Battery Discharger/Data Collector Known as Accugraph

The accugraph project aims to discharge NiCd/NiMh/LiPo rechargeable batteries and collects data in order to keep the rechargeable batteries in good shape since they are quite expensive.

From up to 99 predefined rechargeable batteries, there are up to 250 discharge cycles that can be held by the apparatus. Using a RS232 serial port, the discharge data can later be transferred to a PC. A PIC18F452 microcontroller is used to design this project along with a DS1621 temperature sensor for providing warning when the heatsink gets hot. When the temperature reaches above 50°C, the DS1621 measures the temperature of the heatsink and a warning LED is turned ON.

Also included is the 8×24 LC256 I2C serial EEPROM in the memory module that has 256kb size. The LCD display is located at the backside of the front plate as well as the warning buzzer. The four effect transistors provide help for the 1 KW heatsink that is used to deposit the discharge current. The MOSFET is using the 1Hz time reference PIC18F4620 from the main board, for switching ON the effect transistors. The updated version of the firmware already reached 7th for PIC18F4620.

Rest of the project