[Nut-upsuser] Supporting a DIY UPS with minimal effort butmaximum gain

Kelly Byrd kbyrd at memcpy.com
Thu May 16 21:52:06 BST 2024


Ok, my super long reply is waiting on moderation. In the meantime, I have
started:
https://github.com/networkupstools/nut/wiki/DIY-UPS-with-and-Arduino



On Thu, May 16, 2024 at 10:59 AM gene heskett via Nut-upsuser <
nut-upsuser at alioth-lists.debian.net> wrote:

> 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
> >      >     _______________________________________________
> >      >     Nut-upsuser mailing list
> >      > 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>>
> >      >
> >     https://alioth-lists.debian.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nut-upsuser
> >     <
> https://alioth-lists.debian.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nut-upsuser>
> >      >
> >       <
> https://alioth-lists.debian.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nut-upsuser <
> https://alioth-lists.debian.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nut-upsuser>>
> >      >
> >      >
> >      > _______________________________________________
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> >
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> >
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>
> Cheers, Gene Heskett, CET.
> --
> "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
>   soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
> -Ed Howdershelt (Author, 1940)
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