CANDYSIGN's HummingKit Is a "Software-Defined Charger" Designed to Demystify USB Power Delivery
Five-port USB Type-C charger supports a variety of USB power supply modes, and includes an API for programmatic control.
Self-described "open source-first company" CANDYSIGN is preparing to launch a crowdfunding campaign for the HummingKit, a "software-defined charger" designed for experimenting with USB Power Delivery (USB PD).
"HummingKit is a professional-grade, software-defined power platform that ditches the 'black box' of USB Type-C charging in favor of a transparent, programmable approach," the company explains of its upcoming device. "This approach aligns with the Software-Defined Charger (SDC) concept, where power hardware is decoupled from control logic, allowing charging behavior to be defined, inspected, and iterated on with software rather than fixed hardware rules."
The heart of the HummingKit is a combination of Espressif ESP32-C3 microcontroller, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity, connected to an Anlogic SALELF2 field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Linked to these is a MEAN WELL LOP-series DC power supply that feeds both the control system and five individual ISMARTWARE SW3566 USB converters each driving their own dedicated USB Type-C port.
These ports are under full software control, delivering up to 140W single-power power from 3.3V to 28V using the USB Power Delivery 3.2 standard in Extended Power Range (EPR), Programmable Power Supply (PPS), Adjustable Voltage Range (AVR) modes, or via direct adjustment using an application programming interface (API) built into the system. The total power the device can drive is, its creators say, up to 700W — though anything over 300W will require an upgraded power supply and active cooling.
"HummingKit solves the 'silent failure' problem in automated testing by allowing engineers to script voltage sweeps, monitor real-time current draw via Prometheus, and simulate brown-out conditions — all through APIs or custom integration," CANDYSIGN claims. "It turns a messy desk of bench power supplies into a single, network-attached power hub that can be controlled from a terminal or a Python script. Imagine a hardware CI/CD [Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery] pipeline where power isn’t just a switch, but a variable."
More information is available on the project's Crowd Supply page, where interested parties can sign up to be notified when the crowdfunding campaign goes live; the company has pledged to release hardware design files plus firmware, gateware, and software before the campaign's end, along with "all controller source code and non-proprietary FPGA logic."