[tamathumper]

This thread will document my research into- and work toward- an electronic multi-function gauge for the 968. The interior of the 968 is spartan in terms of room for adding anything - witness the many failed attempts at the perfect cup holder. I'll add the components I am researching currently in this and subsequent posts.



I am currently leveraging the ideas of several people who posted their ideas on the web, although they unfortunately did not post the real guts of their solutions. Credit where due to winmutt on superturbodiesel.com, thread located at http://www.superturb...nagement?page=2.



After much research into Raspberry Pi, Netduino, Beaglebone and others (including a trip to NYC Maker Faire to see them all in action) I have decided my first foray will incorporate an Arduino microcontroller (Uno R3 specifically) to read the voltages from any sending units and to allow a platform for incorporating accelerometers, GPS sensors, wireless radios (Bluetooth, WiFi), USB and ethernet communications, and a wide variety of input devices (joysticks, keyboards, etc.)







Output will initially be driven to a 4D Systems 1.5" OLED capable of displaying text, graphics and video. I'm hopeful there is a place to mount this or a similar display unit flush behind the existing gauges (similar to in-dash displays in many modern cars), perhaps at the bottom of the tachometer. Being an OLED display, it requires no backlight and is extremely thin. I still need to do measurements and find out what kind of room is back there, and hopefully there aren't any warning lights embedded there either.





Working with 4D's Workshop IDE, I've mocked up the beginnings of a Splash and About screens, primary menus (not shown), and the rudimentary beginnings of a Boost gauge. The font is as close as I could purchase to the existing gauges, being Eurostile Extended Black. For now, I call it "PDuino".







Wish me luck.

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[Lear35A]

I like it. How can I help support your development? I'd certainly like one too (or are you starting Design2Racing?

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[tamathumper]

It's a very long way off - probably hundreds of hours of development will be necessary, but I'm willing to share the code and the effort with anyone who's willing and able (thank you for offering and just let me know what you're willing and capable of), and there's no reason it can't be extensible for different people's needs. The mounting inside the instrument cluster is of course optional, and there are many different kinds of displays available, so it's not limited to just these hardware bits. If I was *really* committed, I'd work on feeding it into the AV IN on my Kenwood double-DIN stereo. Hmmmm...



Here is a *very* crude mockup of what it would look like inside the instrument cluster.

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[Lear35A]

I think the display in the instrument cluster is the right way to go. Putting the info down low takes your eyes too far off the road. My boost gauge is down there, and I would sure like it better near eye level. That's my opinion anyway.

Where'd you get the Euro cluster?

emfg

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[JWahlsten]

How difficult would it be to make the readout selectable? I'd really like to have Oil Temp and/or EGTs. The other option would be to have two readouts.



Neat idea.

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[tamathumper]

@Lear35A, the position could still be in the gauge "area", without being embedded behind or within the instrument cluster. A small custom enclosure could be mounted on the fixed portion of the steering column which would place the screen right between the speedo/tach, and which would more easily facilitate multiple "buttons" to manage the interface. I think this would look a little more "tacked on", but it would make it much more accessible to people as not everyone wants to cut a hole in their tachometer. I got the euro cluster from Google Images, which was a little easier than getting a good photo of mine at that hour.



@JWahlsten, the plan at the moment is to make it multi-function and user-selectable. I am working on how to do that, either through the Arduino or on the 4D display module directly, as both have sensing ability built in and the 4D can be programmed, just not as extensibly as the Arduino. Both will accept GPS modules as well, and both will support data logging.

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[tamathumper]

Menus could look something like this, although this part of the interface will obviously change a *lot* over the course of development, and I am aware that using the Porsche logo on the splash screen is probably a no-no.







emfg

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[mbardeen]

I've got a bit of electronics experience, and an arduino and an extra GPS module lying around, so I can help you with development as well.



Another possible source of information is:

code.google.com/p/opengauge/wiki/OBDuinoInterface (Edit: removed potentially harmful link -- use caution when opening)





I've got a scangauge II for ODB-II, but I'd love to have something similar for my pre-ODB cars (Jeep, Porsche). Not that I really want to know how bad my MPG is in either, but more because I'm interested in the development process.

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[tamathumper]

Remember, if you're on topic, include "emfg" in your post (see my first post for why). Edit: Well, never mind, my post was edited and my suggestion/instructions apparently removed...



Thank you mbardeen. If anyone has a recommendation for posting and managing multiple developers for the source code, I'd be glad to post what I have so far. GitHub? Google Code?



NOTE: When I click the link above, Chrome/Google gives a very serious-sounding warning:

Code:

Danger: Malware Ahead! Google Chrome has blocked access to this page on code.google.com.

Content from opengauge.org, a known malware distributor, has been inserted into this web page.

Visiting this page now is very likely to infect your computer with malware.

Malware is malicious software that causes things like identity theft, financial loss, and permanent file deletion.

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[mbardeen]

Evidently the problem with that link has been fixed, but google has not yet updated their database.

http://forum.arduino...?topic=180763.0

http://www.google.co...e=opengauge.org



YMMV. Edit: Or maybe not. Maybe it was just the link from arduino.cc that was fixed. I'll edit the original message.



Google Code, from what I've seen is very flexible. I've not had any experience with GitHub, but I know it's widely used. Either or would probably suffice.

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[tamathumper]

Two questions arose this morning:



1. Out of curiousity,... how many of you have, or would be able to acquire and install a stereo with a Video In capability? The more I think about it, the easier it would be for more people if I could develop something, even potentially wireless, that would feed video into existing stereo units. I'm still going to develop this on a little display, but there are also video units that would be plug-and-play with the existing development that would feed a stereo like mine and many on the market.



