Systems, methods, and control units for electrical charging
Embodiments are provided for charging system for an aircraft. The charging system may comprise a plurality of electric propeller units (EPUs), a plurality of battery packs configured to power the plurality of EPUs, a charge control unit configured to determine a target charge level for each of the plurality of battery packs, receive charge status information from each of the plurality of battery packs, and upon determining that a target charge level of at least one of the battery packs has been reached, command the at least one battery pack to disconnect from a common charging bus having a high voltage connection to a power source external to the aircraft.
1 . A method for charging an aircraft, comprising:
determining, using one or more hardware processors, a first target charge level for a first battery pack of a plurality of battery packs based on a communication signal received from a power source external to the aircraft;
determining, using the one or more hardware processors, a second target charge level for a second battery pack of the plurality of battery packs based on the communication signal;
receiving, using the one or more hardware processors, charge status information from each of the plurality of battery packs;
upon determining that the first battery pack has reached the first target charge level, commanding, using the one or more hardware processors, the first battery pack to disconnect from a common charging bus having a high voltage connection to the power source external to the aircraft; and
upon determining that the second battery pack has reached the second target charge level, commanding, using the one or more hardware processors, the second battery pack to disconnect from the common charging bus.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein further comprising:
commanding, using the one or more hardware processors associated with the communication signal, a ground charging subcontrol unit to discontinue charging the first battery pack upon determining that the first target charge level has been reached and the second battery pack upon determining that the second target charge level has been reached.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first target charge level and the second target charge level is based on flight information of an upcoming flight.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the flight information of the upcoming flight includes at least one of: a distance to a next destination, flight time to the next destination, a flight mode to the next destination, expected weather conditions, historical battery consumption information, or re-charging availability information.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the first battery pack and the second battery pack are disconnected from the common charging bus at different times.
6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, using the one or more hardware processors, failure status information of the first battery pack; and commanding, using the one or more hardware processors, the first battery pack to disconnect from charging upon determining a failure of the first battery pack.
7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising: commanding, using the one or more hardware processors, a ground charging subcontrol unit to discontinue charging the first battery pack upon determining the failure of the first battery pack.
8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising: providing, using the one or more hardware processors, an indication to the ground charging subcontrol unit indicating whether the first battery pack has failed.
9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the failure status information of the first battery pack includes at least one of: overcurrent information, short-circuit information, battery pack health information, or battery pack temperature information.
10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, using the one or more hardware processors, temperature status information from the first battery pack and the second battery pack; and providing, using the one or more hardware processors, a cooling command to a ground charging subcontrol unit based on the temperature status information.