AndrewC

Would anyone be interested in one of these:




In car monitor connecting to select monitor port displaying:

Speed (MPH),
RPM (Inc shift light),
Water Temp,
Battery Volts,
AFR,
AFR correction
Ignition advance,
Ignition correction,
MAF sensor values,
etc,
Upto 5 external analogue sensor inputs (Oil Temp/Pressure, Inlet temp, etc),
Logging of a total of 22 ecu parameters via RS232.

I am going to publish the circuits and code on the web (watch this thread for a URL). If there is enough interest; beyond the people who already know about the device; I may start putting kits together or even fully built units, although I must admit I have no interest in making this a commercial venture.

I have developed the device for the MY97/98 ECU although work has already started on the MY99/00 version, pre-97 cars will require a certain amount of re-work and may not be able to log all values simultaneously although the display will work fine.

Andrew...

[Edited by AndrewC - 9/22/2002 10:22:28 AM]

[Edited by AndrewC - 9/22/2002 10:24:44 AM]

Mantamac

Can one be set up to run on an STI 7?

AndrewC

Good question, I need to get my hands on one to see how difficult it would be - but probably.

I see I missed boost pressure of the list of parameters in the list above even though it is in the photo!

Andrew...

StephenDone

Hi Andrew,

It looks very good. I am half way through a 99 onwards version, but sort of got distracted by ECU programming ;-) Nice and compact.

That looks like one of the displays you can get from RS - Powertip or Tranma. If so, you can use the user defined characters feature to allow you to do smooth bar graphs as well. e.g.

Boost Pressure 18.4PSI
###############

What processor did you go for ? 8051 derivative ?

Cheers

Steve

AndrewC

Stephen,

I went for simplicity, although a Graphic LCD version is on the cards. This version uses a HD44780 display from 2x16 upto 4*20.



As you can see I am using Atmel AVR uControllers and Bascom-AVR, the unit in the picture uses an 8MHz 4433 but I have now moved on to the M8 (twice the memory and speed, half the price).

I started the whole thing because I couldn't decide which gauges to buy and thought - I can make them!

Andrew...

StephenDone

Hi Andrew,

You don't actually need a graphic screen to do bar graphs in some instances. Many displays will do user defined characters. Since the digits are 7x5, you can define 5 characters with varying numbers of columns filled. In this way, you can create nice graphs out of the 5 characters and the 'space' character.

Cheers

Steve

AndrewC

Stephen,

Yeah, It's dead easy to do basic bar graphs on a character LCD, but I want something that looks more like a Stack digital cockpit display, lots of curving arcs and big digits.

Anyway, that's in the future - well, on my bench

Andrew...

bruce

iTrader: (5)

That looks very good, I would like the circuits, but would a pre programmed chip be available?

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

I would be interested in any circuis you have as I would like to see if it could be adapted for the Pre96 protocol.

Myself, Pavlos and Davis Wallis have been working on ECU MAP downloads via the select monitor port and also reading certain parameter using a PC.

You module could be a more simplistic and better way forward as it will do away with the need for a PC when out on the road.

Cheers...

scottywrx

Very Nice piece of kit ..

I would be interested to know where you find out more about the comms protocol that is supported by the RS232 port in the car ..

Where can I jack in ? does someone have some details or wiring diagrams to help out .. I do a lot of TCP/RS232/485 comms stuff @ work so would appreciate any details.

Scott

Visit ScoobyCity

Marc R

Looks good. Another gadget is always nice. Depending on price I might be interested in a fully built unit. I'm sure I could build one but it would have no chance of ever working.

cheers

Marc

BoxerFlat4

I'd be interested in the circuits/programs as well - any chance of some info ?

Paul Houbart
Gecko Motorsport

scottywrx

Found this information ...

Looks like u need a converter from Select Monitor Port to RS232 .. I wonder exactly what protocol is on the Select Monitor Port RS422/485 perhaps ... or even CAN (422ish ...!)

Interesting stuff!!!

Scott

scottywrx

Ok its TTL sorry for the assumption ..

