Vehicle capable of emergency start-up and method for operating vehicle

Abstract

A vehicle according to the present disclosure may include: a first battery for storing electric power for driving the vehicle; a second battery for storing power for controlling operation of a vehicle control unit of at least one electronic device of the vehicle; a first converter that converts the power output from the first battery and transmits it to the second battery, and that uses the second battery as an operating power source; a second converter that converts the power output from the first battery and transmits it to a second battery, and that uses the first battery as an operating power source; and an emergency controller for controlling a connection between the first battery and the second converter.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0122900 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on September 27, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0004] Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a vehicle capable of emergency starting even when a battery in the vehicle is discharged and an operating method of the vehicle. Background Art

[0005] Recently, research and development of secondary batteries have been actively carried out. Secondary batteries as rechargeable / dischargeable batteries can include all conventional nickel (Ni) / cadmium (Cd) batteries, Ni / metal hydride (MH) batteries, etc., and recent lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries have a much higher energy density than conventional Ni / Cd batteries, Ni / MH batteries, etc. In addition, lithium-ion batteries can be made small and light, so that lithium-ion batteries have been used as power sources for mobile devices, and recently, their scope of use has been expanded to power sources for electric vehicles, attracting people's attention as the next generation of energy storage media.

[0006] Various electronic devices mounted on an electric vehicle are supplied with power by a dedicated battery, but when the dedicated battery is discharged, power may not be supplied to the electronic devices, resulting in a problem that the electric vehicle cannot be started. Summary of the invention

[0007] Technical issues

[0008] Embodiments disclosed herein are directed to providing a vehicle capable of emergency starting even when a battery supplying electric power for starting is discharged, and an operating method of the vehicle.

[0009] Technical problems of the embodiments disclosed herein are not limited to the above-mentioned technical problems, and other unmentioned technical problems will be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art from the following description.

[0010] Technical Solution

[0011] A vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a first battery, which is configured to store electricity for driving the vehicle; a second battery, which is configured to store electricity for operation of a vehicle controller, and the vehicle controller is configured to control at least one electronic device of the vehicle; a first converter, which is configured to convert electricity output from the first battery, supply the electricity output to the second battery, and use the second battery as a working power source; a second converter, which is configured to convert electricity output from the first battery, supply the electricity output to the second battery, and use the first battery as a working power source; and an emergency controller, which is configured to control the connection between the first battery and the second battery.

[0012] According to an embodiment, the emergency controller may also be configured to use the first battery as an operating power source.

[0013] According to an embodiment, the vehicle may further include a user switch configured to generate an emergency charging signal according to a user's input.

[0014] According to an embodiment, the emergency controller may be further configured to connect the first battery to the second converter to charge the second battery using power of the first battery upon receiving the emergency charging signal.

[0015] According to an embodiment, the user switch may be located inside the motor room of the vehicle.

[0016] According to an embodiment, the emergency controller may also be configured to collect status data about the second battery.

[0017] According to an embodiment, the emergency controller may be further configured to determine whether the second battery needs to be charged based on the status data about the second battery.

[0018] According to an embodiment, the emergency controller may be further configured to determine that the second battery needs to be charged when the output voltage of the second battery remains below a specific voltage level for a specific time.

[0019] According to an embodiment, a voltage of power stored in the first battery may be higher than a voltage of power stored in the second battery.

[0020] According to an embodiment, the voltage of the power stored in the second battery may be 12V.

[0021] According to an embodiment, the vehicle controller may include a vehicle control unit (VCU) configured to control starting of the vehicle.

[0022] According to an embodiment, the VCU may also be configured to be supplied with power by the second battery to control the operation of the first converter.

[0023] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for operating a vehicle includes the following steps: generating an emergency charging signal based on an input from a user through a user switch; charging a second battery based on the emergency charging signal using power from a first battery that stores power for driving the vehicle, the second battery storing power having a voltage lower than that of the first battery; and supplying power from the second battery to a vehicle controller that controls at least one electronic device of the vehicle.

[0024] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for operating a vehicle includes the following steps: collecting status data about a second battery, the second battery storing electricity with a voltage lower than the voltage of the electricity of a first battery, the first battery storing electricity for driving the vehicle; based on the status data about the second battery, determining whether the second battery needs to be charged; when the second battery needs to be charged, charging the second battery using the electricity of the first battery; and supplying power from the second battery to a vehicle controller that controls at least one electronic device of the vehicle.

