ENERGY MANAGEMENT IN ELECTRIC VEHICLE ENGINEERING ____________

A Project Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Chico ____________

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies Electric Vehicle Engineering ____________

by Friedrich J. Kirk 2011 Spring 2011

ENERGY MANAGEMENT IN ELECTRIC VEHICLE ENGINEERING

A Project by Friedrich J. Kirk Spring 2011

APPROVED BY THE DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND VICE PROVOST FOR RESEARCH:

Katie Milo, Ed.D.

APPROVED BY THE GRADUATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE:

_________________________________ Sara Trechter, Ph.D. Graduate Coordinator

_________________________________ Michael G. Ward, Ph.D., Chair

_________________________________ Adel Ghandakly, Ph.D.

_________________________________ Gregory A. Kallio, Ph.D.

PUBLICATION RIGHTS

No portion of this project may be reprinted or reproduced in any manner unacceptable to the usual copyright restrictions without the written permission of the author.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to express my deepest appreciation for the love and support given by my wife, Wilma. I would also like to thank Dr. Michael Ward for the support, encouragement, and advice he has given over the years, especially within the constraints of his demanding schedule. I would also like to thank my parents, James and Sylvia Kirk, for instilling in me the curiosity and passion for studying advanced technical topics. Their love, advice, and support are invaluable for any project.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

Publication Rights ...................................................................................................... Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................... List of Tables.............................................................................................................. List of Figures............................................................................................................. List of Nomenclature.................................................................................................. Abstract....................................................................................................................... CHAPTER I. Introduction .............................................................................................. Background................................................................................... Literature Review ......................................................................... Project Scope ................................................................................ II. The Charging System ............................................................................... Safety Considerations................................................................... Convenience Features................................................................... Charger Input Power..................................................................... Charger Output Power.................................................................. Lithium Ion Charge Termination Methods................................... Power Converters ......................................................................... Design Challenges ........................................................................ Design Implementation ................................................................ Charging System Testing ............................................................. Charging System Conclusion .......................................................

iii iv vii viii x xiv

1 1 4 6 8 8 9 10 10 11 12 14 17 40 54

CHAPTER III. The Battery Management System ............................................................ Safety............................................................................................ Battery Pack Status....................................................................... Fuel Gauge.................................................................................... Cell Balancing .............................................................................. Design Implementation ................................................................ Battery Management System Testing........................................... Battery Management System Conclusion .................................... IV. Conclusions and Recommendations......................................................... Conclusions .................................................................................. Recommendations ........................................................................ References ..................................................................................................................

PAGE 56 57 58 58 58 60 107 116 118 118 119 121

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LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Charger Specifications .............................................................................. Detailed Charger Design Specifications ................................................... Tested States of Charger Power Control................................................... Tested States of Sleep Control.................................................................. Tested States of Temperature Sensor........................................................ Tested States of Inrush Protection ............................................................ Tested States of Overvoltage/GFI Protection ........................................... Electric Drive System Shutdown Modes .................................................. Cell Module Specifications....................................................................... Central Control Hub Specifications.......................................................... Tested States of Main Contractor Control ................................................ Tested States of GFI Control .................................................................... Tested States of Charger Power Control................................................... Tested States of Charger Sleep Control.................................................... Tested States of Plugged-In Sensor ..........................................................

PAGE 18 32 46 46 46 47 48 65 67 81 111 112 112 113 113

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LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. Switching Buck-Mode Power Supply....................................................... Boost Mode Switching Supply ................................................................. Schematic of Boost Circuit with Infineon Control IC .............................. Schematic of Charger Circuit ................................................................... Circuit Layout for Charger Circuit Board................................................. Complete Charger Circuit Board .............................................................. Solid Model of Charger and BMS Control ............................................... Charger and BMS Control Circuit Assembly ........................................... Load Removal Showing 15.5V Overshoot ............................................... Load Addition Response........................................................................... Transient Load Test .................................................................................. Sleep Mode Test ....................................................................................... Schematic Layout of BMS Module Circuit .............................................. Circuit Layout for BMS Circuit Board ..................................................... Circuit Board after SMT Soldering .......................................................... Complete BMS Module Circuit Board ..................................................... Solid Drawing of Battery Management Module....................................... Complete Battery Management Module................................................... viii

PAGE 13 13 27 41 42 43 44 45 50 51 52 53 74 75 76 77 78 79

FIGURE 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. Schematic Layout of Isolation Circuit ...................................................... Circuit Layout for Isolator Circuit Board ................................................. Complete Isolator Circuit Board............................................................... Human machine interface layout, operating mode ................................... Human Machine Interface, Setup Mode ................................................... Human Machine Interface, Cell Data Level ............................................. Human Machine Interface, Cell Data Adjust............................................ Solid Model of User Interface .................................................................. Screenshot of LCD showing individual cell values.................................. Screenshot of LCD showing Analog Values ............................................ Low Voltage Charger Output Waveform ................................................. LCD Screenshot of Cell Status After Charging........................................

PAGE 90 91 92 94 95 96 97 98 108 110 115 116

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LIST OF NOMENCLATURE

NOMENCLATURE A F H A A:D AC Ah BMS C Cout CAN CC/CV DC Don_switch DMM ECU microAmp microFarad microHenry efficiency Ohm Ampere Analog to Digital converter Alternating Current Amp-Hour Battery Management System Coulomb, or Charge Output capacitance Controller Area Network Constant current/constant voltage Direct Current Power switch duty cycle Digital Multi Meter Electronic Control Unit x

NOMENCLATURE EV Eon Eoff F fswitch line HEV Hz Icell Iin_RMS Iin_peak IL_peak IL_ripple I2C IC IGBT kHz kW kWh KL_ripple Kout_ripple Electric Vehicle MOSFET turn on energy MOSFET turn off energy Farad Switching frequency Line frequency Hybrid Electric Vehicle Hertz Cell current RMS charger input current Peak charger input current Inductor peak current Inductor ripple current Inter IC (communication bus) Integrated Circuit Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor kilo Hertz kilo Watt kilo Watt-Hour Constant, inductor ripple Constant, output ripple xi

NOMENCLATURE Lboost LiCoO2 LiFePO4 LiPo LT mA mW m MOSFET MOV NiMH Pcond Pswitch PMOSFET Pdiode PRsense Pcharger PL_boost Pd_br Plosses Ptotal Boost inductance Lithium Cobalt Oxide Lithium Iron Phosphate Lithium Polymer Linear Technology milli Amp milli Watt milli Ohm Metal oxide semiconductor-field effect transistor Metal oxide varistor Nickle metal hydride Power switch conduction losses Power switch switching losses Total power switch losses Diode power loss Sense resistor power loss Charger power Boost inductor power loss Bridge rectifier power loss Total power losses Total charger power xii

NOMENCLATURE PWM RL_boost Rcell Rpack Rdson Rsense Spec SSR TVS Vdrop Vcell Vcharger Vf_br Vfdiode Vin_RMS Vout_ripple V W Wh Pulse width modulation Boost inductor resistance Cell impedance Battery pack impedance Drain-source on resistance Sense resistor resistance Specification Solid State Relay Transient Voltage Suppressor Voltage drop per cell Cell Voltage Charger Voltage Bridge rectifier forward voltage Diode forward voltage Charger RMS input voltage Output ripple voltage Volt Watt Watt-hour

xiii

ABSTRACT

ENERGY MANAGEMENT IN ELECTRIC VEHICLE ENGINEERING by Friedrich J. Kirk 2011 Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies Electric Vehicle Engineering California State University, Chico Spring 2011

The world is now facing a number of important problems brought on by humanitys use of carbon-based fuels. One of the primary uses of these fuels is for transportation. There is a need to make highway capable electric vehicles accessible to the average commuter. The high initial cost of storing the energy is one of the primary barriers to entry for electric vehicles. Energy management technology has not been leveraged to provide energy in a manner that is congruent with the users needs. A user configurable energy storage system would allow users to find their own solution to the costperformance question. The scope of this project is to design and build an integrated energy management system that includes all necessary components to store energy for an electric vehicle. Every aspect of the energy management system is covered. The goal is to design, build and test a plug & play modular energy storage system. xiv

Power converters and issues affecting safety, efficiency, and electromagnetic interference are discussed. Details specific to lithium ion batteries are covered, including charging modes and cell protection. The battery management system is used for executive control of the charger and the chargers local and executive control modes are discussed. Battery pack design and requirements such as safety issues specific to lithium ion batteries are introduced. Energy management system features such as delayed charging, user interface design, and cell balancing are covered.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background The world is now facing a number of important problems brought on by humanitys use of carbon-based fuels. Pollution, global warming, and the political upheaval caused by peak oil coupled with our increasing appetite for fuels are just some of the problems that need to be addressed. One of the primary uses of these fuels is transportation with the internal combustion engine as its power source. While other transportation options commonly exist in Europe and Asia, in the United States the automobile is the principal form of transportation. Unfortunately, all trends in the U.S. point to less efficient vehicles and less efficient use of those vehicles [1], [2], [3]. A solution to many of the current problems would be to switch to more efficient personal transportation methods, specifically to electric-drive vehicles. Studies in Europe, Japan, and the United States have all pointed to this conclusion. These studies addressed everything from total energy (manufacturing and use), well-to-wheel analysis, and power grid analysis [4], [5], [6]. While electric vehicles are not a complete solution that will meet everyones needs, they can provide clean transportation for the vast majority of users. It is important to acknowledge the strengths and limitations of electric-drive technology in order to provide a useful alternative to the internal combustion engine. According to studies by 1

2 the Department of Transportation, the average commuter travels considerably less than 60 miles per day. In fact, the average commute distance in 1969 was 9.4 miles, and in 2009, it only increased to 13.9 miles [7]. While a vehicle range of 30 miles may be adequate for the average persons commuting needs in the United States, doubling it to 60 miles would be far more pragmatic as it would provide extra range for errands or allow for less-frequent charging. In any case, it appears obvious that the need for a 300mile range is more a marketing gimmick than a real user requirement. Other studies by both the DOE and the 2000 census found it is common for most households in the United States to have more than one vehicle [2]. These statistics, along with similar studies from other countries, provide the important information necessary to devise a practical EV energy storage system. The need for an energy management system is crucial for the success of electric vehicles using newer battery technology. The sheer number of cells coupled with the high price of failure, dictate the necessity for an extremely meticulous system. These requirements demand a system that never gets tired and is optimized for redundant work: namely, a computer. Furthermore, success of the electric vehicle will depend on a market much larger than enthusiasts, a market dominated by people who really dont care what is under the hood. Manufacturers have found that battery management systems are required even for products with only a few cells, such as cell phones, laptop computers, and power tools. However, these systems are always designed with a fixed number of cells for a specific product. The concept of having designs based on user-customizable batteries is not available. Meanwhile the power-tool industry has found that offering different options for their products can be a huge sales benefit. The needs and cost requirements of

3 a professional contractor are much different from those of the average homeowner, with professionals generally demanding much more power from their portable tools. Lessons learned by the power-tool industry could be directly applied to the automotive industry. Energy management technology has not been leveraged to provide energy in a manner that is congruent with the users needs. Because the high initial cost of storing energy is one of the primary barriers to entry for electric vehicles, this issue is one of the most important ones facing electric vehicles. Finding the correct energy storage capacity can best be done by the users themselves, as it is a highly personal life-style decision. Mass-produced, one-size-fits-all solutions have been proposed, but an option allowing for individual user requirements has never been provided in the marketplace. A user configurable, modular energy storage system would allow users to find their own optimum solution to the cost-performance question. This project provides a solution for all of these requirements, with individual cell monitoring achieved by central data collection and management. The central management system can both balance the battery pack and provide a fuel gauge as well as battery pack status for the user. This system is scalable up to 120 cells and includes an integrated charger. While it has been implemented with a model pack made of 18650 cells like those found on laptop computers, the concept can easily be scaled up to largeformat cells required by full-size electric vehicles. Similarly, the chargers control architecture could remain as described, with only a few power components upgraded to withstand the added current required to charge a full-scale battery pack.

4 Literature Review For electric vehicles, the battery system is one of the most expensive and most important pieces of the electric drive train. Thus, a study of the most effective method of implementing a charging system and battery management system was required. The available literature has numerous examples of electric-vehicle battery studies and a few discussing battery management. For example, an excellent long-term study by T. Knipe et al. discussed the performance of the nickel metal hydride (NiMh) battery used in the Toyota RAV-4 EV [8]. However, this study had no details of the battery or the management of the battery. Another study by G. Berdichevsky et al. discussed the battery pack used by the Tesla Roadster [9]. That study came closer to this project in that lithium ion batteries are used, but the system uses a fixed number of cells, and control details are left out of the paper. Similarly, a paper presented by P. Drozdz et al. at the EVS-23 Conference discussed a replacement lithium ion battery pack for hybrid electric vehicles [10]. Like the Tesla paper, it discussed the cells used, packaging, and thermal issues, but contained nothing about a battery management system. A paper by N. Ohnuma et al. presented at the EVS-23 Conference also described development of a lithium ion pack, this time with mention of the charger. However, no details of the management system or whether it interacted with the charger were presented [11]. A battery system for hybrid electric vehicles was presented by T. Tan et al. for Enerdel at the EVS-23 Conference [12]. In this paper, the control architecture is briefly discussed and cell-level controls are mentioned. Additionally, a central control that monitors cell performance and pack performance is mentioned, but details are not given.

5 A paper by B. Kennedy et al. described a lithium ion battery pack developed for solar racecars. This paper, written in 2000, does include details of the battery management system, which consists of independent modules protecting each cell. While this paper came close to the goals of the system being designed, it lacks any balancing system, charger, or fuel gauging system [13]. To find information about lithium ion battery management at the cell level required looking for information at the web sites of integrated circuits manufacturers. Here, more information about cell-level monitoring, communication issues, and integration with microcontrollers was available. For example, application notes from Maxim Engineering Journal on integrated circuits, How to design battery charger applications that require external microcontrollers and related system-level issues discussed interfacing one-cell battery management ICs to microcontrollers [14]. However, these application notes were generally limited to four-cell battery packs. Because electric-vehicle battery packs use much higher voltages, issues including isolation would still need to be addressed. A book by D. Andrea, Battery management systems, published in 2010, was just discovered as this paper was completed [15]. The book is an excellent overview of battery management systems, specifically for lithium ion batteries. Nearly every topic involved with designing a battery management system is discussed. These topics range from basic cell performance and battery management system topologies, to specific details on balancing systems and battery management board communication. While the system described in this paper differs from those described by Andrea, the book is an invaluable resource for anyone designing a battery management system.

6 Project Scope The scope of this project is to design, build, and test an integrated and modular energy management system that includes all necessary components to store energy for an electric vehicle. Every aspect of the energy management system is explored, with optimums and engineering compromises discussed along the way. Safety, thermal management, and mechanical packaging issues are considered. The charger and battery management system are complicated systems, with many interactions between the hardware, software, and user and the environment. Battery properties change over time, and sensors are often temperature-sensitive. To add to the difficulty, the voltages produced by the charger are lethal and can easily damage measuring equipment. A testing program ensuring core functionality of subsystems has been implemented. The goal is to design and build a modular energy storage system that is both scalable and designed for easy user adoption. The source of energy for the prototype system is Utility AC power. Chapter II discusses conversion of AC energy to DC form usable by the battery pack by switchmode power supplies. Issues affecting safety, efficiency, and electromagnetic interference are discussed. Control features favorable to electric vehicles, such as delayed turn-on and vehicle-based charging, are also introduced. To reduce weight and improve efficiency, a high-frequency switch-mode power supply is used in this design. Charging modes specific to lithium ion batteries and how the system controls these modes is detailed. The topics concerning the chargers integration with the rest of the system is described in the Design Implementation section in Chapter II. Power supply for the control circuitry, thermal management, and control of

7 electromagnetic interference is addressed from a system-design perspective. Communication with the battery management system will be developed, with hardware and safety issues addressed. The battery management system is designed to have executive control of the charger and the chargers local and executive control modes are discussed. Finally, selection of components for maximum efficiency is detailed. Chapter III discusses energy management in general and the battery management system in particular. Battery-pack design requirements and safety issues specific to lithium ion batteries are introduced. Finally, favorable details for the energy management system, such as delayed charging, user-interface design, and cell balancing are covered. Chapter IV discusses the effectiveness of the system. Recommendations for further experimentation and system improvements are given.

