DESC:TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the monitoring of fuel tanks and in particular, relates to monitoring of a plurality of fuel tanks in a multi-fuel tank vehicle.

BACKGROUND
[0002] A fuel system of a multi-fuel tank vehicle differs vastly from fuel systems of other conventional vehicles. The main differences lie in the presence of a greater number of fuel tanks with different shapes and fuel capacities. This is to maximize the utilization of available free space and to maximize the total fuel capacity for increasing the operational range of the multi-fuel tank vehicle. In the fuel systems used in multi-fuel tank vehicles of the state of the art, the fuel is measured in one or two bottom-most tanks. The main drawback of this type of system is that the fuel available in the other tanks like track guard tanks, rear barrels, etc. are not measured.
[0003] Also in these systems, a fuel level sensor converts capacitance corresponding to a fuel level into an equivalent analog current. This analog current is transmitted to a calibrated moving coil measuring instrument to obtain a fuel reading. However, for more than one fuel tank, at any point in time, only one tank fuel level can be measured by selecting a respective switch. The accumulated value of fuel at any point in time cannot be measured directly. Moreover, warnings for low fuel levels or sensor failures are not available to the driver. Additionally, the fuel level indication can only be read by the driver
[0004] In light of the discussion above, there is a need for an integrated fuel monitoring system for multi-fuel tank vehicles that does not suffer from the above mentioned deficiencies.

