Overview

RPICT board using Attiny microcontroller can be configured over serial using a utility written in python.

Current version allows changes of

Output format (csv or Emoncms)
Nodeid (emoncms only)
Polling (polling interval of data)
Ical (current calibration value)
Vcal (Voltage calibration value
Vest (estimated voltage for power estimate)

RPICT Configuration tool

The configuration tool can be downloaded directly from the raspberrypi:

$ wget lechacal.com/RPICT/lcl-rpict-config.py.zip
$ unzip lcl-rpict-config.py.zip

Reading current configuration

Using the configurator without option only read the configuration stored in the board.

$ ./lcl-rpict-config.py

This yields

# RPICT Configuration Utility
# Read only
# Now reset RPICT hardware

Once the board has received the reset the configuration will be shown. How to reset the board

# 
# Configuration in memory:
# 
# Structure: 0xa0
# Format: 0
# NodeId: 11
# Polling: 5000
# ICAL: 83.330002
# VCAL: 560.000000
# VEST: 240.000000
#

Modify the configuration

To change the values the configurator must be fed with a file containing the new values. We will use the example of a RPICT3T1. Such file looks as below.

[main]
format = 0
nodeid = 11
polling = 5000
ical = 83.33
vcal = 560.0
vest = 240.0

We save this file in rpict3t1.conf. Then we can now start the configurator with the -w option.

$ ./lcl-rpict-config.py -w rpict3t1.conf

Once reset the configurator will read the old config then write the new config and display the newly stored one again.

# RPICT Configuration Utility
# Configuration will be overwritten (Ctrl C to cancel)
# Now reset RPICT hardware
# 
# Configuration in memory:
# 
# Structure: 0xa0
# Format: 0
# NodeId: 10
# Polling: 5000
# ICAL: 83.330002
# VCAL: 545.000000
# VEST: 240.000000
# 
# Writing configuration with file rpict3t1.conf
# 
# Configuration in memory:
# 
# Structure: 0xa0
# Format: 1
# NodeId: 11
# Polling: 5000
# ICAL: 83.330002
# VCAL: 560.000000
# VEST: 240.000000
#

The configuration file

The configuration file fed into the utlity must have the format below:

[main]
format = 0
nodeid = 11
polling = 5000
ical = 83.33
vcal = 560.0
vest = 240.0

format indicate which format output must be used. Must be an integer number. 0 - CSV 1 - Emoncms 2 - Emoncms as float (must have datatype f setup in emonhub config)

nodeid Only used in emoncms format. Will set the node id.

polling Number of milliseconds between each data to be sent to the raspberrypi.

ical Current calibration coefficient.

vcal Voltage calibration coeficient. Must be present even if not used (e.g RPICT3T1)

vest Voltage to compute estimated power. Usually 240V or 100V. Must be present even is not used. Set vest=1 to obtain output as ampere instead of watts. Set vest=1000 to get milliampere.

How to reset the board

There are two ways to reset the board.

1. Unplug and plug the board from the Raspberrypi.

2. Use a small jumper to link the reset pin with the ground. This can be found on the 3x2 6 pin ISP connector.

Attiny Over Serial Configuration

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