CA1260058A - Controller for battery charger - Google Patents

Abstract

CONTROLLER FOR BATTERY CHARGER
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A controller for a battery charger for terminating battery charging operation as a function of a time derivative of measured battery voltage. Analog and digital embodiments of the controller. A controller with means for determining a time derivative of the measured battery voltage, determining a change in slope of the time derivative, and using said change in slope as a control function for the battery charger.

Description

This invention applies to a controlled means for charging nickel-cadmium (NICAD) batteries. The controller circuitry can operate in either analog or digital mode. A
feature of the digital mode is increasing accuracy in deEining control action. Additionally, a unique scaling technique is used in the digital process.
Both the invention and the prior art will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which;
Figure 1 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of a battery charger with charge and discharge pulses;
Figure 2a is a plot of battery voltage versus time during a battery charging operation~ with an additional curve compris-ing the first derivative of the voltage versus time curve;
Figure 2b is an expanded view of a portion of the plots of Fig. 2a;
Figure 3 is a block diagram of an analog controller for a battery charger and incorporating an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 4 is an expanded view of a battery voltage curve of the type shown in Figs. 2a and 2b;
Figure 5 shows two plots similar to those of Fig. 2a, with and without linear regression;
Figure 6 is a block diagram of a digital controller for a battery charger and incorporating the presently preferred embodiment of the invention;
Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating the analog-to-digital converter of Fig. 6 in greater detail;
Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the digital-to-analog converter of Fig. 7;

-- 1 , ~'9 ~'!

~160~58 Figure 9 i9 a block diagram illustrating the device of Figure 7 in greater detail, with two digital to analog con-verters;
Figure 10 is a diagram similar to those of E'igs. 6, 7 and 9, illustrating the preferred embodiment in greater detail;
Fig. 11 is a flowchart for the operation of the device shown in Fig. 10, Fig. 12 is a conversion table illustrating the oper-ation of the device depicted in Fig. lO;
Fig. 13 is a diagram illustrating the interconnection of the device shown in Fig. 10;
Fig. 14 is an electrical diagram of the battery cable connections for battery identification;
Fig. 15 is an electrical diagram of the cable connec-tions for supplying power to a load;
Figure 16 is an electrical diagram of the cable connec-tions for discharge booster operation;
Figure 17 is an electrical diagram showing the fault sensing area of controller; and Figs. 18 and 19 are Tables setting out the battery charging and discharging parameters.
Conventional Charging Processes for NIC~D Batteries Constant potential can be applied with various approaches to controlling the amount of current over the several hours required to achieve a high percentage of full charge. Alter-natively, constant current can be applied~ usually, for an even Pg/~ - 2 -~6~)VS~

longer period of time.
Each technique involves several problems. Besides taking a long period of time to recharge, the variations of cells cause some to be overcharged, while attempting to bring lower capacity cells up.
The battery plates can be polarized. Gas bubbles (electrolysis) can form on the plates. These effects will cause pg/~J~ - 2A -~6~3058 ,~
battery temperature to rise, increasing polarization and bubble formation until the battery becomes overheated and explodes.
Heating by less severe xates of charg~ will cause the electro-lyte to vent, and this causes the battery to lose capacity.
To reduce these problems, charging can be pulsed on and off. The length of pulse time is controlled to reduce the buildup of polari~ation and bubble formation. The total charge time is reduced, and there is less deterioration due to lower polarization and electrolysisO
Christie E]ectric Corp. has developed a refined pulse charger wherein a~ter each charging pulse, a short-length discharge pulse is applied to negate polarization and electrolysis (Fig. 1). This technique provides a complete charge in a few minutes to one hour, instead of the several hours required for other techniques. The effectiveness of this approach is further shown by the typical 0-7C temperature rise.
Ba~t2ry chargers o~ this type are shown in U.S. patents 3,517,293; 3,559,025; 3,5~7,673; 3,609,503; 3,614,582;
3,614,5~3; 3,614,584; and 3,617,851.
In order to determine when to terminate charging, measurements of the battery charge are made in the "OFF" period or measurement window between discharge and charge pulses.
Several approaches are employed to determine when to cease charging the battery. One is to measure the output voltage of the battery until it reaches a certain value and then, at that time, cause the charger to cease chargin~. As can be seen in Fig. 2a, the typical voltage during charging actually continues t:o rise later in the charging cycle. Thereore, to be certain of ~ ful] char~e on thc battery, it is difficult to select a voltage which will apply to all battery cells due to their variations one to another. Another techniqlle is to charge the batt-ery until a neyative slope is detected. The problem with this approach is t:hat, in order -to reach this point, the l?attery must be overcharged, and this causes excessive heatiny in the battery.

