The present invention relates to a hybrid power system for a robot or a robotic lawn mower. It comprises at least one generator for generating an electric current; at least one control board being provided to receive the electric current from the generator; and at least one rechargeable battery being connected to and charged by the electric current from the control board, and being charged by the electric current from the generator as well. The generator can he an AC generator or a DC generator, and there may be two generators, and two operation control boards. There are two types of end units, such as a cutting assembly and a moving assembly. At least one of the control boards provides a driving power for driving one of the end units of the robot or the robotic lawn mower, which may be operative under AC or DC. The cutting assembly may include a set of cutting tools and the moving assembly may have a set of moving wheels, which may move in any directions under the control of the control boards.

A vehicle has an electric traction chain to supply a drive torque to the wheels, and an energy management system comprising: a generator set configured to generate a first supply voltage and mechanically disconnected from the wheels in every operating condition; a battery storage assembly configured to generate a second supply voltage; a control unit that implements operative conditions of the vehicle, including: (i) powering the electrical traction chain with the first supply voltage; (ii) powering the electrical traction chain with the second supply voltage; (iii) recharging the storage assembly with a network voltage external to the vehicle and coming from a catenary; (iv) recharging the storage assembly with the first supply voltage; and (v) recharging the storage assembly with a recovered voltage generated by the traction chain operating as an electrical generator.

A vehicle has an electric traction chain to supply a drive torque to the wheels, and an energy management system comprising: a generator set configured to generate a first supply voltage and mechanically disconnected from the wheels in every operating condition; a battery storage assembly configured to generate a second supply voltage; a control unit that implements operative conditions of the vehicle, including: (i) powering the electrical traction chain with the first supply voltage; (ii) powering the electrical traction chain with the second supply voltage; (iii) recharging the storage assembly with a network voltage external to the vehicle and coming from a catenary; (iv) recharging the storage assembly with the first supply voltage; and (v) recharging the storage assembly with a recovered voltage generated by the traction chain operating as an electrical generator.

A system comprising a high voltage (HV) bank section using energy storage devices arranged into one or more banks, an inductive device coupling the HV bank to a service voltage (SV) bank section and load through a charging circuit charging the SV bank from a more fully charged bank until the charging bank is depleted, and a switch switching, from the depleted bank to the other bank to charge the SV bank. The charging circuit then charging the depleted bank by a power supply as the other HV bank charges the SV bank. A supervisory controller controls the switch to repeat discharging and charging between the two banks for a defined period. The energy storage devices may be supercapacitors capable of storing energy on the order of 1 to 10 MegaJoules, and the inductive device may be a high-inductance, toroidal multifilar inductor.

Methods and systems are provided for electrical power distribution. In one example, a system includes plurality of electric consumers comprising one or more operating modes with different levels of power consumption, an energy storage and an electric machine arranged in the vehicle and configured to provide energy to the energy storage device or power to the electric consumers and torque to wheels of the vehicle, a power allocating device coupled to the energy storage device and the plurality of electric consumers, and a controller configured to maintain two indices for allocating power to the plurality of electric consumers, wherein a first index comprises a first power allocation strategy based on power from only the energy storage device and a second index comprises a second power allocation strategy based on power from the energy storage device and the electric machine.

Methods and systems are provided for electrical power distribution. In one example, a system includes plurality of electric consumers comprising one or more operating modes with different levels of power consumption, an energy storage and an electric machine arranged in the vehicle and configured to provide energy to the energy storage device or power to the electric consumers and torque to wheels of the vehicle, a power allocating device coupled to the energy storage device and the plurality of electric consumers, and a controller configured to maintain two indices for allocating power to the plurality of electric consumers, wherein a first index comprises a first power allocation strategy based on power from only the energy storage device and a second index comprises a second power allocation strategy based on power from the energy storage device and the electric machine.

A vehicle drive device that includes a rotary electric machine that serves as a drive force source for wheels; a speed change mechanism; a pump motor that serves as a drive force source for an electric pump that generates a hydraulic pressure to be supplied to a servo mechanism for the speed change mechanism; a case that accommodates the speed change mechanism; and a first inverter that controls the rotary electric machine and a second inverter that controls the pump motor, the first inverter and the second inverter being connected to a common DC power source, wherein: the first inverter and the second inverter are disposed in the case; and a first wiring member that extends from the DC power source is branched in the case to be connected to each of the first inverter and the second inverter.

A power sharing system for electric motors and drives shares power between multiple power sources. Multiple motor drives share power between multiple energy sources, without the need for a DC to DC converter. A motor drive adapts the DC voltage range of the power source to either AC voltage or a different DC voltage range to operate one or more electric motors. Either a capacitor bank or a battery is directly connected to a motor drive's DC input. Two separate DC inputs exist, each able to operate at its own voltage and both feeding the same motor through separate motor drives, to allow batteries to be operated at one voltage level while capacitors are operated at another. The motor drives inherently cause power to flow between the motor and either power source, regardless of the relative voltages of the two sources, provided that each source is at a sufficient voltage to power the motor independently.

The invention concerns a method for managing a system for supplying a vehicle electrical system with electrical energy, comprising the steps consisting of: •supplying the electrical system with electrical energy via the additional electrical energy storage device and the DC/DC converter when the switch is open; •regulating the electrical energy generator to supply voltage lower than that imposed by the DC/DC converter and higher than a voltage of the electrical energy storage device; •closing the switch such that the DC/DC converter imposes a voltage on the electrical system that is higher than that of the electrical energy storage device and the electrical energy generator; •applying a voltage to the electrical system from the electrical energy generator that is higher than that of the DC/DC converter; and deactivating the DC/DC converter.

This in-vehicle DC-DC converter is configured from: a power conversion unit that transmits/receives power between a low-voltage system secondary battery and a high-voltage system secondary battery; low-voltage system AD converters and high-voltage system AD converters, which convert analog values of the currents, voltages, and temperatures of the low-voltage system secondary battery and the high-voltage system secondary battery into digital values; an input switching unit that switches analog values of the high-voltage system secondary battery into analog values of the corresponding low-voltage system secondary battery; and a calculation unit that compares the digital values of the low-voltage system AD converters and the digital values of the high-voltage system AD converters with each other. In the switched state, failure diagnosis of the AD converter is performed by comparing the digital values of the low-voltage system AD converters and the digital values of the high-voltage system AD converters with each other.