Adaptive Battery Charging Profiles for Uneven Aging Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing charging strategies for device batteries, particularly vehicle batteries, fail to account for individual user behavior, leading to uneven aging due to varying loads from charging and discharging currents, temperatures, and fast charging cycles, which affects compliance with warranty conditions.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for adjusting charging profiles based on individual usage patterns by clustering batteries with similar load and aging states, assigning customized profiles to reduce stress and optimize aging behavior, involving a central unit for data processing and profile adjustment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single predetermined charging profile is used for all device batteries, then the charging operation can be simplified and standardized, but the individual aging behavior of each battery cannot be accounted for, leading to uneven aging and potential warranty non-compliance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the fleet of device batteries into multiple groups based on their aging states and usage patterns. Each group is assigned a specific charging profile tailored to its characteristics. This segmentation allows the system to move from a single standardized profile to multiple customized profiles, addressing individual battery needs while maintaining overall system manageability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a dynamic charging profile adjustment mechanism where profiles are continuously optimized based on monitored aging states and usage patterns. The system periodically updates charging profiles to reflect changing battery conditions, transforming the static predetermined profiles into dynamic, adaptive profiles that respond to individual battery evolution over time.
2Manufacturing precision
If extensive laboratory measurements are conducted to create an optimized charging profile, then the charging duration and aging behavior can be optimized, but the profile cannot account for varying user behaviors and individual usage patterns
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where actual usage data and aging states from the field are continuously monitored and fed back to the profile optimization process. This feedback loop allows the system to refine and adjust charging profiles based on real-world performance, combining the initial laboratory-optimized profiles with ongoing empirical data to create increasingly accurate and adaptive charging strategies.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary optimization of charging profiles through extensive laboratory measurements before deployment, establishing a solid foundation of scientifically validated charging strategies. This preliminary action ensures that the base profiles are already optimized for various battery types and conditions, and subsequent field adjustments build upon this pre-established optimization rather than starting from scratch.
3Productivity
If the charging current is increased to reduce charging time, then the charging duration is shortened, but the load on the device battery increases, accelerating aging and potentially compromising warranty conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the principle of local quality by tailoring charging current levels to the specific local conditions of each battery group's aging state and usage pattern. Instead of applying a uniform high current to all batteries, the system adjusts current levels locally for each group, allowing higher currents for batteries in better condition and lower currents for those showing signs of aging, thereby optimizing charging speed for each individual case without uniformly accelerating degradation.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for determining charging profiles for device batteries of battery-operated devices. In one instance, the method includes selecting device batteries having the same usage-related load and the same aging state; dividing the selected device batteries into groups; assigning different charging profiles to the groups of device batteries, wherein the charging profiles indicate for a charging operation a maximum permissible charging current depending on a charge level range; operating the device batteries of all groups with the respectively assigned charging profiles for a predetermined period of time, so that charging operations are executed depending on the respectively assigned charging profile; detecting a change in the average aging state for each group of device batteries between the beginning of the predetermined time period and the end of the predetermined time period; and adjusting the charging profile depending on the change in the average aging state.