calculating the relationship between engine operation and fuel consumption, the system can predict what fuel level changes should occur under normal operation, allowing it to distinguish true refueling events from false detections
2Adaptability or versatility
If emission monitoring is disabled during fuel composition determination, then fuel composition analysis can be performed, but regulated emission monitoring performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary validation of refueling event detections before disabling emission monitoring. By first confirming the authenticity of a refueling event through multiple verification steps (fuel level change magnitude, timing relative to engine operation, consistency with consumption patterns), the system ensures that monitoring is only disabled when genuinely needed for fuel composition analysis
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms to continuously monitor system performance and detect malfunctions. This feedback allows the system to maintain emission monitoring when detection accuracy is compromised, while only disabling it temporarily when genuine refueling events are confirmed, thus preserving monitoring performance while enabling fuel composition determination
3Productivity
If refueling event detection sensitivity is increased to detect all refueling events, then detection completeness is improved, but false detections increase due to system malfunctions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces intermediary validation parameters between the raw fuel level detection and the final refueling event confirmation. These intermediaries include fuel consumption rate calculations, engine operation state verification, and temporal pattern analysis that act as mediators to filter out false detections while preserving true event detection
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from multiple data sources (fuel level sensors, engine operating parameters, consumption calculations) to continuously adjust and validate detection decisions. This multi-source feedback mechanism allows the system to maintain high detection sensitivity while filtering out false positives through cross-validation
Data Source
AI summary
A method for diagnosing the performance of a refueling event detection system for a vehicle is provided. The method includes the steps of a) determining a fuel change amount based on a difference of an indicated fuel amount and a previously indicated fuel amount, b) determining a consumed amount of fuel consumed by the engine since a prior refueling event was detected, and c) diagnosing the performance of the refueling event detection system based on the consumed amount and the fuel change amount.