)0S8 Another approach is to again reach a specific voltage, and then apply the charging process for a speci~ic length of time ~efore shutting down. This will give a more complete charge to the battery. But again, this is dependent or, an absolute value that is insensitive to battery conditions.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved controller for battery chargers which determines a time derivative of actual battery voltage and a change in slope of the time derivative, and uses this deter-mined change in slope for shutting off the battery chargeroperation. Other objects, advantages, features and results are detailed more fully in the course of the following description.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As can be seen in Figs. 2a and 2b, if one takes the first derivative of the battery voltage, a curve can be gener-~
ated sho~7ing when the charging rate begins to fall off due ~o the battery becoming more fully charged. The first derivatlve of the charge rate will also be changing its slope much more rapidly by virtue of the first derivative processing; thus, a determination can be more accurately measured by the changes of slope of the first derivative curve~
The static amplitude of the battery voltage curve is affected by the number of cells in a pack as well as by battery temperature (except when very cold, e.g. about 0C) and age, etc. An added benefit of using the first derivative approach is that, since the first derivative of a constant is zero, these effects are ignored; thus, the charge termination circuitry is allo~7ed to concentrate on more pertinent parameters.

~ 6(~0S~3 The inventi.on re:Lates to a contro].ler for a battery charger for use with a battery ~ischarye boostor havilly a current source, wherein the ba-ttery charger operate3 in a three step sequence consisting of a charging pulse for ~1 fi.rst time period, a discharging pulse for a second time per.iod, and no pulse ~or a third time period. ~he controller .includes in combination: means for measuring the voltaye o~ ~he battery duriny the third time period to provide a measurecl voltage; an analog to digital converter for converting the meas-lred voltage from an analog voltage to a digital voltage; means for computing a time derivative of the d.igital voltage and determining a change in slope of the time deriva-tive; means for shutting off the charger as a function of the ch,lll(Je in slope;
a discharge current resistor; and circuit means rOl: connecting the resistor to the current source of the battery discharge booster.
In its method aspect, the invention re:lates to a method for controlling a battery charyer and i(lorltifyillg a battery to be charged prior to initiating tlle charging, including the steps of: measuring the voltage procluced across a resistor by a known current, which resistor :is associated with a specific battery; converting the measured voltage to a number; looking up the number in a table in a charger memory to relate the measured voltage with the specific battery;
operating the charger in a continuously repeating three step sequence consis-ting of a charging pulse for a f.irst time MLS/j~

~il26~ S~3 - 5a -period, a discharging pulse for a second time per.i.od, and no pulse for a third time period; measuring the vol.tage of the battery during the third time period to provide a measured voltage; determining a time derivative of the measut-ed voltage to provide a voltage derivative; determining a challge in slope of the voltage derivative; and shutting off the cllarger as a function of the change in slope.