[0025] Beneficial Effects

[0026] With the vehicle capable of emergency starting and the method of operating the vehicle according to the embodiments disclosed herein, emergency starting can be performed even when a low-voltage battery is discharged or is likely to be discharged, thereby improving user convenience.

[0027] Furthermore, various effects directly or indirectly recognized from the present invention can be provided. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation method of a vehicle in a discharge state of a LV battery according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operating method of a vehicle when an LV battery may be discharged according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a computing system for executing an operating method of the system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Hereinafter, the embodiments disclosed in this document will be described in detail with reference to the exemplary drawings. When adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same components are given the same reference numerals even if they are indicated in different drawings. In addition, when describing the embodiments disclosed in this document, when it is determined that the detailed description of the related known configuration or function interferes with the understanding of the embodiments disclosed in this document, its detailed description will be omitted.

[0033] In order to describe the components of the embodiments disclosed herein, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), etc. may be used. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another component and do not limit the nature, order, sequence, etc. of the components. As long as the terms including technical and scientific terms used herein are not defined differently, these terms have the same meaning as the terms generally understood by those skilled in the art. Generally, terms defined in general dictionaries should be interpreted as having the same meaning as the contextual meaning of the relevant technology and should not be interpreted as having an ideal or exaggerated meaning unless they are clearly defined in this application.

[0034] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] Reference Figure 1 , a vehicle 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a vehicle controller 100 , a main power unit 200 , and an emergency power unit 300 .

[0036] The vehicle 10 may be an electric vehicle (EV) whose driving force is supplied by a battery storing electricity, but the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the technical spirit of the present disclosure may be applied to electric transportation vehicles other than the vehicle 10 (eg, electric scooters, etc.).

[0037] The vehicle controller 100 may control a plurality of electrical and electronic devices installed on the vehicle 10. The vehicle controller 100 may include a battery management system (BMS) 110, a vehicle control unit (VCU) 120, and first to nth electronic control units (ECU) (ECU1 to ECUn) (n is an integer greater than 2). The various components of the vehicle controller 100 may communicate with each other through a vehicle network. Here, the vehicle network may be a controller area network (CAN) in which components connected in parallel can communicate with each other without a host, but the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0038] The BMS 110 may control the operation of a battery (i.e., a high voltage (HV) battery) that stores power required to drive the vehicle 10. The BMS 110 may control charging and / or discharging of the HV battery 210, and store or transmit battery status data to the outside (e.g., a management server), the battery status data including at least one of data obtained by sensing the state of the HV battery 210 (e.g., voltage, current, resistance, temperature, etc. of the battery) and data generated by processing the obtained data (e.g., state of charge (SoC), state of health (SoH), etc.).

[0039] The VCU 120, which is the highest level controller of the vehicle 10, can communicate with other controllers (e.g., ECU1 to ECUn) 110 included in the vehicle controller 100 through the vehicle network. The VCU 120 can send vehicle main instructions such as starting, powertrain control, driving state determination, torque control, voltage control, etc. to corresponding components.

[0040] The first to nth ECUs (ECU1 to ECUn) may be controllers for respectively controlling various electrical and electronic devices (e.g., cameras, acceleration sensors, wheel speed sensors, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), automatic emergency braking (AEB), audio / video / navigation (AVN), etc.).

[0041] The main power unit 200 may include a HV battery 210, a first converter 220, and a low voltage (LV) battery 230. The HV battery 210 and the LV battery 230 may be referred to as a first battery and a second battery, respectively.

[0042] The HV battery 210 may include at least one battery cell that stores electric energy for supplying high voltage (e.g., 400V to 600V) power required to drive the vehicle 10. The HV battery 210 may be controlled and monitored by the BMS 110. The HV battery 210 may transmit high voltage power to each of the first converter 220 and the emergency controller 310.

