This year we are developing two new Cadex products. Additional products are on the drawing board with a plan to launch one new line product (LP) per year between now and 2027. Brian Stachniak, our new head of Product Management, will assist in getting the products to market.

Next-gen Cadex products will be flexible and competitively priced serving as attractive entry models with option to connect to computing devices and cloud analytics. One of the products for 2023 is the Spectro Modular that we offer for the first time to the open market to test starter batteries. Spectro™ differs from other testers in that it assesses capacity, the leading health indicator of a battery. Most test devices only measure CCA based on internal resistance; Spectro™ reads capacity and CCA using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and AI. 

In early 2024 (Q1) we will release the Supervisor, a diagnostic charger capable of checking the state-of-health (SoH) of SMBus batteries. On insertion, the SoH Light gives a pass if the “digital capacity” corresponding to FCC (Full Charge Capacity) meets the Target Selector setting; low capacity illuminates an amber light calling for calibration. The Supervisor will initially be available in 1- and 2- bay configurations with the 6-bay becoming available later in the year. 

Priced as a regular charger, the Supervisor offers options to create a cost-effective battery management system. A buyer may start with the stand-alone charger in Level 1 and later connect to a PC in Level 2 to view detailed battey SoH information of SMBus batteries with the Fishbowl. Level 3 leaverages cloud analytical to track the Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of batteries for the fleet supervisor.

Importance of Calibration

SMBus batteries contain valuable SoH data captured during charge and discharge while the battery is in service. With time and use, however, the accuracy decreases without the user knowing. To maintain reliability, device manufacturers advise to calibrate the battery every three months or after 40 discharges. This is seldom done because a user has no way of knowing when to calibrate; nor are practical methods available to complete the service in the field. The Supervisor solves this requirement by offering in-unit calibration that is prompted by the amber SoH Light

Target Selector in a Charger

A unique feature of the Supervisor is the Target Selector assessing battery SoH. The Target Selector allows the user to specify a capacity threshold based on use. Inserting a battery, the green SoH Light passes a battery if requirements are met; amber requests calibration. Defaulted to 80%, the target setting can be changed by the host. Critical missions may require 90%, but a high setting passes fewer batteries. With fading capacity, a battery may be handed down to a charger set to 70% to get extra years of service at lower duty. The illustrations below demonstrate target capacity settings for different uses.

The Target Selector should be set to retain 20% charge at the end of a routine day. An analogy is an aircraft carrying enough fuel for a safe landing, even with headwind. Cloud analytics in Level 3 captures the remaining charge before charge and also records capacity readings of each smart battery, viewable on a monitor. 

The Supervisor offers a system that may start with a lone charger and advance to a powerful battery management system. These chargers operate in the background with minimal user-intervention and low cost but provide vital SoH information to battery users and fleet managers. This WebApp-driven system will serve next-gen battery analyzers that will come online as part of this Marathon in the next few years.