question

Warwick Bruce Chapman avatar image
Warwick Bruce Chapman asked

Is there a cheaper, more compact way of doing the job of an MK3? (Related to Pi Zero)

I know that there is interest in getting the Pi Zero working but nobody has cracked it yet. I was looking at hiring someone to tackle it but then Corona pressed pause on that.

I'm now slowly getting above water again and looking at it.

The use case here is clients who can only afford tiny solutions eg. 1200VA with a single 230Ah battery. This is wired into their house and allows them to run the basics without interruption - very valuable and they are very happy. But adding a Venus adds about 25% to the cost of this sort of solution. It is just too much.

Then, when the customer has issues, we cannot help them because we have no idea what was happening at the time.

A Raspberry Pi-based solution does not come in cheaply enough to justify the schlep compared to just supplying a Venus at cost. Board plus robust power plus SD plus MK3 plus time to build and load makes the Venus at cost a better solution for us.

BUT, if we could do something with a Pi Zero and an alternative to an MK3, we could provide a very simple solution with probably enough power to manage just a single device eg. a MultiPlus.

I understand that Ve.Bus is not Ethernet but just uses the RJ45 connector. If that is the case, could the RJ45 not connect directly to the GPIO of the Pi and we implement the protocol on the Pi?

I may be talking total crap, in which case, set me straight and I will carry on living my life.

But, if I'm onto something here, we could build something very small and simple that could help a lot of installers out there better serve their clients.

cc @mvader (Victron Energy)

Raspberry PiMK3
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2 Answers
mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image
mvader (Victron Energy) answered ·

Hi @warwick, nice to hear from you again.

Yes the pi zero would be a very nice & low cost wifi connected gateway.

For VE.Bus, you do really need the MK3-USB; or at least the microchip microprocessor thats inside the MK3 as well as the RS485 transceiver & isolation. There really is no way around that.

But from our side, to base a commercial product on the pi zero - is a step too far. We have some initiatives to at some point make a "low cost Cerbo"; and certainly I see the value of it; but that is all long long term & not for now I'm afraid.

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juan3211 avatar image
juan3211 answered ·

Hi @mvader (Victron Energy)

I want to but victron stuff, and also mk3-usb cable. But is there any option to get a RS485 or UART communication from that MK3-USB converter?

I want to implement an arduino or ESP8266 or ESP32 logger from the MK3-USB cable and I need RS485 or UART "before" the usb port. Is there any schema, or internal test pins in the mk3-usb where we can connect gnd-rx-tx pins?

Even, is there any other option to get ve.bus - uart converter?

Thanks


3 comments
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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Hi @juan3211 sorry, we can’t help you with that.
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juan3211 avatar image juan3211 mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Hi, I know that you share with us the mk2 protocol, that is good!, but we need also to know if we can get a uart communication from inside mk3 adapter, it is only "yes" or "not".
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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ juan3211 commented ·
I would think its possible. But can’t give a clear yes or no; as I don’t know for sure.


you’d have to get one, and just try: look for the serial/usb IC, remove it, and so forth.


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