Originally Posted by Snowflake6515

Sounds quite promising. How about eliminating the toggle switch entirely (as it would be on the i/f side)? That would be possible if the need for the switch could be eliminated by the BUMP interface allowing expansion channel configuration; something to consider.
Michael

Here's another way of looking at it .... the BUMP Controller will *replace* the traditional Expansion Channel Mode (ECM) feature with a new capability which no longer requires all chargers to have the same setup ... but will support it if that's what you want to do. Everything is just software in the BUMP Controller to decide if/when/how each of the chargers should be configured and started. For example, we can add an option after you bump a battery, so you press one button to apply that same config to all 4 chargers and starts them in unison .... that is ECM, but now it is on-the-fly and doesn't require you to change the config or re-cable anything.
Another example, when you configure a LiXX pack with cell count > 8S, it knows you have to "split" the pack to charge it, so it will prompt you to see if you want to parallel charge it (2 batts on a single charger) or, if you have another charger available, you canchoose to split it across 2 chargers and all the setup and starting happens to both chargers at once.

Lot's of cool software features we can add with the BUMP Controller being able to control 4 chargers at once

Preorder to capture early adopters? 1/2

Michael

Originally Posted by RevoKelly

Here's another way of looking at it .... the BUMP Controller will *replace* the traditional Expansion Channel Mode (ECM) feature with a new capability which no longer requires all chargers to have the same setup ... but will support it if that's what you want to do. Everything is just software in the BUMP Controller to decide if/when/how each of the chargers should be configured and started. For example, we can add an option after you bump a battery, so you press one button to apply that same config to all 4 chargers and starts them in unison .... that is ECM, but now it is on-the-fly and doesn't require you to change the config or re-cable anything.
Another example, when you configure a LiXX pack with cell count > 8S, it knows you have to "split" the pack to charge it, so it will prompt you to see if you want to parallel charge it (2 batts on a single charger) or, if you have another charger available, you canchoose to split it across 2 chargers and all the setup and starting happens to both chargers at once.

Lot's of cool software features we can add with the BUMP Controller being able to control 4 chargers at once

Originally Posted by RevoKelly

For example, we can add an option after you bump a battery, so you press one button to apply that same config to all 4 chargers and starts them in unison ....

"Bump - Connect - Go"

Originally Posted by RevoKelly

Another example, when you configure a LiXX pack with cell count > 8S, it knows you have to "split" the pack to charge it, so it will prompt you to see if you want to parallel charge it (2 batts on a single charger) or, if you have another charger available, you can choose to split it across 2 chargers and all the setup and starting happens to both chargers at once.

"Bump - Connect - Go"

Originally Posted by Snowflake6515

Preorder to capture early adopters? 1/2

Michael

Per Jamie...

Originally Posted by Jamie Marks

We anticipate having the products on the site for pre-order by the end of this month.

I really like this BUMP concept, might get it one day to make charging even more simple.
Just have a few questions and suggestions:
What physical size will the separate tags be?
Can the BD take into acount the temperature when measuring IR, especially when comparing cycles?
Will they be able to store maximum recommended charge rate?
It would be great if either before or after bumping the packs I could set how long I want charging to take, the BD would then calculate whether it can do it with the available chargers and PSU and if possible, start charging.
another great method would be setting the more or less exact time when the charge must be finished; the desired charging rate and the charging will be delayed by the necessary amount.

TIA,
Daniel

Oh, my! This is taking the UI to the next level for sure. Congratulations to FMA and the Beta Team.

I can't think of an intelligent question, but seriously await the announcement of its availability, especially if this technology is incorporated into FMA's next generation of battery charter.

Originally Posted by dtr

What physical size will the separate tags be?

25mm (1") diameter, ~1mm thick

Originally Posted by dtr

Can the BD take into acount the temperature when measuring IR, especially when comparing cycles?

What sort of temperature are you looking for ? Pack ? Outdoor/ambient ?
We cannot measure pack temperature (PowerLabs do not have a temp sensor port).
We could certainly add an option to collect a temp from the user and store that along with the charge graph/history, if that would be useful. So you could IR scan and punch in the temp at the beginning of charge, then all of that would be avail in the mobile app for later review.

Originally Posted by dtr

Will they be able to store maximum recommended charge rate?
It would be great if either before or after bumping the packs I could set how long I want charging to take, the BD would then calculate whether it can do it with the available chargers and PSU and if possible, start charging.
another great method would be setting the more or less exact time when the charge must be finished; the desired charging rate and the charging will be delayed by the necessary amount.

