Miker7 Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 I think we should be banned from talking to each other unless supervised. A couple of weeks ago I switched to an FIA bar. This meant I had to remove a self taper from each side of the chassis top rail. I didn't like having a hole in the chassis so printed a threaded bung with 1mm high head that I screwed and glued in. I did look at the seat belt diagonal boss and think that's crying out for a protective cover. That's on hold as the next development in progress is a rear roll bar brake light. I've also started thinking about a multi segment shift light as they all seem very expensive and limited for what they are (plus I'll get to play with code as well & can keep extending it once installed) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigCol Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 1 hour ago, Miker7 said: I've also started thinking about a multi segment shift light as they all seem very expensive and limited for what they are (plus I'll get to play with code as well & can keep extending it once installed) @Stuart7 designed and built something similar last year (assuming I’ve understood what you have in mind and he did!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miker7 Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 @Stuart7 my searching / googling for you and shift lights is failing to find a topic you've posted on, could you share a link please so i can have a read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigCol Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 8 minutes ago, Miker7 said: @Stuart7 my searching / googling for you and shift lights is failing to find a topic you've posted on, could you share a link please so i can have a read Sorry Mike, this is something he told me about face-to-face rather than something detailed in here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olly Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 I've just built a breadboard prototype for a shift light with a Pi Pico, a NeoPixel stick and a handful of other bits. It reads RPM via the CAN bus connections in the OBD port. I'm going to see if I can get it all soldered together on a proto board, then maybe work on building a sensible enclosure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miker7 Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 Thats broadly what I'm thinking but using an arduino and C (as thats what I'm used to). Although tonight I found out my son is going to be programming python so it could be an incentive to learn that. Do you have a github repository i could look at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olly Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Here's the (hacky / work-in-progress) code: https://gist.github.com/oesmith/82a75ec3cf0ef888971456fe8fc461bb I used Arduino with the RP2040 core, although I'm going to switch to using the Pico C SDK because I can't get on with the Arduino IDE. I used a Pico because I could use the PIO cores to bit-bang CAN accurately and save the cost of a full CAN controller (and I had some unused Pico boards in a drawer!) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miker7 Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 (edited) I'm waiting on my LEDs to arrive - got carried away and have a 1/4 circle turning up that will do the shift light and thought why not have a few LEDs under that which could display other things of interest so you don't need to take your eyes far from the road. Need to establish exactly what I can pull from ODB2 but will have at least water temp. I think oil temp is just water temp for the Caterham unfortunately, can almost certainly also do air temp and voltage. I can have up to 8 things to monitor but only want 4 really so its not information overload. The idea is they'd start flashing blue when you turn the engine on, then as the values changes cycle through flashing blue to blue to green to amber to red, finally flashing red. Code is setup to do RPM calls frequently, other calls less so with nothing theoretically 'blocking'. On the breadboard with an ECU simulator it works in theory (with the LED code but no LEDs) - although in the car may be a very different matter. (didn't do it in Python, got carried away in C) Edited May 9 by Miker7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graearea Posted May 9 Author Share Posted May 9 you can see my g-meter running here (and see a real one from the racebox mini on my cage) current ideas for the next few weeks are, get the brake light cowls finished and ready to sell and maybe some animated brake/indicator lights.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miker7 Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 After a discussion on Facebook when someone paid 30 or 40 pounds for a very nice aluminum cover I made this (I said it would take me 10 minutes & the money saved would buy the wife flowers so she's less grumpy at my next purchase - she's still not hit the flowers), then thought I could do better and did the knurled version which fits over the boss to reduce the chance of water getting in. (Their was an initial version that had the wrong thread, unc not unf, but we don't talk about that cause I drew it up late at night in 10 minutes without thinking) The rear light cowls look neat. Once my econoseal connectors turn up I'll finally wire up my rear high level brake light with home made mounting and start wondering what next I can tinker with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olly Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 Here’s the latest progress on my shift light. I’ve split it into two parts. First, there’s a small box in front of the gear knob with the brains inside and a couple of controls. Then I have a remote unit on the dash that contains just the lights. It’s 3D printed with a sloped base to match the angle of the dash top. Finally, here’s a quick video of it in action. