Sneak Peek at the NEW Revolectrix BUMP Controller

[Tim Marks]

INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to the new thread dedicated entirely to an open discussion about the new Revolectrix BUMP Controller. Not only is this thread about an exciting new product, it represents a new concept for battery maintenance. For those readers who may not be familiar with Revolectrix, Revolectrix is a brand that represents a partnership between the U.S.-company FMA, Inc. (also known as FMA Direct) and Leo Energy, LLC of Singapore. FMA, Inc. has a long track record of designing cutting-edge products for the worldwide R/C hobby market. Since 2007, our partnership with Leo Energy has enabled us to focus on what we do best; engineer innovative products, while Leo’s main focus has been to oversee manufacturing in Indonesia. Our products, branded Revolectrix, are offered for sale and supported worldwide to R/C hobby dealers as well as to direct retail consumers via two webstores; the “REVO Singapore” webstore and the “REVO USA” webstore. Leo Energy maintains the REVO Singapore store; shipping globally from Indonesia. FMA, Inc. maintains the REVO USA store; shipping products to North and South America from Maryland. Unlike many of our competitors, who leave testing to their unsuspecting customer base, FMA, Inc. has a long-standing tradition of thoroughly and diligently beta testing our new designs using teams composed of carefully-selected, qualified candidates, to ensure they work as advertised when they hit the streets. Collectively, the group chosen to beta test the new BUMP Controller represents decades of modeling experience and employment within the field of electronic instruments and testing. This unique thread is being started, and is fully-sanctioned and supported by FMA, Inc., but it will be monitored by the beta team. You are invited to ask technical questions or inquire about available features to your heart’s content. Answers will be supplied by team members who now have logged cumulatively, thousands of happy hours with the prototypes each has received. Over the past several months, their inputs have helped shape the user interface and feature-set of the BUMP Controller. From time-to-time, members of the engineering team, including myself, may step in to offer assistance in this regard; however, for the most part, this is their thread. ENJOY!

Meet the Beta Team:
Ed Johnson
Shannon Turner
John Romann
Tony Clement
Greg Campbell
Chris Spohr
Dale Hagan
Jack Doherty
Glen Crandall

 
But before you start asking questions, take a quick look at the current specifications and the feature set of this ground-breaking new battery management system:

OVERVIEW:

WHAT IS “BUMP” ?

BUMP is an exclusive new Revolectrix concept for Battery Management. The BUMP Controller utilizes Near Field Communication (NFC) Technology to communicate with any battery equipped with a BUMP Compliant Tag, or “BumpTag”. The BumpTags will be pre-installed and pre-configured on most Revolectrix batteries in the near future. BumpTags will also be available for sale separately, so a customer can configure them for use with any battery of his choosing using the BUMP Controller. Once a tag is programmed for any given battery, a simple “BUMP” of the battery on the BUMP Controller configures any Revolectrix PowerLab Battery Workstation to the ideal settings for performing all battery management tasks. The BUMP Controller can independently address up to 4 PowerLab units (or channels of the Dual PowerLab 8) – each PowerLab connected is able to operate completely independent of the others.

MAJOR FEATURES:

• Simple, intuitive color touchscreen user interface
• Complete charger setup with a simple "bump" of the battery ... just bump, connect, and press Start
• No need to configure or select presets although native PowerLab operation is still possible for non-BumpTag equipped batteries
• Optimizes charger settings for each individual battery, speeds up the charging setup process
• Reduces accidental mistakes that could lead to expensive (and potentially dangerous) battery damage
• Automatic calculation for parallel charging, even for different battery capacities and C-ratings
• Each BumpTag contains the full factory ratings of the battery (write-once), as well as user preferences and settings that can be changed at any time
• Each BumpTag contains a unique ID which enables automatic battery history and performance tracking – battery cycle history is automatically cached and uploaded to the mobile app whenever it connects via Bluetooth
• Works with all existing Revolectrix Cellpro PowerLab 6, PowerLab 8v2, and Dual PowerLab (8x2) Battery Workstations
• Connect up to 4 PowerLab Workstations to a single BumpController (any combination of PL models)
• Supported Chemistries: LiPo (including LiHV), LiFe, Li-Ion, NiMH, NiCd, and Pb
• Supported Operations: Accurate Charge, Normal Charge, Fastest Charge, Discharge, Storage Charge, Analyze Cycle
• Analyze Cycle allows battery performance characteristics (Fuel Table, actual capacity, IR, etc.) to be stored back to the BumpTag for accurate fuel level and cycle time estimates
• The Bump Controller can serve as a remotely-mounted user interface for the PowerLab Battery Workstations, allowing the chargers to be completely hidden inside a charging case or beneath charging tables/benches. This frees up valuable workspace for batteries, connectors, adapters, parallel adapters, etc.

