INCH cluster communication settings

Owned by jasmin.kljajic
Last updated: Sept 26, 2023 by Janko Skinder
2 min read

Problem

when MASTER disappears from the LAN and appears back, the other chargers do not automatically find it and do not connect to cluster again; they need to be restarted.

Solution

Short communication interruptions are likely to happen in industrial environments.
That's why we introduced current limits for the cases when communication is lost.

We created a cluster with a master charger and one satellite charger. We have set the Max. current output when communication with master fails to 7A. We have started charging on the satellite charger. When the satellite charger gets target 9A I unplug the ethernet cable from the master charger. After 10 to 15 seconds, the satellite charger gets target 7A. When we plug in the ethernet cable to the master charger, after 20 to 30 seconds, the satellite charger gets target 9A.
That means that the satellite charger has rejoined the cluster and received a new target. We have repeated the same test but instead, we have unplugged the ethernet cable from the satellite charger. The results were the same.

During tests, we have been monitoring the target current via the charger's web UI and my PWM device. If the charger changes the target current that means that the cluster is working. If during testing, the vehicle doesn't reduce/increase charging power, despite the changed target current, then it's a problem with the vehicle which doesn't follow the PWM signal set by the charger. Tests like that are repeated many times for every new firmware version.

We suggest manually turning on cluster service on all chargers.


Please do the following:

  1. Make all the chargers master chargers and set Max. current output when communication with master fails to desired amount (in my example it was 6A), like on the image below

     

  2. Enable cluster service on each charger and set Max. cluster currents as desired.

     

  3. Reboot the chargers.

  4. Change Primary master address for all satellite chargers to the IP address of your actual master charger (in my example: 172.25.2.254), and save the settings

     

  5. Reboot all satellite chargers and retry the “connection loosing test”.

     

Max. current output when communication with master fails must be set above the Measured vehicle min current.