Engine Alternator Health Estimation

Abstract

The engine alternator health estimation is performed by the telematics system using operational data provided to the telematics control unit. An abnormal health of the alternator may be determined in response to an actual or observed charging time of a battery connected to the alternator exceeding a predicted charging time.

Description

Background Art

[0001] The present disclosure relates to engine health estimation apparatus, methods, systems, processes, and techniques. Engine health estimation is intended to estimate the health of an engine and / or one or more engine components to determine malfunctioning, failed, or improperly operating engine systems or components, and to provide maintenance, repair, or replacement before a failure occurs. Several proposals for engine health estimation have been made; however, existing approaches have many shortcomings, deficiencies, and unrealized potential. There remains a substantial need for the unique apparatus, methods, systems, and techniques disclosed herein.

[0002] Disclosure of Illustrative Embodiments

[0003] In order to clearly, concisely and accurately describe the illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure, the manner and process of making and using the present disclosure, and to enable the practice, manufacture and use of the present disclosure, reference will now be made to certain exemplary embodiments, including those shown in the drawings, and specific language will be used to describe the present disclosure. However, it should be understood that no limitation of the scope of the present invention is thereby created, and the present invention includes and protects such changes, modifications and further applications of the exemplary embodiments as will occur to those skilled in the art. Summary of the invention

[0004] One embodiment is a unique engine alternator health estimation process. Another embodiment is a unique engine alternator health assessment system. Other embodiments include unique methods, techniques, and apparatus for engine alternator health estimation. Engine alternator health estimation according to the present disclosure may include system features and process operations related to data collection, data preparation, data analysis, and health estimation of an engine alternator under assessment. Other embodiments, forms, objects, features, advantages, aspects, and benefits should become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating certain aspects of an exemplary engine alternator health estimation system.

[0006] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating certain aspects of an exemplary engine alternator health estimation system.

[0007] Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating certain aspects of an exemplary engine alternator health estimation process.

[0008] Figure 4 is a graph showing engine speed and battery voltage over time after a successful engine start. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] Reference Figure 1 , certain aspects of an alternator health estimation system 100 are shown according to an exemplary embodiment. The system 100 includes a combination of components including an internal combustion engine 102 connected to a starter 104 and an alternator 106. The starter 104 and the alternator 106 are connected to an energy storage device 108, such as a battery. The components of the system 100 may be disposed on a vehicle 110; however, non-vehicle applications for the system 100 are also contemplated.

[0010] The system 100 also includes a telematics control unit 115 that receives data 112 from the operation of the engine 102. The telematics control unit 115 includes a telematics device 114 and an edge computing system 116 that is operable to receive the data 112 and pre-process the data in real-time. The telematics control unit 115 is connected to a remote processing system 118 and is operable to provide at least a subset of the pre-processed data 112' to the remote processing system 118. The pre-processed data 112' includes a value and / or a subset of values ​​that quantifies the health of the alternator 106 for analysis by the remote processing system 118 to determine an estimate of the health of the alternator 106.

[0011] Each of the telematics control unit 115 and the teleprocessing system 118, as well as other components of the system 100, may be implemented in one or more computer systems including one or more computers specifically configured according to the techniques of this disclosure to provide the configurations and functions described herein. In certain embodiments, the telematics control unit 115 may be provided on the vehicle 110. In certain forms, one or more of these telematics control units 115 and the teleprocessing system 118, as well as other components of the system 100, may include a network-accessible cloud computing platform.

[0012] Reference Figure 2 , a plurality of sensors 120, 122, 124 are provided for collecting various types of data 112. For example, the engine sensor 120 may collect engine data, such as engine speed, the time when the engine is successfully started, and / or the time when the battery 108 is fully charged after a successful start. The environmental sensor 122 may collect environmental data, such as ambient air temperature, ambient air pressure, coolant temperature, and oil temperature. The voltage sensor 124 may collect voltage data, such as the alternator voltage from the time when the engine is successfully started to the time when the battery 108 is fully charged.