HARDWARE CAPABILITIES:

• High-brightness, 2.8" QVGA TFT LCD with resistive touchscreen
• Integrated BUMP wireless interface for configuring and reading BumpTags on batteries
• Integrated Bluetooth 4.0/LE support for wireless real-time monitoring, control, and firmware upgrades (Android, Apple iOS, and Windows mobile devices)
• Integrated USB port for direct connection to Windows PC for firmware updates, as well as powering/charging mobile devices
• Four (4) 3-wire serial interfaces for connection to PowerLab Workstations (uses standard male-to-male servo connectors/extensions)
• Powerful 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 main processor, plus dedicated co-processors for Bluetooth and NFC
• Wide (10v-52v) input voltage range matches PowerLab Workstations for simple power setup (use standard EC-5 Y-cables to power the Bump Controller and PowerLabs simultaneously)

ROADMAP SOFTWARE FEATURES:

• 4Q 2015 : Windows USB Firmware Update Utility
• 1Q 2016 : Android Charge Control Software (CCS) Client initial release – monitoring, control and firmware updates (Bluetooth LE)
• 1Q 2016 : Bump Controller support for native PowerLab presets (in addition to “BUMP” setup)
• 2Q 2016 : Android CCS Client – battery history, graphing, reporting
• 2Q 2016 : Bump Controller support for native PowerLab options and settings
• 3Q 2016 : Apple iOS Client software initial release (Bluetooth LE)
• 4Q 2016 : Windows Mobile CCS Client (Bluetooth LE)

ESTIMATED INITIAL AVAILABILITY:

4TH Quarter, 2015

DIMENSIONS: 5.3” L x 3.1” W x 1.2” H (including bezel above/around LCD)
Please note: all specifications and features listed above subject to change prior to delivery.

Retail price for the basic unit currently $149.95 on the REVO USA webstore and $144.95 on the REVO Singapore webstore

[pctomlin]

Enough with the teasing already, your killing me. Been watching the other thread for a while and anxiously looking forward to the release. This will be a great addition to my two PL8s. And I thought CCS was great. This is a whole new world of charging versatility and charger case build options.

[deh1955]

Paul, where in Texas are you? 3 of us beta testers are in the north Dallas area

[eddiscus]

You will not be disappointed. Bump data transfer has been 100% accurate on the packs I have been using. Revolectrix wants to be 100% sure this is ready for the consumer. Patience will be rewarded.
Bump Controller being tested on 2 PL8 Duo's.

Ed Johnson

[pctomlin]

Originally Posted by deh1955

Paul, where in Texas are you? 3 of us beta testers are in the north Dallas area

I am near Conroe, north of Houston. That you Jack? We met at SRC a couple of years ago when you demoed the hard deck.

[deh1955]

No, my name is Dale. I was probably with Jack. Was that when we demo'd copilot. I owned the Raptor Jack was flying.

[pctomlin]

I believe Jack was flying a Trex 600 demoing the new hard deck module. Believe it was the 2012 SRC event in Pittsburg.

[eddiscus]

Being fortunate enough to have been selected as a beta tester I have to say it has been nothing short of a positive experience. It is a pleasure to collaborate with fellow hobbyists that come up with excellent Ideas.

I have been unable to actually fly due to weather and family obligations up until this weekend. Finally getting to the field and actually using the Bump controller outside of a test environment . I can honestly say this is what I have been waiting for, charging is now as simple as Bump, Connect and Go.

[TheBum]

I see a PowerLab and BUMP controller in my future, around 3Q 2016.

