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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : 180 plus days continuous operation
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panky Guru  Joined: 02/10/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1111 |
Hi all, My CGCMM2 MMBasic v4.4 based Caravan Power Monitor has been running 24/7 with no resets, restarts or any user intervention in my caravan for 183 days. It is mounted in the battery compartment of my van and endured 5 to 40+ degree temps and suffered a trip from Albany in WA back through Melbourne to Sydney (nearly 4000km) without a single hiccup. Also, 24 data dumps each day to an SD card for that whole period. I would love to keep it going and reach 365 days but I need to take down soon to tweak a few things in my program and upgrade to v4.5 for the Colour MM. What a fantastic testament to the PIC32MX chip, CG's very solid CMM2 hardware implimentation and Geoff's absolutely great software. Regards, Doug. ... almost all of the Maximites, the MicromMites, the MM Extremes, the ArmMites, the PicoMite and loving it! |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9502 |
Wonderful result - I think that MMBASIC is very stable indeed now - most problems are more user coding bugs then MMBASIC bugs these days. That's been MY experience anyway!  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
That's a real achievement Doug and great you're still looking at developing it further. I take it you're still using the VGA terminal, or have you done something else? I'm still planning to put one together for my caravanning mate's next trip and I'm hoping to be able to use the 5" TFT Maximite touch screen. It'd be good to hear more about how it all went - state of charge accuracy/calibration etc and any other changes like how you went with the remote control etc. Greg |
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| panky Guru Joined: 02/10/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1111 |
Hi Greg, Still using the vga monitor (7") as I need the pixals to display everything. Have kludged up a bluetooth interface to an Android tablet with a "proof of concept" front end written in drbasic (because it's free and has built in bluetooth commands). With the arrival of the micromite, I am looking to port the data collection backend to a micromite and probably stay with the tablet purely for the large display (or a smart phone for portability). Re calibration and accuracy, this is an area I need to do more work. The pulse charge nature of my 5 stage charging system is hard to accurately cater for with my 2 second sampling rate. My overall charge for the six months is -173ahrs - I know this is wrong as the batteries are fully charged (keep in mind this is an error of less than 1ahr per day. I think my load accuracy is good as it has been measured with a good multimeter and is in accord with sytem figures. I need to bench calibrate but my workshop is currently packed for an imminent move to Bega (oh joy, SWMBO has granted me a BIG shed as my workshop! ) Hope to get it into a full package later in the year as a complete system for a boat or van and submitted to Silicon Chip (as well as Back Shed) if they want it. I am constantly learning about all the magic involved in battery charging and discharging - maybe I should have called that "Black Magic"! As they say in the movies, 'so much to learn, so little time!' Regards, Doug. ... almost all of the Maximites, the MicromMites, the MM Extremes, the ArmMites, the PicoMite and loving it! |
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CircuitGizmos Guru Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 1427 |
Excellent! Love to see that the hardware is doing the job for you! Micromites and Maximites! - Beginning Maximite |
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TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6224 |
My data acquisition Mono Maximite (a CGMMSTICK) has been up for 167 days. The last reboot was caused by a long power outage of 8 hours or so and I reset it when restoring some other systems of the same power circuit, otherwise I expect the up-time would be a lot longer. It's in the shed so the environment is a lot more friendly than bouncing around the countryside. Ever since I stopped mice piddling on the circuit boards, reliability has been excellent. Jim VK7JH MMedit |
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| panky Guru Joined: 02/10/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1111 |
Those pesky critters will get you every time Jim. I forgot to add that all my program development was done on the terrific MMEdit program - highly recommended to anyone developing programs for the 'mite family. Regards, Doug. ... almost all of the Maximites, the MicromMites, the MM Extremes, the ArmMites, the PicoMite and loving it! |
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| akashh Senior Member  Joined: 19/01/2014 Location: IndiaPosts: 115 |
Panky, that's great. If you need some tips on battery management, message me. I can share with you what I am doing on Wattmon and perhaps it will be of help. Akash |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
