CPC B60H 1/00742 (2013.01) [A61B 5/01 (2013.01); A61B 5/0836 (2013.01); A61B 5/6893 (2013.01); B60H 1/00785 (2013.01); B60H 1/00835 (2013.01); B60H 1/008 (2013.01)] | 17 Claims |
1. A vehicle sensor system, comprising:
a carbon dioxide sensor placed in a ventilation system of a vehicle and configured to measure carbon dioxide inside a cabin of the vehicle;
a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature inside the cabin of the vehicle;
a ventilation controller configured to optimize air quality inside the cabin of the vehicle;
non-volatile memory; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the non-volatile memory and configured to:
measure the carbon dioxide inside the cabin of the vehicle by periodically sampling ambient air inside the cabin through intermittent operation of the ventilation system in a defined mode of operation;
measure a metabolic rate associated with a number of vehicle occupants based on the measured carbon dioxide inside the cabin of the vehicle;
determine an air exchange rate (AER) corresponding to a concentration of fresh air being exchanged in the vehicle;
determine the number of vehicle occupants based on weight information from seat weight sensors, the temperature inside the cabin from the temperature sensor, the carbon dioxide inside the cabin from the carbon dioxide sensor, and the AER of the vehicle; and
send control information based on at least the number of vehicle occupants and the metabolic rate to adjust operation of the ventilation controller to optimize the air quality inside the cabin of the vehicle.
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13. A method, comprising:
sensing a concentration of carbon dioxide inside a cabin of a vehicle;
measuring a temperature inside the cabin of the vehicle;
controlling a ventilation system;
measuring the carbon dioxide inside the cabin of the vehicle by periodically sampling ambient air inside the cabin through intermittent operation of the ventilation system in a defined mode of operation;
measuring a metabolic rate associated with a number of vehicle occupants based on the measured carbon dioxide inside the cabin of the vehicle;
determining an air exchange rate (AER) corresponding to a concentration of fresh air being exchanged in the vehicle;
determining the number of vehicle occupants based on weight information from seat weight sensors, the temperature and the concentration of the carbon dioxide inside the cabin, and the AER of the vehicle; and
sending control information based on at least the number of vehicle occupants and the metabolic rate to change operation of the ventilation system to optimize the air quality inside the cabin of the vehicle.
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17. An apparatus, comprising:
means for sensing a concentration of carbon dioxide inside a cabin of a vehicle;
means for measuring a temperature inside the cabin of the vehicle;
means for controlling a ventilation system;
means for measuring the carbon dioxide inside the cabin of the vehicle by periodically sampling ambient air inside the cabin through intermittent operation of the ventilation system in a defined mode of operation;
means for measuring a metabolic rate associated with a number of vehicle occupants based on the measured carbon dioxide inside the cabin of the vehicle;
means for determining an air exchange rate (AER) corresponding to a concentration of fresh air being exchanged in the vehicle;
means for determining the number of vehicle occupants based on weight information from seat weight sensors, the temperature and the concentration of the carbon dioxide inside the cabin, and the AER of the vehicle; and
means for sending control information based on at least the number of vehicle occupants and the metabolic rate to change operation of the ventilation system to optimize the air quality inside the cabin of the vehicle.
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