FR3117077A3 - ELECTRONIC CONTROL SYSTEM FOR MOTOR VEHICLE OPERATING IN REAL TIME, INTELLIGENT AND ON ELECTRIC MOTORS OF MOTOR VEHICLES WITH ELECTRIC PROPULSION - Google Patents

Abstract

Real-time automotive electronic control system (ECS) of an electric propulsion system (EPS) of an electric-powered motor vehicle (EV). The electric propulsion system (EPS) includes either a single multi-phase electric motor to supply engine torque to the drive wheels (W) of the electric propulsion motor vehicle (EV) through a drive train, or a plurality of electric motors three-phase integrated in the respective driving wheels (W) of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion (EV). The Automotive Vehicle Electronic Control System (ECS) includes: - an Input/Output (I/O) module; - a control module (CM); - a module for managing the dynamics of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion (VMU); - a safety logic module (SLM); - a prognosis and health monitoring module (PHM); and - a control and electric power supply module (DPM) for each electric motor of the electric propulsion system (M) of the motor vehicle (MV). The input/output (I/O) module includes analog and digital input interfaces to an automotive sensory system and is designed to output electrical commands for an electronic control module (CM) on the based on the information received by the sensory system for motor vehicles. Figure for abstract: Figure 2

Description

ELECTRONIC CONTROL SYSTEM FOR MOTOR VEHICLE OPERATING IN REAL TIME, INTELLIGENT AND ON ELECTRIC MOTORS OF MOTOR VEHICLES WITH ELECTRIC PROPULSION

Technical field of the invention

The present invention relates in general to the automotive field, in particular electrically powered motor vehicles of the type comprising either a single multi-phase electric motor to supply the engine torque to the drive wheels through a kinematic chain, or a plurality of motors three-phase electric motors integrated into the drive wheels (“in-wheel”).

The present invention relates in particular to an electronic control system for a motor vehicle operating in real time, intelligent and safe for electric motors of motor vehicles with electric propulsion.

The present invention can be applied in any type of road motor vehicle with two or four-wheel drive, whether used for the transport of people or the transport of goods.

State of the art

As we know, the trend towards eco-responsible mobility has led to the development of a wide range of technical solutions, particularly in the powertrain sector. From this point of view, the electric traction provided by motor vehicles with electric traction represents one of the technological keys to support the realization of motor vehicles with zero emissions in the urban panorama.

In this respect, different electric traction architectures can be studied:

a) a centralized architecture based on a central multi-phase electric motor which supplies the engine torque to the driving wheels of the motor vehicle by means of a kinematic chain ("drivetrain" or "driveline") comprising additional mechanical systems, such as the gearbox gears, differential, etc. ;

b) a distributed architecture, based on motors integrated into the wheels (of which there are two or four) which supply the necessary torque directly to each wheel, potentially avoiding the presence or the need for additional mechanical systems.

Subject matter and summary of the invention

The applicant has observed that the current architectures of the control systems mentioned above for electric motors for motor vehicles with electric propulsion are considered to be capable of receiving significant margins for improvement, in particular in terms of integration of the functions in the control system. control mentioned above in order to reduce its size and therefore make it mainly compact and competitive from the point of view of cost.

The object of the present invention is therefore to propose an electronic control system for a motor vehicle operating in real time, intelligent and safe for electric motors of motor vehicles with electric propulsion which overcomes the drawbacks of the known technique.

According to the present invention, there is provided a real-time, intelligent and safe motor vehicle electronic control system for electric motors of electrically powered motor vehicles, as claimed in the appended claims.

The shows a block diagram of an electrically powered motor vehicle with an architecture comprising three-phase electric motors integrated into the driving wheels.

The shows a block diagram of a real-time, intelligent and safe motor vehicle electronic control system for electric motors of electrically powered motor vehicles.

The and depict block diagrams of an electrically powered automotive vehicle dynamics management module that is part of the company's smart and safe automotive electronic control system .

The shows a block diagram of a safety logic module that is part of the smart and safe motor vehicle electronic control system of the .

The shows a block diagram of a ground fault detection monitoring device forming part of an intelligent and safe motor vehicle electronic control system of the .

