Distributed control system architecture for an electric marine vessel
AssigneeVision Marine Technologies
InventorXAVIER MONTAGNE
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Various embodiments relate to a distributed control system architecture for an electric marine vessel apparatus that includes a vessel control unit (VCU) and a plurality of powertrain components, including at least one high voltage (HV) battery, a power distribution unit (PDU) connected to the HV battery via first HV connections, and an electric outboard motor connected to the PDU via second HV connections. The PDU selectively couples the electric outboard motor to power supplied by the HV battery. A control area network (CAN) bus connects the VCU to the powertrain components, with each component having a respective controller configured to execute commands from the VCU over the CAN bus.
Claims20
An electric marine vessel apparatus comprising:
- a vessel control unit (VCU);
- a plurality of powertrain components including:
- at least one high voltage (HV) battery;
- a power distribution unit (PDU) coupled to the at least one HV battery via one or more first HV connections;
- and
- an electric outboard motor coupled to the PDU via one or more second HV connections, wherein the PDU selectively couples the electric outboard motor to power supplied by the at least one HV battery;
- and
- a control area network (CAN) bus coupling the VCU to the plurality of powertrain components, wherein each of the plurality of powertrain components includes a respective controller configured to execute commands received from the VCU over the CAN bus.
A powertrain component for an electric marine vessel, the powertrain component comprising:
- one or more high voltage connectors;
- a first connector couplable to an ignition wire;
- a control area network (CAN) bus connector couplable to a CAN bus;
- and
- a controller configured to independently operate the powertrain component based on commands received via the CAN bus from a vessel control unit (VCU).
A method of operating a distributed control system architecture for an electric marine vessel, the method comprising:
- coupling a vessel control unit (VCU) to a plurality of powertrain components via a control area network (CAN) bus, wherein each of the plurality of powertrain components includes a respective controller configured to execute commands received from the VCU over the CAN bus, the plurality of powertrain components including:
- at least one high voltage (HV) battery;
- a power distribution unit (PDU) coupled to the at least one HV battery via one or more first HV connections;
- and
- an electric outboard motor coupled to the PDU via one or more second HV connections, wherein the PDU selectively couples the electric outboard motor to power supplied by the at least one HV battery;
- transmitting, by the VCU to a first powertrain component of the plurality of powertrain components, a command via the CAN bus;
- and
- operating, independently by a controller the first powertrain component, the first powertrain component in accordance with the command.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.