A Battery Management and Control System using a Universal Reconfigurable Architecture for Extended Health of Batteries in Hybrid and/or All-Electric Propulsion Systems

NASA seeks intelligent monitoring for hybrid and/or all electric propulsion systems, as well as methods to significantly extend the life of electric aircraft propulsion energy sources. From the available energy sources, Lithium-based batteries play a key role due to their high energy and power volumetric and gravimetric densities. The requirement to evolve towards more fuel efficient and more environmentally friendly aircrafts demands Lithium-based battery systems that can operate for longer periods of time in a safer and more reliable manner. On the battery monitoring and control area, focus has been directed at achieving accurate and stable long-term estimation of cell State of Charge (SOC), State of Health (SOH), and Remaining Useful Life (RUL). These efforts have achieved excellent progress and accuracies below 3% error are common now. Complimentary to these efforts, new approaches are needed that intelligently utilize the estimated and predicted information and turn it into tangible and considerable battery health and life performance improvements. Fuel-based aircrafts also benefit from these advances as they use batteries to power auxiliary loads, which also demand intelligent battery utilization that can translate into longer battery life and safety. Our proposed system answers these needs through the creation of a battery that adapts to the demands of the application and to the changes the battery suffers as it ages. More »