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miker7 Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 That is exactly what I started out thinking, then thought a curved LED would look nicer, then thought about putting status LEDs underneath. Except after a potter in the garage with the obd2 connector i've proved I can only really do water temperature, air intake temperature & voltage (of which only water temperature is really of interest). Currently googling optoisolators to maybe bring indicators into it (inspired by the "animated brake / indicator" comment above). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graearea Posted May 10 Author Share Posted May 10 (edited) that is great. make sure you're using PETG for the under-dash box if you have a heater. PLA ill warp badly with hot air blown on it. you will want some of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155537257151 I've not really shared much about my indicators on my steering wheel, but if someone else wants to make some I'm happy to share. I just can't be arsed with all the soldering. https://www.instagram.com/p/CyltY0loFpm/ they use RP2040 and an accelerometer to cancel the indicators. I use piggyback spade connectors and optocouplers to overide the indicators so the original switch still works (for when the shitty soldering fails). oh and it has a button which wipes the windscreen once, and if you hold it it triples the time held and uses that as intermittent. Edited May 10 by graearea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted May 10 Member Share Posted May 10 2 minutes ago, graearea said: I've not really shared much about my indicators on my steering wheel, but if someone else wants to make some I'm happy to share. I just can't be arsed with all the soldering. There's a very interesting thread in the archives about buttons and connectors for controls on the wheel. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miker7 Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 I was just thinking of a visual display of which indicator is flashing to use up two of the 8 'status' LED's im about to have when the postman comes today. My 2002 car doesn't have any visual indicator and i'd like to reduce the volume of the buzzer currently fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graearea Posted May 10 Author Share Posted May 10 get ready for some serious wire extension. hope you have the scuttle rivnutted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted May 10 Member Share Posted May 10 6 minutes ago, Miker7 said: I was just thinking of a visual display of which indicator is flashing to use up two of the 8 'status' LED's im about to have when the postman comes today. My 2002 car doesn't have any visual indicator and i'd like to reduce the volume of the buzzer currently fitted. On indicators: There's a lot of possible additional functions... self-cancelling, brake pedal muting, handbrake reset... And the cheapest way to quieten the buzzer is... wrapping it in tape. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miker7 Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 32 minutes ago, graearea said: get ready for some serious wire extension. hope you have the scuttle rivnutted! I don't ....... It's something I'm scared to start as it potentially means the car off the road for a while (I pontificate) which I don't want in my first summer of ownership. I've got a cunning idea, more cunning than a fox who's professor of cunning etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graearea Posted May 10 Author Share Posted May 10 rivnutting the tunnel takes a couple of hours. it's not difficult, but I'd say it's impossible to do without damaging the paint at least a bit. you can get self-splicing spade connectors which will piggyback onto the existing wires https://www.amazon.co.uk/Electrical-Connectors-Terminals-Self-Stripping-Insulated/dp/B07QGWXQZS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miker7 Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 2 hours ago, graearea said: rivnutting the tunnel takes a couple of hours. it's not difficult, but I'd say it's impossible to do without damaging the paint at least a bit. you can get self-splicing spade connectors which will piggyback onto the existing wires https://www.amazon.co.uk/Electrical-Connectors-Terminals-Self-Stripping-Insulated/dp/B07QGWXQZS They sir, are inspired by the work of the devil's right land man, Lucas, Prince of Darkness. I will not countenance such a carbuncle on my car. On the other hand I'm happy with spade piggy back crimp connectors which can (hopefully) go on the indicator switch, with an optoisolator feeding the arduino. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Insulated-Piggyback-Crimp-Terminal-Connector/dp/B00XWDTLZW?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A26Q0OBH283CLI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graearea Posted May 10 Author Share Posted May 10 yup. that's what is sat on the indicator switch on mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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