You may have noticed that your network router has a USB port on the back, but you may be unsure what it's for. The answer to that question depends on your router model, but that little port is incredibl.
[pdf] A new study by researchers from Palo Alto Research Center (PARC, a Xerox Company) and LG Chem Power presents a novel method for real-time battery monitoring using embedded fiber-optic sensors. Fiber optic (FO) sensors exhibit several key advantages over traditional electrical counterparts, which make them promising candidates to be integrated in BMS for measuring critical cell state-parameters. First, silica-based fiber optic cables are inherently immune to EMI and radio frequency. Applications of fiber optic sensors to battery monitoring have been increasing due to the growing need of enhanced battery management systems with accurate state estimations.
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