CN116406146A

CN116406146A - Control method of computing hardware thermal management system applied to automatic driving vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN116406146A
Application number: CN202310613597.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王伟
Original assignee: Beijing Baidu Netcom Science and Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Baidu Netcom Science and Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-05-26
Filing date: 2023-05-26
Publication date: 2023-07-07

Abstract

The disclosure provides a control method and device of a computing hardware thermal management system applied to an automatic driving vehicle, electronic equipment, the computing hardware thermal management system, the automatic driving vehicle, a computer readable storage medium and a computer program product, and relates to the technical field of intelligent transportation, in particular to the technical field of automatic driving. The system comprises: a circulating air duct; a circulating fan; the heat exchange device is sequentially arranged on an exhaust air valve, an air inlet air valve, a refrigerating device, a heating device and calculation hardware of the circulating air channel; a temperature monitoring device; an atmosphere monitoring device; and an electronic device configured to control opening and closing states of the exhaust damper, the intake damper, the refrigerating device, and the heating device based on the ambient temperature, the intake side temperature of the heat exchange device, and the atmospheric quality parameter. The present disclosure may provide reliable, efficient thermal management schemes for computing hardware of an autonomous vehicle and enable adaptation to harsh environmental conditions.

Description

Control method of computing hardware thermal management system applied to automatic driving vehicle

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of intelligent transportation technology, and in particular, to the field of autopilot technology, and more particularly, to a control method and apparatus for a computing hardware thermal management system applied to an autopilot vehicle, an electronic device, a computing hardware thermal management system, an autopilot vehicle, a computer readable storage medium, and a computer program product.

Background

The automatic driving vehicle can realize the driving of the vehicle by means of cooperation of artificial intelligence, visual calculation, radar, a monitoring device, a global positioning system and the like without actually controlling the vehicle on site by people, and is one of the main development directions of future intelligent traffic.

How to provide a reliable, efficient thermal management scheme for the computing hardware of an autonomous vehicle and enable it to be adapted to harsh environmental conditions is a technical problem to be solved by those skilled in the art.

The approaches described in this section are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the technical means described in this section are prior art only as they were included in this section. Similarly, the problems mentioned in this section should not be considered as having been recognized in any prior art unless otherwise indicated.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides a control method and apparatus for a computing hardware thermal management system applied to an autonomous vehicle, an electronic device, a computing hardware thermal management system, an autonomous vehicle, a computer readable storage medium, and a computer program product.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a control method of a computing hardware thermal management system applied to an autonomous vehicle, wherein,

the computing hardware thermal management system includes: a circulating air duct; the circulating fan is arranged in the circulating air duct; the heat exchange device is sequentially arranged on an exhaust air valve, an air inlet air valve, a refrigerating device, a heating device and calculation hardware of the circulating air channel; temperature monitoring means for monitoring an ambient temperature outside the autonomous vehicle and an air intake side temperature of the heat exchange device; and an atmosphere monitoring device for monitoring an atmosphere quality parameter outside the autonomous vehicle;

the control method comprises the following steps: acquiring environmental temperature, air inlet side temperature and air quality parameters; the open and closed states of the exhaust damper, the intake damper, the refrigerating device and the heating device are controlled based on the ambient temperature, the intake side temperature and the atmospheric quality parameter.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a control apparatus for a computing hardware thermal management system for an autonomous vehicle, wherein,

The control device includes: an acquisition unit configured to acquire an ambient temperature, an intake side temperature, and an atmospheric quality parameter; and a control unit configured to control opening and closing states of the exhaust damper, the intake damper, the refrigerating device, and the heating device based on the ambient temperature, the intake side temperature, and the atmospheric quality parameter.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an electronic apparatus including: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the control method of the preceding aspect.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computing hardware thermal management system applied to an autonomous vehicle, comprising: a circulating air duct; the circulating fan is arranged in the circulating air duct; the heat exchange device is sequentially arranged on an exhaust air valve, an air inlet air valve, a refrigerating device, a heating device and calculation hardware of the circulating air channel; the temperature monitoring equipment is used for monitoring the ambient temperature outside the automatic driving vehicle and the air inlet side temperature of the heat exchange device; an atmosphere monitoring device for monitoring an atmosphere quality parameter outside the autonomous vehicle; and an electronic device according to the preceding aspect.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an autonomous vehicle including: computing hardware; and a computing hardware thermal management system according to the preceding aspects.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions configured to cause a computer to execute the control method of the foregoing aspect.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the control method of the preceding aspect.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, reliable, efficient thermal management schemes may be provided for computing hardware of an autonomous vehicle and enabled to adapt to harsh environmental conditions.

It should be understood that the description in this section is not intended to identify key or critical features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following specification.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain exemplary implementations of the embodiments. The illustrated embodiments are for exemplary purposes only and do not limit the scope of the claims. Throughout the drawings, identical reference numerals designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an exemplary system in which various methods described herein may be implemented, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2A illustrates a schematic diagram of a computing hardware thermal management system for an autonomous vehicle in an internal circulation operating state, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram of a computing hardware thermal management system applied to an autonomous vehicle in an out-cycling operating state, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of a control method of a computing hardware thermal management system applied to an autonomous vehicle according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a control device of a computing hardware thermal management system applied to an autonomous vehicle according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary electronic device that can be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which include various details of the embodiments of the present disclosure to facilitate understanding, and should be considered as merely exemplary. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted in the following description for clarity and conciseness.