[0013] Signals containing data from the sensors 120, 122, 124 may be output for direct receipt by the telematics control unit 115, and / or may be output to an onboard control computer of the engine 102, such as an engine control module (ECM) 126. At least a subset of the data 112 is pre-processed by the telematics control unit 115 and then transmitted to a teleprocessing system 118. The teleprocessing system 118 analyzes at least a subset of the pre-processed data 112' derived from the data 112 collected by the sensors 120, 122, 124, and determines an estimate of the health of the alternator 106 using one or more models and / or algorithms. The health estimate may be output by the teleprocessing system 118 to one or more output devices 130, 132, 134, respectively, for an operator, fleet manager, and / or service technician.

[0014] Reference Figure 3 , a flow chart illustrating certain aspects of an exemplary engine alternator health estimation process 300 is shown. The process 300 begins upon successful engine start and proceeds to operation 302, where the engine 102 is operated to generate data 112. The data 112 is received at a telematics control unit 115 and pre-processed by an edge computing system 116 at operation 304. At operation 307, at least a subset of the pre-processed data 112' is analyzed by the telematics system 118, and an estimate of the health of the alternator 106 is determined based on the analysis of the subset of the pre-processed data. At operation 310, the estimate of the health of the alternator 106 determined from the analysis may be output to one or more output devices, such as an operator, a fleet manager, and a maintenance technician.

[0015] In an embodiment, the analysis at operation 307 includes analyzing engine data, environmental data, and voltage data such as from sensors 120, 122, 124 discussed above. In one embodiment, a model is used in the analysis to determine the difference in the time for the battery 108 to reach a threshold battery voltage when the engine speed is greater than a threshold engine speed. In one embodiment, the model can be represented by the following equation:

[0016] Equation 1

[0017] In equation 1, express ΔT (time from engine speed greater than threshold to reaching threshold battery voltage); ; ; ; ;and The average engine speed from when the engine speed is greater than the threshold speed to when the threshold battery voltage is reached. If the expected or predicted time after adjusting or compensating for environmental conditions ΔT, Right now , beyond reality ΔT If the portion of exceeds the threshold amount, it can be determined by estimation that there is an abnormality in the health of the engine AC generator. Figure 4 An example of an implementation of the model of Equation 1 is shown in .

[0018] The telematics control unit 115 may include any suitable wireless or wired data transmission mechanism that transmits the data 112, 112' using, for example, wires, optical links, communication lines, power lines, radio signals, ultrasonic signals, infrared signals, or other signals. The telematics control unit 115 may be wireless, hardwired, analog, optical, or digital. The telematics control unit 115 may receive information directly from the sensors 120, 122, 124 and / or from the ECM 126.

[0019] In one embodiment, the telematics control unit 115 includes a global positioning (GPS) unit; an external interface for mobile communications, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Wi-Fi, WiMax, or Long Term Evolution (LTE); an electronic processing unit; a microcontroller and / or microprocessor; a mobile communication unit; and a certain amount of memory to intelligently store information about the vehicle's sensor data.

[0020] The telematics control unit 115 may include, for example, one or more computer processors and / or servers located outside the cloud and on the engine 102, the vehicle 110, and / or in geographic proximity to the system 100 to support edge computing applications and real-time processing of the data 112. The telematics control unit 115 may also include a receiver to receive all or a subset of the data 112 from the ECM 126, a memory to store data and / or computer program instructions for performing all or a portion of the process 300, and a transmitter to transmit a subset of the pre-processed data 112' to the teleprocessing system 118 using any suitable wireless or wired communication protocol.

[0021] The remote processing system 118 may include, for example, a computer processor and / or server located in a cloud computing service or other location remote from the engine 102 and the telematics control unit 115. The remote processing system 118 may communicate with the telematics control unit 115 via any suitable means, such as via wired and / or wireless communications over the Internet using any suitable communication protocol. The remote processing system 118 may also include a memory for storing data or a subset of data transmitted by the telematics control unit 115. The remote processing system 118 may also include computer program instructions for executing all or a portion of the process 300, and a transmitter for transmitting the health estimate or abnormality indication of the alternator 106 to the output devices 130, 132, 134.

