System controller for series hybrid powertrain
AssigneeZunum Aero, Inc.
InventorsMatthew Feddersen, Waleed Said
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Briefly, example methods, apparatuses, and/or articles of manufacture are disclosed that may be implemented, in whole or in part, to facilitate and/or support one or more operations and/or techniques for a system controller for a series hybrid powertrain, such as employed for propulsion of a hybrid electric aircraft, for example.
Claims25
A method of controlling an operation of a series hybrid powertrain via a system controller, the series hybrid powertrain comprising a plurality of system elements to provide propulsive power to a hybrid electric aircraft, the plurality of system elements including at least one electric motor to drive an associated propeller and/or ducted fan, wherein the at least one electric motor is electrically coupled to a power panel powered by a plurality of energy sources electrically coupled to the power panel, the plurality of energy sources comprising at least one generated electrical energy source and at least one stored electrical energy source, the method comprising:
- receiving, as a command from the hybrid electric aircraft, a signal indicative of a particular input;
- receiving, as sampled values from the plurality of system elements, one or more signals indicative of one or more additional inputs;
- determining one or more measurements of resulting power for the plurality of energy sources based, at least in part, on the one or more additional inputs;
- and
- utilizing the one or more measurements of resulting power as feedback to concurrently deliver electrical power from the at least one generated electrical energy source and the at least one stored electrical energy source to provide the propulsive power and so as to maintain a proportion of electrical power concurrently delivered from between the at least one generated electrical energy source and the at least one stored electrical energy source determined based, at least in part, on the one or more measurements.
An apparatus comprising:
- a system controller capable of controlling an operation of a series hybrid powertrain, the series hybrid powertrain comprising a plurality of system elements to provide propulsive power to a hybrid electric aircraft, the plurality of system elements including at least one electric motor to drive an associated propeller and/or ducted fan, wherein the at least one electric motor to be electrically coupled to a power panel in a switching configuration, and wherein the at least one electric motor to be powered by a plurality of energy sources to be coupled to the power panel, the plurality of energy sources to comprise at least one generated electrical energy source and at least one stored electrical energy source, the system controller adapted to:
- receive, as a command from the hybrid electric aircraft, a signal indicative of a particular input;
- receive, as sampled values from the plurality of system elements, one or more signals indicative of one or more additional inputs;
- determine one or more measurements of resulting power for the plurality of energy sources based, at least in part, on the one or more additional inputs;
- and
- utilize the one or more measurements of resulting power as feedback to concurrently deliver electrical power from the at least one generated electrical energy source and the at least one stored electrical energy source to provide the propulsive power and so as to maintain a proportion of electrical power concurrently delivered from between the at least one generated electrical energy source and the at least one stored electrical energy source determined based, at least in part, on the one or more measurements.
A non-transitory storage medium having instructions executable by a processor to:
- receive, as a command from a hybrid electric aircraft, a signal to be indicative of a particular input;
- receive, as sampled values from a plurality of system elements, one or more signals to be indicative of one or more additional inputs;
- determine one or more measurements of resulting power for a plurality of energy sources based, at least in part, on the one or more additional inputs, the plurality of energy sources to comprise at least one generated electrical energy source and at least one stored electrical energy source;
- and
- utilize the one or more measurements of resulting power as feedback to concurrently deliver electrical power from the at least one generated electrical energy source and the at least one stored electrical energy source to provide propulsive power to a hybrid electric aircraft and so as to maintain a proportion of electrical power concurrently delivered from between the at least one generated electrical energy source and the at least one stored electrical energy source determined based, at least in part, on the one or more measurements.
A hybrid-electric aircraft, comprising:
- a hybrid-electric powertrain, the hybrid-electric powertrain comprising at least one electric motor to apply mechanical power to a propellor and/or ducted fan to provide propulsive power;
- a plurality of electrical energy sources, the plurality of electrical energy sources comprising at least one generated electrical energy source and at least one stored electrical energy source;
- and
- one or more electrical switches to concurrently deliver electrical power from the at least one generated electrical energy source and the at least one stored electrical energy source to provide the propulsive power so as to maintain a proportion of electrical power concurrently delivered from between the at least one generated electrical energy source and the at least one stored electrical energy source determined based, at least in part, on one or more measurements of resulting power for at least one of the plurality of electrical energy sources.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.