METHOD AND DEVICES FOR USING A FLUID COUPLING FOR HEATING AND ENERGY DISPOSAL IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Abstract

Methods and devices for utilizing fluid coupling for heating and energy dissipation in electric vehicles are disclosed. An exemplary device includes a torque converter that serves to operatively couple an output shaft of an electric motor and a drive shaft of a vehicle. A coupling is movable between an engaged position and a disengaged position. The coupling fluidically couples the output shaft and the drive shaft via a first fluid of the torque converter when the coupling is in the disengaged position. The coupling mechanically couples the output shaft and the drive shaft when the coupling is in the engaged position. A heating system extracts heat from the first fluid of the torque converter to raise the temperature of a second fluid, wherein the second fluid provides heat to at least one of the vehicle's cabins or a vehicle battery.

Description

AREA OF REVELATION This disclosure relates generally to vehicles and in particular to methods and devices for using fluid coupling for heating and energy dissipation in electric vehicles. GENERAL STATE OF THE ART Electric vehicles (EVs) use electric motors or electric machines to apply torque to turn the vehicle's wheels. Typically, the heat generated by the electric motors is used as a heat source to provide warmth for the vehicle's cabin and / or battery pack. SUMMARY An exemplary device includes a torque converter used to operatively couple the output shaft of an electric motor and the drive shaft of a vehicle. A clutch is movable between an engaged and a disengaged position. The clutch couples the output shaft and the drive shaft fluidically via a first fluid of the torque converter when the clutch is in the disengaged position. The clutch couples the output shaft and the drive shaft mechanically when the clutch is in the engaged position. A heating system extracts heat from the first fluid of the torque converter to raise the temperature of a second fluid, the second fluid supplying heat to at least one of the vehicle's cabins or a vehicle battery. An exemplary device includes an electric motor having an output shaft, a drive shaft to power one or more wheels of a vehicle, a fluid torque converter to operatively couple the electric motor's output shaft and the drive shaft, and a clutch movable between an engaged and a disengaged position. The clutch fluidly couples the electric motor's output shaft and the drive shaft when it is in the disengaged position. When the clutch is in the engaged position, the clutch allows the electric motor to bypass the fluid torque converter and mechanically couple its output shaft and the drive shaft.The device further includes an interface circuit, machine-readable instructions, and a programmable circuit to instantiate or execute the machine-readable instructions of at least one of the following, to detect a torque converter slip condition request and to move the clutch to the disengaged position in response to at least one of the following: determining a cabin temperature that is less than a cabin temperature threshold, determining a battery temperature that is less than a battery temperature threshold, or determining a regeneration mode and at least one of the following: determining a battery state of charge that exceeds a charge capacity threshold, or a battery temperature that is less than the battery temperature threshold. In yet another example, at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium includes machine-readable instructions to control at least one processor circuit for detecting a torque converter slip condition request, detecting a cabin temperature, determining a battery temperature, determining a battery state-of-charge capacity, detecting a non-regeneration mode or a regeneration mode, and in response to the detection of the non-regeneration mode, causing a torque converter clutch to move into a disengaged position in response to at least one of the following: determining that the cabin temperature is less than a cabin temperature threshold, or determining that a battery temperature is less than a battery temperature threshold; or in response to the detection of the regeneration mode, causing the torque converter clutch to disengage in response to at least one of the following:to cause the battery to move into the disengaged position if the state of charge exceeds a charging capacity threshold or if the battery temperature does not exceed the battery temperature threshold. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary vehicle in which examples disclosed herein may be implemented. Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary transmission system of the exemplary vehicle from Fig. 1. Fig. 3A is a partial sectional side view of an exemplary fluid coupling from Fig. 2, wherein an exemplary locking clutch is in an exemplary closed position. Fig. 3B is a partial sectional side view of the exemplary fluid coupling from Fig. 3A, wherein the exemplary locking clutch is in an exemplary open position. Fig. 4 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary slip control system of the exemplary vehicle from Fig. 1 according to the teachings of this disclosure. Fig. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary implementation of the exemplary slip control circuit from Fig. 4.Figures 6-8 are flowcharts representative of exemplary machine-readable instructions and / or operations that can be executed, instantiated, and / or performed by an exemplary programmable circuit to implement the slip condition circuit from Figure 5. Figure 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary processing platform that includes a programmable circuit structured to execute, instantiate, and / or perform the exemplary machine-readable instructions and / or the exemplary operations from Figures 6-8 to implement the exemplary breakaway torque prevention control circuit from Figure 5. Generally, the same reference symbols are used throughout the drawing(s) and the accompanying written description to refer to the same or similar parts. The figures are not necessarily to scale. Instead, the thickness of the layers or regions in the drawings may be enlarged. Although the figures show layers and regions with clear lines and boundaries, some or all of these lines and / or boundaries may be idealized. In reality, the boundaries and / or lines may not be observable, may merge into one another, and / or may be irregular. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Electric vehicles often use a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heater to generate heat that can be used to warm a cabin and / or battery. A PTC heater is a type of electrical resistance heater that self-regulates its temperature. This means that as the heater's temperature increases, its electrical resistance also increases, which in turn reduces current flow and heat output. PTC heaters are disadvantageous for use in electric vehicles because they consume energy (stored energy in a battery). Instead of PTC heaters, some electric vehicles use a lossy mode of electric drive to generate heat that can be used to warm a cabin and / or battery.In the context of electric vehicles (EVs), "lossy mode" typically refers to a state or condition in which the vehicle's energy efficiency is reduced due to various factors. This can include energy losses in the battery, motor, or other components. These losses may be due to heat, resistance, or other inefficiencies within the system. Lossy modes are inefficient due to excessive heat generation, power conversion losses, magnetic losses (e.g., due to hysteresis and eddy currents in magnetic materials), control system inefficiencies, and / or mechanical losses. For example, a significant amount of energy can be wasted through heating in lossy mode. Lossy mode often results in heat generation from components such as inverters and electrical machines (e.g., motors), and these components require cooling to manage the heat generation, consuming additional energy and reducing overall efficiency. Some inefficiencies are due to heat loss from inverters, which convert DC power from the battery to AC power for the electric motor.In some cases, mechanical components, such as bearings and gears, can generate losses due to friction and wear during lossy mode because of the inefficient operation of the electric motor and / or other systems. In some examples, the heat transfer efficiency of an electric drive system in lossy mode is approximately 20 percent. Consequently, for every 3 kilowatts of energy supplied by a lossy system, approximately 600 watts of energy reach the battery cells for heating. Additionally, using lossy mode at low motor speeds can cause torque ripple (e.g., variation in the electric motor's torque output) and uneven heating for both the electric motor and its inverter, potentially leading to overheating. Furthermore, motor cooling efficiency increases with rotor speed.Thus, limited heat can be extracted from the electric motor at low rotor speeds. Consequently, cooling systems in electric vehicles dissipate heat to the environment instead of effectively transferring it from one component to another. The heat transfer path exhibits significant losses to the environment and poor efficiency in lossy mode. For example, in lossy mode, heat is transferred from motor windings to an oil-based coolant, which flows through an oil-antifreeze (e.g., glycol) liquid heat exchanger, through a complex system of coolant hoses, and to the battery module heat exchangers coupled to the battery cells. The examples disclosed herein recover energy or heat generated by a fluid coupling or torque converter to provide heating when the torque converter is operating in a slip condition or slip mode. In particular, exemplary fluid couplings disclosed herein enable slip between an output shaft of a motor and an input or drive shaft of a transmission. In the sense used herein, "slip" refers to a relative motion between the output shaft and the drive shaft. In other words, the input shaft of the fluid coupling, coupled to an electric motor, has a rotational speed or torque that differs from a rotational speed or torque of the drive shaft coupled to the fluid coupling.Thus, in the examples disclosed herein, slip is induced between a pump impeller and a turbine impeller within the fluid coupling or torque converter. The slip induces friction- and turbulence-based heat into the fluid (e.g., oil) of the fluid coupling or torque converter. For example, heat generated from the oil of a torque converter or fluid coupling during a slip condition is used to heat glycol in an ambient control system. Through the use of a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger, heat generated by the fluid coupling or torque converter is channeled to, or used in association with, a cabin heating circuit, a battery heating circuit, and / or other power electronics or other vehicle components.A fluid coupling or torque converter designed to dissipate its heat to a liquid heat exchanger can be much more effective and / or efficient than the heat transfer path from the electric motor. The heat exchanger can be a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, a shell and tube heat exchanger, a plate heat exchanger, a brazed plate heat exchanger, a round tube finned (RTPF) heat exchanger, a microchannel heat exchanger, and / or any other type of heat exchanger(s). The use of fluid coupling or a torque converter to generate heat reduces, minimizes, or eliminates the need to draw heat from the electric motor. More effective cooling, resulting from a faster rotor speed, allows for a greater amount of heat to be extracted from an electric motor. Consequently, more heat can be generated using less energy, thus increasing the vehicle's battery range. The exemplary systems and methods disclosed herein result in a more effective and / or efficient heating mode (i.e., less energy input for a given amount of heat output). Furthermore, operating an electric motor or electric drive at higher revolutions per minute (RPM) limits torque ripple and / or noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) in electric vehicles. Additionally, examples disclosed herein support energy dissipation. For instance, during regeneration conditions while driving, the exemplary fluid couplings or torque converters disclosed herein can be positioned to operate in an unlocked state to allow a speed differential when a state-of-charge capacity of the vehicle battery exceeds a threshold (e.g., 90 percent energy capacity, 100 percent energy capacity). For example, if the battery is at a full state of charge (e.g., a state of charge of 100%) while the vehicle is traveling downhill along a slope, and the control system commands regenerative braking to assist speed control along with the friction brakes, the battery system can no longer absorb energy generated by regenerative braking. To assist vehicle braking when the electrical system exceeds a threshold (e.g.,Once a maximum potential energy state has been reached, exemplary fluid couplings or torque converters disclosed herein can be used to dissipate mechanical energy by generating a speed differential between the electric motor and the vehicle's wheels. To allow heat dissipation, the lock-up clutch of the fluid coupling or torque converter can be opened or placed into a slip state. The electric motor can then command a negative torque to consume the electrical energy dissipated or lost through slippage in the torque converter, while maintaining the set or commanded vehicle speed. Exemplary slip control systems disclosed herein can be activated manually (e.g., via a human-machine interface or user input) or automatically based on a detected vehicle condition. Exemplary slip control systems disclosed herein can be activated upon detection of a heat demand, an energy regeneration mode, and / or any other condition(s). Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary electric vehicle (EV) 100 in which the teachings of the present disclosure may be implemented. In the illustrated example from Fig. 1, the EV 100 is a pickup truck. In other examples, the EV 100 may be any type of electric vehicle (e.g., a van, a coupé, a sedan, an SUV, a semi-trailer, a minivan, a rail vehicle, an all-terrain vehicle (ATV), etc.). In the illustrated example from Fig. 1, the EV 100 is a two-axle vehicle. Examples disclosed herein are suitable for driven axles (e.g., front axles and / or rear axles). Fig. 2 is a schematic representation of a section of an exemplary transmission system 200 of the EV 100 from Fig. 1. The exemplary transmission system 200 of the illustrated example includes an electric motor 202 (e.g., an electric machine) which is coupled to a differential 204 (e.g., a rear axle or a differential) of a drive axle 206 (e.g., a rear axle, a front axle, etc.) via a transmission 208. The electric motor 202 of the illustrated example can be an alternating current (AC) motor (e.g., a three-phase motor), a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor, and / or any other electric motor(s) and / or electric machine(s). The transmission system 200 of the illustrated example includes a fluid coupling 210 (e.g., a fluid torque converter) and a clutch 212 (e.g., a lock-up clutch). Specifically, the electric motor 202 has an output shaft 214 that is operatively coupled to a drive shaft 216 (e.g., an input shaft) of the transmission 208. The drive shaft 216 provides an input (e.g., input torque and / or speed) to the differential 204. In some examples, the transmission system 200 and / or the transmission 208 of the EV 100 may include a gearbox 218. In some examples, the gearbox 218 may be coupled between the output shaft 214 of the electric motor 202 and the fluid coupling 210. In some examples, the gearbox 218 may be coupled between the fluid coupling 210 and the differential 204. In some examples, the gearbox 208 of the illustrated example may contain a variety of gearboxes (e.g., two or more). The fluid coupling 210 of the illustrated example is a torque converter (e.g., a hydraulic torque converter). For example, the fluid coupling 210 of the illustrated example could be a lock-up torque converter, a multi-channel torque converter (e.g., a two-channel torque converter, a three-channel torque converter, a four-channel torque converter), a high idle torque converter, and / or any other type of torque converter and / or fluid coupling. The fluid coupling 210 includes a drive rotor or pump impeller 222 coupled to a housing 224, a driven rotor or turbine impeller 226, a guide vane 228, and the coupling 212 (e.g., a locking coupling). A front cover 230 is coupled to the housing 224 (e.g., fixed, welded, etc.) to enclose the coupling 212, the pump impeller 222, and the turbine impeller 226. The front cover 230 and the housing 224 contain or enclose a fluid (e.g., transmission fluid, hydraulic fluid, oil, etc.). The output shaft 214 of the electric motor 202 of the illustrated example is coupled to (e.g., fixed to) the front cover 230, which is coupled to (e.g., rotatably fixed to) the pump impeller 222 via the housing 224 (e.g., the front cover 230 is fixed, welded, or fastened to the housing 224). For example, the output shaft 214 of the electric motor 202 can drive a plate (e.g.,The drive shaft 216 of the illustrated example includes a drive hub 234 (welded or fixed to one end of the output shaft 214), which is coupled to or attached to the front cover 230 (e.g., via fasteners, welds, etc.). The drive shaft 216 of the illustrated example is coupled to the turbine wheel 226. In particular, a first end 232 of the drive shaft 216 extends within the housing 224 of the fluid coupling 210 and is coupled to the turbine wheel 226 (e.g., via a splined connection). Thus, rotation of the output shaft 214 causes rotation of the pump wheel 222, which in turn causes the fluid within the fluid coupling 210 to rotate the turbine wheel 226 and, consequently, the drive shaft 216. The housing 224 of the illustrated example includes a drive hub 234 (e.g., welded or fixed to one end of the output shaft 214), which is coupled to or attached to the front cover 230 (e.g., via fasteners, welds, etc.).a bushing) to allow the first end 232 of the drive shaft 216 to pass through the housing 224, and / or to allow rotation of the housing 224 and / or the pump impeller 222 relative to the drive shaft 216. A second end 236 of the drive shaft 216, opposite the first end 232, is coupled to the differential 204 (e.g., an input) of the drive axle 206 (e.g., via a gear such as a bevel gear). The differential 204 includes half-shafts 238 that extend from the differential 204 to each of the individual wheels 220 (e.g., rear wheels of the EV 100). In some examples, the drive shaft 216 may be coupled to an input shaft 204a of the differential 204. During operation of the EV 100, an output torque request from the electric motor 202 that exceeds a breakaway torque characteristic (e.g., a maximum torque output) of the electric motor 202 can cause the electric motor to stall when the EV 100 starts from a standstill (e.g., vehicle speed is zero). For example, in scenarios where the EV 100 is in a towing mode (e.g., towing a load), an off-road mode, crossing and / or stopping on an inclined slope, and / or otherwise overcoming an obstacle, when the EV 100 starts from a standstill, a torque request to overcome the obstacle can be 3.5 times a torque output of the output shaft and / or the electric motor 202. Such a torque request can be greater than the breakaway torque (e.g.,a maximum output torque) of the electric motor 202, which is associated with a vehicle speed of zero. To overcome the breakaway torque limitations of the electric motor 202, the EV 100 of the illustrated example employs the fluid coupling 210. The fluid coupling 210 allows slippage between the output shaft 214 and the drive shaft 216. As a result, the electric motor 202 can be commanded to rotate at a minimum motor speed threshold when the EV 100 is stationary or traveling at low speeds (e.g., less than 5 mph, 10 mph, etc.). For example, the electric motor 202 can be operated at a minimum motor speed threshold (e.g., 500 rpm) that allows maximum torque output from the electric motor 202. The fluid coupling provided by the fluid coupling 210 between the output shaft 214 and the drive shaft 216 allows the output shaft 214 to rotate (e.g., to have slippage) while the drive shaft 216 is in a stall or zero rotational speed state.As a result, the fluid coupling 210 enables the output shaft 214 of the electric motor 202 to rotate at a first speed that differs from a second speed of the drive shaft 216. To enable slippage, the fluid coupling 210 fluidically couples the output shaft 214 and the drive shaft 216. During operation, the rotation of the output shaft 214 of the electric motor 202 causes the pump impeller 222 to rotate via the fluid coupling between the front cover 230 and the housing 224. As the electric motor 202 rotates, it turns the pump impeller 222, which in turn sets fluid in motion within the housing 224. Specifically, the centrifugal force moves the fluid toward an outer wall of the housing 224. The fluid then moves through vanes of the guide vane 228, which are positioned between the pump impeller 222 and the turbine impeller 226. The guide vane 228 deflects the fluid flow, thereby increasing the torque that is delivered to a power output side and / or to the turbine impeller 226.As the fluid moves from the pump impeller 222 via the guide vane 228 to the turbine impeller 226, it generates a torque at the turbine impeller 226. This causes the turbine 226, and consequently the drive shaft 216, to rotate, thereby providing an input force to the differential 204, which in turn causes the gears 220 to rotate. Additionally, as the fluid moves from the pump impeller 222 to the turbine impeller 226, it generates heat due to friction. The torque multiplication effect enables the fluid coupling 210 to increase the torque output from the electric motor 202, thereby improving vehicle acceleration and overall performance. This is particularly useful during acceleration and when overcoming resistance, such as when starting from a standstill, during towing operations, or when driving uphill. Additionally, the fluid coupling 210 enables smooth engagement or power transfer from the electric motor 202 to the transmission 208 or the drive shaft 216. Furthermore, the torque amplification provided by the fluid coupling 210 reduces the loads and / or stresses on the electric motor 202, resulting in less wear and tear on the electric motor 202 and thus extending its service life. Additionally, based on a condition of the EV 100, the transmission 200 either bypasses or engages the fluid coupling 210. Specifically, bypassing the fluid coupling 210 allows the output shaft 214 to be mechanically coupled to the input shaft 216 (e.g., rigidly fixed to it) to prevent slippage between the output shaft 214 and the input shaft 216. Activating or switching on the fluid coupling 210 fluidically couples (e.g., decouples) the output shaft 214 and the input shaft 216 to allow slippage between the output shaft 214 and the input shaft 216. To engage and / or disengage the fluid coupling 210, the transmission system 200 of the illustrated example includes the coupling 212 (e.g., a lock-up coupling). The coupling 212 of the illustrated example is movable between a disengaged position (e.g., a disengaged position 302 from Fig. 3A) and an engaged position (e.g., an engaged position 304 from Fig. 3B). In the disengaged position 302, the coupling 212 mechanically decouples the pump impeller 222 and the turbine impeller 226. Thus, the output shaft 214 of the electric motor 202 and the drive shaft 216 are fluidically coupled via the fluid coupling 210 (which leads, for example, to torque generation and / or torque amplification, as described above) when the coupling is in the disengaged position 302, thereby allowing slippage between the output shaft 214 of the electric motor 202 and the drive shaft 216.In this way, the output shaft 214 of the electric motor 202 rotates at a first speed that differs from a second speed of the drive shaft 216. In the engaged position 304, the clutch 212 connects the pump impeller 222 and the turbine impeller 226 directly or rigidly (e.g., mechanically couples them), effectively bypassing the fluid coupling 210. Thus, when the clutch 212 is in the engaged position, it prevents slippage between the output shaft 214 of the electric motor 202 and the drive shaft 216. As a result, the output shaft 214 and the drive shaft 216 rotate at the same speed. In some examples, the clutch 212 is moved into the engaged position 304 at higher vehicle speeds, thereby improving efficiency and reducing heat generation.In particular, bypassing the fluid coupling 210 reduces power loss and / or heat generation caused by the fluid connection between the pump impeller 222 and the turbine impeller 226. The clutch 212 of the illustrated example is an electronically operated clutch. To control or move the clutch 212 between the disengaged and engaged positions, the transmission system 200 employs a pressure fluid system 242. The pressure fluid system 242 supplies or delivers pressurized fluid to either a front surface 244 or a rear surface 246 of the clutch 212 relative to the front surface 244. The engagement and disengagement of the clutch 212 depends on the direction of the pressurized fluid relative to the clutch 212. To control the pressurized fluid of the clutch 212, the exemplary pressurized fluid system 242 of the illustrated example includes a main control valve 252, which is pilot-operated by a solenoid 254. For example, commanding the solenoid 254 to a first position (e.g., an "on" position) causes the main control valve 252 to supply pressurized fluid to the front surface 244 of the clutch 212 (e.g., a clutch disc, a plurality of clutch discs) via a first port 256 of the front cover 230. For example, the solenoid 254 can be energized by a command signal (e.g., a current, an electrical signal, a binary value "1", etc.) to cause the solenoid 254 to move to the first position. The pressurized fluid in turn exerts a force on the end face 244 of the coupling 212 (e.g.the clutch disc) to cause the clutch 212 to move into the disengaged position 302 (e.g., to move axially) (e.g., to cause the clutch 212 to move away from the front cover 230 in one direction to frictionally disengage the front cover 230). In this state, the clutch 212 is in the disengaged position 302 (e.g., an open position), which is mechanically decoupled from the front cover 230. When the clutch 212 is in the disengaged position 302, the clutch 212 thus causes the output shaft 214 and the input shaft 216 to be fluidically coupled (e.g., mechanically decoupled) via the fluid coupling 210. In contrast, commanding the solenoid coil 254 to move into a second position (e.g., an "off" position) causes the main control valve 252 to direct pressurized fluid via a second port 258 of the front cover 230 to the rear surface 246 of the coupling 212. For example, the solenoid coil 254 can be switched off by a command signal (e.g., removing a current, a binary value "0", etc.) to cause the solenoid coil 254 to move into the second position. The increased pressure, in turn, causes the coupling 212 to move towards the front cover 230 (e.g., slide axially) to engage with the front cover 230 (e.g., to engage by friction). The coupling 212, which is coupled to the turbine wheel 226, causes the turbine wheel 226 to rotate with the front cover 230, the housing 224 and the pump wheel 222 when the coupling 212 is in the engaged position 304 (e.g.The clutch 212 is in frictional engagement with the front cover 230. In the engaged position 304, the clutch 212 mechanically couples the output shaft 214 and the input shaft 216. When the clutch 212 is in the engaged position 304, the pump impeller 222 is mechanically coupled to the turbine impeller 226, and power is transmitted from the electric motor 202 to the gearbox 208 without power losses caused by the fluid coupling 210. Additionally, the clutch 212 of the illustrated example includes damping springs that absorb torsional vibrations during engagement / disengagement of the clutch to prevent or reduce shock transmission to the gearbox 208. To control a state of the clutch 212, an electric motor control unit (MCU) 262 (e.g. MCU circuit) of the EV 100 receives one or more signals (e.g. feedback signals) from one or more sensors 260 or obtains them otherwise. For example, the MCU 262 controls the motor speed and / or the torque output of the electric motor 202. The one or more sensors 260 can include a tachometer, a magnetic sensor (e.g., a Hall effect sensor), an inductive sensor, a temperature sensor, a current sensor, an encoder, a rotary encoder, a camera, an imaging sensor, an accelerometer, a trailer light detection sensor, and / or any other sensor. For example, Hall effect sensors, encoders, rotary encoders, etc., can be used to detect the rotational speed of the output shaft 214 of the electric motor 202.A torque output is proportional to a magnetic flux, which is proportional to a current. Thus, the torque output of the electric motor 202 can be derived by measuring a current flowing to an electric motor inverter drive. Fig. 3A is a partial sectional side view of the exemplary fluid coupling 210 from Fig. 2, with the coupling in an exemplary disengaged position 302. Fig. 3B is a partial sectional side view of the exemplary fluid