EP2409254A1

EP2409254A1 - An emission monitoring and transmission system and the method thereof

Info

Publication number: EP2409254A1
Application number: EP10761279A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Singh Bindra Gurbrinder; Narayana Kurup Ajith Kumar Padmalayam; Murugesan Shanmugasundaram
Original assignee: Logica Pvt Ltd
Current assignee: Logica Pvt Ltd
Priority date: 2009-02-20
Filing date: 2010-02-17
Publication date: 2012-01-25
Also published as: EP2409254A4; WO2010116381A1

Abstract

The present invention describes an emission monitoring and transmission system and the method thereof. In one embodiment, the system for an appliance such as a vehicle includes an emission monitoring device coupled with the vehicle for monitoring gases emitted from the vehicle and to calculate the VEU; and a means to receive the VEUs through a suitable communication technology for storing and reporting the received VEUs. In another embodiment, the method includes the steps of sensing gases emitted from the exhaust of the vehicle using one or more gas sensors; interfacing data associated with the sensed gases to an A/D converter; converting the data from analog format to digital output using the A/D converter; processing the digital output to calculate vehicular emission units (VEUs) using the microprocessor; storing the VEUs in a data storage unit; and transmitting the stored VEUs to a back-end unit through suitable communication technology.

Description

AN EMISSION MONITORING AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AND THE

METHOD THEREOF

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to Indian Provisional Application No. 373/CHE/2009 filed on February 20, 2009 which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention generally relates to monitoring and transmission system. Particularly, the present invention relates to an emission monitoring and transmission system and the method thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The impact of using fuel such as gasoline, diesel etc. to run engines is prone to increase in global warming due to emission of hazardous gases such as carbon-di-oxide, atmospheric poisoning carbon monoxide etc. On the other hand, release of such hazardous byproducts from a vehicle also depends on the driving behavior. These hazardous emissions can be lowered by monitoring the hazardous emission and applying corrective measure wherever applicable. Therefore, it is very decisive to monitor the emission of various hazardous gases released by such engines to take necessary actions to prevent the same. [0004] Prior art literature describes systems which attempt to calculate and monitor the emission, especially in vehicles. Some of the systems are sensor based which calculates various gas contents in the emission and transfers wirelessly to an on-board unit of the vehicle or to a monitoring station. Some other solutions include fixed reading of the emission value from the exhaust of the vehicle, analyzing the content of the emission and calculating the presence of various gases involved in the emission. Almost all of the emission monitoring systems available today are processing the exhaust of the vehicle and identify the individual volumes of various gas contents and transfer these values using appropriate technologies for further processing or decision making. In monitoring the emission for pollutants or gases that are harmful to human beings or increasing the global warming, there is no need to calculate the individual percentage or volume of different pollutants, which requires sophisticated technologies to analyze the gas contents. The existing technologies send the raw emission data directly from the vehicle to a remote terminal. This raw emissions data cannot be used by the driver of the vehicle for implementing any corrective action to minimize the emissions. The data is sent to the remote terminal only when the access to the remote terminal is available.

[0001] Therefore, from the foregoing, there exists a need for an efficient real time emission .monitoring and transmission system for maintaining the engine well and also rewarding the driver accordingly. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The primary object of the present invention is to describe an efficient real time emission monitoring and transmission system for maintaining the engine well and also for rewarding the driver accordingly.

[0003] In one aspect, the present invention describes an emission monitoring and transmission system for an appliance such as a vehicle, the system includes an emission monitoring device coupled with the vehicle for monitoring emission of gases from the vehicle and to calculate the vehicular emission unit (VEU); and a means to receive the VEUs through a suitable communication technology for storing, reporting and for further processing of the received VEUs.

[0004] In another aspect, the present invention describes a vehicular emission monitoring device for monitoring emission of gases from a vehicle, which includes a gas sensor configured for sensing the gases released from an exhaust pipe of the vehicle; an interface electronics configured for performing signal conditioning on the sensed gases; an analog to digital converter configured for converting the conditioned signal in analog format to digital output; a microprocessor configured for processing the digital output to calculate vehicular emission units (VEUs); and. a data storage unit for storing the VEUs.

[0005] Accordingly the present invention relates to the system, wherein the stored VEUs are used for applications such as differential fuel pricing and/or calculating the green index. [0006] In yet another aspect, the present invention describes a method for monitoring and transmitting emissions from an appliance such as a vehicle including sensing gases emitted from an exhaust pipe of the vehicle using one or more gas sensors; interfacing data associated with the sensed gases to an A/D converter; converting the data from analog format to digital output using the A/D converter; processing the digital output to calculate the vehicular emission units (VEUs) using the microprocessor; storing the VEUs in a data storage unit; and transmitting the stored VEUs to ^■ a back-end unit through a suitable communication technology.

[0007] Accordingly the present invention relates to the method, wherein processing the digital output to calculate VEUs comprises comparing the digital output with a predetermined threshold value; and calculating the number of VEUs based on the comparison.