[0043] The first converter 220 may receive high voltage power from the HV battery 210 to convert it into low voltage (e.g., 12V) power and output it to the LV battery 230, thereby charging the LV battery 230. The first converter 220 may be a low voltage direct current (DC) / DC converter. Whether the first converter 220 operates (i.e., ON / OFF) may be controlled by the VCU 120. In addition, the first converter 220 may be supplied with power by the LV battery 230 for operation. In addition, the first converter 220 may use the LV battery 230 as an operating power source.

[0044] The LV battery 230 may include at least one battery cell that stores electric energy for supplying low voltage (e.g., 12V) power required for the operation of the vehicle controller 100. The LV battery 230 may supply low voltage power to the respective components 110, 120 and ECU1 to ECUn of the vehicle controller 100 to allow each component of the vehicle controller 100 to operate.

[0045] When the LV battery 230 is discharged, the corresponding components 110, 120 and ECU1 to ECUn of the vehicle controller 100 may not be supplied with low voltage power and thus may not operate normally. In particular, when the VCU 120 cannot be supplied with power, despite a driver's start request (e.g., start button manipulation), the VCU 120 may not be able to process the start request, making it impossible to start the vehicle 10. In this case, the LV battery 230 needs to be charged, but the VCU 120 that controls the first converter 220 may not be able to operate, so that charging the LV battery 230 through the first converter 220 may not be performed.

[0046] When the LV battery 230 is discharged or may be discharged, the emergency power unit 300 may charge the LV battery 230. The emergency power unit 300 may include an emergency controller 310, a second converter 320, and a user switch 330.

[0047] The emergency controller 310 may control the overall operation of the emergency power unit 300 and may be operated by the high voltage power supplied by the HV battery 210. According to an embodiment, the emergency controller 310 may include a converter for converting the high voltage power of the HV battery 210 into power of a specific voltage required for the operation of the emergency controller 310.

[0048] Emergency controller 310 may determine whether LV battery 230 needs to be charged, and control connection between HV battery 210 and second converter 320 based on a result of the determination.

[0049] When the LV battery 230 needs to be charged, the emergency controller 310 may transmit the high voltage power of the HV battery 210 to the second converter 320 to control the LV battery 230 to be charged.

[0050] When charging of the LV battery 230 is not required, the emergency controller 310 may block the connection between the HV battery 210 and the second converter 320 .

[0051] According to an embodiment, upon receiving an emergency charging signal from the user switch 330, the emergency controller 310 may determine that the LV battery 230 needs to be charged. In a case where the vehicle 10 is not started in a normal manner (e.g., start button manipulation) due to discharge of the LV battery 230, the emergency charging signal may be generated by a user's manipulation.

[0052] According to an embodiment, when it is determined that the LV battery 230 may be discharged, the emergency controller 310 may determine that it is necessary to charge the LV battery 230. The emergency controller 310 may monitor the state data (e.g., output voltage) of the LV battery 230 every certain period (e.g., 10 seconds), and may determine that it is necessary to charge the LV battery 230 when the state (e.g., output voltage) of the LV battery 230 satisfies a predetermined discharge risk condition (e.g., 10 V or less).

[0053] The emergency controller 310 may use the HV battery 210 as an operating power source, and thus may always monitor the state data of the LV battery 230 even in a start-off state of the vehicle, and may immediately charge the LV battery 230 when the battery 230 may be discharged.

[0054] According to one embodiment, when the startup of the vehicle 10 is in the ON state, charging of the LV battery 230 may be performed normally through the VCU 120 and the first converter 220, so that the emergency controller 310 can be activated to monitor and automatically charge the LV battery 230 in the OFF state of the startup of the vehicle 10.

[0055] Therefore, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to ensure the start-up and stable operation of the vehicle 10 by charging the LV battery 230 using the internal power source of the vehicle 10 without supplying electric power from an external power source.

[0056] The second converter 320 can receive the high voltage power of the HV battery 210 through the emergency controller 310 to convert it into low voltage (e.g., 12V) power and output it to the LV battery 230, thereby charging the LV battery 230. The second converter 320 can be a low voltage DC / DC converter. Whether the second converter 320 operates (i.e., ON / OFF) can be controlled by the emergency controller 310. In addition, the second converter 320 can be supplied with power by the HV battery 210 for operation. That is, the second converter 320 can use the HV battery 210 as a working power source, and therefore can operate normally regardless of whether the LV battery 230 is discharged.

