{"id":10619,"date":"2015-12-10T15:11:12","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T22:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=10619"},"modified":"2015-12-13T22:19:48","modified_gmt":"2015-12-14T05:19:48","slug":"smarter-battery-controls-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/smarter-battery-controls-itself\/","title":{"rendered":"Smarter Battery Controls Itself"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart is part of a consortium dedicated to simplifying and integrating components to enhance electric car efficiency.\u00a0 3Ccar, a European collaborative project<\/a>, gets its funding from the ECSEL, the Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership Joint Undertaking<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3Ccar\u2019s goal is to develop \u201cIntegrated\u00a0C<\/strong>omponents for\u00a0C<\/strong>omplexityC<\/strong>ontrol in affordable electrified cars,\u201d giving them a noble purpose and convoluted abbreviation.<\/p>\n

\"3Ccar's<\/a>

3Ccar’s key objectives<\/p><\/div>\n

Fraunhofer\u2019s mission in the consortium, to provide smart battery cells, looks to be well in hand with the recent announcement of battery cells that contain a \u201cbuilt-in microcontroller that records relevant physical parameters, such as the temperature and the state of charge of the cell\u2014i.e., each cell knows its own condition. The cells communicate via the existing power wiring between battery cells; they can also communicate with other devices, such as the on-board controller, which uses the data from the cells to calculate the state of charge.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Institute, having a controller in each cell brings many benefits.\u00a0 A dead cell, for instance, does not shut down the car, as it might in systems managed by a centralized battery management system.\u00a0 Instead, it decouples from the battery pack or cluster, \u201cacting like a current bypass. The others continue to deliver energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fraunhofer<\/a>

Fraunhofer smart battery with controller that will be embedded. \u00a0Next goal is to miniaturize control unit, drop price to less than one euro (about $1.10)<\/p><\/div>\n

Dr. Kai Pfeiffer, Group Manager at Fraunhofer IPA says, \u201cDepending on the cell quality, we can therefore increase the range by at least four percent. Over time, this effect is amplified: in the case of an old battery, and if the empty cells are replaced, it is conceivable that a range up to ten percent higher can be achieved.\u201d (Editor\u2019s Note: We assume with no change in battery chemistry.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Smart cells would benefit manufacturers, who otherwise must sort battery cells and match their characteristics to assemble packs.\u00a0 They also benefit owners, who will not be forced to replace the battery pack because on cell goes bad.\u00a0 (In fairness, repairs are possible on existing battery packs for EVs and hybrids, but possibly not as tidy as claimed for this system.)<\/p>\n

Any one cell removing itself from the system will not appreciably affect the performance of the EV \u2013 particularly important in aircraft \u2013 and can be replaced once the airplane is back on the ground following an uneventful landing.<\/p>\n

The current cell controller is fairly large at this point in its development, and researchers are working on miniaturizing it and embedding it in cells. \u00a0Pfeiffer says, \u201cWe want it to cost less than a euro.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Part of the development process is being conducted in the EU project \u201c3Ccar,\u201d addressing \u201cvehicle control architecture and its subsystems in order to achieve the next level of efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n

These advanced system designs with high local intelligence (computing power, sensing abilities, modularity) and extended network bandwidth will enable smart system partitioning. \u00a0Such systems can lower vehicle complexity, cost and maintenance requirements.<\/p>\n

The total project consists of 10 supply chains\u2014one of which is smart battery cells, led by Fraunhofer\u2014developing the major project breakthroughs, structured in 8 work packages generating more than 100 deliverables with around a \u20ac54-million ($59.4 million) research and innovation budget distributed over 3 years.<\/p>\n

The 10 supply chains will deliver hardware and software as listed here:<\/p>\n

SC1:<\/strong>\u00a0Smart Battery Cells \u2013 Lead by Fraunhofer IISB<\/p>\n

SC2:<\/strong>\u00a0Functionally Integrated Powertrain \u2013 Lead by Siemens<\/p>\n

SC3:<\/strong>\u00a0Smart Semiconductors for Fuel Cell \u2013 Lead by Daimler<\/p>\n

SC4:<\/strong>\u00a0Domain Controller and Algorithms \u2013 Lead by Technalia<\/p>\n

SC5:<\/strong>\u00a0High Speed Communication \u2013 Lead by TTTech & OTH Amberg-Weiden<\/p>\n

SC6:<\/strong>\u00a0Embedded Power Modules – Lead by Infineon<\/p>\n

SC7:<\/strong>\u00a0MEMS Sensors as Cyber Physical Systems – Lead by muRata<\/p>\n

SC8:<\/strong>\u00a0Robustness and Reliability – Lead by AVL<\/p>\n

SC9:<\/strong>\u00a0Comfort and Usability – Lead by Tenneco<\/p>\n

SC10:<\/strong>\u00a0Cost-effective Technology – Lead by FICOSA<\/p>\n