Remote control of your battery 24/7: the Flash Data Center monitors data and turns it into action

Advanced data analysis for automatic, real-time remote control of all the Flash Battery batteries connected around the world

When we first entered the world of lithium batteries, still as a start-up, the challenge was to support distant customers, sometimes overseas. In a rapidly growing export-oriented market, overcoming geographical barriers became strategic. The solution was cloud computing, a key technology for providing timely, effective remote support anywhere.

Driven by the need to make more informed decisions, as early as 2013 we implemented proprietary technology that allowed us to collect large volumes of data from our batteries distributed across 54 countries worldwide. During every charge and discharge cycle, a log is generated: a cycle summary containing the most important information for battery diagnostics and state of health (SOH) monitoring.

This led to the creation of the Flash Data Center, our cloud-based remote control system, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyse data collected from all Flash Battery systems. The main function of this software is automatic real-time data control (real-time monitoring): the system monitors and analyses battery operating data 24/7, helping to prevent potential critical issues and anomalies from the outset through Predictive Maintenance 4.0 strategies and continuous Over-the-Air (OTA) updates.

Big Data and Machine Learning for ever smarter batteries

With over 200 million logs collected from our batteries worldwide and around 150,000 new logs generated every day, manually analysing the data collected from each individual battery would not be sustainable. The amount of data generated every day is simply too vast and requires advanced Big Data Analytics solutions.

Managing such a large volume of data requires an orchestrated, flexible architecture. For this reason, the Flash Data Center is integrated into a cloud-native environment based on Containerized Architecture. This ensures autonomous adaptation to workloads, guaranteeing Scalability and stable performance even as data volumes continue to grow.

This is where Machine Learning comes into play, a subset of artificial intelligence that creates systems with the ability to learn and improve performance through the data analysed.  Imagine a child who is shown various red objects, by continuing to observe them, the child will gradually become increasingly capable of recognising this colour when they see it around them. Similarly, a computer becomes increasingly intelligent and more precise in its predictions by using algorithms that learn autonomously, feeding itself with a huge amount of data, known as Big Data.

Why wait until it is too late when we can act in advance with Predictive Diagnostics?

We followed the same process with the Flash Data Center: the large amount of data entered into the system allowed the algorithm to evolve and, thanks to Machine Learning, the system can proactively send alerts on potentially problematic batteries, anticipating faults and ensuring zero downtime.

Thanks to Machine Learning, we transform Flash Data Center data into reliable predictive models. We create a digital twin for each battery system, simulating real usage scenarios even before production. This technology is essential for studying the lithium batteries of the future and drastically accelerating time-to-market.

Our AI technology collects and analyses data in real time, communicating directly with our After Sales office to send accurate, prompt information on potential faults before they can even happen. Our After Sales team will run in-depth analysis and will assess any actions to take.

So what are the main advantages for OEMs?

1. resolving faults before they even happen, therefore avoiding machine downtime (downtime reduction)

2. planning potential unscheduled maintenance in advance and at lower cost, optimising operating costs (opex)

3. changing the parameters of the lithium battery or the vehicle through FOTA updates (Firmware Over-the-Air) to improve overall performance and the effective lifespan of the entire system

4. analysing how the end user actually uses the vehicle through real-world usage analysis

5. estimating the remaining battery life to maximise the vehicle's residual value.

Let’s look at a practical example by analysing an essential parameter: temperature.

With an enormous amount of data available, our technicians cannot examine the values of every single battery. Similarly, it would not be that helpful to indicate an absolute maximum temperature for every battery beforehand. In fact, our batteries are installed on various applications around the world that operate in a wide range of temperatures: from -30°C to +45°C, in countries like Saudi Arabia or Qatar.

There is no need to wait for batteries to reach critical temperatures before detecting a problem. Thanks to continuous trend analysis, the Flash Data Center recognises anomalies in advance, enabling true predictive maintenance. This makes it possible to intervene promptly, eliminating the significant costs of unexpected machine downtime.

All your batteries just a click away: the Flash Data Center portal for intuitive remote control accessible anywhere

The graphical interface of the Flash Data Center was designed to provide even more intuitive data access, offering users an interactive and easy-to-navigate experience focused on user experience (UX). All the information you need is centralised in the portal and presented so that it is easy to access and consult at any time, while protecting data through advanced security protocols.

The central element is the summary dashboard, designed to ensure total control. It provides an immediate view of the number of connected batteries and key metrics such as state of charge, temperature and state of health. It is the ideal solution to simplify monitoring and optimise fleet management for your systems.

The interactive dashboard lets you easily browse data and access detailed information on every single system. More specifically, you can:

• Display the system telemetry, such as the voltage, energy supplied, SOC, DOD or tracking of the discharge and charging times for every sampling interval, so you can analyse the entire battery life (Lifecycle Assessment)
• Create a graph of the main dimensions of the system so you have an overview of the performance of your batteries over time
• Export data to Excel so you can analyse it offline (Data Export)
• Receive traceability information provided by our advanced integrated supply chain system, such as identification info, the serial numbers of all the cells and other tag data (Traceability)
• Obtain test reports where you can see all the tests carried out before the battery was shipped to the end customer
• Obtain information on the warranty status and on the connectivity of the system with the Flash Data Center portal
• Receive a list of errors, if available, summarising all the faults identified

Evolution that never stops: additional features to promptly meet the needs of industrial machine and electric vehicle manufacturers

We work every day to implement new features that make our service increasingly efficient, offering users a wide range of advanced tools to independently manage and administer their batteries through a continuous deployment cycle.

The Flash Data Center continues to evolve so it can meet our customers’ needs in an increasingly precise and prompt way, such as the need to manage a fleet or to obtain data on the telemetry of their battery.

Customisation of battery recognition tags

We have added the option of assigning a customised name to your batteries, so they are easier to recognise. One classic use-case is associating a VIN (vehicle identification number) with the installed battery.

Creation of customised fleets with automatic report generation

The system allows users to configure customised fleets by specifying geographical location, fleet name and contact person. Thanks to daily automated reporting, the software performs continuous benchmarking across the systems in the group. This comparison is essential to immediately isolate anomalies in each individual lithium battery, enabling targeted interventions.

An interconnected system that looks to the future

Up until recently, connection was provided via Wi-Fi or 4G routers supplied by Flash Battery. Today, thanks to technological developments, we integrate the Flash Data Center directly at vehicle level through telemetry systems such as Proemion and Tierra. This solution avoids the use of additional routers and SIM cards, reducing costs and improving Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) thanks to Seamless Connectivity.

We are becoming part of an interconnected ecosystem: an OEM that chooses Flash Battery as its battery supplier also gets a complete telematics solution. This integration of know-how allows us to further shorten the distance between us and our customers, facilitating data integration with company ERP systems, so we can respond not only to their current needs but also anticipate their future requirements.