arduino & touchslide

[Jon Wildsmith]

Thanks, looks a bit less home made in this latest case

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Still working / reliable I made some inquiries about water level sensors that go in the main cooling system rather than the expansion bottle but never heard anything back about those so still looking for solutions to detect coolant loss. Also slowly working out what adapter is needed to T the OEM oil pressure sensor so oil pressure can be monitored, mainly so an alarm can be triggered if it drops too low. Also connected up a g sensor but I've only had a quick play with that, bit of a toy but still might be interesting to see the data sometimes.

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Just had a read back through the thread and though I'd recap what this thing does in case it's got a bit lost in all the posts:

Split charge battery voltage monitoring and relay/solenoid control. Has auto and manual modes, link and drop voltages fully user adjustable, can control 2 solenoids for more complex split charge installations e.g. conventional linking for winching plus a DC-DC charger for better aux battery charging.

Coolant temperature display with 2 stage over temperature visual and audible alarms. A switched output can be controlled at either alarm setting to e.g. switch a fan.

Autobox ATF temperature display with 2 stage over temperature visual and audible alarms. A switched output can be controlled at either alarm setting to e.g. switch a fan.

Vehicle speed display in either mph or kph with dual user set calibration configurations for e.g. 2 sizes of tyres. Calibrated / corrected output signal that can be used to feed the vehicle instruments so your speedometer shows the correct speed.

Dual fuel, or fuel tank, trip meters with automatic switching so only one is active at a time - keep track of your fuel usage and estimate your remaining range more reliably.

Dual A / B trip meters that can be paused, reversed and reset perfect for working with road books that require accurate trip distance or use as ordinary general purpose trip meters.


Coming soon:

Oil pressure display and alarm.
Possibly low coolant level detection and alarm.

 

[Lorin]

I made some inquiries about water level sensors that go in the main cooling system rather than the expansion bottle but never heard anything back about those so still looking for solutions to detect coolant loss.

Any of these any good...?
http://www.fozmula.com/products/coolant ... tches.html
http://www.sstsensing.com/products/Liqu ... Sensors/60

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I think the 1st link is one you sent me and I contacted them but didn't hear back and didn't get round to chasing them. I don't think I saw the second link before so they're also worth a try as well next year.

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Just had a read back through the thread and though I'd recap what this thing does in case it's got a bit lost in all the posts

I should also have said that none of the 'features' will get upset if you don't connect the wires for them e.g. if you don't need the speed / trip meter functionality don't connect the speed sensor input or output, simples

 

[Jim Andrews]

I've just landed on this article having been trawling around the web for coolant alarms.

Very interested!

My application is for a Discovery (<ducks for cover> Sorry, I know this is a Land Cruiser forum!) and would be interesting in adapting it for LR vehicles.

You've detailed the hardware side (although as you say the Arduino side is pretty straightforward), do you have any intention of publishing the source code or are you wanting to keep that more in-house?

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I'll share bits of the source on demand Jim and give as much information as you like about how I've done something or what settings I'm using, code or hardware, so anyone else who likes to tinker can get up and running with their own project quite easily but not the full source at the moment. Anyone is welcome to my compiled hex files for programming the devices though and I'd be quite happy to add features / make changes to suit other people if that's enough for you.

There's nothing about this project that is Landcruiser or even Toyota specific as I've used VDO senders for the temperatures and if for example all you want is temperature monitoring and alarms I will just add a UI page you can select that only has those on the screen.

EDIT: Just to add have you looked at this thread which has links to some commercial offerings.

 

[Jim Andrews]

Many thanks for the information.

The commercial offerings that you linked to are pretty much what I'd found in my searching (the thread looks familiar!) and, apart from the EMS2, didn't satisfy what I was looking for.

This development is very similar in functionality tot he EMS2, but with the nicety of everything on the single screen (I like all-in-one displays!).

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I hope you don't mind me quoting some of your PM here Jim but you never know someone else might find the answers useful

One of the features I'm interested in, is an average speed readout for travelling through the SPECS speed camera areas. I'm assuming the Arduino has an RTC, so given that it knows about distance from the speed sensor it should be easy to do an average speed. Thinking it could just be reset by a touch of the screen, no actual settings required.

You can keep time accurately enough for average speed calculations using the Arduino RTC. Average speeds are mostly working but I never got round to deciding how / where to display them but will pull my finger out now

Also how are you doing the speed calibration?

There are two methods of calibration at the moment - 1) drive for a while and then tell it how far you've gone or 2) enter a known value presumably from a previous drive calibration, the current value is displayed to be edited so you can tweak a value if you've done an approximate distance. Adding another mode is only really a case of thinking of a UI design / sequence that makes sense. Using method 1) over a longer distance with your GPS providing distance traveled should be accurate enough for most purposes. I did mine by measuring 180.2 meters with a measuring wheel, which was the distance from a lamp post at one end of the road I live in to the curb at the other, drove it and then entered 180.2

I have sets of different size tyres (as we all do!), so having a calibration mode and ability to store & select different tyre settings would be useful.

It can store 2 calibration values and it takes 2 taps on the screen to switch between them. The speed display indicates which calibration you are using. If 2 were deemed inadequate it would be easy to add more!

Is the "Auto" display (centre-right) to do with the gears? The gearstick in the photos looks like an auto, so is this selector position?

That is the battery linking mode Auto means at set voltages it will link or unlink the aux battery as apposed to Man or Off. The line indicates the batteries are linked when the line is bright green and unlinked when it is dark green.

 

[Jim Andrews]

I hope you don't mind me quoting some of your PM here Jim but you never know someone else might find the answers useful

No problem at all, realised most of the PM should really have been on here anyway!


Calibration sounds simple enough, a couple of miles and a GPS distance would be my preference (longer distance = less margin of error!).

For me the two calibrations would be sufficient (road & off-road tyre sets), do others have more than this?


The "Auto" display makes sense now!


Think I'll be ordering some hardware, where did your neat mounting box come from?

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Think I'll be ordering some hardware, where did your neat mounting box come from?

The box the Arduino is mounted in came from coolcomponents - here - but if you mean the case the screen is in I'm afraid it was a carry case for another gadget so is a one off. The Arduino and the screen don't have to be in separate cases, you could make a single unit, conversely they can be much further apart than I have them.

 

[Jim Andrews]

Hadn't picked up you had split the devices, thought it was all in the one box.

Splitting certainly makes the mounting easier, I'll keep eyes open for something suitable.

Take it the sensor on the front of the box is for low-light dimming?

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Take it the sensor on the front of the box is for low-light dimming?

Yes, it's a common ldr. If you didn't want to do that it could be configured to use a feed from the dash lights to dim it which would be simpler and might be what I should have done but the ldr works.

 

[Ian Rubie]

Hi Jon,

Are there plans to be able to link your gadget to the OBDII socket to get sensor readings. This could open up a huge amount of data that could be displayed.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

The Arduino gadget project isn't dead just because I don't have a cruiser at the moment I shall be building another one for the A8 but a lot of the data will come from OBDII so I'm building an interface for that and then I'll start experimenting.

 

[Julian]

just because I don't have a cruiser at the moment

????????? Is there something you would like to share with us?

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I still like cruisers, I just don't know what I'd do with one at the moment. Can't rule out getting bored with speed again and getting another cruiser at some point

 

[Chas]

Can't rule out getting bored with speed

Beware, big brother is watching you!

 

[Julian]

I still like cruisers, I just don't know what I'd do with one at the moment. Can't rule out getting bored with speed again and getting another cruiser at some point

From previous personal experience it only takes about 12 weeks for high speed to feel normal