Rugged Computing Device Battery Packs
Keeping power-hungry field instruments ready for action requires high-performance battery solutions. No matter what your field of endeavor is you need optimal performance from your battery pack. Today's rugged battery packs must be tuned to a device's power requirements, power load characteristics, and use patterns. Designers must also take into account operating temperatures and various environmental factors, such as rough handling, vibration, humidity, dust and shock.
Micro Power Electronics designs and manufactures custom battery packs for field instruments such as chemical and gas detectors, telecom test equipment, wireless test equipment, and power measurement devices. Our custom battery packs can be either internal subassemblies or external pack enclosures, and include protection circuitry, fuel gauge, communication bus, and authentication capabilities.
Rechargeable Batteries:
Micro Power offers rugged rechargeable batteries based on all commercially available chemistries. As OEMs strive to differentiate in competitive markets, Micro Power has increasingly addressed our customer's needs with the highest performance Li-ion chemistry. Today, Micro Power has designed well over one thousand Li-ion battery packs. Choosing the optimal cell can contribute to the success or failure of a product in the field and requires extensive knowledge of the performance profile of the cells under consideration. The first step in ensuring a proper battery choice is to fully describe the "real world usage profile" of the device. Then, a choice can be made among the leading cell chemistries. Three cell chemistries, Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH), Li-ion and Li-polymer, currently dominate.
- NiMH batteries have an average energy density of 200 Wh/L, and deliver 500 duty cycles
- Li-ion battery characteristics include 1000 duty cycles per lifetime, higher load currents, and an average energy density of 500 Wh/L .
- Li-polymer cells have similar specifications to Li-ion, but they feature a semi-rigid and thin form factor.
Primary Batteries:
Micro Power Electronics designs and manufactures rugged non-rechargeable battery packs based on Li-primary chemistry for our customer's disposable power solution needs. The Li-primary cells offer higher voltage than traditional alkaline cells, in addition to extremely long shelf life and superb performance in extreme temperature environments. With a negligible self-discharge rate, the li-primary cell is optimal for maintaining a high state of readiness. Micro Power's Li-primary battery packs can deliver full performance after being stored for five or even 7 years. Several different chemistries are available, such as lithium manganese dioxide, lithium sulfur dioxide and lithium thionyl chloride. A wide operating temperature range is offered by these chemistries, in addition to the long shelf life yielding products that are ideal for outdoor, emergency use.
Safety Features:
The SecuraPACK™ brand offers OEM customers a high-performance, solution with a customized, but most importantly, safe battery system that is resistant to dangerous malfunctions. SecuraPACK combines custom battery pack technology and specialized manufacturing processes to produce the safest and most reliable primary or rechargeable lithium battery system. SecuraPACK is compliant with the major requirements outlined in the IEEE 1625-2004 Standard for Rechargeable Batteries for Mobile Computers. The following features and processes accompany SecuraPACK designs:
- Safest, high quality Lithium cells from tier one cell suppliers
- Testing incoming cells for electrical performance
- Thermal Protection Circuit (TPC) to prevent over-heating
- Protection circuit that prevents over-voltage, over-current, and under-voltage
- Support for the release of vented gasses
- Electrical tests include continuous charge, over-discharge, overcharge, & short-circuit tests
- Mechanical tests include shock, vibration, altitude, thermal exposure, & mould stress.
For the most demanding portable device requirements, Micro Power offers additional safety precautions such as:
- Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) of the battery system design or manufacturing process
- Redundant protection circuit to ensure device operation
- Authentication of the battery pack to eliminate the use of aftermarket alternatives
- Cell balancing for packs with high number of cells in series
- Plastics with fire resistant additives
SMART Batteries:
Micro Power's advanced SMART batteries communicate status to the portable device via an integrated circuit in the battery pack. This information might include: type, model number, manufacturer, characteristics, discharge rate, predicted remaining capacity, almost-discharged alarm, temperature and voltage. Micro Power Electronics has partnered with Texas Instruments to provide the most advanced fuel gauging with Impedance Track™ technology. Impedance Track™ calculates changes in impedance caused by battery age, temperature and cycle patterns to predict remaining run-time within 99% accuracy throughout the entire life of the battery. It maximizes system run-time by enabling use of the full chemical capacity available in the battery pack. Communication is delivered to the portable device via a communication bus (such as SMBus, I2C, or HDQ), and delivered to the user with LEDs.
Mechanical Options:
Like its host device, rugged battery packs are designed with mechanics that are adapted for the specific environment in which it will be used. Micro Power provides battery packs that are assembled in plastic shrink wrap and fully enclosed in the portable device. For user replaceable batteries, the best choice is a battery pack with a hard plastic enclosure. Micro Power provides enclosures that meet the needs of the most demanding environments while augmenting your product's aesthetics and industrial design. Typical plastic choices include PolyCarbonate (PC), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), PC/ABS blends, Nylon, or Acrylic. Plastic enclosures will be sealed with ultrasonic welding for ease of manufacture and cost savings, but Micro Power also offers the option of glue or screws for the most robust seals. The electrical connector is selected to be the most compatible with your device such as Molex, Tyco, Mill-Max pogo-pins or Samtec PCB headers. A custom battery pack offers the best physical integration with your portable device, in addition to the highest electrical performance.