DIY Mini-Dash LCD Gauges Update

MotorvateDIY

Just wanted to give an update on the Bluetooth and CAN bus gauges...We now have a much smaller working "mule" development module.

This version shows real time engine coolant temperature, engine oil temperature, engine oil pressure and air/fuel ratio of bank 1.

The next version will have multiple screens to show more data. Items like differential oil temp*, real time tire pressures, automatic transmission fluid temperature, and current gear.

* The differential oil temp uses na engine coolant temperature sensor from a Nissan Sentra, with a custom adapter that we developed.

Zingston

Sub'd!

rspray2000

Wait, so CAN bus has oil pressure?

MotorvateDIY

That would be nice, but it doesn't.

I have a 150 psi pressure sensor in the place of the pressure switch and that is connected to our "bluetooth sensor server". The oil pressure is received by the mini-dash and displayed.

The bluetooth sensor server can support up to 8 sensors, so there is lots of room for expansion if needed.

The main reason we decided to use bluetooth was so that wires don't have to be run wires from the engine bay, through the firewall to the interior.

The only wiring that needs to be done is ignition and ground... and those are VERY easy to find under the hood

rspray2000

Ok thanks. Just checking I didn’t miss something.

MotorvateDIY

Understood... I may not of been clear as a few people have asked about that.

redondoaveb

What about boost?

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MotorvateDIY

Your setup looks nice!

As for when, the only answer I have is sometime in the spring.
COVID supply chain issues forced me to do a complete hardware redesign and since there were no car meets, it was difficult to get the raw CAN bus data.

But it is all coming together

redondoaveb

Thank you Frank, it was a fun project.
It sure would be nice to consolidate everything into one small panel though. Keep the updates coming

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Zingston

Looking forward to the finished product. I have something similar, yet not as extensive, in my Jeep that has saved me big-$$$ repairs in the past.

SeeThruHead

So there are apps out there like torque app. That can show gauges based on Bluetooth data from Bluetooth odbii devices like the odblink Mx+

I have the brainiac kit and mx+ and was planning to do this eventually. Also apps like Harry’s lap timer can read this data as well as part of your lap logs iirc.

Do you have any plans to make your Bluetooth server compatible with these apps?
Not sure if there’s some kind of standard format for these things or if every app has been programmed to translate the data properly. But being able to add any custom sensor to an android app via your server would be pretty amazing.

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MotorvateDIY

Excellent question!
Apps like Torque Pro or OBDFusion get their data from the ECU by asking for it using OBD Mode $01 (aka live data) via the ELM327 OBD device.

As fas as I know, those apps can only be connected to 1 bluetooth device at a time, so it can only get bluetooth data from the OBD port or the bluetooth sensor server.

The original design goal is plug and play gauges that start up in less than 1 second without user intervention. (don't have to start an app)
For now, I don't have any plans to create an OBD type device that will work with OBD type apps. I think there are many excellent apps available now.
However, there is this VERY nice Android/iOS App called "Real Dash". (RealDash)

In a nutshell, it uses data from multiple sources to drive/animate some great looking gauges.
Over the next few days, I will look into what would be required to send the bluetooth sensor server's data and data from the CAN bus to it.
That could be a good option for someone who wants hi-resolution gauges on any Android device.

Thanks for the question!

SeeThruHead

Ah yeah, definitely looks like they (realdash) are more open to different data sources than torque app. It would be neat if your bluetooth server sent data over BT via the AIM 5-byte they mention in the FAQ. Then you could use your gauge client with any AIM 5-byte server. (like DashBox - SP Leinonen) or use your client with any compatible display (could it integrate with AIM dashes maybe? or would that be wired not BT)

Either way really awesome project.

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MotorvateDIY

^^^
Well... I went down another rabbit hole and spent the morning reading up on Real Dash and looking at example code. It looks to be very flexible as everything can be defined by XML files. Nice!

To get the 350/370 OBD live data options (about 40+ depending on year) is very easy, to add the CAN bus data into the Real Dash app doesn't look too difficult.

However, I have more research to do to understand how I can add in the analog sensors (pressure & temp) from the bluetooth sensor server. There are a few options that I will look into, but it isn't a high priority for right now.

I was about to suggest that for you Real Dash with your MX+ would give you just about everything you may want (except for oil pressure) BUT all the Real Dash layouts are horizontal and your tablet is vertical. Too bad

SeeThruHead

I'm letting my imagination run away with me. Like what would a low cost easy to integrate sensor server look like that runs on bluetooth. You have all the parts already built for it just need a generic data transport that lots of "clients" support.

The other ones out that that do similar things are very expensive and usually part of a larger ecosystem like Motec. And don't have bluetooth. I think you could get them to a tablet via the MX+ and custom PID settings in the apps tho. But honestly I haven't looked at it.

Is your project going to be open source? I would be interested in poking around the code if so.

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