Claims:We claim:

1. A method for performing defogging in a vehicle, the method comprising:
monitoring, by a defogging system (101), fogging conditions inside the vehicle based on temperature parameters and humidity parameters related to the vehicle, wherein monitoring of the fogging conditions is performed at regular intervals of time;
identifying, by the defogging system (101), a change in stage of fogging in the vehicle, based on the monitored fogging conditions; and
controlling, by the defogging system (101), operation of one or more units of a Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system in the vehicle, based on the change in the stage of fogging, for performing defogging in the vehicle.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the temperature parameters comprise windshield temperature, vehicle interior temperature and the humidity parameters comprise vehicle interior humidity.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein monitoring the fogging conditions comprises determining dew point temperature inside the vehicle based on the temperature parameters and the humidity parameters.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein identifying change in the stage of fogging comprises:
identifying the stage of fogging to change from previous stage to current stage amongst plurality of stages of fogging, based on the change in the fogging conditions.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the plurality of stages of fogging ranges from initial stage to final stage, wherein the initial stage corresponds to least probability of fogging in the vehicle and the final stage corresponds to highest probability of fogging in the vehicle.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein operation of the one or more units is controlled to consume lowest energy during the initial stage and progressively increase energy consumption of the one or more units when the stage of fogging is changing from the initial stage to the final stage.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the operation of the one or more units is controlled to maintain minimal cabin ambient disruption caused due to one or more factors.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more units of the HVAC system of the vehicle comprises at least one of an air inlet unit, an air outlet unit, a temperature control unit, an Air Conditioning (AC) unit, a defrost unit and a blower unit.

9. A defogging system (101) for performing defogging in a vehicle, comprises:
a processor (105); and
a memory (107) communicatively coupled to the processor (105), wherein the memory (107) stores processor-executable instructions, which, on execution, cause the processor (105) to:
monitor fogging conditions inside the vehicle based on temperature parameters and humidity parameters related to the vehicle, wherein monitoring of the fogging conditions is performed at regular intervals of time;
identify a change in stage of fogging in the vehicle, based on the monitored fogging conditions; and
control operation of one or more units of a Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system in the vehicle, based on the change in the stage of fogging, for performing defogging in the vehicle.

10. The defogging system (101) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the temperature parameters comprise windshield temperature, vehicle interior temperature and the humidity parameters comprise vehicle interior humidity.

11. The defogging system (101) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the processor (105) is configured to monitor the fogging conditions by determining dew point temperature and windshield temperature inside the vehicle based on the temperature parameters and the humidity parameters.

12. The defogging system (101) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the processor (105) is configured to identify change in the stage of fogging comprises:
identifying the stage of fogging to change from previous stage to current stage amongst plurality of stages of fogging, based on the change in the fogging conditions.

13. The defogging system (101) as claimed in claim 12, wherein the plurality of stages of fogging ranges from initial stage to final stage, wherein the initial stage corresponds to least probability of fogging in the vehicle and the final stage corresponds to highest probability of fogging in the vehicle.

14. The defogging system (101) as claimed in claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to control operation of the one or more units to consume lowest energy during the initial stage and progressively increase energy consumption of the one or more units when the stage of fogging is changing from the initial stage to the final stage.

15. The defogging system (101) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to control operation of the one or more units to maintain minimal cabin ambient disruption caused due to one or more factors.

16. The defogging system (101) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the one or more units of the HVAC system (615) of the vehicle comprises at least one of an air inlet unit, an air outlet unit, a temperature control unit, an Air Conditioning (AC) unit, a defrost unit and a blower unit.
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
The present subject matter is related in general to automobile technology, more particularly, but not exclusively to system and method for performing defogging in a vehicle.