AndrewC

As I said above I'll publish all the information on a website very soon, but here's another pic to whet your appetites:



This pic shows the selector (activated by the red button) pointing at location 3, the parameter to be displayed is selected by the black button, each parameter can only be displayed once.

Andrew...

Pavlo

I would be very intersted in something like this. Not least because I want a way to interface my wideband lambda AND the select monitor into a single rs232 feed that's easy to read from a PC.

My wideband can output rs232 or a voltage, and although it has a numerical display, I would like to be able to log everything into a single com port.

Paul

AndrewC

Paul,

Reading another analogue voltage value is no problem, I am currently reading an oil temp sender using a shunt to give a variable voltage, the only thing is I haven't currently got any code to make the external sensors configuable, eg. voltage to temperature conversions. Although I was planning on doing this, using the uController's EEPROM to store scaling and offset values as well as a suitable label for each input.

Andrew...

Edited to add: As you know, pre-97 the select monitor protocol only allows the reading of a single memory location at a time, my code does block memory reads to allow logging of all useful parameters every cycle, I was planning on coding a pre-97 version which only reads the parameters to be displayed, although this would limit the usefullness of the logging facility.


[Edited by AndrewC - 9/22/2002 9:48:34 PM]

fubar

I too would be interested.
Few questions:
Any idea of price?
Night illumination?
Is the installation muppet proof?
(I am pretty feeble at DIY. Could possibly manage a scothlock connector)

AndrewC

Fubar, how much are you willing to pay?

Only kidding, If you add up the cost of the parts then you are looking at around £30, however, the techtom unit which does something very similar (no facility to add external sensors or to log data) is circa £400.

I am not doing this to make money, but having said that, I don't want someone else to come along and make a shedload of cash from my design. If there is enough interest I may start selling pre-programmed uControllers, kits and possibly complete units, either way they will be a lot closer to the first price than the second.

I already have several people locally who are interested and I will be building units for them.

The unit requires 4 wires connecting which can be scotch blocked, making installation a doddle (just don't leave it plugged in when putting it on a select monitor )

Andrew...

Edited to say: The LCD is backlit, currently the backlight is permanently on, although this can easily be switched from the dash instrument illumination if required.


[Edited by AndrewC - 9/22/2002 10:13:51 PM]

Fizz

iTrader: (1)

How big is the box? I ask because if you did make them I would like one for my MY01 and fit it into the little pocket below the stereo (converted to singel din unit you see). It would also be good if the buttons could also be on the front in this scenario?

Really interested though as I can't decide on or afford guages and I am thinking of going for a modified ECU so would like to know what's happening with boost etc...

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

What's gonna need doing to this to interface it to a Pre96. I know the data locations will be different but the RS232/TTL interface should be the same, as Scoobyduck and myselfs can interface to either a Post96 or Pre96 with either of our current interfaces.

AndrewC

Scott,

I'm not being funny, but read my reply to Paul's post.

The only reason I haven't coded an pre '97 version yet is because I don't know anyone locally with one, if you want to volunteer I would be more than happy to help you build one so long as I can post the code.

Steve (Scoobyduck) knows all about this project.

Andrew...

Scotsman

iTrader: (3)

Would love this for my MY99

Like most other people though I'm not that good with electronics so a rough price for a pre-made one would be great.

Richard.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

As above

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

Andrew, I'm sure we can all work togther on this one.. any info would be much appreciated.

BoxerFlat4

AndrewC -

If your looking for a pre97 car, I can offer my MY94 STI 1. Any help I can offer, just ask via my e-mail. I'm based in Knutsford, near Manchester.

Paul.Houbart@TheGecko.biz

David_Wallis

Andrew..

We also have a contact for pcb's as well..

David

fivepint

Defo interested in the ready-made unit, ive got 8 thumbs and 2 fingers when it comes to electronics!!! perfect solution to the problem of what gauges m8 glad someones finally figured it out....

Cheers

Richard Olafsson

I'd be interested in one of these!
I'm sure I could build one, just the programming I couldn't readily do.

Rich
M97

Andy Hamp

Love it ... i want one !

If you can do a kit i can easily do the rest ! Only problem is my car's a MY01 so as soon as you've got it working ....