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.. _MOTIVATION:

Motivation
==========

What is |foxbms|?
-----------------

With |foxbms|, `Fraunhofer IISB`_ delivers the second generation of its open
source battery management system (BMS) research and development platform. The
|foxbms| platform is completely free and open, designed for a maximum of
flexibility, and comprehensively documented. It includes all necessary
hardware and software for potentially any kind of mobile and stationary
application that uses modern rechargeable electrochemical energy storage
systems (e.g., lithium-ion batteries, redox-flow batteries, supercapacitors):

 - |foxbms| Hardware: the schematics and the layout of all electronic boards
   are available for download and the design is based on commonly available
   components and devices, that do not require non-disclosure agreements (NDA)
   or confidentiality agreements.
 - |foxbms| Software: the software toolchain uses only own developed open
   source and free of charge components or free of charge third-party
   software, and the entire BMS source code is provided online with its own
   development environment and configuration files, thus enabling immediate
   use on Windows operating systems. Please contact us if you are on Mac or
   Linux.


What is |foxbms| designed for?
------------------------------

Experience gained from international research and development projects over
the last 15 years in the field of electrochemical energy storage systems at
`Fraunhofer IISB`_ has been implemented in the hardware and software of the
|foxbms| platform. It is designed to manage high-performance prototypes of
advanced and innovative lithium-ion battery systems of any size (i.e. from a
few cells up to several hundreds of |kWh| and |kW|), especially for systems
requiring the highest availability and safety levels.

The free and open source version of |foxbms| is not intended for immediate use
in commercial products as they have to meet specific standards and require
application-dependent certifications. In fact, |foxbms| is a safe research,
development, and test platform providing all functions for managing the
complexity and size of state-of-the-art electrochemical energy storage
systems.

Specific adaptions of |foxbms| can be ordered directly from `Fraunhofer IISB`_
or can be jointly developed, for example for automotive, aviation, space,
submarine, industrial, and renewable energy storage applications.

Who is the intended audience?
-----------------------------

|foxbms| is a free and open BMS platform that can be used for developing and
testing products. The |foxbms| hardware and documentation are licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. The
|foxbms| software is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License (SPDX short
identifier: BSD-3-Clause). This means, |foxbms| parts can be utilized
unrestrictedly, including commercial use. The |foxbms| platform addresses
especially:

 - R&D and test engineers requiring a smart and powerful, well documented BMS
   platform
 - Engineering companies requiring a maintained and supported BMS for their
   developments
 - Small enterprises requiring a flexible and future proof BMS for developing
   their products
 - Large enterprises requiring a reliable and safe BMS for testing their
   prototypes
 - Research organizations requiring a simple and universal BMS development
   platform
 - Students looking for a free and open BMS software development toolchain