METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TELEMATICS-BASED VEHICLE NO-START PROGNOSIS

• US 20100026306A1
• Filed: 07/29/2008
• Published: 02/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations Incorporated (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Correia, John J., Lobes, Kyle L., Gantt, Gary W. JR., Rychlinski, Mark J., Zhang, Yilu, Salman, Mutasim A., Edwards, Ryan M., Subramania, Halasya Siva
• Granted Patent: US 8,212,527 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/426
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/3647 for determining the ability of a battery to perform a critical function, e.g. cranking
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/371 with remote indication, e.g. on external chargers
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/00 Arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless electrical link

Abstract

A system and method for determining the status of a vehicle battery to determine whether the battery may not have enough charge to start the vehicle. The method includes collecting data relating to the battery on the vehicle and collecting data relating to the battery at a remote back-office. Both the vehicle and the remote data center determine battery characteristics based on the collected data and the likelihood of a vehicle no-start condition, where the algorithm used at the remote back-office may be more sophisticated. The data collected at the remote back-office may include vehicle battery information transmitted wirelessly from the vehicle, and other information, such as temperature, battery reliability, miles that the vehicle has driven per day, ambient temperature, high content vehicle, etc. Both the vehicle and the remote back-office may determine the battery open circuit voltage.

Claims

1. A method for determining a no-start condition of a vehicle battery, said method comprising:

collecting data relating to the vehicle battery on the vehicle;

collecting and storing data relating to the vehicle battery at a remote back-office;

determining battery status including battery state of health and a predicted battery state of charge using the collected data at the remote back-office;

determining the likelihood of a vehicle no-start condition as a result of the battery state of health and predicted battery state of charge at the remote back-office; and

transmitting a message through pre-set communication channels from the remote back-office to the vehicle operator identifying the battery no-start condition.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein determining battery status at the remote back-office includes determining the open circuit voltage of the battery.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein determining the open circuit voltage of the vehicle includes using an open circuit voltage model to predict the open circuit voltage of the battery.

4. The method according to claim 3 wherein the open circuit voltage model determines the open circuit voltage of the battery based on past open circuit voltages of the battery, miles that the vehicle is driven per day and ambient temperature at the vehicle location.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein determining battery status at the remote back-office includes determining how many miles per day the vehicle is being driven.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein determining battery status at the remote back-office includes determining an ambient temperature at the vehicle location.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein determining battery status at the remote back-office includes determining whether the vehicle is a high content vehicle.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein determining battery status at the remote back-office includes determining whether the vehicle has been driven in a warm environment for a predetermined period of time.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein data at the remote back-office includes collecting forecasted temperature, vehicle usage history, battery age, battery reliability, vehicle electrical system reliability, and vehicle operator personal information data.

10. The method according to claim 1 further comprising determining battery status of the vehicle battery based on the data collected on the vehicle.

11. A method for determining a no-start condition of a vehicle battery, said method comprising:

collecting data relating to the vehicle battery on the vehicle;

determining battery status including battery state of health based on the collected data; and

determining the likelihood that the vehicle will not start as a result of the battery status.

12. The method according to claim 11 wherein determining battery status includes determining the open circuit voltage of the battery.

13. The method according to claim 11 wherein determining battery status includes determining whether a battery discharge current during vehicle ignition off is greater than a predetermined threshold.

14. A method for determining a no-start condition of a vehicle battery, said method comprising:

collecting data relating to the vehicle battery at a remote back-office;

determining battery status based on the collected data including predicting the battery state of change;

determining the likelihood of a vehicle no-start condition as a result of the predicted battery state of charge at the remote back-office; and

transmitting a message through pre-set communication channels from the remote back-office to the vehicle operator identifying the battery no-start condition.

15. The method according to claim 14 wherein determining battery status at the remote back-office includes determining the open circuit voltage of the battery.

16. The method according to claim 15 wherein determining the open circuit voltage of the vehicle includes using an open circuit voltage model to predict the open circuit voltage of the battery.

17. The method according to claim 14 wherein determining battery status at the remote back-office includes determining how many miles per day the vehicle is being driven.

18. The method according to claim 14 wherein determining battery status at the remote back-office includes determining an ambient temperature at the vehicle location.

19. The method according to claim 14 wherein collecting data at the remote back-office includes collecting forecasted temperature, vehicle usage history, battery age, battery reliability, vehicle electrical system reliability, and vehicle operator personal information data.