Vendor Scan My Tesla, a CANBUS reader for Android

[amund7]

Which is why I still encourage you to add panda/canserver wifi support so the crazy ones can get much more data and bandwidth, plus simultaneous data from multiple busses. Working on a dual-bus Model S harness now.

So are you saying that panda and canserver are binary compatible, in the sense that if my app supports 1, it also supports the other? That is an interesting data point for sure!

 

[amund7]

Looks like with MX+ canbus dump is using filtered data and depends on what is on the tab? So how to gett data with it that is not on the tab?

Can dump is unfiltered, raw/debug is filtered.

 

[Zuikkis]

There's also plenty of elm327-compatible wifi OBD adapters available, those should be easy to support?

My previous car was an Outlander PHEV, it has similar software "PHEV Watchdog". The supported OBD adapter list looks quite the same as for SMT, except that Watchdog has support for the wifi versions:

PHEV Watchdog Android monitoring App

 

[Mash]

Can dump is unfiltered, raw/debug is filtered.

Well, then why I have almost empty candump if I'm on a zero controls tab and huge one for the same amount of time on All tab?

 

[Mash]

There's also plenty of elm327-compatible wifi OBD adapters available, those should be easy to support?

My previous car was an Outlander PHEV, it has similar software "PHEV Watchdog". The supported OBD adapter list looks quite the same as for SMT, except that Watchdog has support for the wifi versions:

PHEV Watchdog Android monitoring App

Wifi or bluetooth is not a bottleneck. Device itself is.

 

[amund7]

Well, then why I have almost empty candump if I'm on a zero controls tab and huge one for the same amount of time on All tab?

CSV recording takes priority over can dump, so you need to select only can dump to get the unfiltered data stream. Also if you switch file types while recording, that won't work as expected. Worst case switch to another tab and back to reset the data stream. You should see it on the obdlink lamps if they have huge traffic or not, close to steady lights = huge traffic, compared to rare blinks = little data.

 

[JWardell]

So are you saying that panda and canserver are binary compatible, in the sense that if my app supports 1, it also supports the other? That is an interesting data point for sure!

Yes they are the same.
Though I guess panda has recently depreciated its wifi support (it was extremely difficult to activate to begin with). I may be tempted to use a more efficient protocol in the future.

 

[amund7]

Yes they are the same.
Though I guess panda has recently depreciated its wifi support (it was extremely difficult to activate to begin with). I may be tempted to use a more efficient protocol in the future.

Now I remember that I have tried to support the Panda; after lots of guesswork and reading their source code to get into whe wifi (no instructions anywhere) I got a connection to it; then found it does not support the ATMA command. Same as ELM327 v1.0 devices, the cheapest clones, that do not support canbus at all. So I can't stream the data. To do anything with it, I'd need an API for my platforms, and they don't exist AFAIK. How has Jake managed this? Are there some websockets or web API calls that he uses?

 

[aerodyne]

Looks like the Mothership is taking a dim view of 3rd party apps. Look at the bottom of this revised support page:

Range Tips

They are probably just trying to scare people from gathering data on their cars. Besides, they are pretty savy in weasel wording the warranty and avoiding warranty claims...

 

[AllAboutJake]

To do anything with it, I'd need an API for my platforms, and they don't exist AFAIK. How has Jake managed this? Are there some websockets or web API calls that he uses?

I added Panda support to my app at the request of some folks who were more involved with the Tesla hacking community, probably the same folks working on OpenPilot and other things. This was before Comma.ai decided to remove WiFi support from their latest firmware. In general, it was hard to use but was the best "multi-bus" option.

I did, as you say, have to read the Panda source code to figure out what it was doing.

You can look at the code I wrote for Panda emulation on CANServer here: joshwardell/CANserver

It is pretty straight forward. First, it is a UDP protocol, not TCP. You send a UDP packet with the text "hello" to the panda on port 1338. The panda then streams UDP packets of frames (between 1 and 512 frames in a single UDP transmission). Each frame is a binary-packed 16-bytes and the format is documented in the header comments of source file linked above. It is pretty straight forward.

After 5 seconds, the Panda stops sending. The client needs to send another ping before the 5 second interval is complete to maintain the transmission.

Panda and CANServer are currently 100% compatible, except that they use different IP addresses.

There are no filters on the Panda, and it will send every CAN bus message it receives over. We have been taking about extending the protocol in a compliant way to add the ability for device-side filtering. (Either a side channel, or in the ping packet)

In the end the Panda protocol is very light weight and compact, so you can stream much more data than text-based ELM-style protocols. But it does not have ELM based features like filtering, etc. Hence, the discussions to create a new protocol or extend this one a bit.

Jake

 

[Pluturi]

That is one interpretation, but in this context I think they are just warning people that some third-party apps keep the car awake, which drains the battery.

 

[scottf200]

Looks like the Mothership is taking a dim view of 3rd party apps. Look at the bottom of this revised support page:
Range Tips
They are probably just trying to scare people from gathering data on their cars. Besides, they are pretty savy in weasel wording the warranty and avoiding warranty claims...

Note: Aftermarket equipment connected to the 12V system and/or third party mobile applications which collect data about your vehicle can decrease range while parked and reduce the battery lifespan. Tesla does not recommend using aftermarket equipment, and any damage to your vehicle's hardware or software resulting from unauthorized access to vehicle data through non-Tesla parts or accessories is not covered by warranty.