Description of preferred embodiments of the invention

The present invention is now described in detail with reference to the attached figures to enable those skilled in the art to make and use it. Different modifications made to the embodiments described will be clear to those skilled in the art and the generic principles described can be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described and illustrated, but should be given the greatest scope of protection consistent with the features described and claimed.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly used by those of ordinary skill in the area of relevance to the present invention. In the event of any conflict, this invention, including the definitions provided, shall be binding. Further, the examples are provided for illustrative purposes only and thus should not be construed as limiting.

In particular, the diagrams of principles included in the attached figures and described below must not be understood as being the representation of the structural characteristics, or constructive limitations, but must be interpreted as being the representation of the functional characteristics, that is – that is, intrinsic properties of the devices and defined by the effects obtained or the functional limitations which can be implemented in different modes, therefore in order to protect the functionalities of the latter (possibility of functioning).

In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments described herein, reference is made to certain specific embodiments and specific language is used to describe them. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

On the , there is illustrated, by way of example, the block diagram of a motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV with a distributed electric traction architecture, that is to say of the type with three-phase electric motors M integrated in the wheels driving wheels W of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV, in the example illustrated two in number integrated in the front wheels of a motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV with front wheel drive, and powered electrically by a battery pack B.

On the , there is shown the block diagram of an electronic control system for a motor vehicle ECS of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The ECS motor vehicle electronic control system is designed to provide a partially compact level of functional integration, focusing on a single Electronic Control Unit (ECU), the functions of which, in the solutions known in the state of the art are only distributed between several units, each focused on a specific application. Therefore, the present ECS motor vehicle electronic control system is designed to integrate:

- An electric motor control unit of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion (for example an inverter); and

- a module for managing the dynamics of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion (VMU, “Vehicle Management Unit”).

In this mode, the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system is designed to implement centralized safety management of an EV electric motor vehicle using a multi-core type motor vehicle microcontroller, in particular by assigning several types of application to different cores of the microcontroller and by exploiting its hardware (HW) and software (SW) functionalities integrated and dedicated to safety and vehicle protection support electrically powered automobile.

The functions that are integrated into the architecture of this ECS motor vehicle electronic control system are summarized below; it is known that, according to certain embodiments of the present invention not described here and not limiting, some of the functions mentioned above may not be present all together in the same application. In particular, the functions integrated in this electronic control system for motor vehicles ECS are as follows:

a) safety mechanisms complying with the functional safety standard, supporting applications for example up to automotive safety integrity level D (ASIL D, “Automotive Safety Integrity Level D”);

b) the security characteristics according to standards, such as for example the ISO 21434 standard;

c) electronic component health and prognosis monitoring functionality;

d) advanced motor vehicle management control strategies (e.g. torque vectoring, etc.), based on real-time sensing of instantaneous six-axis positions and accelerations of the reference for the motor vehicle with electric propulsion;

e) the flexibility and evolution of the architecture to cope with different voltages and powers of buses operating in direct current (DC), in order to prepare different electrically-powered motor vehicles and electrically-powered motor vehicle engine configurations.

The integration of the above mentioned features in a single ECS motor vehicle electronic control system, which includes various electronic control modules, allows a reduction in costs and a considerable simplification of the installation of such an electronic control system. for motor vehicle ECS on the motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV consequently reducing the complexity of the interconnections, the wiring and if necessary, of the liquid cooling system of this same motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV. At the same time, the architecture of the present ECS motor vehicle electronic control system is designed to allow centralized management of common safety and protection requirements, avoiding the need to duplicate the same functionality on multiple electronic control units and the optimization of electronic components.

The development of specific interfaces, even of said subunits, by the present motor vehicle electronic control system ECS allows a high level of evolution of the architecture of the motor vehicle electronic control system ECS. Such a characteristic makes it possible to generate a complete family of inverters for electromobility, simply by replacing a small number of components at a time. For example, depending on the operating voltage (for example 48 V, 400 V or 800 V) of the load current (for example, from 100 A to 1000 A) or the number of electric motors to be operated, it is possible to decide which subunits of the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system should be used, without modifying the architecture of the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system.

Internal communication between the various subunits of the ECS automotive electronic control system improves availability, reliability, safety and/or EMI sensitivity at the system level reducing latency; this characteristic is particularly advantageous for the real-time dynamic control of an electric motor vehicle.

