Method to control an air conditioning system in a passenger compartment of a road vehicle
AssigneeFerrari S.P.A.
InventorEnrico D'Angelo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus to control an air conditioning system in a passenger compartment of a road vehicle comprising the steps of detecting a body temperature of at least a part of the body of one or more occupants of the passenger compartment and transmitting the detected body temperature to the air conditioning system, which controls a plurality of ventilation devices arranged inside the passenger compartment. The method comprises the further steps of identifying the number and the position of the one or more occupants seated in the passenger compartment; determining an optimized tuning at least based on the body temperature detected by the sensor member and controlling the ventilation devices as a function of the optimized tuning.
Claims14
A control method for controlling an air conditioning system in a passenger compartment of a road vehicle;
- the control method comprises the steps of:
- detecting, by means of a sensor member, a body temperature of at least a part of the body of one or more occupants of the passenger compartment and
- transmitting the detected body temperature to the air conditioning system, which controls a plurality of ventilation devices arranged in the passenger compartment;
- identifying the number and the position of said one or more occupants seated in the passenger compartment;
- determining an optimized tuning by calculating a thermal index at least based on the body temperature detected by the sensor member, body index associated with the one or more occupants, and a metabolic index;
- and
- controlling the ventilation devices as a function of the optimized tuning;
- wherein the optimized tuning changes depending on the metabolic index associated with a driving style determined based on data detected by means of an inertial measuring unit, and the body index of the occupant, wherein the driving style is determined based on longitudinal acceleration, lateral or transverse acceleration, and speed of the road vehicle, wherein the metabolic index is estimated in real time for each occupant based on the detected inertial data, wherein the optimized tuning is dynamically adjusted to provide individualized thermal comfort for each occupant as a function of both the real-time metabolic index and the body index, and wherein the control of the ventilation devices is performed independently of any adjustment to powertrain or compressor load, and is based solely on optimizing occupant comfort in response to physiological responses to the detected driving style.
An air conditioning system in a passenger compartment of a road vehicle (1);
- the air conditioning system comprises:
- an interface device to set a desired temperature signal;
- a plurality of ventilation devices arranged in the passenger compartment;
- a control unit, which is configured to control said plurality of ventilation devices;
- at least one sensor member to identify at least the number and the position of the occupants seated in the passenger compartment;
- and
- a processing device, which determines an optimized tuning based on the detection of the sensor member by calculating a thermal index at least based on the body temperature detected by the sensor member, body index associated with the one or more occupants, and a metabolic index associated with a driving style for each occupant, wherein the metabolic index is estimated in real time based on data detected by means of an inertial measuring unit and wherein the optimized tuning is dynamically adjusted to provide individualized thermal comfort for each occupant as a function of both the real-time metabolic index and the body index, wherein the data comprises longitudinal acceleration, lateral or transverse acceleration, and speed of the road vehicle, and wherein the control of the ventilation devices is performed independently of any adjustment to powertrain or compressor load, and is based solely on optimizing occupant comfort in response to physiological responses to the detected driving style and controls the ventilation devices based on the optimized tuning.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.