System and method for large volume design, build, and test

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12450151-B1
Application number	US-202318360440-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jul 27, 2023
Priority date	Jul 27, 2022
Publication date	Oct 21, 2025
Grant date	Oct 21, 2025

Abstract

Detailed herein are systems and methods for large volume design, building, and testing, particularly suited for rechargeable batteries intended for long duration energy storage. A specific item, such as a battery cell, may be designed through input and selection of various components and configurations, along with desired test protocols and configurations. A build team is notified of the new item, and confirms material and resources are ready to build the item. A specific channel is reserved or committed for the test. Test data, along with specifics and any errors or conditions encountered from specification through teardown, is tracked.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of large volume item design, building, and testing, comprising:
inputting, into a user interface of a software platform, specifications of an long duration storage battery cell to build;
inputting, into the user interface, conditions of a test to apply to the cell;
verifying, by the software platform, that one or more required components are available to build one or more subassemblies of the cell;
staging the required components;
identifying, within the software platform, one or more matching channels from multiple channels across multiple battery cyclers, wherein the matching channels are capable of performing the input test conditions and not actively testing another item nor reserved for testing another item;
reserving, within the user interface, one of the matching channels;
committing the cell to be built after the required components are staged and the one of the matching channels is reserved;
tracking, by the software platform, a build status for each of the one or more subassemblies;
after completion of all of the one or more subassemblies, building the cell;
connecting the cell to the reserved channel within a battery cycler;
operating the battery cycler and testing the cell based on the input test conditions;
taking reference calibrations, measuring reference electrode calibrations and recording the calibrations during the test to be used later against test data;
disconnecting the cell after completion of the test;
tearing down the cell to one or more components;
tracking, through the software platform, metadata about the cell through specification, build, test, and teardown;
tracking, through the software platform, metadata about one or more characterization samples taken during teardown;
specifying, within the software platform, a number of replicates of the item;
building the number of replicates of the item, each to the specifications of the item; and
tracking separate metadata for each replicate item.

2. A method of large volume item design, building, and testing, comprising:
inputting, into a user interface of a software platform, specifications of an item to build;
inputting, into the user interface, conditions of a test to apply to the item;
building the item;
reserving, within the user interface, one of multiple channels from thousands of channels across multiple test machines;
connecting the item to the reserved channel within a test machine;
operating the test machine and testing the item based on the input test conditions;
disconnecting the item after completion of the test;
tearing down the item to one or more components; and
tracking, through the software platform, metadata about the item through specification, build, test, and teardown.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein building the item further comprises:
verifying, by the software platform, that one or more required components are available to build one or more subassemblies of the item;
staging the required components;
committing the item to be built after the required components are staged and the one of multiple channels is reserved;
tracking, by the software platform, a build status for each of the one or more subassemblies; and
after completion of all of the one or more subassemblies, building the item.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
receiving, through the software platform, a change request from a designer of the item;
notifying a supervising user involved with building the item about the change request;
determining, by the supervising user, that the change request is possible based on a current stage of the item and approving, within the software platform, the change request; and
wherein building the item further comprises building the item based on the specifications and change request.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
specifying, within the software platform, a number of replicates of the item;
building the number of replicates of the item, each to the specifications of the item; and
tracking separate metadata for each replicate item.

6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
identifying, within the software platform, one or more matching channels among the multiple channels, wherein the matching channels are capable of performing the input test conditions and not actively testing another item nor reserved for testing another item; and
wherein reserving one of multiple channels further comprises reserving one of the one or more matching channels.

7. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
displaying, within the user interface, one or more screens displaying tables of items or channels, wherein the tables are user configurable for which data fields display about the items or channels, and filterable and sortable based on the data fields displayed.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
marking, within the software platform, indication that a non-standard deviation is required for the item;
entering, within the software platform, a description of the non-standard deviation; and
displaying, within a displayed screen including data fields about the item in a table, graphical indication that the non-standard deviation is required for the item.

9. The method of claim 2 , further comprising selecting, within the user interface, a teardown type along with inputting specifications of the item.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising modifying a template specifying details of the teardown type.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising updating, after the teardown type template is modified, the selected teardown type to the modified version.

12. The method of claim 2 , further comprising maintaining, within the software platform, an On Test status for the item after beginning testing.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
monitoring, within the test machine, one or more parameters related to the item during; and
when the monitored one or more parameters match one or more end-of-test parameters, flagging, within the software platform, the item as ready to take off test.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising after disconnecting the item, updating the status of the item to Off Test.

15. The method of claim 2 , further comprising setting, within the software platform, a priority for the test item before it is built.

16. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
logging an event occurring during the design, building, or testing stages of an item, and
tracking the logged event associated with the item and any related testing infrastructure.

17. The method of claim 2 , wherein the item is a long duration storage battery cell, and the multiple test machines are battery cyclers.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising identifying, within the software platform, one or more components of the cell for post-test characterization.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising entering, within a combined data entry field in the user interface, sample characterization data that applies to multiple samples.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising entering, within a data entry table within the user interface displaying entries fields for the multiple samples, sample characterization data that applies to only one of the multiple samples.

Assignees

• Form Energy Inc

Inventors

• Wong Frank
• Schneider Anna
• Mackenzie Scott
• Makhija Anushka
• Vliet Peter
• Capili Jason
• Tareque Henry
• Chakraborty Rupak
• Wehner Florian
• Mako Natalie
• Giusti Adam
• Feder Seth
• Carlisle Kristen
• Challis John
• Solnushkin Konstantin S

Classifications

• G06F8/71 Primary

  Version control (security arrangements therefor G06F21/57); Configuration management · CPC title

• G06F11/3476

  Data logging (G06F11/14, G06F11/2205 take precedence) · CPC title

• G06F11/3688 Primary

  for test execution, e.g. scheduling of test suites · CPC title