Another important aspect with respect to the present electronic control system for a motor vehicle ECS is linked to the greater security of the data of the internal communication and to the synchronization of the control devices ("driver") of power with respect to the external communication. of the two (or more) single inverters of the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system.

The optimization of the electronic devices and of the interconnections between the various electronic modules of the electronic control system for motor vehicle ECS in the motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV further entails a significant reduction in costs, either in terms of cost for the realization of the system electronic control system for motor vehicle ECS, or in terms of installation of the latter on the motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV. The integration of all the necessary functions in a single module simplifies the packaging process: in fact, the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system, based on a double inverter structure, is directly coupled to a subsystem of accumulation of energy and can arrive at the assembly line as a single element, including the battery pack and the relative battery management system.

The present ECS automotive electronic control system further allows the cooling strategy to be selected based on the objective application, allowing the use of forced air or liquid coolant based on the power dissipation levels of the electric powered motor vehicle EV.

The architecture of the present ECS automotive electronic control system is designed to provide a high level of scalability and flexibility to be easily adapted to different application areas, from low voltage to high voltage and from low current to high current.

Therefore, the present ECS motor vehicle electronic control system is designed to be applicable to a wide range of different applications such as for example:

a) in case of different working voltage in direct current and rated power through a control device and a dedicated power supply module;

b) in the case of different types of motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV:

- with a single central motor (ie with front wheel drive or rear wheel drive), connecting several sections in parallel to a three-phase inverter device to increase the output power and the corresponding availability;

- with twin central motors (ie when all the wheels are driving);

- with two motors on the wheels (ie with front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive); and

- with four motors on the wheels (ie all the wheels are driven);

c) in case of different engine configurations:

- with three-phase motors, driven by two sections of three-phase inverter in parallel;

- with six-phase motors, split into two completely independent three-phase windings, connected to two three-phase inverter sections, which implement full redundancy for fault-tolerant applications; and

- with multiphase motors;

d) in case of multi-core control module for combined real-time control of:

- two three-phase electric motors or one multi-phase electric motor; and

- functions for managing the dynamics of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion (implemented in a motor vehicle management engine, "Vehicle Management Unit", VMU);

e) in case of real-time evaluation of the health status of the electronic control system through an appropriate prognostic and health monitoring module (PHM, "Prognostic and Health Monitoring") certain systems (for example, power increase systems, electric motors, such as the electric motor M, etc.) present in the motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV;

f) in the event of real-time detection, diagnosis and recovery of fault conditions, on the entire electrified transmission, such as the combination of electric motors and the relative electronic control system through a safety logic module ( SLM, “Safety Logic Module”) dedicated; and

g) in case of implementation of a complete test bench for electric motors M in the back-to-back configuration.

As illustrated on the , the electronic vehicle control system ECS includes:

- an I/O input/output module;

- a CM control module;

- a module for managing the dynamics of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion VMU;

- an SLM safety logic module;

- a PHM health status prognosis and monitoring module; and

- a control and electrical power supply module DPM for each electric motor of the electric propulsion system M of the motor vehicle MV.

In particular, the EPS electric propulsion system comprises either a single multi-phase electric motor for supplying the engine torque to the drive wheels W of the EV electric propulsion motor vehicle through a drive train, or a plurality of three-phase electric motors integrated in the respective drive wheels W of the electrically powered motor vehicle EV.

It should be noted that, thanks to the modular architecture, the motor vehicle dynamics management module with electric propulsion VMU, the prognosis and health monitoring module PHM and the safety logic module SLM can be integrated into the entire ECS motor vehicle electronic control system when necessary, ie when the application requires it; it should be noted that such a characteristic should therefore not be understood as being limiting for the present invention. Similar considerations are valid for the I/O input/output modules, the CM control module and the DPM control and power supply module. Therefore and without any loss of generality, it should be noted that the functionalities described below and which describe each module of the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system can be integrated into the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system when the application the request.

