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Introduction

BaseCamp User Manual

PIONIX BaseCamp is a subscription-based operating system for EV chargers. It is based on the open-source software EVerest and includes a stable API layer, ready-to-use hardware modules, maintenance services, updates and more. For a full feature list, see the "High-level overview" section.

BaseCamp gives you the tools you need for an efficient development of charger hardware products.

Scope of this manual

This manual will guide you through the whole process of designing a CCS charging station from scratch. Once your product features and requirements are known, this should help you to design the hardware and software block diagrams, implement a Linux system using the BaseCamp stack and turn it into a market-ready product.

For a reference documentation of the PIONIX BaseCamp APIs, see here: PIONIX BaseCamp API

Target group

This document is targeted at developers, development leads and everyone interested in how an EV charger can be developed at a detailed technical level.

Change history of this manual

PIONIX will try to reflect the changes and optimizations of BaseCamp by updating the present documentation. You can see those changes in the following table:

Date Revision Changes
2024-11-15 1.0 Initially published release

Disclaimer

The descriptions and specifications of this product are preliminary and subject to change without further notice. Final product specifications may differ. As PIONIX cannot control or anticipate the conditions under which this product may be used, each user should review the information in the specific context of the planned use. To the maximum extent permitted by law, PIONIX will not be responsible for damages of any nature resulting from the use or reliance upon the information contained in this document.

This document is drafted for information purposes only and does not constitute a binding offer or contract with PIONIX. PIONIX has compiled this document to the best of its knowledge. No express or implied warranty is given for the completeness, accuracy, reliability, or fitness for the specific purpose of its content and the products and services presented therein. Specifications and performance data contain average values within existing specification tolerances and are subject to change without prior notice. PIONIX explicitly rejects any liability for any direct or indirect damage, in the broadest sense, arising from or related to the use or interpretation of this document.

No part of this document may be modified, reproduced, processed, or distributed in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of PIONIX.

High-level overview of BaseCamp

Thank you for choosing BaseCamp.

BaseCamp builds upon the stability releases of EVerest, which are published by the EVerest core developers every three months.

Info

For more information about the EVerest release cycle, see this link: https://github.com/EVerest/EVerest/blob/main/RELEASE.md

EVerest is supported by an active open-source community, leading to rapid development of new features. However, frequent updates can require regular changes to interfaces to maintain compatibility with your hardware and custom software.

BaseCamp offers long-term support (LTS) versions that keep these interfaces stable. This means you won’t need to constantly adjust your system to accommodate EVerest’s updates. With BaseCamp, you can use EVerest’s features reliably without managing its ongoing changes. Additionally, BaseCamp includes features for professional and commercial projects that are not available in EVerest.

All in all, you can expect the following:

  • Support for EV charging protocols

    • OCPP 1.6 and OCPP 2.0.1 (OCPP 2.1: in progress)
    • ISO 15118-2 and -20
    • IEC 61851
    • DIN SPEC 70121
    • CHAdeMO coming soon
  • Out-of-the-box support for different hardware (e.g. drivers for DC power supplies, power meters, isolation monitors and more)

  • Standardized and stable API to allow easy integrations

  • BringUp modules for custom hardware testing and integration

  • Access to source-code of BaseCamp

  • Ensured standards compliance

  • Fast customization

  • X.509 PKI signed updates

  • Security best practices following OpenSSF

  • ISO / IEC 5230 open source license compliance

  • Securing communication channels through HSM/TPM

  • Basic manufacturing cloud access

  • Regular software updates (fixes and new features)

  • OTA service to keep EV chargers up-to-date

  • Test reports for OCPP, ISO 15118-2/-20 compatibility, car model test reports, software stack certification and more.

The hardware requirements to run BaseCamp are as follows:

  • CPU: minimum imx6ULL or comparable, recommended is imx93 or AM62x

  • RAM: minimum of 512 MB, recommended is 1 GB or more

  • Flash: minimum of 1 GB, recommended is 4 GB or more

Exemplary customer journey with BaseCamp

Let’s have a look at the path you will walk from the point in time you purchase BaseCamp via the bring-up phase right to having your own BaseCamp-based technical product set up.

Here is an overview of this customer journey:

BaseCamp customer journey

After the license purchase, you will receive access to the BaseCamp sources. In the "Getting started" chapter you will find an explanation about the way how you can get this access.

This manual explains the BaseCamp BringUp & Qualification process. This will support you with testing and integrating boards and hardware devices in your project environment. At this point, you benefit from the BaseCamp HW Drivers.

During integration phase, a Service Level Agreement ensures a smooth onboarding process.

For the production phase, the PIONIX Cloud gives you access to telemetry data for each charger and allows for RAUC updates, further maintenance tasks, receive updates for compatibility with new car models, backends, standards and many more.

You will receive test reports of car model testings, benefit from certifications of the software stack and get the included software test scenarios (like OCPP, ISO 15118-2/-20, car simulator testings etc).

A more technical overview

The following diagram shows BaseCamp from a technical perspective:

BaseCamp technical overview

The blue-framed area defines BaseCamp. You can see the EVerest framework on the left as an integrated part of BaseCamp. The "BaseCamp API” provides the LTS aspect as mentioned above.

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You are still free to use the direct interface API mechanisms as you would use when applying EVerest without BaseCamp. Using direct communication to EVerest interfaces can sometimes be a good and necessary approach for some specific scenarios. But keep in mind not having a stable API in such cases.

BaseCamp can run on any Linux-based operating system that comes with the required dependencies. Our (strong) recommendation is Yocto.

Find more information on how to set up your Yocto-based environment in the chapter about product design. There, you will also find information on adapting a device tree to your custom board and installing BaseCamp.

The following subsections will explain the other elements of the diagram in more detail.

BaseCamp modules

BaseCamp comes with modules which are not part of the open-source software EVerest. Those modules are implemented based on the EVerest module architecture, though. This makes it easy if you have previous knowledge of the EVerest framework or if you already have existing EVerest modules.

Modules included in BaseCamp:

  • BringUp modules for early testing and providing integration support for custom hardware components.

  • Ready-to-use BaseCamp HW Drivers for many compatible hardware components. The supported boards, power meters, isolation monitors and so on are getting more in number.

  • LTS Bridge modules which keep away the dynamic changes of the EVerest development and provide you with a stable interface to EVerest core functionality.

  • PIONIX Cloud Connector: The bridge to the PIONIX Cloud which gives you basic cloud features. For more information, see the subsection about the PIONIX Cloud below.

  • RAUC OTA module for regularly receiving updates of BaseCamp. This is also explained in more detail below.

Customer-specific software and hardware

BaseCamp makes it easy to connect custom software or hardware.

Check first, whether BaseCamp already has a driver for your hardware that you want to use in your scenario. If it exists, the module can be simply included in the BaseCamp configuration - see the subsections about product design below.

Should you use hardware for which no driver is already included in BaseCamp, you can write one by using the BaseCamp API. For details on that, see the corresponding section.

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Implementing a driver with direct communication to EVerest interfaces is also possible but not recommended.

Should you already have developed EVerest-based modules, you can use them just as well - without having to change your software code to use the BaseCamp API.

Connecting to a cloud system

BaseCamp can use enhanced cloud features.

The BaseCamp product has included some basic cloud features like receiving telemetry data for each charger - additionally to receiving data from the OCPP-based communication to a charging-station management systems (CSMS).

Using a subscription to the PIONIX Cloud product will give you even more benefits for managing a whole charging landscape. The PIONIX team is happy to support you in questions about this product.