Leaf Spy and Leaf Spy Pro

[Turbo3]

That's very strange... why bother? Why only during charging?? Wonder if there's another message used by the consult to wake up the BMS while charging. When during charging does it stop? Right away??

Consult 3+ will not talk to the Leaf unless the Leaf is powered on. It needs to see power on the ACC power pin 8 of the OBDII connector active not just the always on 12 volts pin 16.

Their coders do lots of strange things. Like drop support for reading the 12 volt battery current, reading EVSE ampacity (max amps EVSE can supply) and EVSE voltage. Why bother dropping those?

 

[JeremyW]

Their coders do lots of strange things. Like drop support for reading the 12 volt battery current, reading EVSE ampacity (max amps EVSE can supply) and EVSE voltage. Why bother dropping those?

Well quite a few things changed from 2012 to 2013 including the charger and DC/DC converter. I believe the apacity and all other EVSE info comes directly from the Nichicon charger.

DC/DC in the 2012 is controlled through the VCM via PWM but I'm also puzzled why they changed the messages for it. Perhaps in the newer cars it is controlled differently, and needs different query messages to get the goods.

If anyone has a 2013 or newer vehicle around Pasadena, CA let me know!

 

[mbender]

Newbie question here: I just got this, plugged it in, started the car, and launched Leaf Spy Lite on my Android phone. And I don't think it's working (the ELM is not in the list of connections and the screen doesn't change (etc)).

Did I do something wrong? Buy the wrong product? The piece came with a mini-CD-ROM of instructions and for all I know initialization software, but lacking a way to connect it to my PC, I have no idea what to do.

I thought this would be easier, just plug-and-play.

The product again is the "Smallest Mini ELM327" from ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/370812170091" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks.

 

[Turbo3]

Newbie question here: I just got this, plugged it in, started the car, and launched Leaf Spy Lite on my Android phone. And I don't think it's working (the ELM is not in the list of connections and the screen doesn't change (etc)).

Did I do something wrong? Buy the wrong product? The piece came with a mini-CD-ROM of instructions and for all I know initialization software, but lacking a way to connect it to my PC, I have no idea what to do.

I thought this would be easier, just plug-and-play.

The product again is the "Smallest Mini ELM327" from ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/370812170091" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks.

With any Bluetooth device, you first need to pair it with your phone. Go to your phones Bluetooth Settings and look for new device then pair. Normally it needs a pin which is usually "1234".

Once you have it paired with your phone it will show up in the apps list of devices.

 

[mbender]

Voilà. I'm not sure what changed, because the device couldn't be found yesterday in a Bluetooth search, but my phone found it just now. (I did unplug the device and then firmly re-plug it, but it didn't seem to go any farther in.)

btw, does the car have to be on in drive-ready mode or can it just be in what I call accessory mode? I thought I tried both last night, and only had the car "fully" on tonight, so I'm not sure. Thanks in any case. No doubt I'll want to move up to Pro version in no time.

 

[Turbo3]

The Leaf must be on (not accessory mode) or charging for the CAN bus to be alive so Leaf Spy can communicate with the Leaf.

 

[JeremyW]

Oh hey Turbo3 I just remembered you (er, the ELM) are querying from the CAR CAN bus. Have you tried querying from the EV bus for the BMS messages when the car is charging? Perhaps it is only the gateway function of the VCM that is failing, not the BMS failing to respond to queries.

 

[Turbo3]

Oh hey Turbo3 I just remembered you (er, the ELM) are querying from the CAR CAN bus. Have you tried querying from the EV bus for the BMS messages when the car is charging? Perhaps it is only the gateway function of the VCM that is failing, not the BMS failing to respond to queries.

I have a BMS board on my lab bench and it works the same. VCM is the brains and is definitely alive during charging.

 

[JeremyW]

VCM is the brains and is definitely alive during charging.

Of course, but I wonder if they disabled the gateway functions during charging. Why they'd do that I have no idea.

Also I looked in the service manual for the 2013 and it lists that the (new) OBC does send "EVSE PWM communication signal" and "AC input type signal" to the VCM so the data is probably on the bus. Of course with the ELM you are more or less restricted to querying for most things. It's probably query-able, just under some unknown message in the 700s range. Got to find a cooperative dealer to hook a consult up while logging.

 

[Turbo3]

VCM is the brains and is definitely alive during charging.

Of course, but I wonder if they disabled the gateway functions during charging. Why they'd do that I have no idea.

Also I looked in the service manual for the 2013 and it lists that the (new) OBC does send "EVSE PWM communication signal" and "AC input type signal" to the VCM so the data is probably on the bus. Of course with the ELM you are more or less restricted to querying for most things. It's probably query-able, just under some unknown message in the 700s range. Got to find a cooperative dealer to hook a consult up while logging.

As I said, I have a 2013 BMS on the bench directly connected to an ELM (EV CAN) and it does not respond to diagnostic commands unless the Leaf Power on signal is active.

Yes of course the OBC gets the EVSE pilot signals otherwise how would it know how much power it can draw. But it is the only ECU that needs that information so it is not going to be broadcast on the EV CAN bus.

Consult 3+ has already confirmed that the EVSE voltage and max amps is not readable on 2013+ models. That was the first thing I tried when it stopped working.

 

[JeremyW]

Well that sucks.

Maybe I'll just pick up another 2012 when my lease is up. Of course if the pack is replaced it probably has the newer BMS board so no querying while charging...

 

[Turbo3]

New test versions of Leaf Spy (0.32.33) and Leaf Spy Pro (0.33.45) have just been uploaded to the PlayStore (takes about 90 minutes before they can be seen and installed).

