Vehicle fuel level estimation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11820221-B2
Application number	US-202117362014-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2021
Priority date	Jun 29, 2021
Publication date	Nov 21, 2023
Grant date	Nov 21, 2023

Abstract

Estimating a fuel consumption includes receiving a request for estimating the fuel consumption between a first time and a second time; estimating a first fuel consumption value in a first time interval using fuel-sender resistance data; estimating a second fuel consumption value in a second time interval using fuel-injected mass data, where the first time interval and the second time interval are consecutive, non-overlapping intervals; and combining at least the first fuel consumption value and the second fuel consumption value to obtain a fuel consumption value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of estimating a fuel consumption, comprising:
receiving a request for estimating the fuel consumption between a first time and a second time;
estimating a first fuel consumption value in a first time interval using fuel-sender resistance data;
estimating a second fuel consumption value in a second time interval using fuel-injected mass data, wherein the first time interval and the second time interval are consecutive, non-overlapping intervals; and
combining at least the first fuel consumption value and the second fuel consumption value to obtain a fuel consumption value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the second fuel consumption value in the second time interval using the fuel-injected mass data comprises:
adjusting the second fuel consumption value based on torque data.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the torque data is used to count a number of sudden accelerations.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the second fuel consumption value in the second time interval using the fuel-injected mass data comprises:
adjusting the second fuel consumption value based on temperature data.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a start time of the second time interval using the fuel-sender resistance data.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the second fuel consumption value in the second time interval using the fuel-injected mass data comprises:
integrating at least some of fuel-injected mass data to obtain the second fuel consumption value, wherein the at least some of fuel-injected mass data are obtained in the second time interval.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second fuel consumption value is an estimate of fuel consumption in a case that a fuel gauge indicates that a fuel tank is empty.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second fuel consumption value is an estimate of fuel consumption in a case that a fuel gauge indicates that a fuel tank is full.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second fuel consumption value is an estimate of fuel consumption in a case that a fuel gauge indicates that a fuel tank is half full.

10. A vehicle, comprising:
a fuel tank;
a fuel sender; and
a processor configured to obtain an estimate of a fuel level at a time instant in the fuel tank by steps to:
record, in history data, fuel-injected mass data and first corresponding timestamps;
record, in the history data, fuel sender resistance data and second corresponding timestamps;
receive a request to obtain the estimate of the fuel level at the time instant;
obtain an instant fuel sender resistance value corresponding to the time instant;
in response to the instant fuel sender resistance value indicating that the instant fuel sender resistance value is unreliable to obtain the estimate of the fuel level:
obtain, using the history data, a start time of an unreliable region including the instant fuel sender resistance value;
obtain, using the history data, a fuel sender resistance value corresponding to the start time of the unreliable region;
obtain, using lookup data, a first fuel level corresponding to the fuel sender resistance value;
obtain, using the fuel-injected mass data, a second fuel consumed level between the start time and the instant time; and
combine the first fuel level and the second fuel consumed level to obtain the estimate of the fuel level; and

provide the estimate of the fuel level.

11. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
in response to the instant fuel sender resistance value being in a reliable region:
provide the fuel level based on the instant fuel sender resistance value.

12. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein to obtain, using the fuel-injected mass data, the second fuel consumed level between the start time and the time instant comprises to:
integrate at least some of fuel-injected mass data to obtain the second fuel consumed level.

13. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein to obtain, using the history data, the start time of the unreliable region including the instant fuel sender resistance value comprises to:
use first derivatives of the fuel-injected mass data to determine of the start time of the unreliable region.

14. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein to obtain, using the history data, the start time of the unreliable region including the instant fuel sender resistance value further comprises to:
use second derivatives of the fuel-injected mass data to determine of the start time of the unreliable region.

15. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the start time of the unreliable region is an initial time of recording, in the history data, the fuel-injected mass data.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving a first request for estimating a fuel consumption between a first time and a second time;
estimating a first fuel consumption value in a first time interval using fuel-sender resistance data;
estimating a second fuel consumption value in a second time interval using fuel-injected mass data, wherein the first time interval and the second time interval are consecutive, non-overlapping intervals;
combining at least the first fuel consumption value and the second fuel consumption value to obtain a fuel consumption value; and
outputting the fuel consumption value.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the operations comprise:
recording, in history data, fuel-injected mass data and first corresponding timestamps, wherein the fuel-injected mass data and the first corresponding timestamps are received from a host vehicle; and
recording, in the history data, fuel sender resistance data and second corresponding timestamps, wherein the fuel sender resistance data and the second corresponding timestamps are received from the host vehicle.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein estimating the second fuel consumption value in the second time interval using the fuel-injected mass data comprises:
adjusting the second fuel consumption value based on torque data received from the host vehicle.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the operations comprise:
receiving a second request for estimating a fuel level at a time instant.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the operations comprise:
obtaining an instant fuel sender resistance value corresponding to the time instant;
obtaining, using the history data, a start time of an unreliable region including the instant fuel sender resistance value;
obtaining, using the history data, a fuel sender resistance value corresponding to the start time of the unreliable region;
obtaining, using lookup data, a first fuel level corresponding to the fuel sender resistance value;
obtaining, using the fuel-injected mass data, a second fuel consumed level between the start time and the time instant; and

combining the first fuel level and the second fuel consumed level to obtain an estimate of the fuel level.

Assignees

• Nissan North America Inc

Inventors

• Krishnamurthy Vikram
• O'Donnell Timothy
• Rosinski Lawrence

Classifications

• B60K15/03 Primary

  Fuel tanks · CPC title

• G01F23/363 Primary

  using electromechanically actuated indicating means · CPC title

• B60K2015/0319

  with electronic systems, e.g. for controlling fuelling or venting · CPC title

• B60K2015/03217

  Fuel level sensors · CPC title

• G01F9/006

  with mechanic means (G01F9/008 and G01F9/02 take precedence) · CPC title