Air quality estimation methods and systems

• US 10,220,676 B2
• Filed: 02/04/2016
• Issued: 03/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Kulthe, Rulthe Ranjita Rajendrakumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Huson, Gregory L
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tighe, Dana K
• Application Number:
  US15/015,867
• Publication Number:
  US 20170225537A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,125 Days
• Field of Search: 454 75
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00771 the input being a vehicle position or surrounding, e.g. GPS-based position or tunnel
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/008 the input being air quality
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00821 the components being ventilating, air admitting or air distributing devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00849 for selectively commanding the induction of outside or inside air B60H1/00842 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 13/02 for measuring temperature of moving fluids or granular materials capable of flow
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0062 concerning the measuring method or the display, e.g. intermittent measurement or digital display
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 5/00 Measuring speed of fluids, e.g. of air stream; Measuring speed of bodies relative to fluids, e.g. of ship, of aircraft application of speed-measuring devices for measuring volume of fluid G01F

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for estimating a quality of air in proximity to a vehicle. In one embodiment, a method includes: determining a radius of the vehicle; estimating a number of vehicles within the radius of the vehicle; estimating the quality of air based on the number of vehicles; and selectively generating a control signal to an air inlet valve based on the quality of air.

Claims

1. A method for estimating a quality of air in proximity to a vehicle, comprising:

determining a radius of the vehicle;

estimating, by a processor, a number of vehicles within the radius of the vehicle;

estimating, by a processor, the quality of air based on a lookup table indexed by the number of vehicles when at least one of wind speed and vehicle speed is below a threshold; and

selectively generating a control signal to an air inlet valve based on the quality of air.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the radius comprises determining the radius based on ambient air temperature.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimating the quality of air comprises estimating a quality to be at least one of no pollution, low pollution, and high pollution.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimating the quality of air is based on the wind speed.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the estimating the quality of air comprises estimating the quality of air to indicate substantially no pollution when the wind speed is above a threshold.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimating the quality of air is based on the vehicle speed.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the estimating the quality of air comprises estimating the quality of air to indicate substantially no pollution when the vehicle speed is above a threshold.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the selectively generating comprises generating the control signal to prevent airflow into the vehicle when the quality of air is above a threshold.

9. A system for estimating a quality of air in proximity to a vehicle, comprising:

a first module that estimates, by a processor, a number of vehicles within a radius of the vehicle;

a second module that estimates, by a processor, the quality of air based on a lookup table indexed by the number of vehicles when at least one of wind speed and vehicle speed is below a threshold; and

a third module that selectively generates, by a processor, a control signal to an air inlet valve based on the quality of air.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising a fourth module that determines, by a processor, the radius based on ambient air temperature.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the second module estimates the quality of air to be at least one of no pollution, low pollution, and high pollution.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the second module estimates the quality of air based on the wind speed.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the second module estimates the quality of air to indicate substantially no pollution when the wind speed is above a threshold.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the second module estimates the quality of air based on the vehicle speed.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the second module estimates the quality of air to indicate substantially no pollution when the vehicle speed is above a threshold.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the third module generates the control signal to prevent airflow into the vehicle when the quality of air is above a threshold.