CHAPTER II THE CHARGING SYSTEM A battery pack can be considered the fuel tank of an electric vehicle. In this analogy, the charger might be considered the gas pump in a filling station. A charger for an electric vehicle is a power converter large enough to charge a very powerful battery pack in a short period of time. Electric vehicle battery packs range in capacity from 15kWh to 50kWh. To be usable by the battery, the power must be higher in voltage than the battery pack. Charging current must be limited to a value based on the battery technology. Safety Considerations While the average EV battery pack ranges from 15kWh to 50kWh, voltages can range from 120VDC to over 500VDC, while some packs can supply over 1000A of current. Safety has to be one of the highest priorities in charger design because a charger that can process this much power will be able to deliver both high-voltage and highcurrent DC. Wiring errors such as incorrect grounds, which can produce an annoying shock under normal conditions, can be deadly with this amount of power. The system must be completely safe with no possibility of harm, even by user error. To avoid battery failure and user harm, the charger must sense what is happening with the battery and the input power. Battery condition should be verified to 8

9 ensure that the cells are in the proper state to allow charging. This check should ensure that the battery is not overheated, overdischarged, or already fully charged. Controlled rapid shut down must be a built in function of the power supply. From a safety standpoint, the charger must be isolated from the power line and there must be no chance for the user to contact a hot component. As with any electrical device, the input must be properly grounded when plugged in. However, unlike many electrical devices, the case must not be connected to the high power outputs low side. The high power system in an EV should be completely isolated from other electrical systems. Therefore, the chargers output must also float. There can be no possibility for a current path, intentional or unintentional, through the body of the vehicle. This safety feature can be accomplished by using an isolation transformer to provide galvanic isolation between the output and ground, or by providing a ground fault interrupter circuit that will disconnect power if it senses any current flow through the ground or some other unintended path [16]. Convenience Features For convenience, reliability, and safety, the charging system must take less than a minute to activate and must be completely automatic. Features such as delayed charging can significantly reduce operating expenses without affecting convenience. With delayed charging, one can take advantage of time-of-use metering with reduced electric rates at night.

10 Charger Input Power The typical residential AC line voltage is either 120V RMS or 240V RMS. When simply rectified with a full bridge rectifier (unregulated DC), this works out to 169.7V and 339.4V respectively. Because the higher voltage can deliver twice as much power for a given amount of current, the charger should be capable of handling either voltage. Most residential houses will have a high power circuit for a water heater, stove, or air conditioner that is rated from 30A to 50A. The restriction posed by residential wiring presents several important limitations. For ease of discussion, considerations of efficiency, charger, wiring, and battery cells will be ignored here. When charged at 120VAC, 30A, 3.6kW can be delivered. At this rate, a 20kWh pack would take over 5.5 hours to charge, and a 50kWh pack would take almost 14 hours. Using 220VAC, 50A could deliver 11kW. The charge time for a 20kWh pack would be reduced to 1.8 hours, and a 50kWh packs charge time would be reduced to 4.5 hours. Charger Output Power To regulate power, both voltage and current must be controlled. The charger must be capable of providing a voltage higher than the battery packs maximum. Current is limited to that specified by an individual cell and by whether cells are connected in parallel. The amount of current a cell can accept is based partially on its capacity and partially on its internal resistance. Internal resistance is determined by the cell design and is beyond the scope of this paper. The current that a cell can accept while charging is specified by the manufacturer as C, which is a multiple of the cells capacity. For

11 example, a 10Ah cell charged at the 2C rate would be receiving 20A of current. For most cells, it is beneficial to charge at a rate lower than the manufacturers specified rate, as charging at a higher rate will result in cell heating and reduced cell life. Because battery packs used on electric vehicles have low impedance, they can be considered an ideal current sink from the chargers perspective. The charger will attempt to drive the voltage to whatever voltages the batteries are, at whatever current the charger can produce. However, the chargers maximum output current is limited by its power components. Because the power components, not the control components, are the primary cost-driver in electronics, it is not economical to build one charger for all situations and reduce the output current by controlling them. Lithium Ion Charge Termination Methods Constant Current/Constant Voltage Charging The recommended method of charging lithium ion cells is to use a constant current/constant voltage process. This is essentially the same method used to charge lead acid cells. Using the constant current/constant voltage method, current is held constant until the voltage reaches a point predetermined by the battery chemistry. The voltage is then held constant while the current is decreased over time. Once the current reaches a pre-determined low point (C/20) the cell is considered charged [17]. Pulse Charging The concept of battery hystresis, or pulse charging, is a different method of finish charging. Battery hystresis is the tendency of the batterys voltage to drop once a charging voltage is removed. In pulse charging, instead of reducing the current over time,

12 the current is held constant, but switched on and off based on measured battery performance. A pulse charger must have a reasonably accurate current-limited source to supply the on pulses [18]. When the charge voltage is turned off, the cell voltage will drop to some lower stable voltage. When the low stable voltage is reached, the charger will turn on again until the high voltage threshold is reached. As the battery fills, the off pulses will become shorter because the time required to reach the low stable voltage will decrease. At the same time, the time required to ramp the voltage to the high voltage threshold will also decrease. In this way, pulse charging is like pulse width modulation, and the energy delivered to the pack can be controlled. Pulse charging provides several advantages over constant voltage charging for finish charging lead-acid and lithium ion batteries. Charge state is determined by actual battery condition, not by a pre-determined current reduction algorithm. It is faster than constant voltage charging because the current is delivered at the full rate. It also extends battery life, as shown in several studies [10], [19]. Power Converters Switch-mode power supplies are relatively new and are beginning to dominate the power supply market because of their advantages of low weight and high efficiency and can be used for either CC/CV charging or pulse charging. Figure 1 shows a switchmode power supply used to convert 120VAC to 15VDC for the main controller. Switch-mode power supplies operate by switching a transistor on and off at a high frequency. Metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) or insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are used for their high efficiency and current

13

Fig. 1. Switching buck-mode power supply. carrying capability. These devices are operated in the saturated region (completely on or off) for high efficiency and their power switches are controlled by voltage not current. By using subtle variations in circuit topology, switch-mode power supplies can be used to provide either a higher output voltage than the source (boost mode) (Figure 2) or a lower voltage than the source (buck mode) [20].

Fig. 2. Boost mode switching supply.

14 Boost-mode switching supplies control the current by managing the charge/discharge cycles of an inductor. The simplified schematic in Figure 2 shows only the main power components, with the control circuitry omitted. Switching on the MOSFET provides a low-impedance current path to ground that is used to charge the inductor and energize its magnetic field. When the transistor is turned off, the current is forced to the output, energized by the magnetic field [12]. The proportion of on time versus off time is controlled or modulated to regulate the current flow through the switch. By varying the on/off timing (pulse width), switch-mode power supplies are able to control both output voltage and current. Switch-mode power supplies can significantly reduce or completely eliminate the transformers size, significantly reducing power supply weight. In fact, these power supplies are capable of operating directly on line input power. Design Challenges Isolation Line-driven boost-mode switching power supplies have no isolation between the input and the output lines. This means that if 120VAC is used as the source power, an uncontrolled 169VDC will be present at the output! For this reason, either a form of isolation or the capability of immediate shut down must be provided in case an electrical fault occurs. Also, as a battery charger, the lowest voltage present in the battery pack must be higher than 169VDC. If it is not, the current into the battery pack will not be controlled and severe damage to the pack, or even fire, could occur.

15 Voltage Control While most power supplies are designed to supply a voltage regulated within a few percent, the requirements for a charger are much different. Most power supplies regulate their output voltage to a fraction of 1%. However, all high power electric vehicle battery packs experience a large variation in voltage from the charged to discharged state. Thus the battery determines the final voltage, as long as the charger can produce a voltage higher than the batterys voltage [21]. Power Factor In the United States, AC current is highly regulated and very stable. This is a requirement for large interconnected power grids. The voltage, line frequency and phase angle between voltage and current are carefully monitored so that they dont change over time. The power factor is the cosine of the phase angle between voltage and current. A power factor of 1 indicates a purely resistive load and the number decreases to zero as the load becomes reactive. Thus, the power factor is the relationship between the real or usable part of the current being drawn by a system and the reactive part of the load. The reactive component of the load can be capacitive or inductive, and can cause both phase shifts in the frequency and system inefficiency [22]. A switch-mode power supplys high-frequency controller can regulate the power flow so accurately that the power factor can be unity, contributing to the efficiency of the system. The Infineon boost-mode SMPS controller used in this project is powerfactor correcting, allowing power factors of 0.98 to 1.00.

16 Electromagnetic Interference An issue that cannot be removed by control ICs is the EMI and electrical noise caused by the chargers switching action. The main cause of electromagnetic noise is high-frequency square wave signals, commonly used for digital computation and communication. These signals can be created by a microcontrollers timing clock or by a MOSFET turning on and off to regulate current. Both higher frequency and higher power contribute to more noise. As such, a switch-mode power supplys control MOSFET is one of the main contributors of electromagnetic noise from electronic systems [23]. Electromagnetic interference can be transmitted by both radiation and conduction. The primary mode of broadcasting the noise is through unintentional antennas in the circuitry or conduction out through communication and power cords. Conducted emissions can further result in radiated emissions, as the wires can be excellent antennas. It must be noted that DC wires are often unintentional carriers of high-frequency signals and can be a major source of electromagnetic radiation [24], [25]. Efficiency Efficiency is highly dependent on both design and component choice. Current technology allows power supplies that are well over 90% efficient. Progress has been made with silicon devices that switch very rapidly, reducing this time and improving device efficiency. High-efficiency MOSFETs and silicon carbide diodes are available that have very low switching losses. Another contributor to losses is the energy required to turn a MOSFET on. It is similar to charging a capacitor and dumping the energy, and as the power capacity of a MOSFET increases, more switching energy is required. Any

17 improvements found by increasing the frequency, such as reduction in transformer size, must be balanced against the switching losses from a system design standpoint [26]. Design Implementation Because a vehicle-based charger would need to be light, a switch-mode power supply would be the best choice, even though it poses the design challenges discussed previously. This section covers the design of a vehicle-based lithium ion battery charger as well as its support and safety circuitry. Since a high-voltage system has the advantage of lower resistance losses for a given amount of power, the input voltage must be increased. A boost converter can do that efficiently while providing a unity power factor. The heart of the proposed charging system is a high frequency boost-mode switching power supply, coupled with a battery management system that controls the final charge. The availability of control ICs from suppliers like International Rectifier and Infineon reduces the complexity of the problem but they need some modifications to act as a charger. These modifications have been implemented to enhance the capabilities as a power factor correcting constant current source. Table 1 lists the charger requirements based on the battery pack used in this project. System Integration To take full advantage of the safety and monitoring functions of the battery management system, the charger is highly integrated with it. The system shares information such as bus voltage, current, and even charger temperature. The battery management microcontroller is provided with optically isolated controls for the charger.

18 TABLE 1 CHARGER SPECIFICATIONS Format Input voltage Input frequency Input power Battery type Bulk charge Finish charge Charge time Max output current Min pack voltage Max pack voltage Output power Efficiency Control Display PFC high voltage lithium ion 120 VAC 60 Hz 630 W Li-Ion Constant current Pulse (hystresis) 2.5 hours 2.2 A 180 VDC 252 VDC 600 W 95% Integrated with BMS Integrated with BMS

Executive control of the charger is managed by the battery management system through the optically isolated interface. The charger is integrated with safety circuitry such as the input breaker, ground fault protection, DC fuses, and main contactor. To reduce wiring cost and electromagnetic interference, the charger has been directly connected to the battery pack and battery management system. This arrangement has several advantages: 1) It eliminates an external wire from the charger to the battery, replacing it with

a short bus bar from the charger and short bus bars between cells. This dramatically reduces cost, as well as reducing DC losses from the charger to the battery pack. Noise from EMI is greatly reduced because both the wiring inductance and the loop size are reduced.

19 2) The main contactor and DC fuse are built into the system. Because they share

the same short bus bars with the charger and battery pack, more wiring expense and wiring losses are eliminated. The DC contactor solenoid control is built into the system and can be overridden by the battery management system. This provides a measure of security because the DC output cannot be energized without the control signal from the battery management system and activation of the on switch. 3) Sensing and control wires are all within the same enclosure. This reduces the

need for expensive sealed connectors. It also reduces EMI noise because noise traveling on communication wires does not leave the enclosure. 4) The water cooling system used by the battery management system is also

being used to cool the charger. This reduces plumbing and the potential for coolant leakage. Multiple temperature sensors in the battery pack and charger ensure that the system does not overheat. 5) Wiring has been greatly simplified for the user. There is only an AC input, a

DC output, a motor controller interface, and a user control and BMS interface. Communication The data flowing between the charger and battery management system is both extremely critical and time-dependent. For this reason, the options for transmitting this information were carefully considered. A communication bus is valuable when a lot of data has to be transferred but time is not critical. Discrete wires are ideal when time is critical and not much data has to be transferred so they were used in this design. The charging system makes use of digital on/off signals and analog feedback signals. Because of the critical safety requirements of these controls, they are set up as

20 dead man signals where a 0V or wire disconnect between the battery management system and the charger will turn off the charging subsystem. All information is isolated to protect the battery management system microcontroller and will be covered in Chapter III, Battery Management System. Safety Systems Safety features are built into the system and distributed throughout the subsystems. These subsystems can communicate with each other to provide more sophisticated reactions to dangerous situations than a standard system is capable of doing. The battery management system is the core of this functionality, and provides executive control for safety and for normal operation. Signals for output bus current, bus voltage, and charger temperature are monitored by the battery management computer, in addition to its individual cell monitoring capability. From this information, the battery management system can determine the state of charge and the health of both the charger and the battery pack. Isolated sensors monitor charger temperature, battery pack current and battery pack voltage. These are detailed further in Chapter III. Active control of charger functions is done by controlling the GFI shutdown circuit, and the SMPS power through solid state relay Q1, and by forcing SMPS sleep mode with the shut down pin on VR1. Trigger events for these controls are detailed in the Safety section of the next chapter. All control lines are set up dead man; in other words, there must be a positive signal from the BMS for the function to be enabled. Further, the charger and motor controller monitor their own condition as well as bus voltage and current. Should any of these stray outside safe values, the subsystems

21 will automatically initiate limp modes or complete shut down in addition to alerting other systems of the problem. While software control allows flexibility, passive control can avoid several failure modes. The disadvantage is that changes in the system require changes in the passive control hardware. This system uses passive control for voltage, temperature, and current control. Ground Fault Protection. Because the boost-mode power supply connects directly to the source AC, there is no galvanic isolation, which presents a safety problem should anything go wrong. To provide a means of immediate shut down if any problem is detected, a ground fault interrupter monitors all power coming into the circuit. Ground fault systems operate by measuring the current flowing in the hot, neutral, and ground lines of the load. Should more than 30mA flow through the ground line or should the current in the hot and neutral lines differ by more than 30mA, the GFI circuit will shut off. Because it is a well-proven and accepted safety method and it has several advantages over an isolation transformer, ground fault protection has been provided in the system with a GFI breaker. To enhance the systems safety, a circuit has been provided that will allow the battery management system to shut off all power flowing to the charger. A triac controller is located after the GFI protector, with its output connected to the AC ground. The isolated control input is provided as an immediate power shut down and is connected to the battery management system. Should this system be activated, current is shunted from the AC input to ground, causing the GFI system to react and shut down power.