Aside: I have a 12v battery monitor on 24x7. While I was on a Fall road trip my 12v battery died and the service center even put the 12v battery monitor back on when they installed my new 12v battery.

I monitored the 12v battery voltage during an OTA update

 

[Schulmann]

I just installed Scan My Tesla onto my 2020 M3 SR+. I purchased the app to figure out how to extend my range in cold weather and beyond the Supercharger Grid. One of the strange things that I have on my Tesla is when the battery temperature is between 15-18C the regen power is a gray area where it oscillates its power between good and weak.
All I know that I have to pay attention when slowing down at certain temperature of the battery.

Is there a value in Scan my Tesla that indicates the regen braking power/Capacity ?

"Max Regen power" value is not useful, it seems to be a linear value related to Battery Temp.

Regen capacity seems to be related to a threshold once it reached regen is reduced. It is like Capacitor which is full.

Another question: When I select BMS tab to be displayed Scan My Tesla freezes. Is it a bug or a future feature ?

 

[aerodyne]

I just installed Scan My Tesla onto my 2020 M3 SR+. I purchased the app to figure out how to extend my range in cold weather and beyond the Supercharger Grid. One of the strange things that I have on my Tesla is when the battery temperature is between 15-18C the regen power is a gray area where it oscillates its power between good and weak.
All I know that I have to pay attention when slowing down at certain temperature of the battery.

Is there a value in Scan my Tesla that indicates the regen braking power/Capacity ?

"Max Regen power" value is not useful, it seems to be a linear value related to Battery Temp.

Regen capacity seems to be related to a threshold once it reached regen is reduced. It is like Capacitor which is full.

Another question: When I select BMS tab to be displayed Scan My Tesla freezes. Is it a bug or a future feature ?

Below about 65 deg cell temp there is a significant reduction in regen in my MS.

Someone plotted a graph, and it appears to not be very linear, however, SMT is useful and accurate with cell temps. I charge at home before a trip to get to 65F before I drive down hill.

As far as the BMS tab, I have had the app hang occasionally on some Tabs. If it was a Tesla App I am sure it would be defended as a feature...

 

[amund7]

I just installed Scan My Tesla onto my 2020 M3 SR+. I purchased the app to figure out how to extend my range in cold weather and beyond the Supercharger Grid. One of the strange things that I have on my Tesla is when the battery temperature is between 15-18C the regen power is a gray area where it oscillates its power between good and weak.
All I know that I have to pay attention when slowing down at certain temperature of the battery.

Is there a value in Scan my Tesla that indicates the regen braking power/Capacity ?

"Max Regen power" value is not useful, it seems to be a linear value related to Battery Temp.

Regen capacity seems to be related to a threshold once it reached regen is reduced. It is like Capacitor which is full.

Another question: When I select BMS tab to be displayed Scan My Tesla freezes. Is it a bug or a future feature ?

Max regen power (plus also max charge power) are the signals the car sends. If your regen power deviates from this there could be other systems or parameters kicking in for some reason. I have noticed on mine ('19 LR dual motor) that there are occations, but most notably when driving around the corner of my dad's barn after being parked, there is zero regen. I have no idea if it's speed, wheel angle, temperature, but it has happened several times at that exact spot. In my case it's 2 90 degree turns, slight downhill, and a little over walking speed... I have a suspicion this is right between regen and Hold mode.

The BMS tab has no signals for Model 3, which is why it is hidden by default. Is that what you mean by 'freeze' ?

 

[Schulmann]

The BMS tab has no signals for Model 3, which is why it is hidden by default. Is that what you mean by 'freeze' ?

Once I select the BMS tab the application freezes, it is difficult then to remove the BMS tab, I have to open several times the app before I am able to get rid off it.

it is not a big deal as long as I know that on the 3SR+ this option is blank. I wont try to display it again. I am very happy with the avail features.

 

[amund7]

Once I select the BMS tab the application freezes, it is difficult then to remove the BMS tab, I have to open several times the app before I am able to get rid off it.

it is not a big deal as long as I know that on the 3SR+ this option is blank. I wont try to display it again. I am very happy with the avail features.

Oh, that's an interesting report, I haven't noticed this one before, and it should of course not be like that. Which adapter do you have, if I have a similar one I can try to replicate it.

 

[aerodyne]

I should clarify that SMT crashing may well have to do with BT signal, and those on MCU1 that have Emmc issues may be the cause.

Never happens in the car driving, rarely when I am next to the car, about 50% of the time when in another room.

 

[amund7]

I should clarify that SMT crashing may well have to do with BT signal, and those on MCU1 that have Emmc issues may be the cause.

Never happens in the car driving, rarely when I am next to the car, about 50% of the time when in another room.

The app shouldn't crash whatever happens. But the truth is, all development effort goes into the IOS / Android 2.0 branch. We hope to release an amazingly great app which is the same across both platforms, but it is taking a lot longer than anticipated. But in the end, it will be great, and equal across the platforms.

Here is what I'm working on right now, what do you think, can it be as good or better than the old Android app?

 

[aerodyne]

Fonts still small...not sure that is a problem for most.

I would suggest making a YT vid of the new version when you are done.

Perhaps I need to use a tablet to get bigger fonts? I am thinking a daylight readable one, but they are pricey.