Email if interested. These will be the last of the Generation 3 regulators as I transition to the 3B layout.
Friday, March 16, 2018
A few more Regulators are available!
In late breaking news, there are 5x more assembled Gen 3 regulators
available! $80 each, and I have some more temperature probes at $1
each...
Email if interested. These will be the last of the Generation 3 regulators as I transition to the 3B layout.
Email if interested. These will be the last of the Generation 3 regulators as I transition to the 3B layout.
Sunday, March 11, 2018
All spoken for...
All the Generation 3 regulators are spoken for, and I am now out of stock until the revised PCB Layout Generation 3B ones come in.
It has been amaizing the interest in this project over the past year, and few months, and I look forward to continued development and support going forward. Thank you to all to date.
I am at this moment proofing out the 1st article of the relayed out 3B regulator, and expect to be placing a bulk order perhaps as soon as late next week. Then give 4-6 weeks for them to be assembled, a week or to for testing/flashing/confirmation coating and I should be able to start sending them out the end of April / 1st part of May. Until then take note of the special pre-order pricing of $100, folks are already starting to stick their name on these regulators - and I will work to get then out as soon as I can!
It has been amaizing the interest in this project over the past year, and few months, and I look forward to continued development and support going forward. Thank you to all to date.
I am at this moment proofing out the 1st article of the relayed out 3B regulator, and expect to be placing a bulk order perhaps as soon as late next week. Then give 4-6 weeks for them to be assembled, a week or to for testing/flashing/confirmation coating and I should be able to start sending them out the end of April / 1st part of May. Until then take note of the special pre-order pricing of $100, folks are already starting to stick their name on these regulators - and I will work to get then out as soon as I can!
Thursday, March 8, 2018
An App!
When the VSR Alternator Regulator was 1st created it was envisioned that much of the users interaction -- configuring, monitoring, diag -- would be handled via an application running on your phone / tablet / PC. The resulting ASCII status and command strings were intended to provide platform independent communications to that app -- more so, that ASCII communications was never intended for humans to futz with.
But the app never got developed, and it was kind of lucky that the ASCII strings were human readable. This background may help explain why they are not all that user friendly.
Skipping forward, Rick Bell has been working on an Applications and posted his works at Back Stage Sailing. Here is a link to the application in its Beta form:
https://backstagesailing.com/downloads/category/osenergy-configuration-tool-beta-versions/
And a users forum: https://backstagesailing.com/user_forum/
I am so happy to see an app being worked on, as it opens up so many possibilities to simplify advanced installations, from single users to professional installers. Few folks will master the ASCII command set, but with a good app they will not need to!
Have a look, download the Beta and give Rick some feedback. And keep your eye out, there is more to come in this area of communications over the coming year...
But the app never got developed, and it was kind of lucky that the ASCII strings were human readable. This background may help explain why they are not all that user friendly.
Skipping forward, Rick Bell has been working on an Applications and posted his works at Back Stage Sailing. Here is a link to the application in its Beta form:
https://backstagesailing.com/downloads/category/osenergy-configuration-tool-beta-versions/
And a users forum: https://backstagesailing.com/user_forum/
I am so happy to see an app being worked on, as it opens up so many possibilities to simplify advanced installations, from single users to professional installers. Few folks will master the ASCII command set, but with a good app they will not need to!
Have a look, download the Beta and give Rick some feedback. And keep your eye out, there is more to come in this area of communications over the coming year...
Monday, March 5, 2018
A look at SeedStudio USB-CAN Analyzer API
Securing a CAN adapter is somewhat a challenge. There are several available, commercial as well as open source - with their costs starting at $50 and quickly raising higher. So it was with great interest that these little guys started showing up on Ebay:
Costing around $25, they looked to be a promising little device to use, and for some reason they have somewhat wide availability. Including SeedStudio who offers them for a reasonable price: https://www.seeedstudio.com/USB-CAN-Analyzer-p-2888.html I was able to purchase one through Mouser for the same price. (SeedStudio branded). And of note: the one I have matches the photo, including the V7.00 revision.
However, the documentation is very lacking, and what is there is flat wrong. It does come with a Windows program that one can use to look at CAN messages, as well as send out some packets - but if you want to intercept the USB port and use it for your own programs, well . . . .