In the present disclosure, the use of the terms "first," "second," and the like to describe various elements is not intended to limit the positional relationship, timing relationship, or importance relationship of the elements, unless otherwise indicated, and such terms are merely used to distinguish one element from another element. In some examples, a first element and a second element may refer to the same instance of the element, and in some cases, they may also refer to different instances based on the description of the context.

The terminology used in the description of the various examples in this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular examples only and is not intended to be limiting. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the elements may be one or more if the number of the elements is not specifically limited. Furthermore, the term "and/or" as used in this disclosure encompasses any and all possible combinations of the listed items.

An autonomous vehicle is an intelligent vehicle that utilizes high performance computing hardware to drive instead of a driver. The computing hardware is used as the 'brain' of the automatic driving vehicle, and needs to analyze and process a large amount of data transmitted by a camera, a radar and other devices in real time.

With the development of automatic driving technology, the performance of computing hardware is higher and higher, but more heating value is brought at the same time, and the required environmental working conditions are more and more complex. For example, in the related art, some unmanned engineering vehicles are not equipped with a cockpit and a matched air conditioning system, and only the computing hardware can be exposed to the external environment to perform natural heat dissipation, so that on one hand, the heat dissipation effect is poor, and on the other hand, the computing hardware is easily damaged due to the invasion of the external severe environment.

Based on this, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a control method and apparatus, an electronic device, a computing hardware thermal management system, an autonomous vehicle, a computer readable storage medium, and a computer program product for a computing hardware thermal management system of an autonomous vehicle, which can provide a reliable and efficient thermal management scheme for the computing hardware of the autonomous vehicle and enable the computing hardware to be suitable for severe environmental conditions.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an exemplary system 100 in which various methods and apparatus described herein may be implemented, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to fig. 1, the system 100 includes a motor vehicle 110, a server 120, and one or more communication networks 130 coupling the motor vehicle 110 to the server 120.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, motor vehicle 110 may include a computing device in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure and/or be configured to perform a method in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The server 120 may run one or more services or software applications that enable the communication control method of the vehicle of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, server 120 may also provide other services or software applications, which may include non-virtual environments and virtual environments. In the configuration shown in fig. 1, server 120 may include one or more components that implement the functions performed by server 120. These components may include software components, hardware components, or a combination thereof that are executable by one or more processors. A user of motor vehicle 110 may in turn utilize one or more client applications to interact with server 120 to utilize the services provided by these components. It should be appreciated that a variety of different system configurations are possible, which may differ from system 100. Accordingly, FIG. 1 is one example of a system for implementing the various methods described herein and is not intended to be limiting.

The server 120 may include one or more general purpose computers, special purpose server computers (e.g., PC (personal computer) servers, UNIX servers, mid-end servers), blade servers, mainframe computers, server clusters, or any other suitable arrangement and/or combination. The server 120 may include one or more virtual machines running a virtual operating system, or other computing architecture that involves virtualization (e.g., one or more flexible pools of logical storage devices that may be virtualized to maintain virtual storage devices of the server). In various embodiments, server 120 may run one or more services or software applications that provide the functionality described below.

The computing units in server 120 may run one or more operating systems including any of the operating systems described above as well as any commercially available server operating systems. Server 120 may also run any of a variety of additional server applications and/or middle tier applications, including HTTP servers, FTP servers, CGI servers, JAVA servers, database servers, etc.

In some implementations, server 120 may include one or more applications to analyze and consolidate data feeds and/or event updates received from motor vehicle 110. Server 120 may also include one or more applications to display data feeds and/or real-time events via one or more display devices of motor vehicle 110.

Network 130 may be any type of network known to those skilled in the art that may support data communications using any of a number of available protocols, including but not limited to TCP/IP, SNA, IPX, etc. By way of example only, the one or more networks 130 may be a satellite communications network, a Local Area Network (LAN), an ethernet-based network, a token ring, a Wide Area Network (WAN), the internet, a virtual network, a Virtual Private Network (VPN), an intranet, an extranet, a blockchain network, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), an infrared network, a wireless network (including, for example, bluetooth, wiFi), and/or any combination of these with other networks.

The system 100 may also include one or more databases 150. In some embodiments, these databases may be used to store data and other information. For example, one or more of databases 150 may be used to store information such as audio files and video files. The data store 150 may reside in various locations. For example, the data store used by the server 120 may be local to the server 120, or may be remote from the server 120 and may communicate with the server 120 via a network-based or dedicated connection. The data store 150 may be of different types. In some embodiments, the data store used by server 120 may be a database, such as a relational database. One or more of these databases may store, update, and retrieve the databases and data from the databases in response to the commands.

In some embodiments, one or more of databases 150 may also be used by applications to store application data. The databases used by the application may be different types of databases, such as key value stores, object stores, or conventional stores supported by the file system.

Motor vehicle 110 may include a sensor 111 for sensing the surrounding environment. The sensors 111 may include one or more of the following: visual cameras, infrared cameras, ultrasonic sensors, millimeter wave radar, and laser radar (LiDAR). Different sensors may provide different detection accuracy and range. The camera may be mounted in front of, behind or other locations on the vehicle. The vision cameras can capture the conditions inside and outside the vehicle in real time and present them to the driver and/or passengers. In addition, by analyzing the captured images of the visual camera, information such as traffic light indication, intersection situation, other vehicle running states, etc. can be acquired. The infrared camera can capture objects under night vision. The ultrasonic sensor can be arranged around the vehicle and is used for measuring the distance between an object outside the vehicle and the vehicle by utilizing the characteristics of strong ultrasonic directivity and the like. The millimeter wave radar may be installed in front of, behind, or other locations of the vehicle for measuring the distance of an object outside the vehicle from the vehicle using the characteristics of electromagnetic waves. Lidar may be mounted in front of, behind, or other locations on the vehicle for detecting object edges, shape information for object identification and tracking. The radar apparatus may also measure a change in the speed of the vehicle and the moving object due to the doppler effect.

