Patent ID: 11892314
Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  B | IPC G

Claim 12:
13. A computer system, comprising:
one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories and one or more computer-readable, tangible storage devices; and
program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer-readable, tangible storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more computer-readable memories, to perform operations comprising: receiving a request for a route for a vehicle to travel from a first geographic location to a second geographic location;
retrieving route data for each of a plurality of routes, wherein the route data comprises, for each portion of each route at a given time and day, air temperature adjacent to a road surface;
retrieving vehicle data for the vehicle, wherein the vehicle data comprises a desired temperature of an item being carried and a desired inlet air temperature of pre-heated inlet air;
determining the route from the first geographic location to the second geographic location using the route data and the vehicle data, wherein the route is thermally efficient, by:
for each route of the plurality of routes, determining a final heat transfer value by combining a first heat transfer value for the desired temperature of the item being carried and a second heat transfer value for the desired inlet air temperature of the pre-heated inlet air based on:
determining the first heat transfer value based on the air temperature adjacent to the road surface and the desired temperature of the item being carried; and
determining the second heat transfer value based on the air temperature adjacent to the road surface and the desired inlet air temperature of the pre-heated inlet air; and

selecting the route from the plurality of routes based on each final heat transfer value; and

automatically directing the vehicle along the route, wherein the route specifies a lane from a plurality of lanes of a road for each portion of the route.