[0022] The output devices 130 , 132 , 134 may include, for example, one or more of a computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone, application, dashboard display, terminal, screen, printer, speaker, light or other visual indicator and fault code. The output devices 130 , 132 , 134 include a receiver to receive an indication of an abnormality and / or health estimate of the alternator 106 from the remote processing system 118 .

[0023] Various aspects of the present disclosure are contemplated. According to one aspect, a method for alternator health estimation includes: operating an engine, the engine including an alternator and a battery charged by the alternator; transmitting data from the operation of the engine to a telematics control unit, the telematics control unit including a telematics device and an edge computing system for preprocessing the data; performing an analysis of at least a subset of the preprocessed data using a teleprocessing system connected to the edge computing system; estimating a health of the alternator in response to the analysis of the subset of the preprocessed data; and outputting the estimate of the health of the alternator from the teleprocessing system.

[0024] In one embodiment, the estimate of health is output to at least one of an operator, a fleet manager, and a maintenance technician. In one embodiment, the method includes inputting at least the subset of the pre-processed data from the operation of the engine from the telematics control unit to the remote processing system; and performing the analysis on the remote processing system.

[0025] In one embodiment of the method, the subset of the pre-processed data includes the voltage of the alternator from engine start to full charge of the battery, the average engine speed from engine start to full charge of the battery, and the time from engine start to full charge of the battery. The subset of the pre-processed data may include environmental data, engine operating data, and voltage data associated with the battery. The environmental data may include ambient air temperature, ambient air pressure, coolant temperature, and oil temperature.

[0026] In one embodiment of the method, the estimate of the health of the alternator is determined based on the data in response to an actual time for the battery to be charged to a threshold voltage by the alternator. The estimate of the health of the alternator may include determining an abnormality of the alternator in response to the actual time exceeding a predicted time determined by the analysis of the subset of the data by more than a threshold amount.

[0027] In one embodiment of the method, the remote processing system is a cloud computing service. The cloud computing service is connectable to the telematics control unit via an internet connection.

[0028] In another aspect, a distributed engine health estimation system includes an internal combustion engine including an alternator and a battery capable of being charged by the alternator. The system also includes a telematics control unit configured to receive and transmit data associated with the internal combustion engine, the alternator, and the battery during operation of the internal combustion engine. The telematics control unit includes a telematics device and an edge computing system configured to pre-process the data. The system also includes a remote processing system that is different from and remote from the engine and the telematics control unit. The remote processing system includes a server and / or a computing device. The remote processing system is configured to analyze at least a subset of the pre-processed data and estimate the health of the alternator in response to the analysis.

[0029] In one embodiment, the telematics system comprises a cloud computing service configured to receive the subset of the pre-processed data from the telematics control unit. In one embodiment, the internal combustion engine is disposed on a vehicle.

[0030] In one embodiment, the remote processing system is configured to output the estimate of the health of the alternator. The remote processing system may be connected to output the estimate of the health of the alternator to an output device of at least one of an operator, a fleet manager, and a maintenance technician.

[0031] In one embodiment, the subset of the pre-processed data includes the voltage of the alternator from engine start to full charge of the battery, the average engine speed from engine start to full charge of the battery, and the time from engine start to full charge of the battery. The subset of the pre-processed data may include environmental data and engine data. The environmental data may include ambient air temperature and ambient air pressure, and the engine data includes coolant temperature and oil temperature.

[0032] In one embodiment, a processor and / or server is configured to estimate the health of the alternator based on the subset of the pre-processed data in response to an actual time to charge the battery to a threshold voltage by the alternator. The processor and / or server may be configured to determine an abnormality in the estimate of the health of the alternator in response to the actual time to charge the battery to the threshold voltage exceeding a predicted time by more than a threshold amount.