Motor vehicle 110 may also include a communication device 112. The communication device 112 may include a satellite positioning module capable of receiving satellite positioning signals (e.g., beidou, GPS, GLONASS, and GALILEO) from satellites 141 and generating coordinates based on these signals. The communication device 112 may also include a module for communicating with the mobile communication base station 142, and the mobile communication network may implement any suitable communication technology, such as the current or evolving wireless communication technology (e.g., 5G technology) such as GSM/GPRS, CDMA, LTE. The communication device 112 may also have a Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) module configured to enable, for example, vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication with other vehicles 143 and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communication with Infrastructure 144. In addition, the communication device 112 may also have a module configured to communicate with a user terminal 145 (including but not limited to a smart phone, tablet computer, or wearable device such as a watch), for example, by using a wireless local area network or bluetooth of the IEEE802.11 standard. With the communication device 112, the motor vehicle 110 can also access the server 120 via the network 130.

Motor vehicle 110 may also include a control device 113. The control device 113 may include a processor, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), or other special purpose processor, etc., in communication with various types of computer readable storage devices or mediums. The control device 113 may include an autopilot system for automatically controlling various actuators in the vehicle. The autopilot system is configured to control a powertrain, steering system, braking system, etc. of a motor vehicle 110 (not shown) via a plurality of actuators in response to inputs from a plurality of sensors 111 or other input devices to control acceleration, steering, and braking, respectively, without human intervention or limited human intervention. Part of the processing functions of the control device 113 may be implemented by cloud computing. For example, some of the processing may be performed using an onboard processor while other processing may be performed using cloud computing resources. The control device 113 may be configured to perform a method according to the present disclosure. Furthermore, the control means 113 may be implemented as one example of a computing device on the motor vehicle side (client) according to the present disclosure.

The system 100 of fig. 1 may be configured and operated in various ways to enable application of the various methods and apparatus described in accordance with the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 2A and 2B, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computing hardware thermal management system 200 for use with an autonomous vehicle.

This embodiment of the computing hardware thermal management system 200 includes: a circulation duct 210; a circulation fan 211 provided in the circulation duct 210; the heat exchange device 216 is sequentially arranged on the exhaust air valve 212, the air inlet air valve 213, the refrigerating device 214, the heating device 215 and the computing hardware 250 of the circulating air duct 210; a temperature monitoring device 217 for monitoring the ambient temperature outside the autonomous vehicle and the temperature of the air intake side of the heat exchange means 216; an atmosphere monitoring device 218 for monitoring an atmosphere quality parameter external to the autonomous vehicle; and an electronic device 500 for performing system control functions.

The temperature monitoring device 217 may include one or more temperature sensors. The atmosphere monitoring device 218 may include one or more sensors for monitoring at least one atmosphere quality parameter, such as humidity, ph, air pollution index, etc.

The electronic apparatus 500 is configured to control the open and closed states of the exhaust damper 212, the intake damper 213, the cooling device 214, and the heating device 215 based on the ambient temperature, the intake side temperature, and the atmospheric quality parameter.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the electronic device 500 is configured to control the computing hardware thermal management system 200 to be in one of an inner loop comfort mode, an inner loop heat dissipation mode, an inner loop heating mode, and an outer loop mode based on the ambient temperature, the air intake side temperature, and the atmospheric quality parameter.

The computing hardware thermal management system 200 is in the internal circulation comfort mode (as shown in fig. 2A), the exhaust damper 212 and the intake damper 213 are closed, and the cooling device 214 and the heating device 215 are closed. The computing hardware thermal management system 200 is in an internal circulation heat dissipation mode, the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 are closed, the refrigeration device is opened 214, and the heating device 215 is closed. The computing hardware thermal management system 200 is in the internal circulation heating mode, the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 are closed, the refrigeration device 214 is closed, and the heating device 215 is opened. The computing hardware thermal management system 200 is in the outer loop mode with the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 open and the cooling device 214 and the heating device 215 closed (as shown in FIG. 2B).

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the specific type of the automatic driving vehicle is not limited, and various levels of automatic driving vehicles with different degrees of automation may be used. In some embodiments, the autonomous vehicle is a fully unmanned work vehicle, such as an unmanned excavator, an unmanned mining truck, an unmanned bulldozer, an unmanned roller, etc., and because no personnel are required to drive and operate, such a vehicle may eliminate the need for a cockpit and associated air conditioning system.

The computing hardware thermal management system 200 of the disclosed embodiments can automatically switch among an inner circulation comfort mode, an inner circulation heat dissipation mode, an inner circulation heating mode and an outer circulation mode according to the environmental temperature of an automatic driving vehicle, the atmospheric quality parameter of the environment, and the air inlet side temperature of the heat exchange device 216, so that the thermal management of the computing hardware 250 under different working conditions is realized, the computing hardware 250 is not only efficient and energy-saving, but also can be effectively protected from being damaged by the severe external environment, and can be suitable for the severe environmental working conditions, such as the outdoor environment with heavy dust or pollutants.

