AI Taught to Hear Battery Fires Before They Start

Staff
By Staff
3 Min Read

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Researchers from the National Institute of
Standards and Technology announced the

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development of a method that uses artificial
intelligence to determine when a lithium ion

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battery could catch fire.
Popular in various products such as phones,

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laptops and electric vehicles, lithium ion
batteries can store a large amount of energy in

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a compact space.

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However, they pose a safety risk as they can
catch fire or explode if they overheat.

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Nist reported that these fires can produce a
jet of flame that reaches up to 2002,

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12 °F nearly the heat of a blowtorch in
approximately one second.

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This hazard differs from traditional
residential fires that start more slowly which

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allows for smoke to reach a smoke alarm before
the fire spreads.

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During the research.
Nist mechanical engineer,

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Andy Tam said he noticed that a battery safety
valve would break right before the fire started

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and make a small click hiss sound that
resembled opening a bottle of soda,

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lithium ion battery manufacturers designed this
safety valve to break when in internal pressure

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builds up and can no longer expand due to the
battery’s hard casing.

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Tam and his colleague, Anthony Por then found
they could use A I to train a machine learning

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algorithm to identify the specific sound to
accomplish this.

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They recorded audio from 38 exploding batteries
and modified the pitch and speed of the

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recordings to generate over 1000 unique audio
samples which they used to train the software.

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Tam and poor reported that their algorithm
accurately detected the sound of an overheating

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battery with 94% accuracy.
Tam explained that he attempted to confuse the

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algorithm with other noise but only said a few
tricked the detector.

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Additional research estimated that a battery
safety valve would break approximately two

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minutes before catastrophic failure.

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Tam and Pity applied for a patent and hoped to
verify this warning time with further

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experiments on a range of batteries once
developed, the technology could serve as a new

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type of fire alarm in homes, offices,
warehouses and garages.

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I’m Nolan Beein.
This is manufacturing now.

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