# Electronic Life Cycle Monitoring System for Various Types of Lead Acid Batteries
## 3 The Results and Discussion  
The prototype battery life cycle research and monitoring system consists of a main board and individual blocks for monitoring of the battery characteristics. The full conceptual diagram of the smart battery life cycle research and monitoring system is presented in Figure 2. The research and measurement system consists of a main block (UPPER PCB BOARD) consisting of a control module, a communication module, information screens, voltage and current converters, measurement modules and power sources. The other part of the system consists of four separate small blocks for monitoring and measuring the electrical characteristics of different types of batteries. Hence, four batteries can be explored simultaneously using this system for set desired operating modes. These modules consist of separate control modules, RS 485 modules for communication, an information display and a module for measuring the electrical characteristics. All data are transmitted to the central computer using RS 485 communication and analyzed. Figure 2: Conceptual diagram of the battery life cycle research and monitoring system. System control is ensured by the ATmega328 microcontroller. Meanwhile, in order to evaluate whether the system is working successfully, OLED-based screens are used to display the instantaneous characteristics of the working mode [17]. The electrical diagram of the battery life cycle monitoring system is presented in Figure 3.  
This system controls the charging/discharging processes of the batteries using a relay block, which are labeled from REL1 to REL8 in Figure 3. In the meantime, the electrical characteristics of the batteries are also measured, according to which, the charge-discharge cycles of the batteries are later graphically displayed. The previously mentioned RS485 communication is used for receiving data packets formed by the microcontroller. Using this system, four batteries can be studied at the same time. For the research process, four separate channels were designed and manufactured. Separate channels were used for the measurements of battery charging/discharging and electrical characteristics. The conceptual electrical diagram of one such channel is presented in Figure 4. The battery is charged using a 230 V AC power source, which gives a 24 V DC voltage at the output. A 24 V DC to 13.6 V DC converter was used to obtain the correct charging voltage for the battery. A load module was used for the battery discharge process. Meanwhile, relays were used to start and finish the charge and discharge process, and digital measuring modules were used to measure the electrical characteristics. The batteries were charged using an 8 A direct current while discharged with an 8 A current through the load module. Figure 3: Electrical diagram of the main unit of the monitoring system. The electrical diagram for measuring of the electrical characteristics of one battery is presented in Figure 5. The circuit for measuring the electrical characteristics consists of pressed contacts to which the ends of the cable are attached. The main part of this subsystem is the electrical characteristics measurement module that performs level measurements of the battery charge and charge cycles and transmits the data to the microcontroller. As mentioned earlier, the battery monitoring and testing system is fully automatic, the operation of which is ensured by a microcontroller. The program code for the microcontroller was written using the C programming language, and the scheme characterizing the algorithm scenario of the program is presented in Figure 6.  
The program running on the microcontroller is started by the Start program command. During the next step, the battery voltage levels are measured. The charging mode is determined according to the voltage values. During the next step, the relay block activates or deactivates the charging or discharging modes. Later, the electric current is measured. After performing the necessary measurements, a data packet is formed and transmitted to the central computer.