# US 12,109,897 B2 · Battery management system and method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,109,897 B2 - Document ID: US12109897B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/193,721 - Filed: 2023-03-31 - Published: 2023-10-19 - Granted: 2024-10-08 - Earliest claimed: 2022-04-13 - Assignees: NXP B.V. - Applicants: NXP B.V. - Inventors: Alphons Litjes; Hendrik Johannes Bergveld; Alexander Vogt; Cristian Pavao Moreira - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12109897B2 ## CPC - B60L 3/0007: {Measures or means for preventing or attenuating collisions} - B60L 3/04: Cutting off the power supply under fault conditions (protective devices and circuit arrangements in general H01H; H02H) - B60L 58/10: for monitoring or controlling batteries - B60L 2260/50: by future state prediction - B60Y 2306/01: Reducing damages in case of crash, e.g. by improving battery protection - G01S 13/931: of land vehicles - B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES - B60Y: INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO ASPECTS CROSS-CUTTING VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES ## Abstract In an embodiment, there is provided a battery management method for a vehicle comprising a plurality of batteries. According to another embodiment there is a control unit for performing the battery management method. The battery management method comprising detecting an incoming hazard; predicting an impact of the incoming hazard from one or more sensors coupled to the vehicle; determining a course of action to be taken in response to the predicted impact; and controlling one or more batteries of the plurality of batteries according to the determined course of action. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A battery management method for a vehicle comprising a plurality of batteries, the method comprising: detecting an incoming hazard; predicting an impact of the incoming hazard with the vehicle using one or more sensors coupled to the vehicle; determining a course of action to be taken in response to the predicted impact; and controlling a subset of the plurality of batteries according to the determined course of action; wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more radar units and predicting an impact comprises receiving radar data concerning information about the incoming hazard; wherein the radar data comprises information concerning direction of arrival; wherein predicting the impact comprises, based on the direction of arrival information, predicting a location of the impact of the incoming hazard on the vehicle; wherein the radar data further comprises range, velocity and radar cross section information; and wherein predicting the impact comprises, based on the range, velocity and radar cross section information, a predicted force of the impact and/or a predicted time of the impact. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein controlling the subset of batteries comprises selecting one or more batteries to be disabled. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein selecting the one or more batteries to be disabled comprises predicting, for each battery of the plurality of batteries, whether the battery would be damaged by the predicted impact; and selecting the one or more batteries which are predicted to be damaged. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising determining a staggered battery shutdown procedure comprising a preferential order in which to disable the one or more selected batteries. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein batteries close to an outside of the vehicle closest to the predicted impact are selected to be switched off first. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein determining a course of action comprises making no change to a state of the plurality of batteries. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising predicting a crash trajectory as a result of the impact of the incoming hazard with the vehicle. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, further comprising predicting a secondary impact of the vehicle to be caused as a result of the predicted crash trajectory. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, further comprising determining a second course of action to be taken in response to the predicted secondary impact; and controlling one or more batteries of the plurality of batteries according to the determined second course of action. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving information concerning the incoming hazard from one or more external sources configured to communicate with the vehicle. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising moving the vehicle by controlling one or more of the plurality of batteries. ### Claim 12 A control unit for controlling a plurality of batteries in a vehicle, the control unit configured to: detect an incoming hazard; predict an impact of the incoming hazard with the vehicle using information received at the control unit from one or more sensors coupled to the vehicle; wherein the information includes radar data concerning information about the incoming hazard; determine a course of action to be taken in response to the predicted impact; and control a subset of the plurality of batteries according to the determined course of action; wherein the radar data comprises information concerning direction of arrival; wherein the control unit is configured to predict the impact, based on the direction of arrival information, predicting a location of the impact of the incoming hazard on the vehicle; wherein the radar data further comprises range, velocity and radar cross section information; and wherein the control unit predicting the impact comprises, based on the range, velocity and radar cross section information, a predicted force of the impact and/or a predicted time of the impact. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) A vehicle comprising a control unit according to claim 12. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The control unit of claim 12, wherein the control unit selects one or more batteries to be disabled. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The control unit of claim 14, wherein selecting the one or more batteries to be disabled comprises predicting, for each battery of the plurality of batteries, whether the battery would be damaged by the predicted impact; and selecting the one or more batteries which are predicted to be damaged. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The control unit of claim 14, wherein the control unit determines a staggered battery shutdown procedure comprising a preferential order in which to disable the one or more selected batteries. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The control unit of claim 14, wherein batteries close to an outside of the vehicle closest to the predicted impact are selected to be switched off first. ### Claim 18 (depends on 12) The control unit of claim 12, wherein the control unit predicts a crash trajectory as a result of the impact of the incoming hazard with the vehicle; and further comprises predicting a secondary impact of the vehicle to be caused as a result of the predicted crash trajectory.