Bluetooth Serial Adapter for Zilla/Elithion - Android
How to access Elithion or Zilla via an Android tablet (instead of having to connect a PC via USB/serial cable):
I bought 2 serial-bluetooth adapters from here:
http://www.rovingnetworks.com/products/Bluetooth_Adapters
About $59 each. These ones allow the baud rate etc... to be set via the serial port, via bluetooth, or to be defaulted to 9600 via external dip switches.
The software also allows the bluetooth device name to be customized, and the PIN to be changed (important - don't want drive-by changes to my controller!).
I then installed a spp bluetooth serial terminal app for android - there are a bunch of them that are free... I use "Blueterm", "Bluetooth SPP" and "Sena BTerm". It is nice to find one with a usable "esc" key...
Zilla setup with 9600 baud - Elithion setup with 19200 baud - both work great. Now I can see what's happening from my Android phone.
The reason I did this was I got stuck once. The BMS will give an error for an over-charge condition (ie charger fails to stop) or for an over-discharge condition. I trigger on the error signal to create a ground for a relay - ie if there is an error, you cannot charge (this is not good for an over-discharge condition). I suppose I could wire in a switch to the relay to force the ground (and allow charging) - with the Android/bluetooth serial option I can now remove the error and start charging... Way better than those Palm solutions for Zilla too....
I would love to see Android apps that make better use of the Zilla/Elithion data stream via bluetooth - a removable dash android tablet would be great in my car!
I bought 2 serial-bluetooth adapters from here:
http://www.rovingnetworks.com/products/Bluetooth_Adapters
About $59 each. These ones allow the baud rate etc... to be set via the serial port, via bluetooth, or to be defaulted to 9600 via external dip switches.
The software also allows the bluetooth device name to be customized, and the PIN to be changed (important - don't want drive-by changes to my controller!).
I then installed a spp bluetooth serial terminal app for android - there are a bunch of them that are free... I use "Blueterm", "Bluetooth SPP" and "Sena BTerm". It is nice to find one with a usable "esc" key...
Zilla setup with 9600 baud - Elithion setup with 19200 baud - both work great. Now I can see what's happening from my Android phone.
The reason I did this was I got stuck once. The BMS will give an error for an over-charge condition (ie charger fails to stop) or for an over-discharge condition. I trigger on the error signal to create a ground for a relay - ie if there is an error, you cannot charge (this is not good for an over-discharge condition). I suppose I could wire in a switch to the relay to force the ground (and allow charging) - with the Android/bluetooth serial option I can now remove the error and start charging... Way better than those Palm solutions for Zilla too....
I would love to see Android apps that make better use of the Zilla/Elithion data stream via bluetooth - a removable dash android tablet would be great in my car!
21 - 39 of 39 Posts
Dito .....................Davide,
how is the progress on this? Some are anxiously waiting!
Very nice, when it will be release ? What hardware is needed ?![]()
Like it?
Any day. It took us some time to make it work with Apple products, but now we're all set.When it will be released?
It's a plug and play box, which we're about to sell. It's a "black box" with a 12 V power input and a USB cable. It's pretty straightforward:What hardware is needed ?
- Power it; connect it to the Lithiumate
- Select the "Lithiumate" WiFi network on your device; enter "elithion" as the password
- Open a browser, go to 10.1.1.1
Any day. It took us some time to make it work with Apple products, but now we're all set.
It's a plug and play box, which we're about to sell. It's a "black box" with a 12 V power input and a USB cable. It's pretty straightforward:
That's it!
- Power it; connect it to the Lithiumate
- Select the "Lithiumate" WiFi network on your device; enter "elithion" as the password
- Open a browser, go to 10.1.1.1
Sounds good, I hope the price will be good too
I'm placing an order right now for an elithiumate lite, and the new wifi option adds $228 to the price. This is great!
Indeed it's a "great" price. I was afraid of that. Some people are too greedyI'm placing an order right now for an elithiumate lite, and the new wifi option adds $228 to the price. This is great!
Greedy : " Excessively desirous of acquiring or possessing, especially wishing to possess more than what one needs or deserves. "
$228-$158=$70 for the greedy dealer who does nothing and allready got a chunk of money when he sold the BMS.
This is not a separate product is an improvement of the product making it more attractive for the buyers.
And don't get me rong, I consider your BMS being a very good one and you are free to charge how much you want for it, but after purchasing the BMS I needed to buy extra cell boards and the stealer charged me an insane price, and I did buy the system from the same stealer, and now I refuse to pay the stealer for a product feature who should be included in the product from the beginning.