2. The unit will need a little spot for a tiny joystick or two little buttons, or it will need to be controlled wirelessly from a smart phone. If you had to put the little joystick or buttons in your cockpit, what would be the *most* awesome spot for it? For those of us who are cab owners, I posit the dash blank where the rear window heater is located would be best, it's almost under the tach, and it's well, blank. But that leaves the coupers out of luck,... so the next time you're in your car, take a look around for a great spot to add some controls. The blanks in the console are, IMHO, only "OK".

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[Cloud9...68]

I can definitely appreciate Tama's obvious passion for this stuff, and also the offers of support from other people following this thread. But for someone who doesn't even own a smart phone, and is driving around in a 968 with a non-functioning radio (and not really missing it all that much), I'm utterly clueless as to what you guys are cooking up. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/blink.png" class="smilie" alt="" /> For the similarly unitiated, could someone please write a 2-3 line mission statement as to what this project's end goals are? Thanks.

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[flash]

my primary concern would be glare and size. i have a hard enough time trying to read tiny things (farsighted and old). anybody in my boat would have the same issue.



so, i would look carefully at the size and resolution, as well as anti-glare components.



but, more gauges could be cool. of course, if it only reads one at a time, it's useless for track use. you can't be flipping back and forth between readouts and expect to drive safely. that is the reason i have not yet tied in a second temp sensor to the OEM gauge. i'm not sure i like the idea of having to flip a switch to see a temp.



i might have an extra tach floating around to donate to the project, at least for the purpose of space determination. i'll have to look, but i can't get up into the attic until after next week.

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[tamathumper]

Cloud, this is the long answer, but this idea comes from a previous thread I started where I mentioned I had become used to having the electronic multi-function gauges in all of my trucks for the last decade. If you Google "Evolution Insight" or "Evolution Edge", you'll find just one company with a product line that provides add-on gauges for OBD-II vehicles with lots of vehicle-specific add-ons as well. There are plenty of others.



I especially appreciated the EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) gauge for my Ford F-250 diesel, because that model year had a lot of problems with the variable-pitch turbo and one of the things to be particularly mindful of was the EGT's, especially after shutting off the engine.



Those units (and I intend for this unit, too), would alarm and flash red if anything they monitored got into the alarm zone. There wasn't even a gauge on the dash for most of the things being monitored, but it was nice knowing that everything that could be monitored *was* being monitored, and I could set the alarm levels myself. So instead of getting just a big red [!] idiot light, I could get an alarm with a specific measurement that was outside of spec, and by how much. I could also make a decision that might save me a lot of dough, by shutting the engine off, or in some cases, NOT shutting it off (to allow the turbo to cool after a hard towing session or long uphill climb).



While in the idea-generation phase, I think that a mission statement would be counter-productive.



flash, if you do have a spare tach, that would be fantastic. I'd love to see one from all angles, as I've never had a need to take the dash apart.



The Evolution gauges have multiple modes, whereby you can view one, two, or three "analog" gauges, or a table of values. In the event of an alarm, that value can either flash, or it can take up the entire screen in analog or digital view.



A flexible unit like this can serve multiple purposes, but I don't think it is something that's fit for track use and for monitoring all aspects of the vehicle interactively while flying around corners... while tracking it's probably best to pick a gauge and let the unit monitor everything else and go into alarm mode if something gets outside of the parameters you set.



For those who haven't noticed, the gauges in our (and many other) cars have a specific "angle" that denotes "normal". Our gauges indicate "normal" when they are horizontal or slightly below. Your coolant temp, oil pressure at warm idle, and voltage meters all rest just below horizontal, and this gauge will most likely be designed with the same parameters, e.g. to rest slightly below horizontal when everything is A-OK. That way, you don't have to be an eagle-eye to see if things are getting out of whack.

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[flash]

turbochargers can take advantage of EGT readings, as the exhaust temps are much higher. superchargers, particularly centrifugal ones won't need it. neither will NA cars. i think you're wasting time and money on that one.



oil temp would be a good one though.



trans temp only on track.



supercharger oil reservoir temp wouldn't suck. that oil has a temp limit.

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[Cloud9...68]

Tama,



Thanks for the explanation. Looked line an awful lot of trouble to go through for a boost gauge!



Actually, what you're describing is commonly used on manufacturing equipment - anything that can be measured is monitored and tracked within statistically-derived control limits, and the system generates an alarm any time any of the monitored parameters is out of its control range. I didn't realize there were such realtime-parameter monitoring products available for cars. Best of luck with the project.

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[Eric_Oz_S2]

Egt is very useful on a supercharged car. Not sure why flash thinks otherwise. For starters it can help with tuning to ensure there is the right balance between ignition and fuel.

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[flash]

exhaust temps don't vary that much on a supercharged engine, relative to naturally aspirated engine. i checked. if you don't need it on the naturally aspirated version, you don't need it on the supercharged version. turbochargers are a whole different story. if you wanted to check temps on an sc, check intake. exhaust won't do much for you.

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[tamathumper]

What I originally said was "I especially appreciated the EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) gauge for my Ford F-250 diesel,..."...

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[flash]

i don't know diddly about diesels or how important exhaust temps are. all i know is that on a centrifugally supercharged car, or a normally aspirated car, you really have to be pushing the edge of the envelope before that comes into play, and there are other gauges and things already in place that will tell you that you have a problem long before en exhaust temp gauge will.

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