Test system for detecting defective batteries

摘要

A system and method that reduces system cost in testing defective batteries. In a particular embodiment, a test system may be configured to reduce system cost by wiring two-wire relays from a plurality of batteries to a plurality of multiplexers located in a first stage. The number of two-wire relays is equal to:B/2+4.5 if B is oddB/2+5 if B is evenwhere B is the number of batteries. The batteries may be associated with a particular combination of input channels of the multiplexers located in the first stage. The outputs of the multiplexers located in the first stage may then be connected to the inputs of at least one multiplexer located in a second stage. The outputs of the at least one multiplexer located in the second stage may then be connected to at least one instrument, such as a multimeter. Since each battery may be associated with a particular combination of input channels of multiplexers located in the first stage, software may be used to select the particular combination of input channels to be measured by the at least one instrument. The at least one instrument compares the voltage between a particular combination of input channels of multiplexers located in the first stage with an expected value. If the voltage of the particular combination of input channels is less than the expected value, then that particular battery is defective.