Bluetooth BMS' and using an "Android PC" for monitoring.

[Steve_S]

Good Day fellow DIY'ers.

I am using several JK-BMS's which have Bluetooth as well as RS485 comms. They provide a BT App that can connect to the separate BMS' from a single menu. I've decided to "Experiment" with a different method of monitoring the BMS' via BT as opposed to RS485.

Scenario:
I have a separate powerhouse where all the solar gear is located and it is about 50'+ from my actual house which is too far for Bluetooth to work. There is CAT-6 Ethernet wired from the powerhouse to the house router, and WIFI does reach it without issues as well. I'm sick of having to meander out there with my phone to use BT to check on my battery packs, not to mention Winter is coming so "suiting up" in -20C temps is Tedious at best to do so.

Thanks to one of the Youtube Channels I'm subscribed to I watched a good review on an Android & Linux SBC (small board computer) similar to a Raspberry Pi which provides a clean Native Android 11 Install. I Have Raspi's but you have to kludge Android onto them and that does not appeal to me.

So today I purchased a Khadas Vim1s SBC and will set this up with Andriod 11 and use TeamViewer between my Main Windows-10 PC and it to monitor & play with the BMS's. I will likely also use one of my Raspi-4B's for the RS485 but that will be another experiment for over winter which will incorporate my Midnite Solar Classic(s) and probably my Samlex EVO Inverter/Charger via ModBus but that is going to be a bit more challenging and thus time-consuming. * I do have the Samlex ModBus protocol stack info BUT have a developer NDA so I cannot share it, sorry.

I'll be posting to this thread as I "tinker" with this experiment so if anyone is interested it'll be here for you to laugh at.

Spoiler: Vim1S Components Detail Cost

VIM1S SKU: KVIM1-S-001 Qty: 1 $64.90​ DIY Case SKU: KCS-T-001 Color: Transparent Qty: 1 $13.00​ RTC Battery SKU: K-BT-002 Qty: 1 $2.00​ 3705 Cooling Fan SKU: KAC-V2-002 Qty: 1 $15.00​ New VIMs Heatsink SKU: KAHS-V-001 Qty: 1 $10.00​ Prices in USD​ Subtotal $104.90

Hope it is of interest and that it may generate other ideas as well.
Steve

 

[Steve_S]

Just did a quick test with TeamViewer on my Android Phone using the Host App on it and main app on my PC. Not too hard to setup (requires patience) and worked a treat. But you have to manually activate screencast on the Phone. I'll have to figure that out to be automatic

 

[DarrylG]

Thanks for posting. I am interested in your project as I am trying to get a small computer to connect to my Powerurus battery BMS to check the SOC, Current, etc. Ultimately I would like to be running Home Assistant to monitor my system as well and controlling a few Z-wave items. At the moment I have not purchased any hardware.

 

[Quattrohead]

Mr Obvious question ?
Why not run RS485 over a CAT5/6 cable to the house ?

 

[OffGridGuy]

Howdy,

Looks like an interesting project... I'll be following it.

Thanks

 

[SolaroSsaurius]

Thanks for sharing!

Why not reading the values through Louis's drivers to a RPi with Venus OS installed?

Pretty interface, cheap(ish), accessible from www

Regards!

 

[Steve_S]

I have no Victron Gear - was not available when I started on my off-grid solar journey.
My System Gear:
Midnite Solar Classic SCC (Has ModBus) over ethernet. I've made a Node-Red app for this.
Samlex EVO Inverter has Modbus / CanBus (not published). I have an NDA Agreement with Samlex and have the Modbus Stack which I hope to also integrate.
Then I have 6x JKBMS' running now.
This winter when I can't do much outside I'll get into writing software and create a UI for all of it, not my current priority. I have 4 Raspi-4B's that I'll be using for that

 

[SolaroSsaurius]

Hi Steve!
I know you don't have Victron gear.
But with the VenusOS you get a pretty nice interface/ central console.
I have not explored it myself, I'm about to, but what I see is an easy way to present all batteries to a nice GUI, easily accessible from anywhere through VRM / web.

Regards

 

[Delphinus]

Just did a quick test with TeamViewer on my Android Phone using the Host App on it and main app on my PC. Not too hard to setup (requires patience) and worked a treat. But you have to manually activate screencast on the Phone. I'll have to figure that out to be automatic

Did you try bignox? It's an android emulator works best than teamviewer and you don't need a mobile phone.

 

[Delphinus]

Did you try bignox? It's an android emulator works best than teamviewer and you don't need a mobile phone.

Ignore my post, big nox doesn't support bluetooth yet.

 

[Don B. Cilly]

FWIW, I get data from a JK BMS on Linux (the only OS I use) using this.
-

 

[Steve_S]

I eventually got the VIM1S and installed Droid 12 onto it. I attempted to get the JK App installed which didn't work. That had more to do with their APP than anything else. See here:

JKBMS Android App after version 4.9.2 fail to install/upgrade.

Hello everyone, For those involved with JKBMS' this is a concerning issue that has popped up over the last few builds (after 4.9.2). The APP will not install or upgrade on Android 11 or 12, I don't know about Droid 13 or lower versions. I have been in contact with Hankzor and have left...

diysolarforum.com

So I am changing path as a result of the shenanigans...
I have a few Raspberry Pi 4B's and just finished refreshing / updating two of them in DeskPi Pro cases with M2.SATA drives (1TB and 500GB) and the latest 64bit RaspberryOS. Purchased a 10 Port USB 2.0 High Speed HUB External with Power Adapter and Cable and 8 pieces of USB TTL UART Converter Cable PL2303TA Windows XP to 10 which will let me use the RS485 from the BMS' directly with JST-1.25mm 4 pin connectors.

I already have the Midnite Classic SCC connected to NodeRed and will use NodeRed to access the BMS' and the Samlex Inverter as well dumping to Influx DB. NodeRed has dashboard facilities which can be used for configuration (write capable) functions and for stats display etc with Grafana. This is going to be my Lazy through Winter project.

There is a NodeRed FLOW for JKBMS if anyone is interested: https://flows.nodered.org/flow/491b04fbac4eb2989ee90ec87c28240d

 

[jberger]

Just an idea, you can also run the Android subsystem on Windows and get the best of both worlds.

Announcing Android™ apps on Windows 11 Preview for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

UPDATED 1/26/22: The preview of Android™ apps on Windows 11 is now available for Windows Insiders in the Release Preview Channel in the U.S. UPDATED 11/4: The preview of Android™ apps on Windows 11 is now available for Windows

blogs.windows.com

 

[neutrinornd]

Hi! i started to develop saas service of monitoring jk-bms (on start) with my own android app. App collects data from batts by BT and can send on my server. if you interested, write me

 

[neutrinornd]

also i have windows jk-bms monitoring application

 

[kommando]

Mr Obvious question ?
Why not run RS485 over a CAT5/6 cable to the house ?

Or run Hi-flying EW11's so the RS485 runs over wifi, one at the BMS converts RS485 modbus to wifi and one at the PC converts back to RS485 for a USB connection.

 

[BipedalPrimate]

i have windows jk-bms monitoring application

if you interested, write me

Interested in assessing these solutions (Android & Windows).

How can I download them?

 

[pvncont]

also i have windows jk-bms monitoring application

I need the windows application. Also is there a way to monitor 6 banks together

 

[pvncont]

Hi! i started to develop saas service of monitoring jk-bms (on start) with my own android app. App collects data from batts by BT and can send on my server. if you interested, write me

I need this please connect