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The battery is one of the most sensitive hardware elements of our smartphone. Its degradation over time is inevitable, but there are many factors that can accelerate or slow down its degradation. Batteries are so sensitive that our treatment of them is essential, not only in the charging process, but also in the exposure to external elements such as changes in temperature.
When smartphones allowed to remove the battery, it was common to open the cover from time to time to insert the SIM or memory cards. In doing so, an almost inadvertent check of the battery status was performed from time to time. Any minimal cosmetic change or bulging was easily detected. Precisely the bulging of the battery is one of the dangers, of an extraordinary degradation.
The danger of swollen batteries
As we already know, a swollen or bulging battery can pose a risk to the safety of the user, since it increases the chances that the chemical elements of the battery can escape and cause combustion. Until now there is no indication of hardware or sensor to tell us that something is wrong in this regard, but Xiaomi has an idea about it.
It has been a recently published Xiaomi patent, which presents a solution that allows the user to detect and inform about the degradation of the battery and its health. That is, it can alert the user if the battery is bulging so that it can be remedy before other complications arise. The system works by means of a piezoelectric ceramic system that surrounds the battery and can detect anomalies in its shape, such as bulging.
Patente de Xiaomi
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Piezoelectric ceramics are an active element widely used in manufacturing industrial equipment, as in cleaning systems, ultrasonic welding equipment and equipment to monitor vibrations.
Makes all the sense
Given the user cannot regularly see battery changes until it is too late (housing that rises or in the worst case combustion) it makes perfect sense that Xiaomi, and other manufacturers, may be working on this type of safety “sensors” for batteries. We could equate it to the tire sensor in a vehicle, which warns of the dangers of tires whose pressure is not adequate. What we do not know is how long it will be until we see a commercial smartphone with this type of integrated solution.
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