DESCRIPTION OF T~IE PREFERRED EMBODI~ENTS

Analog Embodiment One of the two approaches disclosed in this application is to employ an analog technique of determining the slope change. Figure 3 illustrates the circuit elelllents of an amplitude slope detection system for use with a battery charger 21 and a battery 22. The circuit includes samp.l.e and hold units (S&H) MLS/jj ~LZ60~)S~3 23,24, a buffer amplifier 25, a differential amplifier 26, a positive slope detector 27, a negative slope detector 28, an "armed" latch 29, and an "and" gate 30.
The charger 21 may be conventional and provides both for charging and discharging of batteries. The first sample and hold 23 stores a voltage and the second one 24 is used -to compare the latest sample voltage versus previous sampling so as to determine when the charge rate is increasing, leveling off, or has started to decrease. As the first derivative curve is heing generated, the key to terminating charge is to first recognize a positive going edge of the first derivative curve in the detector 27. This then "arms" the negative edge detector 28, which then terminates charge on the next ne~ative going edge. ,~ significant advantage in using this type of indicator is that the rate of charge is determined by the battery itself, rather than a predetermined voltage that is not uniform for all battery cells.
This technique of comparing the sampled output voltage utilizing an analog comparison is an improvement over other determining systems. As described, its degree of accuracy depends on the rate at which the samples are taken to determine when full charge has been obtained. Faster sampling rates could be taken to increase accuracy, but this would penalize the charging pulse width accordingly. It is desirable that actual charge termination occur before the battery voltage curve begins to slope nega-tively. Experience indicates that, during the time after the ~irst derivative peak has occurred, considerably more of the energy being put into the battery generates heat rather than usable capacity. Thus, to obtain greater accuracy and define rate of slope change, higher order derlvative curves can be generated, as compared to the first order ones described.
Each higher order processing will yive a greatly sharpened change of slope definition.
WheII multiple batteries are connected, as in a pac~, S there is a unique profile of the charging characteristics and derivative curves. This data can be stored for use in control-ling the charge cycle.
A system of identifying various signatures is a part of the implementation of the invention so that the user does not have to reset the controller for each battery type or condition.
; Additionally, when a battery or pack is discharged considerably or might be quite cold, it can be so identified for proper action of the controller.

Digital Embodiment The preferred implementation of the controlier is to use an analog-to-digital converter (~DC~ in conjunction with a microcomputer. The microcomputer measures the battery voltage duriny each measurement window. Generatlon of the irst derivativ~ curve from the measured battery voltage is accomplished in a manner similar to the analog approach. i.e., ~DN ~ DN 1) At a2~;005~

where DN and DN_l are the digital numbers representing the battery voltage from the present measurement window to the previous one and t is the time between measurement windows.
Because the voltage change V from one measurement window to the next can be very small ( 3 mV), even a 16-bit ADC plots a "jagged" curve (see Fig. 4)O To enhance the shape of this first derivative curve, a linear regression algorithm is used.
Recalling that the first derivative of a curve is actually the slope of that curve, there is a way to find the best fit equation for any set of data points. This equation is composed of a slope and a y intercept, e.g., y = mx+b, where m is the slope and b is the y intercept. Since we a~e interested in the slope only, we need to compute only m, e.g., Linear regression curve fitting equation:

- m = s~xy - ~X~Y2 s~x - (~x}

where s is the number of samples to be used and the preferred value for s is 11. So, in order to plot the first derivative curve, we use the following guidelines:

First-Derivative Curve = Battery-Voltace Curve FD* USE N N~10 FDk USE DN~1 to D

~; :6VVS;~

This linear regression technique implies that 11 points have been queued up. In reality, this means that the first 11 samples of the battery voltage curve do not generate a corresponding first derivative curve. But this typically represents only a small portion of the entire curve, so its effect are negligible, as illustrated in the two plots of Fig. 5-As mentioned earlier, the microcomputer uses an ADCto measure the battery voltage. The implementation of this ADC
is depicted in Fig. 6 with an analog-to-digital converter 31 and a microcomputer 32. A standard approach for analog-to-digital conversion (A/D) is to employ a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 35 and compare its output to that to the battery 22 in a comparator 36, as shown in Fig. 7. An eight-bit "inquiry" is generated by the microcomputer 32. A YES/NO status line 37 tells the microcomputer that the digital number it generates is greater than the battery voltage ~his is an iterative process, commonly called successive approximation. Since we are dealing with relatively small changes in bat-tery voltage, a higher resolution ADC is desired.
In the preferred embodiment a nonstandard approach was chosen, as shown in Fig. 9. This circuit also includes a high DAC 35a and a low DAC 35b, a divider 38, a summer 39 and a sample and hold 40. By adding a second eight-bit DAC 35b and scaling it down such that its full range is twice the smallest change of the high DAC 35a, a fine resolving capacity exists.
So, by first performing an eight-bit A/D conversion with the high eight-bit DAC 35a, then picking up the remainder using the lower eight-bit DAC 35b, we perform a coarse/fine approximation to ~he battery voltage which, in essence, gives us 16-bit resolving, llowavcr, a problem exists wi-tll this approach in that ~2~00~

