Thread: Pico + dual automation boards

Still need sound jack plugs, power switch and top box lcd to be wired before it starts to live

Nothing has fried so far while i was checking the automation boards

Ok, the automated boards are working fine
Ladder benchmarks are reporting everything is ok with the I/O
That's all for today, tomorrow i have to buy a connector for the audio and that's it, the creature is in the box

Sooo, while waiting for the audio connectors for the Pico, i changed resistors to have brighter leds on the front panel and i also launched a stress program designed to check weakness if any on the boards.

Here is the video

[media]http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=-KC82IVuMtI[/media]

stupid question,
but what does it do?

I'm with PUNKY. What does it do?

On the video it's does nothing apart switching the relays in the hardest way it can be, just to check if one relay would fail.

Not that stupid question, i'm sorry, i realize it could seem a bit unusual or useless machine but here are some keywords

- Turbo idler sustaining engine working for minutes after key removal
- Oil pressure
- Oil temperature
- Coolant temperature
- Turbo pressure
- Air temperature before and after intercooler
- Water / Methanol injection managment
- Pre and post lubricating pump i.e. to prepare the cold engine before inserting the key or to leave the car, shutting down the engine but still allowing the oil to run in it's circuits.


- Lambda sensor
- Electric valves
- Actuators
- Accelerometers
- Stepper motors
- DC motors
etc....

and of course all of this can be accessed through the internet or a simple lan.
Add your own sensor or component in the list above, sky or your imagination is the limit
Of course it can be programed to run sequences of outputs depending of what is found on sensors.
In short it's an enhanced computer able to interact with the real world.

In my case, i'll install it to replace the present carpc i have in my bimmer, expanding informations, like oil temp and pressure, turbo pressure and missing informations which doesn't exist on the bus because of missing sensors and probably program to manage those informations (my bimmer is too old).
This machine is not really intended for in car use, to be clear, in the beginning i was thinking for in car use this is right but time elapsed and finally this machine is going to be used somewhere else, my bimmer is used only for demo purpose

Not to rain on your parade but, it kinda like the fusion brain. The lan connect could it be wireless? That would be great for remote start then be able to monitor other auto stuff (oil pressure,volts, & climate controls)through the onboard computer? Or it this an independant device?

Lan connect can be wireless it's easy.
Remote start....yes but isn't that too simple for a machine like this one ?
I'm sure you can find some more sophisticated sequences to be executed

The device is independent, this means it can live it's own life regardless of the pc cpu work but they collaborate, in other words they don't mess in each other's work even if they need each other to work properly.

The programmed sequences are running in parallel mode, the whole I/O are processed in same time, yes it runs real time.
Watchdog is paying attention to the tasks that must be processed in time and in case of some damaged sensor or device altering delays of execution, a jump to a program level which secures outputs from destroying anything that could be attached to them is done.

So with this, the car can behave like a robot