| CPC B60H 1/00785 (2013.01) | 20 Claims |
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20. A method of detecting external leaks in a cabin of a vehicle utilizing a cabin humidity model, the method comprising:
receiving, by one or more control modules, data from one or more sensors disposed on the vehicle including: door lock sensors, vehicle speed sensors, solar load sensors, cabin temperature sensors, rain sensors, outside air-temperature sensors, window position sensors, front windshield temperature sensors, seat occupancy sensors, cabin humidity sensors, global positioning system (GPS) sensors, vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure sensors, weather data sensors, and diagnostic data sensors; and receiving data from one or more onboard vehicle controls disposed on the vehicle including: heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) controls, exterior air humidity models, and thermal energy management system controls, wherein each of the one or more control modules has a processor, a memory, and input/output (I/O) ports, the I/O ports of the control modules of the vehicles in communication with the one or more sensors and the one or more onboard vehicle controls; the control modules executing program code portions stored in the memory;
executing a first algorithm portion that receives data from the one or more sensors and data from the one or more onboard vehicle controls;
determining that the data from the one or more sensors and from the one or more onboard vehicle controls meets predetermined initialization threshold values, wherein the predetermined initialization threshold values include a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) status, an evaporator de-humidification status, a door lock status, and a window position status; wherein a combination of HVAC off, evaporator de-humidification on, doors locked, and windows closed indicates a seasonal status of summer, spring or fall; and wherein a combination of evaporator de-humidification off, doors locked, and windows closed indicates a seasonal status of winter;
in response to determining that the data from the one or more sensors and from the one or more onboard vehicle controls meets the predetermined initialization threshold values, executing a second algorithm portion including:
determining, with a first program code portion, whether the initialization threshold values have been met; and
in response to determining that the initialization threshold values have been achieved, enabling the second algorithm portion;
in response to determining that the initialization threshold values have not been achieved, entering a standby mode wherein the method continuously monitors to determine whether the initialization threshold values have been achieved;
in response to enabling the second algorithm portion, determining whether temperature and speed threshold conditions have been met;
in response to determining that the temperature and speed threshold conditions have been met, executing the second algorithm portion;
in response to determining that the temperature and speed threshold conditions have not been met, entering the standby mode;
measuring, with a second program code portion, a humidity of the cabin with the one or more sensors, and generates a target cabin humidity from the cabin humidity model; and
calculating, with a third program code portion, a difference between the target cabin humidity of the cabin and measured cabin humidity;
in response to determining that the difference between the target cabin humidity and the measured cabin humidity is greater or equal to a first threshold humidity, generating with a fourth program code portion, a first output;
in response to determining that the difference between the target cabin humidity and the measured cabin humidity is less than the first threshold, determining with a fifth program code portion, that the difference between target cabin humidity and the measured cabin humidity is less than a second threshold smaller than the first threshold and generating a second output;
in response to determining that the difference between the target cabin humidity and the measured cabin humidity is less than the first threshold and greater than or equal to the second threshold, referencing a key cycle counter stored in memory;
incrementing a key cycle counter by one; and
in response to determining that a quantity of key cycles in the key cycle counter is greater than or equal to a threshold key cycle value, generating a third output,
wherein the first output indicates a large leak has been detected, the second output indicates that no leak has been detected, and the third output indicates that a small leak has been detected, wherein the large leak is larger than the small leak, and the small leak is larger than no leak; and
transmitting the first, second, or third outputs via the I/O ports of the control module to a human-machine interface (HMI) and a remotely-located back-office system, wherein the HMI comprises at least one of: a display within the vehicle, and a vehicle user's mobile device, personal computer, or tablet computer, and wherein the remotely-located back-office includes a service database linked to the vehicle and indicating a health status of the vehicle.
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