Buzo is back with a cool project

[Buzo]

I have an old Toshiba laptop that has no use in m home, too slow to surf on it.
So the best place for it is in my car doing only as an electronic dash.

The first step was to try to bend it the other way around, just like some of the new win8 laptops. We can't in an old laptop, so I removed the hinges. Still there were four wires too short to allow the monitor to rest in the back of the keyboard.

I'm glad the main connector was long enough to allow the 360 degrees turn of the monitor. Because that one must have 20 or more wires.

So only reworked 4 wires and I have what I call a poor man's tablet.

Next step is to make a base to secure it in place.

[go2eleven]

I like wherever this might be going. Definitely gonna follow this.

[Buzo]

The reason I waited so long to do this in my car was because the information the Megasquirt sends to the computer is OK for tuning, but useless for a normal dash. So the little blue box that can be seen below the pics is an expansion board that I can program myself and add almost anything else to my computer, besides the normal data sent by the MS.

For instance, I added the speed sensor so I have my speed in MPH, therefore I have the odometer, the fuel economy in average MPG, L/100km, instant MPG, etc which we dont have in a standard MS-II. I also added the fuel level sensor already -another pending project that I am about to close-.

This little board can be wired to our cars as well, I would need to ask for permit to the creator of the Tuner Studio software, but I don't see any problem because he will get more customers to sell the softwarfe to. Still the Free version of the software is great.

[Buzo]

A little too big monitor, but I love it!

If you take into account that there has always been a computer on my passenger's seat - or on the passenger's legs - this solution is perfect!

[Buzo]

Another part of the project, is to design a circuit to bring the Low Fuel Level Warning Light back to life. Since now I can log any data I want, I started logging the fuel level sender's voltage. The signal is very noisy so put some filters until got a stable signal like the one attached, which only follows the car's movement. I guess I captured this chart when the tank was 1/2.

The circuit should be easy to build with parts easy to buy (no microcontrollers!) So far the logic to follow would be, if {the 50 previous FLS values read are different than the current value, ignore} else {compare and turn on/off the warning light in the dash accordingly} So we should be comparing only when the car is at idle or in a steady speed.

The fuel level voltage is the one called gpioadc1, sorry forgot to update the name in the chart. It is not properly scaled neither, but its OK just to communicate the idea.

[Skellington]

interesting. I have an old toshiba laptop, but I was thinking of using it as a radio / tv system. I like where you are going with this. It seems that a netbook would make a perfect candidate. It would be neat if you could build a small screen in the dash.

[Buzo]

A member of the forum put a ~7" screen where the A/C controls and outlets are.
I accept this one is too tall. If I can get a hold of a smaller laptop, I'll say 5x10", I would remove my mechanic dash, even if the total height gets taller than the stock.
This system of bending the laptop to the opposite side helps to solve the lack of space problem.

[Dr_Snooz]

A member of the forum put a ~7" screen where the A/C controls and outlets are.
I accept this one is too tall. If I can get a hold of a smaller laptop, I'll say 5x10", I would remove my mechanic dash, even if the total height gets taller than the stock.
This system of bending the laptop to the opposite side helps to solve the lack of space problem.

iPad?

[Hazwan]

Another part of the project, is to design a circuit to bring the Low Fuel Level Warning Light back to life. Since now I can log any data I want, I started logging the fuel level sender's voltage. The signal is very noisy so put some filters until got a stable signal like the one attached, which only follows the car's movement. I guess I captured this chart when the tank was 1/2.

The circuit should be easy to build with parts easy to buy (no microcontrollers!) So far the logic to follow would be, if {the 50 previous FLS values read are different than the current value, ignore} else {compare and turn on/off the warning light in the dash accordingly} So we should be comparing only when the car is at idle or in a steady speed.

The fuel level voltage is the one called gpioadc1, sorry forgot to update the name in the chart. It is not properly scaled neither, but its OK just to communicate the idea.

I've been waiting for this for years LOL

Have you thought of running a full fledged carputer system? Proper screens etc?

[Buzo]

iPad?

If it was open source, yes

[Dr_Snooz]

I hear you on that. I only mention it because the iPad form factor sounds right for what you're after.

[2ndGenGuy]

What about a Raspberry Pi? I think you'd love the GPIO setup it's got. And it's so tiny! And it's $25. And it's got composite out, so you could scavenge an old DVD player screen or something, or go fancy and get a touch screen and use HDMI instead. And it's truly open source. Of course, then you can't run your Windows software on it, since it's ARM-based. Is there something open source you can use to get your MegaSquirt data?

[Legend_master]

If it was open source, yes

You could set up a WiFi network in the car, and vnc the image to a tablet(Android or apple) wirelessly.

[Buzo]

Thanks for all your ideas!

I am familiar with interfacing a PC with a mac device. At home we control our Karaoke (loaded in a PC) with our iphones & ipods, so everyone can schedule their next song from their place.

