Route Determination Method for Air Quality Monitoring

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current air quality monitoring tools fail to precisely isolate and estimate pollutant emissions from road transport, especially in large or distant areas, due to oversimplification of route variability and emission contributions, limiting effective decision-making for infrastructure development and pollution reduction.

Innovation Solution

A method that acquires and groups geolocation data to determine representative trajectories and routes between geographic areas, using similarity measures like Fréchet distance, without requiring specific sensors, and applies microscopic emission models to quantify chemical and sound pollutants, thereby enhancing the accuracy of pollutant estimation and route analysis.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If current air quality monitoring tools use simplified methods assuming constant average speed and distance as the crow flies, then calculation time and computational resources are reduced, but measurement precision and reliability of pollutant emission estimates deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepollutant emission estimation accuracyVSAvoidroute analysis complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the route analysis process into distinct components: determining multiple possible routes between origin and destination zones, calculating travel time for each route using speed limit data, and evaluating route variability metrics. This segmentation allows comprehensive analysis without requiring overly complex integrated systems, resolving the contradiction between precision and complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-determining speed limit data for different road segments and pre-calculating possible routes between zones before conducting emission estimates. This preliminary preparation enables more accurate real-time calculations without increasing the complexity of the core emission estimation algorithm.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Measurement precision

If discrete choice models consider limited possibilities with a small number of routes, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision of individual route choice behavior deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveindividual route choice analysis accuracyVSAvoidroute consideration scope
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by focusing detailed analysis on the specific routes actually taken by individuals rather than uniformly analyzing all possible routes. By identifying and prioritizing the routes that users actually choose based on their behavior data, the system achieves high measurement precision for individual choice behavior without requiring complex analysis of every possible route alternative.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

3Measurement precision

If network load problem approaches consider all origin/destination pairs across the entire transmission network, then measurement precision of comprehensive traffic states is improved, but loss of time and computational resources increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecomprehensive traffic state accuracyVSAvoidcalculation time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and focuses on the most relevant routes and zones for analysis rather than processing all possible origin-destination pairs across the entire network. By identifying and isolating the key routes that contribute most to pollutant emissions and traffic patterns, the system achieves comprehensive traffic state accuracy for critical areas without the prohibitive computational cost of analyzing every possible route in the network.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

4Measurement precision

If GPS data is collected with high frequency to capture accurate movement patterns, then measurement precision of trajectory data is improved, but loss of time and computational resources for processing increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetrajectory measurement accuracyVSAvoiddata processing efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies partial action by collecting GPS data at optimized frequencies that capture essential movement patterns without excessive sampling. Rather than continuously tracking at maximum frequency, the system uses sufficient sampling intervals that capture route choice behavior and trajectory patterns accurately while maintaining acceptable processing efficiency, achieving the optimal balance between measurement precision and productivity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentEP4239289A1Method for determining at least one route between an original geographical area and a target geographical area
Publication Date: 2023.09.06 IFP ENERGIES NOUVELLES
  • EP4239289A1 patent drawingFigure 1~3
  • EP4239289A1 patent drawingFigure 4~5
  • EP4239289A1 patent drawingFigure 6~7

AI summary

The present invention relates to a method for determining at least one route (rte) between a geographical origin zone (ZGO) and a geographical destination zone (ZGD). The method acquires measured geolocation data (MES), performs a grouping (REG1) of this geolocation data. Furthermore, the method determines possible routes between the two zones (GIS), and performs a grouping (REG2) of the possible route data. The association (FUS) of the representative trajectories (TR1, TR2) of the groupings of the two aspects allows for the deduction of at least one route (rte) between the two geographical zones.