Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 02:31:31 +0930 From: Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au> To: cliff ainsworth III <cliff@cliffsworld.com> Cc: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Subject: Re: project truck.....ideas wanted Message-ID: <199710061701.CAA02693@word.smith.net.au> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sun, 05 Oct 1997 20:33:40 -0400." <3.0.3.32.19971005203340.006a12ec@mail.internexus.net>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> > I am starting a project, and I am looking for any input. I have until next > spring or so to get it completed. Damn! This is something I'd love to get invoved with. 8) > We would like to use FreeBSD to sample temperatures water, oil, tranny > fluid, exhaust ports, intake etc., (tired of analog gauges), GPS and > anything else that we or you can do with it. Can do. What sort of sensors can you source? What sort of outputs do they have? What sort of timing resolution do you want? Answers to these will give you a good idea of the sort of logging capacity you need. > We want to be able to read all > of these samples after each run so we can see exactly how the engine is > performing. The other possibility is to have it output simultaneously to an > all digital dash. Why the "or"? Why not both log and drive the dash? > We have already found a place that we can mail our 23 > year old dash and get a brand new all digital dash built for us that will > bolt back into the stock dashboard. Is this a wire-in replacement, or is it something that you can remotely drive? > We just aren't sure were to get parts. Our best guess is to use stuff that > is used in the manufacturing industry that can be sampled by a FreeBSD > machine or maybe even some modified SmartHouse stuff. Nope, don't do that. For sensors, you will want to talk first to your local speed shop. There's probably someone there with connections in the racing industry; failing that start going through the ads in the back of whatever speed -freak magazines you can find. Just off the top of my head, you'll probably be interested in: - inlet air temperature and pressure - exhaust temperature, pressure and oxygen concentration - knocking - timing advance & dwell - throttle position - engine RPM - fuel pressure & flow rate - oil pressure, temperature (engine, transmission, maybe diff) - tailshaft RPM (wheel speed) - ground speed (fifth wheel, ground doppler, other techniques?) - coolant temperature, pressure - outside air temperature - inertials (2D or 3D accelerometer) GPS might be useful depending on the length of the run; I suspect that its basic accuracy won't be good enough to give you useful figures. Watch out for fifth-wheel speed recorders; they have a tendancy to disintegrate under severe conditions. Will you be using an electronic ignition system, or the original Kettering hardware? If the former, you might want to look for one that supports a diagnostic/programing port so you can monitor and configure it. > We can do testing > with a desktop, but ultimately we will need to use a mobile computer which > I am sure we should be able to get at least temporarily from a sponsor. You should be able to find a 12 or 24VDC industrial chassis that'll take the CPU card and a couple of I/O cards; I'd anticipate you'd want either 3 or 4 slots all up; CPU, solid-state disk, Mixed-mode I/O, possibly more I/O. Someone like Industrial Computer Source or Advantech will do these for you. Steve's point about avoiding spinning disks is a good one; you might be lucky with good mountings and a 2.5" laptop drive, but I'd avoid it if at all possible. One approach to consider would be to boot from a solid-state disk and keep all your logged data in RAM until the end of the run, and then dump it to a laptop before you power down. > Currently we have Federal-Mogul sponsoring us with others pending. We will > of course like to put the FreeBSD daemon on the side of the truck and help > cross-promote the FreeBSD scene. Yah! > Just let us know if anybody is interested, any help with industrial > hardware will be greatly appreciated....and remember, never drive faster > then your guardian angel can fly :) Advice is easy 8) Best of luck, and keep us up to date!
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?199710061701.CAA02693>