Systems and Methods of Electrically Powering Devices

• US 20170244270A1
• Filed: 02/21/2017
• Published: 08/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WiBotic Inc.
• Original Assignee: WiBotic Inc.
• Inventors: Waters, Benjamin
• Granted Patent: US 10,618,651 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/124 Detection or removal of foreign bodies
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/126 Methods for pairing a vehicle and a charging station, e.g. establishing a one-to-one relation between a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/36 by positioning the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/38 specially adapted for charging by inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/10 Rotorcrafts
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/13 Flying platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/14 with four distinct rotor axes, e.g. quadcopters
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/19 using electrically powered motors
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/38 by wireless transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/44 for aircrafts
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/80 involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/90 involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00045 Authentication, i.e. circuits for checking compatibility between one component, e.g. a battery or a battery charger, and another component, e.g. a power source
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0048 Detection of remaining charge capacity or state of charge [SOC]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/005 Detection of state of health [SOH]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 : Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 : Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

A smart battery includes a battery and a measurement module coupled to measure electrical characteristics of the battery. The smart battery also includes processing logic and a communication interface configured to receive the electrical characteristics and transmit the electrical characteristics to a receiver.

Claims

1. A system for powering an un-manned vehicle, the system comprising:

a smart battery that is removable from the un-manned vehicle, the smart battery including;

a battery for powering the un-manned vehicle;

a charging module coupled to charge the battery;

a measurement module coupled to measure electrical characteristics of the battery;

processing logic, wherein the measurement module is coupled between the processing logic and the battery, and wherein the processing logic is configured to receive the electrical characteristics measured by the measurement module; and

a communication interface; and

a battery charger to power the smart battery, the battery charger including;

a power delivery module to provide power to the charging module for charging the battery; and

a receiver, wherein the communication interface of the smart battery is configured to receive the electrical characteristics and transmit the electrical characteristics to the receiver of the battery charger.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the charging module includes a receive charging coil configured to receive wireless energy, and wherein the receive charging coil is coupled to charge the battery with the wireless energy,

and wherein the power delivery module of the battery charger includes a transmit charging coil configured to deliver the wireless energy to the receive charging coil of the smart battery.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the measurement module is coupled to measure a battery voltage of the battery and a battery current of the battery, and wherein the electrical characteristics includes battery voltage data of the battery voltage and battery current data of the battery current,

and further wherein the smart battery includes a memory coupled to the processing logic and the processing logic is configured to store the electrical characteristics measured by the measurement module to the memory.

4. A smart battery comprising:

a battery;

a measurement module coupled to measure electrical characteristics of the battery;

processing logic, wherein the measurement module is coupled between the processing logic and the battery;

a memory coupled to the processing logic, wherein the processing logic is configured to store the electrical characteristics measured by the measurement module to the memory; and

a communication interface configured to receive the electrical characteristics and transmit the electrical characteristics to a receiver.

5. The smart battery of claim 4 further comprising:

a receive charging coil configured to wirelessly receive energy from a transmit charging coil included in a wireless charger that also includes the receiver.

6. The smart battery of claim 5, wherein the communication interface is coupled to receive device data from a device that is powered by the battery, and wherein the processing logic is configured to receive the device data from the communication interface and configured to transmit the device data to the wireless charger via a wireless communication interface included in the communication interface.

7. The smart battery of claim 6, wherein the device data includes a unique identifier that identifies the device.

8. The smart battery of claim 4, wherein the measurement module is coupled to measure a battery voltage of the battery and a battery current of the battery, and wherein the electrical characteristics includes battery voltage data of the battery voltage and battery current data of the battery current.

9. The smart battery of claim 4, wherein the battery is a multi-cell battery, and wherein the measurement module is coupled to measure the voltage of battery cells in the multi-cell battery, and wherein the electrical characteristics includes the voltage of the battery cells in the multi-cell battery.

10. The smart battery of claim 4, wherein the receiver is onboard a device that is powered by the battery, and wherein the communication interface is configured to transmit the electrical characteristics to the receiver onboard the device.

11. The smart battery of claim 4 further comprising a wired input coupled to receive a wired power source and charge the battery with the wired power source.

12. The smart battery of claim 4, wherein the processing logic is further configured to execute operations comprising:

initiating, by the measurement module, a series of measurements of the electrical characteristics of the battery over a time period;

storing the series of measurements to the memory;

analyzing the series of measurements to determine a number of charge cycles the battery has received over a life time of the battery; and

transmitting the number of charge cycles from the communication interface to the receiver.

13. The smart battery of claim 4, wherein the processing logic is further configured to execute operations comprising:

initiating, by the measurement module, a series of measurements of the electrical characteristics of the battery over a time period;

storing the series of measurements to the memory;

analyzing the series of measurements to determine a remaining battery life time value of the battery; and

transmitting the remaining battery life time value from the communication interface to the receiver.

14. The smart battery of claim 4, wherein the communication interface is coupled to receive device data from a device that is powered by the battery, and wherein the processing logic is configured to receive the device data from the communication interface and configured to transmit the device data to a wired charger via the communication interface.

15. The smart battery of claim 4, wherein the communication interface includes a wireless communication interface, and wherein the electrical characteristics are transmitted to the receiver wirelessly.

16. A method comprising:

initiating, by processing logic, a first electrical measurement of a battery at a first time, wherein the battery and the processing logic are included in a smart battery;

storing first electrical data representative of the first electrical measurement in a memory included in the smart battery;

initiating, by processing logic, a second electrical measurement of the battery at a second time following the first time;

storing second electrical data representative of the second electrical measurement in the memory included within the smart battery;

determining, with the processing logic of the smart battery, a battery life value based at least in part on the first and second electrical data; and

transmitting, with a communication interface of the smart battery, the battery life value to a receiver external to the smart battery.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the receiver is onboard an un-manned vehicle powered by the battery.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the receiver is included within a charger configured to charge the battery.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the battery includes a plurality of battery cells and wherein the first electrical measurement includes measurements of electrical characteristics of the plurality of battery cells.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the communication interface includes a wireless communication interface, and wherein transmitting the battery life value to the receiver includes wirelessly transmitting the battery life value to the receiver.