it assumes that each least significant bit (LSB) challge i~ the high eight-bit DAC ls equal, and this is not the case. In actuality, the transfer for an eight-bit DAC looks like the depiction in Fig. 8. In other words, we can no longer assume that the number represented by the coarse eight-bit D/A
conversion is at all accurate in regards to the low eight-bit DAC quantity. However, if there was a way to measure ancl store each high DAC LSB change in units of low DAC quantities, this high LSB error could be eliminated. This error characterizing is performed by adding a new input CALIBRATE to another sample and hold 40b ~see Fig. 10).
The calibrate sequence proceeds as described in the following section. Referring to Fig. 10, the low eight-bit DAC
35b is at value 0 and the high eight-bit DAC 35a is at value 1.
15 The battery S&~ switch ~Oa is open during the entire calibration sequence. The calibration S&H switch 40b is momentarily closed, causing the (-) input to the comparator 36 to hold the HIDAC
count 1 value. The HIDAC is returned to count zero. Now the LODAC is used to perform an A/D conversion for this ~IDAC LSB
quantity through the (+) input of the comparator. Once this value is found, it is stored in memory in location 1 of a table.
We have just completed one of 256 calibration cycles.
Cycle 2 proceeds as follows. HIDAC count 2 is put into the S&H and this quantity is present at the (-) input of the comparator. The HIDAC is returned to state 1 and the I.ODAC
is used to perform an A/D conversion for the HIDAC LSB 1-to-2 change. Once this value is found, it is stored in table loca-tion 2 in memory. This sequence is repeated for all HIDAC LSB
changes.

~26(:~0S8 The calibxate sequence can be summarized in a flow-chart, as shown in Fig. 11. Once the HIDAC and LODAC values are found, the HIDAC must be converted using the LODAC equate table (refer -to Fig. 12). Fig. 13 is the final A/D micro-computer interface block diagram.
Basically, the 10DAC equate process uses the calibra-tion table values generated during a previous calibration sequence. The HIDAC value is used as a table index. All LODAC
table entries from the index back to zero are added. This resulting number is added to the eight-bit LODAC value measured during the A/D conversion process. The resulting nu~ber is a 16-bit representation of the battery voltage, i.e., DN = ~ CH + DL

where DN is the 16-bit digital number representing the battery voltage, H is the eight-bit HIDAC value measured during A/D
conversion, C is the calibration table value and DL is the eight~bit LOD~C digital number measured during A/D conversion.

Cable ID System . _ .
The circuit of Fig. 14 includes a battery 41, a normally closed thermal switch 42, an identification resistor RID, a current source 43, and a four pin connector 44 for interconnecting the battery and the charger and controller. The batter~ cable con-tains passive electronic components which are specially designed for use with battery identification techniques. The battery cable makes four connections to the controller and charger and -two or three connections to the battery.

12~0~$8 .

