Vehicle Display System Converts Energy Consumption to Monetary Cost
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Solution Overview
Problem
Consumers lack a clear understanding of how their vehicle choices and driving habits impact energy consumption costs, as existing technologies do not effectively convey energy usage in monetary terms.
Innovation Solution
A driver display system that calculates and displays energy consumption as a monetary rate using a computer processor, display device, and logic within a vehicle, receiving a price per unit of energy and multiplying it by the energy consumption rate to show the cost over a time period.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If energy consumption information is provided in traditional units (gallons, kWh), then the measurement is simple and direct, but consumers cannot clearly understand the financial impact on their bottom line costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a monetary conversion intermediary that translates energy consumption data into dollar amounts. The system includes a converter that receives energy consumption information and converts it to monetary values based on stored price per unit data, making the financial impact immediately understandable to consumers without requiring them to perform calculations themselves
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically performs the conversion from energy units to monetary values without requiring user intervention. The converter autonomously retrieves price per unit information, performs the calculation, and displays the monetary cost, allowing consumers to understand their spending without manual effort
2Ease of operation
If real-time monetary cost calculation is implemented, then consumers gain clear understanding of energy spending, but the computational requirements and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs calculation only for the specific conversion needed (energy to monetary), rather than comprehensive analysis. It calculates monetary cost based on simple multiplication of energy consumption by price per unit, providing sufficient information for consumer understanding without excessive computational overhead
Solution Approach 2:
The converter automatically manages the entire calculation process including retrieving price data, performing multiplication, and displaying results. This self-service approach handles computational complexity internally while presenting simple monetary values to users, reducing the perceived complexity for consumers
3Measurement precision
If energy consumption data is collected and processed, then accurate cost information is provided, but additional data processing steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into a single converter component: receiving energy consumption data, retrieving price per unit information, performing calculation, and displaying monetary cost. This merging reduces system complexity by consolidating data processing steps into one integrated unit rather than separate components
Solution Approach 2:
The converter is designed as a universal component that can handle different types of energy consumption data (gasoline, electricity, hybrid) and convert them all to monetary values using the same basic calculation logic, making the system adaptable without requiring complex specialized processing for each energy type
Data Source
AI summary
A computer processor is embedded in a vehicle and a display device embedded in the vehicle is communicatively coupled to the computer processor. The computer executes logic to receive a price per unit of energy that is stored in the vehicle, compute an energy consumption rate of the vehicle over a time period, multiply the price per unit by the energy consumption rate to determine a cost of the energy consumption rate over the time period, and display the cost of the energy consumption rate for the time period on the display device in the vehicle.