Controlling sun load in an autonomous vehicle to conserve energy
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsMahmoud Yousef Ghannam, John Robert Van Wiemeersch
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Method and apparatus are disclosed for controlling sun load in an autonomous vehicle to conserve energy. An example vehicle includes photochromic windows and a processor. The processor (a) determines a difference between an external ambient temperature and a cabin temperature, (b) when the difference is greater than a threshold, individually set tint levels on the photochromic windows to reduce a sun load on an interior of vehicle based on a driving mode and occupancy, and (c) in response to detecting a emergency, clear the tint levels on all the photochromic windows.
Claims20
A vehicle comprising:
- photochromic windows;
- a processor to:
- determine a difference between an external ambient temperature and a cabin temperature;
- when the difference is greater than a threshold, individually set tint levels on the photochromic windows to reduce a sun load on an interior of vehicle based on a driving mode and occupancy;
- and
- in response to detecting a emergency, clear the tint levels on all the photochromic windows.
A method to conserve power in a vehicle, the method comprising:
- determining, with a processor, a difference between an external ambient temperature and a cabin temperature;
- when the difference is greater than a threshold, setting, via photochromic controllers, tint levels on one or more photochromic windows of the vehicle based on a driving mode and occupancy to reduce power consumption by a heating and air conditioning system of the vehicle;
- and
- in response to detecting a emergency, clear, with the photochromic controllers, the tint levels on all the photochromic windows.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.