Starting and Stopping Operations

Manually Stopping an Operation

Discharge and Charge Stopping and Starting

Profiler Stopping and Starting

Emulation Stopping and Starting

 

Manually Stopping an Operation

The Start and Stop buttons are fully independent for each channel, and start and stop the specified operation on the selected slot and channel. This is useful in situations where many tests are presently running, but one test may need to be stopped, or a new test may need to be added without disturbing the other tests that are running.

Similarly, the Start All and Stop All buttons can simplify using the application when coordinated tests are running on multiple slots and channels at the same time.- such as when each channel is connected to one battery cell in a battery pack.

Any time the Stop button is pressed, the test data is saved into the opened profile file. The settings panel will be disabled when the operation is running to prevent any configuration changes to the profile, which otherwise would make the profile invalid.

Manually starting an incomplete operation

When the Start button is subsequently pressed after the test has been stopped, the selected operation will resume and start updating the profile from where it left off. The previously saved test data is automatically loaded when the Start button is pressed. The following figure shows profile data, including the flags that indicate where the test had been stopped.

Discharge and Charge Stopping and Starting

When using the discharge and charge operations, you can manually start and stop a test as any time as previously described. You can also specify a test condition to stop the operation once the condition is reached. This is referred to as the Cut-Off Condition. Once the cut-off condition is reached, the test data is saved into the specified data file.

For the discharge operation, a cut-off condition can be defined for:
Cut-Off Voltage

The battery will discharge until the cut-off voltage is reached. This will end the discharge operation.

For the charge operation, a cut-off condition can be defined for:
Stopping Voltage
Stopping Current
Time
NDV
Temperature

If Stopping Voltage is chosen as the cut-off condition, the battery will charge until the stopping voltage is reached, regardless of the charge current. This will end the charge operation.

If Stopping Current is chosen as the cut-off condition, the battery will charge until the maximum battery voltage is reached, but the stopping current will decide when the operation ends. In some cases, the voltage can reach maximum battery voltage but not end as the stopping current has not been reached. Note that the Stopping Current is normally to a small value.

Note When in CV mode, the specified current limit can be reached when the charging operation is trying to reach and maintain the specified charging voltage. The charging will continue until the Stopping Voltage is reached. However a message will indicate that the specified current limit has been reached, allowing the user to decide whether to continue the charging operation or stop the test. Example Message:

Profiler Stopping and Starting

When using the Profiler operations, you can manually start and stop a test at any time as previously described. You can also specify a test condition to stop the operation once the condition is reached. This is referred to as the Cut-Off Condition. Once the cut-off condition is reached, the test data is saved into the specified profile file and the profile is considered complete.

For the discharge profile, a cut-off condition can be defined for:
Cut-off Voltage
Consumed Capacity

For the charge profile, a cut-off condition can be defined for:
Stopping Current
Charged Capacity
or Both
Time
NDV
Upper Temperature Limit
Lower Temperature Limit

Emulation Stopping and Starting

When using the Emulation operation, you can manually start and stop a test at any time as previously described. But you can also specify a test condition to stop the operation once the condition is reached. This is referred to as the Cut-Off Condition. Once the cut-off condition is reached, the test data is saved into the specified profile file. You can then resume the test by specifying different cut-off conditions.

For the Emulation operation, it is:
Upper Threshold SoC (state of charge)
Upper Threshold Vt (terminal voltage)
Lower Threshold SOC (state of charge)
Lower Threshold Vt (terminal voltage)

Other conditions that will stop the emulation operation is when the Current Limit or an overvoltage condition is reached. When these stopping conditions occur, the operation is ended and the battery information is automatically saved. In these cases, the operation is considered complete.

Using the-cut-off condition to specify a specific state-of-charge for example, is a useful application for battery emulation. It is common during battery testing that the battery may be resting or left unattended for certain periods of time after reaching a certain SoC. During the rest time, the battery could be left in open circuit state from an hour up to a day. After the rest time, the test could then be resumed at a different percentage of SoC.

After stopping, the data saved into the existing profile. The same profile can then be reloaded to resume battery test at different level of SoC.

During the time that the battery is resting or being left unattended, you can even close that application if you need to need ty use the computer for other activities.

After opening the application and resuming battery test, the application will automatically locate the last stopped test conditions and automatically calculate battery capacity to continue the emulation operation.