Intelligent Battery Charger

Project Proposal
Kevin Happ, Sharat Tiruveedhula
TA: Xiangyu Ding
September 14, 2010

I. Introduction:
Title: Intelligent Battery Charger
The consumer electronics we use in our day-to-day lives utilize a wide range of
battery types. The average person needs a variety of battery chargers to
accommodate their personal needs. Instead of having an individual battery
charger for an iPod, car battery or other common household batteries, we feel it
would be useful to have a single device to charge each battery by taking into
account their unique parameters. We're excited to apply our knowledge of power
electronics to this project in order to create a product that has practical uses and
has the potential to be marketed.
Objectives:
Project Goals:
Implement AC to DC conversion
Accurate voltage regulation
Digital display of analog parameters
Efficiently charge different types of batteries
Customer Benefits:
Convenience and portability
Prolonged battery life due to intelligent battery charging
User can monitor charging status, i.e. time left until fully-charged and
current voltage
Features:
Charges different types of batteries: Car battery, iPod, and other commonly
used batteries like Ni-Cd, Ni-Mh
Displays status of battery and shuts off automatically when fully charged
Adjusts method of charging, intelligently, based on current state of the
battery
II. Design:
1. Block Diagram

AC-DC
Converter

Voltage
Regulator

Control
Circuit

Battery
Charging
Circuit

Display

2. Block Descriptions
AC-DC Converter: Since the output supply is AC, we need to convert to DC, in
order to charge the battery. This will involve full-wave rectification possibly
additional filtering circuits to reduce the AC ripple effects in the DC voltage
waveform.
Voltage Regulator: Regulate the voltage depending on the type of battery. We will
take the input voltage and output it to the proper voltage for a given battery.
Control Circuit: Determines the state of the battery as well as voltage and current,
which will then be relayed to the digital display to be outputted in a user-friendly
manner. Based on the data, it will supply this same information to the batterycharging circuit to determine how the battery should be charged.
Battery Charging Circuit: Takes information from the control circuit to intelligently
charge the battery. Fully charges the battery without exceeding the voltage and
current limits. Also, adjust the method of charging, based on the current state of
the battery.
Display: Digitally displays the voltage, indicates the time left needed to charge
and an LED turns on when fully charged.
3. Performance Requirement
Fully charge the battery without overcharging and come within 0.1 volts of
the following voltage limits for each type of battery:
Car battery (Lead-Acid) 13.8 14.1V (six cell)
iPod battery (Lithium Ion) 3.7 V (single cell)
Ni-Mh AA battery 1.4 1.6V [single cell]
Ni-Cd AAA battery 1.2V [single cell]

 Adjust the method of charging based on the current state of the battery
Display time remaining calculated accurately within 5 minutes
Minimize charging time
III. Verification
1. Testing Procedures
PSpice simulations: once the input voltage and current are determined, a
theoretical AC-DC circuit can be designed in PSpice and simulated before
purchasing the physical components. It is much quicker to test the circuit on
PSpice than testing with real circuit components, and provides us with an
estimation of the values of the individual components.
AC-DC converter circuit will be assembled and tested for functionality.
Battery charge circuit will be assembled and tested. Overcharge prevention
capability of the circuit will be checked for proper functionality.
The Control Circuits battery state detection can be verified by using a voltmeter
between the input terminals to read the voltage, which will determine whether the
battery is dead, fully charged or needs charging.
The quickest charge will not always be the most effective, therefore we should run
several tests to see how our battery charging method affects the percentage of
charge stored.
We will verify through temperature readings that the batteries remain within their
recommended temperature range throughout the charging process.
2. Tolerance Analysis
The most important part of our project is the Control Circuit. The Control Circuit
will determine what voltage and current should be supplied to the battery
charging circuit depending on what the state of the battery is. This is very
important because inaccurate detection will lead to inefficient charging or
overcharging.
To test the functionality of the Control Circuit under extreme conditions, we will
test each battery in its fully charged, partially charged (more of a range of
possible voltages), and dead batteries. Basically, we will discharge the given
batteries to the appropriate levels to see how our Control Circuit interprets the
current state of the battery and relays this information to the other subcomponents. In particular, we could foresee having problems with the Ni-Cd

battery, as Ni-Cd batteries have a fairly constant voltage. This would make it
difficult to discern the state of the battery only with the voltage across the battery
terminals.
IV. Cost Analysis
1. Cost Analysis
LABOR
Name

Hourly Rate

Multiplier

Total Hours

Labor Total

Kevin Happ

$40.00

2.5

140

$14,000.00

Sharat
Tiruveedhula

$40.00

2.5

140

$14,000.00

Grand Total

$28,000.00
PARTS

Item

Quantity

Cost

AC-DC Converter Parts

N/A

$40.00

Battery Charger Parts

N/A

$150.00

LEDs

$10.00

TOTAL

$200.00

Grand Total = Total Labor + Total Parts = $28,200.00

2. Schedule
Week
09/13/10

09/20/10
09/27/10

Task

Responsibility

Research different types of

batteries and parameters

Kevin, Sharat

Learn to use PIC

Kevin, Sharat

Design Voltage Regulator

Kevin

Design AC-DC converter

Sharat

Design Control Circuit

Kevin

Design Battery Charging

Circuit

Sharat

10/04/10
10/11/10

10/18/10
10/25/10

Order Parts

Kevin

PSpice Simulations

Sharat

Construct Voltage Regulator

Circuit

Kevin

Construct AC-DC Circuit

Sharat

Construct Control Circuit

Kevin

Construct Battery Charging

Circuit

Sharat

Write code for PIC

Sharat

Test all circuits individually

Kevin

Individual Progress Reports

Kevin, Sharat

Review/Enhance circuits or fix Kevin, Sharat

problems
Implement digital display

Kevin

11/01/10

PCB

Sharat

11/08/10

Prepare for Demo

Kevin, Sharat

11/15/10

Prepare for Demo, Begin Final Kevin, Sharat

Reports

11/29/10

Demo

Kevin, Sharat