Ford SBF monitoring

[eagleman]

I started this thread so as not to further impact the "tachometer" thread that I accidentally hijacked.

I'll try to copy the SBF info from the "tachometer" thread to this thread. My apologies to the "tachometer" thread.

[eagleman]

by 1965mustangV8 » Wed Dec 30, 2015 11:54 pm

I am working on a similar project and I was hoping for a little more information.

My plan is to add modern diagnostics to a 1965 Ford Mustang. I want to gather temperatures(water temp, tire/brake temp), tire pressure data, Speed/elevation(and if there is any feasible way of having information on G force like Nissan GTR's do, that would be cool), and RPM's. I want to display this information live on a monitor in the most graphical way possible.

I have some experience with python, css, and html. I generally have no idea how to do this though.

I'm concerned that even if I can figure out how to overcome these task individually that I won't be able to collect it and display it with an RPi. My plan was to run everything from the gpio pins but I don't think there are enough pins.

I mainly am inquiring about the tachometer though. I believe that normal car tachometer run off of the ignition coil. I suppose this works by detecting a pulse. How can I run this into the rpi and how would I decipher the I formation into RPM?

Thanks! Sorry for the huge question, I would appreciate any help I can get on any of this project because I'm pretty much just learning as I go.

[eagleman]

I am working on just such a monitor for the PI2 and a 7" touch screen. I have most of the software running on simulated inputs right now: but I designed a board that was fabricated in China 3 days ago and is enroute to me here in Virginia, It should be here Monday, Jan. 7th. Upon arrival, the board will be populated and carefully tested before being hooked to my newly rebuilt (and yet unstarted) 1964 Ford 289 CID engine.... how about that? My board includes a forty pin input at the car for monitoring various 12VDC inputs for digital input and 12 channels of analog input to a 16 channel ADC feeding the PI thru an SPI format. The other 4 channels are used to measure the 12vdc level, temp of the 5v regulator on my board, and 2 channels of exhaust oxygen sensors. The oxygen sensors measure air/fuel mixture using 2 APSX modules that plug into my board and control the Bosch sensors thru 2 additional 5 pin connectors. The display is easily formatted using Python 3.5 and Pygame. Current display format has 8 analog gauges, 2 sliding pointers for O2 sensors, and 7 indicator lights to monitor low 12vdc, headlights, highbeams, 2 brake malfunction circuits, board temp alarm, low fuel level of just about any analog or digital input with your own simple definable parameter color like a yellow fuel warning at 1/8th tank that turns to a red warning at the "damned low" fuel level. The software is working with a breadboard version of the hardware and simulated inputs until the new board is assembled and tested. There is even stable a 10VDC regulator (required by my original gauges) and a 5vdc regulator to power the boards 5vdc requirements and some additional 5vdc powered sensors for oil temp, fuel pressure, MAP, and a separate coolant temp system. I'd be glad to share and would gladly accept any suggestions for improvement. NOTE: The distributor on the 289 is a billet small block Ford unit with a GM HEI (high energy ignition) as used for electronic ignition on mid 80s GM products. The distributor has not been tested, but expect to pick off it's tach signal for RPM to be as accurate as the timing circuits (poor) will allow it to be. Let me know if you would be interested. This is not a "make for profit" project so any costs would be minimal and a collaboration could greatly improve the project results.

[eagleman]