[0057] The user switch 330 may receive input from a user such as a driver to generate an emergency charging signal and send it to the emergency controller 310. For example, the user switch 330 may be a switch (e.g., a jump start switch) located inside the vehicle 10 (e.g., inside the motor room) so that the user can physically manipulate it. When the user manipulates (e.g., presses) the user switch 330, a preset emergency charging signal (e.g., a current signal or a voltage signal) may be generated.

[0058] When the vehicle 10 does not include the emergency power unit 300, the vehicle controller 100 may not be supplied with low voltage power, and therefore may not be able to process a start request in a discharged state of the LV battery 230, making it impossible for the vehicle to start. However, the vehicle 10 including the emergency power unit 300 can charge the LV battery 230 using the power of the HV battery 210 in a state where the LV battery 230 is discharged or may be discharged, so that operations such as normal starting can be performed.

[0059] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation method of a vehicle in a discharge state of a LV battery according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0060] Reference Figure 2 In operation S110, the LV battery 230 may be fully discharged due to various reasons (eg, aging or failure of the battery, a temporary error of the VCU 120 or the first converter 220, etc.).

[0061] In operation S120, the vehicle controller 100 may not be supplied with power from the LV battery 230 and may not be able to operate normally due to the complete discharge of the LV battery 230. In this case, despite the driver's start request (e.g., start button manipulation), the VCU 120 of the vehicle controller 100 may not be able to process the start request, making it impossible to start the vehicle 10.

[0062] The emergency controller 310 may receive power from the HV battery 210 and thus may always operate unless the HV battery 210 is fully discharged.

[0063] The emergency controller 310 may monitor whether an emergency charging signal is received from the user switch 330 , and continuously wait when the emergency charging signal is not received (NO in S130 ).

[0064] When the user switch 330 is operated and an emergency charging signal is thus received from the user switch 330 (yes in S130), in operation S140, the emergency controller 310 may determine that the LV battery 230 needs to be charged, and based on the determination result, send the high voltage power of the HV battery 210 to the second converter 320 to control the LV battery 230 to be charged.

[0065] In operation S150, when the LV battery 230 is charged, the vehicle controller 100 can be supplied with power by the LV battery 230 and thus can operate normally. As a result, when a driver's start request (e.g., start button manipulation) is generated, the VCU 120 of the vehicle controller 100 can process the start request so that the vehicle 10 can be started.

[0066] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operating method of a vehicle when an LV battery may be discharged according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0067] Reference Figure 3 In operation S210, the emergency controller 310 may monitor the state data (eg, output voltage) of the LV battery 230 every certain period (eg, 10 seconds). Here, monitoring may refer to an operation of collecting state data for determining a predetermined discharge risk condition.

[0068] In operation S220, the emergency controller 310 may determine whether a discharge risk condition is satisfied based on the collected state data (e.g., output voltage). For example, the discharge risk condition may be a condition that the output voltage of the LV battery 230 remains below a predetermined voltage level (e.g., 10V) for a predetermined time (e.g., 5 seconds) or longer.

[0069] When the discharge risk condition is not satisfied (NO in operation S220 ), operation S210 may be performed again.

[0070] When the discharge risk condition is satisfied (Yes in S220), in operation S230, the emergency controller 310 may determine that the LV battery 230 needs to be charged, and based on the determination result, send the high voltage power of the HV battery 210 to the second converter 320 to control the LV battery 230 to be charged.

[0071] When the LV battery 230 is charged, in operation S240, full discharge of the LV battery 230 can be prevented, and the vehicle controller 100 can be supplied with power by the LV battery 230, and thus the vehicle controller 100 can operate normally. As a result, when a driver's start request (e.g., start button manipulation) is generated, the VCU 120 of the vehicle controller 100 can process the start request so that the vehicle 10 can be started.

[0072] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a computing system for executing an operating method of the system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0073] Reference Figure 4, a computing system 1000 according to an embodiment disclosed herein may include a microcontroller unit (MCU) 1010 , a memory 1020 , an input / output interface (I / F) 1030 , and a communication I / F 1040 .

[0074] According to an embodiment, the computing system 1000 may be a system for performing operations of each component of the above-described vehicle 10 (eg, the BMS 110 , the emergency controller 310 , etc., hereinafter referred to as 'corresponding device').

