Logging tool for SkyRC iMAX B6 Mini (and possibly similar) chargers

This tool can monitor and log data from Chinese 4-button battery chargers that come with a USB port.

Right now, only SkyRC’s iMAX B6 Mini charger is supported, but it’s very possible that many other, similar chargers use the same HID-based protocol.

Compilation

This needs libudev.

cc b6mon.c -o b6mon $(pkg-config --cflags --libs libudev) -lm

Usage

This tool needs write access to the USB device, so either run as root or set up access through udev rules.

b6mon -[p|s]

+--------+---------------------------------------------------------+ | Option | Effect | +========+=========================================================+ | -p | Monitor process status until end of process. | +--------+---------------------------------------------------------+ | -s | Continuously monitor system status (cell voltage only) | +--------+---------------------------------------------------------+

To do (aka patches welcome)

• Reverse engineer the rest of the protocol (config, maybe fw update)
• Support more chargers (e.g. those that can charge 8 cell batteries)

Tips

Live plotting with gnuplot

Start logging::

b6mon -p > process.log

Run gnuplot (sample file included)::

gnuplot process.plt

Example:

.. image:: cellplot.svg

License

This software is available under the terms of the ISC license.