SUMMARY
[0005] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified format that are further described in the detailed description of the present disclosure. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential inventive concepts of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. In accordance with the purposes of the disclosure, the present disclosure as embodied and broadly described herein, describes method and system for recovering a plurality of network elements from a network outage.
[0006] In an example embodiment, a fuel monitoring system is disclosed. The system comprises a plurality of fuel level sensors coupled to a plurality of fuel tanks, where each fuel level sensor is configured to generate sensor data associated with a level of fuel in the respective fuel tank. The system further comprises a master controller coupled to the plurality of fuel level sensors using a one-to-many digital communication protocol. Herein, each fuel level sensor is configured to transmit the sensor data to the master controller using the one-to-many digital communication protocol and the master controller is configured to compute a cumulative fuel level based on the sensor data received from each fuel level sensor. Herein, the cumulative fuel level is indicative of total fuel present in the plurality of fuel tanks.
[0007] In an example embodiment, a method of monitoring fuel level in a multi-fuel tank vehicle is disclosed. The method comprises generating, by each of a plurality of fuel level sensors coupled to a plurality of fuel tanks of the multi-fuel tank vehicle, sensor data associated with the level of fuel in the respective fuel tank. The method further comprises transmitting, by each of the plurality of fuel level sensors, the sensor data to a master controller using a one-to-many digital communication protocol. Furthermore, the method comprises computing, by the master controller, a cumulative fuel level based on the sensor data received from each fuel level sensor of the plurality of fuel level sensors, wherein the cumulative fuel level is indicative of total fuel present in the plurality of fuel tanks.
[0008] These aspects and advantages will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a multi-fuel tank vehicle implementing a fuel monitoring system, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter;
[0010] Fig. 2 a schematic block diagram of the components of the fuel monitoring system, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter; and
[0011] Fig. 3 illustrates a method of monitoring fuel in a multi-fuel tank vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[0012] Further, skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have been necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the flow charts illustrate the method in terms of the most prominent steps involved to help to improve understanding of aspects of the present invention. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
[0014] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are explanatory of the invention and are not intended to be restrictive thereof.
[0015] Reference throughout this specification to “an aspect”, “another aspect” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrase “in an embodiment”, “in another embodiment” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.
[0016] The terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process or method that comprises a list of steps does not include only those steps but may include other steps not expressly listed or inherent to such process or method. Similarly, one or more devices or sub-systems or elements or structures or components proceeded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other devices or other sub-systems or other elements or other structures or other components or additional devices or additional sub-systems or additional elements or additional structures or additional components.
[0017] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skilled in the art to which this invention belongs. The system, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.
[0018] For the sake of clarity, the first digit of a reference numeral of each component of the present disclosure is indicative of the Figure number, in which the corresponding component is shown. For example, reference numerals starting with digit “1” are shown at least in Figure 1. Similarly, reference numerals starting with digit “2” are shown at least in Figure 2, and so on and so forth.
[0019] Embodiments of the present subject matter are described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0020] Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a multi-fuel tank vehicle 100, hereinafter “vehicle 100”, implementing a fuel monitoring system 102, hereinafter “system 102”, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. As shown in the figure, the vehicle 100 may include a plurality of fuel tanks 104-1, 104-2, 104-3, …., and 104-N, hereinafter collectively referred to as “the fuel tanks 104” and individually referred to as “the fuel tank 104”. Examples of the fuel tank may include, but are not limited to, a nose tank - LH, a nose tank - RH, a driving tank, an internal LH tank, an internal RH tank, track guard tank, an expansion tank, a rear fuel tank-upper, and a rear fuel tank-lower.
[0021] In an example embodiment, the system 102 may be configured to compute a cumulative fuel level indicative of the total fuel present in the fuel tanks 104. The system 102 is further provisioned to display the cumulative fuel to an operator, for example, a user, of the vehicle 100. Furthermore, the system 102 is provisioned to display the fuel level of individual fuel tanks 104 as well. For instance, upon receiving a selection of a fuel tank, say fuel tank 104-1, from the fuel tanks 104, the system 102 may display the fuel in the fuel tank 104-1. Furthermore, in an example, the system 102 may display fuel level of more than one fuel tank 104 based on the fuel tanks selected by the user.
[0022] Thus, as may be gathered from above, unlike conventional fuel monitoring systems, the system 102 provides an advantageous approach of monitoring fuel level in the vehicle 100. For instance, the user of the vehicle 100 is provided with information about the cumulative fuel in the vehicle at any given point in time. Furthermore, the system 100 is scalable, as information about the fuel level of a selective fuel tank may also be provided to the user. Furthermore, the system 102 is also configured to simultaneously provide information about more than one fuel tank, for example, two or more fuel tanks, as selected by the user. As a result, the user may perform comparative analytics and make better-informed vehicle operational decisions accordingly.
[0023] Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic block diagram of the system 102, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter. As shown in the figure, the system 102 includes a plurality of fuel level sensors 200-1, 200-2, 200-3, …, and 200-N, hereinafter collectively referred to as “the fuel level sensors 200” and individually referred to as “the fuel level sensor 200”. In an example, each of the fuel level sensors 200 is coupled to a corresponding fuel tank from the fuel tanks 104 for monitoring a level of fuel in the corresponding fuel tank. In an example, the fuel sensors 200 may be coupled to the fuel tanks 104 by using at least one of a wireless or a wired communication standard. In an example, the fuel level sensors 200 may be placed on the fuel tanks 104. In an example embodiment, the fuel level sensors 200 may be disposed in close vicinity of the fuel tanks 104.
[0024] The system 102 further comprises a master controller 202. The master controller 202 can be a single processing unit or a number of units, all of which could include multiple computing units. The master controller 202 may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the master controller 202 is configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions and data stored in a memory (not shown in the figure) coupled to the system 102.
[0025] In an example embodiment, the master controller 202 may be communicatively coupled to the fuel sensors 200 using a one-to-many digital communication protocol. The one-to-many digital communication protocol may be understood as a communication protocol supporting communication between a plurality of slave units and a master unit. Herein, the slave units are the fuel level sensors 200 and the master unit is the master controller 202. In an example embodiment, the master controller 202 and the fuel level sensors 200 may be communicatively coupled using an RS485 communication protocol. Furthermore, in other example embodiments, any other one-to-many communication protocol may be used. Accordingly, in any of the embodiments, the fuel level sensors 200 and the master controller 202 may be connected using wireless, a wired, or a mix thereof, mechanisms.
