eh, i posted it on some other boards, i figure i might as well post it here so you guys can drool over it too..


just my little in-dash drivetrain monitor.....

 

my little built in shiftlight.

 

ok, last one.... 3 pic rule limit.

 

whoa... ok so what are you using.. and how did are you able to change the script?

 

Dude that looks great! How does that work?

 

i started out using a PIC microcontroller in assembler but it started to grow out of hand(and my abilitys), so i had two options, use write it in C for the PIC, or do it really easy with a BasicStamp2..... so i got a basic stamp2.. lol

ODBII connection is accessed using a ELM microchip(do a google search), and the VFD has a serial controller on it so it only takes one pin from the BS2...

athough in this 1.0 version, im not even using the ODBII port yet... im getting the gauge data off the traces on the back of the cluster..


in addition to the display im making, im also replacing the factory tachs guts (horribly inaccurate) with the guts from a autometer tach.. and im making new gauge faces that match the LS1s oil pressure and coolent temp sensors... and the new faces have a more modern performance look then the stock gauges... kind of like a Pro-Comp gauge look during the day... and a blue number, red/orange needle look at night

not a easy project, but compared to the rest of the car, its a cheap project, and its nice and time consuming... gives me somthing to do to keep me sane when i cant work on the car.

 

u mentionied 'ELM' and 'VFD' , what r those and what do they stand for so i can look em' in my 85' iroc srvc manual.... im doing something similar with MICROCHIP's pics but still in the program writing stages..... if u could tell me how u accessed the camaros I/O, etc that would save me so much time .... thanks alot man. (i'll return the favor and design u a custom PCB so u can have everything on one board without a bunch of wires..) btw, i use expresspcb software.... thats my expertise.....

 

Looks good

Wish I could find the link for the C5 display someone moded. Start the car, does the opening sequence:

CORVETTE BY CHEVROLET

LETS SPANK SOME MUSTANGS

 

ELM is elm electronics.. its a ODBII pulse width modulation to RS-232 (computer serial port) converter chip.
http://www.elmelectronics.com/obdindex.html (elm322)
theres whitepapers on there with more info, but in a nutshell, the ODBII port uses one method of commucation, and i need standard serial commucation.. this chip lets me talk to it.
BUUUUT, this ONLY applies to ODBII powertrains. i can do it because i have a LS1... but fear not..... because everything i do here, can be done without the ODBII port

VFD= vacuum fluorescent display.. a really nice display type.. google it..


i started out with PICs in assembler, but it takes FOREVER to get things done. mostly i was having timing problems with the serial commucations.
i bought a Basic Stamp 2, and its ALOT easier to work with.

there is no ECM I/O to this right now.

on the back of the gauge cluster is every input you need... coolent temp, oil pressure, RPM, speedo, ect..... you just need to tap off the anolog signals and run off of thoes.

mine is still a prototype mis-mash of parts... but i'll get it down to two assemblies.... one is the serial VFD, the other will be the "brain" to talk to it. the two will be connected by 3 wires (Tx to VFD, +5v, ground)
when the display is not displaying real time info, and a warning flag hasnt been set (overtemp, low oil pressure, ect) then the VFD is turned off... otherwise, i could ditch one of thoes wires....

mine has a similar opening sequence:

 

Very cool. I've often wondered what could go in that blank spot.
List everything it does or is going to do.

 

this is just the starter list

• Temp warning
• Oil pressure warning
• coolent temp
• oil pressure
• RPMs
• shift light
• DTCs (and able to clear them... oooh.....)
• line lock active...
• anything else i think of...

 

Want to customize one for me and sell it? LOL... thats a cool idea, and i wouldnt know where to start to make one... good idea!

 

Verry nice work Travis.

 

wow...this is the coolest thing i have seen on this site to date...its just awsome

 

looks great your are going to have the lowest mile camaro now too.

