Patent ID: 8275502

Claim:
A braking regeneration energy shunt system for a turf maintenance vehicle comprising: a power bus; a traction motor coupled to the power bus, the traction motor developing a back electromotive force that can be directed into the power bus as regeneration energy; a rechargeable power source coupled to the power bus, the rechargeable power source selectively providing electric current to the power bus and selectively receiving electric current from the power bus; a resistor array having a plurality of resistors, the resistor array selectively dissipating regeneration energy into heat; and a control module monitoring a voltage of the power bus and a state of charge of the rechargeable power source, the control module selectively directing regeneration energy created by the traction motor into the resistor array for dissipation as heat based on both the voltage of the power bus and the state of charge of the rechargeable power source, wherein the control module ascertains a number of the resistors needed to dissipate the regeneration energy directed to the resistor array and directs the regeneration energy simultaneously to the ascertained number of resistors, wherein the control module ascertains a state of health of the resistors and selectively directs the regeneration energy only to one or more of the resistors that are ascertained as healthy.