The increasing demand for energy storage systems for e-mobility and home storage applications as well as the diversification of cell chemistries forces the battery industry to perform battery cell testing in bigger scales than ever before. Therefore, battery test laboratories are getting redefined to meet the increasing demand of the battery industry. Isolated test units run by independent teams in small facilities are replaced by big battery test laboratories with up to thousands of channels being controlled by a few dedicated testing experts. The resulting increased complexity of the management of all laboratory operations requires a supportive software infrastructure. In this way, a timely delivery of the device under test, execution of seamless workflows from test ordering up to data post-processing combined with a high utilization of the testing environment to master the growing battery test demand can be ensured. In addition, a high accessibility of the software infrastructure even for remote access enables higher throughputs of the test facility and adapts to modern working conditions. The high transparency of planned and executed tests allows advanced project management. Fast adjustments in the testing schedule can be realized whenever project priorities change and the impact on all affected projects becomes visible.
The authors will discuss a full workflow of a battery covering various stages from test bench reservation and DUT assembly, followed by operative steps like logistics operations and the battery test execution up to the test reporting and data post-processing.