Thermally efficient route selection

A computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code executable by at least one processor to perform operations for:

• receiving a request for a route for a vehicle to travel from a first geographic location to a second geographic location;
• retrieving route data for each of a plurality of routes, wherein the route data comprises, for each portion of each route at a given time and day, air temperature adjacent to a road surface;
• retrieving vehicle data for the vehicle, wherein the vehicle data comprises a desired temperature of an item being carried and a desired inlet air temperature of pre-heated inlet air;
• determining the route from the first geographic location to the second geographic location using the route data and the vehicle data, wherein the route is thermally efficient, by:
• for each route of the plurality of routes, determining a final heat transfer value by combining a first heat transfer value for the desired temperature of the item being carried and a second heat transfer value for the desired inlet air temperature of the pre-heated inlet air based on:
• determining the first heat transfer value based on the air temperature adjacent to the road surface and the desired temperature of the item being carried;
• and
• determining the second heat transfer value based on the air temperature adjacent to the road surface and the desired inlet air temperature of the pre-heated inlet air;
• and
• selecting the route from the plurality of routes based on each final heat transfer value;
• and
• automatically directing the vehicle along the route, wherein the route specifies a lane from a plurality of lanes of a road for each portion of the route.

A computer system, comprising:

• one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories and one or more computer-readable, tangible storage devices;
• and
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer-readable, tangible storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more computer-readable memories, to perform operations comprising:
• receiving a request for a route for a vehicle to travel from a first geographic location to a second geographic location;
• retrieving route data for each of a plurality of routes, wherein the route data comprises, for each portion of each route at a given time and day, air temperature adjacent to a road surface;
• retrieving vehicle data for the vehicle, wherein the vehicle data comprises a desired temperature of an item being carried and a desired inlet air temperature of pre-heated inlet air;
• determining the route from the first geographic location to the second geographic location using the route data and the vehicle data, wherein the route is thermally efficient, by:
• for each route of the plurality of routes, determining a final heat transfer value by combining a first heat transfer value for the desired temperature of the item being carried and a second heat transfer value for the desired inlet air temperature of the pre-heated inlet air based on:
• determining the first heat transfer value based on the air temperature adjacent to the road surface and the desired temperature of the item being carried;
• and
• determining the second heat transfer value based on the air temperature adjacent to the road surface and the desired inlet air temperature of the pre-heated inlet air;
• and
• selecting the route from the plurality of routes based on each final heat transfer value;
• and
• automatically directing the vehicle along the route, wherein the route specifies a lane from a plurality of lanes of a road for each portion of the route.