[0075] The MCU 1020 may be a processor that executes various programs stored in the memory 1020 .

[0076] For example, the MCU 1020 may be a processor for processing various data and / or signals required to perform operations of the main power unit 200 .

[0077] The memory 1020 may store various programs and / or data required for managing and controlling the corresponding device. A plurality of memories 1020 may be provided as needed.

[0078] The memory 1020 may be a volatile memory or a nonvolatile memory. For the memory 1020 as a volatile memory, a random access memory (RAM), a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), etc. may be used. For the memory 1020 as a nonvolatile memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an electrically variable ROM (EAROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, etc. may be used. The above examples of the memory 1020 are merely examples and are not limited thereto.

[0079] The input / output I / F 1030 may provide an interface for transmitting and receiving data by connecting an input device (not shown) such as a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc. and an output device such as a display (not shown) to the MCU 1010 .

[0080] The communication I / F 1040 , which is a component capable of transmitting and receiving various data to and from an external component including a server, may be various devices capable of supporting wired or wireless communication.

[0081] In this way, the computer program according to the embodiment disclosed herein may be recorded in the memory 1020 and executed and processed by the MCU 1010, thereby being implemented as an execution Figures 1 to 3 Modules with the indicated functionality.

[0082] The above description is merely an illustration of the technical idea of ​​the present disclosure, and a person skilled in the art to which the embodiments disclosed herein pertain may make various modifications and changes without departing from the basic features of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0083] Therefore, the embodiments disclosed herein are intended to describe rather than limit the technical spirit of the embodiments disclosed herein, and the scope of the technical spirit of the present disclosure is not limited by these embodiments disclosed herein. The protection scope of the technical spirit disclosed herein should be interpreted by the attached claims, and all technical spirits within the same scope should be understood to be included within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A vehicle, comprising: a first battery configured to store electric power for driving the vehicle; a second battery configured to store power for operation of a vehicle controller configured to control at least one electronic device of the vehicle; a first converter configured to convert power output from the first battery, supply the power output to the second battery, and use the second battery as an operating power source; a second converter configured to convert power output from the first battery, supply the power output to the second battery, and use the first battery as an operating power source; as well as An emergency controller is configured to control the connection between the first battery and the second battery.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein: The emergency controller is also configured to use the first battery as an operating power source. 3 . The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a user switch configured to generate an emergency charging signal according to a user input.

4. The vehicle according to claim 3, wherein: The emergency controller is further configured to connect the first battery to the second converter to charge the second battery using power of the first battery upon receiving the emergency charging signal.

5. The vehicle according to claim 3, wherein: The user switch is located inside a motor room of the vehicle.

6. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein: The emergency controller is also configured to collect status data regarding the second battery.

7. The vehicle according to claim 6, wherein: The emergency controller is further configured to determine whether the second battery needs to be charged based on the status data about the second battery.

8. The vehicle according to claim 7, wherein: The emergency controller is further configured to determine that the second battery needs to be charged when an output voltage of the second battery remains below a specific voltage level for a specific time.

9. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein: The voltage of the power stored in the first battery is higher than the voltage of the power stored in the second battery.

10. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein: The voltage of the power stored in the second battery is 12V.

11. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein: The vehicle controller includes a vehicle control unit (VCU) configured to control starting of the vehicle.

12. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein: The VCU is also configured to be supplied with power from the second battery to control the operation of the first converter.

13. A method for operating a vehicle, the method comprising the following steps: generating an emergency charging signal based on user input via a user switch; charging a second battery using power of a first battery storing power for driving the vehicle, the second battery storing power having a voltage lower than a voltage of the power of the first battery, according to an emergency charging signal; as well as Power is supplied from the second battery to a vehicle controller that controls at least one electronic device of the vehicle.

14. A method for operating a vehicle, the method comprising the following steps: collecting status data about a second battery storing power having a voltage lower than a voltage of power of a first battery storing power for driving the vehicle; determining whether the second battery needs to be charged based on the status data about the second battery; When the second battery needs to be charged, charging the second battery using the power of the first battery; as well as Power is supplied from the second battery to a vehicle controller that controls at least one electronic device of the vehicle.

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