22 In-Rush Current Protection. In-rush protection is normally not a problem with a battery charger permanently connected to a battery pack. In-rush current is caused by the uncontrolled charging of filter capacitors that are on the power supplys input and output stages. Such a current can be high enough to permanently damage and decrease the capabilities of, if not destroy, the components in its path. All systems need at least one initialization, and a reliable system requires attention to all factors that can reduce component reliability. Even though the power supply controller IC features a ramped output for limiting in-rush current, a major problem with in-rush current can occur when the power bus is below the peak voltage produced by the bridge rectifier. In this case, the capacitor is charged very rapidly because the current can flow without control from the switching transistor. During initial testing, this situation resulted in several components being blown up before an in-rush current-limiting circuit was added. Current flow is controlled by a triac placed in front of the bridge rectifier. Triacs are devices that are activated by current flowing through their gate. When they fire, or turn on, they cannot be turned off until another zero crossing of the AC power. A small amount of current taken from the AC line can be used to control a triac and ensure that it fires only once per cycle [27]. The AC line current is controlled by an inrush current limiter and a triac controller. Because a threshold current has to be met to activate the triac, the resistance in the control line can be used to delay turn-on if desired. This method is used as a simple means of controlling AC power in some motor controllers.

23 The triac is activated by a controller that only switches it on or off at zero crossings of the AC input voltage. The zero crossing circuit reduces stress on the triac and other components by eliminating the large DV/DT produced when the circuit is activated at maximum voltage. The control signal for the triac controller is optically isolated to protect the low-power control signals from the high power being controlled by the triac. This signal is generated by voltage monitor U2 that compares an input voltage to an internal reference of 1.3V [28]. A voltage divider is connected across the output capacitor (the main power bus) and will provide a 1.6V signal when the bus voltage reaches 170VDC. This is the peak voltage produced by the bridge rectifier. Thus, the triac will be forced off as long as the bus voltage is below 170VDC [29]. In parallel with the triac is a thermistor that limits current to 1A [30]. When the triac is turned off by the control circuit, current is allowed to slowly fill the capacitor through the thermistor. This system eliminates all in-rush current problems. Current Management. Current in the charger is managed primarily by the control IC, based on the instantaneous AC input current, as described in the section on SMPS current control below. In addition to the sense resistor that monitors charger current, a hall-effect current sensor has been provided on the DC bus to monitor current flowing into and out of the battery pack. This is described in more detail in the next chapter. The second current-sensing system provides a parallel back-up for the system. If a fault occurs, it gives the battery management system the ability to shut down the charging current by turning off the charger power, either forcing the charger into sleep

24 mode or tripping the GFI. It also allows the battery management system to turn off the main contactor should there be a severe overcurrent discharge fault. Should these active systems fail, fuses are also provided on the input of the charger and the output of the battery pack. Voltage Management. Cell overvoltage is a major safety concern as it can result in failed cells or even fires. Because it is so important, a passive shutdown system has been provided in case the battery management systems end-of-charge system fails. The difficulty in implementing passive bus voltage monitoring is that it provides a fixed voltage limitation. While this may seem obvious and desirable, it counters the goal of a modular battery system. With a modular battery system, the purpose of adding more cells is to achieve a higher battery pack voltage, thereby increasing system power output. To allow a modular system, the bus voltage is monitored with a variable resistance voltage divider. The lower part of the voltage divider is fixed and provides feedback to the undervoltage and overvoltage control systems. Both of these systems use voltage monitor IC U2 with a target voltage of 1.3V [20]. The upper resistor in the system is made of a string of smaller resistors, each located in the battery modules. When a module is added, both the pack voltage and the resistance of the upper half of the voltage divider are increased as well. Using this method, it is possible to detect a pack over-voltage no matter what the pack voltage is. The output of the voltage monitor is used to pull down control lines for the charger power supply and the GFI shut down. Should a bus overvoltage be encountered, the charger will be completely shut down.

25 Another danger is encountered when a cell, not necessarily the pack, reaches too high a voltage. This can be the result of a badly balanced battery pack. The battery management system provides active monitoring of individual cells and can shut down or limit the output of both the charger and motor controller depending on the severity of the problem. Boost-Mode Switch-Mode Power Supply The key to this systems functionality is high-frequency active control provided by an IC manufactured by Infineon, the ICE2PSCS01 [31]. This SMPS control IC is one of a family of ICs offered by Infineon designed specifically for switch-mode power supply control. While the ICE2PSCS01 is an excellent switch-mode power supply controller that can provide efficient, stable output power, it was not designed for use in a battery charging application. Details of its operation and the modifications for use in a battery charger are discussed here. Controller Power. Most MOSFETs and IGBTs require 12VDC to 25VDC to turn on. Because the switch-mode controller IC must control an external power transistor, they require 12VDC to 25VDC to operate. Because this is a charger, it needs to run only while it is plugged into a power source. Therefore, its power is provided by an AC/DC converter with a 15VDC output. Providing power from a small power supply connected to the AC mains rather than a DC to DC converter connected to the battery pack is more efficient and allows more control options for the system. This power supply provides power for the battery management system and the charger while the system is plugged in. Infineon Control Circuit. The ICE2PCS01G SMPS control IC was chosen because it was designed for boost-mode power supplies, required little external circuitry,

26 and it offered features for improved efficiency and power factor correction. The controller can handle a wide range of input voltages, allowing both 120VAC and 220VAC inputs. Additionally, the controller allows multiple external control options, including sleep modes for extremely low power consumption. In the charger circuit shown in Figure 3, U1 is the ICE2PCS01G. Switching Frequency Control. The switching frequency can be adjusted to optimize power supply performance. By carefully balancing the power components parameters, power output, efficiency and electromagnetic interference can all be affected by the choice of switching frequency. To explore these relationships, a spreadsheet was developed to assess component choice and system efficiency. Generally, as switching frequency is increased, switching losses caused by the MOSFET and the output diode also increase while ripple current in the inductor and filter capacitor decrease. The ripple current can have a large effect on the power-handling capability of the inductor and losses due to the ripple current in the inductor are reduced as frequency is increased. Because the output voltage increases while the current is held constant, an increase in the output power is demanded of the power supply. This causes the current through the inductor to increase as the batteries charge. If the designer is not careful, this increased current can cause the inductor to saturate which reduces the effective inductance causing more ripple current and inductor losses. The switching frequency can be set using an external resistor, set at pin 4, and can range from 50kHz to 255kHz. The relationship between frequency and resistance in non-linear, and can be found on page 8 of the ICE2PSCS01 app note. In this system, a

27

Fig. 3. Schematic of boost circuit with Infineon control IC.

28 175kHz switching frequency was implemented to reduce inductor size requirements and maintain a high efficiency of 96%. Power Factor Correction. The ICE2PSCS01 is capable of controlling the output voltage and current while implementing power factor correction, all through the pulse width modulation control of a switching transistor. This is accomplished by using an inner current control loop and an outer voltage control loop. Because the switching frequency is so much higher than the line frequency (50Hz60Hz), the controller can easily follow the sinusoidal input voltage, making power factor correction an automatic process within current control. A complete description of the SMPS controller is beyond the scope of this paper. If the reader is interested, a complete explanation of current control on the ICE2PSCS01 can be found in these sources [32], [18]. Current Control. Current will be regulated by the switch-mode power supplys control system. This is a core functionality of any battery charger and is important for both battery safety and life span. It is important to note that a battery charger is not a constant power device. As the battery voltage is increased through charging, the current must remain constant. Thus, the power must be increased through the charging cycle. Most components are power-limited so calculations for component power capability should be done at the fully charged state. The following sections focus on the modifications to control loops made to optimize their performance for a battery charger. The control IC uses two control loops to regulate both the current and the voltage of the power supply. Regulation is achieved by using pulse width modulation to control an external MOSFET.

29 Voltage Control. Using a switch-mode power supply controller for a battery charger is slightly different than using the controller for its intended purpose. This is because a battery charger must have a controlled current source; however, the voltage changes considerably. Most battery packs have low impedance requiring high current to increase the voltage temporarily. This is impractical because the current would be much greater than the recommended charging current and would require an extremely powerful charger. For example, the impedance of the 18650 lithium ion cell used for this project is 70m. A standard lithium ion cells minimum usable voltage is 2.75V and its absolute maximum voltage is 4.2V, a 35% difference [33]. In order to control voltage, the charger would need to make up the 1.45V difference between the starting voltage and the target voltage of 4.2V. The only way to do this would be to supply enough current to cause a 1.45V drop using the cell impedance, which would require a 20A charge current if the battery were fully discharged. Considering that the cell is a 2.2Ah cell and the maximum charge rate is 1C, this would be nearly 10 times the recommended charging rate! The charger must be viewed more as a constant current source with limits on voltage so that it does not overcharge the battery pack. Under normal charging conditions, the current is limited by the ICE2PSCS01 and the voltage will follow the battery packs state of charge. Thus, a chargers voltage does not have to be controlled, only monitored. From the charger perspective, only the end-of-charge voltage is important. The switching transistors duty cycle is dependent on a nonlinear gain block [23]. They are primarily used for controlled voltage-ramp up and rapid response to

30 overvoltage. This feature targets a narrow voltage range for tight voltage control. Because a battery packs voltage changes significantly from the empty to the charged state, it would be detrimental to use this feature. It overrides the current control necessary for battery charging by forcing the charger to operate entirely in the controlled ramp-up portion of the control algorithm. For the system discussed here, the voltage control loop will be modified so that certain safety features of the switch-mode controller will be implemented while dynamic voltage control features will be disabled. To override the nonlinear gain block, a constant 3V must be supplied to the feedback pin. Note that this should be a constant 3V, not a value proportional to the battery voltage or SMPS output voltage. This is done by supplying a regulated 3V from power regulator IC VR1. The power regulator IC is supplied through the 15V common to all the control devices. It features a shutdown pin that allows external control by another device. When the feedback pin is below 0.6V, the ICE2PSCS01 goes into sleep mode, so the regulators shutdown pin will be used for external control of the charger. The danger of overriding the voltage feedback is that it disables all of the ICE2PSCS01s voltage-related safety devices. To ensure safe system operation, both active and passive safety shut down-systems have been added to the charger. These systems are detailed in the section on safety, above. In addition to these controls, the battery management system has executive control and if necessary can either force the charger into sleep mode or shut down the system completely through the ground fault interrupt system.

31 Charger voltage is passively monitored with an ICL7665 voltage monitor. These ICs monitor two input pins and control two internal MOSFETs based on trigger voltages. Battery-pack voltage is monitored with voltage monitor U2. In an undervoltage situation, the current is limited by turning off triac controller U4 which forces the input current through a current limiter. Should an overvoltage situation occur, triac controller U5 will trip the GFI protector. Under normal conditions, the BMS limits voltage by shutting down VR1 forcing the SMPS controller into sleep mode. An overvoltage event is considered an extreme event, and the system is completely shut down to prevent a fire or other catastrophic situation. Power Component Selection. The power components used in a boost-mode switching power supply are very simple. They include a bridge rectifier to convert line AC to DC, a boost inductor, a transistor to control the inductor, a diode to rectify the output, and a capacitor to filter the output [18], [34]. Target specifications are set by the maximum charging current allowed by the cells and the maximum voltage of the battery pack, which is determined by the cells maximum voltage and the number of cells in a string. The cells resistance must be accounted for so that the voltage supplied by the charger can be suitably above the maximum pack voltage. For this system, lithium ion 18650 2200mAh cells are being used. These cells have a maximum voltage of 4.2V and a maximum charge current of 2.2A. The cell resistance is 70m. Because the system can be upgraded, the user determines the number of cells in the battery-pack string but the charger must be capable of working within the packs limitations. With this design, the number of cells is limited by the communication

32 bus which allows 120 cells. Table 2 includes specifications determining the chargers design targets: TABLE 2 DETAILED CHARGER DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS Type of Cell Number of Cells Maximum Cell Voltage Maximum Charge Current Cell Impedance RMS Input Voltage Target Efficiency Switching Frequency Inductor Ripple Current Constant Output Ripple Voltage Constant Lithium Ion 18650 Cellnum Vcell Icell Rcell Vin_RMS fswitch KL_ripple Kout_ripple 2200mAh 50120 4.2V 2.2A 0.07 120VAC 95% 175kHz 40% 20%

The voltage drop per cell is calculated in equation (1). Vdrop = Icell * Rcell = 2.2 A * 0.07 = 0.154 V The maximum pack voltage is found with equation (2). Vcharger = (Vcell + Vdrop) * Cellnum = (4.2 + 0.154) * 120 = 522.5 V (2) (1)

The maximum number of cells for this project is 60; therefore, the chargers output voltage will be significantly reduced, as shown in equation (3). Vcharger = (Vcell + Vdrop) * Cellnum = (4.2 + 0.154) * 60 = 261.2 V The chargers output power is calculated in equation (4). Pcharger = Vcharger * Icell = 261.2 V * 2.2 A = 574.7 W (4) (3)

To select the bridge rectifier, the current carrying capability was determined by the chargers output power. The output voltage and the cell charge current determine the output power, which must be consistent with the input power and design efficiency.

33 In a worst-case scenario, the lowest input voltage would be coupled with the highest number of cells in the pack. Input current is calculated in equations (5) and (6). Pcharger 574.7 W Iin_RMS = = = 5.0 A 120 V * 0.95 Vin_RMS * Iin_peak = 2 * Iin_RMS = 7.1 A (5)

(6)

These equations determine the bridge rectifiers minimum current handling capability. As mentioned previously, devices must be severely de-rated when their temperature exceeds 100C. Further, should the number of cells increase or the input voltage drop, input current will be greater. Because much more capable devices cost little more, it might be wise to specify a bridge rectifier capable of handling 15A to 20A. An inexpensive bridge rectifier has been sourced from Diodes, Inc. that has a very low forward voltage of 0.95V at 10A, thus greatly improving efficiency. The bridge rectifier losses are calculated in equation (7). Pd_br = 2 * Vf_br * Iin_RMS = 2 * 0.95 V * 5.0 A = 9.5 W The duty cycle for the switching MOSFET is determined next in (8). Vin_RMS 120 V Don_switch = 1 = 1 = 54% Vcharger 261.2 V (8) (7)

There are two forms of losses in a MOSFET: switching losses (the energy used to turn the MOSFET on and off) and conduction losses, calculated in (9). Switching losses, calculated in (10) are constant while conduction losses start low and increase as the battery charges. This is because the output voltage of the charger increases and, thus, the duty cycle increases.

