Contactor engagement system and method

A battery control module for a battery system comprising:

• a pulse-width modulation (PWM) module that generates a first PWM signal having a first duty cycle and a second PWM signal having a second duty cycle, wherein the first duty cycle is less than the second duty cycle, and wherein the first duty cycle is determined based on a temperature and a source voltage of a battery;
• and
• a contactor control module that consecutively applies the first PWM signal and the second PWM signal to close a contactor in order to connect the battery to a load,
• wherein application of the first PWM signal moves the contactor from an open position to a closed position and application of the second PWM signal maintains the contactor in the closed position.

A method for operating a battery system comprising:

• generating N PWM signals;
• applying a first one of the N PWM signals to a contactor to move the contactor at a first velocity from an open position, wherein a first one of the N PWM signals has a first duty cycle, and wherein the first duty cycle is determined based on a temperature, and a source voltage of a battery;
• and
• applying a second one of the N PWM signals to the contactor after applying the first one of the N PWM signals to the contactor to move the contactor at a second velocity to a closed position in order to connect the battery to a load, wherein the first velocity is less than the second velocity, and wherein N is an integer greater than one.

A battery system comprising:

• a pulse-width modulation (PWM) module that generates N PWM signals;
• a contactor;
• and
• a contactor control module that consecutively applies the N PWM signals to close the contactor,
• wherein a first one of the N PWM signals has a first duty cycle,
• wherein the first duty cycle is determined based on a temperature and a source voltage of a battery,
• wherein application of the first one of the N PWM signals moves the contactor from an open position to an intermediate position and application of a second one of the N PWM signals moves the contactor from the intermediate position to a closed position, wherein the intermediate position is between the open position and the closed position, and wherein N is an integer greater than one.