My mobile phone always seems to need to be juiced up just when I’m getting ready to leave.
There is a tension between refueling a battery every time it gets connected to its charger (tends to be bad for the battery, which usually needs to discharge first) and the requirement to have devices ready when you are. This is particularly true for electronic kit which doesn’t allow its power source to be replaced … “Battery malfunction? Chuck the whole thing out”.
Today’s invention is a charging device which works out the health of any battery connected to it (by measuring the rate at which it will store charge) and which also allows the user to specify the time when it will be required.
The system will issue alerts about potential damage caused by having to charge at an unhealthy rate, together with the option to go ahead anyway. For low urgency systems, the system will actually try to discharge the battery before recharging at the best possible rate to preserve its health and still meet the deadline for use.