34 Conduction losses: (9)

Pcond = Iin_RMS2 * Don_switch * Rdson = 5.0 A2 * 0.54 * 0.42 = 5.67W Switching losses:

Pswitch = (Eon + Eoff) * fswitch = (0.007 mWs + 0.015 mWs) * 175 kHz = 3.85 W Total switching losses are summed in equation (11). PMOSFET = Pswitch + Pcond = 3.85W + 5.67W = 9.52W The boost diode can have a large effect on system efficiency, primarily

(10)

(11)

because of its reverse recovery time. While ultrafast diodes are available that can improve performance over standard diodes, new technology is available that eliminates diode switching losses. Silicon-carbide diodes have almost no reverse recovery time and switching losses can be ignored [35]. This leaves only conduction losses for the boost diode, calculated in (12). Pdiode = Vfdiode*Iin_RMS*(1 - Don_switch) = 0.86V * 5.0A * ( 1-54% ) = 1.97W (12)

For a boost converter operating in continuous conduction mode, the boost inductor must carry both the high-frequency ripple current and the low-frequency peak line current. The size of the inductor is inversely related to the ripple current and the switching frequency. At the same time, the combined peak current the inductor must carry is directly proportional to the ripple current. A good design is a compromise of the two parameters, calculated in (13) and (14). IL_ripple = KL_ripple * 2 * Iin_RMS = 40% * 1.414 * 5.0 A = 2.828 A (13)

35 IL_peak Iin_peak + IL_ripple 7.1A + 2.828 A = = = 8.5 A 2 2 (14)

Because a 50% duty cycle will result in the highest inductance, the boost inductance, calculated in (15) must be: Don_switch(1 Don_switch)Vcharger 0.5 * (1 0.5) * 261.2 V Lboost > > > 131 H IL_ripple fswitch 2.828 A * 175 kHz (15)

This is barely within the capability of the largest production inductor available from Bournes. If a problem with inductor saturation occurs, a custom inductor will have to be fabricated. Losses in the inductor are primarily related to copper losses in the winding [36], calculated in (16). PL_boost = Iin_RMS2 * RL_boost = 5 A2 * 0.041 = 1.025 W The requirements for the output capacitor on a battery charger are very different than the requirements for a regulated power supply. The output ripple voltage can be much higher both because the feedback voltage has been disabled and because the battery pack will act as a low-impedance load. Additionally, there is no hold-up requirement. Should a brownout occur, the charger does not have to continue operating. Because there is no problem with high ripple voltage interfering with the feedback system, parametric studies were conducted to test the effects on other charger components. These tests indicated that up to 20% ripple voltage, calculated in (17) could be tolerated without adversely affecting the charger. The capacitance required to produce the required ripple voltage is calculated in equation (18). Vout_ripple = Kout_ripple * Vcharger = 20% * 261.2V = 52V (17) (16)

36 Icel 5.0 A Cout > > > 255 F * 2 * line * Vout_ripple * 2 * 60 Hz * 52 V (18)

To be effective, the capacitor must have a lower ESR than the battery pack. The battery pack resistance is found with equation (19). Rpack = Rcell * Cellnum = 0.07 * 60 = 4.2 (19)

The ESR of the capacitor should be < 4.2; this is much higher than the ESR of many electrolytic capacitors; the one chosen has an ESR of 0.153 [37]. Rsense is a sense resistor between ground and the bridge rectifier. If the sense resistor reports a voltage less than 0.66V, the controller will go into soft overcurrent control by reducing the pulse width to limit output current. If the load demands too much current (for example, a battery pack), the output current will be limited to the value set by the sense resistor, calculated in (20). Rsense < 0.66 V / Iin_peak < 0.66 V / 7.1 A < 0.092 (20)

Calculating losses in the resistor is important when designing for reliability; equation (21). When the first prototypes of this design were being tested, the triple surface mount system advised in the application notes was implemented. With a low ESR 470F capacitor the in-rush current was so great that the sense resistors exploded! This is one of the primary reasons for the in-rush current limiting circuit. Under ideal conditions, surface mount resistors can handle a maximum of 1W. If there is any variation among resistors in a parallel set-up, the one with the lowest resistance will take the highest current. Therefore, for high power supplies, the parallel sense resistor concept may not be practical. Further, a high-power resistor in a TO-126 case that can be attached to a heat sink that can handle 15W was sourced. At 100C the de-rating is 40% so it can handle

37 6W in a worst-case scenario. Although the resistor has leads and the associated inductance, its reliability is of primary importance [38]. PR_sense = Iin_RMS2 * Rsense = 5.0 A2 * 0.09 = 2.25 W (21)

System Efficiency. The losses in the power components are summed in equation (22). Plosses = Pd_br + PMOSFET + Pdiode + PL_boost + PR_sense = 9.5 W + 9.52 W + 1.97 W + 1.025 W + 2.25 W = 24.26 W Total power and efficiency are calculated in (23) and (24). Ptotal = Plosses + Pcharger = 24.26 W + 574.7 W = 598.97 W = Pcharger / Ptotal = 574.7 W / 598.97 W = 95.9% (23) (24) (22)

Losses due to control power requirements, battery losses, and boost-capacitor losses can account for another 1%. Electromagnetic Interference Control. The best means of reducing the noise emitted by a device is to eliminate unintentional antenna structures in the circuitry and provide filters for the power lines that must connect the various components. If the cable runs are kept as short as possible, their utility as an antenna is greatly reduced. To combat noise produced by the power supply, there is a ground plane to eliminate high-frequency current loops in the control system. Circuit-board traces have been made as short as possible in the power side of the circuit board. Both sides of the circuit board have been used to allow components to overlap, further reducing trace length. Alternating current input power is filtered for EMI and the charger is directly connected to the battery management system, both of which are shielded in aluminum

38 enclosures. The battery management system will not allow the motor controller to operate while the charger is being used. This is an important safety mechanism and also an effective means of reducing EMI because the wire between the battery pack and the motor controller is disconnected during charging. Thermal Management. Several of the chargers components produce enough heat to cause internal damage. These components include the bridge rectifier, switching MOSFET, diode, current sense resistor, and the solid-state relay used to control power for the controller. All of these components are connected to a common heat sink with a water-cooling system. A temperature-protection circuit has been provided in case of a failure with the cooling system. To monitor temperature, a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) resistor is paired with a standard resistor to make a voltage divider. When the temperature reaches 80C, the voltage divider output will be 1.6V. This signal is sent to a voltage monitor IC U3 and on overtemperature the control line for the 3V reference voltage will be pulled down, forcing the charger into sleep mode. This will allow a cooling-off period to protect the power components from damage. A parallel temperature-monitoring system for the charger is provided for the battery management system. The two systems provide redundancy for safety, and the battery management system will display an error message. Pulse Hystresis Finish Charge Using the battery management system for executive control provides the opportunity to implement pulse charging for the battery finish charge. The battery management system has access to all information about the individual cells, battery-pack status, and battery-charger status. This provides the opportunity for the battery

39 management system to directly control energy coming from the charger based on battery status. As discussed in the safety systems section, the BMS microcontroller can turn off and on controls in the charging system through optically isolated digital control lines. To turn off the chargers output, the ICE2PSCS01 is forced into sleep mode, which is preferable to turning it off because the charger will not have to go through an internal re-initialization every time it is turned back on. The charger is forced into sleep mode by overriding the chargers feedback control. As discussed previously in the section on voltage control, the voltage feedback was replaced by a voltage regulator that supplies a constant 3V. To force the ICE2PSCS01 into sleep mode, the shutdown pin of the voltage regulator is pulled to ground. When the voltage regulator is shut down, it produces 0V, which is below the ICE2PSCS01s 0.6V sleep threshold. The battery management system microcontroller implements the pulse charging algorithm. When the pack voltage reaches a set point corresponding to the individual cells full state, the charger is turned off and the pack voltage settles to a lower steady level. To determine settling, voltage drop versus time is monitored. When the battery pack settling rate reaches a predetermined slope and the voltage is below the pre-set charged state, the feedback voltage is switched back to 3V by the battery management system. This initiates the next pulse. If instead the settled voltage reaches the pre-set charged voltage, a flag is set in the battery management system. The charged flag causes the software to turn off control power to the ICE2PSCS01, forcing the charging system to shut down.

40 Schematic The schematic for the Charger design is shown in Figure 4. On the left side of the design are passive safety circuits. The boost converter is on the upper right and the SMPS controller is on the lower right. Hardware The PCB layout for the schematic shown above is in Figure 5. The board has been divided into two ground planes to separate the low voltage control circuits from the high voltage power components. All power loops are as short as possible and power components are placed on both top and bottom sides of the board to reduce trace length. The complete charger is shown in Figure 6. The board was soldered using the reflow method in a toaster oven. The Charging system and battery management system are designed to fit in the enclosure shown in Figure 7. This enclosure incorporates the Charger board (shown above), and the BMSs isolation board, as well as the BMSs CPU. Power input is controlled with a GFI breaker; and battery power output is controlled with the main contactor. Figure 8 shows the assembly of the Charger, Isolation Board (middle), and CPU (bottom). Charging System Testing The charger is a complicated and extremely dynamic component, which can respond to feedback faster than a human can react. To add to the testing difficulty, the voltages produced by the charger are lethal and can easily damage measuring equipment.

41

Fig. 4. Schematic of charger circuit.

42

Fig. 5. Circuit layout for charger circuit board.

43

Fig. 6. Complete charger circuit board. For high-voltage testing, special care and procedures must be exercised, such as using isolation transformers for test equipment. For these reasons, a testing program of ensuring core functionality of shut down and safety subsystems has been implemented. Once those systems are operational, the charger will be tested as a high voltage, low current power supply. The complete system will only be combined when the battery management system and charger are fully operational. Safety Device Actuation The charging system has three passive subsystems to ensure that the chargers output will not harm the battery pack or the charger will not overheat. It also has three controls from the Battery Management System. These active systems add another layer of safety to the system. These systems were tested before testing the charger, as their proper operation would ensure safe testing and their absence would allow no output.

44

Fig. 7. Solid model of charger and BMS control.

45

Fig. 8. Charger and BMS control circuit assembly. Charger Power Control The 15V power supply for the SMPS controller and the 3V regulator can be turned off in the case of a fully charged battery pack. Initial testing of the SMPS control board will use this control turned off to reduce DC output voltages. As discussed previously, all controls are set up so a signal must be present for operation. Table 3 details the control states. Charger Sleep Control The 3V feedback voltage produced by VR1 can be turned off by the BMS to force the SMPS controller into sleep mode. This feature is used to control pulse charging

46 TABLE 3 TESTED STATES OF CHARGER POWER CONTROL Connector1, pin1 0V 4.99V Voltage at VR1 pin 2 0V 15.05V

and is also used by the charger control board in the case of a charger overtemperature condition. During initial testing this control will be off to reduce DC output voltages. Table 4 details the control states.

Table 4 TESTED STATES OF SLEEP CONTROL Connector 1 pin 5 0V 4.98 Voltage at VR1 pin 4 0V 3.01V

Temperature Sensor. This is a passive control used to detect an overheating charger that is activated by a NTC resistor and a voltage monitor. When the NTC resistor exceeds 70C, the voltage monitor will pull down a control line forcing VR1 into standby mode. Tests were conducted using a Greenlee CM4000 DMM and a Traceable 4354CC Digital Temperature Probe. Table 5 shows the temperature response of the control system.

TABLE 5 TESTED STATES OF TEMPERATURE SENSOR Sensor Temperature 21.3 C 64 C Voltage 4.98V 1.62V VR1 pin 4 3.02V 0V

47 Under Voltage Sensor. A resistor network is combined with a voltage monitor to provide low voltage protection. This is primarily to protect the charger from large inrush currents. The system de-activates a triac, forcing incoming AC current to flow through an inrush current limiting NTC device. The resistor network is designed to read bus voltage and provide feedback voltages for the voltage monitors and the SMPS controller. Part of the network is distributed in the battery modules, and the nominal voltage supplied at pin 6 of connector 1 is between 3V and 7V. To test this function an adjustable voltage was connected and adjusted until the triac activated. For this test, the AC line voltage was connected to the charger. Since previous tests showed that the SMPS controller should not operate with the voltage at connector 1 pin 1 at 0V, the voltage measured across the output capacitor should only be 169VDC. The voltage across inrush protector was measured to verify operation, as shown in Table 6.

TABLE 6 TESTED STATES OF INRUSH PROTECTION Connector 1 pin 6 3.9V 4.1V Inrush triac off on

Over Voltage Sensor. The resistor network above is also combined with a voltage monitor to provide over voltage protection. This is primarily to protect the system from a severe overvoltage due to a control failure. The voltage monitor activates a triac controller that can connect the AC hot line to ground. Since a few milliamps in the ground line will trip the ground fault interrupter, this is an effective rapid power disconnect. This system can also be activated by the BMS should it detect a major fault in

48 the battery system. To test this function, an adjustable voltage was connected and adjusted until the triac activated. For this test, the AC line voltage was connected to the charger. Since previous tests showed that the SMPS controller should not operate with the voltage at connector 1 pin 1 at 0V, the voltage measured across the output capacitor should only be 169VDC. Verifying operation was easy as the GFI interrupter trips with a loud click. A summary of GFI response is detailed in Table 7.

TABLE 7 TESTED STATES OF OVERVOLTAGE/GFI PROTECTION Connector 1 pin 6 6.32V 6.1V Connector 1 pin 2 0V 4.98V GFI breaker tripped connected GFI breaker tripped connected

Output Voltage Tests Once proper operation of the safety systems were verified, initial tests of the SMPS controller were conducted. The rectified AC input for the controller is 169VDC, and the battery packs output voltage is 250VDC. To ensure a huge voltage differential did not exist between the oscilloscope that was connected to a PC with a parallel port, the device under test was connected to an isolation transformer so there was no common ground. A target voltage of 260V was set using a voltage divider off the output with the output connected to the SMPS controllers voltage feedback pin. To do this, the systems feedback override was overridden by connecting a jumper from the voltage dividers output to VR1s output at pin 4. A resistive load was connected across the output targeted

49 at 0.5A at 260VDC. Controller response to the load and load removal is shown in Figure 9. Because the load is removed, there is no place for the excess voltage to go except through the voltage divider. This is the reason for the slow decay back to the specified voltage. When subjected to a sudden load addition, the controller responds quickly, as shown in Figure 10. While a BMS charger will never see rapid load additions like this, the controllers response to a changing load needed to be tested. Voltage dropped 20V (7.6%) but quickly recovered (0.31S) to the specified value. Next, a load/unload sequence was tried to ensure that a transient load would not cause problems, with results shown in Figure 11. This situation might be found during pulse charging and it was imperative to prove the controller was up to the task. Response was similar to the two previous tests with no additional undershoot or overshoot due to the quickly cycled load. After proving the controller could supply a stable voltage under changing load scenarios, the BMS was connected to MOSFET that could change the feedback voltage to zero. This test of sleep mode was conducted to verify that sleep mode could be used for a charging control. As shown in Figure 12, voltage settled to 145V, which was lower than the expected 169V. During testing of pulse charging with the BMS, it was discovered that an offset error could easily be introduced for the transient recorder. While it is easy to rectify the error, this most likely accounts for the difference between the expected and measured results. Measurement error aside, the SMPS controller responds better than the author to waking up from sleep mode.

50

Fig. 9. Load removal showing 15.5V overshoot.

51

Fig. 10. Load addition response.

52

Fig. 11. Transient load test.

53

Fig. 12. Sleep mode test.

54 Output Current Testing the controller to the designed power output is important to ensure proper performance. This test needs to be conducted with a predictable, preferable purely resistive load. Under load, characterization of voltage ripple and current ripple can be determined. As shown during testing in Chapter III (using a different power supply), high ripple could be detrimental from a controls standpoint. High power water-cooled resistors are currently being researched for this task. It would be unwise to subject a full size battery pack to an unknown high voltage power supply output so these tests have not been conducted at this point. Pulse Charging All the controls to implement pulse charging work and the voltage output characterization demonstrates good SMPS response to sleep mode and transient loads. Once the output is tested, it should be no problem to implement pulse charging by using the methods described earlier in this chapter. Charging System Conclusion The main safety and control subsystems of the Charging system are operational. All tests conducted thus far have been successful. However, testing must proceed at a cautious pace given the consequences of a mistake. The experience with the low voltage power supply emphasizes the need for decent quality power for charging the cells. Too much ripple will make it difficult for the BMS to control the charging. Further testing needs to be conducted to verify the power output quality.

55 In conclusion, testing conducted to this point indicates that the charger is performing as designed. Further testing will validate performance at the higher current levels required by the charger.

CHAPTER III

THE BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

On an electric vehicle, the battery pack is the power source. The other components, such as the controller and the motor, merely translate this power into other, more usable forms. The range and power available to the vehicle is determined by the battery pack. Other design considerations are the battery packs mass and volume, as they determine mass balance of the vehicle and where the pack can be located for packaging reasons. The electric power supply system depends primarily on the electric vehicle and its requirements. A properly designed system will take these demands into account. The performance of individual cells is a primary factor in battery pack performance. Lithium Ion (Li-ion) is a relatively new technology that can provide both higher power density and higher energy density than any other technology currently available [39]. Like lead acid, Li-ion has subcategories, such as lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), which are more tolerant of abuse, and lithium polymer, which has a higher power density [40]. The primary disadvantage of Lithium Ion technology is its tendency to burn if overstressed. While this is being eliminated with newer lithium iron phosphate and nano technology [41], Li-ion cells still require a battery management system for safety and optimum performance. Cell capacity is rated in Amp-hours (Ah) and is dependent on manufacturing size and details. As battery technology progresses, the capacity increases without adding 56

57 volume or mass to the cell. For example, Lithium Ion 18650 cells found in laptop computers have increased in capacity from less than 2Ah to over 2.6Ah without changing their physical characteristics.