The manufacturer's maximum ratings are stored in the pack in a write-once section. There are also user-preferred settings that you can modify whenever you like, but they cannot exceed the manufacturers ratings ... they serve as the safety guardrails.
The BC offers 3 different charge operations - Accurate, Normal, and Fast. You can specify your preferred charge C rate for each of those and it gets stored in the tag. Everytime you bump the battery it uses your preferred settings from the tag, so all you ever need to do is select Accurate/Normal/Fast and press Go.

Originally Posted by RevoKelly

25mm (1") diameter, ~1mm thick

Thanks, that will fit nicely.

What sort of temperature are you looking for ? Pack ? Outdoor/ambient ?
We cannot measure pack temperature (PowerLabs do not have a temp sensor port).
We could certainly add an option to collect a temp from the user and store that along with the charge graph/history, if that would be useful. So you could IR scan and punch in the temp at the beginning of charge, then all of that would be avail in the mobile app for later review.

Well, honestly both as I am concerned with false warnings caused by cold packs, that is caused by cold ambient temperature The temperature at our last race was about 15°C colder then the previous one and internal resistance of my packs were measured about 60% more. When using the IR historic alarm it would certainly cause a (false) alarm that could confuse some users.

The manufacturer's maximum ratings are stored in the pack in a write-once section. There are also user-preferred settings that you can modify whenever you like, but they cannot exceed the manufacturers ratings ... they serve as the safety guardrails.

The manufacturer & some user defined settings would be good enough for me
The timed charging feature would appeal mostly to stock racers who try to get every tiniest bit of performance imporvement possible and usually charge at 40Amps and want to finish exactly before start so their packs will have lowered IR from the heat of charging.

Originally Posted by dtr

Well, honestly both as I am concerned with false warnings caused by cold packs, that is caused by cold ambient temperature The temperature at our last race was about 15°C colder then the previous one and internal resistance of my packs were measured about 60% more. When using the IR historic alarm it would certainly cause a (false) alarm that could confuse some users.

That's good feedback. You typically wouldn't set the IR alarms too tight to allow for those normal-use fluctuations - the default setting is 200% of manufacturer rated IR, for example, and user can change to suite their needs. The alarms are intended to catch those long-term degradations that would normally be missed.

Originally Posted by dtr

The timed charging feature would appeal mostly to stock racers who try to get every tiniest bit of performance imporvement possible and usually charge at 40Amps and want to finish exactly before start so their packs will have lowered IR from the heat of charging.

Timed charging is a great feature request - I'll add it to our backlog. The cool thing with the BC is that we can get really accurate cycle time estimates because we know everything about the battery, so we should be able to implement some really precise timed charging.

Note that we also allow users to tweak the charge term voltage slightly above the manufacturer max rating (for example, 4.22 instead of 4.20) ... to allow those terrestrial racers to get a little extra punch out of the gates. This value is also stored in the BumpTag so it's something they only need to do once. Of course you can also tweak this value down (say 4.10 instead of 4.20) to get longer battery life.

Any preliminary pricing estimates for battery pack tags?

Originally Posted by RevoKelly

For now, PowerLab firmware updates will need to be done via FUIM, but in the future, we will also push those firmware upgrades via the BUMP Controller.

Ok thank you. I will await it when that feature is available

Originally Posted by rocket_33

Ok thank you. I will await it when that feature is available

Why give up the advantages that the BC offers now? The future updates will be seamless. Get in on the ground floor and enjoy the new features as they come along.

Glen

Looks awesome, Any idea on price per tag ? Bulk tag packages etc.

Originally Posted by Nev1

Looks awesome, Any idea on price per tag ? Bulk tag packages etc.

Around $1.25 ea in 24 pack. Closer to $1.75 in smaller quantities. We think thats pretty reasonably priced to start and hope as volumes go up, we can drive the price down a little over time.

Originally Posted by ggcrandall1

Why give up the advantages that the BC offers now? The future updates will be seamless. Get in on the ground floor and enjoy the new features as they come along.

Glen

If I am going to open my install up and install it, I would like to make sure it performs all the functions first time so I don't have to install it again for "Version 2". It is easy to say just a software update but if it is that easy, it could be incorporated in its release since it is a pretty logical need. I would not like to find out later that, oops we have to make a hardware mod and now we are releasing version 2,

Yes I want it, already purchased a tablet to install in my charger case as was demonstrated at IRCHA with the soon to come CCS software that will integrate using blue tooth. So yes I want it, will do it right, but I can be patient to make sure it does all the things I need.

Here is my charger,

Charger (0 min 52 sec)

, and as you can see, I have the perfect place for my Tablet