BQ76930EVM: Reading the default parameters of batteries

Danilo A.

Part Number: BQ76930EVM
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: BQ76930, , EV2400, BQ78350, BQSTUDIO, BQ78350-R1A

Hi Team,

We would like to ask your help regarding the customer's inquiry below.

We recently purchased the bq76930 evaluation board, to be able to read the default parameters of our batteries. It was unclear how to hook the system up to be able to read them. We have read the manual several times. What we are trying to do is read the settings on the batteries that we have in house. We are not designing we are just reading batteries that we have brought in for our applications. The instructions seemed to be for calibration, we weren't sure how to hook the battery up after calibration of the board to get the readings.

Our customer is using EV2400 and BQ76930EVM and the bq76930 evaluation software.

Regards,

Danilo

over 4 years ago

0 Matt Sunna over 4 years ago

TI__Guru* 81035 points

Hi Danilo,

I am confused. Their batteries have use the BQ76930 IC and they are trying to read from the IC in their battery? Or are they just trying to communicate with the BQ76930EVM with battery cells connected?

Can you ask them to explain more? It isn't clear to me what they are trying to do.

Thanks and best regards,

Matt

0 Kathy Lewis over 4 years ago

Prodigy 50 points

Good morning Matt, we are trying to do the latter. We have a battery that we need to read the parameters off before we test and cycle it.

0 Matt Sunna over 4 years ago in reply to Kathy Lewis

TI__Guru* 81035 points

Hi Kathy,

Have you tried following the steps in the AFE Quick Start section of the BQ76930EVM User Guide? Can you let me know where you are having trouble?

Thanks,

Matt

0 Kathy Lewis over 4 years ago in reply to Matt Sunna

Prodigy 50 points

We haven't tried any of the setups because we weren't sure if we could do this. We have an inspired energy battery we need to read parameters off of. We didn't want to damage the board or battery. If there is another tool to use that would be helpful as well.

0 Matt Sunna over 4 years ago in reply to Kathy Lewis

TI__Guru* 81035 points

Hi Kathy,

I'm not sure I can really support this. The settings of the battery should be private - are you working with Inspired Energy? The BQ76930 will be interfacing to either an MCU or a BQ78350 controller, so there will be constant communication on the I2C bus. I do not see an easy way to read the BQ76930 settings without interrupting this communication. Interrupting the communication could be dangerous since the controller needs to monitor the BQ76930 status registers.

Matt

0 Kathy Lewis over 4 years ago in reply to Matt Sunna

Prodigy 50 points

Thanks Matt, do you have a device that can help with this? The SMbus we have doesn't read the parameter that we need.

0 Matt Sunna over 4 years ago in reply to Kathy Lewis

TI__Guru* 81035 points

The EV2400 is the only tool we have to interface with these devices. The I2C port is needed for the BQ76930. The SMBus port is needed for the BQ78350.

0 Kathy Lewis over 4 years ago in reply to Matt Sunna

Prodigy 50 points

Thanks Matt, I did some digging and it seems the fuel gauge is the BQ78350, so if that is the case we should be able to read this battery. That is the reason we picked the system

0 Kathy Lewis over 4 years ago

Prodigy 50 points

Matt - Quick question. If the fuel gauge is the BQ78350 from TI, will we be able to read the parameters off the battery, or is this setup more for design?

0 Matt Sunna over 4 years ago in reply to Kathy Lewis

TI__Guru* 81035 points

If you can connect to the SMBus pins of the BQ78350, you should be able to communicate with it using the EV2400 and BQStudio software.

The BQ78350 may be in SEALED mode (see the BQ78350-R1A Technical Reference Manual for more info). If it is sealed, you will not be able to read the parameters.

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BQ76930EVM: Reading the default parameters of batteries