GI: "YarGauge" replacement clock module (Digital Tach, etc.)

[l2a3k2a3i]

Count me in. Ill buy one in a heartbeat!!1

[Revsson]

I like the idea of a temperature readout and a clock, and the other features.
Being that my car is still brand spanking new to me (10 months), I still haven't taken
anything apart on it. However, I might be forced to try a mod.

[enviri]

oh, oh, how about intergrating a scangauge in the cluster? im sure the LCD is detachable from the rest of the circuit board! get anotehr lcd size and stick that sucker somewhere :P

[*MAD DOG*]

Would be great to see a picture of a working prototype.

[Altitude]

I was looking at the clock today and I think it'd be better to just leave it as a single line instead of a double line. I think the characters would just be too small. Have you committed to a double line display?

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by Altitude

I was looking at the clock today and I think it'd be better to just leave it as a single line instead of a double line. I think the characters would just be too small. Have you committed to a double line display?

I have a few different one line and two line LCDs on order to experiment with. The clock digits actually only fill about half of the height of the opening, so it may be possible to use a 2 line display with characters nearly the same size as the clock's.

[advocate]

A design that I just thought of at the moment would be to have a progressive RPM bar that starts on one side of the display and move its way over. So instead of a digital numerical readout it would be a digital bar that would "fill" as the rpms went up.

If you could do that, and integrate the clock into the same display, I think you would deserve a medal haha. I had an idea that the clock would sit on the edge of one side, and the tach on the other. The tach would fill across the display and would overlap ontop of the clock if the RPMs got really really high. (If you're redlining, you're not worried about what time it is)

I MS painted this picture in about 2 minutes flat but I think it gets my idea across. Don't laugh too hard at my terrible drawing skills

I blame my laptops touchpad

[devinlamothe]

After thinking about it, I would probably still buy this and find a way to rig it into my cluster. If I had to disable the clock on the right side I would do it.

It's too awesome to pass up. :P

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by devinlamothe

After thinking about it, I would probably still buy this and find a way to rig it into my cluster. If I had to disable the clock on the right side I would do it.

It's too awesome to pass up. :P

At some point when you have nothing better to do, pop your cluster out, take the covers off and take a bunch of pictures. Maybe we can figure out a good place to integrate it where there's dead space and no circuit board.

[Gideon]

I think the left side in between the odo trip reset button and the tach would be a good option, but you'd have to cut a hole for the display in the plastic obviously.

I have to take mine out next week when I take my car in for warranty service so I'll take pictures if I have time.

[devinlamothe]

Originally Posted by CTScott

At some point when you have nothing better to do, pop your cluster out, take the covers off and take a bunch of pictures. Maybe we can figure out a good place to integrate it where there's dead space and no circuit board.

I can do that most likely next week, since whenever I clean my car I take my dash apart to make sure I get all the dust/dirt away. Plus I just like taking things apart!

But yes, it will most likely involve me dremelling a hole or something out of the plastic shroud in the cluster.

[CTScott]

So, I had Crashy's ECM fired up on my bench today as I was getting tired of having to go from my office to the garage to do some testing. I built a couple of circuits to make sensor data inputs to the ECM change, so I could vary the data (Speed, RPM, and Coolant Temp).

After successfully fooling the ECM with the 3 circuits, I realized that the speed one could be a fairly simple way of bypassing the speed limiter. Does anyone who races (legally) have an interest in testing that functionality?

[Altitude]

Originally Posted by CTScott

So, I had Crashy's ECM fired up on my bench today as I was getting tired of having to go from my office to the garage to do some testing. I built a couple of circuits to make sensor data inputs to the ECM change, so I could vary the data (Speed, RPM, and Coolant Temp).

After successfully fooling the ECM with the 3 circuits, I realized that the speed one could be a fairly simple way of bypassing the speed limiter. Does anyone who races (legally) have an interest in testing that functionality?

It's a good thing you're not a evil genius... or are you?

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by Altitude

It's a good thing you're not a evil genius... or are you?

Evil - Definitely evil.

[justjesus]

Originally Posted by CTScott

After successfully fooling the ECM with the 3 circuits, I realized that the speed one could be a fairly simple way of bypassing the speed limiter. Does anyone who races (legally) have an interest in testing that functionality?

I wouldn't mind taking another trip to El Mirage for top speed runs (it's legal).

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by justjesus

I wouldn't mind taking another trip to El Mirage for top speed runs (it's legal).

Cool! When I have a chance I'll build up a test unit. I realized recently that I can do a reverse test initially to make sure it works. By reverse test I mean fooling the ECM to think that the car is doing 130MPH when it is actually only doing 25.

[justjesus]

Originally Posted by CTScott

Cool! When I have a chance I'll build up a test unit. I realized recently that I can do a reverse test initially to make sure it works. By reverse test I mean fooling the ECM to think that the car is doing 130MPH when it is actually only doing 25.

LMAO - I was thinking you'd be driving in reverse!! Glad you cleared that up.

[CTScott]

Update: Getting close!

I am making good progress on the YarGauge development and am getting close to being ready to cut a production printed circuit board that will allow me to package it to fit where it is intended to go. Right now I have three separate prototype circuit boards, tied together, handling the various functions.

On of the last "data" related pieces I have been working on is the fuel economy (MPG) piece. Last night I did a test run to make sure that my code was functioning properly and captured the data to do some after the fact analysis on. Here's a plot of speed (MPH) vs. fuel economy (MPG) from a 4 mile test run last night. The graph really doesn't have much to do with the YarGauge, but I thought it was interesting enough to post.

I started capturing data about 1/4 mile from my house, going down a long steep hill, as I was specifically interested in catching a DFCO event.

Then I sit at a stop sign for a minute or so, waiting to make a left. Then, I drive about half a mile before making a left, a quick right, and a left (the three low bumps). Then I cruise up a long hill, which has a couple of level off points (seen by the DFCO events). I then make a rolling stop (low bump towards the end), a right turn, and then cruise down a gently sloping hill, before finally stopping.

MPG vs MPH.jpg