[0026] In an example embodiment, the system 102 further comprises one or more of at least one display device 204, an alarm 206, and a user input panel 208. The at least one display device 204 may be used for displaying information generated by any of the fuel sensors 200 and the master controller 202. Furthermore, the alarm 206 may be used to provide an audio, for example, an alarm notification sound. The user input panel 208 may be provisioned to allow a user to select different view settings to view the fuel in the vehicle 100. For instance, the user may select a setting to view respective fuel levels of one or more of the fuel tanks 104, or a cumulative fuel level of the fuel tanks 104.
[0027] As mentioned above, in an example embodiment, each of the fuel sensors 200 may be configured to generate sensor data associated with the level of fuel in the respective fuel tank 104. For example, the fuel level sensor 200-1 may generate the sensor data associated with the level of fuel in the fuel tank 104-1. In the said example embodiment, the fuel level sensor 200 may be configured to determine a capacitance value corresponding to the fuel level in the corresponding fuel tank 104. The fuel level sensor 200 may then convert the capacitance value to a digital value indicative of the fuel level in the respective fuel tank 104 based on a predefined mapping table. The predefined mapping table, in a non-limiting example, may be a database that includes a plurality of capacitance values and corresponding fuel levels expressed as a digital value, such as a numeric standard value. Once the capacitance value is converted to the digital value, the fuel level sensor 200 may store the digital value as the sensor data.
[0028] Thereafter, in an example embodiment, the fuel level sensor 200 may be configured to transmit the sensor data to the master controller 202. As may be gathered, each of the fuel level sensors 200 transmit respective sensor data associated with the fuel level of the respective fuel tank 104 to the master controller 202.
[0029] In an example embodiment, the master controller 202 may be configured to compute a cumulative fuel level based on the sensor data received from each of the fuel level sensors 202. For instance, in an example, the master controller 202 may add up the digital value as specified in each of the sensor data to obtain the cumulative fuel data. The cumulative fuel level is indicative of the total fuel present in the fuel tanks 104. In an example embodiment, the master controller 202 may display the cumulative fuel data on the at least one display device 204.
[0030] In an example embodiment, the system 102 may also include at least one lighting device 210, such as, for example, a Light Emitting Diode (LED). In an example, the system 102 may include a control panel including a symbolic identifier for each of the fuel tanks 104. Examples of the symbolic identifier may include, a name of the fuel tank, a symbol of the fuel tank, and the like. Accordingly, in an example embodiment, the lighting device 210 may be provided corresponding to each of the symbolic identifier. The lighting device 210 may be lit up during testing of the system 102 or in cases where the fuel level of a fuel tank 104 has gone below a predefined threshold level.
[0031] In an example embodiment, the master controller 202 may be configured to provide an alert notification though one of the at least one display device 204, the alarm device 206, and the lighting device 210, in case the fuel level in a given fuel tank 104 is below the predefined threshold value. As an example, the controller 202 may generate a visual alert notification that may be displayed on the display device 204. In another example, the controller 202 may provide a signal to the alarm device 206 for generating a predefined alert sound. In yet another example, the controller 202 may lit up the lighting device 210 corresponding to the fuel tank 104 whose fuel level has gone below the predefined threshold level.
[0032] In an example embodiment, the master controller 202 may be configured to receive a user input, for example, through the user input panel 208. The user input may be indicative of a selection of at least one fuel tank 104. In said example embodiment, the master controller 202 may be configured to display the fuel level corresponding to the selected fuel tank 104 using the at least one display device 204.
[0033] Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary method 300 of monitoring fuel in a multi-fuel tank vehicle, according to embodiments of the present matter. The order in which the steps of the method 300 are described is not to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method steps can be combined in any order to implement the method 300 or any alternative method. Additionally, individual steps may be deleted from the method 300 without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method 300 can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof. For example and without limitation, the method 300 may be implemented using the components of the system 102.
[0034] At step 302, each of a plurality of fuel level sensors coupled to a plurality of fuel tanks of a multi-fuel tank vehicle generate sensor data associated with level of fuel in respective fuel tank. In an example, the fuel level sensor may determine a capacitance based on the level of fuel in the corresponding fuel tank. Thereafter, using a pre-defined mapping table, a digital value of the fuel in the fuel tank may be determined. Thereafter, the digital value may be stored as the sensor data. In an example, the fuel level sensor 200 may generate the sensor data corresponding to the fuel tank 104.
[0035] At step 304, each of the plurality of fuel level sensors transmit the sensor data to a master controller using a one-to-many digital communication protocol. In an example, the fuel level sensor 200 may transmit the sensor data to the master controller 202.
[0036] At step 306, a cumulative fuel level is computed based on the sensor data received from each fuel level sensor of the plurality of fuel level sensor. In an example, the master controller 202 may compute the cumulative fuel level.
[0037] In an example embodiment, the method 300 may further include displaying the cumulative fuel level on at least one display device. In an example embodiment, the method 300 may further include receiving a user input indicative of a selection of at least one fuel tank of the plurality of fuel tanks. Furthermore, the method includes displaying the fuel data corresponding to the at least one fuel tank using the at least one display device. In an example embodiment, the method 300 may further include providing an alert notification through at least one of the display device, an alarm device, and a lighting device coupled to the master controller, if the cumulative fuel level is below a predefined threshold level.
[0038] While specific language has been used to describe the present disclosure, any limitations arising on account thereto, are not intended. As would be apparent to a person in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method in order to implement the inventive concepts as taught herein. The drawings and the foregoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment. Clearly, the present disclosure may be otherwise variously embodied, and practiced within the scope of the following claims.
,CLAIMS:1. A fuel monitoring system (102) for monitoring fuel level in a multi-fuel tank vehicle (100), the system (102) comprising:
a plurality of fuel level sensors (200) coupled to a plurality of fuel tanks (104) of the multi-fuel tank vehicle (100), wherein each fuel level sensor (200) of the plurality of fuel level sensors (200) is configured to generate sensor data associated with a level of fuel in respective fuel tank (104);
a master controller (202) coupled to the plurality of fuel level sensors (200) using a one-to-many digital communication protocol, wherein:
each fuel level sensor (200) of the plurality of fuel level sensors (200) is configured to transmit the sensor data to the master controller (202) using the one-to-many digital communication protocol; and
the master controller (202) is configured to compute a cumulative fuel level based on the sensor data received from each fuel level sensor (200) of the plurality of fuel level sensors (200), wherein the cumulative fuel level is indicative of total fuel present in the plurality of fuel tanks (104).

