Sneak Peek at the NEW Revolectrix BUMP Controller

[eddiscus]

Also keep in mind that a lot of interest at IRCHA was expressed with custom charge case projects where the charger is totally hidden.

The Bump controller will be the only visible interface to start and monitor charger functions.

After spending many hours along with others beta testing the bump controller. I feel The entire team at Revolectrix is bringing an excellent product to market that adds a level of ease and functionality to battery charging. At a price point that is very fair considering all the features and functionality it adds to an all ready high quality charger product.

[pctomlin]

Got the tease mail today about the Bump. I see a much more compact charging setup in my future for the big batteries.

[Coco66]

Can you guys confirm how parallel charging is handled?
Saw in the video you can bump one and then tell it's, say, three batteries, but in that case history would not be stored for the other two, no?

[Only Fine Helis]

Parallel can be handled a couple of ways.

1 - you can bump one or select one from cache and then select how many of them you would like to parallel charge.

2 - you can bump each battery individually which will keep adding them up to the total number that you are parallel charging.

Option one will not really give you any tracking data except for the cycle count of the first pack that you bumped.

Option two will keep track of the cycle count of each battery.

Neither will track IR, charge cycle specifics, etc. for each specific battery because in parallel the charger just sees one big battery.

[sutty]

Why couldn't someone produce an 'active' parallel charge board that could measure those things. A little circuitry, a couple of chips, and a comms channel back to the charger, or bump controller, and I would have thought that this would be an excellent combo together with the bump controller, so that all packs could be tracked.

[myxiplx]

It would be nice to have the ability to monitor batteries while parallel charging. I suspect it would add a lot more cost though.

[hemp]

Originally Posted by sutty

Why couldn't someone produce an 'active' parallel charge board that could measure those things.

That would be a new charger (I've long wanted a charger with 4 sets of output connectors for individually monitored parallel charging.) But since this thread is about the BUMP controller, we should probably stick to that topic.

[emrekaman]

Well, with a bump and 4 of powerlabs, it could be the most pricy data collection It's not quite a parallel charge, but it does the job...

Anyway, I don't think that it's necessary to log all the life story of a battery. Just a single charge from time to time to see how it is doing. But charge cycle count will be good, so I would put a tag to every battery.

[RevoKelly]

Originally Posted by 3Daemon

NFC tag programming not a question at all, just check Android app store for NFC tools(pro) for example. Mobile connectivity? For what? By my opinion, people will like simple, not expensive controller for their chargers, which will be able do simple task - read NFC from battery pack and select corresponding profile on charger. Start button? Well, I can press on charger Storing battery history/state? Yes, nice feature, but it could be just software (app/db) on your PC/Phone.
So... just NFC tag on battery pack (~$0.5-$0.6) + small not expensive NFC reader connected to PL (~$20-$30) + software (~$5-$10, or included to reader price) - that's all. IMHO

This is about alot more than "select corresponding profile on charger". I realize we don't have all of the features and details posted, but I think you will see that it's a complete battery management strategy with hardware and software optimized to make charging as fast and simple as possible. And in the end, maybe it isn't for you - pretty sure we can't make everyone happy

[RevoKelly]

Originally Posted by hemp

That would be a new charger (I've long wanted a charger with 4 sets of output connectors for individually monitored parallel charging.) But since this thread is about the BUMP controller, we should probably stick to that topic.

This is something that Revo looked at before and concluded it's just too expensive ... to do it right, you really do pretty much need to build a full charger since it must be able to not only read individual cells, but also control current (balance bypass) to each individual cell, as well as at least be able to sense current into each pack via main leads ... and to optimize charge time, really should also be be able to regulate charge current into the main leads ... and now we have a charger

[LaDon]

I seen this at IRCHA and if you ask me it is the coolest charging thing yet. I have already started taking my charge box apart and have already bought a charger and am waiting for the bump control to come out. That thing is the neatest thing ever I think. Yes I can see where doing things to where it would measure all cells even in parallel but I don't care. I will set up 2 dual chargers anyway and I will be able to do 4 batteries without parallel charging and that usually is enough. I cant wait for this to get out.

[myxiplx]

Given the logging abilities, if you regularly parallel charge, it might be nice to have it prompt you every 10-20 cycles to do an analyse cycle.

[TheBum]

Originally Posted by myxiplx

Given the logging abilities, if you regularly parallel charge, it might be nice to have it prompt you every 10-20 cycles to do an analyse cycle.

+1. I regularly parallel charge the pairs of flight packs for my DT700, but they also do double duty, one pack at a time, in my DT520, so they may not see equal discharge.

[RevoKelly]

Originally Posted by myxiplx

Given the logging abilities, if you regularly parallel charge, it might be nice to have it prompt you every 10-20 cycles to do an analyse cycle.

I had the same idea but wasn't sure if it was worth consuming tag storage space... I originally had a 2-byte "last analyze cycle number" field which stored the cycle number from the last analyze ... then a global preference could be set on the BC as to how often to prompt, if at all. Also thought that the warning threshold rules/logic could use that info to determine the level of confidence it has in the measurements .... confidence is higher if analyze was relatively recent. Thinking maybe use a rolling 1-byte field that would serve the purpose but save a little space.

Good feedback. I'll add it to our feature backlog.

[myxiplx]

Rather than a rolling field, maybe just increment it until it hits the max value, and only reset it after an analyze cycle? 1 byte should give you enough room for that I would have thought.

[RevoKelly]

Originally Posted by myxiplx

Rather than a rolling field, maybe just increment it until it hits the max value, and only reset it after an analyze cycle? 1 byte should give you enough room for that I would have thought.

Possibly. I do everything I can to keep the "bump" as fast as possible which means minimizing reads and writes ... so I try to avoid logic which causes a field to need to be re-written on a frequent basis. I might be able to align it in the same block as the cycle counter so they write concurrently - thanks for spurring that thought

[mkovalcson]

You had to go and show me that...

Now look what you've done! I'm looking at a new charging tower build.

[myxiplx]

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

You had to go and show me that...

Now look what you've done! I'm looking at a new charging tower build.

Hahaha, and you know we're expecting a build thread :-)

[mkovalcson]

I'm going to have to try out the BUMP module first to see how I like driving 2 chargers from it and if this looks viable

[eddiscus]

Works great with 2- PL8 Duo's.
Go for it.