Pins 1 and 4 of the connector ~4 are the po~.Ter carrying conductors for the charge and discharge modes. Pin 3 is the battery ID sense pin.
Pin 2 is the temperature cutoff (TCO) pin. The pin informs the controller of the status of the TCO switch in the battery pack. On battery pac~s which do not have a -temperature cutoff switch, pin 2 is jumpered to (+) pin 1 at the connector end of the cable. Depending on the type of battery pack connected, the TCO switch could be a primary or secondary charge , 10 cuto~f, The controller automatically identifies which battery pack is connected to the controller. An identification resistor RID, unique to this battery pack, is connected between pin 3 and ground.
lS In order to identify the type of battery connected, the microcomputer 32 applies a lcnown current to pin 3. This current generates a voltaye across RID, which voltage is then digitized. The raw digital number is processed and used to locate the parameter table for this type of battery, in a two step process using Tables 1 and 2 in Figs. 18 and 19.
The raw digital number corresponding to the ca~le ID
resistor voltage is translated into a t~ble pointer via the parameter index table, Fig. 18, which table translates the raw digitized battery ID resistor voltage into a number that represents the actual parameter table, Fig. 19, for this battery. A side benefit of this table is to allow multiple battery types to utilize the same parame-ter table, thus obtaining more efficient use of memory resources. One commercial embodiment of the invention currently supports 32 battery types. Each of the parameter tables provides the information for a specific battery or use by the microcomputer in selecting data for the controller to determine the operatinq parameters such as charye and discharqe tirne and c,urrent.s.

!

~6()~5~

The parameter tables are each 24 ~ytes long and are sequentially stored in memory. The information in these tables contain the actual battery charging and discharging parameters.
The commercial embodiment currently uses 20 parameter tables, which correlates to ~80 bytes. Both the parameter inde~ table and the parameter tables (Tables 1 and 2) reside in ~. Except for adding new cables, the parameter index tables should rarely need changing.
However, the parameter tables are much more likely to be changed due to reasons such as charge optimization, ampere hour calculations with dlfferent discharge currents, or differ-ent charging techniques (e.g., reflex or TCO). Because these values reside in nonvolatile RAM and are accessible tnrough the keyboard of the microcomputer, these changes can be easily done in the field by the user.
In addition to determining battery types, the cable ID system is also used for special purpose cables. These cables have ID numbers outside the 32 types allocated for batteries.
When these special purpose cables are connected, the micro-computer enables special modes of operation. Two such modes arethe power supply mode and the discharyer booster mode.
The power supply mode variation of Fig. 14 is shown in Fig. 15 which provides for connections of various loads to pins 1 and 4O When placed in the power supply mode, the microcomputer first checks if any power supply cables are attached by looking at the cable ID pin 3, as previously described. If one is connected, this and any other channel that may have a power supply cable are energized. It may also be possible to have power supply cables that allow default values of power supply programming.

~6~30~8 The discharge booster mode variation of Fig. 14 is shown in Fig. 16. The discharge booster 48 may be used when the user specified discharge power level is in excess of the internal discharge safe operating area for the charger 21. If this is the case, the microcomputer looks to see if a discharge cable is connected to any channel. If so, it energizes this channel and recomputes its own internal discharge current such that the users' desired discharge current is generated. The discharge booster is a conventional unit also known as an electronic laod, and can be used as a constant current load, for various purposes including testing of batteries. Typically a discharge booster includes an adjustable resistor which is set to have the booster draw a particular current. In the configuration of Fig. 16, this adjustable resistor is removed or disconnected, and the resistor RID2 ser~es as the current setting resistor. The discharge booster provides the current in the resistor RID2 to produce a ~T~ltage across that resistor, which voltage in turn tells the booster at what current to operate.
Because the controller is required to operate with different levels of discharge currents outside its own power capacity, the discharge booster must have some way o being infor~ed regarding what current level to operate. This is accomplished by encoding the cable with an ID resistor at each end. At the connector end, the cable ID resistor RID1 tells the controller what discharge boost current is connected, and at the discharge booster end of the cable, the ID resistor RID2 tells the discharge booster at which discharge current to operate.
~t the present time, three discharge boost cables are a~ailable--2, ~ and 6 amperes.

~26(:~05~3 Since the booster can be connected to any channel, the controller has the ability to use multiple boosters. This is because current sinks in parallel add. At the present time, the hardware is limited to a total discharge of 1~ amperes.