This ECS motor vehicle electronic control system is designed to be intrinsically safe under any of the operating conditions of the EV electric motor vehicle. This security is achieved through:

- the use of redundant power supplies, in particular and by way of example, using ASIL-D certified chips;

- a single control unit based on the ASIL–D certified microcontroller to synchronize the inverter devices of the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system;

- redundant reading of current and voltage for control of the electric motor M of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV, guaranteeing the possibility of correct control even in the event of faults;

- the Ethernet connection for the traceability of activities either in the bench test phase or in the field, i.e. during the operation of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV;

- predictive health monitoring on the following systems:

- power actuation systems;

- electric motors M;

- the use of a redundant inertial module for advanced dynamic management of the EV electric motor vehicle, for example for torque vector control;

- the use of an earth fault detector to prevent electrical risk.

The above measurements and characteristics make it possible to verify the entire electronic control system for motor vehicles ECS according to ASIL-D certification.

The I/O input/output module comprises analog and digital input interfaces to a sensory system for a motor vehicle and is designed to output electrical commands for an electronic control module CM based on the information received by the motor vehicle sensory system. The I/O input/output module includes one or more of the following:

- a resolver interface;

- a sine–cosine differential angular position sensor interface;

- a sine–cosine angular position sensor interface;

- a linear/angular analog position sensor interface;

- RS422 input channels for the encoder;

- differential digital encoder input channels;

- a Hall effect sensor with pulse amplitude modulation output; and

- an SSI interface.

In addition, the I/O input/output module is designed to provide at least one of the following output commands:

- contactor controls;

- intermediate power pulse amplitude modulation commands; and

- low power pulse amplitude modulation controls.

The CM control module is designed to communicate with the I/O input/output module to receive electrical commands provided by the latter and to implement a series of functions including:

a) the management of the kinematic chain of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV;

b) implementation of EV electric motor vehicle dynamics control algorithms;

c) the detection, diagnosis and recovery of fault conditions in the driveline of the electric motor vehicle EV (for example, on the electric axis and in the electronic control system for motor vehicle ECS); and

(d) safety integrity functions.

Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system uses a multi-output power system, in particular, for safety-relevant applications; the ECS automotive electronic control system is further designed to use a safety-certified microcontroller (µC) for the same safety applications. The ECS automotive electronic control system is further designed to implement safety integrity functions necessary to achieve ASIL-D certification effectively at the system level.

It should also be noted that all safety-relevant configurations are protected and can only be changed by means of a special successfully performed unlock/lock sequence.

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate block diagrams of the dynamics management module of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion VMU.

As illustrated on the , the electrically powered motor vehicle dynamics management module VMU is designed to communicate with the I/O input/output module in order to receive from the latter, quantities for motor vehicles supplied by the sensory system for motor vehicles and to work out the quantities for motor vehicle received to control the electric motors of the electric propulsion system M of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV. In particular, the motor vehicle dynamics management module with electric propulsion VMU is here completely integrated into the motor vehicle electronic control system ECS and allows to obtain some relevant advantages with respect to the control of multiphase motors, and in particular , motors on the wheels. The VMU electric-powered automotive vehicle dynamics management module is designed to fully exploit the characteristics of multi-core microcontrollers, either in terms of the availability of the various calculation logic cores, or in terms of hardware characteristics for functional safety.

The illustrates, in detail, how the VMU electric motor vehicle dynamics management module is made using a multi-core architecture, i.e. it comprises a plurality of partitions (here three for three hearts, see figures 3 and 4). In particular, the partitions of the dynamics management module of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion VMU are protected between them to guarantee freedom from interference in the control and calculation logics of the various actuators of the electronic control system for motor vehicle ECS . In particular, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, each partition is designed to control different components of the electronic control system for motor vehicles ECS. In the case of Figures 3 and 4, at least one bulkhead is designed to control an EV electric motor vehicle dynamics management logic device (core 3) and the remaining bulkheads (here two) are designed to control the respective electric motors M of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV.

The compartmentalization concept of the VMU electric motor vehicle dynamics management module allows the coexistence of applications with different ASIL requirements. Therefore, the integration of the electrically powered motor vehicle dynamics management module VMU into the motor vehicle electronic control system ECS avoids risks relating to faulty communication lines (e.g. CAN, etc. ) between the dynamics management module of the electric propulsion motor vehicle VMU and the control and electrical power supply module DPM of the multiphase motor or motors M integrated in the wheels W of the electric propulsion motor vehicle EV. Such integration also makes it possible to reduce latency times in communication between different components implementing different control algorithms (for example, between motor control modules #1 and #2, schematically represented on the ) with a considerable improvement in the dynamics of the control itself.