BACKGROUND
Occurrence of fogging condition inside vehicle is unavoidable. It is essential to detect the fog and defog when driving for safety of passengers in the vehicle. Currently, fogging is detected manually. Such manual detection is subjective and may be prone to errors in judgement. Upon such detection, defogging action may also be a manual process. Manual defogging includes to manually operate units of Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. Manually operating the unit may be a reactive response and there are chances to delaying the operation of the HVAC for effective defogging. In such cases, the fogging conditions may become severe. Also, units of the HVAC need to be operated at optimal settings, for efficient defogging. Users in the vehicle may require adequate knowledge/ judgement on such optimal settings and also may need to continuously intervene to adjust settings of the HVAC system, which is not practical while driving. Some conventional systems teach to automate process of defogging. Such systems are configured to set the HVAC system to operate at high capacity for given fogging tendency. Also, when operated at high capacity, power consumption also increases. This may also lead to disturbance in cabin temperature. There may be a need to use additional power to bring back required cabin temperature. In some cases, full fresh air mode is activated for defogging. However, activation of full fresh air mode in polluted outside environment allows outside pollutants inside vehicle and reduces cabin air quality.

The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

SUMMARY
In an embodiment, the present disclosure relates to a method for performing defogging in a vehicle. The method comprises to monitor fogging conditions inside the vehicle based on temperature parameters and humidity parameters related to the vehicle. The monitoring of the fogging conditions is performed at regular intervals of time. Further, a change in stage of fogging in the vehicle is identified based on the monitored fogging conditions. Operation of one or more units of a Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system in the vehicle is controlled based on the change in the stage of fogging, for performing defogging in the vehicle.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure relates to defogging system for performing defogging in a vehicle. The defogging system comprises a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The memory stores processor-executable instructions which on execution cause the processor to perform the defogging. Initially, fogging conditions inside the vehicle is monitored based on temperature parameters and humidity parameters related to the vehicle. The monitoring of the fogging conditions is performed at regular intervals of time. Further, a change in stage of fogging in the vehicle is identified based on the monitored fogging conditions. Operation of one or more units of a Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system in the vehicle is controlled based on the change in the stage of fogging, for performing defogging in the vehicle.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example only, and regarding the accompanying figures, in which:

Figures 1a and 1b show exemplary environments for performing defogging in a vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 2 illustrates a detailed block diagram of defogging system for performing defogging in a vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figures 3 and 4 show plots illustrating controlling operation of one or more units of HVAC system for performing defogging in a vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 5 illustrates flowchart showing exemplary method for performing defogging in a vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

Figure 6 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer or processor, whether such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the spirit and the scope of the disclosure.

The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device, or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.

The terms “includes”, “including”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device or method that includes a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by “includes… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.

In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

Present disclosure provides an effective and power efficient methodology and system for performing defogging in a vehicle. The present disclosure proposes to monitor fogging conditions in the vehicle and identify change in the fogging conditions. Based on the identified change in the fogging conditions, operation of one or more units of HVAC system in the vehicle is automatically controlled to achieve defogging in the vehicle. By proposed method and system, an effective defogging may be achieved with efficient utilization of power from the vehicle, without human intervention.

Figures 1a and 1b illustrate exemplary environments 100a and 100b for performing defogging in a vehicle. The exemplary environment 100a may comprise a defogging system 101, a temperature parameters provide unit 102, a humidity parameters provide unit 103 and a HVAC system4104, for performing defogging in a vehicle. In an embodiment, the vehicle may be a car, a bus, an auto, aircraft and so on. In a preferred embodiment, the defogging system 101 may be implemented in any vehicle where there is a need for defogging inside the vehicle and such vehicle includes the HVAC system 104. In an embodiment, the temperature parameters provide unit 102, the humidity parameters provide unit 103 and the HVAC system 104 along with the defogging system 101 may be integral part of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the temperature parameters provide unit 102, the humidity parameters provide unit 103, and the HVAC system 104 may be integral part of the vehicle. In such embodiment, the defogging system 101 may not be integral part of the vehicle and may be coupled with the temperature parameters provide unit 102, the humidity parameters provide unit 103 and the HVAC system 104 via a communication network (not shown in the figure). In an embodiment, the communication network may include, without limitation, a direct interconnection, Controller Area Network (CAN), Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), wireless network (e.g., using Wireless Application Protocol), the Internet, and the like. The defogging system 101 may be configured to communicate with the temperature parameters provide unit 102, the humidity parameters provide unit 103 and the HVAC system 104 for performing steps as disclosed in the present disclosure, to achieve effective defogging. In an embodiment, the defogging system 101 may be a dedicated server or a cloud-based sever, configured to perform defogging for the vehicle. In some embodiment, the defogging system 101 may be configured to perform defogging for one or more vehicles. In such embodiment, the defogging system 101 may be in communication with each of the one or more vehicle to perform the defogging. In an embodiment, a single communication network may be implemented to establish communication between the defogging system 101 and the one or more vehicles. In another embodiment, dedicated communication network may be implemented between the defogging system 101 and each of the one or more vehicles.

