[Nut-upsuser] Supporting a DIY UPS with minimal effort butmaximum gain
gene heskett
gheskett at shentel.net
Thu May 16 18:42:23 BST 2024
On 5/16/24 08:59, Jim Klimov via Nut-upsuser wrote:
> I agree with earlier posters, such documentation can help future
> tinkerers. There is probably more than just one to hold the hand and
> walk through the ordeals :)
>
> Perhaps a new page at https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/wiki
> <https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/wiki> can be a good location...
>
> Jim
>
Great Idea Jim.
>
> On Thu, May 16, 2024 at 1:29 PM Bill Gee <bgee at campercaver.net
> <mailto:bgee at campercaver.net>> wrote:
>
> Hi Kelly -
>
> As an Arduino nerd, I am interested in this! I am sure others on the
> list would be interested. If nothing else, it would be nice to have
> some documentation in the archives.
>
> I assume you set it up as an online system rather than a standby
> system.
> Right? If true, then the choice of inverter is fairly critical. It
> has to be bomb-proof reliable.
>
> What did you choose for battery voltage? What is the power capacity of
> the inverter?
>
> Which Arduino did you use? All of my Arduino projects use the Pro
> Mini,
> though it would be quite easy to get some other model for this.
>
> Thanks -
> ===============
> Bill Gee
>
> On 5/15/24 20:11, Kelly Byrd wrote:
> > I put together my own DIY UPS, it's a RV charger/converter, an
> > inverter, and some batteries. I use an Arduino and the
> HIDPowerDevice
> > library (https://github.com/abratchik/HIDPowerDevice
> <https://github.com/abratchik/HIDPowerDevice>
> > <https://github.com/abratchik/HIDPowerDevice
> <https://github.com/abratchik/HIDPowerDevice>>) to get it to talk to
> NUT.
> > Been working great for months!
> >
> > The Arduino is connected to two modules:
> > * AC detection circuit to measure mains power on/off
> > * Voltage divider and an external ADC to get a reasonably good DC
> > voltage level for the battery which I turn into the a charge
> percentage.
> >
> > This uses the USBHID driver in NUT and "just works" as long as
> you're
> > using NUT 2.8.2 or later. I used the example code in the
> HIDPowerDevice
> > library as a starting point for running on my Arduino.
> >
> > I can share more specifics about the Arduino side of things off
> list if
> > you want, the NUT side of things is pretty boring and normal.
> >
> > On Wed, May 15, 2024 at 3:27 PM Kiril Zyapkov via Nut-upsuser
> > <nut-upsuser at alioth-lists.debian.net
> <mailto:nut-upsuser at alioth-lists.debian.net>
> > <mailto:nut-upsuser at alioth-lists.debian.net
> <mailto:nut-upsuser at alioth-lists.debian.net>>> wrote:
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > I found out about NUT just days ago while searching for a
> solution
> > for my home setup. After some digging through the interwebs,
> I come
> > to you with questions.
> >
> > I'm putting together a DIY 12V UPS, very similar to what this
> guy did:
> >
> > [1]
> >
> https://baldpenguin.blogspot.com/2015/10/diy-12v-ups-for-home-network-equipment.html <https://baldpenguin.blogspot.com/2015/10/diy-12v-ups-for-home-network-equipment.html> <https://baldpenguin.blogspot.com/2015/10/diy-12v-ups-for-home-network-equipment.html <https://baldpenguin.blogspot.com/2015/10/diy-12v-ups-for-home-network-equipment.html>>
> >
> > The objective is to keep a bunch of mini PCs and network gear
> online
> > for as long as the battery lasts and then provide a mechanism
> for a
> > graceful shutdown of my NAS and other appliances for which
> cutting
> > power would not be healthy. The project above is missing the
> > "connected" part. I want to get mine to play with NUT nicely.
> Other
> > prior art is this project:
> >
> > [2] https://github.com/xm381/Raspberry-Pi-UPS
> <https://github.com/xm381/Raspberry-Pi-UPS>
> > <https://github.com/xm381/Raspberry-Pi-UPS
> <https://github.com/xm381/Raspberry-Pi-UPS>>
> >
> > Mentioned in a previous thread here:
> >
> > [3]
> >
> https://alioth-lists.debian.net/pipermail/nut-upsuser/2018-August/011198.html <https://alioth-lists.debian.net/pipermail/nut-upsuser/2018-August/011198.html> <https://alioth-lists.debian.net/pipermail/nut-upsuser/2018-August/011198.html <https://alioth-lists.debian.net/pipermail/nut-upsuser/2018-August/011198.html>>
> >
> > A valid approach -- emulates an existing protocol on an arduino.
> >
> > Are there other similar projects that you know of? I found
> plenty of
> > "DIY UPS" projects, but none were "smart".
> >
> > I am able to put together firmware for some micro which will take
> > care of measuring voltages, currents, possibly also turn on/off
> > loads, serial or USB or IP are options. Not sure yet what
> hardware
> > features I'll put together, but this depends somewhat on the
> > approach for getting this thing integrated with NUT. PSUs and
> > batteries are already on the way, and my junk drawers have most
> > other parts I may need.
> >
> > So, options found so far:
> >
> > * Use genericups. Least favorite option, very limited features
> >
> > * Use the same approach as [2]. If I were to go that route --
> which
> > is the best protocol to pick for emulation? I'm looking for
> > something simple, extensible/flexible and well-documented.
> >
> > But what I really wish was possible was the ability to
> describe my
> > device in some format, feed it to a generic driver in NUT and
> > profit. I see some efforts have been made in this direction, most
> > notably:
> >
> > [4]
> >
> https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/wiki/Data-Mapping-File-(DMF)
> <https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/wiki/Data-Mapping-File-(DMF)>
> >
> <https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/wiki/Data-Mapping-File-(DMF) <https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/wiki/Data-Mapping-File-(DMF)>>
> >
> > What is the state there? Is it usable for USB HID? Or, how hard
> > would it be to make it usable? Even a modbus description will
> do --
> > implementing the modbus server (yes, server, I'm being
> > politically-correct) over serial or even TCP is easy, if only
> there
> > was a way to dump a CSV with register descriptions in some
> magical
> > driver...
> >
> > And yet another approach which comes to mind is to implement my
> > driver as an external executable. This may be completely
> unfeasible
> > and stupid, and please let me know if it is. But, from what I
> > gather, drivers run in their own process and talk to the
> daemon via
> > a UNIX socket. Why not make it possible for the driver to be just
> > any executable, built/deployed outside of the NUT codebase? The
> > socket protocol seems simple enough, and this will allow for ...
> > creativity. It could be implemented in any language (including
> > scripting languages) and need not depend on anything
> NUT-specific,
> > other than maybe some common CLI interface and/or configuration.
> >
> > I'm hoping the NUT masters will have some insight. Thanks for
> > working on this!
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Kiril
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
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Cheers, Gene Heskett, CET.
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