Safety For lithium cells, charging or discharging outside their rated voltage or charging or discharging them too quickly can lead to premature failure. Overcharging and overdischarging can result in a shortened life span and is not advantageous because most cells do not store much energy at that point. The need to manage closely a battery pack depends on cell chemistry, the number of cells, and the pack configuration (cells in parallel or series). Cell chemistry plays an important role because certain chemistries (lead acid) are much more tolerant of abuse others (Lithium Ion). Furthermore, the failure mode of the cells is a critical issue. Because Lithium Ion cells can burn very rapidly when abused, they must be monitored much more closely than other technologies. For these reasons, cells must be closely and individually monitored, a task that is best done by a dedicated automatic system. This system should monitor cell voltage, current, and temperature. By keeping accurate account of all current that flows into and out of a cell, the charge state can be accurately monitored. The cells voltage can be monitored to ensure that it is not overcharged or overdischarged. If all these parameters are closely monitored, a cells life can be maximized and safety issues can be avoided.

58 Battery Pack Status The user interface for the battery management system is an important part of the system; thus careful consideration must be given to it. Because the battery management system collects data about every cell in the battery pack, the opportunity to communicate this information is both an advantage and a disadvantage, depending on execution. It is important that levels of information are available to the user, so that information overload can be avoided, particularly when the vehicle is in motion. At the most basic level, average values of temperature and voltage are useful. A combination of current and voltage could provide a power level, much like a tachometer.

Fuel Gauge Like a gas gauge, the battery state-of-charge indicator is an important part of the user interface. An accurate, linear gauge increases user confidence, and thus the usable range of an electric vehicle.

Cell Balancing Since battery cells of any technology are chemical storage devices, they have slight manufacturing tolerances that can affect their charge/discharge profiles and storage capacity. Furthermore, these properties are temperature dependent. When many cells are connected in series, there is a tendency for the cell voltages to become unbalanced due to these variations. If a battery management system only monitors the overall pack voltage, there is a high probability for a cells voltage to get too high during charging or perhaps for another cells voltage to get too low during discharge. If this is allowed to happen, the

59 offending cells life span will be much shorter than specified and an overvoltage fire could occur. When a pack is made of a few abuse-tolerant cells, differences between cells are very minor and can safely be ignored or monitored infrequently. Cells in parallel will tend to self-balance, because a higher voltage cell will discharge into a lower voltage cell. However, a series string of many cells will tend to imbalance because the slight variations of the cells internal resistance will cause each cell to charge at a different rate. If there are a large number of cells, and the cells are frequently cycled, the voltage difference between cells can become an issue. A battery management system can ensure that all cells stay within the safe operating limits at all times. This requires actively monitoring and balancing every cell in the battery pack. Merely dividing the pack voltage by the number of cells in the string will only yield the average string voltage. Unless there is a method of measuring each cells voltage, it would be impossible to know how much a cell varies from the average. When this occurs, the cell will be overcharged or overdischarged because the information is not available. In a properly designed battery management system, individual cells will be protected by the safety circuitry. However, this leads to a problem: because the pack stops charging when any one of the cells reaches the overvoltage limit, there may be other cells that are below the limit and not fully charged. Additionally, the pack will shut down when one of the cells reaches the minimum voltage, even though other cells may not be at the minimum. These cell imbalances have two effects: First, they reduce the overall capacity of the pack by limiting it to the lowest value of the cells during charge

60 and the highest value of the cells during discharge. Second, they further lead to pack imbalances by stressing individual cells at higher rates than the pack average. To maximize cell life and pack capacity a means of measuring individual cell voltage and raising or lowering outlier cells must be implemented. Because the system has individual cell-voltage data, it can be used to bring the voltage of low cells up or reduce the voltage of offending cells relative to the pack average. There are various means of achieving this, and all require circuitry at each cell to operate. The simplest method is to supply a resistor and control transistor in parallel with the cell that can bleed extra voltage when activated. Should a balancing system be added, the complexity is increased and the design will need to depend on the cells capacity.

Design Implementation The battery management system has been implemented as a group of independent modules communicating with a central control. The modules collect information about the battery cells status as well as provide a means of balancing the cells voltage. While the battery system used in this design is configured as a series string, the modules function independently of the battery configuration, communicating to the central control with an isolated communication bus. As the relative voltages of the cells are of no consequence, the battery pack could be arranged in series or parallel. System Integration To take full advantage of the safety and monitoring functions of the battery management system, the charger is highly integrated with the battery management system. The system shares information such as bus voltage, current, and even charger

61 temperature. The battery management microcontroller is provided with optically isolated controls for the charger. Executive control of the charger is managed by the battery management system through the optically isolated interface. Communication. Because the system comprises many independent modules, the communication system is the glue that holds the system together. Challenges included large voltage differentials between modules, a need for real-time communication for large amounts of data, and a need for specific module addressing. The modules communicate with the central control with a 2-wire bus. The bus protocol is I2C and has proven itself as a robust industrial communication method. In general, the bus uses a clock line and a two-way data line. Data is transferred by first addressing a device along with a command. When the address and command are acknowledged, data is clocked over the bus using 8-bit and 16-bit data groups. A stop code ends the data transmission. Data bits are in the form of a high or low signal in conjunction with a clock pulse. The threshold voltage for a high pulse is 1.5V [42]. Bus timing is critical, and due to bus line and bus driver limitations, and I2C technology can operate at 100kHz, 400kHz, and in some cases, 1MHz. One bit of information can be transmitted per cycle with this protocol. Obviously, both the central control and modules must operate at the same communication frequency, and while the I2C bus technology is capable of higher data transmission rates, the communication capability of the battery management ICs line speed is limited to 100kHz [43]. Limitations of the communication bus length are related to line capacitance and the energy required to switch from a low to a high signal. For these reasons, the bus length is limited to a few meters.

62 The bus speed puts a significant limitation on the amount and type of data that can be transmitted, because this data is multiplied by the number of nodes. Because the battery management system must operate in real time, it must give updates of battery status several times per second. For example, a query of the cell voltage requires the address of a device and the data being queried. This query requires 40 bits of data, because the addressing protocol and voltage are stored as a 16-bit number. Thus, querying every cell in a 100-cell pack would require the transmission of 4 Kbits of information. This can result in a significant time lag between the first and last cell queried, resulting in inaccurate results in highly dynamic situations. Fast acceleration, braking, and pulse charging all fall into this category. The software driving the central control must be capable of taking this effect into account when providing average data and watching for data that is outside the safe operating limits. The communication bus is at system ground, while the ground of the device being communicated to could be hundreds of Volt higher in a series string of batteries. Therefore, the communication bus must be isolated from the device receiving the communicated. Of the various means of accomplishing this, the most obvious is an optical isolator. The two main problems with optical isolators are power consumption and signal transmission speed. While simple, consisting of a light-emitting diode and a phototransistor, optical isolators require extra support circuitry to produce a square wave output signal. This extra circuitry adds complexity and more power consumption. Most optical isolators require a minimum of 10mA to activate the LED used to transmit a signal. Since the bus system is designed for parallel communication, all isolators on the bus would be active at the same time. Both the clock line and the data line would require

63 isolation, which means that there is the potential of requiring 240 LEDs to be turned on. Using the minimum power to activate each LED would require a total of 2.4A, or 1.2A per bus line! Not only is this an unreasonable amount of power, it also requires more power than the CPU can deliver at the I2C bus pin. Optical isolators are also not well suited for high-speed digital data transmission. Their frequency response falls off rapidly around 50kHz, while the signal rise and fall times can be as high as 18s [44]. To further add to the problem, the output transition from a low signal to a high signal is not well defined, requiring a latch circuit or IC. This would further add to the complexity of an optical isolation circuit. To solve these issues and meet the communication requirements of the battery management system, digital isolators were used on the cell modules. Digital isolators are manufactured by several companies, including Analog Devices and NVE [45]. The digital isolator has several advantages over the optical isolator, the primary being a highspeed square wave output. While not required for this system, data transmission rates of 100Mbits per second can be achieved by these devices. Because a digital isolator uses an inductive link coupled with logic output circuitry, it can consume less power than an equivalent optical isolation circuit. Digital isolators are very efficient, and typically require less than 5mA to transmit data. While the battery modules use a communication bus to share data, the central hub can also acquire data using discrete analog signals, which are converted to digital form using analog to digital (A/D) converters. The A/D converters used in this system are built into the central processor and are capable of 10-bit resolution. To match the input capability of the A/D converters, all analog signals are 0V to 5V. Because the analog

64 signals are directly connected to the central processor, special care must be taken to ensure safe operation. A voltage spike on one of the analog input lines could destroy the central processor, causing a system failure of the battery management system. To reduce the chances of this failure mode, all analog input signals are galvanically isolated. Analog signals are used to monitor battery pack temperature, charger temperature, power bus current, and power bus voltage. Digital signals are used for the central processor to control peripheral devices and as a means for peripheral devices to signal operation status to the battery management system. These signals, called flags or semaphores, use a high voltage of 5V, with an on threshold of 1.5V. Like the analog input signals, they are directly connected to the central processor, and must be electrically isolated. Both analog and digital signals are routed through an isolation board to ensure safe operation. Because a disconnected or broken wire can be interpreted as an off signal, care has been taken to ensure that all devices are set up with dead man logic, with a default to the off state. Safety System Response. Safety system response is summarized in Table 8 below. Implementation of these responses is detailed in the System Tasks section after the discussion of all the hardware and its capabilities, System Design Limitations. Because each cell in a battery pack must have a control module, communication limitations between the modules and the central control are one of the primary limitations to battery pack size. In the current form the number of modules limits the number of cells, and thus the output voltage. The modules have a 7-bit programmable address code, and thus a maximum of 128 modules. Several addresses are used by the user interface, default protection IC address, and expansion capability. This

TABLE 8 ELECTRIC DRIVE SYSTEM SHUTDOWN MODES

Error Error from BMS Wire disconnect Battery overvoltage - moderate Battery overvoltage - severe Battery overtemp - moderate Battery overtemp - severe Battery undervoltage - moderate Battery undervoltage - severe Error from Motor Drive Wire disconnect Power bus undervoltage - moderate Power bus undervoltage - severe Power bus overvoltage - moderate Power bus overvoltage - severe Controller overtemp Error from Charger Wire disconnect Power bus overvoltage - moderate Power bus overvoltage - severe Power bus undervoltage - moderate Power bus undervoltage - severe Short circuit Reaction Turn off motor controller/charger Modulate charger/motor controller Turn off charger/ disable regen Modulate charger/motor controller Turn off charger/motor controller Modulate motor controller Turn off motor controller Turn off motor controller Modulate motor controller Turn off motor controller Modulate motor controller Disable regen Modulate motor controller Turn off charger Modulate charger Turn off charger No action - charge as normal Modulate charger Turn off charger Method Turn off contactor and turn off charger power Force charger sleep, signal motor controller Turn off charger power, trip GFI, signal motor controller Force charger sleep, signal motor controller Turn off charger power, trip GFI, turn off contactor Signal to motor controller Turn off contactor Turn off contactor Force limp mode (internal) Signal safety module - turn off contactor Force regen limp mode (internal) Disable regen (internal) Force limp mode (internal) Turn off charger power, trip GFI Force charger sleep Turn off charger power, trip GFI Initiate pulse charging, battery test Blow fuse, trip GFI

Notes 1) Moderate conditions should force a "limp mode" to physically alert the operator of a problem. 2) Severe problems warrant system shut down for operator safety. 3) Wire disconnect refers to safety communication wires.

4) All safety communication is set up with "dead man" logic requiring a signal to operate.

65

66 reduces the maximum number of cells to 120, which allows a maximum voltage of 120 * 4.1V = 492V. The protection IC has an optional 64-bit address, so future expansion is not an issue. In this case bus speed would be a limitation, and multiple I2C buses could be implemented to provide both parallel control module strings and separate accessory control buses. Because device addressing and parallel buses can be used, the I2C bus does not present a practical limitation. Another limitation on system voltage is the digital isolation IC used in the cell control modules. It allows a maximum isolation of 2500V for one minute. When allowing for transient spikes and continuous use, 1250V is a pragmatic limitation. Because this is the maximum voltage allowed by standard IGBTs and the main contactor, it doesnt present a practical limitation. Current is limited by the capabilities of the current-measuring system. This system uses a hall-effect IC that can handle up to 20A. Hall-effect ICs that are placed in the proximity of the main power bus can handle any current with little modification to the current design. For this system, standard components are specified, and thus the maximum temperature is 70 C. All components used in this design are available with extended temperature ranges for automotive applications. Control Modules In designing this system, an effort was made to use available integrated circuit technology rather than discrete circuits. Integrated circuits generally provide a more sophisticated solution to a problem, resulting in higher capability and efficiency than can be achieved using discrete components. Further, a significant reduction in circuit board

67 size can be realized, resulting in better efficiency, fewer EMI difficulties, and easier packaging. While some integrated circuits fit the task perfectly, others were designed for different purposes and needed slight modification for this system. Details of the ICs chosen for this design and how they are integrated into the system are discussed below. Specifications. Cell module specifications are shown in Table 9. Some of the specifications need improvement for the final model, such as the standby current drain.

TABLE 9 CELL MODULE SPECIFICATIONS Cell voltage sensing range Cell voltage sensing accuracy Cell board temperature sensing accuracy Cell current drain, standby Cell current drain, operating Cell current drain, balancing Battery isolation Operating temperature 0 to 4.75 37 2 2.1 3.6 380 2.5 -40 to +105 VDC mVDC C mA max mA max mA nom kV RMS C

Control Modules. The battery modules consist of ICs designed for Lithium Ion battery protection, communication bus isolation devices, and battery balance circuitry. Power for the module is supplied directly from the cell being monitored. All of these functions must be provided for every cell in the battery pack. Because there is a potential for a large number of cells, these components must be relatively inexpensive so the battery management system does not become a prohibitively expensive part of the system.

68 Local voltages must be isolated from pack voltages because integrated circuits are designed to operate between 3V and 5V. Voltage potentials on the order of hundreds of Volts generated in battery packs would fry standard integrated circuits in an instant. Every module must operate independently from each other so that the large voltage differences found between a battery pack ground and a cells local ground can be isolated. This also provides a measure of redundancy, should there be a problem with one cells control module. Dallas Semiconductor Cell Monitor. Because many portable devices are being developed that require Lithium Ion batteries for power, there is a large market for Lithium Ion protection ICs. These reduce the need for discrete circuitry, because many of the necessary functions are built into these ICs. Commonly, they are designed for devices that require one cell, such as cellular telephones, PDAs, or digital cameras. These devices range from simple monitoring devices that produce a high or low ok signal to complete management systems that control everything, including charging. A few devices are available that can communicate to other devices, and the communication method is a critical consideration. An IC manufactured by Dallas Semiconductor was chosen for this project because it provided data-acquisition capability, a robust 2-wire bus interface, and low power consumption. This IC, the DS2764, is fairly inexpensive at less than $4 per IC when purchased in bulk. The DS2764 was designed for single-cell Lithium Ion battery powered devices that require both protection features and data acquisition features for accurate system monitoring and fuel gauging. The IC features the ability to measure current using

69 an external sense resistor and then store both current and accumulated current. In addition to precision current monitoring, the IC accurately measures the cell voltage and cell temperature, and compares all measured values to programmable limits. As a protection IC, it has the capability to directly control MOSFETs that can control charging or discharging. It can thus act as an independent protection device that does not need external control. At the same time, it can share all information: not only measurements of battery status, but also the status of the protection registers and battery history, stored in nonvolatile memory [35]. The IC does not directly manage battery charging, but allows a sophisticated charging system to share data about battery charge status. A current-limited charger must be supplied, and a constant currentconstant voltage or constant currentpulse charging algorithm can be implemented using the information gathered by the DS2764. The DS2764 can communicate all status information using the I2C bus, and each IC can either be programmed with a 7-bit ID, or can come factory programmed with a 64-bit ID. Therefore, the ICs can be used in a multiple cell battery pack to give each cell a unique ID. Even though the DS2764 is a very small IC, using a 16-pin TSOP format, it has all the capability required to provide cell-level monitoring in a multiple-cell battery management system. It requires very little support circuitry and uses the battery being monitored as the power supply. The IC is extremely efficient, needing only 60mA for normal operation. In addition, it can be forced into a sleep mode that only requires 1mA using the communication bus.