In the exemplary environment 100a, the temperature parameters provide unit 102 may be configured to sense the temperature parameters and provide the sensed temperature parameters to the defogging system 101. In an embodiment, the temperature parameters may include, but are not limited to, windshield temperature and vehicle interior temperature. The windshield temperature may indicate temperature of the windshield of the vehicle. The vehicle interior temperature may be temperature of interior of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the temperature parameters provide unit 102 may be one or more sensors configured to sense and provide the temperature parameters to the defogging system 101. For example, the temperature parameters provide unit 102 may be at least one of a thermistor, a thermocouple, a resistance temperature detector, or infrared device. Any other sensor, known to a person skilled in the art, may be used as the temperature parameters provide unit 102, to sense and provide the temperature parameters.

In the exemplary environment 100a, the humidity parameters provide unit 103 may be configured to sense humidity parameters and provide the sensed humidity parameters to the defogging system 101. In an embodiment, the humidity parameters may include, but are not limited to, vehicle interior humidity. The vehicle interior humidity indicate amount of water vapour in air inside the vehicle. In an embodiment, the humidity parameters provide unit 103 may be one or more sensors configured to sense and provide the humidity parameters to the defogging system 101. For example, the humidity parameters provide unit 103 may be at least one of thermal conductivity humidity sensors or a hygrometer. Any other sensor, known to a person skilled in the art, may be used as the humidity parameters provide unit 103, to sense and provide the humidity parameters.

The proposed defogging system 101 may include one or more processors 105, I/O interface 106, and a memory 107. In some embodiments, the memory 107 may be communicatively coupled to the processor 105. The memory 107 stores processor executable instructions, which, on execution, may cause the defogging system 101 to perform defogging in the vehicle, as disclosed in the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the memory 107 may include one or more modules 108 and data 109. The one or more modules 108 may be configured to perform the steps of the present disclosure using the data 109, for performing the defogging. As shown in the figure, the one or more modules 108 may be instructions stored in the memory 107, executed by the processor, when performing the defogging. In an embodiment, each of the one or more modules 108 may be a hardware unit which may be outside the memory 107 and coupled with the defogging system 101. In an embodiment, the defogging system 101 may receive data for performing defogging through the I/O interface 106 of the defogging system 101. The received data may include, but is not limited to, the temperature parameters, the humidity parameters and current operating state of the one or more units and so on. Also, the defogging system 101 may transmit data to the one or more units of the HVAC system 104 via the I/O interface 106. The transmitted data may include, but is not limited to, control instructions to control operation of the one or more units. The I/O interface 106 may be coupled with the processor 105 of the defogging system 101, to transmit and receive data. In an embodiment, the defogging system 101 may be implemented in a variety of computing systems, such as a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a Personal Computer (PC), a notebook, a smartphone, a tablet, e-book readers, a server, a network server, cloud server and the like.

Figure 2 shows a detailed block diagram of the defogging system 101 for performing defogging in the vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

The data 109 and the one or more modules 108 in the memory 107 of the defogging system 101 is described herein in detail.

In one implementation, the one or more modules 108 may include, but are not limited to, a monitor module 201, a change identify module 202, an operation control module 203, and one or more other modules 204, associated with the defogging system 101.

In an embodiment, the data 109 in the memory 107 may include fogging condition data 205, stage change data 206, operation control data 207, and other data 208 associated with the defogging system 101.

In an embodiment, the data 109 in the memory 107 may be processed by the one or more modules 108 of the defogging system 101. In an embodiment, the one or more modules 108 may be implemented as dedicated units and when implemented in such a manner, said modules may be configured with the functionality defined in the present disclosure to result in a novel hardware. As used herein, the term module may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), Programmable System-on-Chip (PSoC), a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality.

The one or more modules 108 of the present disclosure function to perform the defogging in the vehicle. The one or more modules 108 along with the data 109, may be implemented in any system, for the defogging.

