GB2427044A

GB2427044A - Allocation of batteries

Info

Publication number: GB2427044A
Application number: GB0510874A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Adam Philip Holland; Andrea Bennetti; Christopher John Chetwood; Peter Richard Barry; Jeremy Paul Frost
Original assignee: AEA TECHNOLOGY BATTERY SYSTEMS; ABSL Power Solutions Ltd
Current assignee: AEA TECHNOLOGY BATTERY SYSTEMS; ABSL Power Solutions Ltd
Priority date: 2005-05-27
Filing date: 2005-05-27
Publication date: 2006-12-13
Also published as: GB0510874D0

Abstract

A method of allocating batteries to a task comprises forming a definition of a task, calculating from the definition of the task the duration of the task, allocating to a person the operations to be carried out during the task, allocating to the person the equipment required to carry out the allocated operations, calculating from the equipment allocated the electrical power consumption per hour required for the during of the task, calculating from the electrical power consumption per hour the total requirement of energy for the task for that person, allocating and issuing a sufficient number of batteries to that person to fulfil the energy requirement.

Description

- 1 - 2427044 Task planner The present invention relates to a system for

calculating the amount of energy for performing a task or set of tasks using battery operated equipment and allocating a suitable number of batteries to each person for performing that task.

Many tasks nowadays involve using battery operated equipment such as GPS, handheld computers, surveying equipment, night sights in order to carry out a task in the field or in space. Such a task may take typically a few hours or up to several days without the operator being able to recharge the batteries for powering his equipment. It is therefore necessary to set out to complete such a task with enough batteries which have been suitably charged. Batteries are also heavy and therefore typically it is undesirable to carry more batteries than will be needed to fulfil the task. This is ** particularly true if the task is taking place in a combat situation or lasts for a long time and therefore the number of batteries required may reach the maximum that ** can be carried per person (taking into account any other equipment that is also required) . There are also strict limits on the payloads for space missions and therefore the number of batteries taken must be minimised.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of allocating batteries to a task comprising: forming a definition of a task, calculating from the definition of the task the duration of the task, allocating to a person the operations to be carried out during the task, allocating to the person the equipment required to carry out the allocated operations, calculating from the equipment allocated the electrical power consumption per hour required for the during of the task, calculating from the electrical power consumption per hour the total requirement of energy for the task for that person, allocating and issuing a sufficient number of batteries to that person to fulfil the energy requirement.

A computer running suitable software may be used to carry out this method although typically the issuing of the batteries is done manually once the correct batteries have been identified. S...

The task may be, for example, a survey of an area of terrain, a military mission or a task carried out in space.

The definition of the task may include defining the aim to be accomplished in terms of set tasks in a database. These may include navigation, night movement, surveying or moving from one point to another.

Once the task has been defined the duration of the task can be calculated by taking into account the distances involved and the known or estimated amounts of time for stationary operations. The task may take from a few hours to several days or months, for example up to 55 hours.

The person chosen may have defined abilities and competencies. The method can be rerun for another person on the same task with other abilities and competencies, for example, astronauts with different specialised abilities,or a soldier and a commanding officer. The operations allocated to a particular person are those which are within their capabilities and skills.

Once operations have been allocated to a person, the equipment needed for each operation can be correlated from a database. For example, if a person has a navigation operation to carry out this typically indicates that they require navigation equipment such as a GPS unit.

A further database may be used to reference the equipment allocated with the electrical power requirements of each piece of equipment. From this reference information the battery capacity required to run the equipment may be calculated.

It should be noted that the definition of the task S..

may include defining the duration of certain or all operations within the task. Therefore, the electrical ** power requirement may vary during the task. The S...

calculation typically takes into account the fact that a particular piece of equipment is only operating at: certain times. The peak amount of electrical power required is typically also determined.

Once the method has been run it can be scaled up for a plurality or multiplicity of people. Typically for a task in space each person may have different operations to carry out during the mission. However, for a military task there may be tens of soldiers and only a few commanders. Once the energy requirement for each type of person has been calculated the energy requirement for each group can be calculated by multiplying by the number of people of that type. Thus, the method may further comprise calculating the energy requirement for the total number of people taking part in a task by multiplying the energy requirement for each type of person by the number of people with those skills to form a group energy requirement and adding together the group energy requirements. The calculation must take into account that each person must be given a whole number of batteries.

The batteries may be allocated to the task by any

suitable method.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a database of charged batteries is accessed and batteries are allocated from the database sequentially until the energy requirement is fulfilled. The allocation procedure can be further refined by rejecting any allocation of batteries which exceeds a predetermined * * : number of batteries e.g. four batteries, in order to prevent a person (or space vehicle) from being overloaded.:.

due to the weight of the batteries.

In another embodiment, a database of charged S...

batteries is accessed and any battery can be selected from the database to fulfil the energy requirement. In this way the batteries holding the most charge may be selected so as to minimise the number of batteries to be carried. However, this method can have the real life disadvantage that the exact batteries must then be identified which may be extremely time consuming where a large number of batteries are involved. For example, this may involve searching a warehouse of batteries in order to find particular batteries. However, this method is more suitable for choosing batteries for a space mission where there is a very high premium on weight and therefore it is extremely important to minimise the number of batteries carried.

