Automated Thermal Battery Assembly

Although there are numerous types of primary and secondary batteries which now fulfill a variety of roles within the Department of Defense (DOD), primary thermal batteries are arguably among the most important in terms of their impact across all service branches, to include the Missile Defense Agency. Along with increased performance capabilities and packaging flexibility, thermal battery manufacturers must deliver the highest levels of reliability while continually driving down cost. Toward this end, virtually every phase of the design and manufacturing process must be automated and then monitored and controlled using Statistical Process Control (SPC) methodologies to the maximum extent practicable. Variability and costs associated with operator involvement throughout the overall manufacturing process must be eliminated, or at least significantly reduced. Further, all key manufacturing processes must be sufficiently flexible so as to accommodate multiple battery products which can vary significantly in terms of size and complexity. The purpose of this SBIR proposal is to implement a program to automate the final stages of the thermal battery manufacturing process (i.e. robotic stacking of pellets, automated cell stack visual inspection and automated wrapping and final assembly).