Vehicle fuel level estimation
AssigneeNissan North America, Inc.
InventorsVikram Krishnamurthy, Timothy O'Donnell, Lawrence Rosinski
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Estimating fuel consumptions of a vehicle is disclosed. A first fuel consumption value in a first time interval is estimated using fuel-sender resistance data. A second fuel consumption value in a second time interval is estimated using fuel-injected mass data. At least the first fuel consumption value and the second fuel consumption value are combined to obtain a fuel consumption value. The fuel consumption value is then output.
Claims20
A method for estimating fuel consumptions of a vehicle, comprising:
- estimating a first fuel consumption value in a first time interval using fuel-sender resistance data;
- estimating a second fuel consumption value in a second time interval using fuel-injected mass data;
- combining at least the first fuel consumption value and the second fuel consumption value to obtain a fuel consumption value;
- and
- outputting the fuel consumption value.
A vehicle, comprising:
- a fuel tank;
- a fuel sender;
- and
- a processor configured to obtain an estimate of a fuel level at a time instant in the fuel tank by instructions to:
- identify an unreliable instant fuel sender resistance value;
- determine, using history data, a start time of an unreliable period associated with the unreliable instant fuel sender resistance value;
- retrieve a reliable fuel sender resistance value from the history data corresponding to the start time of the unreliable period;
- calculate a first fuel level from the reliable fuel sender resistance value using lookup data;
- compute a second fuel consumed level from fuel-injected mass data during the unreliable period;
- and
- combine the first fuel level with the second fuel consumed level to provide an estimated current fuel level in the fuel tank.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform operations for estimating fuel consumptions of a vehicle, the operations comprising:
- estimating a first fuel consumption value in a first time interval using fuel-sender resistance data;
- estimating a second fuel consumption value in a second time interval using fuel-injected mass data;
- combining at least the first fuel consumption value and the second fuel consumption value to obtain a fuel consumption value;
- and
- outputting the fuel consumption value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.