Telematically monitoring and predicting a vehicle battery state

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10937257-B2
Application number	US-202016943212-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2020
Priority date	Feb 8, 2018
Publication date	Mar 2, 2021
Grant date	Mar 2, 2021

Abstract

Apparatus, device, methods and system relating to a vehicular telemetry environment for monitoring vehicle components and providing indications towards the condition of the vehicle components and providing optimal indications towards replacement or maintenance of vehicle components before vehicle component failure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of monitoring a vehicle battery during starter motor cranking events where electrical energy is supplied by the battery to start an engine of a vehicle, the method comprising:
receiving, from a telematics device installed in the vehicle, a plurality of first voltage signals indicating a corresponding plurality of first voltages of the battery at beginnings of corresponding cranking events;
receiving, from the telematics device, a plurality of second voltage signals indicating a corresponding plurality of second voltages of the battery at completions of the corresponding cranking events;
determining, by a controller, a plurality of dwell times that occurred during the corresponding cranking events, the dwell times being the times for the second voltages to reach steady state for recharging the battery;
monitoring the plurality of dwell times over a time period;
determining, by the controller, a variance of the plurality of dwell times for the time period; and
generating a prediction of a health of the vehicle battery based, at least in part, on the plurality of dwell times and the variance of the plurality of dwell times.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
generating the prediction of the health of the vehicle battery comprises generating a prediction of the health of the vehicle battery based, at least in part, on an increase in dwell time over the time period.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein generating the prediction of the health of the vehicle battery comprises generating a prediction of whether and/or when the vehicle battery will fail based, at least in part, on an environmental condition.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein generating the prediction of whether and/or when the vehicle battery will fail based, at least in part, on an environmental condition comprises generating a prediction of whether and/or when the vehicle battery will fail based, at least in part, on temperature.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing at least one of a warning status and a replace status of the battery.

6. A system configured for monitoring a vehicle battery during starter motor cranking events where electrical energy is supplied by the battery to start an engine of a vehicle, the system comprising:
a telematics device configured to be installed in the vehicle, the telematics device configured to receive a plurality of first voltage signals indicating a corresponding plurality of first voltages of the battery at beginnings of corresponding cranking events and a plurality of second voltage signals indicating a corresponding plurality of second voltages of the battery at completions of the corresponding cranking events, the telematics device including a communication module; and,
a controller disposed at a remote site and configured to communicate with the telematics device, the controller configured to receive the plurality of first and second voltage signals and configured to determine a plurality of dwell times that occurred during the corresponding cranking events, the dwell times being the times for the second voltages to reach steady state for recharging the battery,
wherein the controller is further configured to monitor the plurality of dwell times over a time period, determine a variance of the plurality of dwell times for the time period, and generate a prediction of a health of the vehicle battery based, at least in part, on the plurality of dwell times and the variance of the plurality of dwell times.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the prediction is based, at least in part, on an increase in dwell time over the time period.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the prediction is based, at least in part, on an environmental condition.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the environmental condition comprises temperature.

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the telematics device is configured to provide at least one of a warning status and a replace status of the battery.

Assignees

• Geotab Inc

Inventors

• Davidson Mark Jeffrey
• Kyes John Robert Ford
• Walli Thomas Arthur

Classifications

• B60N2230/20

  Wireless data transmission · CPC title

• B60N2/0024

  for identifying, categorising or investigation of the occupant or object on the seat · CPC title

• Y02T10/70

  Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries · CPC title

• G07C5/0816

  Indicating performance data, e.g. occurrence of a malfunction · CPC title

• G05B23/0283

  Predictive maintenance, e.g. involving the monitoring of a system and, based on the monitoring results, taking decisions on the maintenance schedule of the monitored system; Estimating remaining useful life [RUL] (preventive maintenance, i.e. planning maintenance according to the available resources without monitoring the system G06Q10/06) · CPC title