Letting Up on the Gas 

One Inventor’s Device Looks to the Driver not the Engine for Fuel Economy

By Bryan Hunter

What do small-town Radcliffe, Iowa and cutting-edge transportation technology have in common? Probably nothing if it were not for the 20-year vision of Dwayne Fosseen. Almost single-handedly, Fosseen has managed to put Radcliffe on the map as a world leader in fuel-economy and emission-control technology. Fosseen’s long-term research and development have resulted in two interrelated devices that combine to revolutionize cruise-control technology for commercial applications.

Last September, a tractor-trailer made a historic journey from Kansas City, Missouri to Des Moines, Iowa. The occasion marked nothing as historical as the Wright Flyer or the Louis and Clark expedition, but Fosseen was still pleased.

Fosseen is president and chairman of Mirenco Inc., and also the inventor of the device. The brainchild for the invention was born out of the 1976 oil crisis; that’s when Fosseen realized there might be a need for some type of device concerned with vehicle exhaust emission and increased fuel mileage.

The first product he launched into the marketplace did just what he had resolved to do - increased fuel economy while controlling vehicle emissions - all in a black box that attached to the existing engine. Even better, Fosseen got some endorsements from Uncle Sam; the United States Department of Energy developed his DriverMax from Fosseen’s patent. (The device can be used on passenger cars.)

“I’ve spent years working on environmental issues,” Fosseen said. “One of the simplest and most overlooked solutions to a cleaner environment and fuel mileage is to simply take it easy on the vehicle throttle. Everybody’s looking for some magic catalytic converter or fuel, but they aren’t looking at the first and simplest solution.

"With every vehicle in the world today, there’s only two positions on the throttle that are preset: Idle and wide-open; all managed by a foot or hand or cruise control. I think most engine manufacturers are striving for more horsepower, and most of the time you only need a fraction of the available horsepower.”

Engineers for the U.S. Department of Energy (pictured) helped develop DriverMax from Fosseen's Patent.

The Method’s Behind DriverMax’s Economy

Introduced in 1997, DriverMax is an automated fuel management system designed to improve fuel mileage, maintenance costs, and emission amounts by precisely regulating the amount of fuel injected into diesel engines. Diagnostic testing indicates that the DriverMax alone delivers 10 percent fuel savings and 60 percent exhaust reduction, not to mention reduced engine wear-and-tear from less efficient throttle control. The DriverMax unit (which should not be confused with conventional cruise control) sells for under $500.

To maximize the benefit of Mirenco's throttle control system, however, DriverMax may be combined with EconoCruise, a newly released device utilizing global positioning satellite (GPS) technology. EconoCruise was effectively demonstrated on a drive from Kansas City to Des Moines. Whereas before DriverMax had preformed admirably in stop-and-go applications, the successful Kansas City-Des Moines run demonstrated that when combined with EconoCruise, the throttle control system solved the problem of how to combine GPS technology with an electronically-controlled vehicle throttle for sustained highway travel.

EconoCruise calculates and stores a driver's acceleration patterns along a given route while driving, so that when DriverMax and EconoCruise are engaged along the same route in the future, speed and throttle control are determined by the vehicle's geographical position. In order to gather data for storing in the memory of each truck's system, Fosseen recommends that a fleet owner uses his best drivers--those familiar with the route being stored and long-experienced with the rig--on the initial, data storing run. Such a practice combines the expertise of professional drivers with the technology of the Mirenco systems, so that the "perfect" run can be reduplicated any time and with any driver behind the wheel.

EconoCruise calculates and stores a driver's acceleration patterns along a given route while driving, so that when DriverMax and EconoCruise are engaged along the same route in the future, speed and throttle control are determined by the vehicle's geographical position.

Fosseen points out that standard cruise-control technology is not effective for maximizing fuel economy. "There are ideal places [along the road] to lose and gain momentum, which a good driver knows how to take advantage of but cruise control can't adjust for," Fosseen explains. And while much attention has rightfully been directed towards catalytic converters and improved fuel formulae for enhancing engine performance and emission control, Fosseen is quick to remind that the first place to look for improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions should be the throttle at the driver's foot. Even the most experienced driver has a tendency to "punch" the throttle at times, a practice that reduces both fuel efficiency and engine life.

When the driver engages the system, EconoCruise uses GPS positioning to relay to DriverMax in real-time the vehicle's highway location. This location information is then calculated with the truck's current speed. With these two bits of data, DriverMax feeds the optimal throttle position to the engine. The result is an intelligent cruise-control system that is adaptable to all vehicles worldwide. Should the driver need to disengage the system while driving, a tap of the brakes or a press of the foot throttle allows for manual override, just as with conventional cruise control.

Improved fuel efficiency, emission control, and engine life all add up to long-term savings. For a relatively small initial monetary investment, Mirenco's products mean money in the operator's pocket in the long term. DriverMax and EconoCruise are transportation-improvement devices that continuously pay for themselves into the future.

“A fleet can recognize its best drivers and build a program around them into all of the vehicles,” Fosseen said. “If a route has been run before, the truck will recognize it.”

	Mirenco believes that standard cruise-control technology is not effective for maximizing fuel economy. US DOE and TMC standing in front of the TMC truck used to demonstrate and prove the technology.