DkubusEV wrote: ↑Sat Sep 17, 2022 9:57 am
. . . and of course I love the funny cat videos you make.
That reminds me: I don't think I've seen the Gome cat since the move of the workshop to the barn. I tried Googling, "what happened to Damien's Gome cat?" but nothing related popped up. Google may be omniscient, but it sure didn't like my spelling of "Gome".
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I am kind of in a similar skiff to MIke, as I have in mind to add CCS to my non-CCS (actually, no DCFC at all!) 2014 Toyota RAV4 EV, which is basically a very early Tesla Model S for design purposes.
In my case, I will need to activate the Tesla BMS, pumps, fans, etc. via both physical connections and CAN msgs, switch over the charge inlet's physical CP/PP lines from the Tesla OBC to the i3 LIM, then activate the LIM. Maybe listen to the Tesla BMS CAN and ask the LIM to tell the EVSE to dial back the current.
At first, I was thinking, "why buy such a versatile and Do-All board as the ZombieVerter, when I won't use a large fraction of its features", much as Mike said above, and I thought to just adapt the LIM-specific code from the STM32 to a simpler/less capable board -- such as a Due -- to avoid buying more hardware than I'll need.
But . . . is the ZombieVerter a less desireable hardware choice, just because it's so darn versatile? Sure, a Due + adaption parts is less Euros than the ZV, but in the larger picture, spending say €100 for a Due + a bespoke or adapted shield/CAN/line drivers vs €300 for the ZV that requires a whole lot less customization and very little software adaption . . . well, €200 is not much savings in the scope of my project, where I'm already sunk USD$600 on an i3 CCS inlet, LIM, connectors, contactors, voltage sense board, etc. all sitting here in a tote in my livingroom.
IOW: sure, a smaller/cheaper bespoke hardware interface for the BMW i3 LIM could be made for our niche cases, but the beauty/appeal of the ZV is that it can
already do all these things, is not terribly large nor a whole lot more expensive than a start-from-scratch custom board, and it's already somewhat debugged. I can't buy a lot of debugging time for €200!
If building boards and debugging code is your hobby, then making a custom board et al is fun and rewarding, I get that, and I've done it, but if the goal is a bit higher-level (the driving-the-car bit), then chopping out a large intermediate step by purchasing someone else's labours . . . makes a good deal of sense. I don't enjoy the fiddly bits of discrete components and the debug console as much as I used to: BTDT.
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I, too, have acquired a used "052" LIM like @tom91, so I'm keenly interested in any software variances needed to have it work with the ZV, eg the
Contactors Weld Test, and I hope that either these LIM firmware differences can be accounted for in the ZV software, or alternatively that the barriers to update the LIM firmware* becomes substantially lower (currently:
€150 €165to Damien to do it, or duplicate the hardware needed to do it,
using his recipe, which is almost certainly more expensive for a one-shot).
* Now that I think on it, I'm not certain that the process Damien uses to "code" a new/virgin LIM actually provides/updates the firmware. Hmmm.