Artificial intelligence is being used to boost an important technology that measures battery health and safety.
Measuring battery health and safety continuously is an important challenge as more electric vehicles, grid-scale energy storage devices, and other clean energy technologies enter the market.
In 2011, Idaho National Laboratory researchers developed a technology for measuring battery health and safety, called Inline Rapid Impedance Spectroscopy (iRIS).
By sending multiple waves of electrical current simultaneously through a battery, iRIS technology determines the battery’s resistance and can monitor how the resistance changes over time. This data tells a lot about the battery’s state of charge, health and safety. Loveland, Colorado-based Dynexus Technology, Inc. exclusively licensed the iRIS technology from Idaho National Laboratory in 2015.
Now, iRIS is getting a boost of artificial intelligence thanks to a private industry collaboration between Dynexus and Pattern Computer, Inc., a company that uses pattern recognition to make complex datasets understandable and actionable.
By combining iRIS with Pattern’s Pattern Discovery Engine, researchers hope to make the tool even more powerful.
“In order for the reuse and remanufacture of batteries to be sustainable, we need to be able to finance and insure second use battery assets,” said David Sorum, CEO of Dynexus Technology, Inc. “We need to understand the remaining capacity and state of health throughout a battery’s lifecycle. Working together, Dynexus and Pattern can significantly help solve that challenge.”
Battery integrators could use the hybrid iRIS/Pattern technology for difficult diagnostic challenges such as predicting battery failures or matching similar batteries together within the same device so they deliver optimal performance.
The Dynexus-Pattern collaboration is one example of how a technology developed and tested at INL, and commercialized by private companies, could potentially have a big impact on industry, said INL commercialization manager Ryan Bills.
“With iRIS, Dynexus has attracted interest from customers in industry and government,” said Bills. “Now, the Pattern partnership forms the basis for something new. Together, they are going to improve how battery health is measured, moving the needle from battery diagnostics to battery prognostics to help maximize battery value and improve safety.”
Photo courtesy of Idaho National Laboratory