 

i do that everytime i swap engines.. makes it easy to keep track of oil changes... lol.

seriously though, i have the true miliage written on a note thats behind the gauge cluster.... that + showing miles = true miles..

also on that note was every small wiring change done to the car..... since i swapped the LS1 in though, i need to update it.... (not as bad as you think)

 

If only I could do something like this. What are your gauge faces going to look like... Any pictures? Keep it up

 

i havent made them yet.

the speedo could be done.... but the tach, temp and oil gauges have to be calibrated and measured first.


basicly im going to put white paper on the gauges, hook them up, and mark the needle position.

then scan the new needle postions... overlay it over the scanned gauge backings, and make the new gauge faces with that.

as long as im careful and take my time, i'll have very accurate gauges that look nice



the overall idea right now is a "pro-comp" gauge look during the day.
red needles, black face, white letters with that "autometer yellow" for contrasting highlight.

at night, the needles will glow red.. numbers will glow blue... things like the redline will still be red..

 

Very cool lookin'!

 

VFD = Very Fine Display

a favorite of case modders everywhere.

 

yup. half the info i have on running this display is from case modders..

if i hooked my cluster up to the PC, i could make it tell me things like current winamp song, memory usage, uptime, halflife kills, ect....

 

so, anyway to do this with an LCD display, and OBD1?

 

Thats amazing man.. is is possible to use it as a fuel gauge? Can it pick up on just about any of the signals behind the gauge cluster ?

 

yea, you could do it with a LCD display..... athough the VFD is alot better. LCD would be hard to read under bright sunlight.

as far as "ODB1" i dont know if theres a standard or not... but , i could read everything off standard GM sensors, so it would work in every GM car.


yea, but the fuel gauge would be a percentage... you cant tell a actual amount with the stock sending unit.

yea.

 

that looks amazing, i wish i knew how to do stuff like that. i love the shift message, it's quite possibly the best thing i've ever seen.

 

You know how some new cars have fuel milage, average speed, stuff like that...


...you should do a fake one that says average 100mpg, and 50MPG

 

I've always wanted to make a fuel totalizer, but its way beyond my abilities at this point. this would be a perfect application for one though

 

why do a fake one?

once i get the ODBII port working, i can get the injector pulse info from the computer.
that combined with some other info would give me a extremely accurate real time MPG reading... and of course i could calc trip MPG, ect...


as far as earlier GM cars, a batch fire system wouldnt know about another circuit "reading" the injector pulsewidth... so i could calc off that.... (wont work for SFI like the LS1 though...)

 

It seems wrong to ask on something that original, but.... any links to parts.. software, or even can you reproduce this for sale even ?

 

I doubt that an SFI system would bother with tuning each injector's pulsewidth individually. You could just read one and assume the rest were the same.

 

thats really cool, good work dood

 

I WANT IT!!!!! That's sweet looking. Keep that up.
Lowell

 

VFDs are nice and bright, but for a status display a tri-color LED dot-matrix would be pretty sexy.

 

you need to stop posting, you just do too good of work.
looking awesome bro!

 

good point... id have to read two since it does do the trims seperatly bank to bank...

but even if i only did one, it would be 1000 times more accurate then the "fill the tank and drive till E" method most of us use.

that brings me to what i added yesterday... another circuit used to read the fuel level.

i now have a eye on doing this injector pulsewidth thing too.. but i only have a couple pins left...


ive never messed with one of thoes... have any good links to info about them? is there one you have in mind that fits in that space?

 

Very very very neat.
I was planning on doing this for my first car a few years ago. Bought two PICs and other stuff, got access to the burner but then I got swamped by other work, bought a boat, truck, started modding .... you know what I mean. Never got back to the fun projects. Now I'm married, remodeling our new house so fun projects are out of question for this year.

Travis, you must be still single! I wish I was again!
And the PICs are still sitting on the shelf.