70 While the IC was close to the requirements of this project, it was not a perfect match, and some modification to its operation was required. The features implemented in this system include communication capabilities, field-programmable ID, voltage measurement, and temperature measurement. To augment the central processors capability, the DS2764s protection features have been implemented to monitor its status. Should the voltage or temperature stray outside programmed limits, the IC will notify the central processor of an error state. This allows the central processor to continuously poll for an error state, rather than monitor every cells status. When error-state polling is combined with periodic cell status updates, every cell can be monitored in a timely manner. Certain features of the DS2764 have been disabled in order to provide an efficient and cost-effective system. Even though it has the capability to continuously measure current, this has not been implemented for multiple reasons. Because this system is designed for a serial battery cell arrangement, current-measuring capability for every cell would be redundant. This would result in both unnecessary energy losses and in unnecessary costs from redundant current sense resistors. Because current sensing has been disabled, the current accumulator has also been disabled. Both of these functions are implemented in the central control system. Because the IC was designed for use in one-cell devices, it had controls for protecting the battery cell by controlling MOSFETs that could isolate the cell from the device. While this is an excellent feature, needing to individually isolate every cell in a large battery pack was considered highly redundant and unnecessarily expensive. Thus,

71 the discharge/charge MOSFET control has also been disabled. Their capability has been implemented with the main contactor, controlled by the central processing unit. Analog Devices Communication Isolation. The bus data line is bidirectional, meaning data can flow both from the bus master to the slave devices and from the slave devices to the bus master. The clock line is controlled only by the bus master, and is thus unidirectional, meaning that isolation of the clock line requires only one send/receive circuit while the data line requires a send/receive circuit for both data directions. Care must be taken to ensure that a conflict doesnt occur due to the bidirectional nature of the data bus. An IC manufactured by Analog Devices is used for this system because it provides a low-power, simple solution for the isolation problem. The ADUM1251 was designed specifically for I2C buses that use bidirectional data and a single system clock signal. The IC can transmit data at up to 1000kHz, with a maximum propagation delay of 275ns [46]. Low power draw requirements are met because the IC requires less than 3mA of current to drive each side of the isolation barrier. The ADUM1251 requires a power supply on both sides of the isolation barrier, and the recommended supply voltage is 3V to 5V. An undervoltage cutoff occurs below 2.5V. Because this is lower than a Lithium Ion batterys low voltage threshold, the IC will be able to operate on cell power alone. Unlike optical isolators or even the NVE digital isolators, the Analog Devices isolator does not require current to activate its communication channels. To isolate the communication line the ADUM1251 uses CMOS encoding and decoding amplifiers in addition to the coupling transformer. By doing this, the communication line does not

72 have to transmit current, and it thus can have a much lower impact on the bus driver. The leakage current on the clock and data lines is only 10A, so these lines have little impact on the bus driver and EMI production. The constant 3mA for power supply requires an extra line on the communication wire harness, with the clock, data, and power sharing a common ground wire. Because there is little current fluctuation in the clock and data lines, the ground line is relatively stable. One disadvantage of this system is that the ADUM1251 requires 2.8mA of supply current at 3.3V. While this may not sound like a significant drain, the rest of the circuit has been designed for micropower consumption. The main data acquisition and control functions require only 60A in operation and 1A in sleep mode. The balance circuits require no additional power unless the battery management circuit is balancing the pack, in which case the power lost from the battery is small relative to the balance resistors consumption. Means of forcing the communication isolators into sleep mode are currently being explored. Balance Control. The battery management system provides a method of balancing the cell voltage of every cell in the system. This process is managed by the battery management system hub and carried out by the battery modules. The details of the cell balancing process will be addressed in the BMS Hub section below. When it is necessary to reduce the voltage of a cell, the central controller communicates to the module responsible for that cell using the I2C bus. The DS2764 cannot control cell balancing because it was designed for singlecell devices. A solution to this issue was found by using the ability to control the protection capability of the IC through the communication bus. The safety MOSFETs

73 cannot be directly controlled, but are controlled through the status monitoring and safety logic. They can be turned on and off by forcing/clearing an error using the communication bus. Thus a specific cell can be targeted for balancing by the central processing unit using the cell ID and turning the balancing system on or off using the I2C communication bus. The method chosen for this design is to use a simple bypass resistor in parallel with the cell. The bypass resistor is controlled by a MOSFET in series with the bypass resistor. To reduce the voltage of a cell that is too high, the bypass circuit is activated and a resistor bleeds current from the cell. The rate at which the cell voltage can be reduced depends on the power handling capability of the bypass resistor and the MOSFET used to control it. The bypass resistor used in this system has been designed for high power output with a small footprint. It uses a heat sink to dissipate the energy and is thus limited to the power that can be absorbed by the cooling system. While this is not the most efficient method of balancing, as the energy taken from the cell is bled off as heat, it is simple and robust. Hardware. The following section shows the process of developing the battery modules. Before this final development was done, the individual battery management circuits were tested on breadboards. The final working design was integrated into a quad circuit, shown in Figure 13. The circuit was designed to individually monitor four 18650 Lithium Ion cells from one circuit board. There is a central connection for the data bus, and the main power is carried on bus connections between the cell connections. The circuit board layout is shown in Figure 14.

74

Fig. 13. Schematic layout of BMS module circuit.

75

Fig. 14. Circuit layout for BMS circuit board.

76 The circuit was designed to take advantage of surface mount components. For example, the DS2764 uses a TSSOP form factor with spacing between pins of less than 0.5mm. For this reason, hand soldering the boards was possible, but very difficult. Although the first circuit board was hand soldered, the next fifteen were re-flow soldered in an inductive element toaster oven. The results were professional quality, as shown in Figure 15. The process was simple enough that the other circuit boards used in this project were all re-flow soldered.

Fig. 15. Circuit board after SMT soldering.

Figure 15 shows one of the module circuit boards directly after re-flow soldering. Figure 16 shows a complete circuit board, after connectors, LEDs, and other non-SMT devices were added.

77

Fig. 16. Complete BMS module circuit board.

Figure 17 shows the solid model of a battery module. The cells reside underneath the circuit board the control ICs are on the bottom of the circuit board to facilitate maximum thermal transfer for the battery temperature sensors. On the top of the board are the balance resistors and connection hardware. A solid model of the complete system was made to ensure all the parts would properly fit together when assembled. The battery modules are housed in an extruded aluminum enclosure for protection. The enclosure is designed to allow the modules to connect in series while being secured on a dovetail guide. The guide also provides cooling for the cells, which are thermally linked to the bottom of the module. Figure 18 shows one of fifteen battery management modules built for this project. All module communication is down through the DB9 connectors on the module ends. The ribbon wire connects to the modules communication bus, linking the four

78

Fig. 17. Solid drawing of battery management module.

79

Fig.18. Complete battery management module.

battery managers to the main bus. LEDs on the top cover light up when a cells balance resistor is turned on and provide the user with a physical indication of which cell the central controller is communicating with. Battery Management System Hub The battery management system hub can be thought of as the system CEO. It must gather data about every component in the system and act on the information for both user and system safety. Every component in the system can act autonomously, and can provide the hub with both raw data and prioritized fault condition notifications.

80 Components such as chargers and motor controllers are designed to function under the authority of the hub, while the battery control modules act as agents under direct control of the hub. Safety systems are integrated into the hub for direct, immediate control by the hub. Because a large amount of data is being gathered simultaneously, all of it must be processed, updated and stored by the central processor. Due to physical constraints between the communication system and the central processor, the communication must be prioritized for maximum time-driven effectiveness. Properly controlling the communication system is one of the primary responsibilities of the battery management system hub. The information must be stored for use in diagnostics and history-driven decisions. Given the large amount of data gathered, it is not practical to store it all. While the technology is available to store all the information, doing so would require a much faster central processing and communication system than the low-power system that was implemented. Physically, the hub consists of two circuit boards, one for the CPU and one for data acquisition and isolating the CPU from harmful voltages. The battery management system hub is housed in the same enclosure as the charger, power supplies, and safety equipment. Integrating these systems has multiple payoffs for system efficiency and cost reduction. This physical arrangement allows simple integration with these components as well as a reduction in hardware. Several enclosures have been eliminated as well as many expensive high-power waterproof connectors. The need for remote sensors and their

81 connection hardware has also been eliminated. Simply reducing the amount of connections required in the system has provided a significant cost reduction as shielded, waterproof connectors rated for an automotive environment are some of the most expensive components in the system. Specifications. Electrical and environmental specifications for the Central Control Hub are listed in Table 10.

TABLE 10 CENTRAL CONTROL HUB SPECIFICATIONS Item Controller Supply voltage 12V supply current Control inputs voltage Digital outputs sink current Analog inputs voltages RS232 rate I2C rate Reading rate Number of cells monitored Operating temperature Volume Current sensor Sensed battery current Value 12 1.6 0 to 15 25 0 to 5 19200 100 3 to 400 1 to 120 -40 to +85 2.0 0.5 to 20 Units VDC nom ADC max VDC nom mADC max VDC baud kHz readings /s C liters ADC

Central Control Hub. The system hub is designed for safety system control, data acquisition, and data processing. Another duty includes providing the user interface. Data acquisition is done with a 2-wire communication bus linked to the battery modules. Discrete 0V to 5V signals are used for other system functions such as current, bus voltage, and temperature measurement. Additionally, analog and digital signals from the charger and motor control are monitored. Analog to digital (A/D)

82 converters on the central processing unit are used to convert the 5V signals for storage and processing. Battery data is stored and processed to provide information for the control system, charging system, and user interface. The user interface is a 4-line LCD for display with a keypad and an encoder for input. The user interface communicates with the central processor using the 2-wire bus, which is also used to link to a real-time clock. Because it has all the battery information, the hub has the important function of controlling the charger. Final battery voltage and cell balancing are directly controlled by the battery management hub. In addition to controlling the charging process, the hub controls the safety shut-down circuitry, and can turn off power to the charger and disconnect the batteries should any of the parameters stray outside preset limits. Processor Board. All of the support circuitry for a 44-pin 8-bit Microchip processor has been implemented on a circuit board manufactured by Modtronix in Australia. The board, the SBC44BR2, also features a real-time clock, CAN bus communication IC, and EEPROM [47]. All of the microprocessors data lines are available with two 24-pin connectors. These sockets are directly connected to the interface board, discussed in the following section. Special functions such as I2C communication is accessible with a 6pin connector. An RS232 serial port can be connected with a standard DB9 connector. A 6-connector header block can be used to connect to a CAN bus as well as an off-board power supply. The real-time clock is an 8-pin IC manufactured by Dallas Semiconductor. The DS1307 requires a battery for continuous operation in case the power to the circuit

83 board is shut off. It provides real-time information through the I2C data bus. Clock set-up is down with the microcontroller, so all clock I/O must be done through the system user interface. The primary use of a real-time clock for a battery management system is to provide delayed charging capability and real-time data for diagnostic information. Two capabilities reserved for future expansion are the CAN bus and EEPROM memory. As the data logging capabilities of the system are expanded, EEPROM memory can be used to store up to 64K in a non-volatile form. The CAN bus will be used for integration into automotive data systems. The CAN bus is a well-proven, robust data bus that has become the standard for automobile use. Microchip Microcontroller. The primary task of the central processing unit is data acquisition and real-time data processing. For data acquisition, the IC needs a large amount of input/output channels and the capability to convert analog signals to digital data. Generally, small 8-bit microcontrollers can carry out these functions extremely well. Current microprocessors have many integrated features and functions, and require very little support circuitry. Often all that is required is a power supply and a resonator for setting the clock speed. Because there are so many integrated functions, the number of input-output pins is one of the primary limitations. The Microchip 18F452 used for this system requires only a power supply and an oscillator to function. Both RAM and flash memory are on board, so program storage and execution does not require external memory ICs. Many functions are built in for communication, data acquisition, and control. Because there are so many functions, most of the I/O pins have three or four different functions and must be properly configured to operate correctly. It is possible to change the configuration while running, but this can

84 take excess time and cause program glitches because of improperly configured hardware [48]. The microcontrollers operating speed can be controlled with the selection of the oscillator. While the microprocessor can operate at speeds of up to 40MHz, it is not necessarily a good thing to run at the maximum speed. The RISC processor used in Microchip controllers makes efficient use of memory and processing resources, so high clock speeds are not necessary. Power consumption and heat generation increase significantly with increased clock speed. If the speed is not necessary, the computer will just waste the time counting, waiting for something to happen. It must be remembered that mechanical things operate at much slower speeds than do computers. Efficient programming and hardware matched to the requirements of the task are keys to minimizing processor power consumption. The maximum power consumption of the 18F452 is 1W. Reducing clock speed, using sleep modes, and shutting down unnecessary features can all significantly reduce the processors power consumption. Data and program memory is stored in three forms on the 18F452. Primary program storage is provided by 32K of Flash memory. This memory is not volatile and all program data is retained when power is shut off. Program data is stored in RAM and EEPROM, with EEPROM being used for data that must be stored if the device is turned off. EEPROM is limited, at 256 bytes, while 1.5K of RAM is available. While these resources are limited, especially when one is familiar with PC memory, it is adequate for a data acquisition and processing application.