[Only Fine Helis]

I was also very privileged and honored to have been involved with the beta test program.

I am not only very impressed with the product, but also the thoroughness and devotion to excellence that I have seen FMA and Revolectrix have toward this product release. I have been involved with several beta releases of multiple products in multiple industries, and the work behind the scenes that these companies have put in is outstanding.

I not only wholeheartedly recommend this product because it's a great product, but behind it also are great people who care about excellence and service.

You owe it to yourself to check this one out.

[pctomlin]

Got into a charger discussion at a FF this weekend, shared my very limited knowledge of the Bump Controller. Seems to perk up a lot of interest in the product and finding out more about it.

[3Daemon]

What about "small BUMP" - 1 channel device, probably w/o touch screen? Just like NFC reader connected to one PL6 or GT500 charger?

[eddiscus]

You would then be restricted to using a tablet or phone to perform the initial programming of the tag.
If you want one channel then that's all you have to plug in. The display on the bump will reflect only 1 channel as well as the Tablet/ phone app.

Kelly would know better but there is more to the Bump Controller itself than just a display and NFC reader. So removing the touchscreen will probably not decrease the controllers overall size by much

[Ace Dude]

Originally Posted by 3Daemon

What about "small BUMP" - 1 channel device, probably w/o touch screen? Just like NFC reader connected to one PL6 or GT500 charger?

No plans to support the GT500 as far as I know. The BUMP uses the existing interface on the PowerLab chargers (similar to the way CCS communicates with the charger). Not sure it would be cost effective or there would be much demand for a 1 channel device.

[RevoKelly]

Originally Posted by 3Daemon

What about "small BUMP" - 1 channel device, probably w/o touch screen? Just like NFC reader connected to one PL6 or GT500 charger?

We are exploring other hardware configurations, but the existing BumpController was the best balance of cost and functionality. It would be possible to build a stripped-down version for maybe $75 instead of $150, but you probably wouldn't have a good enough display to be able to easily setup and modify tags (might be just ready only), and it would likely only control a single device, and probably wouldn't have Bluetooth LE support for mobile connectivity .... and probably very few people would buy it
If you could sell a million of them, you could probably get unit cost down to $30, but the market just isn't big enough to be able to sell niche products at reasonable prices ... and it has to be reasonably priced in this industry or it will be dead before it ships

So we really liked the idea of investment protection for our existing PowerLab owners (which is the bulk of our product install base) as the entry point for this new technology. This install base, combined with what we believe is the right feature set, will help push up volumes and allow us to invest in new Bump products in the future. And based on feedback so far, we may have actually underestimated the demand .... a great problem to have !!!

We have some other designs in the works, but of course i can't spill those beans now ... rest assured this wont be the only product you see from us with Bump technology ;^)

[minatrix]

I see that the Android software will come in two stages, but when listing the iOS software, it just says initial release and doesn't mention a second release.

Is it planned that the initial iOS release in 3Q 2016 will have same level of CCS as android will have at that time? Or will that require waiting for a second update of iOS software?

[RevoKelly]

Originally Posted by minatrix

I see that the Android software will come in two stages, but when listing the iOS software, it just says initial release and doesn't mention a second release.

Is it planned that the initial iOS release in 3Q 2016 will have same level of CCS as android will have at that time? Or will that require waiting for a second update of iOS software?

The goal is to have the same level of support as listed in the Android version by fall 2016 - so it will include graphing and battery history/reporting functions.

[Rodney Kirstine]

Any estimate on the cost of the tags? I'm guessing it's very small since it's not mentioned.

[minatrix]

It was mentioned in another thread that they will be very inexpensive.

Originally Posted by RevoKelly

We don't have solid numbers worked out with manufacturing, but expect the BumpTag street price to be in the $1.25-$1.50 range depending on quantity. Don't hold me to those exact numbers, but that's the target. We obviously want to keep it as low as possible to promote usage, so we will do our best to keep the cost down.

[3Daemon]

Originally Posted by RevoKelly

you probably wouldn't have a good enough display to be able to easily setup and modify tags (might be just ready only), and it would likely only control a single device, and probably wouldn't have Bluetooth LE support for mobile connectivity .... and probably very few people would buy it

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