[0033] Although the illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described in detail in the drawings and the foregoing description, this is considered to be illustrative rather than restrictive in nature, and it should be understood that only certain exemplary embodiments are shown and described, and all changes and modifications that fall within the spirit of the claimed invention are protected. It should be understood that although the use of words (such as more desirable, preferably, preferred or more preferred as utilized in the above description) indicates that the features described in this way may be more desirable, this is not necessary, and embodiments lacking these words can be considered to be within the scope of the present invention, which is defined by the appended claims. When reading the claims, when using words such as "one", "a kind", "at least one" or "at least a portion", it is intended that, unless specifically stated to the contrary in the claims, it is not intended to limit the claims to only one item. When the language "at least a portion" and / or "a portion" is used, unless specifically stated to the contrary, the item may include a portion and / or the entire item.

Claims

1. A method for alternator health estimation, the method comprising: operating an engine including an alternator and a battery charged by the alternator; transmitting data from the operation of the engine to a telematics control unit, the telematics control unit comprising a telematics device and an edge computing system for pre-processing the data; performing analysis of at least a subset of the pre-processed data using a remote processing system connected to the edge computing system; estimating a health of the alternator in response to the analysis of the subset of the preprocessed data; as well as outputting from the remote processing system the estimate of the health of the alternator, Wherein, in response to the difference between the actual time for charging the battery to a threshold voltage by the AC generator when the engine speed is greater than a threshold engine speed and the predicted time determined by analyzing the subset of the data is greater than a threshold amount, the AC generator is determined to be abnormal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimate of the health is output to at least one of an operator, a fleet manager, and a maintenance technician.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the subset of the pre-processed data includes the voltage of the alternator from engine start to full charge of the battery, the average engine speed from engine start to full charge of the battery, and the time from engine start to full charge of the battery. 4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the subset of the pre-processed data includes environmental data, engine operating data, and voltage data associated with the battery.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the environmental data includes ambient air temperature, ambient air pressure, coolant temperature, and oil temperature. The method of claim 1 , wherein the remote processing system is a cloud computing service.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the cloud computing service is connected to the telematics control unit via an internet connection.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising inputting at least said subset of said pre-processed data from operation of said engine from said telematics control unit to said remote processing system; and performing said analysis on said remote processing system.

9. A distributed engine health estimation system, the distributed engine health estimation system comprising: an internal combustion engine including an alternator and a battery chargeable by the alternator; a telematics control unit configured to receive and transmit data associated with the internal combustion engine, the alternator, and the battery during operation of the internal combustion engine, the telematics control unit comprising a telematics device and an edge computing system configured to pre-process the data; as well as a remote processing system distinct and remote from the engine and the telematics control unit, the remote processing system comprising a server and / or computing device, wherein the remote processing system is configured to analyze at least a subset of the pre-processed data and to estimate the health of the alternator in response to the analysis, Wherein, the server and / or computing device is configured to determine that the AC generator is abnormal in response to the difference between the actual time for charging the battery to a threshold voltage through the AC generator when the engine speed is greater than a threshold engine speed and the predicted time determined by analyzing the subset of the data is greater than a threshold amount.

10. The distributed engine health assessment system of claim 9, wherein the remote processing system includes a cloud computing service configured to receive the subset of the pre-processed data from the telematics control unit.

11. The distributed engine health estimation system of claim 9, wherein said remote processing system is configured to output said estimate of said health of said alternator.

12. The distributed engine health estimation system of claim 11 wherein said remote processing system is connected to output said estimate of said health of said alternator to an output device of at least one of an operator, a fleet manager, and a maintenance technician.

13. The distributed engine health assessment system of claim 9, wherein the internal combustion engine is disposed on a vehicle.

14. A distributed engine health estimation system as described in claim 9, wherein the subset of the pre-processed data includes the voltage of the AC generator from the engine starting to the battery being fully charged, the average engine speed from the engine starting to the battery being fully charged, and the time from the engine starting to the battery being fully charged.

15. The distributed engine health assessment system of claim 14, wherein said subset of said pre-processed data includes environmental data and engine data.

16. The distributed engine health assessment system of claim 15, wherein the environmental data includes ambient air temperature and ambient air pressure, and the engine data includes coolant temperature and oil temperature.

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