GB2630363A

GB2630363A - Passenger Compartment Ventilation Device,a Method for Operating a Passenger Compartment Ventilation Device,a corresponding Vehicle and a Computer Program

Info

Publication number: GB2630363A
Application number: GB2307871.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Monninger Thomas; Antol Stanislaw
Original assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Current assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Priority date: 2023-05-25
Filing date: 2023-05-25
Publication date: 2024-11-27
Also published as: GB202307871D0

Abstract

A passenger cabin ventilation device 10 for a vehicle 12 comprises a fan 14 and an adjustable flow element 16 that controls fresh air introduced into and/or air recirculated within the cabin 18. The ventilation device also includes a control unit 22 and an environmental sensor 20 (e.g. front-facing camera 26) that collects data associated with a surrounding environment 24 in which the vehicle is located. The control unit performs an evaluation of an ambient scent based on the collected data, which is ideally at least one image captured by the camera, and sets an amount of fresh air to be admitted to the cabin and/or air to be recirculated in the cabin based on the evaluation. Ideally the ambient scent is evaluated through object recognition of the at least one image and the control unit includes a self-learning algorithm (e.g. CNN) trained to process the sensor data. The ventilation device may include a fragrance device 30 that can introduces at least two fragrances into the cabin to mimic/imitate the ambient scent if it is evaluated to be a pleasant smell. Weather data may also be used in setting the amount of fresh and/or recirculated air.

Description

Passenger Compartment Ventilation Device, a Method for Operating a Passenger Compartment Ventilation Device, a corresponding Vehicle and a Computer Program

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of vehicles, in particular automobiles. More specifically, the present invention relates to a passenger compartment ventilation device, which can guide air into or circulate the air in a passenger compartment. Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a method for operating a passenger compartment ventilation device, a corresponding vehicle, and a corresponding computer program.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

[0002] Scents are a core part of the human experience, since smell is closely linked with memories in the brain. While there are microphones to reproduce the sensing of a human ear and cameras to reproduce the sensing of a human eye, there is no system available to sense smells. The reason is that sensing scents involves a myriad of chemical reactions, which cannot be easily deployed in an electronic device. Scents could be linked to pleasant or unpleasant smells. While a vehicle is moving through its surrounding, it is also surrounded by scents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] It is an object of the present invention to provide a passenger compartment ventilation device, a method for operating said device, a vehicle, and a computer program, which allow a user to use the vehicle in a particularly comfortable way by paying attention to its olfactory perception.

[0004] This object is solved by the subject matters of the independent patent claims. Advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention are presented in the dependent claims as well as in the description and in the drawing.

[0005] The first aspect of the present invention relates to a passenger compartment ventilation device for a vehicle comprising a ventilation element configured to move air, in particular an air flow, an adjustable flow element configured to guide the air so that the air is capable of being introduced into and/or circulated in the passenger compartment by the passenger compartment ventilation device, an environmental sensor configured to collect sensor data associated with the vehicle, or in particular with the surroundings of the vehicle, and a control unit, in particular comprising an electronic computing device, configured to perform an in particular probabilistic estimation of an ambient scent based on the sensor data and to preset an amount of air to be infused or introduced into and/or circulated in the vehicle passenger compartment based on the estimation, whereupon based on the preset, the ventilation element and/or the flow element are controlled to infuse or circulate the air accordingly.

[0006] In other words, a scenting control system configured to recirculate air in an interior of a vehicle is presented, wherein the scenting control system comprises at least one sensor, which is in particular mounted on the vehicle and configured to capture data associated with the vehicle. Furthermore, comprising a computing system within the vehicle configured to receive the sensor data and based on this sensor data to calculate an in particular probabilistic estimate of an exterior scent and to selectively activate, based on the probabilistic estimate, a recirculation function that recirculates air within the vehicle.

[0007] An advantage is that the user's driving experience may be improved by activating the recirculation function at the appropriate time.

[0008] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the environmental sensor comprises at least one camera and is configured to capture at least one image of an environment or of an environment surrounding the vehicle as the sensor data.

[0009] A second aspect of the present invention relates to a method for operating a passenger compartment ventilation device of a vehicle. Within the method according to the invention, air is moved with the ventilation element and this air is guided with an adjustable flow element so that the air is introduced into and/or circulated in the passenger compartment by the passenger compartment ventilation device, and sensor data associated with the vehicle is detected by an environmental sensor, wherein an in particular probabilistic estimation of an ambient scent is carried out by the control unit, in particular comprising an electronic computing device, on the basis of the sensor data and an amount of air to be introduced into and/or circulated in the vehicle passenger compartment is predetermined on the basis of the estimation.