Such characteristics therefore make it possible to have:

- an improved safety architecture of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV; and

- improved reliability of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion EV.

Second, the above mentioned integration enables dynamic and precise control of the EV electric motor vehicle (e.g. implementing torque vector control strategies) through the low latency interaction between the VMU electrically powered motor vehicle dynamics management module and ECS motor vehicle electronic control system inverter devices.

The savings on the costs relating to the electronic control system for motor vehicles ECS are thus obtained:

- by fully exploiting the multi-core architecture of the EV electric motor vehicle control platform; and

- by avoiding an additional electronic control system dedicated to the functions of the dynamics management module of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion VMU.

The VMU electrically powered motor vehicle dynamics management module is designed to acquire different electrical signals indicating respective data relating to:

- a position of the accelerator pedal;

- pressure on the brake pedal;

- a position of the gearbox,

- a steering angle; and

- a position of the motor vehicle and acceleration on six axes (for example, on the inertial platform).

On the , a block diagram of the SLM safety logic module is shown.

As illustrated on the , the SLM safety logic module is designed to provide dedicated hardware mechanisms to deal with fault conditions on electric motors thereby implementing recovery actions. This feature is particularly important when the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system must operate in safety-critical applications. Consequently, the safety logic module SLM is designed to communicate with the control module CM to receive information concerning the fault conditions detected in each electric motor M and to manage, in a differentiated manner, different fault conditions detected.

The SLM safety logic module is designed to intervene in a differentiated manner on a three-phase bridge of the electric motor M according to the fault condition detected by carrying out one of the following operations:

1) leave the high impedance three-phase bridge;

2) short–circuit the three-phase bridge to ground; or

3) short–circuit the three-phase bridge on the high voltage battery.

Although the first mode is easy to implement, such a method does not prove to be particularly suitable for guaranteeing safe operation; the second and the third mode make it possible to reduce the speed of an axis thanks to the application of the braking torque, so that, thanks in particular to the double inverter architecture of the electronic control system for motor vehicles ECS, there is no There are no torque differences between the wheels on this same axis even in the presence of a failure.

Additionally, in high reliability applications, such as automotive traction control, it is important to have the ability to predict failures and react in real time; such a statement is particularly valid in automatic driving applications. In this respect, the architecture of the present electronic control system for motor vehicle ECS includes pre-alarm failure indicators designed to extend the series of parameters defined by a decision process in order to avoid driving situations critical for the safety, in particular by knowing the residual life (RUL, “Remaining Useful Life”) of the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system.

Again with reference to the , the PHM health status monitoring and prognosis module is designed to predict failure conditions based on the early warning indicators calculated on the basis of a mixed approach, data-based and physics-based failure, combined with a multi-level health monitoring and prognostic approach.

In order to achieve the objectives mentioned above, the architecture of the electronic control system for motor vehicles ECS is based on a mixed approach guided by data and the physics of failure (POF, "Physics of Failure") combined with a concept of multilevel health monitoring and prognosis. Based on the pre-alarm indicators identified by the critical failure modalities, the electronics of the ECS automotive electronic control system are combined with highly miniaturized sensor functionality, often referred to as "canaries", which are designed to allow recognition of the onset of degradation of the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system, estimation of the RUL (i.e. the time interval until degradation that will lead to behaviors out of specification) and the activation of maintenance with great anticipation in relation to such a loss of functionality of the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system.

In this regard, the PHM health prognosis and monitoring module is also designed to:

- implement a simplified version of failure physics models to predict changes in key parameters;

- comparing the data relating to the forecasts of the key parameters with the data relating to the measurements of the key parameters carried out by the sensory system for motor vehicles; and

- generate an advisory notification in the event that the data relating to the forecasts of the key parameters differ from the data relating to the measurements of the key parameters carried out by the sensory system for motor vehicles; and

- activating a data analysis mechanism relating to the measurements of the key parameters carried out by the sensory system for motor vehicle in order to extract a vector of statistical parameters to recognize the rapid variations of the key parameters and to predict a residual useful life parameter by analyzing at least one of:

- a correlation between the phase currents, following the conversion of the alpha–beta coordinates, to allow early identification of the different types of failures on the load side of the EPS electronic control system; and or

- a measurement of the switching time of the power devices of the electronic control system EPS to allow an indirect measurement of the temperature and the dynamic behavior of the power devices forming the data relating to the state of health of the power devices.

