Configuration Tooling
I came across several issues this may relate to (#17 (closed) #16 (closed), #6 (closed)), but want to take a little different target. As #17 (closed) states folks will be looking to customize stuff for their needs and modularity is necessary in that respect from the hardware design. However, to help folks with this there should also be a software tool that take in a some requirements and help users make "intelligent" (or at least semi-intelligent) decisions - all with proper disclaimers of course.
I'm a software guy (C/C++/Python - many different parts of the stack; and a number of others over the years) with limited electrical experience, but I'd love to have something based on Upside as my APC UPS's (and the one CyberPower UPS) I have go EOL - just had my first battery die. It'd be great to have something where I could just buy a new battery to drop in and recycle the old one properly - but APC/CyberPower while they sell replacement batteries make it easier/cheaper to just buy whole new units. It'd also be nice to have something customized for my own needs/locations. I'd also love to be able to hook up some small solar panels to substitute/offset grid power.
The tool does not need to be anything complex, but take in a few things - some of which may be limited based on community knowledge:
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What Kind of Battery in use (limited based on community knowledge and support capabilities) -
How many batteries in use (e.g how to scale) -
Input Devices -
Output Devices
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How many output connectors -
Standard power outlets -
USB power outlets (useful for RPi, Arduinos, etc)
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How many input connectors -
Desired Time Duration -
Selecting Critical (Surge+Battery) vs Non-Critical (Surge-Only) connectors/devices.
P.S Yes, I'm willing to help out as I can. I saw @esr 's post (http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=7918) and sadly am not in the area to help with the builds, so I suspect I have to wait until there's hardware I can put together myself to some degree.