Implementation of IoT-based Real-time Monitoring of Battery Management System for Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles are expected to predominate as a mode of transportation, and lithium-based rechargeable battery packs have been widely incorporated into these vehicles. To keep the overall electric vehicle system safe, effective, and reliable, battery packs must be closely watched and regulated. A battery Management System (BMS) is installed in EVs to estimate crucial states and parameters of the battery and ensures optimal battery regulation and control strategies. However, the problem arises when the BMS is to be monitored and controlled remotely. Remote monitoring ensures quick response to an arising problem thereby preventing any irreparable damage to the battery pack. An intervention of the Internet of Things (IoT) in this scenario acts as a solution. The authors have interfaced a BMS - Renesas ISL94216A with a microcontroller using the Inter-integrated Circuit (I2C) protocol for the acquisition of all the parameters of the battery measured by the BMS. The 4G/LTE technology is introduced into the system to publish the BMS data to the server. This is carried out by interfacing a 4G module Simcom A7672s with the microcontroller using UART protocol. Real-time data measurement, acquisition, and broadcasting define the entire IoT-based system. In a nutshell, this paper describes a robust mechanism developed by the authors towards integrating IoT with the battery management system and demonstrates an experimental analysis of the system by operating it with an EV motor and a battery pack.