drain89

iTrader: (13)

My car is already as illeagal as a bag of dope. I still want one of these!

99 ss

iTrader: (12)

I want one of these so bad I can tast it been waitng on this for a long time

Fieroluke

I just finished a major firmware update...
Now a lot of values are customizable, not just the splash screen and background!

Things like km/miles, Fahrenheit/Celsius, 2000/4000 ppm, font color, screen brightness, NMEA baudrate, update rates, etc. etc. can be user programmed just like the odometer and survive across firmware updates!!

ToDo: write a Windows program to generate these config files... ;-)

Hardware update: soldering two additional boards, halted due to missing parts, should arrive mid next week.

I got my GPS mouse working, so I'll work on the GPS code next...

Happy Easter everyone!

Atrus_SS

iTrader: (1)

Woah, that's really cool being able to easily tweak the appearance! Really good idea!

Fieroluke

I was really busy, and I'm pleased to report that the NMEA GPS-Driver is now working, displaying fix status and the number of satellites! I've prepared to add a few more messages since I don't know which GPS-mouse outputs which message (there are several).

Next I'll bind the NMEA driver to auto-correct the clock and finally read and compute the list of POIs.

I just received note that the majority of the parts have shipped, hopefully they'll arrive today. After I have the shipment in hand, I'll see if anything was out of stock and then order the remaining parts by the end of the week.

I'll keep you posted of the progress...

99 ss

iTrader: (12)

Anything new on this yet ?

Fieroluke

Yes, I've email some pics and vids to Derek, but he is quite busy and hasn't had time to post yet.

The prototype in the enclosure is ready, I'm going to go to the US next week and hopefully meet Derek and give him the prototype.

The enclosure is very sturdy, but also quite expensive and expensive to make. For more than 10 units, lasered sheet plastic enclosures are a very good, probably better option, especially for the rectangular holes the USB and Metripack connectors require.

A minor setback: I received another display yesterday (I only have the one that Derek gave to me for development), and the new display has a red-shift, i.e. the white display is more or less pink. Great for five year old girls, but not what people would be happy with in their cars. I am in touch with the manufacturer if this is a single defective unit or what's going on. At $40 the display is quite expensive, so I'm reluctant to buy a heap of them only to find out there's something wrong with them.

The test box is almost finished as well, and I have a new circuit board for the F-body which should be 1mm slimmer, but as long as I might have to send the OLED back, I obviously can't glue it to a circuit board and measure the final height.

The replacement connector for the OLED board (previously we recycled the connector from the F-body odometer LCD) looks great, but the connector wires are very thin and flexible - good for routing, bad for soldering. So I'll make a harness with the same connector on both ends just for routing outside the cluster and a small breakout PCB with the identical receptable that you can solder wires to.

So, as you can see, there are a lot of odds and ends to consider to get from a prototype to a product and to make this a plug and play experience.

99 ss

iTrader: (12)

Thanks for letting us know and no I don't think I would want my cluster pink lol

Assault Kittens

I'll start by saying you guys are outrageously talented. I can follow instructions but I can't really write the book like you did! Love it!!!! Will definitely want to buy one when you're selling.

Also, you may be the light at the end of my tunnel... I'm actually going to try developing a 4th gen ws6 tail light concept I've been brewing on... I want to reverse the lighting through the hexagons in my 02 ws6 tail lights and I'd love an LED board, and have the blinkers sequential if possible. Will make a thread for it shortly. Thoughts on pricing and do-ability of the led board?

Fieroluke

Everything is possible, but let's take that to a new thread...

Fieroluke

Hi all
I haven't vanished off the face of the earth, but actually I'm in the U.S. right now and about to meet Derek in person for the first time. We'll discuss how to continue, etc.
regarding the pink display, I'm still in the process of working that one out with a new distributor.

LT4vert

iTrader: (3)

Here is all the pics Oliver was referring to. Ive been super busy and havent had the time to get them hosted till now.

First off, the comparison of the pinkish displayed to how it should be.





Here are pics of the new OLED connector. The OEM Camaro LCD board/connector is on top, the lower board is the OLED board and new connector.


Here are pics of the Aluminum box for the main board. Saleable units will laser cut abs plastic and look similar. The plastic is easier to mount and will have less likelihood of any interference electronically. Could still get Aluminum, but it would be more expensive.

Design of the milled connector end.


The board fits glove tight. No movement or vibes once its slid into place.


More assembled pics.



Short vid of the board sliding in.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

Looks like it is mostly a white balance issue on that board. Not terribly pink but still looks off.

Fieroluke

You're right, but I didn't like the way the manufacturer handled the issue. I mean, 2 out of 3 displays were flawless, and one has this problem. Instead of at least trying to do something about it, they basically told me this is the way it is, and to live with it.
Imagine I had bought 10 of them!
I'm now talking to the distributor about the issue and see what happens...

RedDeadG8

iTrader: (3)

I want to learn how to do this. I want to replace the stock water temp, oil pressure, voltage and gas dials with these OLED units. I really like the trip and mileage too, I just don't need time, temp or compass.

pretty much all the dial gauges in my cluster are sporadic or inaccurate except the rpm and speed dial. Someone told me our original gauge cluster dial gauges came with fluid in the back and once that dried out it makes the gauge needles wobble/shake/inaccurate.

Fieroluke

Well, I'm back from the US now, still talking to the distributors. The agreed to let me return the "pink" display for a replacement, which should come tomorrow, and I'm still waiting to receive word from the new distributor to order two more units.

In other news: I'm working on a Windows program that lets you interactively create configuration files, but nothing to show yet...

Fieroluke

Good news: replacement arrived today, and it's just fine!!! Dunno what was wrong with the other one, oh well. Anyway, systems are "go" again, planning to put it in my car this weekend! Ordering two more next week...

Have a great weekend everyone!

merim123

iTrader: (11)

this looks like the future we all want. they've got a kickstarter going... no soldering would be a plus, and flexibility to plug things in, could see a future where this is the interface between a cluster and ecm and be completely configurable. this is a few years out. anyway, check out the video, pretty cool.

http://qfusionlabs.com/

98blackbirdta

iTrader: (7)

Im so down for this! keep us updated!

Fieroluke

Sorry for the lack of updates, I threw out a disk and haven't been able to do much the past few days. It's not as bad as it sounds though, I can walk around again, but I have to take it easy with working on cars and stuff...

I'm still in the process of permanently installing my test mule in my car because of this delay, I hope to make some progress this weekend. I need the mule installed permanently in the car to test the GPS code, because I need the space in the center console for my clunky GPS receiver. That will allow me to test the GPS code.

Oh yeah: I finished the GPS database lookup code before I hurt my back, so the unit now calculates the current location by GPS and looks up a user defined database of up to 4000 POIs to see if any of them is nearby (in theory, I couldn't test run yet).

ToDo: display a nice icon that while the case. I already have some icons, I just need go get things together. The hard part is to get get the coordinate calcuations done efficiently in the background without holding up any important tasks.

Have a great weekend and thanks for your feedback!