Thermal reduction system for an autonomous vehicle

Abstract

A thermal reduction system for an autonomous vehicle can include a fluid pump pumping cooling fluid through one or more fluid lines of a cooling rack to cool a data processing system of the autonomous vehicle. The thermal reduction system can further include a cabin radiator receiving the cooling fluid from the fluid pump. The cabin radiator can include an air pump forcing cabin air from an interior passenger cabin of the AV though the cabin radiator to cool the cooling fluid.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A thermal reduction system for an autonomous vehicle (AV) comprising:
 a cooling rack including a data processing system of the AV;   a fluid pump pumping cooling fluid through one or more fluid lines of the cooling rack to cool the data processing system; and   a cabin radiator comprising a core that receives the cooling fluid from the fluid pump, the cabin radiator comprising an air pump forcing cabin air from an interior passenger cabin of the AV though the core of the cabin radiator to cool the cooling fluid.   
     
     
         2 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a secondary cooling unit comprising a compressor pump, a condenser, and an evaporator.   
     
     
         3 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 2 , wherein the compressor pump of the secondary cooling unit initiates automatically when the cooling fluid reaches a predetermined temperature, wherein the compressor pumps coolant through the secondary cooling unit when initiated. 
     
     
         4 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more fluid lines run through a cooling tank of the evaporator, and wherein when the compressor pump is initiated, the evaporator cools the cooling tank to further cool the cooling fluid. 
     
     
         5 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 2 , wherein the secondary cooling unit further includes a blower to provide cool air into the interior passenger cabin of the AV when a passenger of the AV manually triggers the secondary cooling unit. 
     
     
         6 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a main radiator interacting with outside air in relation to the AV;   wherein the one or more fluid lines further run to and from a core of the main radiator to cool the cooling fluid.   
     
     
         7 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 6 , wherein the main radiator comprises a radiator fan to force the outside air through the core of the main radiator to cool the cooling fluid. 
     
     
         8 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a first temperature sensor disposed proximally to the cooling rack along the one or more fluid lines; and   a second temperature sensor disposed distally from the cooling rack along the one or more fluid lines;   wherein a temperature delta for the cooling fluid between the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor causes the fluid pump to vary a flow rate of the cooling fluid.   
     
     
         9 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 one or more processors; and   one or more memory resources storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 continuously monitor a temperature of the cooling fluid using a temperature sensor; and 
 initiate at least one of the cabin radiator or the main radiator when the cooling fluid reaches an initial threshold temperature. 
   
     
     
         10 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 9 , wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 initiate the compressor pump of the secondary cooling unit when the cooling fluid reaches a second threshold temperature.   
     
     
         11 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 9 , wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 determine processing requirements of the data processing system; and   adjust flow rates of one or more of the cabin radiator, the main radiator, the fluid pump, or the compressor pump based on the processing requirements.   
     
     
         12 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors and the one or more memory resources of the thermal reduction system are included in the data processing system housed in the cooling rack. 
     
     
         13 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 1 , wherein the data processing system comprises one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and one or more central processing units (CPUs) housed in the cooling rack. 
     
     
         14 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 13 , wherein the fluid lines run the cooling fluid through the cooling rack to cool the one or more FPGAs before the one or more CPUs. 
     
     
         15 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 14 , wherein the data processing system further comprises one or more switching elements housed in the cooling rack. 
     
     
         16 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 15 , wherein the fluid pump pumps the cooling fluid through the cooling rack to cool the one or more FPGAs and the one or more CPUs before the one or more switching elements. 
     
     
         17 . The thermal reduction system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 one or more redundant fluid pumps to pump the cooling fluid when the fluid pump fails.   
     
     
         18 . An autonomous vehicle (AV) comprising:
 an interior cabin to accommodate one or more passengers;   a plurality of sensors to detect real-time environment data;   a data processing system housed in a cooling rack, the data processing system processing the real-time environment data to autonomously operate the AV; and   a thermal reduction system comprising:
 a fluid pump pumping cooling fluid through one or more fluid lines of the cooling rack to cool the data processing system; and 
 a cabin radiator comprising a core that receives the cooling fluid from the fluid pump, the cabin radiator comprising an air pump forcing cabin air from an interior passenger cabin of the AV though the core of the cabin radiator to cool the cooling fluid. 
   
     
     
         19 . The AV of  claim 18 , wherein the thermal reduction system further comprises:
 a secondary cooling unit comprising a compressor pump, a condenser, and an evaporator;   wherein the one or more fluid lines run through a cooling tank of the evaporator.   
     
     
         20 . The AV of  claim 19 , wherein the compressor pump of the secondary cooling unit initiates automatically when the cooling fluid reaches a predetermined temperature, wherein the compressor pumps pumping coolant through the secondary cooling unit when initiated.