by 1965mustangV8 » Fri Jan 01, 2016 11:02 pm




eagleman wrote:
I am working on just such a monitor for the PI2 and a 7" touch screen. I have most of the software running on simulated inputs right now: but I designed a board that was fabricated in China 3 days ago and is enroute to me here in Virginia, It should be here Monday, Jan. 7th. Upon arrival, the board will be populated and carefully tested before being hooked to my newly rebuilt (and yet unstarted) 1964 Ford 289 CID engine.... how about that? My board includes a forty pin input at the car for monitoring various 12VDC inputs for digital input and 12 channels of analog input to a 16 channel ADC feeding the PI thru an SPI format. The other 4 channels are used to measure the 12vdc level, temp of the 5v regulator on my board, and 2 channels of exhaust oxygen sensors. The oxygen sensors measure air/fuel mixture using 2 APSX modules that plug into my board and control the Bosch sensors thru 2 additional 5 pin connectors. The display is easily formatted using Python 3.5 and Pygame. Current display format has 8 analog gauges, 2 sliding pointers for O2 sensors, and 7 indicator lights to monitor low 12vdc, headlights, high beams, 2 brake malfunction circuits, board temp alarm, low fuel level of just about any analog or digital input with your own simple definable parameter color like a yellow fuel warning at 1/8th tank that turns to a red warning at the "damned low" fuel level. The software is working with a breadboard version of the hardware and simulated inputs until the new board is assembled and tested. There is even stable a 10VDC regulator (required by my original gauges) and a 5vdc regulator to power the boards 5vdc requirements and some additional 5vdc powered sensors for oil temp, fuel pressure, MAP, and a separate coolant temp system. I'd be glad to share and would gladly accept any suggestions for improvement. NOTE: The distributor on the 289 is a billet small block Ford unit with a GM HEI (high energy ignition) as used for electronic ignition on mid 80s GM products. The distributor has not been tested, but expect to pick off it's tach signal for RPM to be as accurate as the timing circuits (poor) will allow it to be. Let me know if you would be interested. This is not a "make for profit" project so any costs would be minimal and a collaboration could greatly improve the project results.

Wow. That's awesome. Sounds like the same idea I have, with a few adjustments(particularly the exhaust oxygen sensors for fuel mixture data!) . You've written the python programs to run this?

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by eagleman » Sat Jan 02, 2016 1:59 am

It is written and running and roughly calibrated on a breadboard circuit with a few more tweaks and additions yet to do. The oxygen sensor interfaces have not been tested against the plug in modules, but their 0 to 5vdc representation of O2 levels have been simulated. Live data and final calibration have to wait unti!l the board is ready. I still need to write software for:
1. Data logging
2. Touchscreen sensing and what to with them.
3. Sub menus and additional screens for more detailed analysis
4. Plenty of space for growth.
5. Convert the gauge pointer from a Pygame sprite to OpenGL which I know nothing about.
6. Need better timing for tach accuracy due to the PIs poor timing irregularities.

The screen could be improved... Right now it is a $60, 7" screen with HDMI input and USB input for touch sensing. Resolution is 800 x 480 but they are now available something like 1200 x 800. The day background is a jpeg of burled walnut just like real dash in my car, bug you could use any picture or solid color. I found my picture on a wood veneer catalog on the internet. You might check out the following:
APSX modules at www.wide-band.com
7" TFT displays with HDMI and touch on eBay
5 volt temp and pressure sensors on eBay motors
The AD7490 ADC chip from Apples Digital
The Android app by "Torque" for more ideas
Eagle circuit board design software by CadSoft (freeware version) I just joined the forum and don't know how to

My car is British 66 Sunbeam Tiger that came from the factory with a small bock Ford (SBF) engine and transmission. They are nicknamed the "poor man's Cobra. Shelby did the V8 install prototype back in the early sixties.

So, the software and board are prototyped but could still use refinements. I double checked the board design before sending off for 5 boards to be fabricated. But I've done before on other projects and found design errors after fabrication. Let's hope for the best. I just joined the forum and don't know how to upload code or pictures yet.

Do you know anything about OpenGL?
Posts: 12Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 2:43 pm


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by eagleman » Sat Jan 02, 2016 2:21 am

I am typing on an Android pad in the middle of the night and the Android genie "adjusted" my text with a few doors... Like " Apple Digital" instead of "Applied Digital" , and a few others PLUS the above "doors" instead of "errors". And I am quoting some things from memory instead of getting up out of bed and going to the Windows desktop. Have you used the TighTVNC program to use IDLE on your desktop directly into the networked PIs memory for designing software? It makes software debugging and changes extremely fast and painless on the Pi itself. Only save to desktop periodically for safety. From the desktop you can correct a few source lines inside the PI, save the updates, then stop the Python program on the PI keyboard with a " control-C" and restart with the corrected version with just pressing the "^" button and then press the "Enter" key. Takes seconds for minor corrections. It just gets a little confusing with two sets of keyboard and mouse!

