A battery monitor is provided for use with a battery of an automotive vehicle. The battery monitor can provide real time battery condition measurements and can selectively control the charging of the battery through an alternator of the vehicle based upon the measured battery condition.

Energy management system for automotive vehicle

An electronic battery tester for testing a storage battery includes test circuitry configured to provide an output based upon a selected test criteria. Additionally, circuitry is provided to assist in balancing batteries used in a string of multiple batteries.

Electronic battery tester

An electronic device for testing storage batteries and other dc sources is disclosed. The testing device passes a small, time-varying, current through the battery and observes the resulting time-varying voltage response. This response is then digitized and inputted to a microprocessor. In one embodiment of the invention, the microprocessor numerically inverts the level of the response voltage to obtain a quantity proportional to the battery's conductance and hence proportional to its available power. In a second embodiment, the microprocessor compares the observed voltage response level with a reference value based upon the battery's rating to obtain a qualitative assessment of the battery.

Electronic battery testing device

From the early days of its discovery, humanity has depended on electricity, a phenomenon without which our technological advancements would not have been possible. With the increased need for mobility, people moved to portable power storage—first for wheeled applications, then for portable and finally nowadays wearable use. Several types of rechargeable battery systems, including those of lead–acid, nickel–cadmium, nickel–metal hydride, lithium ion and lithium-ion polymer exist in the market. The most important of them will be discussed in this review. Almost as long as rechargeable batteries have existed, systems able to give an indication about the state-of-charge (SoC) of a battery have been around. Several methods, including those of direct measurements, book-keeping and adaptive systems (Bergveld et al 2002 Battery Management Systems, Design by Modelling (Philips Research Book Series) vol 1 (Boston: Kluwer)) are known in the art for determining the SoC of a cell or battery of cells. An accurate SoC determination method and an understandable and reliable SoC display to the user will improve the performance and reliability, and will ultimately lengthen the lifetime of the battery. However, many examples of poor accuracy and reliability can be found in practice (Bergveld et al 2002, cited above). This review presents an overview on battery technology and the state-of-the-art of SoC methods. The goal of all the presented SoC indication methods is to design an SoC indication system capable of providing an accurate SoC indication under all realistic user conditions, including those of spread—in both battery and user behaviour, a large temperature and current range and ageing of the battery.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0957-0233/16/12/R01/pdf

State-of-the-art of battery state-of-charge determination

An automotive vehicle electrical system diagnostic apparatus includes first and second electrical connections configured to electrically couple to an electrical system of an automotive vehicle which includes a battery. Digital samples are obtained during operation of the vehicle which are related to the system. The digital samples are stored in memory.

Automotive vehicle electrical system diagnostic device

A circuit for detecting and indicating the actual state of charge of a storage battery in response to signals sampled from various points in the circuit powered by the battery. Such circuit is adapted to calculate the open circuit voltage of the battery, it being realized that the open circuit voltage is directly proportional to the battery state of charge. A function generator is constructed to simulate the characteristic curve of the battery relating the internal resistance to the percent charge. Feedback is provided from the output of the indicating circuitry to the bias point of the function generator for causing the generator to produce a signal related to the actual internal resistance of the battery. The circuit is adapted to provide a reliable indication of the amount of usable energy remaining in the battery, irrespective of the conditions under which the battery was discharged.

Battery state of charge gauge

A propulsion system for an electrical vehicle including a linear proportional controller operable in a plurality of modes for operating a dc drive motor via power derived from a propulsion battery Low speed operation is achieved in an armature control mode wherein the controller is interposed between the propulsion battery and the motor armature while the motor field is coupled directly across the battery High speeds are attained in a field control mode wherein the controller is interposed between the battery and motor field while the armature is coupled directly across the propulsion battery, thereby eliminating controller losses from the high current armature circuit Switching between modes is achieved in a manner which minimizes stress on the switching elements The controller is also adapted to operate in a charger mode wherein unregulated dc power is fed to the controller which functions to regulate the charge provided to the battery Overall efficiency is increased by use of a dual chopper as a power modulator element The circuit further includes protection means for controlling or preventing operation under conditions wherein circuit elements might be damaged

Electrically propelled vehicle

A power converter for operation with a d.c. power supply to provide an output voltage having a level controlled in response to an external control signal. The converter uses a dual chopper configuraton with the out of phase outputs from the respective chopper halves being combined in an interphase transformer. To prevent the interphase transformer from saturating, the chopper control includes an oscillator, counter, D/A converter and phase delay comparator arrangement for maintaining substantially identical duty cycles in the respective legs while, of course, allowing the duty cycles to be varied in unison. The interphase transformer is wound in a configuration which presents a magnetic shunt between the halves of the transformer, said shunt serving to limit transients which might be coupled to the chopper load.

Robert F Bourke

Papers

Battery state of charge gauge

Electrically propelled vehicle

Power converter employing non-saturating interphase transformer

Antrieb fuer ein elektrisches fahrzeug