 

damn.

is it that obvious?














lol



looking at the code and doing some counting for the timing... i cant monitor the injector pulsewith with this chip... its already doing too much at once to keep track of that.
i dont have a interupt to snag it on, and if i put it in the loop, i'll miss firing cycles... making it randomly inaccurate and basicly useless.
im going to have to save the pulsewidth/MPG idea for version 2.0..
i already have more ideas for things, but i either need a more powerful processor.. or two processors working together.
im thinking price wise and to keep it simple, i should just use two microcontrollers, and have them talk.. (easier then you'd think)
then i can get all my sensors in real time, really accurately, and still have enough power for a more advanced display, more calculations, ect..

 

Hehe, not obvious .... but familiar. I used to be single too!!!

Anyway, the info on injector pulse width should already be in the ECM. Would it be enough to pull it from there or do you need more precise data?
You're right, the IPW is a time critical measurement. But one of the onboard timers/counters should do the trick (set to highest resolution). Or did you use up all of them already?

 

The only thing I've understood in this whole thread was "LS1."

 

How much space have you got?

 

i have two free pins left, but im thinking about using them for additional buttons for a better user interface...

as far as pulling it from the PCM itself, i can..... but my goal was to do it using the actual injector.. 99% of the thirdgens out there dont have a LS1 in them... it would be nice if it worked for them too.

just the small sliver above the speedo.
i want it to look stock.. like its part of the car.. thats why im using a 1x16 display instead of somthing bigger (or graphical)

really, theres nowhere else you can put it and still have it look right.

 

Are you already using the T0CK1 pin for anything? If not, you could hook it up to time the injector pulse width. No need to hog an AI or DI pin. Just a thought.

 

ok, ive ended the feature creep.. lol

i added a 3rd button and i added in my electric cutouts.
im officially out of I/O pins.. anything added on at this point requires somthing to combine existing pins.

electric cutouts shownothing on startup
when you move them, it lets you know they're partway open.
when they reach max limit (100% open or closed) it tells you for a short peroid of time, then dissappears.


now that i have parts of it working, i just have to combine everything together.. lol

 

Yes, but how big is it.

 

Are you using transformers to decrease the current to the sinking inputs on the BASIC stamp, I thought they could only handle 50ma total? Try decreasing the resolution if you can for you analog inputs and you might not have you clocking issues when you figuring MPG.

 

3.7 x .5 visible area. theres more area behind it, but not alot.... however once you drop about 1/8" below the area, you're under the speedo, and have tons of space.




the BS2 isnt directly driving anything. its totally isolated from the external inputs... i never drive things directly off it, so the current isnt a problem.

resolution for the analog inputs isnt a problem.. the time spent timing the pulsed inputs are whats slowing it down... (speedo and tach)... it has to count the time between pulses.


dont get me wrong, i still have tons of CPU time to work with, i could do all the math. its just a matter of counting the current injector pulsewith, AND the tach AND the speedo... to not miss a injector pulse once in awhile, id need to change my scheme..


really though, im not worried about it. this is controlling a couple other things i havent posted about, so theres just a tiny bit more to it. but im working on it.






on a side note:
anyone know of a place that makes very low production (like 5 or 6) PC boards?
id like to design and make a board for this once i have mine working in the car.. make it a little more compact... neater. ect..

 

www.expresspcb.com seems to be the best bang for the buck that I found. you can get prototypes 3 for 50 bucks, no silkscreen or soldermask or anything, just bare solder plating. but still a good deal. they also have a production lot thing 4 boards for 150, which are real deal, soldermask, silkscreened, i forget the total board space.

the proto service is kinda cool if you are building small boards, I stick as many as I can on the board(its a fixed size), so if you can put three boards in that space, you get three times as many for the same price.

nice job, btw, pretty cool idea. now, just get it to display some ecm info, as a scanner, then you're cookin.

 

yup, i came across them a few times thru personal "my project" webpages found on google... everyone highly reccomended them.

just downloaded the software before i left for lunch... i'll mess with it when i get some free time today.