This program, written in R using the Shiny package, aims to simplify the battery analysis process and acelerate diagnostic data return on energy storage cells cycling on an Arbin battery cycler. After uploading the raw Excel files from the Arbin MITS Pro software to the program, it automates many standard analysis techniques while also allowing for rapid generation of common battery analysis graphs. The Arbin Battery Analysis Tool was developed by and is currently maintained by the Materials Innovation group at Birla Carbon.
If you are new to the program and would like to get started, see our Installation page.
If you already have all the required software installed and configured, see our Begin Analyzing page.
We encourage all who desire to contribute to use the issues to highlight bugs or feature requests and submit pull requests as needed!
Let's start with the basics: what are the inputs?
At a minimum, all the application needs is the data file as exported from the Arbin Excel macro. The data file from Arbin is characterized as a large Excel file that contains the following information:
| ArbinExportFile.xlsx | ||
|---|---|---|
Date_Time |
Test_Time(s)* |
Step_Time(s) |
Step_Index* |
Cycle_Index* |
Voltage(V)* |
Current(A)* |
Discharge_Capacity(Ah)* |
Charge_Capacity(Ah)* |
Charge_Time(s) |
DisCharge_Time(s) |
Charge_Energy(Wh) |
Discharge_Energy |
Internal Resistance(Ohm) |
dV/dt(V/s) |
The exact format and which values are present are configurable within the Arbin software. In order for the program to execute corrrectly, the values marked with a (*) should be present.
All other inputs are optional, depending on the desired outputs.
Now that we've established what the required inputs are, what does the program generate?
Regardless of inputs selected, the program will generate a directory (folder) in which all data will be placed, then a subdirectory for each cell analyzed.
In its default state, the program will generate numerous data files placed throughout this file system. At the highest level (in the main folder), there will be four files generated: [directory name] Total.csv, [directory name] dQdV Data.csv, [directory name] Cycle Facts.csv, and [directory name] Summary.csv. The Total file will contain all the raw data imported for each cell, concatenated into one large file for easy import into other analyzers. The contents of the remaining files are as follows:
| File | Attributes |
|---|---|
| [directory name] dQdV Data.csv |
|
| [directory name] Cycle Facts.csv |
|
| [directory name] Summmary.csv |
|
Values with (*) are only present if the cell masses are specified
If you would like to know how each of these values are calculated, see our Calculations page.
In addition to all the data files, there are multiple graphs than can be generated alongside for quick and easy diagnostics.
| Graph | X Axis | Y Axis | Plot Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discharge Capacity | Cycle | Discharge Capacity (mAh/g or Ah) | per cell |
| Discharge Areal Capacity | Cycle | Discharge Capacity (Ah/cm^2) | per cell |
| Total Discharge Capacity | Cycle | Discharge Capacity (mAh/g or Ah) | per analysis |
| Average Voltage | Cycle | Voltage (V) | per cell |
| Delta Voltage | Cycle | Voltage (V) | per cell |
| Capacity Loss | Cycle | Capacity (mAh/g or Ah) | per cell |
The Discharge Areal Capacity (*) can only be plotted if the area of the limiting electrode is specified.
Lastly, the Total Discharge Capacity graph is a summation of all cells within the set and plots the mean capacity with respective error bars. Columbic efficiency is also averaged and plotted within the same graph.