Electrification

Patents

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Integrated power distribution system for a vehicle

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Description

Embodiments include a vehicle power distribution system comprising a vehicle battery having a nominal voltage; a plurality of electric loads, each load being associated with a rated voltage; and an integrated circuit coupled to the vehicle battery and comprising a plurality of solid-state circuitry blocks respectively coupled to the electric loads, each block including a circuit protection system and configured to supply the rated voltage associated with the electric load coupled to the block. Embodiments also includes a vehicle power distribution module comprising an integrated circuit configured to receive a first voltage from a vehicle battery and to supply respective rated voltages to a plurality of electric loads, the integrated circuit comprising a plurality of solid-state circuitry blocks, and each circuitry block including a circuit protection system and being coupled to a respective one of the electric loads.

 

 

Vehicle power distribution having relay with integrated voltage converter 

 

Description

A vehicle power distribution system includes a battery having a nominal voltage, a vehicle electrical load having a supply voltage different than the nominal voltage, and a monolithic solid-state relay including integrated circuitry to convert the nominal voltage to the rated voltage and an output configured to selectively energize the vehicle electrical load with the rated voltage in response to a control signal from a vehicle controller applied to an input of the relay. The relay may include a PWM controller to provide a switching signal to a transistor connected to an output filter to step down the nominal voltage of the battery to the rated voltage of the vehicle electrical load. Relay output voltage and current monitoring circuitry may be connected to the PWM controller to provide over current and over voltage protection.

 

 

 

Integrated flat wire power distribution system for a vehicle

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Description

Systems devices and methods are disclosed for a vehicle power distribution system having a flat wire harness with integrated voltage converters. An example power distribution system includes a battery having a nominal voltage, a plurality of electrical loads, each corresponding to a respective rated voltage, and a flat wire harness. The flat wire harness includes a plurality of wire branches, each configured to couple the battery to a respective electrical load. The flat wire harness also includes a plurality of voltage converters, each integrated into a respective wire branch, configured to provide the respective rated voltage to each electrical load.

 

 

Connector with self-powered mating detection

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Description

A connector with self-powered mating detection is disclosed. An example disclosed connector pair includes a first connector. The example connector pair also includes a piezoelectric sensor attached to the first connector. The example piezoelectric sensor generates a voltage when the first connector and a second connector are mated. The example piezoelectric sensor generates a voltage when the first connector and a second connector are unmated. The example connector pair also includes a memory circuit electrically coupled to the piezoelectric sensor to record a connection event in response to detecting voltage generated by the piezoelectric sensor (s). Additionally, the example connector pair includes an RFID circuit electrically coupled to the memory circuit. The example RFID circuit transmits the connection events.

 

 

 

Hurst exponent based adaptive detection of DC arc faults in a vehicle high voltage system

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Description

Systems devices and methods are disclosed for detecting DC arc faults in a high voltage vehicle electrical distribution system. An example vehicle includes a high voltage electronic system comprising a current sensor configured to capture current data and a processor. The processor is configured to generate filtered data by applying a filter to the current data, determine a Hurst exponent based on the filtered data, and responsive to determining a threshold change in the Hurst exponent, detect the presence of a DC arc in the high voltage electronic system.

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Projects

 

 

On-Line Detection of Dc Arc Faults Using Hurst Exponents for Hybrid-Electric Vehicles 

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Description

Series arc faults are a severe safety hazard in modern pure electric and hybrid electric vehicles, as well as dc electrical distribution systems. A new method utilizing Hurst Exponents was recently proposed that is strongly resistant to switching harmonics, load profiles, and high frequency noise. In this paper, further analysis and implementation of the Hurst based detection is performed. A method of filtering out signal noise is presented, and an on-line operation prototype is constructed using common hardware. The on-line prototype is demonstrated to successfully detect series arc faults in under 50 ms. A statistical analysis of the method effectiveness is performed to determine the success rate of the on-line prototype, which is expressed through the metrics of Precision and Recall.

 

 

Hurst-Exponent-Based Detection of High-Impedance DC Arc Events for 48-V Systems in Vehicles 

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Description

Expanding dc electrical distribution systems require improved detection and mitigation of dc arc events. The high heat resulting from dc arcing raises concerns on equipment and personnel safety. In this article, a new adaptive detection method for series dc arc faults is presented. The proposed detection method utilizes Hurst exponent estimation of the system current to detect arcing events with a high detection rate and strong immunity against sudden load changes, chaotic load profiles, and switching harmonics. To verify the proposed detection method, a test setup to generate dc arcs was built, and over one thousand tests were performed under various conditions. The tests were conducted under different environment temperatures, air gap lengths, loads, and electrode diameters. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by the test results and validated with an arc detector prototype

 

 

Adaptive detection of dc arc faults based on hurst exponents and current envelope 

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Description

In this paper, an improved adaptive method for dc arc faults detection is proposed based on current envelope and Hurst exponents. The method is developed to be used in dc electrical distribution systems (EDS) including PV systems, DC micro-grids, and 48 V mild hybrid electric vehicles. The proposed method is shown to be effective in arc detection and immune to switching harmonics, high di/dt transients, sudden load changes, and noisy load profiles. A test setup is built and several hundred dc arcs were generated under different operation conditions including air gap, current, and various electrode thicknesses.

 

 

 

Hurst exponent-based adaptive detection of dc arc faults 

 

Description

Dc arc faults may result in serious damage to both stationary and mobile dc power systems. This paper presents a new detection method for dc arcs using Hurst exponents. Compared to other methods such as the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and the Wavelet Transform, the proposed method is adaptive and is more immune to power electronics switching harmonics. A test setup to generate dc arcs is built and the Hurst exponent algorithm is applied. The algorithm is studied under different load conditions and noisy environments. The Hurst exponent method is shown to be effective in detecting dc arcs within hundreds of milliseconds and bot miss-triggered by step load changes, switching harmonics, and load profiles.

 

 

Improving multi-voltage electrical system performance with smart step-down converters  

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Description

The demand for more features in a vehicle is growing at an extraordinary rate. This trend especially with emerging autonomous functions shows no sign of slowing. The energy requires to supply this ever growing system goes through multiple conversion, protection and other elements before it actually powers the loads. Considering the loss of each of these elements for a vehicle and multiplying the value by the total numbers of cars, underlines the need for an optimized electrical distribution system to power all loads efficiently. In this paper, Smart Step-Down Convertor is introduced as a power supply to power devices which operate at voltages below the power net voltage while protecting the power net and the devices against faults. In the proposed architecture, each Smart Step-Down Converter is connected to the battery or the power source with the nominal voltage (eg 48V) and it provides a programmable …

 

 

Applying machine learning techniques to recognize arc in vehicle 48 electrical systems  

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Description

Implementing higher voltages in vehicles like 48V mild hybrid or full-hybrid enables CO 2 reduction and weight savings. However, the increase in the voltage demands an accurate and robust protection system again potential fault conditions. Series arc is one of the fault conditions which needs to be detected and addressed before the benefits of using higher voltages in vehicle can be fully realized. In this paper, an efficient arc detection algorithm is presented based on advanced machine learning algorithms to recognize series arcs in the electrical systems of 48V vehicles. The results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm recognizes the arcs in the signal with accuracy of more than 99% detection. The algorithm only uses measured current and therefore, no additional wiring will be added to the system.