[0010] An advantage of the present invention could be based upon which environmental sensor is used so that no extra hardware for a vehicle is needed to control the airflow in dependence on the ambient or exterior scent.

[0011] Advantages and advantageous embodiments of the first aspect of the present invention are to be regarded as advantages and advantageous embodiments of the second aspect of the present invention, and vice versa.

[0012] According to an embodiment of the present invention, an object recognition is carried out by which at least one object is recognized in the sensor data, in particular in the at least one image, when the sensor data comprises a camera, and a scent is assigned to this at least one object and the ambient scent is derived on the basis of this assigned scent.

[0013] In another embodiment of the present invention, the estimation is carried out by a self-learning algorithm and/or a self-learning model, which is or are trained to process the sensor data, and which determines or determine a perception value or values from the sensor data, which describes a perception attribute, for example the probability for a positive perception, of the ambient scent for a person or passenger of the vehicle. The perception attribute could also describe neutral or negative perceptions.

[0014] In still another embodiment of the present invention, the amount of air to be introduced into and/or circulated in the vehicle passenger compartment and/or a ratio between the air to be introduced and the air to be circulated is determined as a function of the perception value(s).

[0015] In still another embodiment of the present invention, at least two fragrances are capable of being introduced into the vehicle passenger compartment, in particular by a fragrance device, and based on an amount and a ratio of the fragrances when introduced into the vehicle passenger compartment the ambient scent is imitated.

[0016] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, external data is used in conjunction with the sensor data to predetermine the amount of air to be introduced into and/or circulated in the vehicle passenger compartment.

[0017] A third aspect of the present invention relates to a vehicle comprising a passenger compartment ventilation device according to the first aspect of the invention and/or configured to perform a method according to the second aspect of the invention.

[0018] Advantages and advantageous embodiments of the first and second aspects of the present invention are to be regarded as advantages and advantageous embodiments of the third aspect of the present invention and vice versa.

[0019] A fourth aspect of the present invention relates to a computer program. The computer program may be loaded into a memory of an electronic computing device and may include program means for performing steps of the method according to the first aspect when the computer program is executed in the electronic computing device or a control device, respectively.

[0020] Advantages and advantageous embodiments of the first, second, and third aspects of the present invention are to be regarded as advantages and advantageous embodiments of the fourth aspect of the present invention and vice versa.

[0021] Further advantages, features, and details of the invention derive from the following description of preferred embodiments as well as from the drawing. The features and feature combinations previously mentioned in the description as well as the features and feature combinations mentioned in the following description of the figure and/or shown in the figure alone can be employed not only in the respectively indicated combination but also in any other combination or taken alone without leaving the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0022] The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The accompanying drawing, which is incorporated in and constitutes a part of this disclosure, illustrates exemplary embodiments and together with the description, serves to explain the disclosed principles. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described below, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying figures.

[0023] The drawing shows in: [0024] Fig. 1 a schematic side view of a vehicle in its surroundings comprising a passenger compartment ventilation device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration". Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

[0026] While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawing and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure.

[0027] The terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion so that a setup, device or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus preceded by "comprises" or "comprise" does not or do not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.

[0028] In the following detailed description of the embodiment of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawing that forms part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration a specific embodiment in which the disclosure may be practiced. This embodiment is described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0029] Fig. 1 shows in a schematic side view a vehicle 12 comprising a passenger compartment ventilation device 10 which comprises a ventilation element 14 configured to move air, and an adjustable flow element 16 configured to guide the air so that air is capable of being introduced into and/or circulated in the passenger compartment 18 by the passenger compartment ventilation device 10, and an environmental sensor 20 configured to detect sensor data associated with the vehicle 12, and in particular its surrounding environment 24, and a control unit 22, in particular comprising an electronic computing device, configured to perform an in particular probabilistic estimation of an ambient scent based on the sensor data and to preset an amount of air to be infused or introduced into and/or circulated in the vehicle passenger compartment 18 based on the estimation, whereupon the ventilation element 14 and/or the flow element 16 are controlled or regulated.

