MH-60R Sonar NiCad Battery Reliability Improvement Navy SBIR FY2010.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2010.1 Topic No.: N101-018 Topic Title: MH-60R Sonar NiCad Battery Reliability Improvement Proposal No.: N101-018-0697 Firm: Ridgetop Group, Inc. 6595 North Oracle Road Tucson, Arizona 85704-5645 Contact: Ronald Carlsten Phone: (520) 742-3300 Web Site: www.RidgetopGroup.com Abstract: Ridgetop's innovative solution will improve the dependability and reliability of the battery system through monitoring and balancing the state-of-charge of the individual cells within the battery pack. This innovation will significantly reduce maintenance and unnecessary battery pack replacement costs for critical military applications. The primary reliability problem with battery packs can be traced to differences in the individual cells comprising the battery. Normally, only the aggregate overall voltage of the battery pack is measured, but the individual degraded cell is not isolated. In that case, no anomaly may be detected, but usage time can be greatly diminished. To avoid this problem, battery packs are routinely replaced even though they don't exhibit any problems. This is a very costly procedure. Ridgetop Group will design an innovative application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)-based solution that will monitor and control the charging of each cell in a 20-cell series-connected battery pack. The Intelligent Control Module ASIC will also provide important prognostic and usage/lifetime feedback to the user and maintenance personnel. Benefits: The proposed innovation has strong potential in both military and civilian markets. All branches of the military and NASA use battery packs that can utilize this technology, including sonar systems of the H-60 helicopter. In addition to the NiCad battery packs addressed for this SBIR program, lithium ion battery packs for electric vehicles, and fuel cells represent suitable applications. Another promising commercial market is solar energy, where the technology could be employed to measure the voltage output of individual solar cells in a large array, thereby pinpointing defective solar cells to be replaced. If developed, Ridgetop's innovation will deliver unparalleled value to key satellite, solar array, hybrid vehicle battery, and portable fuel cell manufacturers, integrators, and maintenance personnel. The increased reliability capabilities presented by the innovation has the capacity to instantly increase component reliability and reduce aggregate maintenance and replacement costs via dynamic component health visibility. Combined market values between these industries is approximately $3 billion as a subset of aggregate platform market values. Of this total, Ridgetop estimates that roughly $42 milliono over a five year horizon can be captured. Return