coupling 210 from Fig. 3A, with the coupling in an exemplary engaged position 304. Referring to Figs. 3A-3B, the coupling 212 slides in an axial direction relative to the front cover 230 over the pressure system to move the coupling 212 between the engaged position 304 and the disengaged position 302. Fig. 4 is a schematic representation of a slip condition system 400 of the EV 100 from Fig. 1. In the illustrated example from Fig. 4, the slip condition system 400 includes a heat distribution system 402. The heat distribution system 402 of the illustrated example transfers heat from a first fluid (e.g., oil) of the fluid coupling 210 to another area and / or another component of the EV 100. In this example, the heat distribution system 402 causes heat to be transferred from the first fluid to a second fluid (e.g., glycol) that is associated with an environmental control system of the EV 100. Furthermore, the heat distribution system 402 can direct and / or guide the second fluid (e.g. glycol) to transfer the heat to a cabin heat exchanger 404 or a cabin of the EV 100, a battery heat exchanger 406 or a battery pack of the EV 100 and / or other heat exchanger(s) that support(s) operation of the EV 100. In the illustrated example from Fig. 4, the heat distribution system 402 includes a first fluid line 408 (e.g., a first closed-loop line) to convey the first fluid, a second fluid line 410 (e.g., a second closed-loop line) to convey the second fluid, and a heat exchanger 412 to enable the transfer of heat from the first fluid (e.g., the oil of the fluid coupling 210) to the second fluid (e.g., glycol). Accordingly, the heat exchanger 412 is operatively coupled to the first fluid line 408 and the second fluid line 410. The heat exchanger 412, in turn, thermally couples the first fluid to the second fluid. In this example, the heat exchanger 412 is a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger.In other examples, however, the heat exchanger 412 may be, for example, a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger, a shell and tube heat exchanger, a plate heat exchanger, a brazed plate heat exchanger, a round tube finned (RTPF) heat exchanger, a microchannel heat exchanger and / or any other type of heat exchanger(s). The first fluid line 408 defines a first circuit (e.g., a first closed circuit, an oil circuit) that carries the first fluid between the heat exchanger 412 and a chamber of the fluid coupling 210. The second fluid line 410 defines a second circuit (e.g., a second closed circuit, a cabin circuit) that carries the second fluid in a circuit between the heat exchanger 412 and the cabin heat exchanger 404. Additionally, the second fluid line 410 defines a third circuit (e.g., a third closed circuit, a battery circuit) that carries the second fluid between the heat exchanger 412 and the battery heat exchanger 406. In the illustrated example from Fig. 4, the heat exchanger 412 includes a first inlet 411 and a first outlet 413 through which the first fluid flows. In this example, the heat exchanger 412 includes a second inlet 415 and a second outlet 417 through which the second fluid flows. In some examples, the heat exchanger 412 includes one or more additional inlets and / or outlets for the second fluid. For example, the second fluid line 410 may have separate circuits to carry the second fluid from the heat exchanger 412 to the cabin heat exchanger 404, the battery heat exchanger 406, and / or other heat exchanger(s) that support the operation of the EV 100. In such examples, the heat exchanger 412 may have respective inlets and / or outlets designated for the respective circuits. In some examples, the heat distribution system 402 can incorporate a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger (e.g.,Fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger) such that heated air is supplied to the vehicle cabin via a blower (e.g., a fan) that blows air through the heat exchanger. The fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger can be used instead of or in addition to heat exchanger 412. In the illustrated example from Fig. 4, the heat distribution system 402 includes a first fluid valve 414 (e.g., a first control valve) for controlling the flow of the first fluid in the first or oil circuit, a second fluid valve 416 (e.g., a second control valve) for controlling the flow of the second fluid in the second or battery circuit, and a third fluid valve 418 (e.g., a third control valve) for controlling the flow of the second fluid in the third or cabin circuit. In some examples, the heat distribution system 402 includes a fluid pump that is operatively coupled to the second fluid line 410 to drive the second fluid through the respective circuits. To control the operation of the slip condition system 400 and / or the heat distribution system 402, the EV 100 of the illustrated example includes a slip condition circuit 420. Specifically, the slip condition circuit 420 is communicatively coupled to the MCU 262, which controls the operation of the fluid coupling 210. Additionally, the slip condition circuit 420 is communicatively coupled to the fluid valves 414, 416, and 418 to control the heat transfer between the first and second fluids. During operation, the slip condition circuit 420 detects a slip condition request from the MCU 262. The request could, for example, be an amount of energy (e.g., a value in watts) associated with applying sufficient heat to the cabin and / or the battery of the EV 100. For example, the requested amount of energy is assigned to an amount of heat generated by the operation of the fluid coupling 210.In some examples, the requirement may be, for instance, an amount of energy (e.g., a value in watts) associated with dissipating energy generated during a regenerative braking condition, such as when the battery capacity is greater than a capacity threshold and / or the battery temperature is less than a temperature threshold. Fig. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary implementation of the slip condition circuit 420 from Fig. 4. The slip condition circuit 420 operates the MCU 262 and / or instructs it to operate the electric motor 202, the fluid coupling 210, and / or the fluid valves 414, 416, 418 based on the detected conditions of the EV 100. The slip condition circuit 420 from Fig. 5 can be instantiated by a programmable circuit, such as a central processing unit (CPU), which executes initial instructions (e.g., creating an instance of it, initiating it for an arbitrary duration, materializing it, implementing it, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the slip condition circuit 420 from Fig. 5 can be...5 by (i) an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and / or (ii) a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) that is structured and / or configured in response to the execution of second instructions to perform operations corresponding to the first instructions (e.g., create an instance of it, induce it for any duration, materialize it, implement it, etc.). It is understood that some or all of the circuits in Fig. 5 can thus be instantiated at the same or different times. For example, some or all of the circuits in Fig. 5 can be instantiated in one or more threads that run concurrently on hardware and / or sequentially on hardware. Furthermore, in some examples, some or all of the circuits in Fig.5. This may be implemented by a microprocessor circuit that executes instructions and / or an FPGA circuit that performs operations to convert one or more virtual machines and / or one or more containers. The exemplary slip condition circuit 420 from Fig. 5 includes an exemplary slip condition identification circuit 502, an exemplary cabin temperature determination circuit 504, an exemplary battery temperature determination circuit 506, an exemplary component temperature monitoring circuit 508, an exemplary vehicle speed detection circuit 510, an exemplary brake circuit 512, an exemplary clutch control circuit 514, an engine speed determination circuit 516, an exemplary database 518, an exemplary engine torque determination circuit 520, an exemplary mechanical power determination circuit 522, an exemplary energy loss detection circuit 524, an exemplary valve operator circuit 528, an exemplary slip determination circuit 532, an exemplary torque multiplication circuit 534 and an exemplary state of charge determination circuit 536. The exemplary slip condition identification circuit 502 detects a torque converter or fluid coupling slip condition request. For example, the slip condition identification circuit 502 can distinguish between and / or detect one or more slip condition requests for heat associated with a heating event or energy dissipation associated with a regenerative braking event. In some examples, the slip condition identification circuit 502 receives a slip condition request based on a command provided by the MCU 262. In some examples, the slip condition identification circuit 502 detects a slip condition request based on information received from the sensors 260, user input (e.g.,a human-machine interface (such as a user input for cabin heating), the MCU 262, and / or any other system(s) of the EV 100. In some examples, the slip condition identification circuit 502 can trigger slip condition operations based on, for example, the temperature of the EV 100's battery, the temperature of one or more sections of the EV 100's cabin, a regeneration request from the MCU 262, and / or any other vehicle condition(s). In other examples, the slip condition identification circuit 502 can include and / or communicate with another circuit for detecting and / or generating a slip condition request for the EV 100. For example, the slip condition identification circuit 502 can perform slip condition operations in response to receiving a signal (e.g.,an electrical signal, a pneumatic signal, etc.), received from another component (e.g., the MCU 262) that specifies a slip condition request. The slip condition request and / or slip condition information, which the slip condition identification circuit 502 uses to determine a slip condition event, may include a power amplitude associated with a loss experienced by the electric motor 202. For example, the slip condition request may be a loss of 3 kilowatts (kW). In some examples, the slip condition identification circuit 502 determines the magnitude of the loss based on the amount of heat to be used to heat the cabin and / or the battery of the EV 100. In some examples, the slip condition identification circuit 502 determines the amount of loss based on a difference between a temperature of the electric motor 202 and a target temperature range.In some examples, the slip condition identification circuit 502 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes slip condition identification instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those shown in the flowchart in Fig. 6. The exemplary cabin temperature determination circuit 504 identifies a temperature of one or more cabin sections of the EV 100 based on information from the sensors 260. Additionally, the cabin temperature determination circuit 504 can identify one or more target temperatures (e.g., a cabin command temperature, a cabin temperature threshold) assigned to the one or more cabin sections based on information from the sensors 260, user input, and / or intended operating parameters. The cabin temperature determination circuit 504 can compare the identified temperature(s) with the corresponding target temperature(s). The cabin temperature determination circuit 504 can indicate a difference between the identified temperature(s) and the corresponding target temperature(s) to the slip condition identification circuit 502 and / or the valve operator circuit 528.In some examples, the cabin temperature determination circuit 504 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes cabin temperature determination instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those shown in the flowchart in Fig. 6. The exemplary battery temperature detection circuit 506 identifies, determines, and / or otherwise obtains a temperature of a battery system of the EV 100 based on information from the sensors 260 (e.g., a battery system temperature). The battery temperature detection circuit 506 can determine a battery temperature threshold based on information stored in the database 518. For example, the battery temperature threshold may be predetermined based on a lower temperature limit at which the EV 100 battery is intended to operate. The battery temperature detection circuit 506 can compare the identified temperature and the battery temperature threshold to determine whether the battery temperature exceeds the temperature threshold (e.g., to determine whether heat needs to be supplied to the battery).The battery temperature detection circuit 506 can transmit the determined temperature difference between the identified temperature and the corresponding battery temperature threshold(s) to the slip condition identification circuit 502 and / or the valve operator circuit 528. In some examples, the battery temperature detection circuit 506 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes battery temperature detection instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those depicted in the flowcharts in Figures 6 and 8. The exemplary vehicle speed detection circuit 510 determines the speed of the EV 100 based on information from the sensors 260, the MCU 262, and / or any other component(s) or circuit. Accordingly, the vehicle speed detection circuit 510 can determine whether the EV 100 is stationary. Additionally, the vehicle speed detection circuit 510 can determine a vehicle command speed associated with a user input and / or an assisted driving system or circuit. In some examples, the vehicle speed detection circuit 510 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes vehicle speed detection instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those illustrated by the flowchart in Fig. 6. The exemplary brake circuit 512 controls a vehicle brake actuator 513. Accordingly, the brake circuit 512 can cause the vehicle brake actuator 513 to actuate brakes (e.g., a foot brake system and / or emergency brakes) on wheels of the EV 100 when the EV 100 has to remain stationary during certain slip condition operations. In some examples, the brake circuit 512 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes braking instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those shown in the flowchart of Fig. 6. The exemplary clutch control circuit 514 commands, specifies a position of the disengaging clutch 212 and thus an engagement state of the fluid coupling 210, and / or controls it in other ways. For example, the clutch control circuit 514 can cause the MCU 262 