Yes, I'm hoping to get around that by using the touch screen to pull up different displays with less info on each. There's a fair chance I'll have to compromise for a start though and use a keypad or rotary switch or something to call different screens because I'm not confident about getting the touch screen working. I want to mount the screen permanently on the wall of the fridge compartment next to their dinner table and it would be a bit of a pain to have to use something external (tablet, terminal etc) to change screens. Yes I think a uMite backend is probably a good way to go. The full CMM will still be needed for SD card storage though but it should make the programming easier - albeit with the extra hassle of getting serial transfers between them going. Hmmm... I'm going to have to look into my mate's charging system a bit more but I don't think his is pulsed (famous last words!). As you say though, being out 1AHr/day isn't much for a 100AHr battery but it adds up. I'm still not sure what to advise him about resetting his "state-of-charge" to 100%. Sounds a very understanding lady. My brother-in-law is moving house to the 'burbs from his current 75 acres and has to find room for a hanger for the two-seater light plane he spent five years building. There's problems, then there's p r o b l e m s! I'll be interested to read all that. Greg |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
What are you using for the display Jim? Guess compactness isn't such an issue in 'the shed' though. Also, do you bring up the data in different screens or display it all together? Re the mice - our cat has taken to bringing me in live rats (small compost heap type ones) to play with in my study. My wife is severely un-impressed - me too but not so 'severely'. I'm gonna have to move the cat door! Haven't noticed any urine on my PCB's yet but I'll look out for it 
Greg |
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| TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6224 |
No display on the maximite. I have a laptop PC in the shed which is used for storing camera images and it talks to the maximite to retrieve and store the data. The data gets emailed to me each day. I also overwrite some of the camera images with weather data before uploading them to my website. This has been handy while I have been a grey nomad but now the Van has been sold, there is less need for the remote monitoring. I will soon have micromites in various buildings on the 'farm', all talking back to the main laptop in the shed. I have been playing with data acquisition and security cameras etc for many years - long before the low-cost ones we can get today. When I had a shop in town, the camera in the window was able to 'help the police with their inquiries' after a hit and run early one morning. When I retired we shut down another camera and shortly after the weather bureau rang us up to let us know the camera was off air. They had been using it as part of their weather monitoring for a few years (without giving us any free advertising). If I do put a display in the shed, it will be a 7 inch touch screen. Jim VK7JH MMedit |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
Sounds like you almost are the Met Bureau! Where are you down there? I'm in Tassie two or three times a year. I've got family and friends in Hobart, L'ton, the Tamar (where I grew up), the East coast and NW coast. There's got to be a visit in there somewhere where I'd go past your place! It would be good to see your stuff and 'shoot the breeze'. Greg |
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| TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6224 |
Up in the hills behind Burnie. Jim VK7JH MMedit |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
Lovely area - I'll bet your complexion is peaches and cream  My family were pioneers up that way (Penguin 1857) and my uncle was a baker in Burnie in the 1950's/60's - there's still plenty of Yaxley's up that way.
I'll PM you next time I go down. Greg |
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| panky Guru Joined: 02/10/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1111 |
Hi folks, sorry to keep banging on this one but have now passed one whole year continuous 24/7 on the CMM2 running my little battery monitor for the van - no restarts or anything and still going. Have moved house down to Bega in NSW so have not had any chance to develop the tablet front end via bluetooth yet but it will happen. Always a bed here or free camp spot if any BSF nomads are passing through. Doug. ... almost all of the Maximites, the MicromMites, the MM Extremes, the ArmMites, the PicoMite and loving it! |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9502 |
Awesome result - congratulations, and thanks for posting back. I for one, was very interested to read that result, as I am soon to install a system based on the CMM2(albeit with a customized PCB) that will also need to run 24/7, so this is an encouraging result for me. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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