An Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS) is a mechatronic component that monitors and measurers battery performance, also called a battery current sensor. An IBS provides reliable information on key battery parameters such as current, voltage, and even the battery’s temperature.

How it works

In modern cars, an IBS is usually placed directly onto the battery, and is connected to its negative terminal. An IBS measures parameters—current, voltage, and temperature—that are sent to the car’s Body Control Module (BCM) or to the car’s Powertrain Control Module (PCM) through communication protocols (e.g., Local Interconnect Network (LIN) or Controller Area Network (CAN) protocols).

The measured parameters are fed to different algorithms (depending on the software in use) to calculate the values of state-of-charge (SoC) and state-of-health (SoH) of the battery. Based on SoC and SoH values, charging system voltage for different components are adjusted. In other words, if the values of SoC or SoH indicates that the battery is getting weak, some electrical accessories of the car may be turned off (e.g., heated steering, navigation, or even the stop-and-start function) to save power.

Advantages

Weak batteries are one of the main reasons why cars break down and an IBS can offer many benefits such as:

Beyond automotive applications

Nowadays, it is very common to find an IBS in automotive battery systems, but an IBS can thrive in many other applications that use electric motors that are also powered by batteries:

The future of IBS

The growing demand for fuel-efficient vehicles that emit less pollution is creating opportunities for various automotive intelligent battery sensor technologies. According to “Research and Markets”, the global automotive intelligence battery sensor market size was estimated at $5,088.86 million in 2021, $5,642.72 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.06% to reach $9,549.67 million by 2027.