This is not a separate product is an improvement of the product making it more attractive for the buyers.
And don't get me rong, I consider your BMS being a very good one and you are free to charge how much you want for it, but after purchasing the BMS I needed to buy extra cell boards and the stealer charged me an insane price, and I did buy the system from the same stealer, and now I refuse to pay the stealer for a product feature who should be included in the product from the beginning.
$31, not $70
Please do let us know how it works out for you, how much it ends up costing you, and how many hours you'll spend on it.
I respect that, so I am offering you the instruction on building your own WiFi Hot-spot, courtesy of Peter Chave.now I refuse to pay.
Please do let us know how it works out for you, how much it ends up costing you, and how many hours you'll spend on it.
If it's working with others smartphone, not only with the iPhone, then it's the perfect solution for me.$31, not $70
I respect that, so I am offering you the instruction on building your own WiFi Hot-spot, courtesy of Peter Chave.
Please do let us know how it works out for you, how much it ends up costing you, and how many hours you'll spend on it.
I will look into it.
Doesn't sound excessive to me. Wireless display is fairly new, and I'm glad they added it as an option to this BMS. How much did you get charged for replacement/spare boards?$228-$158=$70 for the greedy dealer who does nothing and allready got a chunk of money when he sold the BMS.
This is not a separate product is an improvement of the product making it more attractive for the buyers.
And don't get me rong, I consider your BMS being a very good one and you are free to charge how much you want for it, but after purchasing the BMS I needed to buy extra cell boards and the stealer charged me an insane price, and I did buy the system from the same stealer, and now I refuse to pay the stealer for a product feature who should be included in the product from the beginning.
1PR0106M - Elithion 106mm Cell Board (Middle) $15.00 eachDoesn't sound excessive to me. Wireless display is fairly new, and I'm glad they added it as an option to this BMS. How much did you get charged for replacement/spare boards?
106N1PR0106N - Elithion 106mm Cell Board (Negative) $26.00 each
106P1PR0106P - Elithion 106mm Cell Board (Positive) $17.00 each
The reason for needing more cell boards was that I changed my battery configuration going for more cells , when I ordered it, I wasn't planning for so many cells.
Make sure you got enough cell boards and some extra with your BMS order otherwise you will pay again for the "honor of doing business"
Those same boards, if bought directly from Elithion as part of a system would cost less.
Sorry for being so late in seeing this.Just make sure that the Zilla is isolated on it's serial port, IIRC, it's not. It should use it's own supply for the bluetooth.
One way to check is is to check the ground of the serial port and see if it has continuity with B- of the controller.
The Hairball serial port is referenced to chassis ground, not the battery pack. So it should be safe as I expect the same from Elithion.
Also, the Hairball RJ serial port has a +12V pin (unregulated) which could be used to drive a 5V regulator to run the BT module.
Or, you could run this part http://www.rovingnetworks.com/products/RN240 which can use 4-12V in. Since the Hairball output is unregulated and just comes from the SLI +14 In, it would be advisable to drop the 12V down with a 1 Watt 5.1V zener diode in series with the 12V supply.
I have been intending to make a solution similar to the new Elithion wifi connection since we need to move forward from the simple serial and offer access to all devices. It looks like Peter Chave has done most of the work. Thanks Peter! I was also planning on using the Rasberry Pi. Seeing this, I'll look into extending his design to access the Zilla Hairball as well.
Thanks Otmar!
it will sure be nice and handy to use the same (or similiar) device to check on my instruments.
it will sure be nice and handy to use the same (or similiar) device to check on my instruments.
Yes, the Elithion Lithiumate BMS is referenced to chassis ground.
Yes, thank you to Peter Chave!
We did end up doing it all from scratch, because Peter's solution has some fundamental issues that are insurmountable. Still, it was Peter who inspired us on the general approach.
We ended up doing the whole project using Python and Ajax, instead of PHP and iframes.
If you want more details, if you think it might help you in your project, please contact me off line and I'll talk to you about it.
Yes, thank you to Peter Chave!
We did end up doing it all from scratch, because Peter's solution has some fundamental issues that are insurmountable. Still, it was Peter who inspired us on the general approach.
We ended up doing the whole project using Python and Ajax, instead of PHP and iframes.
If you want more details, if you think it might help you in your project, please contact me off line and I'll talk to you about it.
21 - 39 of 39 Posts
- This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
DIY Electric Car Forums
A forum community dedicated to DIY electric car owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about electric vehicle conversions, builds, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Top Contributors this Month
View All
remy_martian
129 Replies
Functional Artist
38 Replies
428RC
21 Replies
Recommended Communities
