Vehicle Air-Conditioning Control for Occupied Zone Energy Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electric vehicles face significant reduction in driving distance due to excessive battery power consumption from unnecessary air-conditioning energy usage, as current systems lack efficient methods to differentiate between occupied and unoccupied vehicle spaces, leading to inefficient energy distribution.
Innovation Solution
An air-conditioning control method that divides the vehicle's indoor space into zones, allowing for individual temperature control by identifying occupied zones and adjusting the air-conditioning settings accordingly, using a mixing ratio to correct temperature readings and optimize energy use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If air-conditioning is provided for the whole indoor space of the vehicle, then passenger comfort is maintained, but battery power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The indoor space of the vehicle is divided into multiple zones (front row zone, rear row zone, etc.), and air-conditioning is selectively provided only to zones where passengers are actually seated. This segmentation allows the system to maintain passenger comfort in occupied zones while avoiding energy waste in unoccupied zones, directly resolving the contradiction between comfort and energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different air-conditioning control strategies to different zones based on local conditions (presence of passengers). Instead of uniform air-conditioning throughout the vehicle, the control method adjusts temperature and airflow locally in each zone according to actual occupancy, thereby maintaining comfort where needed while reducing overall energy consumption.
2Use of energy by moving object
If air-conditioning is restricted only to detected occupied zones, then energy consumption is reduced, but temperature control precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses an intermediary correction value based on the difference between set temperature and detected temperature to compensate for temperature distribution variations within zones. This intermediary parameter allows the system to maintain precise temperature control in each zone even when air-conditioning is selectively applied only to occupied zones, thus resolving the contradiction between energy reduction and temperature precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The control method dynamically adjusts temperature parameters (discharge temperature, mixing ratio) based on zone occupancy and temperature differences. By changing these parameters adaptively, the system maintains precise temperature control in occupied zones while minimizing energy consumption, effectively resolving the contradiction between energy efficiency and temperature precision.
3Device complexity
If a single incar sensor is used for temperature detection, then device complexity is reduced, but temperature measurement accuracy in specific zones deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and utilizes the useful information contained in the single incar sensor's detected temperature by applying zone-specific correction values. Instead of requiring multiple sensors, the method mathematically derives zone temperatures from the single sensor reading by removing the influence of air-conditioned air mixing, thereby achieving accurate zone temperature measurement with minimal device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a virtual representation of zone temperatures through calculation rather than direct physical measurement. By using the single incar sensor reading combined with correction algorithms that account for air mixing ratios and discharge temperatures, the system generates accurate temperature data for each zone without physically installing multiple sensors, thus resolving the contradiction between simplicity and accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
An air-conditioning control method for dividing an indoor space of a vehicle into a plurality of zones to perform individual air-conditioning for each zone, may include selecting boarding zones occupied by passengers from the plurality of zones, checking whether the number of the boarding zones occupied by the passengers may be one, correcting a detection temperature of an incar sensor into a temperature of the boarding zone using a mixing ratio of air for air-conditioning discharged from the corresponding boarding zone with air existing in the boarding zone when the number of the boarding zones occupied by the passengers may be one, and performing individual air-conditioning on the selected boarding zones by determining a target discharge temperature based on the corrected temperature of the boarding zone and using the determined target discharge temperature.