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Completed TRL 4 (started at 3, targeting 4)
Battery health monitoring is particularly crucial for space applications since battery shutoff or complete drain can be catastrophic. The battery management system (BMS) is vital to avoid such instances. Conventional on-board BMS are currently limited to the monitoring of extrinsic parameters including voltage, current, and temperature. From these, battery’s state of charge (SoC) and state of health (SoH) are merely approximated using state-estimation software and algorithms. Almost all the state-of-the-art techniques for battery health monitoring have serious limitations. In order to address the current challenges for battery state monitoring, Storagenergy Technologies, Inc. proposes novel nondestructive and field-deployable technique for real-time on-demand battery SoC and SoH monitoring. The successful realization of the proposed concept will enable the practical use of battery state monitoring for space battery applications. The outcome will be widely applicable for current and future commercial, science and exploration missions and offer benefits to other national needs.
The proposed nondestructive battery state monitoring technique has shown promise that fit NASA’s interest for battery state monitoring for future science and exploration missions such as: missions using electric propulsion, space vehicles, robotic missions, lunar exploration missions to NEO and MARS, crewed habitats, astronaut equipment, robotic surface missions to Venus and Europa, polar Mars missions and Moon missions, and distributed constellations of micro-spacecraft.
The proposed nondestructive battery monitoring technology also offers benefits to other national needs. This includes national defense systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned underwater vehicles, and soldier portable power systems. Benefits to the terrestrial energy sector include all-electric and hybrid cars, grid-scale energy storage systems, smart grid, and off-grid power systems.
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