Used in EVs, cellphones, renewable energy storage systems, backup power supplies and much more, the many forms of batteries — devices that store chemical energy and convert it to electrical energy to be used as needed — have grown increasingly important to modern life. As their scope of applications has expanded, so too has the complexity of the all-important laboratories charged with battery testing.
A real-time monitoring dashboard is just one of the notable features of the 17091 BTMS. Source: Chroma ATE Inc.That can mean an ever-growing sprawl of stand-alone charge and discharge test systems, and the accompanying challenges of managing test recipes, observing test conditions and tracking lab equipment operations.
One answer comes in the form of a battery test monitoring system (BTMS), such as the recently announced Chroma 17091 BTMS. The system is notable for its incorporation of three main characteristics: centralized recipe management, remote viewing and control, and a real-time monitoring dashboard.
Centralized recipe management
Without a BTMS, testing recipes typically get stored on various systems within the laboratory. That means engineers need to know which workstation contains a specific recipe in order to utilize that specific workstation for testing. By contrast, Chroma’s approach features a connection mode that allows users to edit recipes at designated editing workstations, then store them centrally to the BTMS. Users can select, download and run these saved recipes at any other workstation. The 17091 BTMS also introduces the concept of a standard recipe library, which can be used to store templates to serve as starting points for new recipes. This helps to implement test specifications across the lab and achieve effective knowledge transfer.
Remote viewing and control
The remote monitoring capabilities of the 17091 BTMS allows users to view the operating status of equipment channels as well as readings like current (I), voltage (V) and temperature (T). As necessary, channel operations can be controlled remotely, including pausing, resuming and stopping tests. Users can also remotely monitor or set temperature and humidity values for chambers, thereby significantly reducing the time spent traveling to the equipment site to check test statuses.
Real-time monitoring dashboard
Battery testing systems continuously report the status of each channel's test. By aggregating and displaying this information on a real-time dashboard, the 17091 BTMS enables management personnel to clearly see the usage status of each charge-discharge system and chamber, and to grasp the usage status statistics for the equipment and channels. When abnormalities occur, the dashboard can quickly prompt warning messages and issue audible alerts.
