Sensor-Controlled Vision System for Thermally Insulated Vehicle Body
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Solution Overview
Problem
Battery-powered vehicles face significant energy consumption challenges due to heating and cooling demands, with existing solutions like waste heat reuse and auto-shaded glass panels only partially addressing the issue, as they either lack sufficient energy efficiency or are limited to combustion engine applications.
Innovation Solution
A battery-powered or hybrid vehicle with a thermally insulated body made of non-transparent materials, equipped with a sensor and display system that provides real-time environmental data, allowing occupants to monitor surroundings without conventional windows, thereby reducing energy loss and enhancing occupant experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If conventional glass windows are used for visibility, then occupants can see outside, but thermal insulation performance deteriorates and energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes conventional glass windows from the vehicle body and replaces them with a camera-based vision system. The camera captures external images which are then displayed on interior screens, completely extracting the visual function from the physical window structure and enabling full thermal insulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates visual copies of the external environment through camera imaging and displays these images on interior screens. This copying mechanism provides occupants with visual information about the outside world without requiring physical transparency, thereby maintaining visibility while achieving thermal insulation.
2Loss of energy
If glass windows are removed for thermal insulation, then energy efficiency improves, but occupants lose direct view of surroundings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces cameras and display screens as intermediary devices between occupants and the external environment. The camera captures visual information and the display screen presents it to occupants, serving as a mediator that provides visual access without requiring physical windows, thus preventing thermal energy loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/optical system of glass windows with an electronic imaging and display system. Instead of using physical transparent material to transmit light, the system uses cameras to capture images and electronic displays to present them, substituting mechanical transparency with electronic visualization.
3Loss of energy
If thick thermally insulating material is used, then thermal insulation improves, but vehicle weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite material construction for the vehicle body, combining different materials with complementary properties. This includes using thermally insulating materials with appropriate mechanical strength, and integrating the camera and display systems into the body structure, achieving thermal insulation without excessive weight gain.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution significantly reduces energy consumption by minimizing thermal energy transfer, extends the driving range of electric vehicles, and improves occupant comfort by providing continuous visual information, reducing motion sickness and claustrophobia, while allowing for efficient navigation and control of the vehicle.
Implementation Method 1
The vehicle body comprises thermally insulating material, which is non-transparent to the human eye and which constitutes 80%-100% of the walls of the vehicle body
Data Source
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AI summary
A passenger carrying vehicle (1) comprising a vehicle body (6) and a passenger compartment (7) at least partly surrounded by the vehicle body (6), the vehicle body (6) having an outer surface (8) facing away from the passenger compartment (7) and an inner surface (9) facing the passenger compartment (7). The vehicle body (6) is arranged to prevent a passenger located in the passenger compartment (7) from gaining a direct view of a vehicle path in a primary direction of travel of the vehicle. The passenger compartment (7) is thermally insulated and the vehicle (1) comprises a sensor arrangement (10) for gathering real-time data from the vehicle environment and a display arrangement (18) comprising a display device (20) which is located in the passenger compartment (7). The display arrangement (18) is arranged to receive and display the real-time data from the sensor arrangement (10) on the display device (20).