MPGuino release one workspace

[dcb]

For the latest info, please go to the wiki
http://ecomodder.com/wiki/index.php/MPGuino

The information in this post is no longer being maintained

MPGuino is part of the OpenGauge instrumentation effort, which was created to make available efficiency instrumentation of all sorts. MPGuino specifically is a Miles Per Gallon gauge for fuel injected vehicles that is based on the arduino platform with some extra circuitry for monitoring the fuel injectors and the speed sensor in the vehicle.

This is the workspace for the mpguino release one, where we can sort out the final issues. The first post here will be updated with diagrams till someone runs with the wiki parts. The change log will be posted at the end of the posts as changes occur. This does require some electronical and a minute bit of automotive skill to identify and utilize the hookup points and assemble the electronics so proceed at your own risk.

I do ask that once we get this reasonably stable that users contribute to the knowledge base of how to install it in a specific car and what parameters worked well for that car so that new users can hopefully just lookup the vehicle specifics, or add theirs once they figure out the proper parameters.

Current status: In vehicle testing in progress... We are still working out the bugs in the software and possibly the hardware. The source code is available from here , just copy and paste it into the arduino ide( Arduino - HomePage ).

Some of the skills required
Identifying the right injector leads with a volt meter.
Identifying the vss with schematics/ECU diagrams/online tools.
Identifying battery power source with a schematic and/or voltmeter.
Soldering.
Chasing a wire or two through the firewall.
Possibly making updates to the circuit if we can't find a software solution to any problems that are exposed, etc.)
Being able to reprogram the device when we do find software solutions, or new features.


Parts List:
2 5.1v zener diodes
1 2n3906 PNP Transistor
1 220 ohm resistor
2 100k resistors
3 tactile switches
1 freeduino arduino clone (any arduino can probably be made to work)
i.e. an iduino: http://spiffie.org/kits/iduino/ or a Freeduino
1 LCD (others might work as well, check pinout and chipset, etc).
16x2 LCD Module While Characters Blue Backlight
Or a green one from sparkfun or mouser
(a number of folks like the green ones better)

Note: If you would rather work with the CPU directly and can figure out how to program it from arduino IDE then have a at the schematic in this thread:
Open source PCB design and skip the wiring diagram below because you will need to build the whole thing from scratch.


Wiring diagrams:
For the arduino style boards:
LCD is upside down in this diagram. All seems to be working well in the hardware department.


For the iDuino style boards:
Will need to procure a 7805 voltage regulator a 1n4004 diode, a 330 uf cap and a .1uf cap.


For the do it yourselfer:
refer to the diagrams in the Open source PCB design thread


Prototype:
Here is the prototype I'm using (serial freeduino and 16x2 blue lcd hot glued to a piece of thick balsa, with a component board for the transistors/etc. and any extra wire smashed out of the way)



And here is a model built from scratch


Screens:
1. Instant MPG/Speed
Current MPG/Distance

2. Instant MPG/Speed
Tank MPG/Distance

3. Large font instant MPG

4. Large font current MPG

5. Large font tank MPG

6. Current MPH, MPG, Miles, Gallons

7. Tank MPH, MPG, Miles, Gallons

8. Instant Raw Data (very useful for connection troubleshooting)
Injector open seconds, Injector open microSeconds,
Injector pulse count, Vehicle Speed Sensor pulse count

9. Current trip Raw Data
Injector open seconds, Injector open microSeconds,
Injector pulse count, Vehicle Speed Sensor pulse count

10. Tank trip Raw Data
Injector open seconds, Injector open microSeconds,
Injector pulse count, Vehicle Speed Sensor pulse count

11. CPU Monitor
Max CPU %utilization, Tank running Time mm.ss,
Free Memory (bytes)

There is also a setup screen that displays the first time the program is run and by pressing all three buttons at once. It walks you through the following setup variables. Use left and right buttons to select the digit you wish to change or the OK or Cancel (XX) items. Use middle button to rotate the current digit or select OK or XX if that is where the cursor is. Selecting OK will save the currently displayed value to the current variable and advance to the next variable. Selecting XX will just advance to the next variable.

Contrast - This comes up first on a brand new run and changes on the screen are immediate so if you can't see anything try pressing middle button a few times.

VSS Pulses/Mile - use this to adjust displayed speed/miles. If the speed/miles displayed on the mpguino is low then decrease this number by the percentage that it is off and vice versa for high readings. Most asian cars will be a multiple of 8204 and GM will be 10000, we are hoping users will contribute model specific data here.

