Apparently on date Tue, 03 Aug 2004 11:24:28 GMT, "€€€ Abo €€€"
Post by â¬â¬â¬ Abo â¬â¬â¬Post by Q***@quickwatchsales.comPMW - pulse width modulated - you can get converters into rs232
from various places such as www.obd-2.com
Post by PaulWhere do I find info about how to link up the computer to the
engine's management system.Information on ECU etc.
With one of the above.
Here's a cool idea which I would do (if I had the time, money, don't
think the lease company would be too happy etc. etc).
Fit an in-car PC with all the usual gubbins.
Now rip out the dash instruments and stick a second monitor in
there, then plug the OBD2 thingumy into the car PC, fire some
virtual instruments up on the dashboard and away you go. Never seen
that done before. Plus you could customise it for various
applications: on a track day? Do away with the speedo and just have
a huge rev counter! Ooh, ooh, or make your own heads up display!
Or are my fingers typing faster than my brain is thinking here (as usual)...
Oh you can go to extremes on this, the technology is there even
though cars are somewhat bespoke and getting the screen working right
is a bit of a trick. Also, the controls are unsuitable at the moment,
you can't fiddle about with a mouse while driving.
Here's another bit of kit worth acquiring, to go with the OBD
http://www.roadtune.co.uk/acatalog/RoadTune_Products.html
I've toyed with the idea of doing this on the V8, with a couple of
cheap ipaqs for touchscreen control units and customisable displays,
combined with a PC screen behind the dash glass in place of an
instrument panel.
There's a whole bunch of things to add, you've got your EMS system
monitoring the drive train, i.e. automatic gearbox, engine,
temperatures and so forth. You can add GPS for absolute position
finding and INS for precision monitoring of accelerations, speeds,
tyre performance, etc. You can add things like smart-tyre sensors,
little gadgets that you fit to the wheel rims that radio a receiver
to tell it the current tyre air pressure and temperature, temp and
pressure sensors in different places in the oil galleries / coolant
tubes / air intakes, brake pads, discs, and so forth. An internet
connection to download traffic information in real time so you can
act on it, e.g. via the mobile phone data communication as well as
actual voice calls with a hands free, radio muting function.
Then you have, as you say, a customised application displaying all
this information in a suitable way, e.g. when navigating, you care
about a map of where you are, maneouvres coming up, direction, speed,
fuel range, eta, and similar bits of information. On a track day,
it's all about tyre forces and stressing the engine, brake temps,
etc. Maybe a multifunction indicator-type lever to control the
display and a button to select which one you wish to view.
Maybe the system has wireless internet, so that other cars can
communicate with each other and pass on information to save
bandwidth. Screens have to change brightness for night driving, so an
ambient light sensor, and you can track your car via the GPS /
accelerometer and mobile phone data output so it's hard to steal.
It can only be a matter of time before manufacturers include all this
as standard. Microsoft suggested it back in the nineties, but it
didn't catch on then as people thought it would mean their cars
crashed a lot.
http://www.microsoft.com/automotive/windowsautomotive/default.mspx
So long as it is easy to reboot and does not control critical
functions like brakes, I can see a lot of potential in this type of
thing, I just wish MS wasn't likely to be the provider... ;)