For performing the defogging in the vehicle, the monitor module 201 of the defogging system 101 may be configured to monitor fogging conditions inside the vehicle. The monitoring may be performed based on the temperature parameters and the humidity parameters related to the vehicle. The temperature parameters may be received from the temperature parameters provide unit 102 and the humidity parameters may be received from the humidity parameters provide unit 103. In an embodiment, the defogging system 101 may be configured to monitor the fogging conditions at regular intervals of time. For example, the defogging system 101 may be configured to monitor the fogging conditions continuously. In such cases, the time interval between subsequent monitoring may be minimal. For example, the time interval for monitoring may be less ten seconds. In an embodiment, the defogging system 101 may be configured to monitor the fogging conditions at time interval of one minute. The time interval for monitored the fogging condition may be predefined. In an embodiment, the defogging system 101 may be configured to initiate the monitoring of the fogging condition upon start of ignition of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the defogging system 101 may be configured to initiate the monitoring of the fogging conditions upon receiving trigger from a driver or a passenger in the vehicle. In an embodiment, the defogging system 101 may be configured to initiate the monitoring of the fogging conditions when at least one of the windshield temperature, the vehicle interior temperature and the vehicle interior humidity is lesser than a predefined threshold value. In an embodiment, for monitoring the fogging condition, the defogging system 101 may be configured to determine dew point temperature inside the vehicle based on the temperature parameters and the humidity parameters. The dew point temperature is temperature to which air inside the vehicle must be cooled to become saturated with water vapor. Fogging condition inside the vehicle is inversely proportional to the dew point temperature. Lesser dew point temperature leads to severe fogging conditions. In an embodiment, the fogging conditions monitored by the monitor module 201 may be stored as the fogging condition data 205 in the memory 107.

During the monitoring, the change identify module 202 of the defogging system 101 may be configured to identify a change in stage of fogging in the vehicle. In an embodiment, the change in the stage of fogging may be identified by identifying the stage of fogging to change from previous stage to current stage amongst plurality of stages of fogging. In an embodiment, the plurality of stages of fogging ranges from initial stage to final stage. The initial stage corresponds to least probability of fogging in the vehicle and the final stage corresponds to highest probability of fogging in the vehicle. In the initial stage, tendency of fogging inside the vehicle may be identified to be lowest. In the final stage, the tendency of fogging inside the vehicle may be identified to be highest. In an embodiment, the change of fogging condition from the initial stage to the final stage, through intermediate stages, indicate the tendency of fogging to be increasing. In an embodiment, the change of fogging condition from the initial stage to the final stage, through the intermediate stages, indicate the tendency of fogging to be decreasing. In an embodiment, a stage of fogging may be predicted using the dew point temperature. In an embodiment, the stage of fogging may be predicted by calculating difference between the dew point temperature and the windshield temperature. Lesser values of the difference indicate higher tendency of fogging. In an embodiment, each stage from the plurality of stage may be predefined with a value of the difference. Based on change in the value of the difference, the defogging system 101 may identify the change of the stage of the fogging in the vehicle. In an embodiment, information or data related to the change identified by the change identify module 202 may be stored as the stage change data 206 in the memory 107.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the plurality of stages may be divided to be nine stages, namely stage 0, stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, stage 4, stage 5, stage 6, stage 7, and stage 8. Each of the stages may be associated with a value of the difference. The stage 0 may be the initial stage and the stage 8 may be the final stage. The probability of fogging inside the vehicle in the stage 0 is least and the probability of fogging inside the vehicle in the stage 8 is highest. The probability of fogging inside the vehicle in the stage 1 is greater than that of in stage 0. The probability of fogging inside the vehicle in the stage 2 is greater than that of in stage 0 and stage 1. The probability of fogging inside the vehicle in the stage 3 is greater than that of in stage 0, stage 1, and stage 2. The probability of fogging inside the vehicle in the stage 4 is greater than that of in stage 0, stage 1, stage 2, and stage 3. The probability of fogging inside the vehicle in the stage 5 is greater than that of in stage 0, stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, and stage 4. The probability of fogging inside the vehicle in the stage 6 is greater than that of in stage 0, stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, stage 4, and stage 5. The probability of fogging inside the vehicle in the stage 7 is greater than that of in stage 0, stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, stage 4, stage 5, and stage 6. The probability of fogging inside the vehicle in the stage 8 is greater than that of in stage 0, stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, stage 4, stage 5, stage 6, and stage 7. The change in fogging condition is identified either when the fogging condition changes from stage with higher probability to stage with lower probability, or when the fogging condition changes from stage with lower probability to stage with higher probability.