In the disclosed embodiment, the circulation duct 210 has a ring shape. The circulation fans are in a normally open state after the computing hardware thermal management system 200 is enabled. The exhaust damper 212, when open, allows air within the circulation duct 210 to be exhausted out of the circulation duct 210 therethrough. The intake damper 213, when opened, allows air outside the circulation duct 210 to enter the circulation duct 210 therethrough.

The heat exchange device 216 of the computing hardware 250, such as fins or micro-channels, may be factory configured for the computing hardware product, which is not specifically limited in this disclosure. Since the heat exchange device 216 of the computing hardware 250 exchanges heat with a chip (not shown) of the computing hardware 250, the air inlet side temperature of the heat exchange device 216 of the computing hardware 250 may be used to reflect the operating temperature of the computing hardware 250.

The refrigeration device 214 is used to provide cooling energy for the air in the circulation duct 210 to cool the computing hardware 250, and the specific type of the refrigeration device 214 is not limited, and may be, for example, a cold end of a semiconductor refrigerator or an evaporator. The heating device 215 is used for providing heat for the air in the circulation duct 210 to heat the computing hardware 250, and the specific type of the heating device 215 is not limited, for example, a hot end of a semiconductor refrigerator or a thermistor heater (Positive Temperature Coefficient, PTC) may be used, and a specific location of the heating device 215 in the circulation duct 210 is not limited, for example, may be located between the circulation fan 211 and the heat exchanging device 216. In some embodiments, heating device 215 and cooling device 214 may be integrated, for example, in a semiconductor refrigerator, with the cold side of the semiconductor refrigerator acting as the cooling device and the hot side of the semiconductor refrigerator acting as the heating device.

As shown in fig. 2A and 2B, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the computing hardware thermal management system 200 further includes a filter device 219 and/or a dehumidification device 221 disposed on the air intake side of the air intake damper 213. The filtering device 219 may filter air entering the circulation duct 210 through the inlet air valve 213, thereby improving the cleanliness of the inlet air. The dehumidifying device 221 may dehumidify air that enters the circulation duct 210 via the inlet damper 213, thereby keeping the inside of the circulation duct 210 dry. In this way, the damage to the computing hardware 250 can be further reduced, and the circulation duct 210 and other internal facilities can be maintained, so that the reliability of the system can be improved, and the service life of the system can be prolonged.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, exhaust damper 212 is a pressure stabilizing damper. When the air pressure in the circulation duct 210 exceeds the pressure threshold designed by the pressure stabilizing air valve, air is discharged outwards through the air discharging air valve 212, so that part of the pressure is released, and the air pressure balance in the circulation duct 210 is maintained, so that the stability and reliability of the system operation can be improved.

As shown in fig. 2A and 2B, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the refrigeration device 214 is a cold side of a semiconductor refrigerator, and the computing hardware thermal management system 200 further includes a coolant circulation system 230, wherein the semiconductor refrigerator includes a liquid cooling heat sink 2140 for dissipating heat from a hot side thereof, the liquid cooling heat sink 2140 being located in the coolant circulation system 230. The coolant circulation system 230 generally further includes a radiator 232, a radiator fan 231, a pump, a coolant tank, etc. (not shown), which may be controlled by the electronic device 500 to operate with the refrigeration device 214 on and to operate with the refrigeration device 214 off.

In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the refrigeration device may also be an evaporator, and the computing hardware thermal management system further includes a refrigerant circulation system, wherein the evaporator is located in the refrigerant circulation system. The refrigerant cycle system generally includes a compressor, an evaporator, a condenser, a flow control valve, etc., and the specific configuration thereof is not limited by the present disclosure.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a control method of a computing hardware thermal management system applied to an autonomous vehicle, where the computing hardware thermal management system may employ the computing hardware thermal management system 200 of any of the above embodiments. As shown in fig. 2A, 2B, and 3, the control method includes the following steps S31 and S32.

In step S31, the ambient temperature, the intake side temperature, and the atmospheric quality parameter are acquired.

In step S32, the open/close states of the exhaust damper 212, the intake damper 213, the refrigerating apparatus 214, and the heating apparatus 215 are controlled based on the ambient temperature, the intake side temperature, and the atmospheric quality parameter.

In some embodiments, at step S32, the computing hardware thermal management system 200 may be controlled to be in one of an inner loop comfort mode, an inner loop heat dissipation mode, an inner loop heating mode, and an outer loop mode, wherein,

the computing hardware thermal management system 200 is in the internal circulation comfort mode, the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 are closed, and the cooling device 214 and the heating device 215 are closed (as shown in fig. 2A); the computing hardware thermal management system 200 is in an internal circulation heat dissipation mode, the exhaust air valve 212 and the inlet air valve 213 are closed, the refrigerating device 214 is opened, and the heating device 215 is closed; calculating that the hardware thermal management system 200 is in an internal circulation heating mode, the exhaust air valve 212 and the inlet air valve 213 are closed, the refrigerating device 214 is closed, and the heating device 215 is opened; the computing hardware thermal management system 200 is in the outer loop mode with the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 open and the cooling device 214 and the heating device 215 closed (as shown in FIG. 2B).

In this embodiment, the internal circulation comfort mode, the internal circulation heat dissipation mode, the internal circulation heating mode and the external circulation mode can be automatically switched according to the ambient temperature of the autonomous vehicle, the atmospheric quality parameter of the ambient, and the air inlet side temperature of the heat exchange device 216, so that the thermal management of the computing hardware 250 under different working conditions is realized, the computing hardware is not only efficient and energy-saving, but also can be effectively protected from being damaged by the severe external environment, and the method can be suitable for the severe environmental working conditions, such as the outdoor environment with heavy dust or pollutants.

