| 摘要 |
A method of thermally pre-conditioning a vehicle's passenger cabin prior to vehicle departure is provided. The system, after determining that the vehicle is off and/or the driver has left the car, monitors a variety of conditions corresponding to both the vehicle and the driver in order to determine the probability of the driver requiring near-term use of the car. Typical monitored conditions may include driver and vehicle location, driver proximity, time of day, day of week, driver's upcoming appointments, and a historical data base that tracks driver behavior. Once the probability that the car will be needed within a preset time period exceeds a preset level, the system determines whether the passenger cabin should be heated or cooled based on the current passenger cabin temperature, and then activates an appropriate thermal management system. |
| 主权项 |
1. A method of activating a thermal management system coupled to a passenger cabin of a vehicle, the method comprising the step of:
monitoring an operational state of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle is on when said operational state corresponds to a first state, wherein the vehicle is off when said operational states corresponds to a second state, and wherein when said operational state corresponds to said second state the method further comprises the steps of: monitoring a plurality of conditions, wherein said plurality of conditions are selected from the group consisting of a driver location, a direction of driver movement relative to the vehicle, a vehicle location, a separation distance between the vehicle and a vehicle driver, a current time of day, a current day of week, a driver appointment schedule, a historical data base, and an alarm clock, wherein said monitoring step is performed by a system controller incorporated into the vehicle; determining a probability of the vehicle departing from a present location within a preset number of minutes from said current time based on said plurality of conditions monitored by said system controller; and comparing said probability to a preset probability, wherein if said probability is less than said preset probability said system controller continues to perform said steps of monitoring said plurality of conditions, determining said probability and comparing said probability for as long as said operational state of the vehicle corresponds to said second state, and wherein if said probability is greater than said preset probability said system controller performs the step of activating said thermal management system. |