Upon identifying the change in the stage of the fogging, the operation control module 203 of the defogging system 101 may be configured to control operation of one or more units of a HVAC system 104 in the vehicle. The operation of the one or more units may be controlled based on the identified change. An exemplary environment 100b for controlling operation of the one or more units by the defogging system 101 is shown in Figure 1b. In an embodiment, the one or more of the HVAC system 104 may include, but are not limited to, an air inlet unit 104.1, an air outlet unit 104.2, a temperature control unit 104.3, an Air Conditioning (AC) unit 104.4, a defrost unit 104.5 and a blower unit 104.6. One or more units which are part of the HVAC system 104, may also be controlled by the defogging system 101 for performing the defogging. In an embodiment, upon identifying the change in the stage of fogging, the defogging system 101 may be configured to receive current operating state of each of the one or more units. Based on both the change and the current state, the defogging system 101 may be configured to control the operation of the one or more units. In an embodiment, information or data related to controlling of the operation of the one or units may be stored as the operation control data 207. Such information may include current state of operation or subsequent state of operation of the one or more units. In an embodiment, such information may also include instructions to be provided to the one or more units, to switch from the current state of operation to the subsequent state of operation.

In an embodiment, controlling the operation of the one or more units may include to either switch ON or switch OFF at least one unit from the one or more units. In an embodiment, controlling the operation of the one or more units may include to either increase operating capacity or decrease the operating capacity of at least one unit from the one or more units. In an embodiment, the operation of the one or more units may be controlled to consume lowest energy during the initial stage. Further, energy consumption of the one or more units may be progressively increased when the stage of fogging is changing from the initial stage to the final stage. In an embodiment, the operation of the one or more units may be controlled to maintain minimal cabin ambient disruption caused due to one or more factors.

Figure 3 shows plurality of plots 301-306, for controlling of the operation of the one or more units, when the fogging condition changes from stage with lower probability to stage with higher probability. The operation control module 203 may be configured to gradually increase pressure of intake of the air inlet unit 104.1 when the stage of fogging is changing from stage 3 to stage 4. The operation control module 203 may be configured to switch ON the air outlet unit 104.2, when the stage of fogging reaches stage 7 from a stage with lower probability. The operation control module 203 may be configured to switch ON the AC unit 104.4, when the stage of fogging reaches stage 6 from a stage with lower probability. The operation control module 203 may be configured to gradually increase output of the defrost unit 104.5, when the stage of fogging is changing from stage 3 to stage 4. The operation control module 203 may be configured to gradually increase speed of the blower unit 104.6, when the stage of fogging is changing from stage 4 to stage 8. The operation control module 203 may be configured to gradually increase temperature of the vehicle using the temperature control unit 104.3, when the stage of fogging is changing from stage 4 to stage 6.
Figure 4 shows plurality of plots 401-406, for controlling of the operation of the one or more units, when the fogging condition changes from stage with higher probability to stage with lower probability. The operation control module 203 may be configured to gradually decrease the pressure of intake, when the stage of fogging is changing from stage 2 to stage 1. The operation control module 203 may be configured to switch OFF the air outlet unit 104.2, when the stage of fogging reaches stage 5 from a stage with higher probability. The operation control module 203 may be configured to switch OFF the AC unit 104.4, when the stage of fogging reaches stage 1 from a stage with higher probability. The operation control module 203 may be configured to gradually decrease the output of the defrost unit 104.5, when the stage of fogging is changing from stage 2 to stage 1. The operation control module 203 may be configured to gradually decrease the speed of the blower unit 104.6, when the stage of fogging is changing from stage 6 to stage 2. The operation control module 203 may be configured to gradually decrease the temperature using the temperature control unit 104.3, when the stage of fogging is changing from stage 4 to stage 2. Thus, by controlling the operation of the one or more units, the defogging in the vehicle may be achieved effectively. Also, power consumed by the one or more units for performing the defogging may be minimized at initial stages of fogging. The one or more units are operated to provide maximum defogging capability only when stage of fogging is the final stage. By proposed way of operating the one or more units, the energy consumption of the one or more units is managed efficiently and optimally. Also, disruption in cabin ambience is maintained to be minimal by controlled the one or more units in the proposed way, irrespective of the stage of fogging and factors influencing the disruption. Such factors may be the change in the stage of fogging, pollutants outside the vehicle and so on.