To adapt this approach to economically advantageous motor vehicle architectures, while keeping the data storage and calculation resources available on the control module to a minimum, the data-based analyzes focus on very few key parameters relating to the overall performance. , often classified as dangerous parameters; in the context of these analyses, only a relative inference phase is carried out online (for example locally on the control module CM of the electronic control system for motor vehicles ECS). Computing platforms with “edge” technology (e.g. “cloud” server) should only be used for offline characterization during development and “in idle” (i.e. continuous learning) ).

The DPM control and power supply module is designed to manage the bidirectional transfer of electric power between a high voltage direct current network and the relative M electric motor, implementing a series of predefined functionalities.

In particular, the DPM control and power supply module is designed to manage different functionalities including:

- active discharge;

- phase current detection;

- the detection of the mains current in direct current at high voltage;

- detection of the voltage of the high voltage direct current network and of the motor phases;

- temperature detection;

- monitoring of the loss of insulation;

- power supply and port piloting controls; and

- the functionality of the three-phase bridge.

The three-phase bridges available on the market are most often structured in power modules and are characterized by a proprietary mechanical and electrical interface, according to the production company. Furthermore, in case of low voltage applications (e.g. 48 V) or newer technologies (e.g. wide bandgap devices), analog mode power modules are not even available, in accordance with the discussions above.

For such a reason, the electronic control system for a motor vehicle ECS according to the present invention is designed to facilitate the interfacing of a driver board for power devices (GDB, "Gate Driver Board"), forming part of the control and power supply DPM, in order to adapt to any of the three-phase bridge solutions available and foreseeable in future applications; in particular, such adaptability is achieved by inserting a re-routing board between the GDB driver board and the power module, thereby making adaptation of the GDB driver board quick, economical and optimized for any conceivable power module.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the functionalities for GDB control are on separate cards, facilitating the updating of any parts without influencing the other cards if necessary. The GDB driver board provides an isolated interface between the CM control module and the power module, allowing communication without compromising electrical safety. Depending on the power module requirements, the GDB drive is designed to adjust current and voltage to a custom profile, using either passive or active drive techniques.

It should be noted that all the measurements carried out are isolated in order to guarantee the level of safety even in the event of failure of the power module. Phase current measurements are technology independent, so the port driver board can easily interface with suitable Hall sensors, shunt or even Rogowski coil probes to make the measurements mentioned above , thus guaranteeing a high degree of freedom regarding the final implementation. Furthermore, the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system is able to acquire a temperature measurement made by a relative temperature sensor, of different technologies and based on different technologies (for example, thermistors, bandgap technologies and the like ).

In addition, the presence of an external resistor of the GDB driving functionality makes it possible to manage any type of module, for example Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) devices and switches. valence band gap ("Wide Band Gap"). The number of possible devices to be installed in parallel and the particular care of the arrangement (for example traces and ad hoc copper planes) make these devices able to withstand high levels of current.

In addition, the present automotive electronic control system ECS provides overcurrent protection, which is implemented at the hardware level, by exploiting the desaturation protection provided by the majority of the driver chips. port distributed in commerce; in particular, a specific external circuit, associated with the ECS automotive electronic control system, adapts this standard functionality to any power module technology (for example, IGBT and MOSFET devices).

On the , a block diagram of a device for monitoring the detection of a ground fault GFDM (“Ground Fault Detection Monitor”) forming part of the control and power supply module DPM is illustrated.

The GFDM ground fault detection monitoring device is designed to monitor the electrical insulation status between the high voltage electrical domain and the low voltage electrical domain in real time to help maintain a degree adequate containment between the high voltage domain (where energy conversion takes place) and the low voltage domain (where the unit interacts with the user or with the surrounding atmosphere), in that the insulation may degrade, for example, due to environmental conditions or wear and tear (by internal or external causes) and must be monitored to ensure safe operation at all times under any condition, and to provide information on maintenance predictive in the event of degradation and bringing it to a safe state if the insulation is lower than the safety values.