[0008] These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the ensuing detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0009] Example embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying figures, in which like references indicate similar elements and in which: [0010] Figure 1 shows a high level block diagram of an emission monitoring and transmission system, in accordance with the present invention.

[0011] Figure 2 is a flow diagram illustrating data flow in a vehicular emission monitoring system, in accordance with the present invention.

[0012] Figure 3 is a schematic visual representation of a green index, in accordance with the present invention.

[0013] Other features of the present embodiments will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood however that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. The following description and figures are not to be construed as limiting the invention and numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, as the basis for the claims and as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art about making and/or using the invention. However in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention in detail. [0015] The present invention describes a real time emission monitoring and transmission system and the method thereof. Particularly, the present invention describes a system which monitors the total exhaust gases through a gas sensor and calculates the emission of hazardous gases emitted per unit time from an appliance such as, but not confined to vehicles and classifies as a vehicular emission unit (VEU) and transfers the VEU to a monitoring station using wired and/or wireless technologies for decision making or for further processing. It is appreciated that the appliance can be an electric, electronic or mechanical equipment.

[0001] Figure 1 shows a high level block diagram of an emission monitoring and transmission system (100), in accordance with the present invention. Particularly, Figure 1 illustrates an emission monitoring device (102), a back-end unit (104), a back-end data storage unit (106), and a reporting unit (108a). Further, the emission monitoring device (102) includes a gas sensor (110a) or an on-board display unit (OBD) (110b), an interface electronics (112), an analog to digital (A/D) converter (114), a microprocessor (116), a data storage unit (118), and a reporting unit (108b). Furthermore, the emission monitoring and transmission system (100) includes communication interfaces (120a, 120b) as shown in Figure 1 , wherein the communication interfaces (120a, 120b) can be wired and/or wireless communication interface.

[0002] In one embodiment, the emission monitoring device (102) is coupled to an appliance and can be used for analysis of emitted gases. For example, the appliance can be, but not confined to vehicles. In one exemplary implementation, the gas sensor (110a) of the emission monitoring device (102) is connected to an exhaust pipe of the vehicle. In operation, the gas sensor (110a) senses the gases released from the exhaust pipe of the vehicle when the vehicle is being driven. Further, the interface electronics (112) is configured to receive the output of the gas sensor (110) and performs signal conditioning. In one example embodiment, the interface electronics (112) includes a gas sensor interface (112b). The conditioned signal is inputted to the A/D converter (114). Furthermore, the A/D converter (114) converts the conditioned analog signal to a digital output. The digital output of the A/D converter (114) is sent to the microprocessor (116). Further in operation, the microprocessor (116) converts the digital output to vehicular emission units (VEUs). The converted VEUs are stored in the data storage unit (118) and displayed through the reporting unit (108b). In one example embodiment, the data storage unit includes a non volatile memory.

[0003] Furthermore, the converted VEUs are then sent to the back-end unit (104) through the suitable communication interface (120a, 120b). The back-end unit (104) can be a monitoring station where further actions can be taken based on the VEU of the vehicle. In one example embodiment, the back-end unit (104) stores the converted VEUs in the back-end data storage unit (106). In another example embodiment, the back-end unit (104) generates and sends a report including emissions of the vehicle which is used for analysis through the reporting unit (108a).

[0004] In another embodiment, an OBD interface (112b) can be used to transmit the emission values collected from the OBD (110b) of the vehicle as shown in Figure 1, if the OBD (110b) is used for sensing the emitted gas instead of the gas sensor (110a). Further, these emission values are transmitted to the back- end unit (104), as explained in the above method, for calculating the VEU of the vehicle.

[0005] Figure 2 is a flow diagram illustrating data flow (200) in a vehicular emission monitoring system, in accordance with the present invention. Particularly, the flow diagram illustrates calculation of the vehicular emission units (VEUs). In step 202, the emission input is applied to the interface electronics (112) from the gas sensor (110) for signal conditioning. At step 204, the conditioned signal is transferred to a microprocessor such as a scaling module (116). The scaling module (116) accepts the input, which is in digital form and compares with a threshold value. If the input value is above the threshold value, then the number VEUs corresponding to the input value is calculated by the scaling module (116). The calculated number of VEUs is sent as input to the VEU repository module (108b). This VEU repository module (108b) stores the VEUs in a non-volatile memory, which can then be sent to the back-end unit (104).

