Main > Driving & Racing Cabinets
Real Instrument Panels
Howard_Casto:
Ok so I mentioned this to RamJet, but I thought I might post it here in case some of you are gear heads and can add some info.
I was searching the web last night and ran across this usb adaptor (actually it's a usb to serial port dongle) for bmw instrument clusters for racing sims. Apparently the whole cluster runs on a serial line? Who would have guessed? The problem with that of course is it's bmw. So if you want to pay 300-600 bucks for a rpm/speedo for your fake car knock yourself out.
My question is are there any other cars that use a serial based cluster? On ebay right now you can get NOS or gently used clusters for as little as 30 bucks. It's just they are usually from a Grand Prix, Taurus or Saturn. If we could find a serial cluster that's affordable I'd be willing to do some of the heavy lifting in terms of figuring out the serial protocol.
Of course there is always the option of using an analog cluster, but then you need a avr with a buttload of analog pins, so you've essentially added 50-75 bucks to the cost of the project.
mcseforsale:
You need to research the CAN bus, which most euro OBDII have been switched to.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN_bus
AJ
Howard_Casto:
Thanks for the link, I'll look into this.
Would the CAN bus even be relevant for American panels though? The strange thing about cars is American cars generally get exported to the UK, but not many UK cars get sent back over to the US (except bmw of course). So for it to be cost effective for everybody on byoac we'd probably have to use a rather common brand of car, like a Ford, Chevy, Toyota, ect.... Also of course I want a gauge in mph, not kph. ;)
mcseforsale:
Yeah, it's a standard. Basically, like LAN standards are (such as IEEE stuff). And, since most auto manufacturers take bids for their OBDII compliant devices, this bus is usually used as part of, if not most, of the communicado between different subsystems.
For instance, Hyundai/Kia use and entire Bosch computer management system and some of the parts are probably identical to parts in a Corvette.
AJ
--- Quote from: Howard_Casto on March 14, 2013, 03:39:21 pm ---Thanks for the link, I'll look into this.
Would the CAN bus even be relevant for American panels though? The strange thing about cars is American cars generally get exported to the UK, but not many UK cars get sent back over to the US (except bmw of course). So for it to be cost effective for everybody on byoac we'd probably have to use a rather common brand of car, like a Ford, Chevy, Toyota, ect.... Also of course I want a gauge in mph, not kph. ;)
--- End quote ---
RamjetR:
Hi all,
Actually I missed this thread until after replying to you Howard. Does it need to be serial? There are plenty project documents on Can-bus sheilds for arduino. Sending and receiving through the library would be alot easier then trying to fake the signals if they were in native Can-Bus.
Some links
http://www.seeedstudio.com/wiki/CAN-BUS_Shield
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10039
Also with ODBII interfaces, it is now possible to use X-Sim to receive and actually generate ODBII signals for real onboard diagnostic data and dashboard display with a suitable Bluetooth adaptor for $15.
On the subject of X-Sim, it's component Dash Gauge design has brilliant output for additional LCD screens if you want to make a dash for your simulator.
A brief summary of my experience making my dashboard;
It comes down to cost. How much your willing to spend on dashboard you'll likely never look at. I've spent perhaps $135AUD per dashboard to display RPM, Shift, Gear and speed in addition to fuel level, temperature, tire and track warnings...
Symprojects.com do a great range of devices to either hack an old analogue gauge or make your own new ones. I own the SPI-D, Pro-Shift and Gi-Pro Gear indicator. The Symdash program works well for all PC racing titles which support telemetry output. And it reads memory locations of some that don't.
I've written a basic interface for outputting the speedo and gear info from Model 2 games to my dashboard but that is a side project which was a by product of working on Model 2 outputs last year. You can see any of them working in my Youtube channel (see sig below).
As for putting a real dashboard in? It's a lot of work, and probably something you'd take on only if you really really want the illusion of a real car dashboard.
If I were to do the dashboard installation all over again with my cabinets and simulator setup. Buy the cheapest 7" Android with Wifi you can buy and download the simdash DashMeterPRO https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sensadigit.dashmeterforiracing&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5zZW5zYWRpZ2l0LmRhc2htZXRlcmZvcmlyYWNpbmciXQ..
It will work better, and with a little skinning can look like the dashboard of any car your driving... plus it's got a touchscreen! I can get a 7" Android 4Gb +Wifi which will do this for $79AUD and thats alot cheaper than the $135 I spend on symprojects gear...
Thats my experience with simulator dashboards though...
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