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Sensors and Automation Solutions for Battery Production

Whether as the heart of electric vehicles or as a storage medium for electricity from renewable energies: The battery plays a central role in the mobility and energy supply of the future.

Powerful sensors and automation solutions are required to ensure the highest quality and smooth processes in battery manufacturing. Pepperl+Fuchs offers a complete portfolio ranging from individual sensors to turnkey system solutions. This allows all process steps to be optimized—from the battery cells and modules to the battery pack and installation in the vehicle body. With decades of experience in automation technology, individual consulting, and the expertise of highly specialized subsidiaries, we support you in successfully automating your plant.

Discover our sensors and automation solutions for battery manufacturing!

Highlights

Comprehensive sensor portfolio for maximum quality and efficiency in battery manufacturing

Reliable monitoring of all process steps in battery cell manufacturing

Powerful technologies for battery module manufacturing, inspection and assembly

Turnkey solutions for the production of battery packs

Decades of experience in automation technology—for optimal customer-specific solutions

The Battery—in Focus in Various Industries

Whether for e-mobility, for the storage of electricity from renewable energies or for the electronics industry, the battery plays a central role in various industries worldwide.

E-Mobility

The battery is the heart and currently the most expensive component of an electric car—which is why its production requires the highest quality and efficient processes. This is ensured by the appropriate sensor technology from Pepperl+Fuchs. A comprehensive portfolio is also available for many other processes related to the production of electric vehicles.

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Renewable Energy

Powerful batteries are needed to store climate-neutral electricity from wind power or photovoltaic plants. The demand for battery storage is therefore continuously increasing—both for network operators and in private households. With sensor technology from Pepperl+Fuchs, the required battery storage systems can be manufactured with particular efficiency. Pepperl+Fuchs also offers a wide range of compatible sensor solutions for other tasks related to solar and wind power plants.

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Electronics Industry

Battery manufacturing is one of the major growth areas in the global electronics industry. Many other processes in the electronics industry can also be automated with industrial sensor technology from Pepperl+Fuchs—from photovoltaic production to PCB processing.

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Battery Cell Manufacturing

In the manufacture of battery cells, anode and cathode foils are stacked alternately, each separated by a separator foil. In this process, the need for monitoring in the calendering machine is high. Double feeding of foils, a web break or insufficient web tension quickly lead to production errors or machine downtimes. To prevent this, Pepperl+Fuchs offers suitable sensors that can be easily connected to the controller and the cloud via IO-Link.

Reliable Double Sheet Control of the Electrode Foils

It is crucial for the quality of the battery cells that the individual electrode foils are each stacked alternately. To prevent the feeding of double foils, the M18 ultrasonic double sheet sensor is used. Due to its robust measuring principle, the sensor reliably detects thin and reflective foils.

Dancer Control in Battery Cell Manufacturing

A guide roller with spring mechanism, the so-called dancer, maintains the web tension of the electrode and separator foils during battery cell manufacturing. The PMI120-F90 inductive positioning system measures the movement of the dancer with high precision and outputs the current position in real time—optionally via an IO-Link interface.

Precise Measurement of the Roll Diameter

In order to minimize machine downtime, the rolls used must be changed with pinpoint accuracy when calendering electrode and separator foils. The robust ultrasonic sensors of the UC18GS and F42 series reliably detect the roll diameter—regardless of the optical properties of the foil material.

Reliable Detection of Foil Tears

If a foil tear occurs during calendering, the process must be stopped immediately to prevent production errors and machine damage. Pepperl+Fuchs offers a selection of suitable sensors for this purpose: The compact R10x or R20x diffuse mode sensors are used in confined spaces, while the UC18GS and UC-F77 ultrasonic sensors are the optimal choice for reflective or transparent materials.

Continuous Communication from the Sensor to the Cloud

The modern sensors in calenders are usually equipped with IO-Link interfaces. With the ICE2/3 IO-Link master, the measurement data can be easily transmitted from the field level to the PLC. Through OPC UA and Ethernet-based communication protocols, the data can also be exchanged in parallel with cloud applications.

Battery Module Manufacturing

After battery cell manufacturing is complete, the individual battery cells are assembled into battery modules. To monitor this process, Pepperl+Fuchs industrial vision products are used. Vision sensors identify the battery cells and verify their correct number and orientation, while an industrial event camera monitors the entire manufacturing process.