[eagleman]

Also just found this 10" screen for the RPi.

http://www.chalk-elec.com/?page_id=1280 ... t=priceAsc

Tried uploading photos of the project to the forum, but could not get a reasonable photo from 2mb down to less than 64kb. Well find another place to post... maybe a short video on YouTube after the new prototype board arrives.

[1965mustangV8]

I have a composite screen (7") coming in the mail, I was worrried that the touch screen would take too many GPIO pins.

I was planning on just using a full sized keyboard and plugging the pi into a tv/monitor setup outside of the car for programming.

I'm on the "extreme beginner side of Pi, I know how to blink led's, setup a simple file server and setup simple cron jobs but that's about it. Python isn't very hard and I learn quick but since no ones made a "Vintage Car Pi" tutorial it's going to be a little harder for me to figure it out.

Nice car! Looks like a V8 will be a tight fit. Would running a hall effect sensor for the tach be more accurate then using the coil?
I was thinking about setting up the hall effect to read directly from the fan shaft(I'm sure its not called that, but you get the idea) in front of the motor.

[1965mustangV8]

And I don't know anything about OpenGL sorry. I usually use nano for writing script, is IDLE better?

[1965mustangV8]

If the 80's electronic ignition doesn't work you could just get Petronix. That's what I use.

[1965mustangV8]

Also just found this 10" screen for the RPi.

http://www.chalk-elec.com/?page_id=1280 ... t=priceAsc

Tried uploading photos of the project to the forum, but could not get a reasonable photo from 2mb down to less than 64kb. Well find another place to post... maybe a short video on YouTube after the new prototype board arrives.

I plan on adapting RCA to HDMI for my screen(too late to change now, at least for awhile). Your touch screen doesn't run off of the GPIO pins? You mentioned HDMI/USB? I didn't know you could run touch through USB.

This looked like a good software for making a fancy GUI http://www.disti.com/products/gl-studio/ They have a 30 day trial. I'm just going to stick with pygame like you suggested though.

[eagleman]

looked at the software you suggested. it looks good but I could never find what the cost was of it.

does your screen have a HDMI input? Yes, my touchscreen does NOT use any GPIO pins, but a direct, standard USB to the standard I/F and power cable for most android phones. the screen has no extra interface board but just 3 cables:
1. HDMI
2. microUSB for input power (standard cable) from 5v USB port (> 1.5 amps)
3. MicroUSB to USB (standard cable) for touchscreen

I can PM you some working code snippets to check out and see how easy the GUI works

[1965mustangV8]

looked at the software you suggested. it looks good but I could never find what the cost was of it.

does your screen have a HDMI input? Yes, my touchscreen does NOT use any GPIO pins, but a direct, standard USB to the standard I/F and power cable for most android phones. the screen has no extra interface board but just 3 cables:
1. HDMI
2. microUSB for input power (standard cable) from 5v USB port (> 1.5 amps)
3. MicroUSB to USB (standard cable) for touchscreen

I can PM you some working code snippets to check out and see how easy the GUI works

I didn't see a price either, weird.
My screen is composite ($15). I'm going to use a adapter to convert it to hdmi.

[DougieLawson]

My screen is composite ($15). I'm going to use a adapter to convert it to hdmi.

Why? ALL raspberries have analog composite video on the board. Models B&A have a yellow RCA socket, models B+/A+/2B have it on the TRRS socket (ring#2 == GND, sleeve == signal) and the zero has two empty through board holes for analog video.

[1965mustangV8]

My screen is composite ($15). I'm going to use a adapter to convert it to hdmi.

Why? ALL raspberries have analog composite video on the board. Models B&A have a yellow RCA socket, models B+/A+/2B have it on the TRRS socket (ring#2 == GND, sleeve == signal) and the zero has two empty through board holes for analog video.

I was unaware that to B+ had one.

Thanks.

[somewhereinusa]

This is right up my alley, kinda. I'm working on an information center for old buses. They are old buses that have been converted to motorhomes, all are diesel, most are rear engine. I don't have any problem building and making the sensors work, not sure I will be able to master the coding before I die of old age. Most of this is in early planning ,idea stage. Just some random thoughts about what is needed.
At least 5 temperature readings, using DS18B20 this can be added to
Speedometer, hall effect probably from front wheel, can use gps but readings are affected by occasional signal loss
Odometer, many old buses don't have one at all
At least 3 re settable trip meters for keeping track of things like fuel fills, maintenance, trips etc.
Pressure sensors, oil and at least 2 air pressure. Haven't found any digital senders, so probably use ADS1115 to convert.
Tachometer, can build this using hall effect.
Monitor 2 or three seperate battery voltage systems, either 12 or 24 volt.
At some time in the future I would like to make communication between engine/trans in rear to driver wireless but, for now wired.

