Anyone using/designed a Raspberry Pi UPS?

[mobisat]

I am using my Raspberry Pi as a server for my Domoticz Home Automation project. This got me thinking is there a UPS that can be used/designed as the load of the Pi is low, maybe incorporating 4 off AA rechargeables? I wouldn't think it should cost much or be overly complicated.

This would be ideal for short power outages etc. but keep the system running.

[gertjuhh]

Check the bottom 3 posts in this thread: http://www.domoticz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=575

[mobisat]

Perfect, thanks, much appreciated, off to ebay now

[commodore white]

I've been thinking such a device is necessary for my system too. I've written code to write the state of selected devices away to the hdd so I can restore the house in the event of a power fail. It would be nice to not have to restore the raspi and domoticz too so a poor man's ups seems the way to go. As you say, raspi power demands are low so something to keep a raspi and an rfxcom or whatever going for a few hours would be enough. I guess I'd also need notification that power had been restored so domoticz knew it needed to do a house reset. Perhaps an alarm system case is the way to go.

Since all my sensors are battery powered and I intend to use battery powered smoke alarms for notification, security would still be in place in the event of a power outage.

House reset is uncovering a problem I have with domoticz in that I can't send multiple commands to a single device in a single lua script since subsequent ones overwrite previous ones. Can I suggest that domoticz be extended to allow commandArray entries of the form

Code: Select all

commandArray [device] = {cmd1, cmd2, cmd3,  etc}
For example:
commandArray ["dimmer"]={"Set Level 20", "Off" } 

Such an enhancement would not break anyone's existing code.

Peter

[mobisat]

My batteries and "UPS" arrived today. I went for the one from China. Cheap as chips and charging the batteries just now, I'll install it on my Pi in the loft tomorrow. I just gave it a quick test using my phone. Plugged phone into the output and also plugged in the charger, phone indicates charging. Unplugged the charger, phone indicates charging. Looks very promising.


"UPS" here

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-USB-5V-2a- ... 9163640%26

@Logic, worth a try m8y

[l0gic]

Mine has been running for a couple of weeks now.
It's fit and forget, can't get easier than that!

[elythomaslumber]

That's pretty cheap!

I found this: http://www.ebay.de/itm/NINETEC-10-000mA ... 35cfcc5fa6

Seems to be not so bad: Aluminium case, 10Ah, incl. shipping...

[PeterV]

Jst my present solution although the solar is not in direct sunlight.. Its a redundant unit and works perfectly! I've checked this setup for a couple of weeks and all is stable.

[elythomaslumber]

Now my Power-Bank has arrived for just 19,99€.
- 10Ah
- LCD Display with Power-Level
- 1 input connector = Mini-USB, fitting to any Raspi power-supply
- 1 output connector USB-A 1A
- 1 output connector USB-A 2.1A

Powerbank-2.JPG (39.37 KiB) Viewed 8628 times

Powerbank-6.JPG (30.66 KiB) Viewed 8628 times

Powerbank-7.JPG (31.51 KiB) Viewed 8628 times

[SEALen]

There is the www.piups.net

I don't like that it's attached to the gpio port but otherwise it's pretty nice. It's not designed to run on battery for long. Only to safely turn off when power fails. But that is controllable via software so I might get one and "hack" it to not sit on the gpio port and also to use my 5200 mAh battery pack instead of 6 AA.

[l0gic]

My one is exactly the same as Mobisats.
I have put 4 x 5300mA batteries in there so I should be good for 21Ah of ups.
Assuming the Pi / RFX combo requires a total of an amp I'll be good for the best part of a day.

...shame there won't be anything out there to switch while to power is off though...
Still the purpose is to prevent a messy crash and subsequent potential repair, which it will do fine.

Kevin

[stevepyle]

Purchased one of these for my pi

https://www.modmypi.com/pi-modules-upis-advanced

Will shut the pi down when battery below a set point and reboot it when powers returned, Would be great to get Domoticz integration

Steve

[mobisat]

Wow, that's quite expensive that one.

[stevepyle]

What do you expect, after all it is more than just a battery pack.... this is a true UPS

Features:

2600mAh LiPO battery
Automatic battery charger
LiPO Battery Protection
Resettable Fuse on each powering input
Embedded Real Time Clock controlled via RS232 interface and I2C.
Time programmed ON/(file safe) OFF switch for the RPi
RPi system Watch-Dog timer
Protected 1- wire interface
Protected digital I/O pin
Embedded on the board analog temperature monitor independent from the 1-wire
interface – accessed via RS232
NO Relay controlled via RS232 interface or RPi
True 12V RS232 interface to the external world
Additional USB interface for the RS232 I/O pins (based on FTDI chipset)
Additional resettable fuse protected power source of 5 VDC and 200 mA
Software controlled file safe shutdown switch
Scripting language for timed shutdown or switch on
Full monitoring via RS232 for all power sources and battery level

[mobisat]

Yes I understand that it is a UPS that could keep my system powered for two and a half hours then shut my system down safely. My setup should last for twelve hours but then crash the system. I keep backups of my db and scripts so a restore shouldn't be an issue. Most power cuts that I experience only seem to last one to two hours. I only wanted something to keep my unit powered for this time period. I am sure we will both be happy with our setups.

[moffe]

Purchased one of these for my pi

https://www.modmypi.com/pi-modules-upis-advanced

Will shut the pi down when battery below a set point and reboot it when powers returned, Would be great to get Domoticz integration

Steve

I have this also... Would be nice to have it integrated in Domoticz.
It's really nice UPS for rapsberry.

Now I have it like this:
With powersupply


Without (running on battery):



I friend of mine help me out to make some python script to read out the data from UPIS through GPIO and then add them into Domoticz.
This is run in crontab.

[jaytee]

Purchased one of these for my pi

https://www.modmypi.com/pi-modules-upis-advanced

Will shut the pi down when battery below a set point and reboot it when powers returned, Would be great to get Domoticz integration

Steve

I have this also... Would be nice to have it integrated in Domoticz.
It's really nice UPS for rapsberry.

Now I have it like this:
With powersupply


Without (running on battery):



I friend of mine help me out to make some python script to read out the data from UPIS through GPIO and then add them into Domoticz.
This is run in crontab.

Nice! Would you mind sharing your scripts? I also have the UPiS (basic).

I have bought two different kind of powerbanks to achieve a UPS functionality but either they don't automatically switch over from "charging" mode (power plugged in) to "battery" mode (no power plugged in) or they don't deliver output power while charging.

[RayAmsterdam]

I use the UPS Pico.

[rron]

I use the UPS Pico.

Is there a simple how to for the installation of the pico ups? I have just bought one but i cann' t find one. I only found that i have to install python.
Can you help me a little bit?
Thanks.

[jadijkstra2000]

Yes, does anyone have a tutorial