HEAC and THYCS Projects

Due to its more and more widespread diffusion, Air Conditioning (A/C) systems in automobiles will face two main challenges in the near future: to improve the evaluation and control of perceived thermal comfort, and to reduce the fuel consumption increase due to its use (up to 70% in urban operation under hot weather [1]). In view of future regulations and heightening environmental concern, rapid action is needed to reduce such negative A/C impact. Moreover, the A/C system has also an important role in safety, since it has to assure the driver’s visibility by avoiding fogging formation on the windshield in any condition of use. This function has to be assured in the most reliable and automatic way, minimising the interaction of the driver with the A/C system itself. The two research projects described in the present paper have the following goals: • To improve the perceived thermal comfort evaluation. • To lower the impact of air conditioning system on fuel consumption. • To detect incipient fogging conditions in a reliable and predictive way. The research activity has been performed with the following constraints: • To minimize the number of sensors. • To reduce the cost of the air conditioning system.