[0006] The gas sensors output range is converted to a non-linear range of VEUs. For example, if the sensor's output is X units then the VEU will be 1 VEU. As the sensor's output increase beyond X, say Y (2X) then the VEU will be say 3 VEUs and so on, where X<Y and Y is a multiple of X, and here for example it is 2X, and the VEU will be non-linear with respect to the gas sensors. This VEU will be used for variable pricing of fuel or other commodities. The VEU is a unit, which is linked to the amount of gases emitted by the vehicle. The relationship between the gas sensor's output value and the VEU is not linear. [0007] In one exemplary embodiment, the VEU can be used for applications such as generation of green index. The green index is calculated within the on board unit of the vehicle and transmitted to the back-end unit. If the vehicle and/or the driver is contributing less pollution, the green index visually represents the same so that it is easy to rate the vehicle and/or the driver. In one example embodiment, the green index is used to calculate differential fuel pricing. The differential fuel pricing of any commodities based on these green indices or vehicular emission units are calculated and credits are given to those who emit less hazardous gases. In one example embodiment of the invention, the Green index is visually represented as in Figure 3. Alternate representations can include bar chart, pie chart, graphs etc and also can be shared in web page.

[0008] In summary, in order to calculate the VEU, the vehicle is equipped with the suitable gas emission sensors and processors. The vehicle's emission exhaust pipe is equipped with suitable sensors that can send suitable outputs corresponding to various gases periodically and capable of transferring these values to the processors. The processors will find out the percentage volume of hazardous gases emitted per second and calculates the VEU of the vehicle. The processor is capable of transmitting the VEU to a monitoring station where further actions can be taken based on the VEU of the vehicle.

[0009] Further, the emissions can be measured on-board of the vehicle and the drivers can be rewarded if the emissions from their vehicles are minimal. The present invention deals with the measurement of emissions from vehicles using an on-board unit and calculating the emissions and rewarding the drivers based on an algorithm, which awards based on minimal emissions. The emissions from the vehicles are measured and stored in the on-board unit. The on-board unit then calculates the amount of emissions and calculates the points, which can be awarded to the driver.

[0010] For example, the present invention is commercially applicable, but not limited to vehicle emission monitoring which is helping the agencies concerned about the global warming and hazardous gages emitted by the vehicles. Further, the present invention is useful for road authorities to charge vehicle tax based on the emissions emitted from the vehicle. Furthermore, it is possible to price the fuel differentially, by giving reward points to low emission vehicles and/or discounted fuel prices to such vehicles. On the other hand, it is possible to charge higher fuel prices from vehicle with high emission levels. Also, the present invention helps the vehicle manufacturers to provide the vehicle emission details to the driver in the dashboard of the vehicle.

[0011] In general, it is clear that the present invention and its advantages are not limited to the above described embodiments only. With minor modifications, substitutions and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as described in the claims. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded as illustrative examples of the invention, rather than in restrictive sense.

Claims

We Claim:

1. An emission monitoring and transmission system for an appliance such as a vehicle comprising: an emission monitoring device coupled with the vehicle for monitoring gases emitted from the vehicle, wherein the emission monitoring device comprises: a means for sensing the gases emitted from an exhaust pipe of the vehicle; a means for performing signal conditioning on the sensed gases; a means for converting the conditioned signal in analog format to digital output; a means for processing the digital output to calculate vehicular emission units (VEUs); and a means for storing the VEUs; a means for displaying the VEU; and a means to receive the VEUs through a suitable communication technology for storing and reporting the received VEUs.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the means for sensing the gases emitted can include one or more gas sensor or on-board display (OBD) unit.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the stored VEUs are used for applications such as differential fuel pricing and/or green index, wherein the green index can be displayed in web pages and/or electronic display devices.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the stored VEUs can be displayed through a reporting unit.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the suitable communication technology can be wired and/or wireless technology.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the appliance can be an electric, electronic or mechanical equipment.

7. A vehicular emission monitoring device for monitoring gases emitted from a vehicle comprising: a gas sensor configured for sensing the gases released from the exhaust of the vehicle; an interface electronics configured for performing signal conditioning on the sensed gases; an analog to digital converter configured for converting the conditioned signal in analog format to digital output; a microprocessor configured for processing the digital output to calculate vehicular emission units (VEUs); a data storage unit for storing the VEUs; and a repository unit to display the VEUs in vehicle.

8. A method for monitoring and transmitting emissions from an appliance such as a vehicle comprising steps of: sensing gases emitted from the exhaust of the vehicle using one or more gas sensors; interfacing data associated with the sensed gases to an A/D converter; converting the data from analog format to digital output using the A/D converter; processing the digital output to calculate vehicular emission units (VEUs) using the microprocessor; storing the VEUs in a data storage unit; displaying the VEU in a repository unit; and transmitting the stored VEUs to a back-end unit through a suitable communication technology.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the back-end unit is a monitoring station where further processing can be taken based on the VEU of the vehicle.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein processing the digital output to calculate VEUs comprises: comparing the digital output with a predetermined threshold value; and calculating the number of VEUs based on the comparison.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the VEUs are used to calculate the amount of emission emitted by the vehicle.

12. An article comprising a computer readable storage medium having instructions when executed by a computing platform to perform the method of claim 8.

13. An emission monitoring and transmission system as described herein accompanied by the drawings.