Method and apparatus for starter motor diagnosis and prognosis using parameter estimation algorithm
First Claim
1. A method for determining the state of health of a starter motor in a vehicle, said method comprising:
- using a current sensor to determine a starter motor current of the starter motor;
using a voltage sensor to determine a starter motor voltage of the starter motor;
providing an engine speed of an engine of the vehicle;
identifying starter motor values that will be used to determine the state of health of the starter motor, wherein the starter motor values are a starter motor resistance that is the combination of a starter motor armature resistance and a starter motor brush resistance, a starter motor armature inductance and a back EMF motor constant;
identifying a time model of the starter motor using the starter motor voltage, the starter motor current, the engine speed and the starter motor values;
defining model parameters from the time model;
providing a regression model based on the time model;
using a controller to determine motor parameters based on the regression model;
using the controller to determine an error using the motor parameters; and
using the controller to compare the error to an error threshold to determine the state of health of the starter motor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for determining the state of health of a starter motor to notify a vehicle driver of a potential starter motor failure before the failure actually occurs. The starter motor includes an armature and motor brushes each providing a resistance, and an armature coil providing an armature inductance. Further, the starter motor has a back EMF because of the starter motor being coupled to a flywheel and the vehicle engine. The system and method monitor the combined resistance of the armature and the motor brushes, the inductance of the armature and a back EMF constant of the motor, and provide a signal indicating a potential starter motor failure if any of these three values significantly deviates from nominal values. In one embodiment, the analysis of the motor resistance, armature inductance and back EMF constant is provided by a regression model to determine estimated motor parameters.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for determining the state of health of a starter motor in a vehicle, said method comprising:
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using a current sensor to determine a starter motor current of the starter motor; using a voltage sensor to determine a starter motor voltage of the starter motor; providing an engine speed of an engine of the vehicle; identifying starter motor values that will be used to determine the state of health of the starter motor, wherein the starter motor values are a starter motor resistance that is the combination of a starter motor armature resistance and a starter motor brush resistance, a starter motor armature inductance and a back EMF motor constant; identifying a time model of the starter motor using the starter motor voltage, the starter motor current, the engine speed and the starter motor values; defining model parameters from the time model; providing a regression model based on the time model; using a controller to determine motor parameters based on the regression model; using the controller to determine an error using the motor parameters; and using the controller to compare the error to an error threshold to determine the state of health of the starter motor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for determining the state of health of a starter motor in a vehicle, said method comprising:
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using a current sensor to determine a starter motor current of the starter motor; using a voltage sensor to determine a starter motor voltage of the starter motor; providing an engine speed of an engine of the vehicle; identifying a starter motor resistance that is a combination of a starter motor armature resistance and a starter motor brush resistance; identifying a starter motor armature inductance; identifying a back EMF motor constant; identifying a time model of the starter motor using the starter motor voltage, the starter motor current, the engine speed, the starter motor resistance, the starter motor armature inductance and the back EMF motor constant; defining model parameters from the time model; providing a regression model based on the time model; using a controller to determine motor parameters Rm, Km and Lm as - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for determining the state of health of a starter motor in a vehicle, said method comprising:
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using sensors to determine a starter motor voltage and a starter motor current of the starter motor; identifying a time model of the starter motor using a the starter motor voltage, a the starter motor current, an engine speed, a starter motor resistance, a starter motor armature inductance and a back EMF motor constant; defining model parameters from the time model; and using the model parameters in a controller to determine an error that is used to determine the state of health of the starter motor. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for determining the state of health of a starter motor in a vehicle, said method comprising:
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using a current sensor to determine a starter motor current of the starter motor; using a voltage sensor to determine a starter motor voltage of the starter motor; providing an engine speed of an engine of the vehicle; identifying starter motor values that will be used to determine the state of health of the starter motor; identifying a time model of the starter motor using the starter motor voltage, the starter motor current, the engine speed and the starter motor values; defining model parameters from the time model; providing a regression model based on the time model; using a controller to determine motor parameters based on the regression model, wherein the motor parameters are stored as a temperature in a look-up table; using the controller to determine an error using the motor parameters; and using the controller to compare the error to an error threshold to determine the state of health of the starter motor.
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Specification