Redundant Low-Voltage Battery System for Electric Vehicles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face safety risks due to single-point failures in low-voltage power systems, which can lead to unsafe operating conditions if the low-voltage power source fails, especially during autonomous operation.
Innovation Solution
A redundant low-voltage battery system with two independent modules connected to a common bus, each equipped with isolation components and fault monitoring circuits, allowing the system to maintain safe operation even if one module fails, with a controller monitoring and controlling the state of both modules to ensure continuous power supply.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single low-voltage power source is used in the vehicle, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability deteriorates due to single-point failures
Solution Approach 1:
The low-voltage power system is divided into multiple independent power sources (first low-voltage power source and second low-voltage power source), each capable of independently providing power to the vehicle. This segmentation eliminates single-point failures by distributing the power supply function across multiple components, thereby improving reliability while maintaining manageable system complexity through modular architecture.
2Reliability
If redundant power sources are added to eliminate single-point failures, then the reliability improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary fault detection and isolation actions through monitoring circuits that continuously assess the state of each power source. When a fault is detected in one power source, the system proactively isolates it and switches to the redundant power source before the failure affects vehicle operation, thereby maintaining autonomous operation reliability without requiring complex real-time control systems.
3Reliability
If isolation components are added to each power module, then the reliability improves through fault isolation, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Each power module is segmented with its own isolation component (first isolation component for the first power source, second isolation component for the second power source), allowing independent fault containment. This modular segmentation enables reliable fault isolation while keeping individual module complexity low, as each module remains a self-contained unit with standardized components.
Data Source
AI summary
In one aspect, a power system comprises a power bus, a plurality of energy-storage modules, and a controller. Each energy-storage module is coupled to the power bus and comprises an energy-storage device configured to store energy, an electrical circuit safety device configured to detect safe power conditions in the energy-storage module and break an electrical circuit within the energy-storage module based on a detection of unsafe power conditions in the energy-storage module, and a switch configured to selectively couple the energy-storage device to the power bus. The controller is configured to monitor a state of each of the plurality of energy-storage modules and control a state of the power system based on the state of each of the plurality of energy-storage modules.