Power management system for autonomous vehicles

A method of managing power in a vehicle, comprising:

• receiving, from a power distribution unit (PDU) located in the vehicle, a temperature value that indicates a temperature of the PDU, one or more voltage values, or one or more current values;
• performing a determination that the temperature value, the one or more voltage values, or the one or more current values are below one or more of their respective pre-determined threshold values;
• sending, after the determination, a health status message to a computer located in the vehicle, wherein the health status message indicates that the PDU is operating in a safe operating condition;
• receiving a voltage value from a voltage sensor associated with an output connector of the PDU;
• and
• in response to determining that the voltage value is above a pre-determined threshold voltage value:
• sending, to the PDU, a command that instructs a relay associated with the output connector to open;
• receiving, from the PDU, a relay status that indicates that the relay is open;
• sending, to the computer and after receiving the relay status, a second health status message that indicates that the voltage value of the output connector is outside an acceptable level and that the relay associated with the output connector is open;
• receiving, from the PDU, a fault code that indicates that a second relay in the PDU has failed to close in response to a second command sent to the PDU;
• and
• receiving, from the computer, a power off request message to open one relay associated with a device that is a non-essential device, wherein the power off request message is based on a third health status message sent to the computer.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having code stored thereon, the code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to implement a method of managing power in a vehicle comprising:

• receiving, from a power distribution unit (PDU) located in the vehicle, one or more voltage values;
• performing a determination that the one or more voltage values is below one or more pre-determined threshold values;
• sending, after the determination, a health status message to the computer located in the vehicle, wherein the health status message indicates that the PDU is operating in a safe operating condition;
• receiving a voltage value from a voltage sensor associated with an output connector of the PDU;
• and
• in response to determining that the voltage value is above a pre-determined threshold voltage value:
• sending, to the PDU, a command that instructs a relay associated with the output connector to open;
• receiving, from the PDU, a relay status that indicates that the relay is open;
• and
• sending, to the computer and after receiving the relay status, a second health status message that indicates that the voltage value of the output connector is outside an acceptable level and that the relay associated with the output connector is open;
• receiving, from the PDU, a fault code that indicates that a second relay in the PDU has failed to close in response to a second command sent to the PDU;
• and
• receiving, from the computer, a power off request message to open one relay associated with a device that is a non-essential device, wherein the power off request message is based on a third health status message sent to the computer.