Arduino Based Programable Lead Acid Battery Monitoring System For Automobiles

Abstract

The most prevalent battery used for cranking the car engine is the lead acid battery. With each engine cranking event, during which time the alternator halts recharging the battery, there is an associated voltage loss in the battery. The battery monitoring system in this research used the voltage loss associated with each car cranking event to compute the state of health of the car’s battery. The battery monitoring system showed that a state of charge of 71 %, down from the recommended 75 %, can be used in carrying out a battery load test. The state of health of 64.3%, down from 80 %, can be used as a battery state of health threshold for some automobiles. The state of charge and state of health threshold values depend on the application in which a battery is put. Of the 5 batteries used in this research three of them needed to be replaced since their state of health fell below the threshold. Two of the batteries were brand new and so they performed well throughout the research. The battery monitoring system displays the real-time state of health of the battery to the motorist thus providing around the clock assurance of the actual health status of the car’s battery, saves time as well as unplanned expenses and keeps at bay the inconvenience of abrupt battery failure. Key words: State of health, state of charge, cranking, lead acid battery, battery monitoring system