[0030] The environmental sensor 20 comprises at least one camera 26 and is configured to capture at least one image of the environment 24 surrounding the vehicle 12 as the sensor data. In other words, the sensor data comprises image data captured via one or more cameras 26. The sensor data or the image data can include a first image obtained via a front camera, the camera 26, which is positioned at a front location of the vehicle 12 and facing a forward direction relative to the vehicle, and a second rear-facing camera 28 collecting a second image facing a rear direction relative to the vehicle 12.

[0031] Besides the shown passenger compartment ventilation device 10 and vehicle 12, a method for operating the passenger compartment ventilation device 10 is also introduced. With the method air is moved with the ventilation element 14 and this air is guided with the adjustable flow element 16 so that the air is introduced into and/or circulated in the vehicle passenger compartment 18, and sensor data associated with the vehicle 12 is detected by the environmental sensor 20, for example comprising the two cameras 26 and 28, wherein an estimation of an ambient scent is carried out by the control unit 22 on the basis of the sensor data, and an amount of air to be introduced into and/or circulated in the vehicle passenger compartment 18 is predicted on the basis of the estimation.

[0032] A computer program is also introduced comprising programming means for executing steps of the introduced method.

[0033] In the shown embodiment, camera images are used instead of physically sensing the scent by a chemical reaction. Based on the detected features of objects in the image, a probabilistic estimate of different scents may be calculated, in particular by the control device 22.

[0034] In other words an object recognition is carried out by which at least one object is recognized in the image, and a scent is assigned to these objects and the ambient scent is derived on the basis of the assigned scents. A positive, negative or neutral perception for the driver could be determined based on the detected or determined scent and the ventilation could be controlled depending on this.

[0035] The passenger compartment ventilation device or in particular the control unit 22 comprising a computing system is built to receive information from the at least one environmental sensor 20. The control unit 22 may comprise a non-transitory computer-readable medium to store instructions that are executable by the control unit 22, wherein the control unit 22 is programmed by one or more computer-readable or computer-executable instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium.

[0036] The object recognized in the image could, for example, be a flowerbed, which could increase the estimate for floral scents, or dark soot clouds could increase the estimate for a smoky scent or a tree for a forest scent. The calculated or estimated ambient scent could be applied to multiple settings including vehicles, in particular automobiles, where it could be used to react to the outside environment. An estimation for each individual image may be done separately or the images may be considered at once, meaning that each image and the collection of images would yield separate estimations without an object-mediated path.

[0037] The ventilation element 14 in conjunction with the flow element 16 of the passenger compartment ventilation device 10 builds a recirculation function where the amount of fresh air in relation to the air already circulating in the passenger compartment 18 is variable by the adjustable flow element 16.

[0038] So the amount of air to be introduced into and/or circulated in the vehicle passenger compartment or the ratio could be based on a perception value determined by a self-learning algorithm and/or model which are trained to process the sensor data and determine a perception value or values from the sensor data, which describes a perception attribute of the ambient scent for a person, in particular a passenger of the vehicle 12. Therefore, if an unpleasant smell is predicted such as smoke or manure, the amount of air from outside to be introduced into the passenger compartment can be reduced to a minimum or stopped so that only the air already inside is circulated. For example, the perception attribute may take into account or describe a preference of the driver and thus express a positive, negative or neutral perception. Furthermore, the perception attribute can describe an intensity, strength or magnitude of the scent(s). If, for example, a liked or positive scent is estimated, an attempt may be made to maintain its intensity.

[0039] The recirculation function can be activated if a pleasant smell such as flowers in bloom is predicted in order to keep the pleasant smell in the vehicle after passing the object. So, in other words, the probabilistic estimate of the exterior or ambient scent is performed by the algorithm or model which are trained to process the sensor data and may determine a confidence interval of the ambient scent, a probability that the ambient scent is unpleasant to a vehicle occupant, a combination of scents to release into the vehicle to recreate the exterior scent, and a probability the combination of scents will recreate the exterior scent. For this, at least two fragrances are capable of being introduced into the vehicle passenger compartment by a fragrance device 30. By the ratio of the fragrances it is aimed to imitate the outside scent or ambient scent.

[0040] The recirculation function describing the ratio between the introduced and circulated air in the passenger compartment 18 may be based on the sensor data calculating a probabilistic estimate of the ambient scent, wherein, if a bad scent is probable above a predefined threshold, the recirculation function is activated and wherein, if the bad scent is probable below a predefined threshold, the recirculation function is deactivated.