The specific content of the air quality parameter is not limited, and for example, the air quality parameter can comprise at least one of humidity, pH value and air pollution index, and can be selected by combining with the specific type of the automatic driving vehicle, calculating the protection level of the hardware, the climate characteristics of the environment where the automatic driving vehicle is located and the like.

In some embodiments, at step S32, the computing hardware thermal management system 200 is controlled to be in one of an inner loop comfort mode, an inner loop heat dissipation mode, an inner loop heating mode, and an outer loop mode based on the ambient temperature, the intake side temperature, the atmospheric quality parameter, and the intake side first temperature threshold T11, the intake side second temperature threshold T12, the intake side third temperature threshold T13, the first ambient temperature threshold T21, and the second ambient temperature threshold T22, where T11 < T12 < T13, and T21 < T22.

The threshold may be determined by considering factors such as the specific type of autonomous vehicle, the operating temperature range of the computing hardware 250, the climate characteristics of the environment in which the autonomous vehicle is located, and the like.

In some embodiments, the ambient temperature may be divided into three temperature levels, "low," "suitable," and "high" based on T21, T22, and the intake side temperature may be divided into four temperature levels, "low," "suitable," "higher," and "very high" by T11, T12, and T13.

The following enumerated embodiments illustrate different modes of operation of the computing hardware thermal management system 200.

In some embodiments, step S32 includes: in response to the intake side temperature T1 satisfying: t11 is less than or equal to T1 is less than or equal to T12, and the computing hardware thermal management system 200 is controlled to be in an internal circulation comfort mode.

The computing hardware thermal management system 200 is in the internal circulation comfort mode with the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 closed and the cooling device 214 and the heating device 215 closed. Because the temperature of the air inlet side of the heat exchange device 216 is at the "proper" temperature level, the internal circulation comfort mode is adopted, and the circulation fan 211 drives the air flow in the circulation air duct 210 to flow.

In some embodiments, step S32 includes: in response to the intake side temperature T1 satisfying: t1 > T13, and the computing hardware thermal management system 200 is controlled to be in an internal circulation heat dissipation mode.

In the internal circulation heat dissipation mode, the computing hardware thermal management system 200 closes the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213, opens the cooling device 214, and closes the heating device 215. Since the temperature of the air intake side of the heat exchange device 216 is at a "very high" temperature level, the internal circulation heat dissipation mode is adopted, the refrigeration capacity is provided by the refrigeration device 214, and the circulation fan 211 drives the air flow in the circulation duct 210 to flow, so that the computing hardware is efficiently dissipated.

In some embodiments, step S32 includes: in response to the atmospheric quality parameter not being within the acceptable range and the intake side temperature T1 satisfying: t1 < T11, the control computing hardware thermal management system 200 is in an internal circulation heating mode.

The computing hardware thermal management system 200 is in the internal circulation heating mode, the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 are closed, the refrigeration device 214 is closed, and the heating device 215 is opened. Since the temperature of the air intake side of the heat exchange device 216 is at a "low" temperature level and the air quality parameter is not acceptable, the external atmosphere is not considered to be utilized to heat the computing hardware, in which case the heating device 215 provides heat and the circulating fan 211 drives the airflow in the circulating air duct 210 to flow, thereby efficiently heating the computing hardware.

In some embodiments, step S32 includes: in response to the atmospheric quality parameter being within the acceptable range and the intake side temperature T1 satisfying: t1 < T11, and the ambient temperature T2 satisfies: t2 < T21, the control computing hardware thermal management system 200 is in an internal circulation heating mode.

Since the intake side temperature of the heat exchange device 216 is at a "low" temperature level and the atmospheric temperature (i.e., ambient temperature) is lower than the intake side temperature although the atmospheric quality parameter is acceptable, the computing hardware is heated regardless of the use of the external atmosphere, in which case heat is provided by the heating device 215 and the flow of air in the circulation duct 210 is driven by the circulation fan 211, thereby efficiently heating the computing hardware.

In some embodiments, step S32 includes: in response to the atmospheric quality parameter being within the acceptable range and the intake side temperature T1 satisfying: t12 is more than T1 and less than or equal to T13, and the ambient temperature T2 meets the following conditions: t2 is less than or equal to T22, and the computing hardware thermal management system 200 is controlled to be in an outer loop mode.

The computing hardware thermal management system 200 is in the outer loop mode with the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 open and the refrigeration device 214 and the heating device 215 closed. Because the air intake side temperature of the heat exchange device 216 is at a "higher" temperature level, and the air quality parameters are acceptable, and the air temperature (i.e., ambient temperature) is at a "low" or "suitable" temperature level, the external atmosphere can be utilized to dissipate heat for the computing hardware. In this case, the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 are opened, and the external atmosphere is driven by the circulation fan 211 to enter the circulation duct 210 through the intake air valve 213, flow in the circulation duct 210, and exit the circulation duct 210 through the exhaust air valve 212.

In some embodiments, step S32 includes: in response to the atmospheric quality parameter being within the acceptable range and the intake side temperature T1 satisfying: t1 < T11 and T1 < T2, and the ambient temperature T2 satisfies: t2 is greater than or equal to T21, and the computing hardware thermal management system 200 is controlled to be in an outer loop mode.

