Feature request

[topor]

Hola! First off, thanks for this awesome device, I just recieved it today and works very well   

I know the firmware it's open but I think the feature it's very tricky to implement and I wonder if can you add it officially 

It is about showing in the screen the estimation draw / hour , I mean, if I measure a device than draw 10mA during 5 seconds, then 0.5mA during 5 second then 10mA during 5 secs and so on..., the screen will show an average of 5.25mA/h just in a coupe of seconds/minutes of measuring, alternatively write in the log the acumulative nA+uA+mA per minute (or second)  will be also very helpfull for understand the powers needs over time

I read the forum and i don't found anything similar to this topic, I apologize in advance if this topic has already been discussed


By other hand, I would like to know how do you calculate now guys, the power comsumption / hour, I found the raw log timestamp are not sufficiently accurate due massive amount of data and serial buffer so I get inconsistent timestamps and also repeated timestamps for different measures, so this mess up my calculation

Thanks you very much to take your time on my post
Saludos

[Felix]

This is a feature that some folks have asked for and would like to have in the CR. It involves far more processing power and sampling than is currently done. The current firmware has a more simple approach and displays instantaneous values. For logging there is a limited ability to display those readings at various speeds. In a highly dynamic current signal you would want an integration of the current vs time. This could be achieved in various ways but its complicated business to do accurately.

I would say the CR is not specifically intended or designed for this task, although a more crude running average could be achieved.

While a cool feature, and I know the effort would be significant, I also am not sure how actually useful it would be in practice. Sure, there are instruments that can tell you 12 different power metrics, and have all kinds of bells and whistles, but how many of those things translate into effective improvements of your project, when you have them? The CR was designed to help detect, analyze and aid in minimizing current draw in dynamic low power loads (up to a few amps). It does this job splendidly and the feedback is overwhelmingly positive.

[mattgaidica]

I just wrote a blog post with some code to enable this, albeit with some caveats that Felix has identified. It is definitely helping me characterize some different power modes in a low-power device very rapidly, and then estimate battery lifetime (which is my big concern).

Modifying Current Ranger to Estimate Battery Life

[Felix]

Matt, thanks very much for your contribution, I am sure someone will find it very useful!