[0041] An example of the self-learning algorithm or the self-learning model could be a convolutional neural network (CNN) based image classification model, where new architectures like Vision Transformers could also work, with continuous numerical output that represents probabilistic estimate. The output could potentially be a pleasantness classification, for example unpleasant, neutral, or pleasant scent, paired with a prediction of scent strength, ranging from barely perceptible to overwhelming.

[0042] Finer classification of types of smells and decisions may be possible by aggregating this information, for example if there are several weak mild unpleasant smells, which in combination could activate recirculation where each one individually would not activate it.

[0043] The threshold amount could be capable of being customized, allowing the user a trade-off between false negatives and false positives. If the estimation is predicting types of smell, the user could adjust the threshold for each type of smell or scent, in particular when he/she is more sensitive to certain scents than others.

[0044] An important aspect of the use of at least one camera 26 as the environmental sensor 20 is that there is no need for complicated and therefore expensive chemical sensors, but the shown passenger compartment ventilation device 10 and the method, the vehicle 12, and the computer program can also integrate further sources of information such as weather and/or other location-based information and therefore external data, for example pollen, wildfire, ocean smells etc. queried from an external source, for example an Internet server. For example, the user is driving through some landscape in late spring. Based on GPS and an online service, the system knows that some pleasant flower is currently blossoming there, so the system would typically have the recirculation off. However, based on news data and the GPS position, the system knows that there is a reported wildfire nearby, which would be unpleasant so the system decides to turn the recirculation on.

[0045] The method focuses on avoiding negative scents. Nevertheless, it could also be used to try to savor positive scents by turning recirculation off while in a nice area and potentially even turning it on once you leave the area to try to keep the positive scent in the vehicle 12 for a little bit longer.

Reference Signs passenger compartment ventilation device 12 vehicle 14 ventilation element 16 flow element 18 passenger compartment environmental sensor 22 control unit 24 environment 26 camera 28 second camera fragrance device

Claims

CLAIMS1. A passenger compartment ventilation device (10) for a vehicle (12) comprising, a ventilation element (14) configured to move air, an adjustable flow element (16) configured to guide the air so that air is capable of being introduced into and/or circulated in the passenger compartment (18) by the passenger compartment ventilation device (10), an environmental sensor (20) configured to collect sensor data associated with the vehicle (12), and a control unit (22) configured to perform an estimation of an ambient scent based on the sensor data and to preset an amount of air to be infused into and/or circulated in the passenger compartment (18) based on the estimation.
2. The passenger compartment ventilation device (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the environmental sensor (20) comprises at least one camera (26, 28) and is configured to capture at least one image of an environment (24) surrounding the vehicle (12) as the sensor data.
3. A method for operating a passenger compartment ventilation device (10) of a vehicle (12), wherein air is moved with a ventilation element (14) and guided with an adjustable flow element (16) so that the air is introduced into and/or circulated in the passenger compartment (18) by the passenger compartment ventilation device (10), and sensor data associated with the vehicle (12) is detected with an environmental sensor (20), wherein an estimation of an ambient scent is carried out by a control unit (22) on the basis of the sensor data and an amount of air to be introduced into and/or circulated in the passenger compartment (18) is predetermined on the basis of the estimation.
4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that an object recognition is carried out by which at least one object is recognised in the sensor data, in particular in the at least one image, and a scent is assigned to this at least one object and the ambient scent is derived on the basis of this assigned scents.
5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the estimation is carried out by a self-learning algorithm and/or a self-learning model, which is or are trained to process the sensor data, and which determines a perception value from the sensor data, which describes a perception attribute of the ambient scent for a person.
6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the amount of air to be introduced into and/or circulated in the passenger compartment (18) and/or a ratio between air to be introduced and air to be circulated is determined as a function of the perception value.
7. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that at least two fragrances are capable of being introduced into the passenger compartment (18), and based on an amount and/or a ratio of the fragrances, the ambient scent is imitated.
8. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that external data is used in conjunction with the sensor data to predetermine the amount of air to be introduced into and/or circulated in the passenger compartment (18).
9. A vehicle comprising a passenger compartment ventilation device (10) according to claim 1 or 2 and/or configured to perform a method according to any one of the preceding claims 3 to 7.
10. A computer program which is capable of being loaded directly into a memory of an electronic computing device, comprising program means for executing steps of the method according to any one of claims 3 to 7 when the computer program is executed.