The computing hardware thermal management system 200 is in the outer loop mode with the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 open and the refrigeration device 214 and the heating device 215 closed. Because the intake side temperature of the heat exchange device 216 is at a "low" temperature level and the atmospheric quality parameters are acceptable, and the atmospheric temperature (i.e., ambient temperature) is at a "suitable" or "high" temperature level and is higher than the intake side temperature, the external atmosphere can be utilized to heat the computing hardware. In this case, the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 are opened, and the external atmosphere is driven by the circulation fan 211 to enter the circulation duct 210 through the intake air valve 213, flow in the circulation duct 210, and exit the circulation duct 210 through the exhaust air valve 212.

It can be seen that the operating state of the system hardware is substantially the same when external atmosphere is used to dissipate heat or heat to the computing hardware, without having to turn on the cooling device 214 or the heating device 215, thereby reducing the energy consumption of these devices.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, controlling the computing hardware thermal management system 200 in the outer loop mode includes: the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 are controlled to be fully opened. That is, the opening degree of the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 is 1 when they are opened.

In other embodiments of the present disclosure, controlling the computing hardware thermal management system 200 in the outer loop mode includes:

determining a first target opening K1 of the exhaust air valve 212 and a second target opening K2 of the intake air valve 213 based on the ambient temperature and the air inlet side temperature, wherein K1 is more than 0 and less than or equal to 1, and K1 is more than 0 and less than or equal to 1; and

the open states of the exhaust damper 212 and the intake damper 213 are controlled based on the first target opening K1 and the second target opening K2.

In this embodiment, the opening degrees of the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 are automatically adjusted based on the ambient temperature and the intake side temperature, so that the proportional opening of the exhaust air valve 212 and the intake air valve 213 is realized, and the cooling or heating of the computing hardware can be realized more gently.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the open and closed state pairs of some main components of a hardware thermal management system under different conditions are calculated as shown in the following table one:

table one comparison table for calculating open and close states of some main components of hardware thermal management system under different working conditions

Some embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a control device applied to a computing hardware thermal management system of an autonomous vehicle, where the computing hardware thermal management system may employ the computing hardware thermal management system 200 of any of the above embodiments. As shown in fig. 4, the control device 400 includes:

an acquisition unit 401 configured to acquire an ambient temperature, an intake side temperature, and an atmospheric quality parameter; and

and a control unit 402 configured to control the open/close states of the exhaust damper, the intake damper, the refrigerating apparatus, and the heating apparatus based on the ambient temperature, the intake side temperature, and the atmospheric quality parameter.

In some embodiments, the control unit 402 may control the computing hardware thermal management system to be in one of an inner loop comfort mode, an inner loop heat dissipation mode, an inner loop heating mode, and an outer loop mode, wherein,

the computing hardware heat management system is in an internal circulation comfort mode, an exhaust air valve and an air inlet air valve are closed, and a refrigerating device and a heating device are closed; the computing hardware heat management system is in an internal circulation heat dissipation mode, an exhaust air valve and an air inlet air valve are closed, a refrigerating device is opened, and a heating device is closed; the computing hardware heat management system is in an internal circulation heating mode, an exhaust air valve and an air inlet air valve are closed, a refrigerating device is closed, and a heating device is opened; and the computing hardware heat management system is in an external circulation mode, an exhaust air valve and an air inlet air valve are opened, and a refrigerating device and a heating device are closed.

There is also provided, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, an electronic device including: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the control method of the previous embodiment.

According to the control device or the electronic equipment provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, a reliable and efficient thermal management scheme can be provided for the computing hardware of the automatic driving vehicle and can be suitable for severe environment working conditions.

Embodiments of the present disclosure also provide an autonomous vehicle comprising computing hardware, and a computing hardware thermal management system according to any of the foregoing embodiments. The specific type of the automatically driven vehicle is not limited, and various levels of automatically driven vehicles with different degrees of automation may be used. In some embodiments, the autonomous vehicle is a fully unmanned work vehicle, such as an unmanned excavator, an unmanned mining truck, an unmanned bulldozer, an unmanned road roller, or the like.

Referring to fig. 5, a block diagram of an electronic device 500 that may be a server or a client of the present disclosure, which is an example of a hardware device that may be applied to aspects of the present disclosure, will now be described. Electronic devices are intended to represent various forms of digital electronic computer devices, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other suitable computers. The electronic device may also represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital processing, cellular telephones, smartphones, wearable devices, and other similar computing devices. The components shown herein, their connections and relationships, and their functions, are meant to be exemplary only, and are not meant to limit implementations of the disclosure described and/or claimed herein.

As shown in fig. 5, the electronic device 500 includes a computing unit 501 that can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to a computer program stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM) 502 or a computer program loaded from a storage unit 508 into a Random Access Memory (RAM) 503. In the RAM 503, various programs and data required for the operation of the electronic device 500 may also be stored. The computing unit 501, ROM 502, and RAM 503 are connected to each other by a bus 504. An input/output (I/O) interface 505 is also connected to bus 504.

A number of components in electronic device 500 are connected to I/O interface 505, including: an input unit 506, an output unit 507, a storage unit 508, and a communication unit 509. The input unit 506 may be any type of device capable of inputting information to the electronic device 500, the input unit 506 may receive input numeric or character information and generate key signal inputs related to user settings and/or function control of the electronic device, and may include, but is not limited to, a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen, a trackpad, a trackball, a joystick, a microphone, and/or a remote control. The output unit 507 may be any type of device capable of presenting information and may include, but is not limited to, a display, speakers, video/audio output terminals, vibrators, and/or printers. Storage unit 508 may include, but is not limited to, magnetic disks, optical disks. The communication unit 509 allows the electronic device 500 to exchange information/data with other devices over a computer network such as the internet and/or various telecommunications networks, and may include, but is not limited to, modems, network cards, infrared communication devices, wireless communication transceivers and/or chipsets, such as bluetooth devices, 1302.11 devices, wiFi devices, wiMax devices, cellular communication devices, and/or the like.

