Design And Construction Of A Car Battery Monitoring System

1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT
Knowing the amount of energy left in a battery compared with the energy it had when it was full gives the user an indication of how much longer a battery will continue to perform before it needs recharging.
This would be easy if the battery could be discharged at a constant rate. The charge in a battery is equal to the current multiplied by the time for which it flowed. Unfortunately there are two problems with this. In all practical batteries, the discharge current is not constant but diminishes as the battery becomes discharged, usually in a non-linear way. Any measurement device must therefore be able to integrate current over time. Secondly, this method depends on discharging the battery to know how much charge it contained. In most applications except perhaps in qualification testing, the user (or the system) needs to know how much charge is in the cell without discharging it.
It is not possible either to measure directly the effective charge in a battery by monitoring the actual charge put into it during charging. This is because of the Coulombic efficiency of the battery. Losses in the battery during the charge – discharge cycle mean that the battery will deliver less charge during discharge than was put into it during charging.
The Coulombic efficiency or charge acceptance is a measure of how much usable energy is available during discharging compared with the energy used to charge the cell.
Nowadays, electronic indicators are used which provide or give a continuous reading of the battery condition. This method of course needs indicators to provide the measurement data of the current battery status, memory to store the battery.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
Sometimes there is nothing worse than losing all the charges on your device unknowingly and as a result of this your device shuts down especially when you are in the middle of something very important. Usually this happens at the most inconvenient time probably when you are using your device for something very important. Battery level indicator was invented to solve this problem. Battery level indicator is the project that indicates status of battery by use of LED. This project can know the status of battery left. This is can give easier to people and can be more alert then about status of battery level. Battery level indicator can present a circuit that can know the battery level of a device from the number of LED glowing.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
Low voltage or Over-charging in batteries can make the plates swell and can cause internal shorts. It shortens the life in batteries, even if you don’t get shorts. It also causes the plates to deteriorate faster than just regular charging. A float charge to balance is not the bad overcharging that causes a lot of water to boil out.
The objective of this work is to construct a device that will indicate and let the user know the status of battery of a device just by glowing the number of LED’s.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT
Battery level indicator will let you know the status of battery of a device just by glowing the number of LED’s. For example four LED’s are glowing means battery capacity is 40 percent.

1.5 APPLICATION OF THE PROJECT
You can use this battery level indicator circuit with your inverter or with your car battery; it will give you indication about your battery status. So before one’s battery dies you can recharge it.
In Automobiles
Some automobiles are fitted with a battery condition meter to monitor the starter battery. This meter is, essentially, a voltmeter but it may also be marked with coloured zones for easy visualization.
Many newer cars no longer offer voltmeters or ammeters; instead, these vehicles typically have a light with the outline of an automotive battery on it. This can be somewhat misleading as it may be confused for an indicator of a bad battery when in reality it indicates a problem with the vehicle’s charging system.
Alternatively, an ammeter may be fitted. This indicates whether the battery is being charged or discharged. In the picture on the right, the ammeter is marked “Alternator” and the symbols are “C” (charge) and “D” (discharge). Click on the picture to enlarge it.
Both ammeters and voltmeters individually or together can be used to assess the operating state of an automobile battery and charging system.
In Electronic devices
A battery indicator is a feature of many electronic devices. In mobile phones, the battery indicator usually takes the form of a bar graph – the more bars that are showing, the better the battery’s state of charge.
In Computers
Computers may give a signal to users that an internal standby battery needs replacement. Portable computers using rechargeable batteries generally give the user some indication of the remaining operating time left on the battery. A Smart Battery System uses a controller integrated with an interchangeable battery pack to provide a more accurate indication of the state of battery charge.
This device can also be used in the following places:
• Telecommunications
• CATV / Broadband
• Mission Critical Facilities
• UPS Systems
• Financial Institutions
• Mining
• Transportation Operations
• Hospitals
• Emergency Lighting
• Call Centers
• Battery Suppliers and Manufacturers.
• Battery Service Groups
• Medical/Biotechnology. All for the purpose of knowing the voltages of their devices.
1.6 BASIC ADVANTAGES OF LED LIGHT IN THE PROJECT
1. Energy efficient – LED’s are now capable of outputting 135 lumens/watt
2. Long Lifetime – 50,000 hours or more if properly engineered
3. Rugged – LED’s are also called “Solid State Lighting (SSL) as they are made of solid material with no filament or tube or bulb to break
4. No warm-up period – LED’s light instantly – in nanoseconds
5. Not affected by cold temperatures – LED’s “like” low temperatures and will startup even in subzero weather
6. Directional – With LED’s you can direct the light where you want it, thus no light is wasted
7. Excellent Color Rendering – LED’s do not wash out colors like other light sources such as fluorescents, making them perfect for displays and retail applications
8. Environmentally friendly – LED’s contain no mercury or other hazardous substances
9. Controllable – LED’s can be controlled for brightness and color
1.7 LIMITATION OF THE PROJECT
1. This device can only indicate voltage from 1.5v to 12v.
2. It indicate voltage level via LEDs
3. The operating voltage of this IC is 3v to 25v DC

1.8 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
Voltage Monitor is a simplistic and inexpensive battery monitoring system designed to monitor battery string voltage for over and under voltage conditions. This Battery Voltage Monitor is used in 1.5V – 12V applications – and reads battery bus status, detects different dc voltages using contacts probes. Monitoring for battery string voltage will provide critical battery cell protection and ensure the longevity of the battery system. Over voltage can lead to overcharging and overheating of the batteries, which can cause irreversible cell destruction. Under voltage will also cause irreversible battery damage if left uncorrected. Measuring battery voltage with this device will allow the user to determine how charged their batteries are, and allow for immediate corrective action if needed.

1.9 ADVANTAGES OF THE PROJECT
i. It is portable
ii. It has measuring probe which is labeled black ( –ve) and red (+ve)
iii. High reliability and durability
iv. Simple installation
v. Monitors Voltage in 1.5 – 12V batteries.

1.10 METHODOLOGY
To achieve the aim and objectives of this work, the following are the steps involved:
i. Study of the previous work on the project so as to improve it efficiency.
ii. Draw a block diagram.
iii. Test for continuity of components and devices,
iv. Design and calculation for the device was carried out.
v. Studying of various component used in circuit.
vi. Construction of the circuit was carried out.
vii. Finally, the whole device was cased and final test was carried out.

1.11 PROJECT WORK ORGANISATION
The various stages involved in the development of this project have been properly put into five chapters to enhance comprehensive and concise reading. In this project thesis, the project is organized sequentially as follows:
Chapter one of this work is on the introduction to a battery level indicator. In this chapter, the background, significance, objective limitation and problem of a battery level indicator were discussed.
Chapter two is on literature review of a battery level indicator. In this chapter, all the literature pertaining to this work was reviewed.
Chapter three is on design methodology. In this chapter all the method involved during the design and construction were discussed.
Chapter four is on testing analysis. All testing that result accurate functionality was analyzed.
Chapter five is on conclusion, recommendation and references.