Shared Backup Power Isolation for Autonomous Vehicle Power Domains
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles require robust and redundant power systems to ensure safe operation, but existing backup power systems are often heavy, costly, and complex, and there is a need for efficient isolation of power domain failures to prevent wider system failures.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of independent low voltage power domains with failsafe switches and a shared backup power source, allowing for quick isolation of faulty domains and reducing weight and complexity by enabling multiple domains to share a single backup power source.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple independent backup power sources are provided for each power domain, then reliability is improved, but weight and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple power domains share a single common backup power source instead of each domain having its own dedicated backup source. The failsafe switches enable selective connection of individual power domains to the shared backup source, reducing overall system complexity and weight while maintaining reliability through the failsafe isolation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The power distribution system is segmented into multiple independent power domains, each with its own failsafe switch that can independently connect or disconnect from the shared backup power source. This segmentation allows isolated fault containment while sharing common backup resources.
2Reliability
If failsafe switches are added to isolate power domains, then reliability is improved through failure isolation, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Failsafe switches are introduced as intermediary components between the backup power source and individual power domains. These switches act as mediators that can selectively connect or disconnect power domains from the backup source, enabling failure isolation without requiring complex reconfiguration of the entire power system.
3Weight of moving object
If a shared backup power source is used for multiple domains, then weight and cost are reduced, but the ability to isolate failures is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The connection topology between the shared backup power source and power domains is made dynamic through failsafe switches. These switches can change the system configuration in real-time, connecting individual domains to the backup source during normal operation and isolating them when faults are detected, thus maintaining both weight efficiency and failure isolation capability.
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomous vehicle can include multiple low voltage power domains. Each low voltage power domain can comprise a low voltage power distribution unit (LVPDU). An LVPDU can include a failsafe switch that can selectively couple or de-couple the low voltage power domain from a shared backup low voltage power source, which can be configured to concurrently supply backup power multiple low voltage power domains or LVPDUs. A first LVPDU of a first low voltage power domain can generate a control signal to control the failsafe switch of a second LVPDU of the second low voltage power domain to disconnect the second low voltage power domain from the shared low voltage backup power source, and vice versa.