Determinatlon of Different Charging Modes/O~tions Usinq Parameter Ta~les Though the cable ID system i 5 used with the parameter tables, lt ls possible to charge or discharge other than NICAD
battery packs. This is because all the charging and discharging values, as well as the charging scheme and volts per cell, are encoded into the parameter tables.
Because of this facility, the controller can reconfigure itself from a constant current charging mode for NICAD, silver zinc and rechargable llthium batteries to a constant potential charger for lead acid, etc., ~atteries, almost any charging/discharging scheme for any battery type can be ac~mpl~ished. This flexibility ~ould not be possible ~ithout the parameter tables, and these tables are dependent on the cable ID system.
Within each mode of charging (constant potential or constant current) are various options which are aiso encoded into the parameter tables. In the constant current mode, such options include:
Refle~ charging using first derivative cutoff Reflex charging using negative slope cutoff TCO cutoff Timed cutoff charging ~oltage activated cutoff In the constant potential mode, such options include:
Timed cutoff Current activated cutoff ~a2~ S8 -lG-Detectlon of Abnormal Battery Conditions Using Parameter Tables Since the controller knows ~via the cable ID
technique) which type of battery is supposed to be connected to a given channel, it is possible to detect and display to the user the following fault conditions:
Reversed polarity battery pack Abnormal battery temperature Open battery pack Shorted battery pack Shortect cell in the battery pack Wrong battery pack connected A simpled block diagram of hardware for fault sensing is depicted in Fig. 17, wherein a contactor 49 is set up in series between the positive output of -the power section and the cable. During ~he charge or discharge cycle, this contactor is closed by the microcomputer. Prior to beginning a charge/discharge cycle, however, the microcomputer first checks the (+) pin be~ore closing the contactor. If this voltage is negative, the charge/discharge cycle is aborted, the contactor remains open, and the reverse polarity error indication is generated.
On those batteries which contain a thermal cutoff switch, the controller is able to check the abnormally high battery temperatures prior to or during a charge/discharge cycle. If this s~7itch opens, the controller puts the current cycle on hold and waits for the battery to cool. In the meantime, the on hold or over temperature error indication is generated.

6~)05~3 Opens, shorts or wrong-type battery packs are detected using a test algorithm prior to or (luring a charge/discharge cycle. Since the controller knows which type of battery should be connected to a given channel, it can compare values stored in the parameter tables to those values generated during the test algorithm. This test is discussed in the following paragraphs.
Included in the parameter tables for the battery is a NUM~ER OF CELLS parameter. Multiplying this by the VOLS P~R
CELL parameter gives a nominal battery voltage.
Prior to performing a charge/discharge cycle, the controller measures the battery voltage. If this voltage is zero or abnormally low, a determination must be made as to whether the battery is open, one or more cells have been shorted, the entire batter~ pack has shorted, or the battery is simply fully discharged. This is accomplished as follows.
Close the contactor and apply a charge current pulse for a brief time (10 amperes Cor 30 ms). Ne~t, observe the battery voltage. If, at the end of the charge pulse time, the voltage is abnormally low, we have a shorted cell, or if the voltage :is zero, we have a shorted battery pack. I~ the voltage goes well above the nominal battery voltage as defined in the parameter tables, ~e have an open battery or the wrong batter~I
was connected.
However, if the battery voltage reaches the nominal battery voltage as calculated from the parameter tables, we can assume that the abnormally low voltage measured p~ior to the charge pulse was due -to a fully discharged battery pack.
It must also be noted that, even if the battery voltage measured prior to applying the charge pulse was withi~
the nominal battery voltage value from the parameter table, the test algorithm is still used to provide a final okay or the subsequent charge/discharge cycle.

Claims (7)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A controller for a battery charger, including in combination:
a differential amplifier having first and second inputs and an output;
a first sample and hold circuit having the battery voltage connected as an input and providing an output as one input to said differential amplifier;
a second sample and hold circuit having the output of said first sample and hold circuit as an input and providing an output as the other input to said differential amplifier;
an AND gate having first and second inputs and an output, with the AND gate output controlling the battery charger;
a first slope detector having the output of said differential amplifier as an input and providing all output when a slope of a first sign is detected;
a second slope detector having the output of said differential amplifier as an input and providing an output when a slope of the opposite sign is detected, with said second slope detector output connected as one input to said AND gate;
and a latch circuit having the output of said first slope detector connected as input and providing an output as the other input to said AND gate.

