Vehicle Electronic Fuse with Predictive Current Shutdown
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle electrical systems face challenges in achieving flexible, modular, and efficient energy distribution with precise control over current flow, particularly in high-voltage environments, while ensuring rapid shutdown and minimal material usage to reduce weight and energy consumption.
Innovation Solution
Implementing electronically controllable fuses with integrated control devices that monitor and manage current flow, communicate via data buses, and rapidly switch off circuits based on polynomial modeling and real-time data analysis to emulate traditional fuse behavior, allowing for decentralized, tree-structured energy distribution networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If electronically controllable fuses are implemented with integrated control devices for monitoring and managing current flow, then precise control and rapid response times are achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control device is integrated directly into the electronic fuse housing, combining the circuit breaker, control electronics, and communication interface into a single unified component. This integration enables precise current monitoring and rapid response while reducing the overall system complexity compared to distributed control architectures.
Solution Approach 2:
The electronic fuse includes an integrated polynomial modeling module that automatically models the thermal behavior of protected lines and autonomously determines shutdown thresholds without requiring external control systems. This self-service capability achieves precise control while reducing device complexity by eliminating the need for separate control units.
2Adaptability or versatility
If decentralized, tree-structured energy distribution networks are implemented, then adaptability and modular flexibility are improved, but device complexity and installation complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The energy distribution network is divided into independent, modular electronic fuse units that can be individually installed and configured. Each fuse operates autonomously with integrated control, allowing the system to be scaled and adapted to different vehicle configurations without requiring complex centralized control infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
A data bus serves as an intermediary communication medium between electronic fuse units, enabling them to exchange information and coordinate operations. This standardized communication interface simplifies the integration of modular units into decentralized tree-structured networks, reducing installation complexity while maintaining high adaptability.
3Manufacturing precision
If polynomial modeling is used to model thermal behavior and determine shutdown thresholds, then manufacturing precision and protection accuracy are improved, but computational requirements and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
Polynomial models of thermal behavior are pre-calculated and stored in the electronic fuse memory during the manufacturing process. During operation, the fuse simply evaluates these pre-computed models against real-time current measurements, achieving high protection accuracy without requiring complex real-time computations that would increase processing time.
4Reliability
If rapid shutdown is implemented to minimize side effects, then safety is improved, but use of energy and potential disruption to system operation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The electronic fuse implements graded shutdown strategies based on the severity and type of fault detected. Instead of always performing complete system shutdowns, the fuse applies partial shutdowns that isolate only the affected circuit segments, thereby maintaining safety while minimizing energy waste and disruption to unrelated system operations.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An electronic fuse for a vehicle is described, which can be used to monitor operating parameters, for example of the vehicle's supply network, in order to carry out reconfigurations on the supply network or to disconnect electrical consumers of the vehicle if it is foreseeable that the electrical power that can currently be made available is not sufficient, for example, to supply all of the operated consumers with electricity or if this should apply to individual consumers.