Project Description
BackgroundMillions of people around the world (especially in Africa and Asia) rely on battery charging services for electricity access. The battery charging business works by charging batteries customers bring in ad-hoc or by swapping pre-charged batteries for uncharged batteries and collecting a fee for the service. Sealed lead-acid batteries (SLA) batteries, common in automotive applications, are sturdy, cheap, and plentiful, but after a time (1-5 years, depending on use) degrade and can no longer hold charge. It's difficult to determine a battery's state of charge (SoC) just by measuring the voltage. Furthermore, the process to refill these batteries can be dangerous.
Purpose>The purpose of this project is to increase the safety and reliability of battery charging services worldwide by creating an appropriate SLA SoC meter. This means that the meter must have the following characteristics:>
- Reliable
- Safe
- Low cost
- Portable
- Battery-powered (common chemistry) or solar-powered depending on energy requirements of chosen technology
- Durable
In the press
- Forum Topic on Digital Hydrometers by HomeBrewTalk on 2014-03-28
- How to Use an Analog Hydrometer by E-Z-Go on 2014-03-28
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