Analysis of Amperis battery monitor

The Amperis monitor is a device that is used in traction batteries of any type, voltage or capacity, for monitoring, management and registration. The system uses the most advanced technology for the monitoring of traction batteries, measures and records all the relevant parameters of battery operation and communicates in real time through CANBUS, PWM or RS-232; allowing a complete integration with the control system of the vehicle, the charger and other accessories (All measured values are stored on a Micro-SD card).
This system is used in trucks and other industrial vehicles or stationary batteries and employs the latest technology in traction battery monitoring:

• The most advanced system of control and protection for batteries.
• Resistant to dust and vibrations (IP 54)
• Isolated connections
• CANBUS interface with HV isolation
• Simple system to install and configure.
• Robust design, manufactured in materials resistant to oil and acids.

Equipment Description

The battery module ABCAN Amperis is a system designed to be located on the top of a battery, to monitor the parameters of the battery. Its small size allows an excellent installation in a wide field of applications and is valid for all types of installation. The ABCAN stores the parameters in a MicroSD card and allows the availability of its data in its digital interfaces: CANbus and RS232 ports. Figure 1 shows the description of the system:

The system is able to obtain:

• Average and total battery voltage
• Current (integrated hall effect sensor)
• Temperature (Submersible probe)
• Electrolyte level (Submersible probe)
• Total Ah loaded / downloaded from the ABCAN installation
• Ah charged / discharged from the start of loading / unloading
• State of charge (SOC)
• Number of cycles

On the other hand, the system handles many types of events:

• Alarm: very high / low voltage
• Warning: very high / low voltage
• Alarm: low water level
• Alarm: charge / discharge current above the level
• Alarm: battery temperature above / below the level
• Warning: battery temperature above / below the level
• Battery in standby
• Battery charging / discharging without errors / warnings

Installation

The installation must be carried out by qualified personnel, making sure that the memory is outside the module. The module must be placed in a safe and dry place, to avoid accidental damage and acid falls. It is necessary that one of the main conductors of the main battery pass through the current sensor hole of the ABCAN, according to the direction of the current, as seen in the figure; because if it is not installed correctly, the current measurement will not be correct, with errors of operation.

The battery voltage cables must be connected, first the black wire to -BATT and the red wire to + BATT. The cable marked with HALF BATT is the power source of the ABCAN.
Depending on the application, you should not need to install all the cables present in the connectors. If the water level sensor is not used or is not installed, disable the irrigation error. If you want to interact with the BCAN with a serial cable or if you do not have the MicroSD adapter, you can get the ABCAN data download kit, consisting of an adapter cable, a USB-RS232 device and a MicroSD adapter.
The configuration of parameters consists of: configuration of the file of the main database of the MicroSD card, adding the date and time, day and time of the week of the beginning of the equalization, parameters of battery voltage, calculation parameters of the SOC during charge / discharge, temperature parameters of battery temperature and battery type.
Before inserting the memory card, make sure that the battery is in standby state without any current flowing through it. This is important because, once powered on, the ABCAN performs the current calibration, adjusting the current value to zero.

Functioning

The operation of the equipment we analyze it from its parts:

• Lights: The ABCAN lights allow a quick detection of the equipment status and the state of charge: if it is in operation the first green light flashes slowly (the system is active, the battery is being monitored and communication with the battery is possible through of digital interfaces). The other green lights indicate the state of charge. The red light flashes when the system is under warning, but if the red light is permanently on it is an error signal. The cell voltage limit in the configuration file must be previously specified so that in ABCAN it works correctly.
• Safety repeater: These are the two terminals RL1 and RL2 in the installation scheme. During normal operation, RL1 is short-circuiting RL2. The repeater's safety contact remains open for 90 seconds after the error disappears.
• PWN signal: used to give information to external systems that are not equipped with CAN bus. Works in the range of 0-5V
• CANBUS: The CAN bus line is used to give information to external devices.
• RS-232: is the interface used for real-time monitoring and to download the data stored on the MicroSD card. Once connected to the RS-232, the ABCAN begins to transmit data that can be read by the real-time monitor of the ABCAN Suite.

Electrical characteristics and information analysis

The absolute maximum rates of the ABCAN are: Complete battery voltage. 12-120V
To analyze the information, you must first download the data from the SD card (for this you must remove the cable to access the card) to the computer. The information is organized in text files, accessed using a common text editor or imported into a spreadsheet in "cvs" format. The ABCAN is supplied with a CD containing the ABCAN Suite, which are a group of tools that allow complete control of the installation. The Suite is composed of: analysis tools, real-time monitor and configuration tool.

Ultimately this small device helps the maintenance of the battery, recording its activity. This is a great advantage for the useful life of the battery, especially for traction batteries that may suffer deterioration due to the type of charge / discharge they perform.

For more information:

http://www.amperis.com/en/products/misc/battery-chargers/battery-monitor/