Keysight's Battery Emulation tool is a combination of power supply, electronic load, and unique software. It consists of a Keysight E36731A instrument and the BenchVue PathWave BV9211B software.
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E36731A Hardware Overview
The E36731A is a substantial piece of hardware. While it would fit on most electronics benches, it is probably better suited for a rack. It is 3U high and half-width, so that you can fit two side-by-side.
The E36731A operates as either a power supply or an electronic load. You must manually switch between functions. The power supply has typical features, including current limiting, over-limit fuses, remote sense, and adjustable slew rate. Its maximum power output is 200 watts with up to 30.9 volts and 20.6 amps.
The electronic load function supports constant current, voltage, resistance, and power. It can withstand a maximum load voltage of 61.2 volts and load current of 40.8 amps. This function supports 4-wire sensing to compensate for losses in the cabling. There is also a list mode for basic sequencing.
Battery Emulation
You need an active subscription to Keysight's BV9211B PathWave BenchVue Advanced Battery Test and Emulation Software for functions beyond power supply and load. This Windows-only tool lets you profile, charge, discharge, cycle, and emulate many battery types.
The software does come with some battery profiles to get you started with emulation. In this video, James attempts to use the included profile for an AA-sized battery, but found the device under test (DUT) would not turn on! As an alternative, he uses the BV9211B PathWave BenchVue Advanced Battery Test and Emulation Software to create a 200-point discharge profile of a real Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery.
When emulating batteries, the software lets you set the State-of-Charge (SoC), capacity in amp-hours, current limit, and other critical factors. It also enables you to configure a virtual bank of series and parallel batteries. In James's example, he puts four (virtual) batteries in series to simulate this DUT's battery compartment.
The result was the ability to see the DUT operating, test its SoC measurement capabilities (for the battery gauge display), and use the current graphs to view the dynamic current usage.
Other Capabilities
The hardware and software combination also has other functions, but James did not have time to get into them.
Charge and discharge do what you would expect. These features are excellent for putting a battery into a known charged or discharged state before creating the profile.
The Cycle option helps with rapidly aging a device. For example, you can set up a strenuous charge and discharge cycle that runs over an extended time period. If you combine that with a temperature chamber, it would be possible to characterize how the battery's internal resistance and maximum capacity change over time.
While James did demonstrate the profiling capability, he did so with a constant current. The profiler also supports dynamic loads. For example, if you are profiling a battery for use with an IoT device, it may be beneficial to set up an appropriate profile to see how its dynamic load affects the maximum usable energy in a battery.
Overall
The E36731A from Keysight is a competent 200-watt power supply and 255-watt electronic load. The BV9211B PathWave BenchVue Advanced Battery Test and Emulation Software does have practical capabilities. However, it is disappointing that the instrument says "Battery Emulator" on its label when you must pay annually to use that capability.
Check out this Road Test of the E36731A Battery Emulator for additional reviews from element14 Community members.
Bill of Material
| Product Name | Manufacturer | Quantity | Buy Kit |
|---|---|---|---|
| e36731a Bench Power Supply, Programmable, 1 Output, 0 V, 30 V, 0 A, 20 A | Keysight | 1 | Buy Now |
| BV9211B PathWave Benchue Advanced Battery Test an Emulation Node Locked License | Keysight | 1 | Buy Now |
