Epec's Blog | Electronics Manufacturing Solutions

When developing a battery pack, two major subsystems must work together efficiently: the battery management system and the stack of cells. Most of the development time is spent determining what type of protection and electrical requirements will be required for the battery pack.

Newer technological devices require battery cells to provide higher levels of power while being lightweight and small. When seeking higher levels of energy and power in battery packs, these circumstances create an environment that leads to potentially unstable battery chemistries, elevated temperatures, short circuits, cell swelling, loss of capacity, and overcharging/over-discharging.

At the conclusion of our webinar, Custom Battery Pack Design Considerations for Performance and Safety, we had several questions submitted to our presenter, Battery Product Manager Anton Beck. We compiled these into a readable format on our blog.

Wearable devices such as smartwatches, wearable cameras, ECG monitors, and fitness trackers rely on custom batteries to provide power for operation. Designing wearable technologies creates significant challenges due to the size and flexibility of the devices. Wearable tech requires battery packs to be light enough for use while providing long-lasting energy.

High-capacity batteries provide greater levels of energy density at a smaller size. This design characteristic allows devices to obtain the power they need for long periods without giving up the necessary space to larger battery packs. Many high-capacity battery packs can allow for faster recharging cycles while providing increased performance.

Devices that rely on lithium-based battery cells to operate will have battery management systems (BMS) installed into the packs. The BMS is designed to monitor the characteristics of the battery infrastructure to ensure safe operation.

Technologies are becoming lightweight and smaller to allow for portability. From drones, laptops, and phones to power tools and medical devices, these applications require a high amount of power to function and a battery that guarantees long run times and safety.

When designing a product, the focus is often spent on the functionality of the device. For most instrument-measuring devices, most of the focus is spent on the sensors themselves and the data capture that will occur during their use. Often factors such as power delivery are left in theory until it’s time to finish the design of the product.

Battery packs are designed to have fixed capacities and voltages to power specific applications for a required length of time before recharging. To transfer this power to the device, connectors, and interfaces are required to form the connection between the battery cells and the devices, as well as with the chargers.

Devices are becoming smaller and lightweight. To power these applications, customers are seeking battery packs that are compact while providing efficient energy. Compact batteries are found in a variety of applications, from smartphones to medical devices. These batteries provide consistent power and a long lifespan.