Impact of battery cell configuration to powered wheelchair drive efficiency

摘要

Cells of a prototype powered wheelchair can be designed in various connectionsto provide different supply voltages which has impact on the efficiency of other wheelchairdrive elements. The impact of cell configuration and resulting battery voltage on overallefficiency of power elements have been studied to determine the optimal configuration andvoltage of the pack. A brief description of a battery energy storage system was given, andmain requirements and variables were introduced to reveal the flexibility of the batterydesign. The efficiency versus supply voltage plots of a drive converter and battery chargerwere presented and discussed to find the optimal battery voltage. The motor design wasanalyzed from the fill factor perspective. The calculated efficiency parameters of all drivepower elements were used to discuss and select an optimal battery cell configuration.