Machine Learning for Real-Time Fuel Consumption Prediction and Driving Profile Classification Based on ECU Data

Data extracted directly from a vehicle’s electronic control unit (ECU) play a crucial role in the automotive industry because they contain valuable information from the engine and electronic parts. These data have the potential to enable compliance analysis, detect faults and errors, and guarantee driver and car safety as well as product quality. Among the possible uses of the data from the ECUs, driving profile analysis and fuel consumption prediction stand out, which enable analyses for insurers and transportation companies, and help to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gases, in addition to providing feedback to the driver. In this work, we apply machine learning algorithms to real data from an engine ECU to examine the driver’s driving behavior and accurately classify their fuel efficiency. Moreover, we develop regression models that predict fuel consumption for vehicles in operation. To ensure the effectiveness of our models, we carefully select variables strongly correlated with fuel consumption using a feature selection process. Compared to related works, both our profile classification results in precision, recall, and accuracy metrics, and our regression models result in the metrics of mean square errors, mean absolute error, and coefficient of determination, which are superior or similar. Notably, our algorithms exhibit lower computational costs and enable real-time analysis by utilizing a cloud server.