85 Certain functions are limited to specific pins, while most pins are available for digital I/O. Careful allocation of these pins is critical for optimum processor utilization. For example, the RA pins are used as analog inputs, and the RB pins have a pull-up, allowing the microprocessor to send a 5V signal. Because the microprocessor has many built in functions, I/O pins are not necessary for basic requirements such as data storage. Memory often requires many data lines to function, with the trade off being speed versus available data lines. Another function that can require a lot of I/O pins is buttons for input, and LEDs for status display. Each button or LED requires a data line, and when one is limited to 34 data lines, each line must be carefully considered. One of the primary functions of the microcontroller is that of bus master, controlling the I2C communication bus. While this function can be programmed to operate on any digital I/O line, the 18F542 features a serial data control module that can operate automatically once properly configured. The I2C data line supports the battery control modules, user interface, real-time clock, and EEPROM used for nonvolatile data storage. To maximize I/O capability the LCD and user I/O is accessed through the I2C communication bus. LCD screens operate at a relatively low refresh rate, so the communication bus operating at 100kHz is not a hindrance to LCD operation. User input through momentary contact buttons shares the same data bus. This will be covered in more detail in the HumanMachine Interface section. Two other serial data ports have been implemented for future system expansion. An addressable USART module can support both RS232 and RS438. The RS232 bus is used to interface with a PC for diagnostics and data acquisition. The RS438

86 has been reserved to interface with a CAN bus controller IC. This will provide future compatibility with standard automotive data buses. The analog-to-digital conversion functions of the 18F452 are a primary advantage of this microprocessor. The 18F452 features eight 10-bit A/D converters. The conversion time is extremely fast, with a time of less than 10s needed to charge the capacitors and 15s to acquire the value. Even in a highly dynamic mechanical environment, the time needed to acquire accurate data is not a problem. Isolation Board. A custom circuit board provides multiple support functions for the battery management system. Its primary task is to separate the CPU from damaging transient voltages while allowing the free flow of data. It is also used to acquire system information and interface with safety control systems. As discussed earlier, isolation for the main communication bus is provided on the battery control modules. Other I2C functions, such as the humanmachine interface and real-time clock, are not isolated from the CPU because they operate at the same voltage. Communication with the charger and motor controller is carried out with 5V signals, or flags. These are isolated from the CPU with optical isolators because there are only a few low-speed signals. The charger is provided with two command signals lines from the CPU. One signal is used to force a sleep mode for either a safety cool-down period or for pulsed charging. The other signal is used to turn the charger off in one of two ways: either by tripping a ground fault interrupter, which turns off all input power, or by turning off power to the SMPS controller. Depending on the severity of the problem, the BMS can use any of these solutions for a safe shut down. As mentioned previously,

87 these signals are set up so that a 5V signal will be required to turn off sleep mode and turn on the charger. Should a system failure such as a broken wire or CPU power failure occur, the charger would be forced to turn off. Like the charger, the motor controller is provided with a flag signal. This signal is used to force a limp mode should the battery pack encounter a mild fault state. Please refer to Table 8 in the section on Safety Systems for a full description of override controls performed by the battery management system. The primary battery shut off in any electric vehicle is the main contactor. This is a relay designed for extremely high voltage and current applications. One of the main requirements of the main contactor is the ability for the relay to break the circuit without welding the contacts together. Because this device is a high-power relay, it can require a high-power solenoid to activate it. Turning on the main contactor is beyond the capability of a microprocessor, so several levels of protection are implemented. First, the solenoid control circuit contains a provision for a manual on/off switch, often implemented as a key switch. This allows the user to have the ultimate shut-down authority. A solid-state relay consisting of an optically controlled IGBT or MOSFET provides electronic control of the solenoid. To further isolate the high power from the ECU, the control signal for the solid-state relay is run through the optical isolation control bank. Because the power bus is in the same enclosure as the battery management hub, the interface board is also used for data acquisition. All signals are amplified and filtered for use in the 10-bit A/D converters. This maximizes data resolution and reduces

88 the possibility of spurious signals. All signals used for data acquisition use an isolated ground or are optically isolated from the microprocessor. Bus voltage is measured with a voltage divider, so the battery management system has two references for system voltage. The first reference is the sum of the battery voltages, provided by the battery control modules. The second reference is the bus voltage measured at the interface board. Because the measurement system can potentially fail, the signal voltage is isolated from the CPU using an analog optical isolation system. This system consists of an LED and two receiving transistors connected to operational amplifiers; the system provides a feedback loop for the optical isolator and ensures high accuracy of the signal voltage. The signal is fed into one of the CPUs 10-bit A/D converters for further data processing. The critical task of measuring bus current is also executed on the interface board. The battery management system uses information about bus current to ensure safe operation within predefined current limits. As discussed previously in the Control Modules section, the current measurement capability of the DS2764 was eliminated to reduce power consumption. Current is now measured with a hall-effect current measurement IC manufactured by Allegro Microsystems in the BMS hub. A hall-effect current sensor measures the magnetic field produced by current flowing in the wire. These sensors are available as integrated circuits and are available as conductive devices or proximity devices that must be located near the wire carrying the primary current. The conductive devices route the primary current through the IC to ensure an accurate relationship between the hall-effect sensor and the current carrying

89 wire. The primary current is limited to what can be passed through the IC, but the IC doesnt dissipate power from the primary current line. Different models of this IC allow a positive and negative current range of 5A to 50A with a calibrated 5V output signal. This IC consists of a high current section that is galvanically isolated from the measurement section, so no additional isolation is required [49]. Its small size (less than 1cm^2) makes integration into any system simple. Power consumption is lower than an optical isolator, and main bus resistance is less than 2m. The output signal is from 0V to 5V, with a center reading of 2.5V. This simplifies integration with A/D converters because no additional signal processing is required. As mentioned previously, similar ICs are available that mount in close proximity to the power bus, allowing measurement of any bus current. Thermal status of the charger and battery coolant is monitored using the National Semiconductor LM35. This IC can operate from 55C to155C and produces a linear 5V signal. Because there is no electrical contact with high-voltage circuits, no extra isolation is required. The 5V analog output signal is converted to digital values using the 10-bit A/D converters in the CPU [50]. Hardware. The isolation board was developed after individual subcircuits were tested. A complete breadboard was not tested for this circuit, resulting in a few mistakes that needed to be corrected on the final circuit board. Figure 19 shows the schematic for the circuit, after some of the mistakes were corrected. The circuit board design, shown in Figure 20, breaks the circuit into four ground planes. The large 24-pin connectors are used to connect directly to the Modtronix CPU control board. The 10-pin connector between the 24-pin connectors is used to

90

Fig. 19. Schematic layout of isolation circuit.

91

Fig. 20. Circuit layout for isolator circuit board.

92 control the charger, as detailed in Chapter II. The large capacitor on the right side of the board provides buffer current for switching on the main contactor, and is controlled by a Clare solid-state relay on the upper right side of the circuit board. The board also features a hall-effect current sensor to measure bus current, a linear optical isolator for measuring bus voltage, and an isolated power supply for these sensors. As mentioned earlier, the isolator circuit was not tested on a breadboard prior to PC board design, and a few errors appeared as a result, shown in Figure 21. The ribbon wire connects the optical isolator to the CPUs RBXX pins, rather than the RAXX pins in

Fig. 21. Complete isolator circuit board.

the original design. The RA pins were required for the A to D converter, and the RB pins feature a weak pull-up, allowing the CPU to provide a +5V signal. Other modifications

93 include the linear optical isolation circuit, which used a much larger IC than designed for, as well as needing a transistor to invert a signal. Not quite as apparent are a number of resistors that needed to be changed for proper operation of the optical isolators. Fortunately, most errors were correctable, and the board functioned well enough to test properly. HumanMachine Interface. The interface with the battery management system has been carefully designed to be as easy to use as possible. Data is communicated to or from the user interface with the I2C bus. Using the I2C bus for LCD control and user input frees many I/O pins on the microcontroller. Because this system will be used in moving vehicles, the access to information and the method of input have been designed for quick and intuitive reference and feedback. The user interface provides critical information at a glance, and is not a distraction from the primary task of the user. Primary visual feedback is provided by a 4-line by 20-character backlit LCD screen. Input is provided via a 12-key keypad organized into a menu navigation system and function keys. The keypad menu navigation is the same as the one found on all cell phones and TV remotes, so it needs little extra explanation. With it, the user can move around the menu system with feedback provided by the LCD. A center <Enter> key is provided to select options, and an <Esc> key is provided to move to the previous menu level. Context-sensitive function keys are provided as well, which correspond to options given by the LCD. Output of critical battery pack data is displayed depending on the systems mode of operation. The operation modes are Run, Charge, and Setup, with run mode shown in Figure 22. In Run mode, cell voltage and temperature are displayed, along with

94

Fig. 22. Human machine interface layout, operating mode.

pack current and state of charge. Soft key functions are displayed along the left side, corresponding to the three keys on the keypad. The soft key functions provide modesensitive functions; in this case. display format. In Run mode, the data can be displayed numerically or with bar graphs. The Charge mode screen is similar to the Run mode screen, but the soft key functions allow different options. In the Digital Output mode, the display shows pack voltage, maximum cell voltage, minimum cell voltage, average temperature, maximum cell temperature, and minimum cell temperature. Pack current is displayed as well as the fuel gauge, displayed in percent full. Should a fault occur while in Run or Charge mode, the display will be cleared and the fault code, along with the cell number that caused it, will be displayed. Because the faults can be transient, such as an overcurrent condition, the standard display will return once the fault is rectified. In Setup mode, the LCD provides menu-driven feedback. For safety reasons, Setup mode can be entered only if the vehicle is not running or charging, because navigating through levels in a menu system demands attention and is a huge distraction

95 while driving. Within Setup mode, shown in Figure 23, the first-level menus are <Clock>, <Cell Data>, <System Parameters>, and <Data Dump>

Fig. 23. Human machine interface, setup mode

<Clock> mode allows easy setting of the system clock for delayed charging and other system functions. Within Clock mode, hours or minutes can be selected using the < or > arrows on the keypad. Values can be increased with the ^ or decreased with the v arrow. <Cell Data> mode allows display of specific cell data, and semi-automatic initialization of cells addresses. Each cell has a unique address for the I2C bus; this address corresponds to the address of the data matrixes stored in the central CPU. Data such as Cell status, Temperature, and Voltage are stored in the individual battery ICs and continually updated by the system when in operation. Properly initializing the cell address is critical for system function and allows the user to easily see which cell is providing the data displayed on the LCD. When in <Cell Data> mode, shown in Figure 24, the cell number is displayed at the top of the screen, with cell status, cell voltage, and cell temperature displayed below. To navigate to the next cell in the system, use the < key

96

Fig. 24. Human machine interface, cell data level.

to decrease cell number or > to increase cell number. Selecting <Enter> allows the user to go to the next menu level and manipulate cell data. Within the Cell Data mode, the user can clear error codes, remove the cell from the data matrixes, or initialize a new cell. In this mode, the option is highlighted, and pushing <Enter> allows the user to access that option. Because these options are critical for system operation, an are you sure? verification is requested. As always, the <Esc> key allows the user to go to the previous menu level. Within <System Parameters> mode, system constants such as minimum and maximum cell voltage and temperature can be adjusted, as shown in Figure 25. These parameters can be navigated like individual cell parameters, using the arrow keys, with the current parameter highlighted. LEDs provide quick dedicated feedback of system status. In addition, each battery module has an LED that is turned on while balancing or when there is a fault. This allows the user to find a specific cell quickly. A solid model of the human-machine interface is shown in Figure 26.

97

Fig. 25. Human machine interface, cell data adjust.

Software. To ensure a safe system, every effort was made to ensure that the software is as bug-free as possible. All code was written in C and compiled using Microchips compiler. Two main principles are used to reduce chances of software glitches: 1) 2) The code is as short as possible, with no extraneous features. There are limited interrupts. The only interrupts used for this program are a

clock. This eliminates the chances of multiple interrupts stacking and causing problems as well as allowing easier testing. The program is written with a simple polling loop structure. Because the processor runs at 20MHz, it can cycle quickly through the polling loop and accomplish the needed tasks. As it is necessary to carry out some tasks more frequently than others, a counter in the polling loop ensures that some tasks are done every loop, while others are done once every 10 cycles. Frequently executed tasks include getting data from the I2C bus, as each poll of 120 cells can take a lot of time. Less frequently executed tasks include writing to the LCD, which cannot handle rapid refreshes anyway.

98

Fig. 26. Solid model of user interface.

99 A hung ECU, or blue screen, is not acceptable for this application. Being a safety critical application demands that it executes reliably without user interaction. While every effort has been made to ensure that there are no bugs, it is not possible to guarantee this. To ensure a hung-up ECU is not problematic, a watchdog timer is also implemented but not relied on. Should the code take too long to execute at any point the timer will re-start the program. Special attention has been given to data structure. To ensure data is gathered as quickly as possible from the cell modules, it is dumped directly into matrixes that correspond to the specific measurement, i.e., voltage with no processing. All values are stored in twos compliment format, and where possible only 8 bits of data are stored and processed. While the DS2764 measures data to 10-bit accuracy, it is twice as fast to transmit 8 bits of data rather than 16. Generally, the last two bits of data are not important from a safety standpoint, while timely information is. Reducing the data to 8 bits further reduces the storage requirements, allowing significantly less memory to be used. Reducing the memory requirements allows all data storage to be done within the ECUs memory, eliminating the need for external EEPROM. Eliminating external memory further speeds up the program, as the time to shuffle data is eliminated. To further speed processing, data is handled in twos complement format and, where possible, bit-level shifting is used rather than time-consuming multiplication and division. All routines that parse data in the main storage matrixes use this technique. System Tasks Safety Systems. Safety features are built into the system and distributed throughout the subsystems. These subsystems can communicate with each other to

100 provide more sophisticated reactions to dangerous situations than a standard system is capable of. Further, the charger and motor controller monitor their own condition as well as bus voltage and current. Should any of these stray outside safe values the subsystems will automatically initiate limp modes or complete shut down in addition to alerting other systems of the problem. In any electrical system a simple, passive fuse is the most reliable method of shutting down a system that is experiencing too much current. While fuses are reliable if sized properly, their reaction time is relatively slow. To further enhance response time and sophistication, additional systems have been added. Limp modes are actuated when parameters are straying mildly out of predetermined values. There is no direct safety issue at this point, but one could be encountered if the usage pattern is continued. The point of the limp modes is to alert the operator of the problem as well as to reduce the loading on the system. This will allow continued operation of the system with reduced capacity so a safe shut down can be initiated. These modes consist of communication to the charger or motor control to force the device into a mode that reduces impact on the battery pack. While charging, limp mode is initiated with the sleep function of the SMPS controller. This mode can be automatically initiated by the charger during an overtemperature condition or with the BMS controller, using the sleep control pin to shut down the feedback regulator. Emergency shutdown modes are entered when the system is well beyond normal operating limits and user or system safety is at risk. Shutdown modes depend on the situation, and different actions are taken to ensure safe shut down. For example, if the

101 battery is severely under the minimum voltage, the BMS will turn off the main contactor, shutting off all power consumed from the battery pack. Should the batteries be severely over the maximum voltage, the chargers supply will be turned off and the ground fault interrupter will be tripped, completely shutting down all charging activities. These functions can be done automatically by circuits on the charger board, so even if the BMS controller is malfunctioning, the system can be safely turned off. Additionally, if the BMS detects an overvoltage situation in an individual cell or the main DC bus, it can either turn off the charger, trip the ground fault interrupter, or do both if necessary. If the batteries are severely over the maximum temperature, charging or discharging activities will be terminated, but the cooling system will continue to operate until the temperature is brought within safe limits. Communication between subsystems is a critical component for the safety and proper operation of this system. Because it plays such a critical role, all communication lines are set up with a dead mans logic. A system is allowed to operate only if a signal is detected. Should a signal be interrupted, either from an error or from a line disconnect, it will force an off state of the device it is controlling. All communication between the charger and the BMS controller as well as the main contactors control are set up this way. The main contactor is a relay that is placed between the positive side of the battery pack and the rest of the system. This allows the battery pack to be isolated whenever the main contactor is disconnected. The main contactor is used as a general safety device and an active safety override. The user has ultimate control of the system because a key switch is used in series with the activation circuitry. The battery

102 management systems logic is also used to control the main contactor, so while discharging, the pack can be shut down with multiple methods. Ground fault protection is a control concept well proven in both industrial and residential systems. It is most commonly found in outlets in bathrooms and kitchens in new houses. The idea is that an appliance can be shut off within a few milliseconds if the return current goes through the ground path rather than the neutral line. Ground fault systems operate by measuring the current flowing in the hot, neutral, and ground lines of the load. Should more than 30mA flow through the ground line, or should the current in the hot and neutral lines differ by more than 30mA, the GFI circuit will shut off. Because it is a well-proven and accepted safety method and it has several advantages over an isolation transformer, ground fault protection with a GFI breaker has been provided in this system. This breaker will automatically shut off if there is too much current draw or if any current greater than 30mA is flowing from the ground or another path. To enhance the systems safety, a circuit has been provided that will allow the battery management system to shut off all power flowing to the charger. A triac is located after the GFI protector, with its output connected to the AC ground. This triac is controlled by the same type of triac controller described in the section on In-Rush Current. The isolated control input is provided as an immediate power shut down and is connected to the BMS. Should this system be activated, current is shunted from the AC input to ground, causing the GFI system to react and shut down power. Pack Control. The primary task of the battery management system is to continually monitor the condition of the battery pack. Should it sense a problem, one of

103 the safety modes previously described can be executed. How the BMS monitors the packs condition will be described in this section. The packs voltage is sensed three ways, to provide redundant safety control. The first method is provided by the individual monitors on each cell. The DS2764 communicates cell voltage with the I2C bus, and the battery management system continually monitors these voltages, looking for high and low cells. In addition, the average voltage is calculated for comparison and display purposes. In addition, the pack voltage is also measured using two different voltage dividers. One of the voltage dividers is used by the chargers voltage monitor to provide an automatic shut-off in case of overvoltage. The other voltage monitor puts out a 0V to 5V signal that is read by the BMSs analog to digital converter. This signal is galvanically isolated from the microcontroller with a linear optical isolator and an op-amp for signal conditioning. The packs current is measured using a hall-effect current sensor made by Allegro. This IC provides a 0V to 5V isolated signal that represents the current flowing through the pack. The signal is galvanically isolated from the main current, and is centered on 2.5V. A signal between 0 and 2.5V indicates negative current flow, while a signal between 2.5V and 5V represents positive current flow. This signal is amplified by an op-amp to provide a full-scale signal at the microcontrollers analog to digital converter. The pack temperature is also monitored at each cell with the DS2764. As with cell voltages, the BMS continually monitors temperature, looking for high and low cell temperatures, in addition to finding the average pack temperature.