The computing unit 501 may be a variety of general and/or special purpose processing components having processing and computing capabilities. Some examples of computing unit 501 include, but are not limited to, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), various specialized Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing chips, various computing units running machine learning model algorithms, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), and any suitable processor, controller, microcontroller, etc. The computing unit 501 performs the various methods and processes described above. For example, some embodiment methods may be implemented as a computer software program tangibly embodied on a machine-readable medium, such as storage unit 508. In some embodiments, part or all of the computer program may be loaded and/or installed onto the electronic device 500 via the ROM 502 and/or the communication unit 509. When the computer program is loaded into RAM 503 and executed by computing unit 501, one or more steps of the embodiment methods described above may be performed. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the computing unit 501 may be configured to perform the embodiment methods described above by any other suitable means (e.g., by means of firmware).

The disclosed embodiments also provide a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions configured to cause a computer to perform the steps of any of the methods of the previous embodiments.

Furthermore, the disclosed embodiments also provide a computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the method of any of the previous embodiments.

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here above may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuit systems, field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), application Specific Standard Products (ASSPs), systems On Chip (SOCs), load programmable logic devices (CPLDs), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof. These various embodiments may include: implemented in one or more computer programs, the one or more computer programs may be executed and/or interpreted on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be a special purpose or general-purpose programmable processor, that may receive data and instructions from, and transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, causes the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of this disclosure, a machine-readable medium may be a tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a machine-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection based on one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here can be implemented on a computer having: a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to a user; and a keyboard and pointing device (e.g., a mouse or trackball) by which a user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices may also be used to provide for interaction with a user; for example, feedback provided to the user may be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user may be received in any form, including acoustic input, speech input, or tactile input.

The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in a computing system that includes a background component (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front-end component (e.g., a user computer having a graphical user interface or a web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such background, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networks include: local Area Networks (LANs), wide Area Networks (WANs), and the internet.

The computer system may include a client and a server. The client and server are typically remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other. The server may be a cloud server, a server of a distributed system, or a server incorporating a blockchain.

It should be appreciated that various forms of the flows shown above may be used to reorder, add, or delete steps. For example, the steps recited in the present disclosure may be performed in parallel, sequentially or in a different order, provided that the desired results of the disclosed aspects are achieved, and are not limited herein.

Although embodiments or examples of the present disclosure have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the foregoing methods, systems, and apparatus are merely exemplary embodiments or examples, and that the scope of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments or examples but only by the claims following the grant and their equivalents. Various elements of the embodiments or examples may be omitted or replaced with equivalent elements thereof. Furthermore, the steps may be performed in a different order than described in the present disclosure. Further, various elements of the embodiments or examples may be combined in various ways. It is important that as technology evolves, many of the elements described herein may be replaced by equivalent elements that appear after the disclosure.

Claims

1. A control method of a computing hardware thermal management system applied to an autonomous vehicle, wherein,

the computing hardware thermal management system includes: a circulating air duct; the circulating fan is arranged in the circulating air duct; the heat exchange device is sequentially arranged on the exhaust air valve, the air inlet air valve, the refrigerating device, the heating device and the computing hardware of the circulating air duct; temperature monitoring means for monitoring an ambient temperature outside the autonomous vehicle and an air intake side temperature of the heat exchange device; and an atmosphere monitoring device for monitoring an atmosphere quality parameter external to the autonomous vehicle;

the control method comprises the following steps:

acquiring the ambient temperature, the air inlet side temperature and the air quality parameter; and

and controlling the opening and closing states of the exhaust air valve, the air inlet air valve, the refrigerating device and the heating device based on the ambient temperature, the air inlet side temperature and the air quality parameter.

2. The control method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the open/close states of the exhaust damper, the intake damper, the cooling device, and the heating device based on the ambient temperature, the intake side temperature, and the atmospheric quality parameter, comprises:

Controlling the computing hardware thermal management system to be in one of an inner loop comfort mode, an inner loop heat dissipation mode, an inner loop heating mode, and an outer loop mode based on the ambient temperature, the intake side temperature, the atmospheric quality parameter, and an intake side first temperature threshold T11, an intake side second temperature threshold T12, an intake side third temperature threshold T13, a first ambient temperature threshold T21, and a second ambient temperature threshold T22, wherein,

t11 is more than T12 and less than T13, and T21 is more than T22; and wherein

The computing hardware thermal management system is in the internal circulation comfort mode, the exhaust air valve and the air inlet air valve are closed, and the refrigerating device and the heating device are closed;

the computing hardware heat management system is in the internal circulation heat radiation mode, the exhaust air valve and the air inlet air valve are closed, the refrigerating device is opened, and the heating device is closed;

the computing hardware heat management system is in the internal circulation heating mode, the exhaust air valve and the air inlet air valve are closed, the refrigerating device is closed, and the heating device is opened;

the computing hardware thermal management system is in the outer circulation mode, the exhaust air valve and the intake air valve are opened, and the refrigerating device and the heating device are closed.

