Displaying engine sensor readings on an LCD touchscreen?
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Displaying engine sensor readings on an LCD touchscreen?
I do not want to install a bunch of gauges in my car, not only because it doesn't look right (just my opinion) but it will also draw the attention of thieves. I do want to make sure I can monitor everything that is going on though. My hope is to install quality temp/pressure/wideband sensors on the car, but have a separate processor interpret the readings from the sensors and display them digitally on a touchscreen in the double DIN slot of my S13. I was actually thinking about dropping the AC controls to the bottom of the console and using the top two spots for the display for easier viewing.
I imagine this kind of a setup will require a, for the lack of a better word, remote sensor interpreting block (RSIB) that will have all of the sensors connected to it and then send that information via USB/Serial/??? to the touchscreen for display. I think I am correct in saying that the temp/pressure/wideband sensors only change the voltage that travels through the wires depending on the different temps/pressure/rich/lean so this RSIB would have to analyze the voltage that it receives and then send a digital signal to the touchscreen that corresponds to a certain reading on the display. This would require some kind of programming for each sensor input specific to that sensor manufacturer. Yes this seems like a lot of work, but for a computer programmer this doesn't seem too complicated FYI I am not a programmer but my best friend is so I will be relying on his skills for this part of the project. So why am I not talking to him about this you ask???? Well I am but I want to do most of the hardware legwork before really involving him because he has many other things to work on right now.
I plan on using MegaSquirt as my engine management so I realize that some of the sensors will have to go straight to the MS unit as well as the RSIB and hopefully that will not interfere with accurate readings on the MS. I wouldn't think so but I am no electrical engineer
One idea I had about this was purchasing quality gauges and hacking into them and instead of sending the data to the display screen on the gauge have it go directly to the touchscreen. I think this way would still require some hardware and software work and it cost way more than building the RSIB.
Another thing to mention on this project is that since the double DIN space will be occupied by the touchscreen I will be loosing my radio placement. Instead of locating it somewhere out of reach I was hoping to integrate a music player into the new system as well as a few other features. I would like for this system to perform the following functions...
Act as a hard drive to store music files, and if at all possible perform data logging from the MS engine management I plan on using.
Act as a music player and EQ for the stored music files (output as USB to feed an multi-channel amp)
Act as an AM/FM Radio and have blue tooth capability so I can use Pandora for streaming music from my phone
Display multiple gauge readings that are not already on the gauge cluster IE:boost, oil temp, intake air temp, wideband (not positive on this yet...I may mount that on the steering column for easy monitoring), exhaust gas temp, etc...
Act as a navigation device instead of using my phone
Thanks for reading and hopefully someone can help,
Zac
I imagine this kind of a setup will require a, for the lack of a better word, remote sensor interpreting block (RSIB) that will have all of the sensors connected to it and then send that information via USB/Serial/??? to the touchscreen for display. I think I am correct in saying that the temp/pressure/wideband sensors only change the voltage that travels through the wires depending on the different temps/pressure/rich/lean so this RSIB would have to analyze the voltage that it receives and then send a digital signal to the touchscreen that corresponds to a certain reading on the display. This would require some kind of programming for each sensor input specific to that sensor manufacturer. Yes this seems like a lot of work, but for a computer programmer this doesn't seem too complicated FYI I am not a programmer but my best friend is so I will be relying on his skills for this part of the project. So why am I not talking to him about this you ask???? Well I am but I want to do most of the hardware legwork before really involving him because he has many other things to work on right now.
I plan on using MegaSquirt as my engine management so I realize that some of the sensors will have to go straight to the MS unit as well as the RSIB and hopefully that will not interfere with accurate readings on the MS. I wouldn't think so but I am no electrical engineer
One idea I had about this was purchasing quality gauges and hacking into them and instead of sending the data to the display screen on the gauge have it go directly to the touchscreen. I think this way would still require some hardware and software work and it cost way more than building the RSIB.
Another thing to mention on this project is that since the double DIN space will be occupied by the touchscreen I will be loosing my radio placement. Instead of locating it somewhere out of reach I was hoping to integrate a music player into the new system as well as a few other features. I would like for this system to perform the following functions...
Act as a hard drive to store music files, and if at all possible perform data logging from the MS engine management I plan on using.
Act as a music player and EQ for the stored music files (output as USB to feed an multi-channel amp)
Act as an AM/FM Radio and have blue tooth capability so I can use Pandora for streaming music from my phone
Display multiple gauge readings that are not already on the gauge cluster IE:boost, oil temp, intake air temp, wideband (not positive on this yet...I may mount that on the steering column for easy monitoring), exhaust gas temp, etc...
Act as a navigation device instead of using my phone
Thanks for reading and hopefully someone can help,
Zac
- beercandrifter
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phil was a nice guy and developed the android app called shadowlogger. have it on my phone right now. lets you remote display your megasquirt sensor readings on any android device by bluetooth module connected to the ms unit
actually doing this in my car here with this round of megasquirt, going to run it with a 7" tablet (needs bluetooth support). was planning on replacing my stock cluster with it though.
using a tablet you gain access to all the car apps (music, gps, etc), but truthfully, i would rather have a seperate device to manage entertainment and one for just sensor readings/gauge faces. wouldnt want to be turning off my guages in the car while I am using it
as for the radio, a simple 4 channel amplifier with a 1/8" input would effectively replace the stereo system if you plug it into a tablet. some even come with the ability to get fm radio
actually doing this in my car here with this round of megasquirt, going to run it with a 7" tablet (needs bluetooth support). was planning on replacing my stock cluster with it though.
using a tablet you gain access to all the car apps (music, gps, etc), but truthfully, i would rather have a seperate device to manage entertainment and one for just sensor readings/gauge faces. wouldnt want to be turning off my guages in the car while I am using it
as for the radio, a simple 4 channel amplifier with a 1/8" input would effectively replace the stereo system if you plug it into a tablet. some even come with the ability to get fm radio
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That is awesome!!!!!!! I was searching all the forums yesterday evening and couldn't find anything and it looks like this was posted after I signed off. I am going to do more research on this and make sure it is what I am looking for.
