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DIY auxiliary displays and datalogging

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rayy

Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2016
Messages
6
Hey everyone, I'm a long time lurker, and a new poster.

After a few years of playing around with ideas, I'm starting to work on an auxiliary display to replicate the stock gauges and show additional information- engine and air temp, error codes and descriptions, charging system voltage, power level for heated clothing (I will be building a power regulator as well).

I plan to use a hobbyist microcontroller board called an Arduino Mega to communicate with the ECM and run the displays, as well as to control my heated clothing and log engine data. This also opens the possibility of adding additional sensors to the bike, and thermostatic control of heated clothing in the future.

I plan to have a custom handlebar clamp machined to hold the displays, I'll hide the arduino behind the flyscreen, the power supply in the airbox, and the buttons on the handlebars.

I'm open to any ideas on parts, suggestions, or collaboration- I will keep posting as things progress and I work out details.

Major Components:
Displays: https://www.adafruit.com/products/1393
- I plan to use two of these mounted in the handlebars. They are E-ink (Like a kindle) so will be daylight readable. I will be edge-lighting it with an LED and using a light-diffusing overlay to light it at night (like a kindle Paperwhite)

Buttons :
http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/h...yLFVmZ-jU4rOA_2Us3g-ebBg7-_mTU9czkaAszA8P8HAQ

Power Supply:
http://www.powerstream.com/daa-1209.htm
This will eat the voltage spikes and regulate the power to something reasonable; input power on the arduino is 7-12v

Ill keep posting as things progress.
 
sounds AWESOME!!!!! You could also integrate a gear indicator! In the Netherlands there was a guy who was working on a project of adding a tablet as dashboard to his bike. unfortunately the bike got stolen and the project came to a hold.
If I'm not mistaken he also used an Arduino. If you could make this you can sell this big time! Not only can you display the Speed and RPM, but also temp, gear indicator, navigation (how cool is that) and he was even thinking about a rear viewing camera so he could eliminate the mirrors!

Keep up the good work!
 
You can probably find smaller dc-dc buck converters for cheaper and in smaller packaging than the one you listed. The arduino isn't going to take much power. Check on ebay, searching for "DC buck converter"

Good luck!
 
If you search, someone already did some stuff similar to this. He was able to get the display working, and even do a tps reset from his arduino. I have an arduino and a touch screen sitting in my garage for the same reason.
 
Marcel, it will be straightforward to add a gear indicator as you mentioned; it is reported by the ECM as part of the runtime dataset. Information on runtime data: http://ecmspy.com/cgi-bin/runtime.cgi. I would like to add navigation as well, but due to apparent limitations in the Google Navigation/Maps Android app, it is a lot more work than I want to take on for now.

Sirius, I agree that there are better options for power supplies- I'll be looking around before I make any purchases and haven't ruled out just building something myself. I'm concerned about transient voltages destroying my project, but even more so about power system noise causing random bugs- there is nothing more frustrating than poring over code for hours, only to find a bad ground or some power issue to be the problem. As far as power output goes you're right, the Arduino will max at about 10W, and the displays power use will be minimal. I figure a little extra clean power for expansion isn't a bad thing though :) I know the right pile of mosfets, capacitors, and diodes would be easy to solder up, but I'm no engineer so Ill probably leave this part to the professionals. If you have any suggestions or expertise- I would appreciate the help!

AZmidget, this guy did some datalogging and hp/torque estimates for a class project: http://arduinobuell.blogspot.com/, and Ive seen another similar project someone did including a display hacked into the stock gauges, but I cant find a link now. Once communication is up and running between the arduino and ecm, it will be straightforward to run all of the tests that ECM spy can do - coils, injectors, fuel pump, tps, etc.. I know I'm not doing anything really new, just doing it the way I want to :)

I had an idea this morning that I thought a few folks could find useful: It wouldn't be all that difficult to load custom maps to an SD card and set up the arduino to reflash the ECM on command.. You could have a map for the track, a map for commuting, and a map for those damn 8,000ft peaks just West of here..

Thanks for the feedback everyone!
 
Last edited:
Following. I built an LCD gauge setup for my diesel using Arduino and have given some thought to using it on the bike as well. I had seen the previous Arduino project that AZmidget had mentioned (I've got the code saved somewhere I think) but I haven't been able to decide on a display or the direction I want to go with it. I'm interested to see what you do.
 
rayy said:
Marcel, it will be straightforward to add a gear indicator as you mentioned; it is reported by the ECM as part of the runtime dataset. Information on runtime data: http://ecmspy.com/cgi-bin/runtime.cgi. I would like to add navigation as well, but due to apparent limitations in the Google Navigation/Maps Android app, it is a lot more work than I want to take on for now.

