Pumpkin BM2 battery modules travels on high-altitude balloon launch & recovery

As part of ongoing research into Li-Ion battery cells that can be charged at temperatures below 0C, TDA Research has chosen Pumpkin to aid in developing new 'flavors' of Pumpkin's BM2 intelligent Li-Ion battery that incorporate 18650-size cells with new, advanced chemistries.

One way to test the performance of new cell chemistries at low temperatures is to fly them on high-altitude balloon missions. Working with TDA and TDA's chosen ride — StratoStar — Pumpkin adapted a SUPERNOVA 6U chassis to interface to the StratoStar balloon infrastructure and to provide a complete test platform for charging and discharging the BM2 during flight. This platform utilizes Pumpkin's GUTS flight software (FSW) to provide full end-to-end TT&C as well as to capture telemetry from the entire system during the flight. A Pumpkin EPSM1 was used to dynamically control the flow of power into and out of the BM2 DUT, in order to validate charging (CHG) and discharging (DSG) performance under various environmental conditions during the flight.

Pumpkin's BM2 can be adapted to any Lithium-based cell chemistry, with safety settings (OV, UV, OC, OT, UT, etc.) appropriate for the particular cell chemistry.

It's been a pleasure working with TDA and StratoStar towards this successful mission!

Images courtesy of StratoStar.