to command the pressure fluid system 242 to disengage / open the locking clutch 212 to facilitate slippage between the output shaft 214 and the input shaft 216. In some examples, the clutch control circuit 514 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes clutch operator instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those illustrated by the flowcharts in Figures 6-8. The motor speed determination circuit 516 determines, receives, and / or otherwise obtains a motor speed output from the electric motor 202. For example, the motor speed determination circuit 516 receives motor speed values ​​from the MCU 262 and / or one or more sensors 260 (e.g., Hall effect sensors, encoders, rotary encoders) used to detect the speed of the output shaft 214 of the electric motor 202. In some examples, the motor speed determination circuit 516 determines a speed at which the electric motor 202 is to be operated to achieve a desired loss associated with a slip condition requirement. In such examples, the motor speed determination circuit 516 causes the MCU 262 to operate the electric motor 202 at the target speed. For example, the motor speed determination circuit 516 can determine the motor speed based on a desired slip and a vehicle command speed.In some examples, the motor speed determination circuit 516 determines the motor speed based on (i) a speed of the drive shaft 216 associated with the vehicle command speed, and (ii) a difference between a speed of the output shaft 214 and the speed of the drive shaft 216 that provides the desired slip. The database 518 may contain a mapping or correlation of loss requirement values ​​(e.g., in units of power) and motor speeds (e.g., in units of rpm) required to meet the loss requirements. Thus, the motor speed determination circuit 516 can determine a motor speed associated with a corresponding requested energy loss (e.g., provided in units of power).In some examples, the motor speed determination circuit 516 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes motor speed determination instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those illustrated by the flowcharts in Fig. 6-8. The exemplary motor torque determination circuit 520 determines, receives, and / or otherwise obtains a motor torque output from the electric motor 202. For example, the motor torque determination circuit 520 can receive motor torque values ​​from the MCU 262. In some examples, the motor torque determination circuit 520 calculates a motor torque output from the electric motor 202 based on a measured current drawn by the electric motor 202. In some examples, the motor torque determination circuit 520 determines a torque command provided by a user of the EV 100. For example, the torque command values ​​are provided by a user's interaction with a pedal of the EV 100. Furthermore, the motor torque determination circuit 520 can determine the torque output of the electric motor 202 when the EV 100 is operating under the slip condition. For example, the motor torque determination circuit 520 can determine the torque output for the electric motor 202 based on a vehicle command speed and a torque multiplier of the fluid coupling 210. To operate the motor with the desired motor torque, the motor torque determination circuit 520 can cause the MCU 262 to set a voltage or frequency of an electronic signal supplied to the electric motor 202. In some examples, the motor torque determination circuit 520 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes motor torque determination instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those illustrated by the flowcharts in Figures 6-8. The exemplary mechanical power determination circuit 522 estimates a mechanical power dissipation (e.g., in watts) associated with slip condition processes, based on the detected speed of the electric motor 202 and / or the detected torque output by the electric motor 202. In some examples, the mechanical power determination circuit 522 causes the motor speed determination circuit 516 and / or the motor torque determination circuit 520 to adjust the speed and / or torque of the electric motor 202 based on a difference between the estimated power dissipation and the requested dissipation associated with the slip condition requirement.In some examples, the mechanical power determination circuit 522 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes mechanical power determination instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those shown in the flowchart in Fig. 6. The exemplary energy loss detection circuit 524 determines, via slip condition operations, whether a requested loss has been achieved. For example, the energy loss detection circuit 524 can determine whether the estimated mechanical power dissipation is approximately equivalent to the requested loss (e.g., within 10% of it). In some examples, the energy loss detection circuit 524 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes energy loss detection instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those illustrated by the flowchart in Fig. 6. The exemplary valve operator circuit 528 controls the respective positions of the first fluid valve 414, the second fluid valve 416, and the third fluid valve 418. For example, the valve operator circuit 528 can control the first fluid valve 414 and / or the third fluid valve 418 to cause the first fluid, which is associated with the fluid coupling 210, to transfer heat to the second fluid, which is associated with heating the cabin. In some examples, the valve operator circuit 528 controls a rate at which the first fluid transfers heat to the second fluid.For example, the valve operator circuit 528 can determine a position to be implemented by the first fluid valve 414 and / or a position to be implemented by the third fluid valve 418 based on the target temperature, the cabin temperature, the temperature of the first fluid at an inlet of the cabin heat exchanger 404, and / or the temperature of the second fluid at an outlet of the cabin heat exchanger 404. Furthermore, the valve operator circuit 528 can determine a position to be implemented by the second fluid valve 416 and / or a position to be implemented by the third fluid valve 418 based on the battery temperature threshold, the battery temperature, the temperature of the first fluid at an inlet of the battery heat exchanger 406, and / or the temperature of the second fluid at an outlet of the battery heat exchanger 406.In some examples, the valve operator circuit 528 controls a rate at which the first fluid transfers heat to the second fluid. For example, the valve operator circuit 528 can determine a position to be implemented by the first fluid valve 414 and / or a position to be implemented by the third fluid valve 418, based on the target temperature, the cabin temperature, a temperature of the first fluid at an inlet of the cabin heat exchanger 404, and / or a temperature of the second fluid at an outlet of the cabin heat exchanger 404.Furthermore, the valve operator circuit 528 can determine a position to be implemented by the second fluid valve 416 and / or a position to be implemented by the third fluid valve 418 based on the battery temperature threshold, the battery temperature, the temperature of the first fluid at an inlet of the battery heat exchanger 406, and / or the temperature of the second fluid at an outlet of the battery heat exchanger 406. In some examples, the valve operator circuit 528 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes battery operator instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those illustrated by the flowchart in Fig. 6. The exemplary component temperature monitoring circuit 508 monitors component temperatures to determine whether one or more components associated with the slip condition requirement are within an operating temperature threshold(s). For example, the component temperature monitoring circuit 508 can monitor the temperature of the electric motor 202, the fluid coupling 210, the battery, and / or another component(s) of the EV 100 during a slip condition based on information from the sensors 260 and / or other components of the slip condition circuit 420. Furthermore, the component temperature monitoring circuit 508 can determine whether the temperature of the electric motor 202, the fluid coupling 210, the battery, and / or another component of the EV 100 exceeds a temperature threshold assigned to that component.For example, the component temperature monitoring circuit 508 determines whether the electric motor 202 is operating at a temperature exceeding a motor operating temperature threshold. In some examples, the component temperature monitoring circuit 508 determines whether the fluid coupling 210 is operating at a temperature exceeding an operating temperature threshold of the fluid coupling 210. In some examples, the component temperature monitoring circuit 508 determines whether a battery temperature is greater than an upper temperature threshold or whether a battery temperature is less than a lower temperature threshold.Additionally, in some examples, the component temperature monitoring circuit 508 can instruct the slip condition identification circuit 502, the slip condition circuit 420, and, more generally, the MCU 262 to issue commands and / or otherwise cause the slip condition to throttle if the component temperatures are not within satisfactory operating temperature limits or thresholds. The component temperature monitoring circuit 508 can retrieve component temperature thresholds from the database 518 or otherwise obtain them. In some examples, the component temperature monitoring circuit 508 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes system temperature monitoring instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those illustrated by the flowchart in Fig. 6. The exemplary slip determination circuit 532 determines a desired slip for the fluid coupling 210 (e.g., between the output shaft 214 and the drive shaft 216) to achieve a desired energy loss associated with the slip condition requirement. For example, the slip determination circuit 532 can determine the desired slip to achieve a desired energy loss associated with the slip condition requirement based on information from the sensors 260 and / or the MCU 262. In some examples, the slip determination circuit 532 determines the desired slip for the slip condition requirement via a loss-to-slip lookup table in the database 518. In some examples, the slip determination circuit 532 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes slip determination instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those shown in the flowcharts in Fig.to carry out as shown in 6-8. The exemplary torque multiplier circuit 534 determines a torque multiplication of the fluid coupling 210 based on the specified motor speed and the desired slip between the output shaft 214 and the drive shaft 216, which is associated with achieving the requested loss. In some examples, the torque multiplier circuit 534 identifies the torque multiplication based on information from the sensors 260 and / or the MCU 262. In some examples, the torque multiplier circuit 534 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes torque multiplication instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those illustrated by the flowcharts in Figures 6-8. The exemplary state-of-charge (SOC) detection circuit 536 determines whether the state of charge of the EV 100 battery is greater than a state-of-charge threshold (e.g., a charge threshold, a charge capacity threshold). For example, the SOC detection circuit 536 can determine whether the state of charge of the EV 100 battery is greater than the state-of-charge threshold (e.g., 98%, 95%, 90%, etc.). In some examples, the SOC detection circuit 536 is instantiated by a programmable circuit that executes state-of-charge detection instructions and / or is configured to perform operations such as those shown in the flowchart in Fig. 8. While Fig. 5 illustrates an exemplary way of implementing the slip determination circuit 420 from Fig. 4, one or more of the elements, processes, and / or devices illustrated in Fig. 5 may be combined, divided, rearranged, omitted, deleted, and / or otherwise implemented. Furthermore, the exemplary ... and / or more generally, the exemplary slip condition circuit 420 from Fig. 5 may be implemented by hardware alone or by hardware in combination with software and / or firmware. Thus, for example, any of the exemplary slip condition identification circuit 502, the exemplary cabin temperature determination circuit 504, the exemplary battery temperature determination circuit 506, the exemplary component temperature monitoring circuit 508, the exemplary vehicle speed detection circuit 510, the exemplary brake circuit 512, could be implemented.the exemplary clutch control circuit 514, the exemplary engine speed determination circuit 516, the exemplary database 518, the exemplary engine speed determination circuit 520, the exemplary determination circuit 522 for mechanical power, the exemplary energy loss detection circuit 524, the exemplary valve operator circuit 528, the exemplary slip determination circuit 532, the exemplary torque multiplication circuit 534 and the exemplary regeneration brake circuit 536 and / or more generally the exemplary slip condition circuit 420 from Fig. 5 by a programmable circuit in combination with machine-readable instructions (e.g. firmware or software), a processor circuit, an analog circuit, a digital circuit, a logic circuit, a programmable processor, a programmable microcontroller, a graphics processing unit (GPU(s)),(a) digital signal processor(s) (DSP(s)), (a) ASIC(s), (a) programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and / or (a) field-programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)), such as FPGAs, may be implemented. Furthermore, the exemplary slip condition circuit 420 from Fig. 5 may include one or more elements, one or more processes and / or one or more devices in addition to or instead of those illustrated in Fig. 5 and / or it may include more than one of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes and devices. Flowcharts representing exemplary machine-readable instructions that can be executed by programmable circuits to implement and / or instantiate the exemplary slip condition circuit 420 from Fig. 5, and / or exemplary operations that can be performed by a programmable circuit to implement and / or instantiate the slip condition circuit 420 from Fig. 5, are shown in Figs. 6-8. The machine-readable instructions can be one or more executable programs or (one) section(s) of one or more executable programs for execution by a programmable circuit, such as the programmable circuit 912 shown in the exemplary programmable