How to Pick the Best Battery for Your Embedded Project

Optimizing battery life is not just about choosing the right battery from a datasheet. It’s about deep integration between your IoT or embedded device, the operating environment, and the energy source. Here’s how Qoitech’s Otii Ace Pro and Otii Battery Toolbox can help.

Step 1: Measure Device Energy Consumption

Before profiling a battery, you must understand your device’s behavior in:

• Connection and active phases
• Sleep modes
• Peak currents and average consumption at different voltages

This understanding tailors battery tests to reflect real usage—not just lab conditions.

Power profiling of an embedded device with Otii Ace Pro.

Step 2: Battery Profiling

Using the Battery Profiler in the Otii app, batteries are discharged in two phases:

• High-discharge (active): Simulates peak loads
• Low-discharge (sleep): Simulates standby modes

Discharge ends when a cutoff or open-circuit voltage threshold is reached, producing a detailed discharge profile showing internal resistance trends and usable capacity at the profiling temperature.

Battery profiling with Otii Ace Pro and Otii Battery Toolbox.

Step 3: Battery Emulation

Battery profiles can then be emulated under real-world device conditions to test how much energy can be extracted before failure.

Battery emulation with Otii Ace Pro and Otii Battery Toolbox.

Step 4: Accurate Battery Life Estimation

Using real discharge profiles, you can estimate battery life more accurately in the Otii app. Input parameters include:

• Estimated capacity (based on profiling)
• Active and sleep durations
• Self-discharge rates
• Safety margins

Battery life estimation can be done with Otii Ace Pro on measured data.

Key Takeaways

• Measure everything — real-world usage matters more than theory.
• Profile batteries in actual load and environmental conditions.
• Emulate and validate before scaling up.
• Use tools like Otii for precise battery life estimation.

Conclusion

Battery behavior is complex, but with Qoitech’s Otii Ace Pro and Otii Battery Toolbox, it becomes manageable. Whether designing for extreme environments or high-peak loads, these tools provide critical insights to optimize your embedded project’s design and deployment.