Custom Lithium Batteries for Heavy-Duty Aerospace Handling

What is a custom lithium battery for aerospace applications?

A custom lithium battery is an energy system designed around the real needs of the machine and its duty cycle.

Unlike standard solutions, it is developed considering required power, autonomy, available layout, weight distribution, safety requirements, control logic, and integration with chargers, motors, and onboard electronics.

In aerospace and heavy-duty applications, this approach enables higher reliability, operational continuity, and consistent performance even under the most demanding working conditions.

Multidirectional platforms for the aerospace sector: why they require custom batteries

The application developed concerns a self-leveling multidirectional platform designed to operate within aerospace assembly lines dedicated to the handling of large structural components.

The machine was custom-designed to ensure:
• precise handling of very high-value loads
• integration into aerospace production flows
• high safety and reliability standards
• operational continuity during the most intensive work cycles

From the earliest project phases, Flash Battery supported the manufacturer in designing the energy system, with the aim of developing a solution capable of simultaneously supporting multiple drive axes, high power peaks, and continuous operating cycles.

Thanks to the vertical integration of the entire production process—from electronic design to firmware development, from module assembly to final testing—each battery is configured according to the OEM’s specific application requirements.

This custom engineering approach allows energy capacity, performance, and system reliability to be optimized, transforming the battery from a simple power component into a strategic element of the entire machine.

A modular and redundant battery system for mission-critical applications

One of the key requirements of the project was system redundancy.

In high-intensity industrial applications, machine downtime can slow down the entire production process and generate high costs. For this reason, Flash Battery developed a modular and redundant energy architecture designed to keep the platform operational even in the event of partial failure of one or more batteries, allowing reduced-power operation without interrupting the work cycle.

The solution developed by Flash Battery includes:
• 4 LFP lithium batteries connected in parallel, 47 kWh each
• total system energy of 188 kWh
• a modular architecture designed to ensure redundancy and operational continuity

The design of the battery system is not limited to defining energy capacity, but considers the entire machine architecture. The energy system is designed to integrate seamlessly with the vehicle and its specific application needs: moved masses, weight distribution, available space, motion logic, and safety requirements directly influence the solution development, enabling full integration between battery, vehicle, and powertrain.

The result is an energy platform designed to ensure high operational robustness and stable management of the most demanding working conditions.

LFP lithium batteries and integrated Master Controller for heavy-duty applications

The core of the system is a modular solution based on lithium batteries with LFP chemistry, chosen to ensure high safety, thermal stability, and long cycle life. These characteristics are essential in high-criticality industrial applications such as aerospace.

A distinctive element of the architecture is the integration of a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) that includes a Master Controller logic unit developed in-house by Flash Battery to centrally manage the entire energy system.

This solution allows coordination of battery operation, optimization of power distribution, and simplified integration between battery system, charger, and vehicle, ensuring intelligent energy management.

The Master Controller enables:
• coordinated management of the 4 batteries, both at system and individual level
• centralized control logic and power distribution
• simplified integration between battery, vehicle, and charger
• continuous system monitoring
• isolation of anomalies while preserving operational continuity

The system also integrates advanced connectivity and a proprietary Flash Battery router that enables continuous connection with the Flash Data Center, the cloud platform developed for remote monitoring and diagnostics of batteries deployed in the field.

Integrated with the latest AI and machine learning algorithms, the system analyzes key operating parameters in real time, identifying anomalies and supporting predictive maintenance activities.

This approach allows intervention before a potential issue becomes machine downtime, improving application reliability and helping optimize the Total Cost of Ownership of the entire system.

Co-engineering and joint development for heavy-duty applications

Given the complexity of the application, the project was developed through a co-engineering process involving the European manufacturer, the Flash Battery engineering team, and Atech, a German powertrain system integrator with whom we have been collaborating since 2021 to develop complete electrification solutions for the global market.

The joint work led to the creation of a multidisciplinary technical table, where each partner contributed specific expertise to define the most effective solution. The process was based on a deep analysis of application requirements and successive design proposals aimed at identifying the optimal solution.

This custom engineering model represents the distinctive value of the collaboration: developing solutions designed around the real application, operational constraints, and specific requirements, rather than adapting the machine to a standard solution.

Main challenges addressed during the project included:
• in-house development of the Master Controller and its control logic
• firmware management for multiple batteries and chargers
• layout optimization in confined spaces
• definition of protective treatments for complex operating environments

A new paradigm for industrial handling

The project was validated through internal testing and final commissioning activities at the customer site, confirming the achievement of the design objectives in terms of performance, reliability, and compliance with the stringent safety requirements of the aerospace sector.

One of the key success factors was the system-based approach adopted by Flash Battery, which enabled the delivery of a complete and integrated energy solution, based on a modular architecture designed to communicate with the vehicle, charger, and control logic, ensuring operational continuity and maximum reliability.

The flexibility of the architecture represents one of the main strengths of the solution developed. The same system can be configured with a variable number of batteries, from 2 to 6 units, adapting to machines of different sizes and requirements and making the approach easily replicable on future special handling platforms.

This project is a concrete example of how electrification can be successfully applied even in the most complex industrial handling applications. It is not simply about replacing a power source, but about rethinking the entire machine system, where the battery becomes a key element directly affecting performance, safety, and operational reliability.

The collaboration between OEM, system integrator, and technology partner has transformed a highly engineering-driven challenge into a concrete, modular, and scalable solution. A development model that demonstrates how co-engineering and custom lithium battery design can accelerate innovation and support the evolution of increasingly complex industrial applications.