Would love to have some help/collaboration on this.

Dick

[1965mustangV8]

This is right up my alley, kinda. I'm working on an information center for old buses. They are old buses that have been converted to motorhomes, all are diesel, most are rear engine. I don't have any problem building and making the sensors work, not sure I will be able to master the coding before I die of old age. Most of this is in early planning ,idea stage. Just some random thoughts about what is needed.
At least 5 temperature readings, using DS18B20 this can be added to
Speedometer, hall effect probably from front wheel, can use gps but readings are affected by occasional signal loss
Odometer, many old buses don't have one at all
At least 3 re settable trip meters for keeping track of things like fuel fills, maintenance, trips etc.
Pressure sensors, oil and at least 2 air pressure. Haven't found any digital senders, so probably use ADS1115 to convert.
Tachometer, can build this using hall effect.
Monitor 2 or three seperate battery voltage systems, either 12 or 24 volt.
At some time in the future I would like to make communication between engine/trans in rear to driver wireless but, for now wired.

Would love to have some help/collaboration on this.

Dick

Awesome. I have been unable to figure out how I could get tire pressure data is that what you are referring to with "air pressure" or are you talking about air brakes? Also, be careful when purchasing a monitor, I bought one form my car (12vdc) and it turned out to be 24vdc and I'm still trying to get it converted.

[somewhereinusa]

I have been unable to figure out how I could get tire pressure data is that what you are referring to with "air pressure" or are you talking about air brakes?

Air brakes, I have also thought about tire pressure, I think it doable using the senders from an aftermarket unit if the RF can be figured out. A bit pricey I would need 10, six for bus and four for car being towed.

Also, be careful when purchasing a monitor, I bought one form my car (12vdc) and it turned out to be 24vdc and I'm still trying to get it converted.

Where did you get the 24V monitor? Many of the buses are 24V, would need something to limit the voltage even then. Some of the older ones are 12V positive ground. Even the 12V units need something to clean up the voltage from car. Not uncommon for automotive to hit 18 or higher. For my bus I think easiest solution is to use 120VAC which is always available.
I have a slight advantage in that I have more room to play with. I already have three desktops running.

[1965mustangV8]

I am working on just such a monitor for the PI2 and a 7" touch screen. I have most of the software running on simulated inputs right now: but I designed a board that was fabricated in China 3 days ago and is enroute to me here in Virginia, It should be here Monday, Jan. 7th. Upon arrival, the board will be populated and carefully tested before being hooked to my newly rebuilt (and yet unstarted) 1964 Ford 289 CID engine.... how about that? My board includes a forty pin input at the car for monitoring various 12VDC inputs for digital input and 12 channels of analog input to a 16 channel ADC feeding the PI thru an SPI format. The other 4 channels are used to measure the 12vdc level, temp of the 5v regulator on my board, and 2 channels of exhaust oxygen sensors. The oxygen sensors measure air/fuel mixture using 2 APSX modules that plug into my board and control the Bosch sensors thru 2 additional 5 pin connectors. The display is easily formatted using Python 3.5 and Pygame. Current display format has 8 analog gauges, 2 sliding pointers for O2 sensors, and 7 indicator lights to monitor low 12vdc, headlights, highbeams, 2 brake malfunction circuits, board temp alarm, low fuel level of just about any analog or digital input with your own simple definable parameter color like a yellow fuel warning at 1/8th tank that turns to a red warning at the "damned low" fuel level. The software is working with a breadboard version of the hardware and simulated inputs until the new board is assembled and tested. There is even stable a 10VDC regulator (required by my original gauges) and a 5vdc regulator to power the boards 5vdc requirements and some additional 5vdc powered sensors for oil temp, fuel pressure, MAP, and a separate coolant temp system. I'd be glad to share and would gladly accept any suggestions for improvement. NOTE: The distributor on the 289 is a billet small block Ford unit with a GM HEI (high energy ignition) as used for electronic ignition on mid 80s GM products. The distributor has not been tested, but expect to pick off it's tach signal for RPM to be as accurate as the timing circuits (poor) will allow it to be. Let me know if you would be interested. This is not a "make for profit" project so any costs would be minimal and a collaboration could greatly improve the project results.

