Vehicle Diagnostic Cycle Control for Impediment-Aware Test Completion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle diagnostic tests often fail to complete due to vehicle speed deviations outside specified ranges, leading to incomplete tests and potential discomfort for occupants, which can be mitigated by detecting potential impediments along the vehicle's path of travel.
Innovation Solution
A system that determines if vehicle operating parameters meet enablement criteria and assesses the time to potential impediments, such as obstacles or navigation challenges, to decide whether to initiate a test cycle, using sensors like cameras and RADAR/LIDAR to control vehicle inputs and prevent test initiation when impediments are imminent.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the vehicle diagnostic system initiates test cycles whenever enablement criteria are met, then the diagnostic testing frequency is improved, but the number of incomplete tests increases due to vehicle speed deviations
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessment of future vehicle operating conditions by detecting impediments (obstacles, traffic signals, road gradients) along the planned path of travel before initiating a test cycle. The control system calculates the time to reach each impediment and compares it with the expected test cycle duration, only initiating tests when conditions are predicted to remain favorable throughout the entire test duration, thereby ensuring high test completion rates while maintaining frequent diagnostic testing.
2Measurement precision
If the system uses detectors like cameras and LIDAR to detect impediments, then the accuracy of predicting test completion is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs multi-functional detectors (cameras, LIDAR, RADAR) that serve dual purposes: detecting impediments for test cycle initiation decisions and providing data for vehicle navigation and autonomous driving functions. This universal use of sensors reduces the need for dedicated test cycle monitoring hardware, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while maintaining high measurement precision for predicting test completion.
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
Reduces the number of incomplete diagnostic tests by ensuring that test cycles are only initiated when the vehicle can maintain necessary operating parameters throughout their duration, enhancing user satisfaction and test completion rates.
Implementation Method 1
the detectors include one or more of a camera, LIDAR sensor or RADAR sensor
Implementation Method 2
the detectors include one or more of a camera, LIDAR sensor or RADAR sensor
Data Source
AI summary
In at least some implementations, a method for initiating a test cycle in a vehicle diagnostic includes determining if vehicle operation parameters meet enablement criteria for a test cycle, determining a time to an impediment, comparing the time to the impediment to a duration of the test cycle, and initiating the test cycle when the time to the impediment is greater than the duration of the test cycle, and not initiating the test cycle when the time to the impediment is less than the duration of the test cycle.