OK Guys, so I'm sure everyone thought this was dead...However, I've been quietly working behind the scenes. I'm sure there will not be the interest that it originally had when this thread started, but I always intended on finishing the project one way or another.
So here's the update:
This project got put way onto the back burner years ago because I went through some financial trouble, and my priorities quickly changed. I no longer had the time or money to put into such an undertaking, so it sat, along with all of my research, in boxes in my basement.
Well, over the last couple of years, I began getting into the microcontroller world, and some things dawned on me...I used to program in assembly language when I was younger, purely out of interest in computers that reached beyond anything I could access in school at the time...I had knowledge and experience I could apply toward projects I'm looking at now, and the technology has advanced to such a degree that it is now relatively inexpensive to get into making complex circuitry, so I dove in. I bought myself piles of electronic components, compiling software, and various microcontrollers, and began (re)learning. My first circuit was a simple LED dimmer, then a chasing sequence. (this is for another project which will be showing up at some point in the future as well). Back when I was really deep into this project, I had done a ton of research on GM's UART and Class 2 serial data streams, and learned a lot. It's not going to be that complicated to read them, and there are some custom microcontrollers out there now that are designed specifically for this purpose. My options are to incorporate one of these, or just write my own software to read the information I desire. I haven't decided which, and I may try both to see what works out better. Ultimately, my cluster will be plug-and-play, which has been my goal all along.
Fast forward a few months, and I realized that making a digital readout on my own was within my grasp. I began mapping out the circuit design for my tach. I researched components trying to find what I was looking for, and I just wasn't happy with the displays for any number of reasons, so I came upon another idea: I'll make my own display (yeah, I DO get that nuts fairly often!).
So here's where I'm at: I have my circuit designed for the tach, I have my display designed, and my prototype of the display face in my hands. I'm currently in the middle of laying out the PCB, but I haven't yet decided how I'm going to go about making it. There are various DIY methods for making PCBs, but I would need to purchase some equipment for it, and I wouldn't be able to do multi-layer boards, which this circuit really needs in order to fit things properly. However, I figured I'd throw an update in here just because...
Here's the design for my tach display. Instead of a typical digital desplay where each number or segment of the bar graph is a component, I am going to use SMT LEDs (if you're not familiar with SMT, it's surface mount technology, where components are much smaller, and simply lay on top of the circuit board, rather than have pins which protrude through it). and a face that snaps onto the board. The face has the shapes of each segment cut out of it, and they will be filled with a diffusing translucent resin so that it performs just like a typical display component.
Also, just to show some of my electronics progress, here's a quick little vid of an RGB chase sequence I made while playing with the microcontrollers:
So here are the details: the entire display will be RGB, with separate color control for the readout and the bar graph. I'm still toying with the idea of adding the ability to separately control the colors of the bar graph segments for the purpose of adding a redline color change, but I may just make the entire thing change color when the redline is hit. The cutout at the bottom is for another display. I'm currently planning on having the trip odometer there, but I may use it for a message center instead.
Also, since I've already designed the RGB color control circuit, I'm making the rest of the interior indication (HVAC, power locks, power window switches, steering wheel buttons, etc) fully integrated with the color change of the cluster. By using the separate LEDs on the cluster circuit instead of pre-made displays, I can use the same LEDs throughout the car, keeping perfect uniformity of color mixing, without any need for an adaptation. There will be a dedicated signal line run through the car carrying information of color, and each node, it will be able to chose which color of the cluster it wants to match (so, for example, if I have my bar graph blue, and the digits red, I could have the power window switches match blue, while the door locks match the red). For the steering wheel controls, it's going to get tricky. I'll get to that later.
Anyway, enjoy the updates.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edited Thursday, August 07, 2014 4:52 AM
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