circuit platform 900, which is described below in conjunction with Fig.9 is discussed, and / or may be one or more functions or sections of functions to be performed by the exemplary programmable circuit. In some examples, the machine-readable instructions cause an operation, task, etc., to be carried out automatically in the real world. As used herein, "automated" means without human intervention. The program(s) may be implemented as instructions (e.g., software and / or firmware) stored on one or more non-transient computer-readable and / or machine-readable storage media, such as cache memory, a magnetic storage device or disk (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk drive (HDD), etc.), an optical storage device or disk (e.g., a Blu-ray disc, a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), etc.), a redundant array of independent hard disks (RAID), a register, ROM, a solid-state drive (SSD), SSD memory, non-volatile memory (e.g., electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, etc.), volatile memory (e.g., random-access memory (RAM) of any type, etc.), and / or any other storage device or disk.The instructions of the non-transitory computer-readable and / or machine-readable medium can program and / or be executed by programmable circuits located in one or more hardware devices. However, the entire program and / or parts thereof can alternatively be executed and / or instantiated by one or more hardware devices other than the programmable circuit and / or implemented as dedicated hardware. The machine-readable instructions can be distributed across multiple hardware devices and / or executed by two or more hardware devices (e.g., a server and a client hardware device). For example, the client hardware device can be an endpoint client hardware device (e.g., a hardware device associated with a human and / or machine user) or an intermediate client hardware device gateway (e.g., a server).a radio access network (RAN) that can enable communication between a server and an endpoint client hardware device. Similarly, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium can include one or more media. Although the exemplary program is described with reference to the flowcharts illustrated in Figures 6-8, many other methods can alternatively be used to implement the exemplary slip condition circuit 420 from Figure 5. For example, the order of execution of the blocks of the flowcharts can be changed, and / or some of the described blocks can be modified, eliminated, duplicated, or combined. Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks of the flowchart can be implemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g.,A programmable circuit can be a processor circuit, discrete and / or integrated analog and / or digital circuit, an ASIC, a comparator, an operational amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc., structured to perform the corresponding operation without executing software or firmware. The programmable circuit can be distributed across different network locations and / or locally on one or more hardware devices (e.g., a single-core processor (e.g., a single-core CPU), a multi-core processor (e.g., a multi-core CPU, an XPU, etc.)). For example, the programmable circuit could be a CPU located in the same package (e.g., a CPU, a CPU, a CPU, a CPU, a CPU, etc.).in the same package of an integrated circuit (IC) or in two or more separate packages), one or more processors in a single machine, multiple processors distributed across multiple servers of a server rack, multiple processors distributed across one or more server racks, etc. and / or any combination(s) thereof. The machine-readable instructions described herein may be stored in one or more compressed, encrypted, fragmented, compiled, executable, packed, and other formats. Machine-readable instructions, as described herein, may be stored as data (e.g., computer-readable data, machine-readable data, one or more bits (e.g., one or more computer-readable bits, one or more machine-readable bits, etc.), a bitstream (e.g., a computer-readable bitstream, a machine-readable bitstream, etc.) or a data structure (e.g., as part(s) of instructions, code, representations of code, etc.) that can be used to create, manufacture, and / or generate machine-executable instructions. For example, the machine-readable instructions may be fragmented and stored on one or more storage devices, disks, and / or computing devices (e.g.,Machine-readable instructions may be stored on servers located at the same or different locations within a network or collection of networks (e.g., in the cloud, on edge devices, etc.). These instructions may require one or more operations of installation, modification, customization, updating, combining, augmentation, configuration, decryption, decompression, unpacking, distribution, reassignment, compilation, etc., to make them directly readable, interpretable, and / or executable by a computing device and / or other machine.For example, the machine-readable instructions may be stored in multiple parts, which are individually compressed, encrypted and / or stored on separate computing devices, the parts, when decrypted, decompressed and / or combined, forming a set of computer-executable and / or machine-executable instructions that implement one or more functions and / or operations that together may form a program, as described here. In another example, the machine-readable instructions might be stored in a state where they can be read by a programmable circuit, but require the addition of a library (e.g., a Dynamic Link Library (DLL)), a Software Development Kit (SDK), an Application Programming Interface (API), etc., to execute the machine-readable instructions on a specific computing device or other device. In yet another example, the machine-readable instructions might need to be configured (e.g., settings saved, data entered, network addresses recorded, etc.) before the machine-readable instructions and / or the corresponding program(s) can be executed, in whole or in part.Thus, machine-readable, computer-readable and / or machine-readable media, as used herein, may contain instructions and / or (a) program(s) regardless of the specific format or state of the machine-readable instructions and / or the program(s). The machine-readable instructions described herein can be represented by any past, present, or future instruction language, scripting language, programming language, etc. For example, the machine-readable instructions can be represented using any of the following languages: C, C++, Java, C#, Perl, Python, JavaScript, HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Structured Query Language (SQL), Swift, etc. As mentioned above, the exemplary operations from Figures 5-8 can be implemented using executable instructions (e.g., computer-readable and / or machine-readable instructions) stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readable and / or machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms non-transitory computer-readable medium, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, non-transitory machine-readable medium, and / or non-transitory machine-readable storage medium are expressly defined to include any type of computer-readable storage device and / or storage disk and to exclude signal propagation and transmission media.Examples of such non-transitory computer-readable medium, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, non-transitory machine-readable medium and / or non-transitory machine-readable storage medium include optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, a hard disk drive (HDD), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), a CD, a DVD, a cache, RAM of any type, a register and / or any other storage device or storage disk on which information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended periods, permanently, for short periods, for temporary buffering and / or intermediate storage of information).In this context, the terms "non-transitory computer-readable storage device" and "non-transitory machine-readable storage device" are defined as including any physical (mechanical, magnetic, and / or electrical) hardware for storing information, excluding signal propagation and transmission media. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage devices and / or non-transitory machine-readable storage devices include random-access memory of any type, read-only memory of any type, semiconductor memory, flash memory, optical disks, magnetic disks, disk drives, and / or RAID systems. As used herein, the term "device" refers to a physical construct, such as mechanical and / or electrical equipment, hardware, and / or a circuit, that is controlled by computer-readable instructions, machine-readable instructions, etc.may or may not be configured, etc., and / or are manufactured to execute computer-readable instructions, machine-readable instructions, etc. Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary machine-readable instructions and / or exemplary operations 600 that can be executed, instantiated, and / or performed by an exemplary programmable circuit to facilitate heat transfer and / or energy dissipation in the EV 100. Heat transfer and / or energy dissipation can contribute to the more efficient operation of the EV 100 and / or increase the service life of vehicle components, such as the electric motor 202. The exemplary machine-readable instructions and / or the exemplary operations 600 from Fig. 6 begin at block 602, where the exemplary slip condition circuit 420 monitors for a slip condition (e.g., a power loss or a discharge request). For example, the slip condition identification circuit 502 of the slip condition circuit 420 can monitor for a slip condition request (e.g., from the ECU). Additionally or alternatively, the slip condition identification circuit 502 can determine, based on information from the sensors 260 and / or the MCU 262, that the slip condition is to be triggered. At block 604, the slip condition circuit 420 determines whether a slip condition has been detected. If the slip condition has been detected, operations 600 proceed to block 606. Otherwise, operations 600 return to block 602 if the slip condition at block 604 has not been detected. In block 606, the slip condition circuit 420 determines whether the slip condition request relates to heating. For example, the slip condition identification circuit 502 can determine whether the slip condition operations are intended for heating a component and / or area of ​​the EV 100, such as the battery and / or the cabin of the EV 100, or for energy dissipation based on a regenerative braking event or condition. If the slip condition request relates at least partially to heating, operations 600 proceed to block 608. Otherwise, if the slip condition request relates to energy dissipation, operations 600 proceed to flowchart B and operations 800 from Fig. 8. In block 608, the slip condition circuit 420 determines whether the EV 100 is stationary. For example, the vehicle speed detection circuit 510 can determine whether the EV 100 is stopped and / or parked. If the vehicle speed detection circuit 510 determines in block 608 that the EV 100 is stationary, operations 600 proceed to block 610. Otherwise, if the vehicle speed detection circuit 510 determines in block 608 that the EV 100 is not stationary, operations 600 proceed to flowchart A and operations 700 from Fig. 7. In block 610, the slip condition circuit 420 applies the brake (e.g., an emergency brake, a foot brake, etc.) so that the EV 100 remains stationary during the slip condition event. If, for example, the slip condition is used while the EV 100 is stationary (e.g., to preheat an area and / or component of the EV 100), the brake circuit 512 causes a vehicle brake actuator 513 to apply the brakes of the EV 100, if not already applied, thus maintaining the stationary state of the EV 100. In block 612, the slip condition circuit 420 disengages / opens the locking clutch 212 to allow the fluid coupling 210 to slip (e.g., a slip condition). For example, the clutch control circuit 514 can cause the pressure fluid system 242 to disengage / open the locking clutch 212 to facilitate slippage between the output shaft 214 and the input shaft 216. In block 614, the slip condition circuit 420 determines a target electric motor speed that corresponds to the energy loss or slip condition requirement. For example, the motor speed determination circuit 516 can determine a speed at which the electric motor 202 must operate (e.g., in revolutions per minute (RPM)) to achieve the desired energy loss to generate sufficient heat for the heat distribution system 402. For example, the database 518 can contain a mapping of electric motor speeds to corresponding energy loss requirement values. Accordingly, the motor speed determination circuit 516 can retrieve the target electric motor speed from the database 518 and / or obtain it by other means. In block 616, the slip condition circuit 420 causes the electric motor 202 to operate at the target speed. For example, the motor speed determination circuit 516 can instruct the MCU 262 to operate the electric motor 202 at the target speed. In block 618, the slip condition circuit 420 detects a torque output from the electric motor 202 at the target speed. The motor torque determination circuit 520 determines, receives, and / or otherwise obtains, for example, a motor torque output from the electric motor 202. For example, the motor torque determination circuit 520 can receive motor torque values ​​from the MCU 262. In some examples, the motor torque determination circuit 520 calculates a motor torque output from the electric motor 202 based on a measured current drawn by the electric motor 202. In block 620, the slip condition circuit 420 estimates mechanical power dissipation based on the detected torque output. For example, the exemplary determination circuit 522 for mechanical power can estimate the mechanical power dissipation (e.g., in watts) based on the rotational speed of the electric motor 202 and the detected torque output. At block 622, the slip condition circuit 420 determines whether the requested loss has been achieved. For example, the energy loss detection circuit 524 can determine whether the estimated mechanical power dissipation is approximately equivalent to the energy dissipation value associated with the slip condition request (e.g., within 10% of it). That is, the energy loss detection circuit 524 determines whether the requested energy loss has been achieved if the estimated power dissipation is approximately equal to the requested energy loss. If the energy loss detection circuit 524 determines that the requested energy loss has been achieved at block 622, operations 600 proceed to block 