So I did a little snooping. Using a COMM monitoring program I have been able to decipher the ASCII commands to and from the little USB dongle for several of the key functions covering basic config, sending and receiving of packets. Perhaps some official (and correct) documentation will come available, until then I hope this guide can help some folks.
Example, 250Kbps, Extended Frame, no filtering / no mask, Standard mode. (aka, what the regulator uses): AA 55 12 05 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 1A
Sending STD frame:
Sending EXT frame:
I hope folks find this of some interest and help. If you have any addition input, please add to the comments below. I have this detail in a .wrd file and can send it to anyone who is interested to review / edit and/or correct.
 |
| USB-CAN Analyzer Dongle (Note V7.00) |
Costing around $25, they looked to be a promising little device to use, and for some reason they have somewhat wide availability. Including SeedStudio who offers them for a reasonable price: https://www.seeedstudio.com/USB-CAN-Analyzer-p-2888.html I was able to purchase one through Mouser for the same price. (SeedStudio branded). And of note: the one I have matches the photo, including the V7.00 revision.
However, the documentation is very lacking, and what is there is flat wrong. It does come with a Windows program that one can use to look at CAN messages, as well as send out some packets - but if you want to intercept the USB port and use it for your own programs, well . . . .
So I did a little snooping. Using a COMM monitoring program I have been able to decipher the ASCII commands to and from the little USB dongle for several of the key functions covering basic config, sending and receiving of packets. Perhaps some official (and correct) documentation will come available, until then I hope this guide can help some folks.
BASICS:
The USB dongle connects to the USB port via a QinHeng CH340 USB2 serial to USB adapter. Once your OS has loaded the needed driver a virtual COM port is created.CONFIGURING
The Configure command is a 20 character string with the following format:
Byte
|
Use
|
Value
|
Notes
|
1
|
START TOKEN
|
0xAA
|
Fixed value
|
2
|
COMMAND
|
0x55
|
Configure
|
3
|
?
|
0x12
|
|
4
|
SPEED
|
0x01 = 1Mbps
0x02 =
800Kbps
0x03 = 500Kbps
0x04 = 400Kbps
0x05 = 250Kbps
0x06 = 200Kbps
0x07 = 125Kbps
0x08 = 100Kbps
0x09 = 50Kbps
0x0A = 20Kbps
0x0B = 10Kbps
0x0C = 5Kbps
|
|
5
|
FRAME TYPE
|
0x01 = Std
0x02 = Extended
|
|
6
|
FILTER
|
MSB
|
Example: 0x12345678 --> 0x78
|
7
|
0x56
|
||
8
|
0x34
|
||
9
|
LSB
|
0x12
|
|
10
|
MASK
|
LSB
|
Example: 0xFCBA987
--> 0x87
|
11
|
0xA9
|
||
12
|
0xCB
|
||
13
|
MSB
|
0xFE
|
|
14
|
MODE
|
0x00 = Normal
0x01 =
Loopback
0x02 = Silent
0x03 =
Loopback + Silent
|
|
15
|
?
|
0x00 or 0x01
|
At one time I
noted this being 0x01, not sure why…
|
16
|
0x00
|
||
17
|
0x00
|
||
18
|
0x00
|
||
19
|
0x00
|
||
20
|
CHECKSUM
|
Calculated =
8-bit sum of Bytes 2..18
|
|
Example, 250Kbps, Extended Frame, no filtering / no mask, Standard mode. (aka, what the regulator uses): AA 55 12 05 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 1A
SENDING DATA PACKETS:
The format for sending a packet is variable length with no terminator. It again begins with the 0xAA value, and follows these tables:Sending STD frame:
Byte
|
Use
|
Value
|
Notes
|
1
|
START TOKEN
|
0xAA
|
Fixed value
|
2
|
COMMAND
|
Bits 6..7 = 11
|
Transfer Packet
|
STD/EXT
|
Bit 5 = 0
|
Standard message
|
|
?
|
Bit 4 = 0
|
||
LENGTH
|
Bit 0..3
|
Number of
data bytes being sent
|
|
Example:
Sending 6 bytes: 0xC6
|
|||
3
|
ID
|
LSB
|
Example: ID = 0xBA98 --> 0x98
|
4
|
MSB
|
0xBA
|
|
5
|
DATA
|
Data byte 1
|
Data packet. Transmit only the number of characters you
want to send.
