Metis CAN controller for early detection of battery failure Metis Engineering has revealed a CAN based sensor designed to detect the early onset of catastrophic battery failure. As EV battery technology rapidly develops and finds application in cars, aircraft and boats and performance is pushed to ever higher levels – safety is paramount. Metis Engineering’s innovative CAN based sensor works by detecting a range of environmental parameters including Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), hydrogen, pressure and humidity. It then places that information into a small,easy to integrate sensor with a configurable CAN interface. There are several stages to battery cell degradation. First there is a change in temperature, often caused when a cell is over worked. The rise in cell temperature causes the pressure inside the cell to rise and if the pressure is high enough, the cell will start to vent.