EL-Software is the software platform to control all EL-CELL battery testers, be it single-channel or multi-channel systems. EL-Software is covering all test cases from strain measurements with the ECD dilatometer through simple cycle tests on a single button cell to high throughput material testing with the PAT system.

All relevant data, like cell components, test procedures or the resulting test data, are written into a central, conveniently searchable database. This growing data treasure is accessible for all users in the same network and helps to speed up the process of experiment planning and interchanging of test data significantly. With the powerful yet easy-to-use test composer you can set up virtually any test procedure, whether it‘s for a simple voltammetric experiment or a complex test that combines constant current cycles at different C-rates with intermittent impedance measurements. In batch mode, any number of test procedures can be performed sequentially, either for a single test cell or for a group of test cells – all this without writing a single line of code.  Available control modes are constant current, constant voltage, open circuit, linear voltage sweep, galvanostatic and potentiostatic impedance.

Finally, EL-Software provides you with state-of-the-art graphics capabilities for visualizing your test results, while the open export interfaces allow seamless integration into existing software pipelines.

EL-Software software consists of two core components:

EL-Software Server
The EL-Software server receives and the measurement data from the PAT-Tester and makes it available to the connected clients on the end devices. It hosts the databases that contain the measurement data and is accessible to all network users. Depending on your setup, the server can be operated directly on the PAT-Tester, a single client PC, or a dedicated hardware server.

EL-Software Client
The client component contains the graphical user interface and provides convenient access to the measurement data stored in the server’s database. In addition, all potentiostats connected to the server can be controlled remotely via the EL-Software client, for example to change the temperature of the cell chamber of a PAT-Tester-i-16.

EL-Software focuses on the cell groups to be compared instead of individual test channels. This novel approach makes it easy to set up and perform experiments with a freely scalable number of test channels and devices. With EL-Software, you always have an overview of your experiment. The system is very flexible and allows both efficient tests with high throughput and small test setups with few test cells.

Convenient experiment design and cell management
With EL-Software you can easily plan complex experiments, from test procedures to the required components of each test cell. The software’s own database already contains all available cell components of the PAT series and can easily be extended by further
components such as own separator materials or electrolytes, but also other cell types. Configure your test cells according to your application in our convenient modular system.

Test cells are accompanied by the software throughout their entire life cycle. This provides permanent access to a wide range of information, such as the history of the experiments performed, the cell components used, and data for post-mortem analysis.

As soon as a test cell with an integrated PAT-Button is inserted into a PAT-Tester, EL-Software recognizes this cell via the stored ID and can immediately provide information about all linked information such as the content of the cell. In this way, the researcher always keeps an overview and can more easily combine cells from different test groups in new experiments. Manual labeling with pens or QR codes has thus become superfluous.

Compose test scripts

Visual script editor: Create your test scripts comfortably and efficiently in the Composer, a powerful visual editor integrated into EL-Software. The Composer uses an easy-to-learn modular principle to create even complex test procedures in a very short time.

Connection Matrix: As a unique feature, the connection between test cell and PGStat can be changed directly in the test script. This allows the user to seamlessly switch between the different control modes for half and full cell with a few mouse clicks without interrupting the measurement or reconnecting any cables.

Test procedures can consist of several individual test scripts per experiment with any number of process steps. You can integrate predefined standard templates from the script library or create your own templates to simplify your work.
Simply switch between the different operating modes such as PEIS, GEIS or Voltage Scan and link the individual process steps using conditions and limits.

Custom scripts: It is also possible to program your own scripts in Lua and import them directly into EL software. This allows you to implement even very special test procedures with ease. EL-software sets no limits to your creativity.

On-the-fly editing: Test sequences can even be changed during the runtime of the experiment. To do this, you simply edit the Lua script in question and upload this script again. In that way, set-points and step limits can be changed, in a way never possible before.

The PAT-Button, the link between hard- and software

When assigned in the software, all PAT-Cells can be easily identified by their embossed number. This number is also digitally stored on the EEProm of the new PAT-Button, which is located at the cell bottom and now available for PAT series test cells.
As soon as the cell is inserted into a PAT battery tester, EL-Software recognizes it with its ID and all values already entered during assembly. The usual manual labeling is therefore no longer necessary. This saves time and avoids errors! Older PAT cells can easily be retrofitted with a PAT-Button.

Configurable Cell Viewer for real-time feedback

The well-structured cell viewer gives you feedback on your ongoing measurements. Forget about the time when measurement results had to be processed before you could draw conclusions from them.

Instead, plot your measurement data in real-time, compare and calculate the various parameters directly in the running measurement using freely configurable graphs.

EL-Software stores all data into a central, conveniently searchable database. Due to its multi-user functionality, all users in the same network can access this data treasure. This helps to speed up the process of experiment planning and interchanging of test data significantly.

Of course all measured data can also be used outside EL-Software. Its open export interfaces allow seamless integration into existing software pipelines. This allows you to continue to use your preferred diagram software as usual and at the same time enjoy all the advantages of EL-Software.

Minimum Hardware Requirements

*The hardware requirements for the EL-Software Server depend on the number of test channels and the type of measurement protocols.  The stated values should only be regarded as a guideline for operating a system with up to 16 test channels.

Software requirements

EL-Software Tutorial: Installing the server (Version 2.3, 11/2024)

In this video, we will show you how to install the EL-Software server on your PC.

EL-Software Tutorial: Connecting a PAT-Tester to the EL-Software Server (Version 2.3, 11/2024)

In this video, we show you how to connect a PAT-Tester to the EL-Software server so that you can use it for your experiments.

EL-Software Tutorial: How to use a Test Cell without PAT-Button (Version 2.3, 11/2024)

This video shows you the steps to use a test cell without a PAT-Button in EL-Software for your measurements.

EL-Software Tutorial: Connection Troubleshooting (Version 2.3, 11/2024)

In this video, we show how to solve the most common problems that can arise when connecting a PAT-tester to the EL-Software server.

Working example 1: Application note Nothing but Lithium

In this application note, we use EL-Software to set up and run an experiment with PAT-Cells and the PAT-Tester-i-16.

Here you can watch the videos that focus on the software part. The full application note with more videos can be viewed here.