(Matching
LENGTH above)
|
6
|
Data byte 2
|
||
7
|
Data byte 3
|
||
8
|
Data byte 4
|
||
9
|
Data byte 5
|
||
10
|
Data byte 6
|
||
11
|
Data byte 7
|
||
12
|
Data byte 8
|
Sending EXT frame:
Byte
|
Use
|
Value
|
Notes
|
1
|
START TOKEN
|
0xAA
|
Fixed value
|
2
|
COMMAND
|
Bits 6..7 = 11
|
Transfer Packet
|
STD/EXT
|
Bit 5 = 1
|
Extended message
|
|
?
|
Bit 4 = 0
|
||
LENGTH
|
Bit 0..3
|
Number of
data bytes being sent
|
|
Example:
Sending 6 bytes: 0xE6
|
|||
3
|
ID
|
LSB
|
Example: ID = 0xFEDCBA98 Ã --> 0x98
|
4
|
0xBA
|
||
5
|
0xDC
|
||
6
|
MSB
|
0xFE
|
|
7
|
DATA
|
Data byte 1
|
Data packet. Transmit only the number of characters you
want to send.
(Matching
LENGTH above)
|
8
|
Data byte 2
|
||
9
|
Data byte 3
|
||
10
|
Data byte 4
|
||
11
|
Data byte 5
|
||
12
|
Data byte 6
|
||
13
|
Data byte 7
|
||
14
|
Data byte 8
|
RECEIVING DATA PACKETS:
Receiving is the same as Sending but includes a 0x55 prefix. Note also, I am inferring the STD packets as I only captured EXTENDED frames. Again, packets are variable length with no terminator.
Byte
|
Use
|
Value
|
Notes
|
0
|
?
|
0x55
|
Prefix
value? Help to re-sync??
|
1
|
START TOKEN
|
0xAA
|
|
2
|
COMMAND
|
Bits 6..7 = 11
|
Transfer
Packet
|
STD/EXT
|
Bit 5 = 0
|
Standard message
|
|
?
|
Bit 4 = 0
|
||
LENGTH
|
Bit 0..3
|
Number of
data bytes being sent
|
|
Example:
Sending 6 bytes: 0xC6
|
|||
3
|
ID
|
LSB
|
Example: ID = 0xBA98 --> 0x98
|
4
|
MSB
|
0xBA
|
|
5
|
DATA
|
Data byte 1
|
Data packet. Transmit only the number of characters you
want to send.
(Matching
LENGTH above)
|
6
|
Data byte 2
|
||
7
|
Data byte 3
|
||
8
|
Data byte 4
|
||
9
|
Data byte 5
|
||
10
|
Data byte 6
|
||
11
|
Data byte 7
|
||
12
|
Data byte 8
|
Byte
|
Use
|
Value
|
Notes
|
0
|
?
|
0x55
|
Prefix
value? Help to re-sync??
|
1
|
START TOKEN
|
0xAA
|
|
2
|
COMMAND
|
Bits 6..7 = 11
|
Transfer
Packet
|
STD/EXT
|
Bit 5 = 1
|
Extended message
|
|
?
|
Bit 4 = 0
|
||
LENGTH
|
Bit 0..3
|
Number of
data bytes to receive
|
|
Example: Receiving
8 bytes: 0xE8
|
|||
3
|
ID
|
LSB
|
Example: ID = 0x 19F21280 --> 0x80
|
4
|
0x12
|
||
5
|
0xF2
|
||
6
|
MSB
|
0x19
|
|
7
|
DATA
|
Data byte 1
|
Data packet
(Matching
LENGTH above)
|
8
|
Data byte 2
|
||
9
|
Data byte 3
|
||
10
|
Data byte 4
|
||
11
|
Data byte 5
|
||
12
|
Data byte 6
|
||
13
|
Data byte 7
|
||
14
|
Data byte 8
|
I hope folks find this of some interest and help. If you have any addition input, please add to the comments below. I have this detail in a .wrd file and can send it to anyone who is interested to review / edit and/or correct.
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