Fusion USB I/O Board - What type of sensors would you like to see?

**ginigma** · 08-07-2007, 10:25 PM

Humidity Sensor
Alcohol Sensor, you know, for some kind of interlock so you can't start your car when you're drunk and pull a Lindsay Lohan.

**ghosty** · 08-10-2007, 03:48 AM

I would like to see a voltage sensor so I can manage my dual batteries in the 4x4.
I would alos like to see a low pressure sensor say 0 - 30PSI for measuring boost pressure etc.

**FalconX** · 08-11-2007, 06:08 AM

I am ready to order one brain with the G sensor. What I want to do is to display the 2 G axis on my carputer's monitor like in F1. Is it possible through the software provided. If I manage this and demonstrate it, there are a lot of people who are willing to purchase for their cars in my country.

**2k1Toaster** · 08-11-2007, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by FalconX

I am ready to order one brain with the G sensor. What I want to do is to display the 2 G axis on my carputer's monitor like in F1. Is it possible through the software provided. If I manage this and demonstrate it, there are a lot of people who are willing to purchase for their cars in my country.

Yes this is possible. However, you should wait a couple weeks to order, because the current accelerometers have a defect, so we have designed new ones that should be ready in a few weeks. If you sign up as a customer on the store, or just stay tuned in this thread, you will know once the new ones get here.

And just so everyone knows, those with the previous version of accelerometers, will not be out of luck. We will be replacing those with these new ones.

**turbocad6** · 10-20-2007, 02:22 AM

Originally Posted by turbocad6

... what I think would really be friggin awsome would be wireless tire preasure monitoring, but I'm sure that's no easy task...

^^^that was from back in may, if you worked something out with robbybmw & adopt a tpms system to the fusion brain it would be a huge sucess I think.

theres also the possibility of developing your own kit interface... don't know if this is something you could do, but judging from the miracles you've already pulled off, I'm guessing you can.... I'll get a kit & send it to you if you want to check one out

if there was anything else I could do to help too...

that would also generate some nice skins, the tpms alone would be enough reason to buy a brain, the fact that it can do tons more stuff is like a bonus... the brain could be used as a type of add on monitoring system simulating like what a high end luxury car would have... eventually when everything finalizes & is documented, nice skin packages of pages with vehicle stats will start surfacing, I know I'll make some.

eventually this could wind up being put togeather as a package... include wiring diarams & say "hook it up like this", run this program with this skin, & BAM, instant vehicle monitoring system. make this something a bit more entry level & broaden the market for this many times over. so it could be an out of the box solution, but also customizable as hell.

just a few thoughts I've had & thought I'd share

**blademan83** · 03-15-2008, 11:10 PM

Wow, this is exactly what I have been thinking about putting together on my own for my car. This looks like it would be much easier than starting from scratch.

Some things I was thinking about for sensor inputs are:

Rotation sensor - basically a knob with a hole through it that some sort of axle could go through, maybe in a few different sizes. This could be used for steering angle, suspension travel, or anything you would use a knob for.

Fluid Pressure sensor - maybe high and low pressure versions. For fuel pressure, brake pedal
pressure, etc.

Also, a laser and/or IR temp sensor would be perfect for measuring brake rotor temperature without having something rub against the rotors.

**mx270a** · 03-23-2008, 11:55 AM

I am interested in a tilt sensor, but I would need one capable of determining it's orientation while bouncing around.

The application would be in a farm tractor, which isn't a smooth ride. I currently have a GPS antenna on the cab of the tractor (about 10' high), but if the machine is tipped left or right, I want to correct the location so I know accurately where the base of the machine is. Range would be -30 degrees to + 30 degrees. I realize this might not be something for mass production, so if you have any great ideas on how to build one, that would be excellent as well.

**parksgm** · 03-27-2008, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by blademan83

Also, a laser and/or IR temp sensor would be perfect for measuring brake rotor temperature without having something rub against the rotors.

...or tire temp. That's a really cool idea, practical and useful (especially on the track), and seems like it would be easy to implement with the right sensor.

I'll look around on the web and see what turns up.

**greenman100** · 03-27-2008, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by parksgm

...or tire temp. That's a really cool idea, practical and useful (especially on the track), and seems like it would be easy to implement with the right sensor.

I'll look around on the web and see what turns up.

We had trouble sourcing IR temp sensors at a reasonable price.

if you can find them, we can build the interfacing circuitry.

**parksgm** · 03-27-2008, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by Super_T

I agree that a display of lateral and longitudinal acceleration at the same time (traction circle) would be the most productive thing to do with G's.

Which would be very interesting real time...if the absolute maximum lateral and longitudinal traction for a given surface were known, say by doing a series of maneuvers around a circle of a given diameter, then tire loading could be computed relatively easily. Perhaps a display that would indicate via a bar graph the approximate amount of traction remaining at each tire.

With logging, this could be extremely useful for the track. For example, one see that as he entered a corner, and started to brake and turn, approximately x amount of grip remains unused at the front left tire for a given corner entry speed. Then, one could decide how to better approach the corner (brake later, more steering input, etc.)

A skilled driver is already aware of these things by the seat of his pants, of course (otherwise, he wouldn't be a very skilled driver), but it would still be pretty interesting.

Another thought...with IR tire temp sensors, the variation in traction with tire temperature could be computed. Tires have the most traction within a given temperature range, and so one could circle a skidpad, logging lateral G and tire temp data as the tires heated, and then see what tire temp resulted in the most traction. Again, not sure quantifying the data would really make any actionable difference in the real world, but interesting data nonetheless (and a pretty easy software implementation, I would think).