Have you gotten your prototype boards in yet? I haven't made much headway. I'll go with Edison's way of looking at it, I didn't fail. I just found a bunch of ways that won't work. My composite screen is a waste of time, money and effort. I'm going to order a 7 inch hdmi/usb touch screen for $66 on amazon.

[eagleman]

Sorry guys, I've been travelling and haven't ben on the forum since the 12th. The bus project fits right into my project and 66mustang's project. I also have an old 32' diesel pusher from 1992. I thought that I would take this project to the motorhome after getting my Sunbeam version working correctly.

Sensors: Ebay search for a vendor called "renbusa" for a plethora of sensors and gauges. There are others also.

Wiring: Try to use "GXL" or "TXL" spec'd wiring for engine compartments since these industry specs are for high temp areas like engine compartments. All wiring color combinations and sizes are available on eBay as well as any and all connectors you might need. It might take some creative searching for some of the parts, but remember that somebody makes these and somebody else needs these, so somebody in the middle sells these.

Displays: Strongly recommend using a TFT display of 7" to 10" WITHOUT a driver board; use the one with an HDMI input and micro(?) USB for touchscreen and power. They are simpler for you and plug straight into the PI 2 without snarly driver boards whose connections and extra cables can be a problem. Mine is a 7" TFT with 800x480 resolution but there is also a 7" TFT with 1024x600 ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/331656598711 ) and some 9" and 10.1" screens. Again, try to avoid having a film cable going loosely from one card to another card... it is flimsy and will be a problem.

Software: I don't have a problem with the software so far. The timing of the PI leaves a lot to be desired for accurately counting tach or odometer pulses in short periods. you may ask for a 250ms period and get get a 250ms period +/- 150ms. I can send you guys some snippets of code and images that will work on your PI as a demo with dummy inputs so you can see dials and gauges without having to have any inputs. Just PM me. This is all for working together to better accomplish what we are all looking for in our projects. no money required. my payoff will be that someone with another point of view may spark and idea for a significant improvement and also a larger test bed to solve problems that may arise.

Odometer: There are many, many adapters for the transmission/speedometer connection. Some are a direct mechanical to digital tachometer which output about 2000 pulses/mile on a car. Some are a sandwich that plugs into the transmission (cable output) and then the cable plugs into it with a digital tach sandwiched in the middle. I had this nagging problem on converting a Jag sedan with a late model Chevy 350 and TurboHydramatic transmission. I tried all sorts of mechanical widgets and contraptions then finally went to a speedometer expert. He said "Oh!" and then reached over to his inventory and got a common, everyday, late model GM unit to plug into the transmission that gave me 2000 pulses per mile. With a breadboard, a few ICs, and some jumper wires the Jag speedometer worked fine on both speed and odometer.

Problems: let's let each other know what problems we are having so we can solve them together.

that reminds me that I did build 3 of the prototype boards and they did not test well at all. Had no time to trouble shoot before flying out so I packed the PI, the TFT screen, 3 boards, jumpers, cables, 2 meters and soldering stuff. Last Monday I discovered that I had soldered the 16 channel ADC in right side up when it should have been soldered up side down. destroyed the chips trying to remove them so reordered 2 more ADC chips and installed them. It looked like the 2 corrected boards were working on my daughters kitchen table when something went wrong and now no longer have video on my screen. Don't know if it is the PI or the screen. It's all on hold until reaching home on Thursday the 21st.

[Slackware]

How is the power consumption on the 7" screens? I can find none that list the specs on that.
looking at a 5" or 7" touch screen for home controller. 4 doors, 4 windows, 2 garage doors, 2 a/c systems, attic fan, water pressure system, water flow measurement for filter replacement, and elevator. Plus the 15 or so temp/humility/smoke/co2 sensors of course.
mainly just for display, temp, alarms status, elevator position. But with all the possible info more real estate can't hurt. Screen will be what hides the hole in the wall where the Pi hides to do it's work.
Can you put screen into sleep mode to conserve power? over 20 years it does add up.

