Novel battery management systems: Enhancing flexibility and fault tolerance

The battery management system (BMS) is crucial for the functionality of battery-powered systems, providing flexibility and safety under nominal operating conditions. However, when operating beyond nominal conditions, BMS becomes susceptible to faults, leading to potential system failures. To address this issue, this paper proposes the design and development of a flexible and fault tolerant modular BMS employing a hierarchical isolation approach. The proposed BMS comprises two main modules: the central management unit and the local management unit. It incorporates three levels of isolation: module-level, component-level, and ground-level isolation, ensuring robust performance even in faulty conditions. Simulation and actual prototype of the proposed BMS are presented and discussed, including testing with various faulty scenarios. Results indicate a mean absolute error of 0.0015 V between measured and actual voltage monitoring values, demonstrating a significant improvement of 98.92 % in performance compared to conventional BMS under faulty conditions.