624. If the energy loss detection circuit 524 determines that the requested energy loss has not yet been achieved at block 622, operations 600 return to block 614. In block 624, the slip condition circuit 420 determines whether a cabin temperature assigned to the EV 100 exceeds a target temperature. For example, the cabin temperature determination circuit 504 can identify the temperature of an EV 100 cabin, or a specific section of the cabin, based on information from sensors 260. Additionally, the cabin temperature determination circuit 504 can identify a target temperature assigned to the cabin or a section thereof, based on information from sensors 260. For example, the information from sensors 260 could include user input specifying the target temperature. If the cabin temperature determination circuit 504 determines in block 624 that the cabin temperature exceeds the target temperature, operations 600 skip to block 628.If, otherwise, the cabin temperature determination circuit 504 at block 624 determines that the cabin temperature does not exceed the target temperature, operations 600 proceed to block 626. In block 626, the slip condition circuit 420 controls the first fluid valve 414 and / or the third fluid valve 418 to transfer heat from the fluid coupling 210 to the cabin of the EV 100. For example, the valve operator circuit 528 can control the first fluid valve 414 and / or the third fluid valve 418 to cause the first fluid, which is assigned to the fluid coupling 210, to transfer heat to a second fluid, which is assigned to heating the cabin. In block 628, the slip condition circuit 420 determines whether a battery temperature exceeds a battery temperature threshold. For example, the battery temperature threshold may be predefined based on a lower temperature limit at which the EV 100's battery can operate. The battery temperature determination circuit 506 can determine the battery temperature based on information from the sensors 260. If, at block 638, the battery temperature determination circuit 506 determines that the battery temperature does not exceed the battery temperature threshold, operations 600 proceed to block 630. Conversely, if, at block 638, the battery temperature determination circuit 506 determines that the battery temperature exceeds the battery temperature threshold, operations 600 proceed to block 632. In block 630, the slip condition circuit 420 controls the second fluid valve 416 and / or the third fluid valve 418 to transfer heat from the fluid coupling 210 to the battery of the EV 100. For example, the slip condition circuit 420 can control the second fluid valve 416 and / or the third fluid valve 418 to cause the first fluid, which is associated with the fluid coupling 210, to transfer heat to a second fluid, which is associated with heating the battery. In block 632, the slip condition circuit 420 monitors (one) system temperature(s). For example, the component temperature monitoring circuit 508 can monitor, via sensors 260, the temperature of the electric motor 202, the fluid coupling 210, the battery and / or another component of the EV 100 that receives heat while the EV 100 is operating in slip condition. In block 634, the slip condition circuit 420 determines whether the system temperature(s) exceeds a temperature threshold(s). For example, the component temperature monitoring circuit 508 can determine whether the temperature of the electric motor 202, the fluid coupling 210, the battery, and / or another component of the EV 100 exceeds a temperature threshold assigned to the respective component. If the component temperature monitoring circuit 508 determines in block 634 that the system temperature exceeds the temperature threshold(s), operations 600 proceed to block 636. Otherwise, if the component temperature monitoring circuit 508 determines in block 634 that the component temperature does not exceed the temperature threshold(s), operations 600 return to block 602. In block 636, the slip condition circuit 420 reduces the loss requirement. For example, the motor speed determination circuit 516 can reduce a target speed for the electric motor 202 in order to reduce the temperature of the electric motor 202, the fluid coupling 210 and / or the first fluid. Fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary machine-readable instructions and / or exemplary operations 700 that can be executed, instantiated, and / or performed by an exemplary programmable circuit to facilitate vehicle operations that perform a slip condition request associated with a heat request when the EV 100 is moving (i.e., not stationary). The exemplary machine-readable instructions and / or exemplary operations 700 from Fig. 7 begin at block 702, where the slip condition circuit 420 disengages / opens the locking clutch 212 to allow the fluid coupling 210 to slip. For example, the clutch control circuit 514 can cause the pressure fluid system 242 to disengage / open the locking clutch 212 to facilitate slip between the output shaft 214 and the input shaft 216. In block 704, the exemplary slip determination circuit 420 determines a desired slip for the fluid coupling 210 to achieve a desired energy loss, which is associated with the slip condition requirement. For example, the slip determination circuit 532 can determine the desired slip based on information from the sensors 260 and / or the MCU 262. In some examples, the slip determination circuit 532 determines the desired slip via a loss-to-slip lookup table in the database 518. In block 706, the slip condition circuit 420 determines an engine speed required for the desired slip based on a vehicle command speed (e.g., a speed associated with a user input and / or a speed requested by a at least partially autonomous driving system). For example, the engine speed determination circuit 516 can determine the engine speed based on the desired slip and the vehicle command speed. In some examples, the engine speed determination circuit 516 determines the engine speed based on (i) a speed of the drive shaft 216 associated with the vehicle command speed, and (ii) a difference between a speed of the output shaft 214 and the speed of the drive shaft 216 providing the desired slip. In block 708, the slip condition circuit 420 determines a torque multiplication of the fluid coupling 210 based on the motor speed and the slip. For example, the torque multiplication circuit 534 can determine a torque multiplication based on the specified motor speed and the desired slip between the output shaft 214 and the input shaft 216. In block 710, the slip condition circuit 420 determines a desired motor torque output based on the specified torque multiplication to achieve the vehicle command speed. For example, the motor torque determination circuit 520 can determine the torque output for the electric motor 202 based on the torque multiplication and the vehicle command speed. At block 712, the slip control circuit 420 operates the electric motor 202 in a speed control mode to achieve the desired motor torque output corresponding to the vehicle command speed. For example, to operate the electric motor at the desired motor torque, the motor torque determination circuit 520 can cause the MCU 262 to set a voltage or frequency of an electronic signal supplied to the electric motor 202. Furthermore, the motor speed determination circuit 516 can maintain the electric motor 202 at the motor speed required for the desired slip by causing the MCU 262 to supply a current to the electric motor 202 corresponding to the determined motor speed. When operations 700 from Fig. 7 are complete, the control returns to operations 600 from Fig. 6 at block 624. Figure 8 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary machine-readable instructions and / or exemplary operations 800 that can be executed, instantiated, and / or performed by an exemplary programmable circuit to facilitate vehicle operations that perform a slip condition request when the loss mode request is not related to heating (i.e., a slip condition request during a regenerative braking event). The exemplary machine-readable instructions and / or exemplary operations 800 from Figure 8 begin at block 802, where the slip condition circuit 420 detects a regeneration energy loss request. In some examples, the MCU 262 determines, based on a gradient (e.g., slope or angle) of the EV 100 from an input received by an accelerometer, that the EV 100 is about to enter a regeneration mode. In block 804, the slip condition circuit 420 determines whether the battery charge capacity of the EV 100 exceeds a charge threshold. For example, the state-of-charge (SOC) determination circuit 536 can determine whether the battery charge capacity of the EV 100 is greater than the charge threshold (e.g., 98% of total capacity, 95% of total capacity, 90% of total capacity, etc.). If the SOC determination circuit 536 determines that the battery charge capacity exceeds the charge threshold, operations 800 proceed to block 820. Otherwise, if the SOC determination circuit 536 determines that the battery charge capacity does not exceed the charge threshold, operations 800 proceed to block 806. For example, energy generated by regenerative braking should be dissipated via fluid coupling when the battery has a charge capacity that it cannot accept any additional energy for. In block 806, the slip condition circuit 420 disengages / opens the locking clutch 212 to allow the fluid coupling 210 to slip. Accordingly, in block 806, the slip condition circuit 420 initiates a non-charging mode during a regenerative braking event. For example, the clutch control circuit 514 can cause the pressure fluid system 242 to disengage / open the locking clutch 212 to facilitate slip between the output shaft 214 and the input shaft 216. In block 808, the slip condition circuit 420 detects the rotational speed of the electric motor 202. For example, the motor speed determination circuit 516 can determine a rotational speed at which the electric motor 202 is to be operated based on information from the sensors 260 and / or the MCU 262. In block 810, the slip condition circuit 420 determines an output speed of the EV 100 (e.g., a speed of the drive shaft 216). For example, the slip condition circuit 420 can determine the speed of the EV 100 based on information from the sensors 260 and / or the MCU 262. In block 812, the exemplary slip determination circuit 420 determines a desired slip required to achieve an energy loss or energy dissipation associated with the slip condition requirement. For example, the slip determination circuit 532 can determine the desired slip to achieve a desired energy loss (e.g., a desired mechanical energy loss) associated with the slip condition via a loss-to-slip lookup table stored in database 518. In block 814, the slip conditioner circuit 420 operates the electric motor 202 in a speed control mode to maintain the desired slip in the fluid coupling 210. For example, the motor speed determination circuit 516 determines the motor speed based on the desired slip and the vehicle command speed requested by the user and / or an autonomous driving system. In some examples, the motor speed determination circuit 516 determines the motor speed based on (i) a speed of the drive shaft 216 that corresponds to the vehicle command speed, and (ii) a difference between a speed of the output shaft 214 and the speed of the drive shaft 216 that provides the desired slip. In block 816, the slip condition circuit 420 determines a torque multiplication of the fluid coupling 210 based on the motor speed and the slip. For example, the torque multiplication circuit 534 can determine a torque multiplication based on the specified motor speed and the desired slip between the output shaft 214 and the input shaft 216. In block 818, the slip condition circuit 420 determines a negative motor torque command based on the torque multiplication for a desired braking command. For example, the motor torque determination circuit 520 can determine the negative torque command for the electric motor 202 based on the torque multiplication and the vehicle command speed. In block 820, the slip condition circuit 420 sets a torque output by the electric motor 202 based on the specified negative torque command to achieve a desired braking operation and energy dissipation simultaneously. For example, to operate the electric motor at the desired motor torque, the motor torque determination circuit 520 can cause the MCU 262 to set a voltage or frequency of an electronic signal supplied to the electric motor 202. Furthermore, the motor speed determination circuit 516 can maintain the electric motor 202 at the motor speed required for the desired slip by causing the MCU 262 to supply a current to the electric motor 202 corresponding to the specified motor speed. After block 820, operations 800 revert to operations 600 from Fig. 6 at block 632. In block 822, the slip condition circuit 420 determines whether the battery temperature of the EV 100 exceeds a temperature threshold (e.g., a low temperature threshold, a temperature of approximately 0 degrees Celsius (°C), 32 degrees Fahrenheit (°F)). For example, the temperature threshold may be a minimum temperature value associated with improved performance and / or extended battery life. If, in block 822, the battery temperature detection circuit 506 determines that the battery temperature exceeds the temperature threshold, operations 800 proceed to block 824. Otherwise, if the battery temperature detection circuit 506 determines that the battery temperature does not exceed the battery temperature threshold, operations 800 proceed to block 806. In block 824, the slip condition circuit 420 engages / closes the locking clutch 212 to prevent slippage. For example, the clutch control circuit 514 can cause the pressure fluid system 242 to engage / close the locking clutch 212 to prevent slippage between the output shaft 214 and the input shaft 216. In block 826, the slip condition circuit 420 operates in a regenerative braking energy detection mode (e.g., a regeneration condition). After block 826, operations 800 revert to operations 600 from Fig. 6 at block 632. The preceding examples of machine-readable instructions and / or exemplary operations 600-800 can be used by the slip condition circuit 420 to control slip condition operations in a vehicle. Although each of the exemplary machine-readable instructions and / or exemplary operations 600-800 disclosed above has certain features, it is understood that it is not necessary for a specific feature of an example to be used exclusively with that example. Instead, any of the features described above and / or illustrated in the drawings can be combined with any of the examples, in addition to or instead of any of the other features of these examples. Features of one example do not mutually exclude features of another example. Instead, the scope of this disclosure includes any combination of any of the features. Fig. