Vehicle Seat Guidance With Personalized Cabin Settings
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicles often default to last set temperature and humidity settings, failing to customize the environment and entertainment systems for specific users at their preferred locations, leading to discomfort and dissatisfaction.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle system that receives user data to configure HVAC, active safety, and entertainment systems based on user preferences, using light and audio emitters to guide users to their assigned seats, optimizing energy efficiency by matching settings to similar prior conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the vehicle defaults to last set temperature and humidity settings, then the HVAC system operation is simplified, but the user comfort is reduced because the environment is not customized for specific users at their preferred locations
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-configures multiple user profiles with personalized temperature, humidity, and entertainment preferences before the user arrives. When a user approaches the vehicle, the system automatically identifies them and applies their preferred settings, eliminating the need for manual adjustment while providing customization.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle system automatically detects user presence, identifies the user profile, and configures the environment without requiring user input. The system serves itself by autonomously adjusting HVAC settings and entertainment systems based on stored user preferences and sensor data.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the vehicle configures HVAC and entertainment systems for specific users based on user data, then user comfort is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the vehicle environment into separate controllable zones corresponding to different user seats. Each zone has its own HVAC controls and entertainment system, allowing independent configuration for each user without affecting other zones, thereby managing complexity through modular segmentation.
Solution Approach 2:
A single centralized control system performs multiple functions: it manages HVAC settings, entertainment systems, seat configurations, and visual/audio guidance for multiple users. This multi-functional approach consolidates complexity into one system rather than requiring separate control mechanisms for each function.
3Ease of operation
If visual and audio emitters are used to guide users to their assigned seats, then user guidance is improved, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The visual and audio emitters operate periodically or on-demand rather than continuously. The system activates guidance emitters only when a user approaches the vehicle or when seat assignment is needed, and deactivates them once the user is guided to their seat, thereby reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining effective guidance functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for configuring a vehicle based on user data. A vehicle can receive user data indicative of an environment setting associated with the vehicle, such as a temperature setting, an active safety setting, a suspension setting, etc. The vehicle can use the user data to determine a seat for a user associated with the user data. The user data can include request data and seat preference data. The vehicle can generate and send a seat assignment message to a device associated with the user data. The vehicle system can be configured based on the environment setting associated with the vehicle. The vehicle system can further output an indication for guiding the user to the vehicle seat. In some examples, the indication can be emitted via lights embedded in a headliner of the vehicle.