The project will develop state estimators, parameter estimators, and controllers for Lithium-ion batteries. Both the electrochemical dynamics in individual battery cells (the distribution of currents, potentials, and concentrations of lithium in electrolyte and in the solid particles in the electrodes) and thermal dynamics in battery packs (the excursions of temperature caused by the electric processes in cells and leading to the potentially fatal ?thermal runaway?) will be tacked. Each of the two systems is modeled by coupled systems of nonlinear PDEs. Estimation and control designs that will be developed for these mathematically complex systems will be the main intellectual outcome of the project. As the industrial partner in this GOALI program, Bosch will contribute its vast expertise in battery physics, modeling, and in the state-of-the-art in battery management systems. Bosch will also provide its experimental facilities for the testing of results.
Broader Impact
The broader impacts will include the PI?s continued effort in mentoring underrepresented students, including women, Hispanics, and African-Americans, and an outreach to UCSD?s Preuss School, one of the nation's top ten high schools, which enrolls mostly inner-city kids of Hispanic background. The high-school students will be introduced by the PI and by the Co-PI from Bosch to the basics of energy storage and automotive control technologies. The PI will work on organizing a workshop on control of energy storage systems.