2. A controller for a battery charger, including in combination:
means for measuring the voltage of the battery to provide a measured voltage;
an analog to digital converter for converting the measured voltage from an analog voltage to a digital voltage;
means for computing a time derivative of said digital voltage and determining a change in slope of said time derivative; and means for shutting off the charger as a function of said change in slope; said analog to digital converter including a comparator having first and second inputs, a summing circuit having first and second inputs, and an output connected as one input to said comparator, a first digital to analog converter having an output connected as one input to said summing circuit, a second digital to analog converter, a divider circuit having as an input, the output of said second digital to analog converter, with the divider circuit output connected as the other input to said summing circuit, and a sample and hold circuit having the battery voltage connected as an input and having an output connected as the other input to said comparator.

3. A controller as defined in claim 2 for use with a battery having an identification resistor, including:
means for providing an electrical current of known value in said resistor;

means for measuring the voltage developed across said resistor by said current; and means for relating the measured voltage to a predetermined battery identification.

4. A controller for a battery charger for use with a battery having an identification resistor, wherein the battery charger operates in a three step sequence consisting of a charging pulse for a first time period, a discharging pulse for a second time period, and no pulse for a third time period, including in combination:
means for measuring the voltage of the battery during said third time period to provide a measured voltage;
an analog to digital converter for converting the measured voltage from an analog voltage to a digital voltage;
means for computing a time derivative of said digital voltage and determining a change in slope of said time derivative;
means for shutting off the charger as a function of said change in slope;
means for providing an electrical current of known value in said resistor;
means for measuring the voltage developed across said resistor by said current; and means for relating the measured voltage to a predetermined battery identification, said means for relating including:
a memory;

means for converting the measured voltage lo a number;
and means for looking up in said memory a battery identification corresponding to said number.

5. A controller for a battery charger wherein the battery charger operates in a three step sequence consisting of a charging pulse for a first time period, a discharging pulse for a second time period, and no pulse for a third time period, including in combination:
means for measuring the voltage of the battery during said third time period to provide a measured voltage;
an analog to digital converter for converting the measured voltage from an analog voltage to a digital voltage;
means for computing a time derivative of said digital voltage and determining a change in slope of said time derivative;
means for shutting off the charger as a function of said change in slope;
a first battery identification resistor;
a current source of known value;
first circuit means for connecting said current source across said first resistor to provide a first voltage across said first resistor;
a set of parameter tables stored in memory;
an index table stored in memory, said index table including an index relating voltage numbers and parameter tables; and means for selecting a parameter table as a function of said first voltage across said first resistor.

6. A controller for a battery charger for use with a battery discharge booster having a current source, wherein the battery charger operates in a three step sequence consisting of a charging pulse for a first time period, a discharging pulse for a second time period, and no pulse for a third time period, including in combination:
means for measuring the voltage of the battery during said third time period to provide a measured voltage;
an analog to digital converter for converting the measured voltage from an analog voltage to a digital voltage;
means for computing a time derivative of said digital voltage and determining a change in slope of said time derivative;
means for shutting off the charger as a function of said change in slope;
a discharge current resistor: and circuit means for connecting said resistor to the current source of the battery discharge booster.

7. A method for controlling a battery charger and identifying a battery to be charged prior to initiating the charging, including the steps of:
measuring the voltage produced across a resistor by a known current, which resistor is associated with a specific battery;

converting the measured voltage to a number;
looking up the number in a table in a charger memory to relate the measured voltage with the specific battery;
operating the charger in a continuously repeating three step sequence consisting of a charging pulse for a first time period, a discharging pulse for a second time period, and no pulse for a third time period;
measuring the voltage of the battery during said third time period to provide a measured voltage;
determining a time derivative of said measured voltage to provide a voltage derivative;
determining a change in slope of said voltage derivative; and shutting off the charger as a function of said change in slope.