Since the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system may be used on EV electric motor vehicles where GFDM ground fault detection monitoring devices may already be present, to avoid abnormal interactions, said ground fault detection monitoring device GFDM can be activated or not.

The architecture of the present ECS motor vehicle electronic control system is further designed to accommodate a dedicated GFDM ground fault detection monitoring device, which can be installed on the high voltage side and is designed to communicate through the isolated interfaces with the microcontroller of the ECS motor vehicle electronic control system on the low voltage side, thus maintaining a high level of safety.

Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to integrate techniques for monitoring the GFDM ground fault detection monitoring device in either direct current or alternating current (AC). Indeed, being implemented on a separate board, depending on application, cost and reliability requirements, the ECS automotive electronic control system architecture is designed to effectively monitor ground faults.

Claims (10)

Motor vehicle electronic control system (ECS) operating in real time of an electric propulsion system (EPS) of an electric motor vehicle (EV);
the electric propulsion system (EPS) comprises either a single multi-phase electric motor for supplying engine torque to the drive wheels (W) of the electric propulsion motor vehicle (EV) through a drive train, or a plurality of electric motors three-phase integrated in the respective driving wheels (W) of the electrically propelled motor vehicle (EV);
the motor vehicle electronic control system (ECS) includes:
- an input/output (I/O) module;
- a control module (CM);
- a module for managing the dynamics of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion (VMU);
- a safety logic module (SLM);
- a health prognosis and monitoring module (PHM); and
- a control and power supply module (DPM) for each electric motor of the electric propulsion system (M) of the motor vehicle (MV);
the input/output (I/O) module includes analog and digital input interfaces to an automotive sensory system and is adapted to output electrical commands for an electronic control module (CM) on the base of information received by the sensory system for a motor vehicle;
the control module (CM) is designed to communicate with the input/output (I/O) module to receive electrical commands provided by the latter and implement a series of functionalities including:
a) the management of the kinematic chain of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion (EV);
b) the implementation of the dynamics control algorithms of the electrically propelled motor vehicle (EV);
c) fault detection, diagnosis and recovery in the driveline of the electrically propelled motor vehicle (EV); and
d) safety integrity functions;
the electrically powered motor vehicle (VMU) dynamics management module is configured to communicate with the input/output (I/O) module to receive, therefrom, motor vehicle quantities provided by the sensory system for a motor vehicle and for processing the quantities for a motor vehicle received for controlling the electric motors of the electric drive system (M) of the motor vehicle with electric drive (EV);
the safety logic module (SLM) is adapted to communicate with the control module (CM) to receive information concerning the detected failure conditions of each electric motor (M) and to manage, in a differentiated manner, different failure conditions detected;
the health status monitoring and prognosis (PHM) module is designed to predict failure conditions based on the early warning indicators calculated based on a mixed approach, data-driven and failure, combined with a multi-level health monitoring and prognostic approach;
and the driver and power supply module (DPM) is adapted to manage the bi-directional transfer of electric power between a high voltage direct current network and the relative electric motor of the electric propulsion system (M) of the propulsion motor vehicle electric (EV) implementing a series of predefined functionalities. A real-time motor vehicle electronic control system (ECS) of an electric propulsion system (EPS) of an electric motor vehicle (EV) according to claim 1, wherein the input/output module (I /O) includes one or more of the following:
- a resolver interface;
- a sine–cosine differential angular position sensor interface;
- a sine–cosine angular position sensor interface;
- a linear/angular analog position sensor interface;
- RS422 input channels for the encoder;
- differential digital encoder input channels;
- a Hall effect sensor with pulse amplitude modulation output; and
- an SSI interface,
and wherein the input/output (I/O) module is adapted to provide at least one of the following output commands:
- contactor controls;
- intermediate power pulse amplitude modulation controls; and
- low power pulse amplitude modulation controls. A real-time motor vehicle electronic control system (ECS) of an electric propulsion system (EPS) of an electric motor vehicle (EV) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the safety logic module ( SLM) is designed to intervene in a differentiated way on a three-phase bridge of the electric motor (M) according to the fault condition detected by carrying out one of the following operations:
