Arduino programmer: InfoGauge Vanagon project

[shadetreetim]

I have to agree on avoiding bluetooth, only because of what to display it on. I have been running an OBD2 Bluetooth adapter on my 1.8T for quite a while now. But most of the time I don't bother to open the phone and start the app, so the advantage is lost. I've been wanting to replace it with a system utilizing a dedicated screen that comes on with the ignition.

I'll be watching...

Here's my current display (when it's on). What I like best about it is the familiarity of a conventional gauge display.

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Tim Potts

Doing my best every time I drive it to dispel the myth these Vanagons have to be slow!


'89 Vanagon Bluestar/Country Homes 1.8T & .77 4th
'74 Jeep CJ5

[calfredson]

I have some experience programming Arduino, though I'm far from a professional programmer. I was thinking of doing something similar, only I was looking at using the Raspberry Pi as a base platform. I have a EJ22 from 1992 and I have been looking at what useful information I could grab from ODB1 as well.

Anyway, I'm glad to help in whatever capacity.

Craig

[boroko]

My experience is that the Raspberry Pi is well suited to things that connect to the internet and not as much for control applications. I definitely could be used, but I went with a controller that I felt was better suited without a lot of added parts to make it talk to the world. The Arduino platform is written in C and C++, so it is accessible to quite a wide audience. I am not a professional programmer either, but I have managed to learn how to run them.

I have tried Chariot Gauge (bluetooth), and the Torque app (OBD2) on other vehicles. While they were useful, they didn't do all that I wanted, and I didn't like having to dedicate my phone to use them. The Teensy is capable of doing CAN, and there are libraries for doing OBD. I haven't looked into them, but I suspect that they could be added.

Mark
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'87 SyncroWesty: Smokey the Turtle, '85 SubiWesty: Chappie, '84 GTI, '86 GTI in full Rally trim,
previous: 2 Syncro tin tops, 2 Vanagons, 3 busses, 3 Ghias, 2 Jettas, a 411, a gas and a diesel Bunny and about 25 Beetles, one that only drove left.

[boroko]

Here are pictures of the parts:

Mark
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'87 SyncroWesty: Smokey the Turtle, '85 SubiWesty: Chappie, '84 GTI, '86 GTI in full Rally trim,
previous: 2 Syncro tin tops, 2 Vanagons, 3 busses, 3 Ghias, 2 Jettas, a 411, a gas and a diesel Bunny and about 25 Beetles, one that only drove left.

[Sodo]

Mark thats some cool stuff!

[boroko]

Happy to say that finally someone has contacted me concerning working on this. 982 views, and not a programmer in the bunch. Well, to be fair, there have been two.

The most recent has been working on something similar and doing it through Bluetooth and an iphone. Hopefully, we can make some progress and get this thing proven.

Thanks to all who have shown interest.

Mark
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'87 SyncroWesty: Smokey the Turtle, '85 SubiWesty: Chappie, '84 GTI, '86 GTI in full Rally trim,
previous: 2 Syncro tin tops, 2 Vanagons, 3 busses, 3 Ghias, 2 Jettas, a 411, a gas and a diesel Bunny and about 25 Beetles, one that only drove left.

[DwarfVader]

[shadetreetim]

[ohhorob]

Hey Mark, have you considered using the Teensy as an OBD-II bridge?

This way, the InfoGauge project would interpret the ECU (& additional) sensors and provide OBD-II PIDs on a CAN bus.

That would let standard OBD-II gear use that data for display/storage/logging.. including electronic gauges and apps.

You could focus on getting the PIDs implemented, and leave the display programming and data logging to the existing devices & software?
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"Gundy" - '85 Westfalia
GoWesty 2300cc, Digijet

[boroko]

I have considered it. The issue is that I have a 87 SyncroWesty, a new garage with a lift, and a job that wants my attention more than the Teensy during these nice summer days. I had hoped that I could get a few more crack programmers on board to share some of the coding and implement different ideas, but so far, we haven't gotten very far.
I have to admit that I'm better at hardware than software, so my attention has more focused on the platform than the function. Sooner or later, we'll hit on the right combination and have something.

Mark
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'87 SyncroWesty: Smokey the Turtle, '85 SubiWesty: Chappie, '84 GTI, '86 GTI in full Rally trim,
previous: 2 Syncro tin tops, 2 Vanagons, 3 busses, 3 Ghias, 2 Jettas, a 411, a gas and a diesel Bunny and about 25 Beetles, one that only drove left.

[Chuey]

I'm so far from literate on computer stuff that this thread, in general, reads like a foreign language to me.

"I had stayed at a Holiday Inn Express once, so I figured I could do this."

