Battery charge measurement and discharge reserve time prediction technique and apparatus

摘要

A method of testing one or more cells and parameterising the results in order to obtain a characteristic curve/function from which cell discharge reserve time can be predicted from cell voltage. The test involves obtaining a plurality of data points representing the voltage of a cell as a function of charge remaining, and parameterising the data points to obtain a function representing cell voltage and charge remaining. The function allows charge remaining to be calculated from cell voltage. The invention also provides for a device for measuring capacity and predicting discharge reserve time of a cell, the device including a voltage and current measuring means adapted to measure the voltage and load current of a cell. The device also includes a timing means so that a number of voltage and current data points can be obtained with respect of time. The data points are parameterised and the device produces a function relating charge remaining to cell voltage whereby the charge remaining can be determined by measuring the cell voltage.