[001] The other data 208 may store data, including temporary data and temporary files, generated by modules for performing the various functions of the defogging system 101. The one or more modules 108 may also include other modules 204 to perform various miscellaneous functionalities of the defogging system 101. It will be appreciated that such modules may be represented as a single module or a combination of different modules.

Figure 5 illustrates a flowchart showing an exemplary method for performing defogging in the vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of present disclosure.

At block 501, the defogging system 101 may be configured to monitor the fogging conditions inside the vehicle based on the temperature parameters and the humidity parameters related to the vehicle. Monitoring of the fogging conditions may be at regular intervals of time. The temperature parameters comprise the windshield temperature, the vehicle interior temperature and the humidity parameters comprise the vehicle interior humidity. In an embodiment, monitoring the fogging conditions comprises determining the dew point temperature inside the vehicle based on the temperature parameters and the humidity parameters.

At block 502, the defogging system 101 may be configured to identify the change in stage of fogging in the vehicle, based on the monitored fogging conditions. Identifying the change comprises identifying the stage of fogging to change from previous stage to current stage amongst the plurality of stages of fogging. The plurality of stages of fogging ranges from initial stage to final stage, wherein the initial stage corresponds to least probability of fogging in the vehicle and the final stage corresponds to highest probability of fogging in the vehicle.
At block 503, the defogging system 101 may be configured to control the operation of the one or more units of the HVAC system 104 in the vehicle, based on the change in the stage of fogging, for performing defogging in the vehicle. The one or more units of the HVAC system 104 may comprise at least one of the air inlet unit 104.1, the air outlet unit 104.2, the temperature control unit 104.3, the AC unit 104.4, the defrost unit 104.5 and the blower unit 104.6.

As illustrated in Figure 5, the method 500 may include one or more blocks for executing processes in the defogging system 101. The method 500 may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. Generally, computer executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types.

The order in which the method 500 is described may not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.

Computing System
Figure 6 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system 600 for implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the computer system 600 is used to implement the defogging system 101 for performing defogging in the vehicle. The computer system 600 may include a central processing unit (“CPU” or “processor”) 602. The processor 602 may include at least one data processor for executing processes in Virtual Storage Area Network. The processor 602 may include specialized processing units such as, integrated system (bus) controllers, memory management control units, floating point units, graphics processing units, digital signal processing units, etc.

The processor 602 may be disposed in communication with one or more input/output (I/O) devices 609 and 610 via I/O interface 601. The I/O interface 601 may employ communication protocols/methods such as, without limitation, audio, analog, digital, monaural, RCA, stereo, IEEE-1394, serial bus, universal serial bus (USB), infrared, PS/2, BNC, coaxial, component, composite, digital visual interface (DVI), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), radio frequency (RF) antennas, S-Video, VGA, IEEE 802.n /b/g/n/x, Bluetooth, cellular (e.g., code-division multiple access (CDMA), high-speed packet access (HSPA+), global system for mobile communications (GSM), long-term evolution (LTE), WiMax, or the like), etc.

Using the I/O interface 601, the computer system 600 may communicate with one or more I/O devices 609 and 610. For example, the input devices 609 may be an antenna, keyboard, mouse, joystick, (infrared) remote control, camera, card reader, fax machine, dongle, biometric reader, microphone, touch screen, touchpad, trackball, stylus, scanner, storage device, transceiver, video device/source, etc. The output devices 610 may be a printer, fax machine, video display (e.g., cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), light-emitting diode (LED), plasma, Plasma Display Panel (PDP), Organic light-emitting diode display (OLED) or the like), audio speaker, etc.