Lots of little changes.

* WiFi support
* Better compatibility due to new low level byte to frame routine.
* Logging during charging working again for all model Leafs.
* HV battery amps now logged and displayed on screen 1.
* Port selection limited to 1, 16 and secure since those are the only ones that actually work.
* Bug fixes.

See built-in change log for details.

If you find any problems report here or directly to me. At this point I think it is ready for general release unless I hear otherwise.

 

[nerys]

Please don't take offense to this. but is there any chance of an updated ui that quite bluntly is not so plain and ugly?

something with more panache or whatever the word is

I mounted a 7" android tablet over the "crap" system in the car and well leaf spy is pretty ugly. a nice clean cool new look would be really nice

also can the screen that you see on the built in system that shows the motor/regen power usage climate usage and others system usage be duplicated by leaf spy ? (as close to exactly maybe with a bit more info added such as battery capacity and estimate range as per m/kw but "fit" into the style of that screen? (its one of the few screens on the stock system that does not suck

would be nice to have temp and pressure on the screen at the same time instead of alternating. makes sense on a phone but on a tablet I have a lot of room

also I wonder can you hit "ok" to that startup message over canbus? maybe that is something leafspy can do when it starts up?

 

[Turbo3]

Please don't take offense to this. but is there any chance of an updated ui that quite bluntly is not so plain and ugly?

something with more panache or whatever the word is

I mounted a 7" android tablet over the "crap" system in the car and well leaf spy is pretty ugly. a nice clean cool new look would be really nice

also can the screen that you see on the built in system that shows the motor/regen power usage climate usage and others system usage be duplicated by leaf spy ? (as close to exactly maybe with a bit more info added such as battery capacity and estimate range as per m/kw but "fit" into the style of that screen? (its one of the few screens on the stock system that does not suck

would be nice to have temp and pressure on the screen at the same time instead of alternating. makes sense on a phone but on a tablet I have a lot of room

also I wonder can you hit "ok" to that startup message over canbus? maybe that is something leafspy can do when it starts up?

Actually there is a person taking a UI class and she is going to be redesigning the Leaf Spy screens as her project. This is just coming up with sample images not the actual coding. It will be interesting to see what she comes up with. If you want to draw up some examples of what you think a cool set of screens would look like I can see what can be done.

However, porting to iOS would have higher priority but I could use the new screens as a starting point rather than the current screens. Coding in iOS is very different from B4A.

I do have an idea for clearing the startup message just need to capture some sequences and see if I can implement it.

 

[nerys]

Nice. I will see what I can come up with.

can leafspy extract the same real time data that energy screen does on the stock system? can you duplicate that as one of leaf spy's screens?

I guess you need to design for icrap seriously though while I would never use one the new larger screen models ARE nice (about time apple got away from those really crappy 3 inch screens)

now they just need removable batteries and sd card slots

 

[Turbo3]

Nice. I will see what I can come up with.

can leafspy extract the same real time data that energy screen does on the stock system? can you duplicate that as one of leaf spy's screens?

I guess you need to design for icrap seriously though while I would never use one the new larger screen models ARE nice (about time apple got away from those really crappy 3 inch screens)

now they just need removable batteries and sd card slots

Yes, that data is already available by tapping the right side of the battery graphic on the 4th screen. The colored bar graph switches to showing Motor power/regen, Aux (radio,wipers), Heater and A/C (which also includes heater).

Heater power is a separate bar because I never want to see it active on my 2011 Leaf. Takes too much power. Leaf's screen does not show separate Heater power.

By the way, battery temp and tire PSI display does automatically toggle back and forth between the two displays. If you have disabled the toggle just hold your finger down on that sub-panel for a second or two to re-enable.

 

[nerys]

Cool! I will check that in the car. I have mine set to toggle problem is I dont want it too toggle but I still want to see both. At the same time. I will draw up so ui samples see if you like any.

 

[Kris1]

I note the latest pro ver is 33.45, I've got 33.41 but when I go to the play store the only options are 'uninstall' or 'open'. How do I update?

 

[Turbo3]

I note the latest pro ver is 33.45, I've got 33.41 but when I go to the play store the only options are 'uninstall' or 'open'. How do I update?

Are you in the tester's group? Currently it is only released to the tester group. If you would like to join the tester group send an email to the email address in the About screen with the email address you used to purchase Leaf Spy/Leaf Spy Pro.

 

[Turbo3]

Adding support for OBD Solutions' STN chipset which supports the enhanced "ST" command set in addition to the standard "AT" commands.

The adapter I am testing the new code on is the OBDLink LX. A bit pricey at around $70 but it runs at 115.2 k baud up from the standard 38.4 k baud on ELM327 adapters and can actually go much higher (10 Mbps). It also allows faster multi frame transfers which drops 1 seconds from the loop time when reading the cell pairs and other multi frame messages.

The really big plus is the additional filters (ELM327 supports only one). This combined with the faster transfer speed will make the Brake and power monitor screens run without hanging up the app/adapter.

When this updated app starts up it will test for the presence of an STN chip in the OBDII adapter. If one is detected the adapter name shown at bottom center will change from ELM327 v_._ to STNxxxx where xxxx is the STN device ID (STN1155 for the OBDLink LX) and the app will switch to using an ST set of commands where appropriate and optimize a few AT commands to get the most out of the faster STN chip.

Does anyone know if they have an adapter with the STN chipset? I know Kevin (LeafLogger) has one.

(This is a newer version of 0.33.45 than currently available to the tester group. Tester version would be 0.33.46 when it gets released)
Note the battery current at end of top line. Leaf was charging (L2) so -8 amps into battery.