Systems and methods for controlling high voltage systems for a marine vessel
A power control system for controlling a power circuit of an electric marine propulsion system delivers power from at least one marine battery to a marine drive configured to propel a marine vessel. The power control system includes at least one interlock circuit electrically isolated from the power circuit. The interlock circuit includes a plurality of interlock circuit portions, each interlock circuit portion configured to indicate connectivity of a corresponding portion of the power circuit, a plurality of resistance elements each having a predetermined resistance value, including a resistance element associated with each of the interlock circuit portions, and a control system. The control system is configured to measure a local resistance of each of the plurality of interlock circuit portions so as to measure a plurality of local resistances throughout the interlock circuit, identify a fault condition out of a plurality of possible fault conditions based on the local resistance of each of the interlock circuit portions, identify a fault response based on the identified fault condition, and control the power circuit based on the fault response.
1 . A power control system for controlling a power circuit of an electric marine propulsion system, wherein the power circuit delivers power from at least one marine battery to a marine drive configured to propel a marine vessel, the power control system comprising:
at least one interlock circuit electrically isolated from the power circuit, the interlock circuit comprising:
a plurality of interlock circuit portions, each interlock circuit portion configured to indicate connectivity of a corresponding portion of the power circuit;
a plurality of resistance elements each having a predetermined resistance value, including a resistance element associated with each of the interlock circuit portions;
a control system configured to:
measure a local resistance of each of the plurality of interlock circuit portions so as to measure a plurality of local resistances throughout the interlock circuit;
identify a fault condition out of a plurality of possible fault conditions based on the local resistance of each of the interlock circuit portions;
identify a fault response based on the identified fault condition; and
control the power circuit based on the fault response.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to associate each of the plurality of possible fault conditions with a corresponding fault response.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the fault response is further based on an operation state of the power circuit.
4 . The system of claim 2 , wherein each of the corresponding fault responses includes at least one of disconnecting the at least one marine battery from the power circuit, disconnecting the marine drive from the power circuit, controlling the at least one marine battery to provide a reduced power amount on the power circuit, controlling the at least one marine drive to draw a reduced power draw, preventing charging of the at least one marine battery, conducting a plausibility check, generating an alert on a user interface, and storing a fault code associated with the fault condition.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one interlock circuit is configured such that each of the plurality of resistance elements is in parallel with the associated interlock circuit portion, and wherein the control system is further configured to identify the fault condition based on the local resistance being equal to the predetermined resistance value for the respective resistance element.
6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the at least one interlock circuit is configured such that each interlock circuit portion provides a short circuit across the respective resistance element when the corresponding portion of the power circuit is connected such that the local resistance for that interlock circuit portion is effectively zero when the corresponding portion of the power circuit is connected.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of resistance elements is configured to have a unique resistance value, and wherein the control system is configured to measure a total resistance of each of the at least one interlock circuit and to identify the fault condition based on a comparison between the total resistance and the plurality of unique resistance values.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the control system includes at least one battery controller for the at least one marine battery, wherein the at least one battery controller is configured to measure the total resistance of the interlock circuit, to generate a battery-identified fault condition based on the comparison between the total resistance and plurality of unique resistance values.
9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the control system further includes a central controller, wherein the battery controller is configured to communicate at least one of the total resistance and the battery-identified fault condition to the central controller, and wherein the central controller is configured to identify the fault condition based on the local resistance of each of the interlock circuit portions and/or the total resistance or battery-identified fault condition.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to measure a total resistance of the at least one interlock circuit and/or each of the local resistances using an AC current.
11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the AC current is a biased sine wave wherein the AC current is maintained above zero.
12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one interlock circuit includes at least two independent interlock circuits, including a propulsion interlock circuit configured to indicate connectivity of a propulsion power circuit portion of the power circuit connected to the marine drive and a storage interlock circuit configured to indicate connectivity of the at least one marine battery.
13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the storage interlock circuit further includes interlock circuit portions each configured to indicate connectivity of a respective portion of the power circuit, including a connection of a charger, an inverter, a DC/DC converter, an isolation monitor, and/or a lid switch, and wherein the fault condition indicates which the marine battery, the charger, the DC/DC converter, the inverter, the isolation monitor, and/or the lid switch is a source of the fault.
14 . A method of a power circuit of an electric marine propulsion system, wherein the power circuit delivers power from at least one marine battery to a marine drive configured to propel a marine vessel, the method comprising:
providing at least one interlock circuit electrically isolated from the power circuit, the at least one interlock circuit comprising a plurality of interlock circuit portions, each interlock circuit portion configured to indicate connectivity of a corresponding portion of the power circuit and comprising a resistance element with a unique resistance value such that interlock circuit comprises a plurality of unique resistance values;
measuring a total resistance of the interlock circuit;
identifying a fault condition of the power circuit based on the total resistance and the plurality of unique resistance values;
identifying a fault response based on the fault condition; and
controlling the power circuit based on the fault response.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the fault condition is a selected one of a plurality of possible fault conditions for the power circuit, and wherein each of the plurality of possible fault conditions has a corresponding fault response.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the fault response is identified further based on an operation state of the marine drive.
17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein each of the corresponding fault responses includes at least one of disconnecting the at least one marine battery from the power circuit, disconnecting the marine drive from the power circuit, controlling the at least one marine battery to provide a reduced power amount on the power circuit, controlling the at least one marine drive to draw a reduced power draw, preventing charging of the at least one marine battery, and conducting a plausibility check, generating an alert on a user interface, and storing a fault code associated with the fault condition.
18 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
measuring a local resistance of each of the plurality of interlock circuit portions so as to measure a plurality of local resistances throughout the interlock circuit; and
identifying the fault condition based further on plurality of local resistances.
19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the at least one interlock circuit is configured such that each of the resistance elements is in parallel with the associated interlock circuit portion, wherein identifying the fault condition includes determining that at least one of the local resistances is equal to the unique resistance value for the respective resistance element.
20 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising, with at least one battery controller, measuring the total resistance of the interlock circuit and comparing the total resistance and the plurality of unique resistance values to generate a battery-identified fault condition, and communicating the battery-identified fault condition to a central controller; and
with the central controller, measuring the total resistance of the interlock circuit, identifying the fault condition based on the total resistance, plurality of unique resistance values, and further based on the battery-identified fault condition.
21 . The method of claim 14 , measuring the total resistance of the at least one interlock circuit with an AC current, wherein the AC current is a biased sine wave.
22 . The method of claim 14 , wherein interlock circuit portions are each configured to indicate connectivity the at least one marine battery, the marine drive, a charger, an inverter, an isolation monitor, and/or a lid switch, and wherein method further includes identifying which of the at least one marine battery, the marine drive, the charger, the inverter, the isolation monitor, and/or the lid switch is a source of the fault condition based on the total resistance and the plurality of unique resistance values.