Powder Cells still have a Pulse!

We're not 'pulsing' with electricity yet, but powder tests are still up and coming; we have much to do. 

Unless you've been watching the experiment log, there has been very little to say in the world of HUG powder tests. No pictures and, obviously, no blog posts. I've otherwise been fixing the SEM water chiller, testing software, and looking for reduction in R6's powder mix. Thanks to AlanG's suggestion to test for Barium oxides by reacting the mix with water. Fortunately there was no violent reaction or bubbling when samples of the powder were submerged. We hope this is a good indication that R3's powder mix remains un-reduced as well! 

In the last post, I briefly explained our software headache and how it left us high and dry. Our test computer, the resulting preventative measure to avoid breakdowns of that nature in the future, has glued me to the screen in attempts to accelerate the software testing process. The newest version of software, soon to be released, contains a resistance sensor driver essential to the completeness of the R3 test. Conventional methods of calculating impedance and power are insufficient when the powder's impedance ranges from several Ohms to several MegaOhms. Instead, the necessary driver in the new software senses only resistance, without needing Voltage and Current to calculate it. Oh how handy that will be.

There are several other advancements to the new software release, some that we have long anticipated. Keep watch for a mini blog (released in tandem with the software) to explain use of the new features. We're pretty pleased with the changes, barring the bugs that have accompanied them .

With the addition of the resistance driver in the new software release, R3's protocol can take off, soaring to step 2. Sounds pretty dismal, doesn't it? Not to worry. Once we have the data's nuts and bolts, we can knock down the remaining steps posthaste.