NIST trains AI to hear the 'oh crap' moment before batteries explode
Researchers at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have come up with an early warning system for lithium-ion battery fires.
The nature of lithium-ion battery fires is that by the time smoke triggers a traditional smoke alarm, the fire might be well under way. They also tend to get considerably hotter far faster than ordinary flames. According to NIST: "A battery can emit a jet of flame up to 1,100°C (2,012°F), almost as hot as a blowtorch, and it reaches that temperature in about a second."
Battery fires pose serious risks. The devices have been known to combust anywhere from the holds of ships to passenger compartments of aircraft and can cause disaster if not dealt with promptly.
One hint that things might be about to go awry is when the safety valve breaks in a hard battery case to release the pressure caused by a chemical reaction within the unit. NIST described it as "a distinctive click-hiss, a little like the sound of cracking open a bottle of soda."
While the sound has been noted in previous studies, the issue with using it as an early warning system is that there are plenty of similar sounds, such as the dropping of a paper clip. The challenge facing researchers was removing the false positives.