104 Charger Control. Pulse charging uses the fact that a cells voltage will settle to a lower value once a charger is turned off. This effect is called hystresis and is exhibited in all batteries. It is particularly useful as an alternative to constant current constant voltage charging. In this case, the constant voltage phase of charging is replaced with hystresis charging. When pulse charging, the voltage to which the cells settle will increase over time until a predetermined limit is met. Because the BMS has control of the charger, it can easily control the pulse charging cycles. During this phase, the BMS monitors each cells voltage, and will force the charger into sleep mode when a cell reaches a threshold limit (for example, 4.1V or 4.2V). The BMS will now monitor the decay of all the cells. Once the slope of the decay is reduced to a predetermined amount, the BMS will signal the charger to come out of sleep mode to initiate the next pulse [18], [19]. Cell balancing is important to ensure maximum pack capacity and reduce the chance of encountering an overvoltage or undervoltage situation on one cell. To balance the cells, a 10 resistor is located across every cell in the pack. This resistor is controlled by a MOSFET that can be activated through the DS2764 battery management IC. A command is given through the I2C bus to turn on the balance resistor during charging. For cell balancing, the optimum time to find out-of-balance cells is at the end of the charge, where cell voltages ramp quickly. The balancing routine is activated during the pulse-charging phase of the charge cycle. During this period, cells that are a predetermined percent higher than the rest of the pack are targeted for balancing. An I2C command will turn on the balance resistor at the high cell as a pulse is initiated. The resistor will bypass the charge current during the on pulse and cause the cell to discharge

105 during the settling time. The balance resistors are then turned off and the cells are evaluated again. If they are still out of tolerance, the balance resistors will be turned on for the next charge pulse. The cycle is repeated until the pack is considered full. If the cells are still out of tolerance, the balancing will continue the next time the pack is charged. Fuel Gauge. Like a gas gauge, the battery state-of-charge indicator is an important part of the user interface. An accurate, linear gauge increases user confidence, and thus the usable range of an electric vehicle. For Lithium Ion cells, the most accurate method of measuring battery capacity is coulomb counting, not measuring cell voltage. With this method, the amount of current entering or leaving a battery pack is measured over time. Because cell capacity changes over time and with temperature, the coulomb counting method requires periodic calibration. These effects are thoroughly discussed in Application Note 131, from Maxim [51]. The capacity of a Lithium Ion cell varies greatly depending on the temperature and discharge rate. The Full line on the chart is the point at which the cell is considered fully charged by using the above charging method at the corresponding temperature. Cell heating due to charging may be a good thing from a capacity standpoint because a cells capacity generally increases with temperature, up to 50C. Likewise, a cells empty line generally decreases as temperature increases. This effect is particularly apparent between 10C and 0C. The cells capacity at a moment in time is the difference between the Full line when charged and the corresponding Empty line when discharged. If a cell was fully charged at a temperature of 80C and then fully discharged at the low current

106 rate at -20C, the amount of charge able to be removed would be the difference between the full value at 80C, leaving some capacity should the cell warm back up. However, if the cell was then fully recharged at -20C, only the difference between the full and empty values at -20C could be returned to the cell. Because of this, it is only necessary to keep track of the present cell temperature and discharge rate when determining remaining capacity. As with all chemistries, as a Lithium Ion cell ages it loses its ability to store charge. Fortunately, it has been shown that aging affects the "Full" point only. The "Empty" points remain unchanged. To account for this, the formulas for calculating remaining capacity must be capable of dynamically changing over time to remain accurate. At present, cumulative errors due to current measurement errors, temperature effects, and aging can produce inaccurate fuel gauging results. These errors are exaggerated by the fact that there are 100 cells per string in the electric vehicle battery pack. Periodic calibrations with full charge/discharge cycles are the best way to ensure long-term accuracy. For these reasons, the hardware for an accurate fuel gauge has been included in the battery management system, and a simple coulomb counting algorithm has been implemented that does not take into account temperature and aging effects. However, the gauge is re-calibrated whenever a full discharge-charge cycle is executed. Further study considering temperature and aging effects will be necessary to fully utilize this feature.

107 Thermal Management. As noted in the Fuel Gauging section above, lithiumbased batteries perform best within a restricted temperature range. Below 0C, their storage capacity diminishes, and above 80C one risks the danger of thermal breakdown.

Battery Management System Testing The battery management system and charger are a complicated system, with many interactions between the environment and the hardware, software, and user. Battery properties change over time, and sensors are often temperature-sensitive. For these reasons, a testing program of ensuring core functionality of subsystems has been implemented. The battery management system has two main subsystems. The first is the battery modules and their communication with the central control unit. The second is the interface and data acquisition boards. The interface board includes all the isolation circuitry as well as devices to gather temperature, current, and pack voltage. Should a subsystem fail a test, it must be fixed and operational before proceeding to the next level of testing. After subsystems are certified operational they have been combined into small groups to ensure proper interaction. Cell Monitoring To test proper functioning of the cell-monitoring system, a four-cell module was connected to the central control unit. After a communication link was verified, cell voltages and temperatures were acquired and reported by the LCD. This test demonstrates proper functionality of the I2C bus, LCD, and cell modules. A Greenlee CM4000 DMM was used to measure cell temperature, and a Traceable 4354CC digital temperature probe was used to measure ambient temperature.

108 Ambient temp.: Cell 0 voltage: Cell 1 voltage: Cell 2 voltage: Cell 3: voltage: 18.1C 3.33V 3.34V 3.175V 3.30V

A screenshot of the LCD, shown in Figure 27 shows the values the BMS system is operating with.

Fig. 27. Screenshot of LCD showing individual cell values.

It can be seen from the data that the voltages differ from the DMM by less than 1%. This could be due to reducing the input data from 10 bits to 8 bits. Because these measurements will not be used for cumulative information, this is adequate. This test verifies proper operation of the cell data acquisition system and user interface.

109 Data Acquisition To test proper functioning of the bus voltage, current, and temperature in the data acquisition systems, known inputs were supplied to the devices and the voltage supplied to the CPUs Analog to Digital converter pin was verified. DMM: Greenlee CM 4000 Digital Temperature Probe: Traceable 4354CC Temperature: Voltage at CPU pin: Test voltage: Voltage at CPU pin: Test current: Voltage at CPU pin: 18.6C 2.110V 3.051V 3.009V 0A 0.694 << Incorrect value; should be 2.5V

These values were displayed on the LCD, shown in Figure 28. This demonstrates functioning of both the measuring devices and the data acquisition software. Thus, the data acquisition portion of the interface board is working in general. Further accuracy could be gained in the temperature and voltage sensor with further calibration. However, some issues need to be resolved. 1) The voltage measurement works from 0V to 3.1V. Above 3.1V, the

isolation/signal processing circuit produces only 3.1V. While a range of 3V could work, it severely limits the dynamic range of the voltage sensor, reducing final accuracy. There have been several modifications to the circuit to obtain these results. At this point it would be best to breadboard this circuit and find the cause for the problem.

110

Fig. 28. Screenshot of LCD showing analog values.

2)

The current measurement circuits hall-effect sensor appears to be affected by

its load. When the program is not running, its output is correctly 2.5V at 0A. When the program runs, output drops to 0.69V. Initially, the circuit had an op amp operating as a difference amplifier. It was thought that the op-amp was the cause of the problem, so the output was wired directly to the microprocessors analog input pin. The results were the same. The LCD displays the number of bits recorded by the A to D converter. At this point, the current sensor cannot be used and the cause for the problem must be found. A potential cause for the current sensors behavior may be a problem with the voltage supply. The interface board features an isolated power supply to power the nonisolated side of the circuit board. Unfortunately, the output of the power supply is load-sensitive, and at low loading (as designed for this application) the power supplys

111 output voltage is 5.75V to 6V. This is very close to the absolute maximum for both the op-amps and the current sensor. An uncontrolled input spike higher than 6V could occur at startup, further exacerbating the problem. To fix the problem a 5V regulator was added to the output of the isolated power supply, but the damage to the downstream components may have already occurred. Device Actuation The battery management system can actively control charger function and main contactor actuation. Tests of these functions will be detailed in the following section. Main Contactor. The main contactor requires three conditions to turn on: 1) An output signal from a motor controller, indicating an ok status. 2) A key switch in the on position. 3) An output signal from the BMS, indicating an ok status. Should any of the conditions not be met, the main contactor should turn off, disconnecting the battery pack from the motor controller. The test results are shown in Table 11.

TABLE 11 TESTED STATES OF MAIN CONTACTOR CONTROL BMS output at RB1 off off off off on on on on Keyswitch off off on on off off on on Controller Output off on off on off on off on Contactor State off off off off off off off on

112 Ground Fault Interrupter. The battery management system can shut down AC power input to the charger in the case of a severe overvoltage. To simulate that situation, the ground fault interrupting circuit breaker will be actuated by supplying a high voltage to the bus voltage sensor. This breaker can also be tripped by circuits on the charger control board. Under normal conditions, this would occur at 255VDC for a 60-cell battery pack. To safely conduct the test, the threshold voltage will be set to 10V, with a 12V battery supplying the test voltage. Proper operation will trip the GFI breaker, as shown in the test results in Table 12. Further testing of GFI actuations are conducted in the Charger sections.

TABLE 12 TESTED STATES OF GFI CONTROL BMS Output at RB4 off on GFI Breaker tripped connected

Charger Power Control. The 15V power supply for the SMPS controller and the 3V regulator can be turned off in the case of a fully charged battery pack. Results are given in Table 13. Test protocol is the same as for the GFI interrupter.

TABLE 13 TESTED STATES OF CHARGER POWER CONTROL BMS Output at RB3 off on Voltage at VR1 Pin 2 0V 15.05V

113 Charger Sleep Control. The 3V feedback voltage produced by VR1 can be turned off by the BMS to force the SMPS controller into sleep mode, as shown in Table 14. This feature is used to control pulse charging and is also used by the charger control board in the case of a charger overtemperature condition. Test protocol is the same as for the ground fault interrupter.

TABLE 14 TESTED STATES OF CHARGER SLEEP CONTROL BMS Output at RB2 off on Voltage at VR1 Pin 4 0V 3.01V

Charger Plugged-In Sensor. An isolated sensor used to detect whether the charger is plugged in is also provided for the system. This feedback sensor is used to verify operation modes and provide safety functions. For example, the BMS will not allow the main contactor to engage while this sensor is active, preventing an accident from occurring because of being plugged in. Results from the sensor test are shown in Table 15.

TABLE 15 TESTED STATES OF PLUGGED-IN SENSOR Voltage at Conn3 Pin 10 0V 12.56V Voltage RB0 0V 4.98V Sensor State off on

114 Pulse Charging To test the charge control system of the BMS, a low voltage charger was used along with one module of batteries. Charge control was implemented using the main contactor for the test. The chargers output power was a very large problem in the test. As the oscilloscope plot in Figure 29 shows there was a large percentage of voltage and current ripple. In fact, approximately 50% of the current was AC ripple. The amplitude of the DC ripple was 1.3V, which made looking for a peak charging value difficult. To make matters worse, there was a huge inrush spike when the main contactor was turned on. This spike caused the BMS to turn off the contactor, because it exceeded the high voltage turn off setting. A transient voltage suppresser was added, which reduced the inrush spike enough to operate the charger. However, the main contactor did not respond well the frequent on/off cycles required for pulse charging. In spite of these difficulties, the system did work, cycling based on cell voltage. As shown below the cells were charged from the state shown in the first LCD picture from the testing section. Balancing The cell balancing feature is implemented as part of the pulse finish charge. Balance resistors are switched on if a cell exceeds the packs average voltage by a predetermined percentage. The balance resistors are turned on by communicating with the DS2764 cell monitoring IC using the I2C bus. As shown below, the function is very effective in balancing the cells.

115

Fig. 29. Low voltage charger output waveform.

116 Cell voltages were measured with a Greenlee CM4000 DMM to verify the values. These values were compared to the BMS system values shown in Figure 30. Cell 0 voltage: Cell 1 voltage: Cell 2 voltage: Cell 3: voltage: 3.76V 3.75V 3.76V 3.76V

Fig. 30. LCD screenshot of cell status after charging.

Battery Management System Conclusion The main subsystems of the Battery Management system are operational. Some of the systems need refinement, both with hardware and software. Good feedback with accurate current sensing and bus voltage sensing will be necessary for both safety and fuel gauging. The experience with the low voltage power supply emphasizes the need for decent quality power for charging the cells. Too much ripple will make it difficult for the BMS to control the charging.

117 The core logic and operation of the controller is both robust and flexible, allowing easy improvements. With more testing and refinement, an simple, robust, and trustworthy battery management system can result.

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusions The goal of this project was to develop an integrated energy management system that included all necessary components to store energy for an electric vehicle in a modular, user-configurable system. Through both design studies and construction of a working model, the project verified that such a concept could be practically implemented. While the model is small scale, using lithium ion laptop batteries rather than full-scale EV cells, all the technology developed in this design can easily be scaled to the proper size required. The charger design developed for this project is both simple in its construction and sophisticated in its implementation. By targeting a high-voltage battery system, utility-supplied voltage would need to be increased with little extra power conditioning required. For this application, a switch-mode boost converter is the simplest and most efficient power converter available. Sophisticated control of the charger, including individual cell voltage monitoring, was implemented by integrating the battery management system with the charger. The battery management system was implemented using a distributed management topology. Each cell-management device has measurement and balancing capabilities. All the devices are linked using the well-proven I2C communication bus. 118

119 This method further extends capability by individually naming each cell in the battery pack. A central monitoring and control system continually takes data from the cellmanagement devices to watch for out-of-bounds parameters as well as general battery pack condition. This data is analyzed and used to ensure the pack is not overdischarged or overheated while running. During charging, individual cell data is used to implement a pulse hystresis finish charge and balance the cells. Pack current is measured for safety and to provide an accurate fuel gauge for the user. Redundant measurements of pack voltage further ensure safety should there be a communication bus failure. This system has been successfully constructed and tested. Further testing is ongoing, as further improvements in the design are both needed and expected.

Recommendations During testing of this project, several issues became apparent that would need addressing. Communications with experts in the field of large-scale battery packs and electric vehicle charging raised concerns about the ripple current produced by the charger. Further testing is being done to address these concerns. This may require further filtering on the output of the charger or even another power conditioning stage. Even though all efforts were made to reduce the current load on the battery management system communication bus, there may still be too much current draw from the communication isolation ICs. At present, they draw 2.8mA continuously, and this could lead to premature draining of the cells being monitored. Circuits that could force the communication ICs into sleep mode are being considered, as is as a new battery

120 management IC offered by Maxim that reportedly eliminates the high-voltage isolation issue. Further extension of the communication capabilities would be best implemented using the CAN bus, a robust standard utilized by the automotive industry. Hardware to implement a CAN bus is integrated into the microcontroller and will be implemented in the future. Because of time constraints, an active cooling system was not implemented. This system can cool both the charger and the battery modules and will require further machining of the module support and charger back plate. As designed, heat flow within the battery modules is augmented with a thermally conductive, electrically insulating epoxy. The system has been designed so that water leakage will not affect the electronics, as all channels and connections are outside the enclosures. In addition to the cooling channels, a pump controlled by the BMS and a water-cooling method must be implemented. These systems must be implemented for full thermal management of the system. Further testing must also be conducted on the system to ensure long-term reliability. These tests are being conducted at the time of this writing. As the tests and improvements are an iterative process, they are out of the scope of this project.

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