|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spockie-Tech
Site Admin
Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 3160
Location: Melbourne, Australia
|
Feature-Idea.
How about optionally Lobotomising the onboard options and functions and having a mode where the onboard AVR runs a simple serial command-set to report status and control it via a USB-Serial adapter to a PC ?
Commands like "Read Battery Voltage", "Read Cell 1 volts", "Set Charge current to 3 Amps" and so on.
That way you can write a nice GUI with graphs, and easy to operate modes and buttons in a high level language like Python on any platform (PC, Linux, Windows, Android, Phone etc), allowing you to customise functions, update the interface software and so on without having to plug in ISP's to the circuit board all the time.
Saves having to try and implement a meaningful user interface on a 2 line LCD with all the multi-level menus that result
Basically turns it into an external-computer controlled power circuit.
Yo might need some basic failsafe logic on board in case the supervising app dies (commands to set voltage/temp/current shutoff limits)
.
Im doing something similair for the Dashboard/GUI for my Car-Control Project. Theres a chip that does that type of thing for vehicle Can-Bus/OBD Interfaces. The ELM327 Have a look at the spec sheet if you want to get an idera of what it does. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CEgQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Felmelectronics.com%2FDSheets%2FELM327DS.pdf&ei=9XgWT_jnOPCwiQfbs4D3Aw&usg=AFQjCNHxmPN_9MzQPh0qsSBZ-hYh9KVT_A&sig2=3x1UCk-RwhzgUesrPF_B6A
Im working on (Well, I was until I moved house in december, just getting the workshop put back together now) *emulating* the ELM327 it with an AVR/Arduino, allowing any pre-OBD car to send sensor info to one of the many OBD Scan/GUI applications like Torque on Android..
Soooo, If you make the charger some form of dumb-remote controlled power circuit with a serial command interface, then the operator interface can be done by a machine more suited to talking to humans (big screen, keyboard, mouse etc).
Its just an idea.. It might be going against your basic plan thought if your goal is more to turn the complex menu driven things into a "plug'n'charge" widget.
At the rate you're going hacking gadgets, you're going win some kind of reverse-engineering award soon. _________________ Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people
|
Wed Jan 18, 2012 5:52 pm |
|
|
|
|
|