In some embodiments, the computer system 600 may consist of the defogging system 101. The processor 602 may be disposed in communication with a communication network 611 via a network interface 603. The network interface 603 may communicate with the communication network 611. The network interface 603 may employ connection protocols including, without limitation, direct connect, Ethernet (e.g., twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T), transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), token ring, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/x, etc. The communication network 611 may include, without limitation, a direct interconnection, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), wireless network (e.g., using Wireless Application Protocol), the Internet, etc. Using the network interface 603 and the communication network 611, the computer system 600 may communicate with at least one of a temperature parameters provide unit 613, humidity parameters provide unit 614 and HVAC system 615, for performing the defogging in the vehicle. The network interface 603 may employ connection protocols include, but not limited to, direct connect, Ethernet (e.g., twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T), transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), token ring, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/x, etc.

The communication network 611 includes, but is not limited to, a direct interconnection, an e-commerce network, a peer to peer (P2P) network, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), wireless network (e.g., using Wireless Application Protocol), the Internet, Wi-Fi, and such. The first network and the second network may either be a dedicated network or a shared network, which represents an association of the different types of networks that use a variety of protocols, for example, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), etc., to communicate with each other. Further, the first network and the second network may include a variety of network devices, including routers, bridges, servers, computing devices, storage devices, etc.

In some embodiments, the processor 602 may be disposed in communication with a memory 605 (e.g., RAM, ROM, etc. not shown in Figure 6) via a storage interface 604. The storage interface 604 may connect to memory 605 including, without limitation, memory drives, removable disc drives, etc., employing connection protocols such as, serial advanced technology attachment (SATA), Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), IEEE-1394, Universal Serial Bus (USB), fibre channel, Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), etc. The memory drives may further include a drum, magnetic disc drive, magneto-optical drive, optical drive, Redundant Array of Independent Discs (RAID), solid-state memory devices, solid-state drives, etc.

The memory 605 may store a collection of program or database components, including, without limitation, user interface 606, an operating system 607, web browser 608 etc. In some embodiments, computer system 600 may store user/application data, such as, the data, variables, records, etc., as described in this disclosure. Such databases may be implemented as fault-tolerant, relational, scalable, secure databases such as Oracle ® or Sybase®.

The operating system 607 may facilitate resource management and operation of the computer system 600. Examples of operating systems include, without limitation, APPLE MACINTOSH® OS X, UNIX®, UNIX-like system distributions (E.G., BERKELEY SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTIONTM (BSD), FREEBSDTM, NETBSDTM, OPENBSDTM, etc.), LINUX DISTRIBUTIONSTM (E.G., RED HATTM, UBUNTUTM, KUBUNTUTM, etc.), IBMTM OS/2, MICROSOFTTM WINDOWSTM (XPTM, VISTATM/7/8, 10 etc.), APPLE® IOSTM, GOOGLE® ANDROIDTM, BLACKBERRY® OS, or the like.

In some embodiments, the computer system 600 may implement a web browser 608 stored program component. The web browser 608 may be a hypertext viewing application, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, etc. Secure web browsing may be provided using Hypertext Transport Protocol Secure (HTTPS), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), etc. Web browsers 608 may utilize facilities such as AJAX, DHTML, Adobe Flash, JavaScript, Java, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), etc. In some embodiments, the computer system 600 may implement a mail server stored program component. The mail server may be an Internet mail server such as Microsoft Exchange, or the like. The mail server may utilize facilities such as ASP, ActiveX, ANSI C++/C#, Microsoft .NET, Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts, Java, JavaScript, PERL, PHP, Python, WebObjects, etc. The mail server may utilize communication protocols such as Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), Microsoft Exchange, Post Office Protocol (POP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), or the like. In some embodiments, the computer system 600 may implement a mail client stored program component. The mail client may be a mail viewing application, such as Apple Mail, Microsoft Entourage, Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, etc.

Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be utilized in implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. A computer-readable storage medium refers to any type of physical memory on which information or data readable by a processor may be stored. Thus, a computer-readable storage medium may store instructions for execution by one or more processors, including instructions for causing the processor(s) to perform steps or stages consistent with the embodiments described herein. The term “computer-readable medium” should be understood to include tangible items and exclude carrier waves and transient signals, i.e., be non-transitory. Examples include Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), volatile memory, non-volatile memory, hard drives, Compact Disc (CD) ROMs, DVDs, flash drives, disks, and any other known physical storage media.