Sirius, I agree that there are better options for power supplies- I'll be looking around before I make any purchases and haven't ruled out just building something myself. I'm concerned about transient voltages destroying my project, but even more so about power system noise causing random bugs- there is nothing more frustrating than poring over code for hours, only to find a bad ground or some power issue to be the problem. As far as power output goes you're right, the Arduino will max at about 10W, and the displays power use will be minimal. I figure a little extra clean power for expansion isn't a bad thing though :) I know the right pile of mosfets, capacitors, and diodes would be easy to solder up, but I'm no engineer so Ill probably leave this part to the professionals. If you have any suggestions or expertise- I would appreciate the help!

AZmidget, this guy did some datalogging and hp/torque estimates for a class project: http://arduinobuell.blogspot.com/, and Ive seen another similar project someone did including a display hacked into the stock gauges, but I cant find a link now. Once communication is up and running between the arduino and ecm, it will be straightforward to run all of the tests that ECM spy can do - coils, injectors, fuel pump, tps, etc.. I know I'm not doing anything really new, just doing it the way I want to :)

I had an idea this morning that I thought a few folks could find useful: It wouldn't be all that difficult to load custom maps to an SD card and set up the arduino to reflash the ECM on command.. You could have a map for the track, a map for commuting, and a map for those damn 8,000ft peaks just West of here..

Thanks for the feedback everyone!
Click to expand...

Transients are not a problem with those buck dc-dc converters. If anything you can always add two small caps (one input, one output) and call it a day. They are cheap enough to where you can by a few and power whatever you need.
 
Thanks Sirius, I'll look around for buck converters that fit my required specs- you saved me from mounting a supply in the airbox! Also, I totally misquoted the power draw - 10W is for the raspberry pi 3 I'm using in a different project. The Arduino will use far less than a Watt, including peripherals; that makes selecting power components a lot easier. Looking at the schematics for the Arduino, there are already a couple of 10pF caps on the power input lines, so I'll just run with your suggestion and see how it goes.

I had some time to bang out a lot of code last weekend- everything is written to pull runtime data from the bike, translate trouble codes to descriptions, and then display it in a few different layouts. I've still got to write code to handle user input, do the diagnostic tests/resets supported by the ECM, and then write code to control and display power levels for heated clothing. I'll hopefully have the rest of the programming done this weekend, then the real fun begins.


I'll post code as soon as my development board gets here and I have a couple hours to debug and make sure everything is (mostly) functional.
 
I've got a color LCD display mostly working based off Blaylock1988's code Here. I removed all the data logging functions and hard-coded the parameters I wanted it to spit out.I run it off an arduino nano but it times out after a while. I have very little programming experience so I left it there. I wanted to use the e-ink displays, but from my understanding they require a ton of RAM (Like over half of the Arduino's RAM).

Hope you get it working pretty well. I might get back to trying to finish mine if I ever come across some free time.

IMG_20140318_161242.jpgIMG_20140222_202252.jpg
 
WOW!!!! those look good! The display in red seems to fit perfectly on the handlebar clamp!!!! I really like these projects, so keep up the good work!
 
Marcel, you found my original inspiration!

I've made some progress since my last post, I've got input buttons and the display up and running, with "pages" for air temp + oil temp, charging system voltage + throttle percent + load percent, trouble codes, TPS reset and the other supported tests, bar graphs for heated gear, etc. I'll be hooking up to the bike in the morning and will post some video or pictures if the display works as expected.

After playing with the display and looking at some links provided in this thread, I've decided to locate the display inside the dashboard on the right hand side, where the indicator lights are currently located. I'll replace the inside panel with a piece of black acrylic, locating the indicator lights in a row along the bottom, using led's to save space. The display will fill the majority of the top area of the indicator section. I'm considering using rectangular leds attached to the back of the acrylic panel, with 3/8" light guide for a flush finish.

Once I've got it hooked up to the bike and working, I'll post code and an updated parts list along with some video-hopefully tomorrow. Next step is to finish the heated clothing hardware, then add an RFID interlock and bump sensors for a diy security system.
 
Hahahaha cool!
but like they say in many forums: THIS TREAD IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT PHOTO/VIDEO'S !!!!!

but seriously, great stuff! Can't wait to see this on your bike!
 
marcel said:
Hahahaha cool!
but like they say in many forums: THIS TREAD IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT PHOTO/VIDEO'S !!!!!

but seriously, great stuff! Can't wait to see this on your bike!
Click to expand...

Videos and code are coming! I swear! My weekend "nerd time" was instead spent replacing tie rods and axles on my fiance's MINI.

I think I've found a MOSFET for my heat controller - STP40NF10L
From the datasheet, it can handle 40A at 100V, so plenty for my jacket and gloves, and looks like I'll be able to drive it directly from the ardunio's 5v output pins. Can anybody with a little circuits knowledge tell me if I'm on the right track?
 

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