Intelligent electrical system for vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10366549-B1
Application number	US-201715691238-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 30, 2017
Priority date	Aug 30, 2017
Publication date	Jul 30, 2019
Grant date	Jul 30, 2019

Abstract

An electrical system for a vehicle may include a main power supply and a power supply controller electrically connected to the main power supply and configured to selectively electrically connect the main power supply to, and disconnect the main power supply from, a vehicle subsystem. The electrical system may also include a supervisor power supply controller configured to receive signals indicative of an operational status of the vehicle, and determine, based at least in part on the signals, expected signals associated with operation of a plurality of vehicle subsystems. The supervisor power supply controller may also receive signals associated with operation of a vehicle subsystem, and determine that the signals associated with operation of the vehicle subsystem are indicative of a fault. The supervisor power supply controller may cause the power supply controller associated with the vehicle subsystem to disconnect the vehicle subsystem from the main power supply.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical system for supplying electrical power to a vehicle, the electrical system comprising:
a main power supply configured to supply electrical power to a plurality of vehicle subsystems;
a first power supply controller electrically connected to the main power supply and configured to selectively electrically connect the main power supply to, and disconnect the main power supply from, a first vehicle subsystem;
a second power supply controller electrically connected to the main power supply and configured to selectively electrically connect the main power supply to, and disconnect the main power supply from, a second vehicle subsystem; and
a supervisor power supply controller in communication with the first power supply controller and the second power supply controller, the supervisor power supply controller being configured to:
receive signals indicative of an operational status of the vehicle;
determine, based at least in part on the signals indicative of the operational status of the vehicle, expected signals associated with operation of the first vehicle subsystem and expected signals associated with operation of the second vehicle subsystem, wherein the expected signals associated with operation of the first vehicle subsystem and the expected signals associated with operation of the second vehicle subsystem are indicative of expected performance of the first vehicle subsystem and expected performance of the second vehicle subsystem;
receive signals associated with operation of the first vehicle subsystem and signals associated with operation of the second vehicle subsystem, wherein the signals associated with operation of the first vehicle subsystem are indicative of performance of the first vehicle subsystem and the signals associated with operation of the second vehicle subsystem are indicative of performance of the second vehicle subsystem;
determine that one or more of (1) the signals associated with operation of the first vehicle subsystem or (2) the signals associated with operation of the second vehicle subsystem are outside respective ranges of the expected signals associated with operation of the first vehicle subsystem and the expected signals indicative of operation of the second vehicle subsystem; and
cause one or more of the first power supply controller or the second power supply controller to disconnect from the main power supply the one or more of the first vehicle subsystem or the second vehicle subsystem for which the signals associated with operation of the first vehicle subsystem or the signals associated with operation of the second vehicle subsystem are outside the respective ranges of the expected signals associated with operation of the first vehicle subsystem and the expected signals associated with operation of the second vehicle subsystem,

wherein the signals indicative of the operational status of the vehicle comprise signals indicative that the vehicle is one of taking-off, flying, or landing, and
wherein the supervisor power supply controller is configured to determine the expected signals associated with operation of the first vehicle subsystem and determine the expected signals associated with operation of the second vehicle subsystem by processing data associated with operation of the vehicle via a fault prediction model.

2. The electrical system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and the first vehicle subsystem comprises at least one navigation system, and the second vehicle subsystem comprises at least one sensor system.

3. The electrical system of claim 1 , wherein the supervisor power supply controller is further configured to alter operation of one or more of a flight controller, a navigation system, or a sensor.

4. The electrical system of claim 1 , wherein the supervisor power supply controller is configured to determine the expected signals associated with operation of the first vehicle subsystem and determine the expected signals associated with operation of the second vehicle subsystem using one or more of heuristics or machine learning.

5. The electrical system of claim 1 , wherein the fault prediction model is trained via at least one of sensor data, camera data, or subsystem data.

6. A method comprising:
receiving signals indicative of an operational status of a vehicle;
determining, based at least in part on the signals indicative of the operational status of the vehicle, expected signals associated with operation of a plurality of vehicle subsystems, the plurality of vehicle subsystems being electrically powered;
receiving signals associated with operation of at least one vehicle subsystem, the signals associated with operation of the at least one vehicle subsystem being indicative of performance of the at least one vehicle subsystem;
determining that the signals associated with operation of the at least one vehicle subsystem are indicative of a fault associated with operation of the at least one vehicle subsystem; and
altering operation of the vehicle based at least in part on determining that the signals associated with operation of the at least one vehicle subsystem are indicative of a fault associated with operation of the at least one vehicle subsystem,
wherein the signals indicative of the operational status of the vehicle comprise signals indicative that the vehicle is one of taking-off, flying, or landing, and
wherein determining the expected signals associated with the operation of the plurality of vehicle subsystems comprises processing data associated with the operation of the vehicle via a fault prediction model.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein altering operation of the vehicle comprises discontinuing operation of the at least one vehicle subsystem and isolating the at least one vehicle subsystem from an electrical power supply of the vehicle.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein altering operation of the vehicle comprises causing the vehicle to initiate travel to a designated location.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining that the signals associated with operation of the at least one vehicle subsystem are indicative of a fault comprises comparing the signals associated with operation of the at least one vehicle subsystem with the expected signals associated with operation of a plurality of vehicle subsystems.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining that the signals associated with operation of the at least one vehicle subsystem are indicative of a fault comprises at least one of detecting or predicting that the at least one vehicle subsystem is operating outside expected operational parameters based at least in part on the signals indicative of the operational status of the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the expected signals associated with operation of the plurality of vehicle subsystems comprises using the signals indicative of the operational status of the vehicle to identify from previous operation of the vehicle previously received signals associated with operation of the plurality of vehicle subsystems corresponding to the operational status of the vehicle.

12. The method of claim 6 , further comprising training the fault prediction model via training data comprising at least one of sensor data, camera data, or subsystem data.

13. The method of claim 6 , wherein the signals associated with operation of the at least one vehicle subsystem comprise signals indicative of at least one of voltage, current, or temperature associated with operation the at least one vehicle subsystem.

14. The method of claim 6 , wherein the vehicle comprises an unmanne

Assignees

• Amazon Tech
• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Mash Jonathan

Classifications

• B60L2260/46

  by self learning · CPC title

• B60L2260/44

  by parameter estimation · CPC title

• B60L2260/32

  Auto pilot mode · CPC title

• B64D2221/00

  Electric power distribution systems onboard aircraft · CPC title

• B60L50/60

  using power supplied by batteries (in combination with fuel cells B60L50/75) · CPC title