Product Highlights

Identification and Positioning with a Single Sensor

When several prismatic battery cells are welded together, their correct position and traceability need to be ensured. With the VOS 2-D universal vision sensor, all tasks can be completed using a single device: The sensor identifies the battery cells and simultaneously detects their alignment as well as the position of the welding tabs.

Identification of Battery Cells during Bundling into Battery Modules

When battery cells are bundled into battery modules, it must be ensured that all the required cells are present. The VOS-I universal code reader is suitable for identifying the battery cells: This vision sensor reads up to 64 codes simultaneously—even with high throughput and very small codes on curved surfaces.

Reliable Position and Completeness Check

The SmartRunner Matcher checks the battery cells for their number and orientation. This laser profile sensor records the height profile of the battery cells and compares it with a taught-in reference profile. In this way, the SmartRunner Matcher ensures error-free battery module manufacturing.

Reliable Detection of the Battery Module

In order to initiate the inspection or assembly of a battery module, the presence of the module must be detected. The photoelectric sensors of the R20x series perform this task with maximum reliability. Variants with different designs and interfaces are available for different installation environments.

Battery Module Identification for Optimal Traceability

During quality control and final assembly of the battery modules, the individual modules must be identified several times to ensure their traceability. The 2-D universal vision sensor VOS is the ideal choice for this task: The sensor reads 1-D and 2-D codes as well as texts printed on the battery module label—quickly, reliably, and flexibly parameterizable.

Battery Pack Manufacturing

Several modules are finally bundled to form a battery pack, which can be installed in the vehicle. Various systems and solutions from Pepperl+Fuchs are used in battery pack manufacturing—for example, for the precise correction of robot trajectories or for sustainable corrosion prevention.

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Identification of Battery Packs within Conveyor System

The IQT3* high-frequency RFID readers are used for targeted and reliable identification of battery packs within the conveyor system: The battery pack is equipped with an industrial RFID transponder on the underside, which is read or written to without contact by the read/write device located below the conveyor line. An integrated IO-Link interface allows for easy application integration.

Efficient Testing of the Gap Filler Application

To protect the battery from overheating, strips of heat-conducting paste are applied in the battery tray. The VMT SpinTop G2 can be used to check the continuity and correctness of these gap filler webs. The inspection takes place in parallel with the application, so that no additional evaluation time is required.

High-Precision Correction of Robot Trajectories

When applying wax to batteries, a vision solution from VMT ensures high-precision trajectory correction: the LineRunner laser triangulation sensor determines the current 3-D position of the battery pack. Based on this information, the robot’s nominal trajectory is corrected with an accuracy of +/- 0.1 mm so it can be optimally adapted to the battery pack.

Lasting Protection against Corrosion

The battery pack needs to be well sealed and protected against corrosion, for example at cooling connections or screw joints. Polyplan offers complete automation solutions for this task. A high-precision airless/airmix process is used to ensure long-lasting corrosion protection with minimal media consumption.

Plant Engineering and Automation Solutions from Polyplan GmbH

With decades of experience on production lines, Polyplan GmbH integrates special applications into the production and logistics processes of international automotive manufacturers. The portfolio includes both manual systems and complete robot cells—each tailored to the customer's individual requirements. Polyplan offers special expertise in applications such as acoustic foaming, cavity preservation, and (de-)palletizing.

Turnkey Solutions

Vision Systems from VMT Bildverarbeitungssysteme GmbH

For almost 30 years, VMT Vision Machine Technic Bildverarbeitungssysteme GmbH has been supplying turnkey vision solutions for applications in the automotive industry—from body shop to paint shop to final assembly, as well as for logistics, powertrain, and battery manufacturing. The systems are individually adapted to the requirements and production conditions in the plant. Complete logging and documentation, flexible integration into existing systems, and intuitive operation are key components of all VMT system solutions.

Discover More in Videos

Smart Automation Solutions

From battery module inspection and traceability to battery pack manufacturing—this video gives you an insight into various sensor solutions for your production process. For example, the vision sensor SmartRunner Explorer 3-D generates a high-resolution 3-D point cloud of the battery module. This data can be analyzed using pattern recognition algorithms, enabling fully automated quality control.

Customized Solutions for Battery Manufacturing

Do you have a requirement that goes beyond the existing Pepperl+Fuchs portfolio? We develop customized solutions for your specific applications—from modified standard products to newly developed products based on existing technologies. With individual consulting and decades of experience in automation technology, we will find the right solution for any of your battery manufacturing applications.

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