Method and apparatus for smart battery charging including a plurality of controllers each monitoring input variables

A method for managing charging and discharging of a battery comprising the steps of:

• a. connecting said battery to a battery charger,
• b. connecting the battery charger to a power supply,
• c. providing a plurality of controllers in communication with one and another, each of said controllers monitoring a subset of input variables, wherein an input variable monitored by one of the controllers is rate of change of measured battery pressure,
• d. identifying a set of objectives for each controller,
• e. generating a preferred charge rate for each controller as a function of the set of objectives and the subset of input variables monitored by each controller, and wherein the generating the preferred charge rate for the one of the controllers comprises generating using the rate of change of measured battery pressure,
• f. defining an actual charge rate using the preferred charge rates which were generated for the plurality of controllers including limiting the actual charge rate using the rate of change of measured battery pressure,
• g. providing electrical energy from said battery to the power supply at the actual charge rate.

A method for managing charging and discharging of a battery comprising the steps of:

• a. connecting said battery to a battery charger,
• b. connecting the battery charger to a power supply which is an electrical distribution grid,
• c. providing a plurality of controllers in communication with one and another, each of said controllers monitoring a subset of input variables, and an input variable monitored by one of the controllers is frequency of electrical power of the electrical distribution grid and an input variable monitored by another of the controllers is rate of change of measured battery pressure,
• d. generating a set of charging constraints for each controller as a function of the subset of input variables and wherein the set of charging constraints for the another of the controllers includes the rate of change of measured battery pressure,
• e. identifying a set of objectives for each controller,
• f. generating a preferred charge rate for each controller as a function of the set of objectives and the monitored input variables, and wherein the generating the preferred charge rate for the another of the controllers comprises generating using the rate of change of measured battery pressure,
• g. defining an actual charge rate using the preferred charge rates for the plurality of controllers and that does not violate any of the charging constraints including limiting the actual charge rate using the rate of change of measured battery pressure,
• h. at one moment in time, providing a current flow from said battery charger to said battery at the actual charge rate, and
• i. at another moment in time, discharging electrical energy from said battery to said electrical distribution grid as a result of the monitoring of the frequency by the one of the controllers.