Advantages
An embodiment of the present disclosure provisions to use energy in an efficient way to achieve defogging in a vehicle. The units in the HVAC system are operated in such a way that high power consumption measures (ex. AC unit) are initiated only when low or no power consumption measures prove futile. Further, when lower fogging tendencies are detected, units with lesser intensities are initiated. Thus, effective defogging is also achieved with optimal energy consumption of the one or more units.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provision to maintain minimal disturbance to cabin climate by controlling the operation of units based on change in the fogging conditions, irrespective of factor influencing the cabin climate.
The described operations may be implemented as a method, system or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. The described operations may be implemented as code maintained in a “non-transitory computer readable medium”, where a processor may read and execute the code from the computer readable medium. The processor is at least one of a microprocessor and a processor capable of processing and executing the queries. A non-transitory computer readable medium may include media such as magnetic storage medium (e.g., hard disk drives, floppy disks, tape, etc.), optical storage (CD-ROMs, DVDs, optical disks, etc.), volatile and non-volatile memory devices (e.g., EEPROMs, ROMs, PROMs, RAMs, DRAMs, SRAMs, Flash Memory, firmware, programmable logic, etc.), etc. Further, non-transitory computer-readable media may include all computer-readable media except for a transitory. The code implementing the described operations may further be implemented in hardware logic (e.g., an integrated circuit chip, Programmable Gate Array (PGA), Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.).

Still further, the code implementing the described operations may be implemented in “transmission signals”, where transmission signals may propagate through space or through a transmission media, such as, an optical fibre, copper wire, etc. The transmission signals in which the code or logic is encoded may further comprise a wireless signal, satellite transmission, radio waves, infrared signals, Bluetooth, etc. The transmission signals in which the code or logic is encoded is capable of being transmitted by a transmitting station and received by a receiving station, where the code or logic encoded in the transmission signal may be decoded and stored in hardware or a non-transitory computer readable medium at the receiving and transmitting stations or devices. An “article of manufacture” includes non-transitory computer readable medium, hardware logic, and/or transmission signals in which code may be implemented. A device in which the code implementing the described embodiments of operations is encoded may include a computer readable medium or hardware logic. Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications may be made to this configuration without departing from the scope of the invention, and that the article of manufacture may include suitable information bearing medium known in the art.

The terms “an embodiment”, “embodiment”, “embodiments”, “the embodiment”, “the embodiments”, “one or more embodiments”, “some embodiments”, and “one embodiment” mean “one or more (but not all) embodiments of the invention(s)” unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms “including”, “comprising”, “having” and variations thereof mean “including but not limited to”, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms “a”, “an” and “the” mean “one or more”, unless expressly specified otherwise.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the invention.

When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readily apparent that more than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein (whether or not they cooperate), it will be readily apparent that a single device/article may be used in place of the more than one device or article or a different number of devices/articles may be used instead of the shown number of devices or programs. The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of the invention need not include the device itself.

The illustrated operations of Figure 5 shows certain events occurring in a certain order. In alternative embodiments, certain operations may be performed in a different order, modified, or removed. Moreover, steps may be added to the above-described logic and still conform to the described embodiments. Further, operations described herein may occur sequentially or certain operations may be processed in parallel. Yet further, operations may be performed by a single processing unit or by distributed processing units.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based here on. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Referral numerals:
Reference Number Description
100a and 100b Environment environments
101 Defogging system
102 Temperature parameters provide unit
103 Humidity parameters provide unit
104 HVAC system
104.1 Air inlet unit
104.2 Air outlet unit
104.3 Temperature control unit
104.4 AC unit
104.5 Defrost unit
104.6 Blower unit
105 Processor
106 I/O interface
107 Memory
108 Modules
109 Data
201 Monitor module
202 Change identify module
203 Operation control module
204 Other modules
205 Fogging condition data
206 Stage change data
207 Operation control data
208 Other data
301-306 and 401-406 Plurality of plots
600 Computer System
601 I/O Interface
602 Processor
603 Network Interface
604 Storage Interface
605 Memory
606 User Interface
607 Operating System
608 Web Server
609 Input Devices
610 Output Devices
611 Communication Network
612 Temperature parameters provide module
613 Humidity parameters provide module
614 HVAC system