3. The control method of claim 2, wherein controlling the computing hardware thermal management system in one of an inner loop comfort mode, an inner loop heat dissipation mode, an inner loop heating mode, and an outer loop mode comprises:

in response to the intake side temperature T1 satisfying: t11 is less than or equal to T1 and less than or equal to T12, and the computing hardware thermal management system is controlled to be in the internal circulation comfort mode.

4. The control method of claim 2, wherein controlling the computing hardware thermal management system in one of an inner loop comfort mode, an inner loop heat dissipation mode, an inner loop heating mode, and an outer loop mode comprises:

in response to the intake side temperature T1 satisfying: t1 is greater than T13, and the computing hardware thermal management system is controlled to be in the internal circulation heat dissipation mode.

5. The control method of claim 2, wherein controlling the computing hardware thermal management system in one of an inner loop comfort mode, an inner loop heat dissipation mode, an inner loop heating mode, and an outer loop mode comprises:

in response to the atmospheric quality parameter not being within a pass range and the intake side temperature T1 satisfying: t1 is less than T11, and the computing hardware thermal management system is controlled to be in the internal circulation heating mode.

6. The control method of claim 2, wherein controlling the computing hardware thermal management system in one of an inner loop comfort mode, an inner loop heat dissipation mode, an inner loop heating mode, and an outer loop mode comprises:

in response to the atmospheric quality parameter being within a pass range and the intake side temperature T1 satisfying: t1 < T11, and the ambient temperature T2 satisfies: t2 is less than T21, and the computing hardware thermal management system is controlled to be in the internal circulation heating mode.

7. The control method of claim 2, wherein controlling the computing hardware thermal management system in one of an inner loop comfort mode, an inner loop heat dissipation mode, an inner loop heating mode, and an outer loop mode comprises:

in response to the atmospheric quality parameter being within a pass range and the intake side temperature T1 satisfying: t12 is less than T1 and less than or equal to T13, and the ambient temperature T2 meets the following conditions: t2 is less than or equal to T22, and the computing hardware thermal management system is controlled to be in the outer circulation mode.

8. The control method of claim 2, wherein controlling the computing hardware thermal management system in one of an inner loop comfort mode, an inner loop heat dissipation mode, an inner loop heating mode, and an outer loop mode comprises:

In response to the atmospheric quality parameter being within a pass range and the intake side temperature T1 satisfying: t1 < T11 and T1 < T2, and the ambient temperature T2 satisfies: t2 is more than or equal to T21, and the computing hardware thermal management system is controlled to be in the outer circulation mode.

9. The control method of claim 7 or 8, wherein controlling the computing hardware thermal management system in the outer loop mode comprises:

and controlling the exhaust air valve and the air inlet air valve to be opened completely.

10. The control method of claim 7 or 8, wherein controlling the computing hardware thermal management system in the outer loop mode comprises:

determining a first target opening K1 of the exhaust air valve and a second target opening K2 of the air inlet air valve based on the ambient temperature and the air inlet side temperature, wherein K1 is more than 0 and less than or equal to 1, and K1 is more than 0 and less than or equal to 1; and

and controlling the opening states of the exhaust air valve and the air inlet air valve based on the first target opening degree K1 and the second target opening degree K2.

11. The control method of claim 1, wherein the atmospheric quality parameter comprises at least one of humidity, ph, air pollution index.

12. A control device for a computing hardware thermal management system for an autonomous vehicle, wherein,

the control device includes:

an acquisition unit configured to acquire the ambient temperature, the intake side temperature, and the atmospheric quality parameter; and

and a control unit configured to control opening and closing states of the exhaust air valve, the intake air valve, the refrigerating device, and the heating device based on the ambient temperature, the intake air side temperature, and the atmospheric quality parameter.

13. An electronic device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein, the liquid crystal display device comprises a liquid crystal display device,

the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the control method of any one of claims 1 to 11.

14. A computing hardware thermal management system for use with an autonomous vehicle, comprising:

a circulating air duct;

the circulating fan is arranged in the circulating air duct;

the heat exchange device is sequentially arranged on the exhaust air valve, the air inlet air valve, the refrigerating device, the heating device and the computing hardware of the circulating air duct;

the temperature monitoring equipment is used for monitoring the ambient temperature outside the automatic driving vehicle and the air inlet side temperature of the heat exchange device;

an atmosphere monitoring device for monitoring an atmosphere quality parameter external to the autonomous vehicle; and

the electronic device of claim 13.

15. The computing hardware thermal management system of claim 14, further comprising:

and the filtering device and/or the dehumidifying device is arranged on the air inlet side of the air inlet air valve.

16. The computing hardware thermal management system of claim 14, wherein,

the exhaust air valve is a pressure stabilizing air valve.

17. The computing hardware thermal management system of any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein,

the refrigerating device is a cold end of a semiconductor refrigerator, the computing hardware heat management system further comprises a cooling liquid circulation system, wherein the semiconductor refrigerator comprises a liquid cooling heat dissipation device for dissipating heat of a hot end of the semiconductor refrigerator, and the liquid cooling heat dissipation device is positioned in the cooling liquid circulation system; or alternatively

The refrigeration device is an evaporator, and the computing hardware thermal management system further comprises a refrigerant circulation system, wherein the evaporator is positioned in the refrigerant circulation system.

18. An autonomous vehicle comprising:

computing hardware; and

the computing hardware thermal management system of any of claims 14 to 17.

19. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, wherein the computer instructions are configured to cause a computer to execute the control method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

20. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the control method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.