Using a tablet would be great for this because everything is already built in and I like the idea of 1/8" adapter to amp to handle the music features. Now I guess I need to find a inexpensive good quality tablet that hopefully has am/fm receiver (I need to listen to my football games when I am traveling)
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction,
Zac
Using a tablet would be great for this because everything is already built in and I like the idea of 1/8" adapter to amp to handle the music features. Now I guess I need to find a inexpensive good quality tablet that hopefully has am/fm receiver (I need to listen to my football games when I am traveling)
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction,
Zac
- beercandrifter
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google nexus 7
http://www.google.com/nexus/#/7
specs are beautiful for this type of application, usb, bluetooth, contrast, quad core etc
also an amazing price
for 10" displays it gets a bit more pricey with other brands
http://www.google.com/nexus/#/7
specs are beautiful for this type of application, usb, bluetooth, contrast, quad core etc
also an amazing price
for 10" displays it gets a bit more pricey with other brands
91 240sx Hatch: HomeBrwd
25psi hx35/8.8:1/264^2 cams/95lb injectors/Megasquirt 2/ka24de build **RIP**
T56/4.8 LSx/LS9 Cam/60lb injectors/comp 918 springs/Megasquirt 3/all custom wiring
25psi hx35/8.8:1/264^2 cams/95lb injectors/Megasquirt 2/ka24de build **RIP**
T56/4.8 LSx/LS9 Cam/60lb injectors/comp 918 springs/Megasquirt 3/all custom wiring
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check out
http://www.zeitronix.com/Products/Products.htm
their site used to be a lot more informative to the lcd screen they offer but this should solve all your problems. if u got the money
http://www.zeitronix.com/Products/Products.htm
their site used to be a lot more informative to the lcd screen they offer but this should solve all your problems. if u got the money
- schmauster920
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A tablet would be better since you get almost endless functionality and huge storage, plus you cant tune, datalog (without extra $), steal peoples wifi and watch porn, etc from the zeltronics thing
Not to mention you could have the tablet say "DANGER TO MANIFOLD" before your floor pan falls out.
(lol thanks fast and furious)
Not to mention you could have the tablet say "DANGER TO MANIFOLD" before your floor pan falls out.
(lol thanks fast and furious)
D21, Built KA24DE, 740cc, T4, WeatherGuard Tool Box, Tial 40mm, Megasquirt 3 in progress
Here's another option.
http://www.zeitronix.com/
Look into the LCD display
I had it in my old car.
You can monitor AFR, Boost, EGT, oil press, temp, RPM, TPS.
All from a digital display
Plus you can datalog all of it.
Just an option that's already sorted and it worked GREAT for me.
http://www.zeitronix.com/
Look into the LCD display
I had it in my old car.
You can monitor AFR, Boost, EGT, oil press, temp, RPM, TPS.
All from a digital display
Plus you can datalog all of it.
Just an option that's already sorted and it worked GREAT for me.
Jeff
- Kamilitaryman
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- beercandrifter
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picked up shadow dash ms for displaying all my megasquirt sensor inputs and have it on my tablet, really liking the interface.
91 240sx Hatch: HomeBrwd
25psi hx35/8.8:1/264^2 cams/95lb injectors/Megasquirt 2/ka24de build **RIP**
T56/4.8 LSx/LS9 Cam/60lb injectors/comp 918 springs/Megasquirt 3/all custom wiring
25psi hx35/8.8:1/264^2 cams/95lb injectors/Megasquirt 2/ka24de build **RIP**
T56/4.8 LSx/LS9 Cam/60lb injectors/comp 918 springs/Megasquirt 3/all custom wiring
- emo_tactical9
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You should try MSDroid also. It actually tuning capability. No ability to load .msq files yet, though.beercandrifter wrote:picked up shadow dash ms for displaying all my megasquirt sensor inputs and have it on my tablet, really liking the interface.
Just call me Adam.
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95 240: DIYPNP and T28.
08 Honda Fit
84 200sx: Sold after almost 10 years.
My file hosting:Calum,MegaSquirt,FSM
- beercandrifter
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ahh yes, they added loading msq files on the shadow dash. i think i prefer the netbook for tuning just for the keyboard to type in numbers over a virtual keyboard.emo_tactical9 wrote:You should try MSDroid also. It actually tuning capability. No ability to load .msq files yet, though.beercandrifter wrote:picked up shadow dash ms for displaying all my megasquirt sensor inputs and have it on my tablet, really liking the interface.
91 240sx Hatch: HomeBrwd
25psi hx35/8.8:1/264^2 cams/95lb injectors/Megasquirt 2/ka24de build **RIP**
T56/4.8 LSx/LS9 Cam/60lb injectors/comp 918 springs/Megasquirt 3/all custom wiring
25psi hx35/8.8:1/264^2 cams/95lb injectors/Megasquirt 2/ka24de build **RIP**
T56/4.8 LSx/LS9 Cam/60lb injectors/comp 918 springs/Megasquirt 3/all custom wiring
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Re: Displaying engine sensor readings on an LCD touchscreen?
I plan on trying this out in the future: http://www.markdepot.com/multi/
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/63-gm- ... gress.html
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/63-gm- ... gress.html