In another embodiment, the computer further comprises a cradle into which the battery is placed and information stored on a memory chip in the battery is then transferred to the computer giving information on the number of cycles used on the battery from which the remaining number of charge cycles can be calculated.

Where the number of cycles remaining exceeds a predetermined number the battery can be used. In contrast, if the battery only has a few remaining cycles of battery life left it can be rejected as it would not be safe enough to send it for use on a task. The computer may reject the batteries automatically.

The method may further comprise the connecting at least one battery to allocated equipment which may * : include a power management unit.

S S.,

The method can further comprise the step of measuring the state of charge of the batteries after the task. The information gained from measuring the state of *". S...

charge of the batteries can be logged and used to refine * the amount of energy required for a particular operation " or combination of operations.

In one embodiment of the present invention the batteries are wireless enabled. The enables the batteries to be logged on issue using a wireless link to a wireless enabled computer. The state of charge of the battery can also be communicated to computer before or after a task over the wireless link.

Where suitable or sufficient batteries are not available locally, the method can include the further step of accessing a database of batteries elsewhere and can indicate to the user that more batteries are required than are available, and where the nearest or more suitable source of batteries can be found. This information can then be used to make decisions as to whether to move batteries to a different location.

In one embodiment of the present invention is may be necessary to change or add to the task once the task has begun. By redefining the task it is possible to recalculate the energy requirement needed for the modified task. This energy requirement can then be compared with the energy contained in the batteries already issued. If the issued batteries contain insufficient energy more batteries can be despatched to the people engaged on the task or a recharging vehicle could be sent to join the task if appropriate. Thus the method may further comprise redefining the task after the batteries have been issued and recalculating the energy requirement according to the original method, comparing the recalculated energy requirement with the energy provided by the issued batteries, and ** despatching further batteries or a suitable recharging system to the task if necessary.

If the amount of energy for a task far exceeds the amount that can be provided in a suitable number of batteries then the task can be automatically modified to include a requirement for recharging the batteries, or exchanging them for charged batteries, whichever is more appropriate to the task. In this case the method recognises that the allocated number of batteries to fulfil the total energy requirement per person exceeds a predetermined maximum number e.g. four, and redefines the task to include an opportunity for recharging the batteries, recalculating the number of batteries total energy requirement per person before and after the recharge and allocating batteries to the person to fulfil the new energy requirement (being the larger of the energy requirement before the recharge or after the recharge as that may not occur exactly halfway through the task) . Thus the method incorporates the further steps of rejecting the allocation of batteries for exceeding a predetermined number, modifying the task to include recharging the batteries, calculating and comparing the energy requirement before and after recharging the batteries, and allocating and issuing batteries to fulfil the larger of the energy requirement before or after the batteries are recharged.

Example 1 * *

I.....

An area one kilometre long and fifty meters long is * * suspected to be mined. Soldiers need to be despatched to * detect any mines in the area. This task is defined as moving each soldier for one kilometre while using a mine detector continuously. The duration of the task is ** calculated to be two hours due to the soldier being able **** to move only at a slow pace when mine detecting. The * *** soldier is allocated the operation of using a mine.. : detector continuously for the operation. The soldier is allocated a mine detector to carry out the task and a GPS system with a mapping unit to monitor which parts of the area have been checked for mines. From a database of known energy consumption for pieces of equipment the electrical power consumption for the mine detector and the GPS system for one hour is 100W. The total electrical power consumption for the soldier for the task is therefore 200Wh. The soldier must be allocated enough batteries to be able to provide 200Wh of energy. The soldier cannot carry more than four batteries so any combination of batteries that requires more than four batteries must be rejected. However, typically two standard batteries can provide 200Wh.

Ten soldiers are required to survey the entire area. Each soldier must be allocated batteries which provide 200Wh.

If a commander is to be sent with the soldiers then his power consumption is calculated separately depending on the operations that he will perform. * *

I.,...

S * * * S S * S.

S 55*

S S... * S * S. * S... * S S... * *5* * .. 5*

Claims

Claims 1. A method of allocating batteries to a task comprising: forming a

definition of a task, calculating from the definition of the task the duration of the task, allocating to a person the operations to be carried out during the task, allocating to the person the equipment required to carry out the allocated operations, calculating from the equipment allocated the electrical power consumption per hour required for the during of the 1- 1 a * , I.e...

calculating from the electrical power consumption per hour the total requirement of energy for the task for that person, ..

allocating and issuing a sufficient number of batteries to that person to fulfil the energy requirement.

I S I.I
2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the task has a. ...

duration of up to 55 hours. . :
3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the maximum number of batteries allocated is limited to four.
4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the method is rerun for a person with different skills taking part in the same task.
5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims further comprises calculating the energy requirement for the total number of people taking part in a task by multiplying the energy requirement for each type of person by the number of people with those skills - 10 - to form a group energy requirement and adding together the group energy requirements.
6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the method further comprises redefining the task after the batteries have been issued and recalculating the energy requirement according to the method defined in claim 1, comparing the recalculated energy requirement with the energy provided by the issued batteries, and despatching further batteries or a suitable recharging system to the task if necessary.
7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the allocation of batteries is rejected for exceeding a predetermined number, modifying the task to include recharging the batteries, calculating and comparing the energy requirement before and after recharging the batteries, and allocating and issuing batteries to fulfil the larger of 0*I I the energy requirement before or after the batteries are * *s: recharged. 2E -