2. The system (102) as claimed in Claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of fuel level sensors (200) is further configured to:
determine a capacitance value corresponding to the fuel level in the respective tank;
convert the capacitance value to a digital value indicative of the fuel level in the respective fuel tank (104) based on a predefined mapping table; and
store the digital value as the sensor data.

3. The system (102) as claimed in Claim 1, further comprising at least one display device (204) coupled to the master controller (202), wherein the master controller (202) is further configured to display the cumulative fuel level on the at least one display device (204).

4. The system (102) as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the master controller (202) is further configured to:
receive a user input indicative of a selection of at least one fuel tank (104) of the plurality of fuel tanks (104); and
display the fuel data corresponding to the at least one fuel tank (104) using the at least one display device (204).

5. The system (102) as claimed in Claim 3, further comprising an alarm device (206) and a lighting device (210), wherein the alarm device (206) and the lighting device (210) are coupled to the master controller (202), and wherein the master controller (202) is further configured to provide an alert notification through at least one of the display device (204), the alarm device (206), and the lighting device (210) if the cumulative fuel level is below a predefined threshold level.

6. A method (300) of monitoring fuel level in a multi-fuel tank vehicle (100), the method (300) comprising:
generating, by each of a plurality of fuel level sensors (200) coupled to a plurality of fuel tanks (104) of the multi-fuel tank vehicle (100), sensor data associated with level of fuel in respective fuel tank (104);
transmitting, by each of the plurality of fuel level sensors (200), the sensor data to a master controller (202) using a one-to-many digital communication protocol;
computing, by the master controller (202), a cumulative fuel level based on the sensor data received from each fuel level sensor (200) of the plurality of fuel level sensors (200), wherein the cumulative fuel level is indicative of total fuel present in the plurality of fuel tanks (104).

7. The method (300) as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the step of generating, by each of the plurality of fuel level sensors (200) coupled to the plurality of fuel tanks (104) of the multi-fuel tank vehicle (100), the sensor data associated with level of fuel in respective fuel tank (104), comprises:
determining a capacitance value corresponding to the fuel level in the respective tank;
converting the capacitance value to a digital value indicative of the fuel level in the respective fuel tank (104) based on a predefined mapping table; and
storing the digital value as the sensor data.

8. The method (300) as claimed in Claim 6, displaying the cumulative fuel level on at least one display device (204) coupled to the master controller (202).

9. The method (300) as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the method (300) further comprises:
receiving a user input indicative of a selection of at least one fuel tank (104) of the plurality of fuel tanks (104); and
displaying the fuel data corresponding to the at least one fuel tank (104) using the at least one display device (204).

10. The method (300) as claimed in Claim 8, further providing an alert notification through at least one of the display device (204), an alarm device (206), and a lighting device (210) coupled to the master controller (202), if the cumulative fuel level is below a predefined threshold level.