Pic + software based digital dash

lez · 09-01-2005, 12:19 PM

I am looking at programing a pic to collect all the engine data I need and pump it out to a serial port.

Software would then display this as a digital dash display.

I am starting next week and hope to have the pic code done over a 1 / 2 week period. (software might take about same for an alpha)

I hope the software will embed in a standard frontend, and I like FP

(FP embedding thread)

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...775#post609775

IF I can measure 10 items, what would be best ? the top ten of choosen data retrival????

I think

1) Speed
2) Tach (Revs/RPM)
3) Engine water temp
4) engine oil temp
5) Oil pressure (could be diffcult)
6) Turbo boost (as above but a bit easier)
7) Inter cooler temp
8)
9)
A)

Thoughts?

65coupei6 · 09-01-2005, 12:29 PM

O2 Sensor (For Carb tuning)
Tranny Temp
Battery Voltage

kirbycope · 09-01-2005, 04:52 PM

MPG
Shift Light (user changable)
1/4 mile time

-zip- · 09-01-2005, 07:39 PM

volts/amps

kirbycope · 09-01-2005, 11:25 PM

Forgot you def need a fuel guage.

gummybear · 09-02-2005, 11:13 AM

OMG! i've been looking all over for how to do this!! thank god someone with more skill then me is doing something! lol

what about getting it display on an LCD display either thru hardware or and LCD screen thats plugged into the computer, i don't mean VGA lcd but also something like a matrix orbital screen. this way if someone is watching a movie or whatever you can still see the car stats!

is it possible to have like a fuel gauge/meter? telling you how much fuel you've got left, etc.

what about an ODO meter to tell you how far you've traveled.

i've had this idea to do a custom instrument cluster to replace the original with an all digital display thingie.

also make it skinnable! if it works great i'd actually pay for it! =D

lez · 09-03-2005, 08:38 AM

<shameful>

I cant believe I forgot the fuel gauge................

I hope to start looking into this from monday, at the moment I have a problem, I was re-painting my (pc)car, started last year! (and I aint drove it in 18+months)

The current vehicle is showing its age (its 20yrs old)and when I lost the engine in my taxi I lost the job also.

So I have one crap vehicle, one half dismantled at a lock up, and a growing parking bill for the lock up.

So I have to move it back home to my drive ASAP in its half finished state and avoid the lockup owner as I am behind on the rent.....

once I get this done (tomorro) I can relax and not answer the phone.....

(I will pay him, but no job = no cash for the moment so I can pay him weekly but cant afford the bill getting any bigger as i pay him)

((and car at home = faster progress and testing))

lez · 09-03-2005, 12:05 PM

Got a bit of a problem finding pressure sensors in the uk, uk's most common supplier maplin, dont list them anymore.

saw these and had a thought....

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...=42621&doy=3m9

And I have seen them as low as 3.99 so not going to break the bank as only about 3 are needed.

going to get one and see whats on the inside, hope its a seperate sensor with an analog output

shotgunefx · 09-03-2005, 12:20 PM

I'm working on somthing similar. I'm planning on measuring things that the scantool doesn't do fast enough for my needs or are unavailable. Like speedo/tach and unavailable inputs (including switches, dummy lights etc). I'm refactoring the circuit board that the gauges use and I'm going to tap those signals. They're all nice 5v signals coming out of one of the ecus.

The other thing I'll hopefully get to is to use the abs wheel speed sensors for differential tire pressure monitoring. It would be a nice thing to have.

lez · 09-03-2005, 12:40 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by shotgunefx

They're all nice 5v signals coming out of one of the ecus.

The other thing I'll hopefully get to is to use the abs wheel speed sensors for differential tire pressure monitoring. It would be a nice thing to have.

ECU's - Dont have any in my car!

Differential wheel speed wont work, unless you have a cray, as tyre ware will give much more difference than pressure, and what about cornering?

I would love to have tyre pressure, but cant think of anyway to do it except rf.

shotgunefx · 09-03-2005, 01:35 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by lez

ECU's - Dont have any in my car!

Differential wheel speed wont work, unless you have a cray, as tyre ware will give much more difference than pressure, and what about cornering?

I would love to have tyre pressure, but cant think of anyway to do it except rf.

Many factory systems do exactly this. If a tire is low, it spins faster than the rest. There must be some averaging to account for cornering. Though if all the tires lose air at the same speed, it won't catch it.

There's a previous thread here.

lostreception · 09-03-2005, 01:40 PM

lez what type of cardo you have and im assuming this will be OBD-II

not OBD-I

which will never be implemented like i want it to be

turbocad6 · 09-03-2005, 01:55 PM

what factory cars sense tire pressure through wheel speed, I don't see how that's possible.....there are way to many variables for this to ever be reliable....

all systems I have ever seen use a transmiting sensor in the wheel.... this isn't a huge expense for the manufactures & is reliable & acurate.... I can't see this being done by wheel speed alone, correct me by telling me which car does that... as I could be wrong

Dwaine · 09-03-2005, 02:02 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by turbocad6

what factory cars sense tire pressure through wheel speed, I don't see how that's possible.....there are way to many variables for this to ever be reliable....

all systems I have ever seen use a transmiting sensor in the wheel.... this isn't a huge expense for the manufactures & is reliable & acurate.... I can't see this being done by wheel speed alone, correct me by telling me which car does that... as I could be wrong

Car manufactures use the ABS sensor to determine the rotations of the tire. This is how the tire pressure is calculated. Goes by the numbe of rotations in seconds.

shotgunefx · 09-03-2005, 02:02 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by turbocad6

what factory cars sense tire pressure through wheel speed, I don't see how that's possible.....there are way to many variables for this to ever be reliable....

all systems I have ever seen use a transmiting sensor in the wheel.... this isn't a huge expense for the manufactures & is reliable & acurate.... I can't see this being done by wheel speed alone, correct me by telling me which car does that... as I could be wrong

I don't know if there are that many more variables to account for than there are with direct monitoring. Pressure is going to vary on cornering too.

Try googling "indirect tire pressure monitoring" for lot's of info. I have a really good pdf on it somewhere but can't locate it at the moment.