That quote, even though I don't understand its significance, hits me as super funny.

I'm pretty sure I'll have to keep being that guy who drives with a watchful ear and a sensitive butt to know if something is going wrong with my old Doka. So far, it has worked pretty well. In fact, it seems to me that VW provided us with at least one gauge we don't need, at least with a stock drivetrain. Of course, I refer to the speedometer. Yeah, like I'm going to even be able to break a speed limit!

Chuey

[ohhorob]

Heh, yeah. I was pretty content cruising while keeping an ear out for weird noises that aren't in the normal repertoire. And then I failed California SMOG

Besides trying to get emissions under control, it also helps to understand how the machine is working. Most of the digitool readouts are not much use on the highway, but I found the AFM voltage to be a great proxy for engine load and therefore fuel efficiency (assuming O2 is connected!). Keeping an eye on it cruising down the highway can remind you to take it easy
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"Gundy" - '85 Westfalia
GoWesty 2300cc, Digijet

[boroko]

Hey Chuey, it reads like a foreign language to me too! Done't feel bad...
Bo
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'87 SyncroWesty: Smokey the Turtle, '85 SubiWesty: Chappie, '84 GTI, '86 GTI in full Rally trim,
previous: 2 Syncro tin tops, 2 Vanagons, 3 busses, 3 Ghias, 2 Jettas, a 411, a gas and a diesel Bunny and about 25 Beetles, one that only drove left.

[nemobuscaptain]

Cool project. Every time is see an Arduino or Raspberry Pi, I am tempted.
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Ohio Valley Tribe, Full Moon Bus Club https://www.facebook.com/groups/294422277314227/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FullMoonBusClub

RIP Bob Hoover https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=427791
Hoover Sermons: https://www.vwsage.com/images/vwsage/Bob%20Hoovers%20Sermons.pdf

[fraggle00]

Very cool!
The resources out there for this stuff are amazing. I just started getting into it a few months ago.

My Arduino skills are pretty weak at this point, but I have been playing with various displays and color sensors. Getting the display to cooperate can be a challenge!
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'91 Vanagon Carat
'87 Porsche 928S4 DOWN
'12 Fiat 500 Abarth

[boroko]

[ohhorob]

I've been in contact with boroko, and I'm hoping I can get involved to spruce up the software side of things. My day job involves a fair bit of server-side software development, so microcontrollers are not completely foreign.

I had a couple of the Teensy3.2 microcontroller boards on hand, and picked up a cheap TFT display from one of the electronics hobby stores.

My van has an Innovate wide-band oxygen sensor in it (LC-2) which gives me an accurate reading of the air-fuel-ratio every ~80 milliseconds. I added another Innovate component to it, which reads RPM, Injector duty, or plain volts from 4 inputs.

So, inspired by this thread I went about writing some software for the tiny little "Teensy" board that can decode the data from the Innovate gear, and show it on-screen.

So far, just a primitive bar chart, but if the only monitor you've seen on a Vanagon is the shoebox, you might enjoy seeing the analog movement of signals instead of LCD numbers jumping about?


Link


In this display, the injector pulses are "off" for the yellow section, and "on" (delivering fuel) for the black section.

Anyway, in this clip the van is accelerating. My foot presses on the gas pedal, more air starts to flow (AFM increases), injector pulses lengthen to deliver more fuel, and the O2 swings above/below "ideal".
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"Gundy" - '85 Westfalia
GoWesty 2300cc, Digijet

[northband]

Can you push this to Github.com so we can make pull requests to the codebase? I've been hoping someone with Arduino experience would spearhead this.

[ohhorob]

boroko has (some of?) his work on github.. I'll let him share it with the group when he's ready. My demo project is over here -- https://github.com/ohhorob/arduino-digihead

The main problem with getting involved in these things is having the hardware pieces. These embedded micro controllers need the various bits connected to them for development and testing. The other challenge is getting a signal from your ECU and/or wiring harness. The shoebox monitor requires that you break open the weather seal on the ECU and solder on wires to a very old and tired circuit board. I've tapped into my wiring harness by getting a male and female junior-timer plug/socket, and it sits between the wiring harness plug and the ECU.
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"Gundy" - '85 Westfalia
GoWesty 2300cc, Digijet

[agon.parts]

Nicely done, Mark.

I've been working on something similar, but not anywhere near hardware stages yet. I've been focusing on the interface between the readings that are emitted from the ECU and the displaying of said information.

I'm definitely interested. Count me in.

It would be great to have dummy data to test and emulate the readings.
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Forrest Walker Whitmore
AGON

FREEBIES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AkqzgREEtE9Aj7poRLxLuW-oGORuiQ?e=eSKThT