Vehicle Air Conditioning Control Using Sensor Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high development and production costs of air quality sensors for vehicles make it challenging to implement robust, automatic, and inexpensive control of air-conditioning systems, which are necessary to mitigate the harmful effects of air pollution inside and outside vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing existing vehicle sensors such as video cameras, position determination units, radar sensors, lidar sensors, ultrasonic sensors, light sensors, rain sensors, and speed sensors to capture technical parameters, which are then processed by a computing unit to determine air quality and control the air-conditioning system's recirculation or fresh-air circuits without the need for separate air quality sensors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If expensive air quality sensors (AUC sensors for NOx/CO detection, fine-dust sensors) are used to detect air quality and control recirculation/fresh-air circuits, then the air quality measurement precision and reliability are improved, but the development and production costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of air quality sensing functionality by using existing vehicle sensors (cameras, radar, lidar, ultrasonic sensors, light sensors, rain sensors, speed sensors, position determination units) to capture environmental parameters and processing these data to infer air quality conditions. This copying approach eliminates the need for expensive physical air quality sensors while maintaining the ability to detect and respond to air quality changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes existing vehicle sensors perform multiple functions - not only their primary functions (e.g., cameras for vision systems, radar for distance measurement) but also air quality assessment. By processing data from these multi-functional sensors, the system determines air quality conditions and controls the air-conditioning system's recirculation and fresh-air circuits, thereby reducing the need for dedicated air quality sensors.
2Ease of manufacture
If multiple existing vehicle sensors (video cameras, radar, lidar, ultrasonic, light, rain, speed sensors, position determination units) are integrated and processed to determine air quality, then the cost is reduced and sensor availability is improved, but the device complexity and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the functionality of multiple existing vehicle sensors into a unified air quality assessment system. By combining data from video cameras, radar, lidar, ultrasonic sensors, light sensors, rain sensors, speed sensors, and position determination units, the system creates a comprehensive view of environmental conditions. This merging approach leverages sensor data that would otherwise be underutilized, reducing overall system complexity rather than increasing it.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the vehicle's existing sensor infrastructure to serve the additional function of air quality monitoring. Rather than adding dedicated air quality sensors, the patent enables the existing sensor network to self-serve multiple purposes including air quality assessment, thereby avoiding the complexity of integrating and managing separate dedicated sensing systems.
3Ease of manufacture
If existing vehicle sensors are used to capture technical parameters for air quality determination, then the need for separate air quality sensors is eliminated and costs are reduced, but the measurement of specific air quality parameters (NOx, CO, fine dust) may be less direct
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing layer that translates indirect sensor measurements (from cameras, radar, lidar, etc.) into air quality assessments. Instead of directly measuring NOx, CO, or fine dust concentrations, the system uses these sensors as intermediaries to detect environmental conditions (traffic density, proximity to pollution sources, weather conditions) and infers air quality from these proxy measurements, maintaining cost-effectiveness while providing sufficient accuracy for air-conditioning control.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for robust automatic control of an air-conditioning system in a vehicle includes at least one sensor configured to continuously capture technical driving parameters of the vehicle. The system has a computing unit configured to determine a current air quality from the captured technical driving parameters by way of a suitable algorithm. The system has a control unit configured to control the air-conditioning system in the vehicle, wherein the control of the air-conditioning system includes activating the recirculation circuit of the air-conditioning system and/or activating the fresh-air circuit of the air-conditioning system with reference to the determined air quality.