Vehicle Consumption Monitoring with Load- and Grade-Normalized Metrics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods fail to accurately compare fuel and energy consumption efficiency across different vehicles and operators due to variations in driving habits and environmental factors, such as elevation changes, leading to inefficiencies in vehicle operation.
Innovation Solution
A monitoring system calculates consumption metrics independent of vehicle load and elevation change, using a control system to determine fuel and energy consumption per unit of energy required, and optionally includes route condition metrics based on actual and estimated grades.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If fuel consumption is measured directly without correction, then measurement simplicity is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to variations in vehicle load and elevation changes
Solution Approach 1:
The system transforms the raw fuel consumption measurement into a corrected consumption metric by applying mathematical adjustments for vehicle load and elevation change parameters. This allows the same measurement device to provide both simple raw data and precisely corrected data for fair comparisons across different operating conditions.
2Measurement precision
If consumption metrics are corrected for load and elevation, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity worsens due to additional sensors and calculations
Solution Approach 1:
The control system performs multiple functions: it manages engine operation, collects sensor data, calculates route conditions, and computes corrected consumption metrics. By making the control system universal, the patent avoids adding separate dedicated hardware for each function, thus improving measurement precision without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
3Measurement precision
If route condition metrics are calculated based on actual and estimated grades, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time worsens due to additional data processing
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates and stores route condition metrics such as elevation grades and distance information before the vehicle journey begins. During actual travel, the system only needs to retrieve and compare this pre-computed data with real-time sensor readings, significantly reducing the time required for data processing while maintaining high measurement precision.
Data Source
AI summary
A monitoring system and method determine a consumption metric representative of one or more of an amount of fuel consumed or an amount of energy consumed by a vehicle during travel over a route. The consumption metric is independent of one or more of vehicle load or elevation change over the route. The system and method optionally can determine a route condition metric representative of a condition of a route traveled upon by a vehicle. The route condition metric is based on a comparison between an actual grade of the route at one or more locations along the route and an estimated grade of the route at the one or more locations.