Power control apparatus and method for autonomous vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022063414-A1
Application number	US-202117321861-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 17, 2021
Priority date	Aug 26, 2020
Publication date	Mar 3, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

A power control apparatus includes: a first power supply device that supplies main power, a second power supply device that supplies auxiliary power, a power divider that divides the main power input from the first power supplier, a first controller connected to a first output terminal of the power divider to control power supply to a first in-vehicle load by connecting or disconnecting the main power and the auxiliary power, and a second controller connected to a second output terminal of the power divider to control power supply to a second in-vehicle load using the main power. The first controller and the second controller diagnose a power failure in cooperation with each other and supply redundancy power using the main power or the auxiliary power based on a power failure diagnosis result.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A power control apparatus comprising:
a first power supply device configured to supply main power; a second power supply device configured to supply auxiliary power; a power divider connected to the first power supply device and configured to divide the main power supply from the first power supply device; a first controller connected to a first output terminal of the power divider to control power supply to in-vehicle loads by connecting or disconnecting the main power and the auxiliary power; and a second controller connected to a second output terminal of the power divider to control power supply to the in-vehicle loads using the main power, wherein the first controller and the second controller diagnose a power failure in cooperation with each other and supply redundancy power selectively using the main power and the auxiliary power based on a power failure diagnosis result.

2 . The power control apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first power supply device includes a low voltage dc/dc converter configured to convert high voltage power supplied from a high voltage battery to low voltage power, and
wherein the second power supply device includes an auxiliary battery configured to supply the low voltage power.

3 . The power control apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first controller includes
a communication circuit configured to perform communication with the second controller; a first switch configured to:
monitor the main power and the auxiliary power between the first power supply device and the second power supply device, and
supply or cut off at least one of the main power or the auxiliary power according to a monitoring result;
a second switch configured to supply or cut off power to the in-vehicle loads; and a processor configured to:
diagnose a power failure in cooperation with the first controller, and
control at least one of the first switch or the second switch based on a diagnosis result.

4 . The power control apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the first controller further includes:
a current determination circuit configured to detect at least one overcurrent in at least one of a main power input terminal, an auxiliary power input terminal or a load power output terminal; and a current cut-off circuit configured to cut off an overcurrent-detected portion when the overcurrent is detected.

5 . The power control apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first controller is configured to:
disconnect and cut off the main power from the first controller when a main power failure is detected, and supply power to the in-vehicle loads using the auxiliary power when identifying a main power output failure of the first power supply device in cooperation with the second controller.

6 . The power control apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first controller is configured to transmit a message notifying a power failure to the second controller when identifying a main power output failure of the power divider, and
wherein the second controller is configured to supply power to the in-vehicle loads using the main power in an independent manner from the first controller.

7 . The power control apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first controller is configured to monitor a state of a current input from the second power supply device, and
wherein, when the auxiliary power failure is detected, the first controller cuts off the auxiliary power to maintain the main power supply.

8 . The power control apparatus of claim 1 , wherein, when a power output failure of the first controller to at least one of the in-vehicle loads is detected, the second controller is configured to supply power to the at least one of the in-vehicle loads in which the power output failure of the first controller is detected using the main power.

9 . The power control apparatus of claim 1 , wherein, when a power output failure of the second controller to at least one of the in-vehicle loads is detected, the first controller is configured to supply power to the at least one of the in-vehicle loads in which the power output failure of the second controller is detected using the auxiliary power.

10 . The power control apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the in-vehicle loads includes at least one of a steering device, a braking device, an autonomous driving device, an airbag device, a cluster device, a lighting device, a door device, or a communication device.

11 . A power control method comprising:
diagnosing, by a first controller and a second controller in cooperation with each other, a power failure; and suppling, by the first controller and the second controller, redundancy power to in-vehicle loads, respectively, selectively using main power from a first power supply device and auxiliary power from a second power supply device based on a power failure diagnosis result.

12 . The power control method of claim 11 , wherein the diagnosing of the power failure includes:
monitoring, by the first controller, a state of the main power and a state of the auxiliary power outputted from the first power supply device and the second power supply device, respectively; determining, by the first controller, whether the power failure is present on a main power input side or an auxiliary power input side in response to detecting the power failure; upon determining that the power failure is present on the auxiliary power input side, determining, by the first controller, an auxiliary power input failure; and upon determining that the power failure is not present, determining, by the first controller, a load power output failure of the first controller.

13 . The power control method of claim 12 , wherein the supplying of the redundancy power includes:
cutting off, by the first controller, an input of the auxiliary power upon determining the auxiliary power input failure; and maintaining, by the second controller, supply of power to the in-vehicle loads using the main power upon detecting the auxiliary power input failure through the first controller.

14 . The power control method of claim 12 , wherein the supplying of the redundancy power includes:
cutting off, by the first controller, a load power output using the auxiliary power upon determining the load power output failure of the first controller; and in response to detecting the load power output failure of the first controller through the first controller, supplying, by the second controller, power to at least one of the in-vehicle loads to which power supply by the first controller is cut off using the main power.

15 . The power control method of claim 12 , wherein the diagnosing of the power failure includes:
when a main power failure of the first controller is detected by the first controller, determining, by the second controller, the main power input failure based on a main power input state of the second controller; when the main power input failure is not detected, determining, by the second controller, a first controller power output failure of a power divider arranged between the first power supply device and the first controller based on the main power input state of the first controller by communicating with the first controller; when the main power input of the first controller is normal, determining, by the second controller, a load power output failure of the second controller based on whether it is possible to supply load power of the second controller; and upon determining that it is possible to supply the load power, determining, by the second controller, a high current load power output failure of the power

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Corp

Inventors

• Kim Sae Rom
• Kwon Soon Myung

Classifications

• H02J2105/37

  exchanging power with electric vehicles [EV] or with hybrid electric vehicles [HEV] · CPC title

• H02J2105/33

  exchanging power with road vehicles · CPC title

• Y02T10/70

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

• H02J1/086

  for providing alternative feeding paths between load or loads and source or sources when the main path fails · CPC title

• H02J9/061

  for DC powered loads · CPC title