Controlling a cooling system water intake pump of an electric marine vessel

Abstract

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, various methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for controlling a cooling system water intake pump of an electric marine vessel are described herein. In some aspects, a pump controller receives information describing an operating state of an electric propulsion device of a marine vessel, where the information indicates at least one of a motor speed of an electric motor and temperature readings within the electric propulsion system. The pump controller controls a water intake pump of a cooling system for the electric propulsion device based on the received information.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of controlling a cooling system water intake pump of an electric marine vessel, the method comprising:
 receiving information describing an operating state of an electric propulsion device of a marine vessel, wherein the information indicates at least one of a motor speed of an electric motor and temperature readings within the electric propulsion device; and   controlling, based on the information, a water intake pump of a cooling system for the electric propulsion device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the motor speed is indicated by a rotational speed of the electric motor. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the temperature readings indicate a temperature of at least one of the electric motor and an inverter. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the water intake pump includes an impeller that draws ambient water from a body of water into the cooling system; and wherein controlling the water intake pump includes controlling a rotational speed of the impeller. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the rotational speed of the impeller is limited based on cooling requirements of the electric motor. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the electric propulsion device is an outboard motor. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the water intake pump is mechanically isolated from a drive shaft of the electric propulsion device. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 controlling the electric motor based on an operational state of the water intake pump. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein a power output of the electric motor is limited in response to detecting that the water intake pump is not operating. 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus for controlling a cooling system water intake pump of an electric marine vessel, the apparatus comprising:
 a water intake pump of a cooling system for an electric propulsion device of a marine vessel;   a controller configured to:   receive information describing an operating state of the electric propulsion device, wherein the information indicates at least one of a motor speed of an electric motor and temperature readings within the electric propulsion device; and   controlling, based on the information, the water intake pump.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the motor speed is indicated by a rotational speed of the electric motor. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the temperature readings indicate a temperature of at least one of the electric motor and an inverter. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the water intake pump includes an impeller that draws ambient water from a body of water into the cooling system; and wherein controlling the water intake pump includes controlling a rotational speed of the impeller. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the rotational speed of the impeller is limited based on cooling requirements of the electric motor. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the electric propulsion device is an outboard motor. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the water intake pump is mechanically isolated from a drive shaft of the electric propulsion device. 
     
     
         17 . A computer program product comprising:
 a set of one or more computer readable storage media; and   computer program instructions, collectively stored in the set of one or more storage media, that when executed cause a processor to perform computer operations comprising:   receiving information describing an operating state of an electric propulsion device of a marine vessel, wherein the information indicates at least one of a motor speed of an electric motor and temperature readings within the electric propulsion device; and   controlling, based on the information, a water intake pump of a cooling system for the electric propulsion device.   
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , wherein the water intake pump includes an impeller that draws ambient water from a body of water into the cooling system; and wherein controlling the water intake pump includes controlling a rotational speed of the impeller. 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein the rotational speed of the impeller is limited based on cooling requirements of the electric motor. 
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , wherein the water intake pump is mechanically isolated from a drive shaft of the electric propulsion device.