Projects / Industrial automation and embedded control
Independent safety shutdown board for a flow-battery stack: voltage and current measurement, external emergency input, relay shutdown control and latched fault state until manual reset.
The task was to make a separate protection node for a laboratory flow-battery stack. The main controller can manage bench modes, but shutdown protection is better placed in an independent circuit so firmware failure or wrong settings do not break the stop mechanism.
A specialized safety shutdown device was developed. The board measures current and voltage, monitors an external emergency input, opens the power circuit through a relay and latches the fault state until the operator performs a manual reset.
Project materials
Engineering context
Protection logic has to be separated from the main experiment logic.
After a fault, the stack must not switch back on automatically without checking the bench.
For an experimental setup, simple diagnostics and a clear manual reset are important.
Protection thresholds can be adjusted for a specific bench, current sensor and required margin.
Work done
STM32F103 safety-shutdown board circuit.
Voltage and current measurement inputs with analog conditioning.
External shutdown-signal input and manual reset button.
Relay control through a separate output.
Firmware with ADC calibration, physical-unit conversion and EWMA filtering.
LED indication, SWD and UART debugging interfaces.
Details
The board works as a separate safety layer. It is not responsible for the whole experiment; it has a narrow task: detect a dangerous state and break the power circuit.
The fault state is held until manual reset. This approach forces the operator to check the reason for shutdown instead of getting an automatic restart immediately after the fault sign disappears.
The device was integrated into the setup as a protection module: the main system continues to control the experiment, while the shutdown board remains an independent current, voltage and external-emergency monitor.
Contact
Contact us by email. We discuss custom electronics and automation tasks remotely with companies, labs, small businesses and individual customers worldwide.