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary programmable circuit platform 900, structured to execute and / or instantiate the exemplary machine-readable instructions and / or exemplary operations from Figs. 6-8 to implement the exemplary slip condition circuit 420 from Figs. 3-5. The programmable circuit platform 900 can be, for example, a server, a PC, a workstation, a self-learning machine (e.g., a neural network), a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet), or any other portable device, or any other type of computing and / or electronic device. The programmable circuit platform 900 of the illustrated example includes a programmable circuit 912. The programmable circuit 912 of the illustrated example is hardware. For example, the programmable circuit 912 can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors, CPUs, GPUs, DSPs, and / or microcontrollers from any desired family or manufacturer. The programmable circuit 912 can be implemented by one or more semiconductor-based (e.g., silicon-based) devices.In this example, the programmable circuit 912 implements the slip condition circuit 420, the exemplary slip condition identification circuit 502, the exemplary cabin temperature determination circuit 504, the exemplary battery temperature determination circuit 506, the exemplary component temperature monitoring circuit 508, the exemplary vehicle speed detection circuit 510, the exemplary brake circuit 512, the exemplary clutch control circuit 514, the exemplary engine speed determination circuit 516, the exemplary engine torque determination circuit 520, the exemplary mechanical power determination circuit 522, the exemplary energy loss detection circuit 524, the exemplary valve operator circuit 528, the exemplary slip determination circuit 532, the exemplary torque multiplication circuit 534, and the exemplary regeneration brake circuit 536. The programmable circuit 912 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 913 (e.g., a cache, registers, etc.). The programmable circuit 912 of the illustrated example communicates via a bus 918 with a main memory 914, 916, which includes a volatile memory 914 and a non-volatile memory 916. The volatile memory 914 can be implemented as synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM), dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), dynamic RAMBUS® random-access memory (RDRAM®), and / or any other type of RAM device. The non-volatile memory 916 can be implemented as flash memory and / or any other desired type of storage device. Access to the main memory 914, 916 of the illustrated example is controlled by a memory controller 917.In some examples, the memory control 917 can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits, microcontrollers from any desired family or manufacturer, or any other type of circuit to handle the data flow to and from the main memory 914, 916. The programmable circuit platform 900 of the illustrated example also includes an interface circuit 920. The interface circuit 920 can be implemented by hardware according to any type of interface, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a Bluetooth® interface, a near field communication (NFC) interface, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) interface and / or a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interface. In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 922 are connected to the interface circuit 920. The input device(s) 922 enable(s) a user (e.g., a human user, a machine user, etc.) to input data and / or commands into the programmable circuit 912. The input device(s) 922 can be implemented, for example, by an audio sensor, a microphone, a camera (photo or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, a trackpad, a trackball, an isopoint device, and / or a speech recognition system. One or more output devices 924 are also connected to the interface circuit 920 from the illustrated example. The output device(s) 924 can be implemented, for example, as display devices (e.g., a light-emitting diode (LED), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube display (CRT), an in-place switching display (IPS), a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile output device, and / or a loudspeaker. The interface circuit 920 of the illustrated example therefore includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip, and / or a graphics driver processor circuit, such as a GPU. The interface circuit 920 of the illustrated example also includes a communication device, such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a modem, a home gateway, a wireless access point, and / or a network interface, to support data exchange with external machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network 926. Communication can be established, for example, via an Ethernet connection, a connection to a digital subscriber line (DSL), a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, a satellite system, a non-line-of-sight wireless system, a line-of-sight wireless system, a mobile phone system, an optical link, etc. The programmable circuit platform 900 of the illustrated example also includes one or more mass storage disks or devices 928 for storing firmware, software, and / or data. Examples of such mass storage disks or devices 928 include magnetic storage devices (e.g., floppy disks, drives, HDDs, etc.), optical storage devices (e.g., Blu-ray discs, CDs, DVDs, etc.), RAID systems, and / or semiconductor storage disks or devices, such as flash memory devices and / or SSDs. The machine-readable instructions 932, which may be implemented by the machine-readable instructions of Figs. 5-8, may be stored in the mass storage device 928, in the volatile memory 914, in the non-volatile memory 916 and / or on at least one permanent computer-readable storage medium, such as a CD or DVD, which may be removable. "Containing" and "comprising" (and all forms and tenses thereof) are used herein as open expressions. Thus, when any form of "containing" or "comprising" (e.g., encompassing, including, comprising, featuring, etc.) is used in a patent claim as a preamble or within a mention of any type of patent claim, it is understood that additional elements, expressions, etc., may be present without being outside the scope of the relevant patent claim or mention. As used herein, the phrase "at least," when used, for example, as a transitional phrase in a preamble of a patent claim, is just as open as the expressions "comprising" and "containing."The expression "and / or," when used, for example, in a form such as A, B and / or C, denotes any combination or subset of A, B, C, such as (1) only A, (2) only B, (3) only C, (4) A with B, (5) A with C, and (6) B with C, or (7) A with B and with C. As used in this writing in the context of describing constructions, components, elements, objects, and / or things, the phrase "at least one of A and B" is intended to refer to implementations that include any one of the following: (1) at least one of A, (2) at least one of B, or (3) at least one of A and at least one of B.Likewise, the phrase "at least one of A or B," as used in this document in the context of describing structures, components, elements, objects, and / or things, shall refer to implementations that include any one of the following: (1) at least one of A, (2) at least one of B, or (3) at least one of A and at least one of B. As used in this document in the context of describing the implementation or execution of processes, instructions, actions, activities, etc., the phrase "at least one of A and B" shall refer to implementations that include any one of the following: (1) at least one of A, (2) at least one of B, or (3) at least one of A and at least one of B. Likewise, the phrase "at least one of A or B," as used in this document in the context of describing the implementation or execution of processes, instructions, actions, activities, etc.used, to refer to transformations that include any one of the following: (1) at least one of A, (2) at least one of B, or (3) at least one of A and at least one of B. As used herein, singular references (e.g., "a," "a," "first," "second," etc.) do not preclude a plurality. The expression "a" object, as used herein, refers to one or more of these objects. The expressions "a," "one or more," and "at least one" are used interchangeably herein. Furthermore, although listed individually, a plurality of means, elements, or actions may be implemented, e.g., by the same entity or object. Additionally, although individual features may be included in different examples or claims, these may possibly be combined, and inclusion in different examples or claims does not imply that a combination of features is not possible and / or advantageous. As used herein, the term "above," unless otherwise specified, describes the relationship of two parts to the ground. A first part is above a second part if the second part has at least one part between the ground and the first part. Likewise, in this context, a first part is "below" a second part if the first part is closer to the ground than the second part. As noted above, a first part may be above or below a second part, with one or more of the following elements present: other parts in between, no other parts in between, the first and second parts touching, or without the first and second parts being in direct contact with each other. As used in this patent specification, the statement that any part (e.g., a layer, a film, an area, a region, or a plate) is located on another part in any way (e.g., positioned on it, lying on it, arranged on it, or formed on it, etc.) means that the part referred to is either in contact with the other part or that the part referred to is located above the other part with one or more intermediate part(s) in between. As used herein, connection references (e.g., attached, coupled, connected, and joined) may include intermediate elements between the elements referenced by the connection reference and / or relative movement between those elements, unless otherwise specified. Accordingly, connection references do not necessarily imply that two elements are directly connected and / or in a fixed relationship to one another. In the sense used herein, the statement that any one part is in "contact" with another part is defined as meaning that there is no intermediate element between the two parts. Unless expressly stated otherwise, descriptors such as "first," "second," "third," etc., are used herein without implying or otherwise indicating any significance of priority, physical order, arrangement in a list, and / or order. They are used merely as designations and / or arbitrary names to distinguish elements for a better understanding of the disclosed examples. In some examples, the descriptor "first" may be used in the detailed description to refer to an element, while the same element may be referred to in a claim by a different descriptor such as "second" or "third." In such cases, it is understood that such descriptors serve only to uniquely identify, within the context of the discussion (e.g., within a claim), the elements that might otherwise have the same name. In this context, "approximately" and "about" modify their subjects / values ​​to acknowledge the potential presence of variations that occur in real-world applications. For example, "approximately" and "about" may modify dimensions that, due to manufacturing tolerances and / or other real-world imperfections, as would be apparent to the average person skilled in the art, cannot be exact. For example, "approximately" and "about" may indicate that such dimensions may be within a tolerance range of + / -10%, unless otherwise stated herein. As used herein, “essentially real-time” refers to occurrence in a near-instantaneous manner, recognizing that there may be real delays for processing time, transmission, etc. Thus, unless otherwise specified, “essentially real-time” refers to real-time + 1 second. As used herein, the term “in communication”, including variations thereof, includes direct communication and / or indirect communication through one or more intermediary components and does not require direct physical (e.g., wired) communication and / or continuous communication, but rather additionally includes selective communication at periodic intervals, scheduled intervals, aperiodic intervals and / or at one-off events. For the purposes of this definition, a “programmable circuit” is defined as comprising: (i) one or more specialized electrical circuits (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) designed to perform a specific operation and incorporating one or more semiconductor-based logic devices (e.g., electrical hardware implemented by one or more transistors); and / or (ii) one or more general-purpose electrical circuits programmable with instructions to perform a specific function and / or operation and incorporating one or more semiconductor-based logic devices (e.g., electrical hardware implemented by one or more transistors). Examples of programmable circuits include programmable microprocessors, such as central processing units (CPUs).that can execute first instructions to perform one or more operations and / or functions, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that can be programmed with second instructions to effect a configuration and / or construction of the FPGAs so that they instantiate one or more operations and / or functions corresponding to the first instructions, graphics processing units (GPUs) that can execute first instructions to perform one or more operations and / or functions, digital signal processors (DSPs) that can execute first instructions to perform one or more operations and / or functions, XPUs, network processing units (NPUs), one or more microcontrollers that can execute first instructions to perform one or more operations and / or functions, and / or integrated circuits,such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). For example, an XPU can be implemented by a heterogeneous computing system that includes several types of programmable circuitry (e.g., one or more FPGAs, one or more CPUs, one or more GPUs, one or more NPUs, one or more DSPs, etc., and / or any combination thereof) and orchestration technology (e.g., application programming interface(s) - API(s)) that can assign computational task(s) to the one or more types of programmable circuitry that are suitable and available to perform the computational task(s). In this context, an integrated circuit is defined as one or more semiconductor devices containing one or more circuit elements, such as transistors, capacitors, inductors, resistors, current