I am looking for a handful of participants for a closed-beta of a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) project I’m working on. Because of a relative amount of complexity in setting up the appropriate pieces I have elected to start with a closed group of participants for testing with the eventual goal of a free public release.
This project utilizes a Raspberry Pi with apcupsd, Apache 2, and PHP installed. The UPS’s are connected to SmartThings via the Raspberry Pi which acts as a proxy between SmartThings & the UPS. Each connected UPS appears to SmartThings as a LAN-connected device and is capable of receiving push notifications for power loss and power restore events. Additionally, a cron script in the Pi polls apcupsd for UPS status every 60 seconds then pushes the data to SmartThings.
Power Source - To indicate mains or battery as the active power source.
Timed Session - Runtime in minutes remaining on the battery.
Refresh - Pull current operational status from UPS
The app package includes:
DTH: Lan-connected DeviceType which communicates with the Pi. It accepts notifications from the Pi and can also initiate manual refresh of the UPS data.
SmartApp: (parent/child) There is a service manager SmartApp which is used to install the devices. Child apps are installed to control devices, locks, or other actions anytime a UPS-related event occurs.
Beta Participant Requirements:
Raspberry Pi 2 or 3, or a Pi Zero W with powered USB hub.
Serial or USB-connected UPS, preferably APC-branded however others may work.
The ability to use CLI in Raspbian Linux.
Patience.
If interested in helping, leave a reply below. I would like to begin testing in a few days.
Hi Steve. I have the pre-reqs (RPI3 running Raspbian/Apache 2/PHP, APC BE600M1 nearby) and willing to help.
Please let me know what do you need.
Thanks,
I have a Raspberry Pi Zero sitting in a drawer along with two APC SmartUPS’s and a big APC SmartUPS Pro (the big ones that can have the management card). I don’t know anything about the raspberry Pi zero…bought it on sale for $5 but never used it yet.
We luckily have good power here. Short story: My UPS’s started beeping about a year ago at 9pm at night reporting incoming power at 137v so I double checked with a multi meter and sure enough 137v on multiple circuits. I went online to put a issue in with the electric company but “over voltage” wasn’t a option so I marked it brown out. A truck pulled up 40 minutes later, I explained what I found, he tested it at my meter outside and said he was getting 136 which is unacceptable and dangerous (his words). He said he’d be back, left to go to the sub station. Came back 45 minutes later and said the transformer is feeding high and they already have whatever adjustment they can do turned all the way down and that the part would be replaced overnight. Woke up the next morning to a 120.0 even. I was actually amazed.
Hi all, apologies for the delay. I have spent some time over the past few days polishing up the step by step installation instructions. I been able to replicate my results in three consecutive runs so I’m comfortable the documentation is good.
I lost a bit of time to a couple SmartThings problems over the weekend so I am behind publishing the code to Github. Give me another day or so to get that done and we can get started.
Hi @SteveWhite I was looking for something like this long time ago for my APC Smartups , I would be happy to Test it. I have a Qnap NAS with web server php. RPI3 is coming this days. Thanks.
Hi all. The project isn’t dead, but postponed until after the holidays. I had to divert time to do a ground-up rebuild of my Z-Wave network and finish work on the Iris repeater devicetype I’ve been working on. I’ll be resuming this project later this week!
Excellent, thanks! I plan to get back to this soon. I’m currently focused on fixing issues and annoyances with my own ST implementation. I’m wrapping up work on a new SmartApp, ArloPilot for the Netgear Arlo camera system which will keep SmartThings modes in sync with Arlo modes. Once that is done I’ll come back to this.