The laptop I'm using is not really bad, 2Ghz processor and 1.5 GB in RAM. I can say that I am happy how it has been working so far. In the evenings after work, I need to turn the blower on, otherwise the computer may shut off itself due to the heat from all day under the sun. Not a big deal. Its time to turn the A/C on anyway.

The reasperry PI card looks very good! Unfortunately, composite video has very low resolution. I tried using my 7" DVD screens some time ago, but I can't see the numbers in the gauges.

This project is good under the re-use classification. There are other proper ways to do this. If I was going to do this from scratch, I would certainly buy a formal carputer and a HD-touch screen monitor.

The best thing I guess, is that I am working to log all the signals of the car independently of the megasquirt, so anybody could READ their sensor status by wiring every sensor to my board and use tunerstudio to log everything. Similar to my original OBD-0, but using a commercial logging software so I can focus in the hardware only.

[Buzo]

Is there something open source you can use to get your MegaSquirt data?

Sorry but I don't understand this question, Could you please re-phrase it for me?

[2ndGenGuy]

The reasperry PI card looks very good! Unfortunately, composite video has very low resolution. I tried using my 7" DVD screens some time ago, but I can't see the numbers in the gauges.

It also has HDMI video which can be converted into DVI.

Sorry but I don't understand this question, Could you please re-phrase it for me?

I guess what I mean is... since Raspberry Pi is ARM-based (not x86), you can't run Windows on it. Is there something like TunerStudio that you could re-compile for the ARM processor and run in Linux?

I am planning on doing a setup using my Raspberry Pi to take data from my MegaJolt via serial port. I'm going to use Python and QT and write a front end using qwt (Qwt User's Guide: Qwt - Qt Widgets for Technical Applications) to display my "gauges" on my screen. I want to be able to take other inputs via GPIO, such as engine temp, and whatever else I can find to use, similar to what you're doing.

[Buzo]

Oh I see! There is a version of TS that runs in non windows machines arleady - mac, linux, unix. But I know nothing about those other OS's.
I'm glad to hear you are working in a similar project. This raspberry PI card sounds like a very good option though. Small, Cheap & Powerful.

[cygnus x-1]

I was looking at the PI last year when it came out. At the time people were trying to get TunerStudio to run on it but were finding that the PI didn't have enough CPU to run it very well. I haven't checked in awhile so they may have worked this out by now. It would be very cool if they did.

I have been running TunerStudio on an old 1.6ghz Atom based netbook and it runs fine. The biggest problem is the screen resolution is too small (1280x800) and the tuning window in TS doesn't really fit too well. The gauge window is perfect though.


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[Buzo]

I was looking at the PI last year when it came out. At the time people were trying to get TunerStudio to run on it but were finding that the PI didn't have enough CPU to run it very well. I haven't checked in awhile so they may have worked this out by now. It would be very cool if they did.

I have been running TunerStudio on an old 1.6ghz Atom based netbook and it runs fine. The biggest problem is the screen resolution is too small (1280x800) and the tuning window in TS doesn't really fit too well. The gauge window is perfect though.


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Do you have pics of your set up?

Its been two weeks since I put my computer in the car, I completed the fuel level sensor, low level warning light and completed the car speed and miles counters that don't get reset when the car shuts off.

I don't think I want a smaller screen now. This one is just perfect. I put all my songs database on it and listen with the fm transmitter.
I'm waiting for some bluetooth adapters I ordered last week to get rid of all the cables.

Tilted the screen a little bit to have a better view from my position. A friend of mine told me about a software that focus all the computer resources in an specific program you want, so I plan to use it to focus over tuner studio.

[cygnus x-1]

Do you have pics of your set up?

There isn't really anything to see. The netbook just plugs in to the MS and sits in the passenger seat. And actually much of the car is taken apart right now. I was in the middle of a few different projects and just kind of stopped in the middle to work on other things. Guess I sort of got burned out on it. I'll get back to it eventually.


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[gp02a0083]

can't you use something like a small value capacitor to clean up the signal? I;ve used small 10V 470uf caps for +5V inputs and to "regulate" it better I've installed a cap in parallel with it. I would have originally assumed the "noise" is the tank float moving around. These old 80's cars always had issues with the fuel senders and stuff for the fuel level system. Nice job on everything else BTW!

[Buzo]

can't you use something like a small value capacitor to clean up the signal? I;ve used small 10V 470uf caps for +5V inputs and to "regulate" it better I've installed a cap in parallel with it. I would have originally assumed the "noise" is the tank float moving around. These old 80's cars always had issues with the fuel senders and stuff for the fuel level system. Nice job on everything else BTW!

Thanks for your tip, I tested several caps and found that 1000 uF and a voltage divider with 68K and 47K were able to filter all the noises.

This is how it looks at night. Who wants a smaller screen!

[Dr_Snooz]

That is CRAZY bright! OMG LOL ROFL!

[Hazwan]

Hey it would be awesome if you could share the new updated low fuel warning lamp circuit (Y)

[2ndGenGuy]

That is a pretty sweet massive screen!