I'm thinking about putting one in my '69 beetle. 4 coils for easy firing control for ignition till I can make my electric wheels to convert it to 4 wheel electric drive. once you remove the gas tank and engine beetle has lots of room for batteries, and a 2" chainsaw engine should generate enough emergency power to limp home if needed.

[eagleman]

I'm not sure what the actual 5vdc current flow is and I have so many 5vdc walwarts around I'm not sure which came with the screen. I do remember that it said something about >1a supply. Also, I have no way to measure the current coming through the USB cable. When not running my Python program there is a screen saver that cuts off the video. When my Python program is running the screen is always on. I'm sure you can include a screen saver routine in your program.

[eagleman]

It just dawned on me that when I get home I can plug a decent walwart into a wattage meter and see what just the screen draws at sleep, with a static screen and with a very active screen. I'll post the results; it might be interesting. But remember, you should be able to put the video portion of the screen to sleep while still monitoring for a touch either on the screen, a separate GPIO switch, or parameter ranges in the program. The Google "Nest" programmable thermostat puts it's screen to sleep while it monitors for movement in front of it and then it wakes up the screen.

[eagleman]

The Pi died while on the trip. Ordered a new one to arrive shortly after getting home. Plugged in the new Pi with the old SDcard and it came right up including all software working and HDMI video to the old display. Will check screen wattage consumed and again start testing my newly fabricated project boards. Was wondering if the bus has 12vdc and 24vdc. With a few resistor changes, the project board can monitor the 12vdc level and the 24vdc level.

[StanPi]

I'm looking at a similar project, but a bit less ambitious, I think. I'm looking to animate a virtual tachometer for a motorcycle and then add a speedometer. The signal from the tachometer is ~ 12V, but I don't think it will be that difficult to clean up into a digital signal with the voltage reduced to ~3.3V. What I'm looking at now is generating the graphics with pygame that is similar to a clock, then animating a pointer for the tachometer signal.

I think I'll need a 7" display, rather than trying to display the screen on a virtual desktop. Although, just getting the tachometer outline and pointer should be suitable for a virtual display. I've got pygame installed, running tightvnc, and have tinkered with some sample code on a Pi 2.

[eagleman]

some suggestions for your display:

1. You can use a jpeg (or similar) image as a background for your display. I used an image (from a wood catalog) of some burl walnut that pretty closely matched the wood on my dashboard. You can search for something on the net that would be suitable for your use.
2. To simplify and more important for better reliability be sure to use a touch screen that does not rely on additional boards and loose connections of fragile ribbon cables - they get damaged easily.
3. Use concentric circles of similarly colored single rings to give your gauge some realistic shading to represent chrome or black bezels.
4. Use "sprites" to display needle images on your dial gauges. You can design a needle on Microsoft Paint and save it as a transparent image and then display it as a sprite at whatever angle and location you specify. The sprites can sweep across the dial with no destructive effect on your dial face.

Also, a warning... The tach signal fed from some GM distributors feeds back a "12vdc" signal that has some high voltage spikes and junk on the signal. The spikes and junk from a GM distributor have to be filtered out by a standard GM filter unit to avoid blowing the tachometer circuitry. You might check with a scope or do some internet research to check on what your tach feed signal is like.


You'll need more info than the above, but I can give you references and sample code to help.

[izzycm]

This is an Amazing thread! I was just thinking about doing this for my 84 Camaro z28... I just put a 427 in it and removed all the computerization stuff in it.

I was looking for a way to have 2x 7" screens in it plus using a 7segment display for the tach.

I was thinking of having 1 screen for all of the sensor readings, and the other screen for GPS speedometer and GPS navigation.

Sensors I was looking to have setup:
Exhaust - Oxygen sensor
Intake Air Temp
Fuel Pressure (under 30psi)
Fuel level
Nos Pressure (eventually will be adding it)


Any tips on where to get started?
Parts list - Software requirements - Vendors for equipment -

Any Tutorials or Videos recommend to watch?

Thanks Again for any and all assistance!!
IzzyCM