paths, diodes, etc. For example, an integrated circuit can be implemented as one or more ASICs, FPGAs, chips, microchips, programmable circuits, semiconductor substrates coupling multiple circuit elements, systems-on-chips (SoCs), etc. From the foregoing, it is understood that exemplary systems, devices, manufactured articles, and processes have been disclosed that utilize fluid coupling for heating and / or energy dissipation in electric vehicles. Further examples and combinations thereof include the following: Example 1 includes a device comprising a torque converter that serves to operatively couple an output shaft of an electric motor and a drive shaft of a vehicle; a coupling that is movable between an engaged position and a disengaged position, wherein the coupling serves to fluidically couple the output shaft and the drive shaft via a first fluid of the torque converter when the coupling is in the disengaged position, wherein the coupling serves to mechanically couple the output shaft and the drive shaft when the coupling is in the engaged position; and a heating system configured toto extract heat from the first fluid of the torque converter to raise the temperature of a second fluid, wherein the second fluid is used to supply heat to at least one of the vehicle's cabins or vehicle batteries. Example 2 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the heating system includes a heat exchanger, the heat exchanger having a first inlet to receive the first fluid and a first outlet to return the first fluid to the torque converter, the heat exchanger having a second inlet to receive the second fluid and a second outlet to expel the second fluid, the second fluid extracting heat from the first fluid as the first and second fluids pass through the heat exchanger. Example 3 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the heat exchanger is a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, a shell and tube heat exchanger, or a plate heat exchanger.a brazed plate heat exchanger, a round tube finned (RTPF) heat exchanger, or a microchannel heat exchanger. Example 4 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the coupling serves to allow slip between the output shaft and the input shaft when the coupling is in the disengaged position, and wherein the coupling serves to prevent slip between the output shaft and the input shaft when the coupling is in the engaged position. Example 5 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the torque converter is a hydraulic torque converter. Example 6 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the torque converter includes a turbine wheel and a pump wheel, wherein the pump wheel is coupled to the output shaft and the turbine wheel is coupled to the input shaft. Example 7 includes the apparatus of Example 6.where the coupling is slidably coupled to the turbine wheel. Example 8 includes the arrangement according to Example 7, wherein the first fluid of the torque converter generates heat when the coupling is disengaged and the pump wheel rotates at a first speed that differs from a second speed of the turbine wheel. Example 9 includes the arrangement according to Example 1, wherein the heating system includes a first valve that is operatively coupled to the torque converter, wherein the first valve is movable between a first open position and a first closed position, wherein the first valve in the first open position serves to allow the first fluid from the torque converter to flow through the heating system, wherein the first valve in the closed position serves to prevent the first fluid from the torque converter from flowing to the heating system. Example 10 includes the arrangement according to Example 9.further comprising a control mechanism that causes the first valve to move to the first open position in response to the detection of a torque converter slip condition of the vehicle. Example 11 comprises the arrangement of Example 10, further comprising a second valve fluidically coupled to the clutch, wherein the second valve is movable between a second open position and a second closed position, wherein in the second open position the second valve causes the clutch to move to the engaged position to mechanically couple the output shaft and the input shaft, and in the second closed position the second valve causes the clutch to move to the disengaged position to fluidly couple the output shaft and the input shaft. Example 12 comprises the arrangement of Example 1, further comprising a control circuit, wherein the control circuit is used toto cause the clutch to move into the disengaged position in response to the detection of at least one of (1) a vehicle cabin temperature that is less than a cabin command temperature, or (2) a battery system temperature that is less than a battery temperature threshold. Example 13 includes the device of Example 12, further comprising a control circuit, wherein the control circuit causes the torque converter clutch to move into the disengaged position in response to the detection of (1) a vehicle battery system charge level that is greater than a charge threshold, and (2) that the vehicle is operating in a regeneration condition. Example 14 includes the device of Example 1, wherein the first fluid is oil and the second fluid is coolant. Example 15 includes a device comprising an electric motor having an output shaft, a drive shaft,which serves to drive one or more wheels of a vehicle, a fluid torque converter which serves to operatively couple the output shaft of the electric motor and the drive shaft, a clutch which is movable between an engaged position and a disengaged position, wherein the clutch serves to fluidly couple the output shaft of the electric motor and the drive shaft when the clutch is in the disengaged position, wherein the clutch serves to allow the electric motor to bypass the fluid torque converter in order to mechanically couple the output shaft of the electric motor and the drive shaft when the clutch is in the engaged position, an interface circuit,Machine-readable instructions and a programmable circuit for instantiating or executing at least one of the machine-readable instructions for detecting a torque converter slip condition request and moving the clutch to the disengaged position in response to at least one of determining a cabin temperature that is less than a cabin temperature threshold, determining a battery temperature that is less than a battery temperature threshold, or determining a regeneration mode, and at least one of determining a battery state of charge that exceeds a charge capacity threshold, or the battery temperature that is less than the battery temperature threshold. Example 16 includes the apparatus of Example 15, wherein the programmable circuit is used to cause, in response to the detection of the torque converter slip condition and the clutch being in the disengaged position,that a fluid valve moves into an open position to allow fluid to flow from the torque converter to a heat exchanger. Example 17 includes the apparatus of Example 15, wherein determining the regeneration mode involves receiving a request from an engine control unit. Example 18 includes at least one non-transient machine-readable medium comprising machine-readable instructions to direct at least one processor circuit to detect a torque converter slip condition request, detect a cabin temperature, determine a battery temperature, determine a battery state-of-charge capacity, detect a non-regeneration mode or a regeneration mode, and, in response to the detection of the non-regeneration mode, cause a torque converter clutch to disengage in response to at least one of the following:that the cabin temperature is less than a cabin temperature threshold, or determining that a battery temperature is less than a battery temperature threshold, to move to a disengaged position, or in response to the detection of the regeneration mode, to cause the torque converter clutch to move to the disengaged position in response to at least one of these: that the battery state of charge exceeds a charge capacity threshold or that the battery temperature does not exceed the battery temperature threshold. Example 19 includes the at least one non-transient machine-readable medium from Example 18, wherein the machine-readable instructions are to cause, in response to the detection of the torque converter slip condition and the clutch in the disengaged position, a fluid valve to move to an open position to allow,that fluid flows from the torque converter to a heat exchanger. Example 20 includes the at least one non-transient machine-readable medium from Example 18, wherein the machine-readable instructions are used to receive a torque converter slip condition from an electric motor control unit in order to detect the torque converter slip condition request. The following patent claims are hereby incorporated into this detailed description by reference. Although certain exemplary systems, devices, manufactured products, and processes are disclosed herein, the scope of protection of this patent is not limited to them. On the contrary, this patent specification covers all systems, devices, manufactured products, and processes that legally fall within the scope of the patent claims of this patent specification.

Claims

A device comprising: a torque converter serving to operatively couple an output shaft of an electric motor and a drive shaft of a vehicle; a clutch movable between an engaged position and a disengaged position, wherein the clutch serves to fluidically couple the output shaft and the drive shaft via a first fluid of the torque converter when the clutch is in the disengaged position, and wherein the clutch serves to mechanically couple the output shaft and the drive shaft when the clutch is in the engaged position; and a heating system serving to extract heat from the first fluid of the torque converter in order to raise the temperature of a second fluid, wherein the second fluid serves to provide heat to at least one vehicle cabin or vehicle battery. Device according to claim 1, wherein the heating system includes a heat exchanger, the heat exchanger having a first inlet to receive the first fluid and a first outlet to return the first fluid to the torque converter, the heat exchanger having a second inlet to receive the second fluid and a second outlet to expel the second fluid, the second fluid extracting heat from the first fluid as the first fluid and the second fluid pass through the heat exchanger. Device according to claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger is a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, a shell and tube heat exchanger, a plate heat exchanger, a brazed plate heat exchanger, a round tube finned (RTPF) heat exchanger or a microchannel heat exchanger. Device according to claim 1, wherein the clutch serves to allow slippage between the output shaft and the drive shaft when the clutch is in the disengaged position, wherein the clutch serves to prevent slippage between the output shaft and the drive shaft when the clutch is in the engaged position. Device according to claim 1, wherein the torque converter is a hydraulic torque converter. Device according to claim 1, wherein the torque converter includes a turbine wheel and a pump wheel, wherein the pump wheel is coupled to the output shaft and the turbine wheel is coupled to the drive shaft. Device according to claim 6, wherein the coupling is slidably coupled to the turbine wheel. Device according to claim 7, wherein the first fluid of the torque converter serves to generate heat when the clutch is disengaged and the pump wheel rotates at a first speed which differs from a second speed of the turbine wheel. Device according to claim 1, wherein the heating system includes a first valve which is operatively coupled to the torque converter, wherein the first valve is movable between a first open position and a first closed position, wherein the first valve in the first open position serves to allow the first fluid from the torque converter to flow through the heating system, wherein the first valve in the closed position serves to prevent the first fluid from the torque converter from flowing to the heating system. Device according to claim 9, further comprising a control system that serves to cause the first valve to move into the first open position in response to the detection of a torque converter slip condition of the vehicle. The device according to claim 10, further comprising a second valve fluidly coupled to the coupling, wherein the second valve is movable between a second open position and a second closed position; wherein in the second open position the second valve causes the coupling to move into the engaged position to mechanically couple the output shaft and the input shaft; and wherein in the second closed position the second valve causes the coupling to move into the disengaged position to fluidly couple the output shaft and the input shaft. Device according to claim 1, further comprising a control circuit, wherein the control circuit serves to cause the clutch to move into the disengaged position in response to the detection of at least one of: (1) a cabin temperature of the vehicle that is less than a cabin command temperature, or (2) a battery system temperature that is less than a battery temperature threshold. Device according to claim 12, further comprising a control circuit, wherein the control circuit causes the clutch of the torque converter to move into the disengaged position in response to the detection of: (1) a charge status of the vehicle's battery system that is greater than a charge threshold value; and (2) that the vehicle is operating in a regeneration condition. The device according to claim 1, further comprising: an interface circuit; machine-readable instructions; and a programmable circuit for instantiating or executing at least one of the machine-readable instructions for: detecting a torque converter slip condition request; and moving the clutch to the disengaged position in response to at least one of the following: determining a cabin temperature that is less than a cabin temperature threshold; determining a battery temperature that is less than a battery temperature threshold; or determining a regeneration mode and at least one of determining a battery charge level that exceeds a charge capacity threshold or a battery temperature that is less than the battery temperature threshold. Device according to claim 14, wherein the programmable circuit serves to cause, in response to the detection of the torque converter slip condition and the clutch in the disengaged position, a fluid valve to move into an open position to allow fluid to flow from the torque converter to a heat exchanger.

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