This research proposes a method for estimating the residual capacity of Li-ion batteries. The charging and discharging characteristics of Li-ion batteries are investigated and analyzed by a battery test system. The measurement of the initial capacity is based on the improved open-circuit voltage measurement, which compensates the effects of battery aging and self-discharging. The measurement of the used capacity is based on the improved coulomb counting measurement, which compensates the effects of output current and environmental temperature. The designed system provides various functions for battery charging and discharging, battery voltage measuring and recording, battery capacity estimation and calculation, and the log files can be used for further battery characteristics analysis.

The topic of this study is to develop a battery capacity management system. The main purpose is to monitor the state of battery during charging and discharging. Form this, user can know the battery status and to avoid loss of data before sudden system power down caused by a spent battery. Different states of battery were collected in different conditions by a battery measurement system, after which characteristics were analyzed. A fast-charge and residual capacity estimation system was developed according to the battery characteristics. The fast-charge system is a technique that emphasizes not only fastness charging but also safety. In this study a fast-charge end method was adopted to terminate the fast charging state of the battery and the initial state had been estimated before charging. Furthermore, the battery was charged with the optimum method according to the battery initial state. That can recover the capacity of the battery within a short period without causing any side effects from repeated usage. The residual capacity estimation system works by first estimating the initial capacity of the batteries, and then recording the current of batteries continuously using the coulomb counting method to make compensation for the effects of battery aging, environmental temperature, self-discharging, and output current.