- leave the high impedance three-phase bridge;
- short–circuit the three-phase bridge to earth; or
- short–circuit the three-phase bridge on the high voltage battery. A real-time motor vehicle electronic control system (ECS) of an electric propulsion system (EPS) of an electric motor vehicle (EV) according to any preceding claim, wherein the prognostic module and health monitoring (PHM) is designed to:
- implement a simplified version of failure physics models to predict changes in key parameters;
- comparing data relating to the forecasts of the key parameters with the data relating to the measurements of the key parameters carried out by the sensory system for motor vehicles; and
- generate an advisory notification in case the data relating to the predictions of the key parameters differ from the data relating to the measurements of the key parameters carried out by the sensory system; and
- activating a data analysis mechanism relating to the measurements of the key parameters carried out by the sensory system for motor vehicle in order to extract a vector of statistical parameters to recognize the rapid variations of the key parameters and to predict a parameter of residual useful life by analyzing at least one of:
- after converting the alpha–beta coordinates, a correlation between the phase currents to allow early identification of different types of failures on a load side of the electronic control system (EPS); and or
- a measurement of the switching time of the power devices of the electronic control system (EPS) to allow a measurement of the temperature and of the dynamic behavior of the power devices providing the data relating to the state of health of the power devices. A real-time motor vehicle electronic control system (ECS) of an electric propulsion system (EPS) of an electric motor vehicle (EV) according to any preceding claim, wherein the The dynamics of the electrically powered motor vehicle (VMU) is designed to acquire different electrical signals indicating respective data relating to:
- a position of the accelerator pedal;
- pressure on the brake pedal;
- a position of the gearbox;
- a steering angle; and
- a position of the motor vehicle and the acceleration on six axes. A real-time motor vehicle electronic control system (ECS) of an electric propulsion system (EPS) of an electric motor vehicle (EV) according to any preceding claim, wherein the control module and Power Supply Module (DPM) is designed to handle different functionalities including:
- active discharge;
- phase current detection;
- the detection of the mains current in direct current at high voltage;
- the detection of the mains current in direct current at high voltage and of the phases of the motor;
- temperature detection;
- monitoring of insulation loss;
- power supply and port piloting controls; and
- the functionality of the three-phase bridge. A real-time motor vehicle electronic control system (ECS) of an electric propulsion system (EPS) of an electric motor vehicle (EV) according to any preceding claim, wherein the control module and Power Supply Module (DPM) includes a Ground Fault Detection Monitor (GFDM) designed to monitor the insulation status between the high voltage electrical domain and the low voltage electrical domain in real time. tension. A real-time motor vehicle electronic control system (ECS) of an electric propulsion system (EPS) of an electric motor vehicle (EV) according to any preceding claim, wherein the the dynamics of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion (VMU) is achieved thanks to a multi-core architecture comprising a plurality of partitions, which are protected from each other to guarantee freedom from interference in the control and calculation logics of the various actuators of the motor vehicle electronic control system (ECS),
wherein each bulkhead of the electric powered motor vehicle (VMU) dynamics management module is adapted to control different components of the motor vehicle electronic control system (ECS). Real-time motor vehicle electronic control system (ECS) of an electric propulsion system (EPS) of an electric motor vehicle (EV) according to claim 8, wherein at least one partition of the the electric powered motor vehicle (VMU) dynamics is adapted to control an electric powered motor vehicle (EV) dynamics management logic device and the residual partitions of the plurality of partitions of the vehicle dynamics management module electric motor vehicle (VMU) are adapted to control the respective electric motors (M) of the electric motor vehicle (EV). Electrically propelled motor vehicle (EV) comprising:
- an electric propulsion system (EPS) comprising either a single multi-phase electric motor for supplying engine torque to the drive wheels (W) of the electric propulsion motor vehicle (EV) through a drive train, or a plurality of motors three-phase electric motors integrated in respective drive wheels (W) of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion (EV); and
- an electronic control system for a motor vehicle (ECS) of the electric propulsion system (EPS) of the motor vehicle with electric propulsion (EV) according to any one of claims 1 to 9.