LabVIEW communication with a SmartUPS

[DailyDose]

This is a sort of LabVIEW question...

I have a remote test stand and the software running on the PXI is of course LabVIEW.  This software on the PXI is being controlled via a remote laptop using Shared Variables.  During operation, the test stand cannot just suddenly shut down on us.  I have been shopping for SmartUPS and can't seem to find any that have available API or have serial prompts for UPS status.  I want to be able to send back to the remote laptop that the stand is currently on backup power and that they have 10 mins or whatever (tell them to do something about it).

Does anyone have any suggestions for SmartUPS?  I just got off the phone with APC and they told me the same thing I know and am hearing.  They have software that will shut down your server yada yada  yada.  That's not what I want.  PXI is not a server.  I just want to know if we are on back up power or sure power.

[billko]

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@DailyDose wrote:

This is a sort of LabVIEW question...

I have a remote test stand and the software running on the PXI is of course LabVIEW.  This software on the PXI is being controlled via a remote laptop using Shared Variables.  During operation, the test stand cannot just suddenly shut down on us.  I have been shopping for SmartUPS and can't seem to find any that have available API or have serial prompts for UPS status.  I want to be able to send back to the remote laptop that the stand is currently on backup power and that they have 10 mins or whatever (tell them to do something about it).

Does anyone have any suggestions for SmartUPS?  I just got off the phone with APC and they told me the same thing I know and am hearing.  They have software that will shut down your server yada yada  yada.  That's not what I want.  PXI is not a server.  I just want to know if we are on back up power or sure power.

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I hate to be operating a test station remotely even if I am just down the hall.  Expand on your thinking about the power going down and having a chance to shut down.  How about if you have no idea your UUT has caught fire?  What if you need to hit the emergency stop button?

That being said, maybe you can have a laptop hooked up to the UPS just for monitoring.  Better yet, how about just remoting into that laptop and running stuff locally?

[DailyDose]

The PXI is in a van that communicates to a missile about 100 feet from it.  It turns things on and off and reports certain voltages and reads and interprets a serial data stream as well as various other things.

The remote laptops are for the sake of safety.  Obviously, personnel should be nowhere near that.  If the Van were to go down, who's to know this?  Yes, you'll lose communication, but I'm trying to tell the user just what has happened as quickly as possible because we're talking about a live missile.  For all they know, the data has frozen, screen has frozen, laptop has frozen, something other than loss of power has happened.

The remote laptops only control Shared Variables and display shared variables.  The local machine does all the thinking.

[RTSLVU · Accepted solution]

Theas Alpha UPS's have open collector outputs for line and battery status along with serial comunications.

[DailyDose]

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@RTSLVU wrote:

Theas Alpha UPS's have open collector outputs for line and battery status along with serial comunications.

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I've called them and spoke with a technical rep.  Sounds like exactly what I need.

Thank you!

[DailyDose]

So... apparently what I got in response isn't as convincing as I thought originally thought.  Can you confirm these devices are capable of being polled in LabVIEW?

[RTSLVU]

I can not confirm anything, I simply looked at the manual and saw it has options for RS-232 communication and has open collector outputs for line and battery status.

[JHall92]

I know this is years later, but I too was looking for a SmartUPS that can be polled by LabVIEW. Turns out APC does not make UPS that allow you to poll them.

Instead, APC uses their own proprietary software called PowerChute Business Edition which is free for download and install (see link at bottom). Once installed and with your APC SmartUPS connected to your PC/laptop via USB, the SmartUPS will automatically log its event history and power consumption to 2 separate text files.

What you can do is have your LabVIEW program read the text files periodically, checking for changes in the SmartUPS event history log. I've attached a front panel image that shows the SmartUPS state transitions for power failure, power back online, and comms lost/established.

Website for APC PowerChute installation

PowerChute Business Edition | APC USA

I hope this can help.

Best regards,

Jeremy

[rolfk]

The APS software also used to hook into Windows Power Management and you could use Windows Power Management API calls to receive the current status information. Not sure how far that still is accurate with recent versions.

It would seem that Windows is still able to recognize most major UPS if connected properly and manages them to some degree. But for more detailed control of what to do in certain situations it may be necessary to install manufacturer specific tools such as APC Power Chute.

As far as monitoring the battery state of a system, which the UPS are usually mapped to for devices that Windows can recognize, you would use the APIs as detailed here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/power/power-management-reference

[billko]

I thought all modern UPS's are capable of SNMP?  I would go with serial port monitoring though because it will be a simple physical connection and if the connection is lost, you know you have problems.  Edit: I forgot most modern UPS's no longer have serial ports.