MicroSec/Gallon - use this to adjust displayed fuel consumption. You may want to readjust this initially to get a ballpark MPG reading (after VSS Pulses/Mile is deemed accurate), then calibrate it with a couple fillups. If the mpguino displayed MPG is high or the displayed tank gallons is low at fillup then reduce MicroSec/Gallon by the percentage that the gallons are low or the displayed mpg is high. Like the vss pulses, this would benefit from user contributions about what values work for what specific cars.


Pulses/2 revs - not currently used, but a single injector on a 4 cylinder sequential system will make 1 squirt in 2 revolutions. Hope to be able to base RPM on this at some point.

Timout(microSec) - defaults to 7 minutes. If there are no injector or speed signals from the car and no buttons are pressed in that time then the display backlight turns off. When activity resumes the display will turn back on and the current trip will reset and the tank trip will be restored to the point of last activity.

Tank Gal * 1000 - not currently used, but defaults to 13300 or 13.3 gallons.

Injector DelayuS - Represents the mechanical delay of the injector in microseconds. Advanced topic.

Buttons:
Current button assignments as follows,
left: cycle through screeens in reverse
middle: cycle through pre-defined brightness settings
right: cycle through screeens forward
left+middle: tank reset
right+middle: current reset
left+middle+right: go to setup screen

Installation notes:
For Identifying where to tap into the fuel injector:
1. turn on the ignition, leave engine off.
2. Unplug an injector.
3. With a voltmeter, measure the voltage on each injector connection. One should be 12 volts and the other should be more like 0. You will want to tap into the one that is at 0 volts.

For finding the VSS hookup, there are several approaches, but at the bottom of
Technical Support is a tool that might help you identify the VSS wire location and color. Also here is another online source of ECU pinouts, I'm sure there are more: ECU Pin-out Diagrams :: Innovate Motorsports Application Notes

IMPORTANT, you must be very deliberate when hooking up the mpguino to your cars battery power. There have been several cases where people had to reflash their atmegas and it is noted in the datasheet that the flash memory can be corrupted if the power requirements are interrupted. So line up those pins and get it hooked up the first shot.

On my saturn I tapped into an injector ground lead, and used ground and battery voltage and speedo (possibly vss) signal from the ecu plugs.



Here are some shots of hooking up the prototype on a saturn. I got lucky with the splice clips on the power but had to trim the insulation (carefully) on the injector lead and vss lead and solder the connection. I also had the wrong vss lead, so don't go by color here. But it was straight forward, and pinching through an existing rubber grommet in the firewall with a piece of coathanger was easy so I could get to the injector tap.










Metro installation
FYI, here is the hookup points in a 98 metro
VSS:

Injector:



Source code:
Work in progress, just cut and paste into the arduino ide. Available from here

[larrydag]

dcb, you are just a maverick with this project. Keep up the great work.

When I get free time I'll give it a go. One thing I will need help with is the VSS and Injector interface hookup with the car. I've never done anything like that before. I understand we are getting most of the pulses from the ECU. If anyone has a good howto on that setup would be great.

[SVOboy]

Keep up the great work man, when I'm out of school I'll be playing catch up and getting one running in my CRX.

[Coyote X]

Makes me wish I would have already ordered the supplies for this so I could test it out

[larrydag]

dcb, what are you using for the ground connection. Are you going back to the *duino?

Also we probably are going to need to look at hooking up a battery since you mentioned that might be the preferred method. It will require some more parts but I don't think it will be much.

Here is a link to the Arduino site with 9V battery setup.

http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Lea...BatteryAdapter

[diesel_john]

Originally Posted by larrydag

When I get free time I'll give it a go. One thing I will need help with is the VSS and Injector interface hookup with the car. I've never done anything like that before. I understand we are getting most of the pulses from the ECU. If anyone has a good howto on that setup would be great.

Normally the injectors will all have a red wire, this is not the wire you want, it is 12v power. You want the other wire going to an injector, the one that is grounded by the ECU to turn on the injector.
Does this help, should I take some pics. Also detailed text attached.

[larrydag]

diesel_john, that looks great. I was thinking to just use pinouts from the ECU. Is that possible also?

[dcb]

(edit, despite the below, I'm going to tap the injector lead directly)
I'm planning on starting at the ECU, but it requires knowing what is where on a particular ECU, which may require some decent documentation or some probing around with a multi meter. Here is a late 90s saturn s-series, with 4 hookup points (vss, injector 1, battery, ground) for example:

[dcb]

Update, I put a board together to hold the extra components (3 transistors, misc resistors, etc) no luck with the brightness control so far
Edit: lowering the 100k resistor to 430 ohms fixed that
Edit: I looked up the 2n3906, and it looks like extreme limit of base current would have the the minimum value for the resistor at 86 ohms. 100 ohms would give you a little safety cushion.

[dcb]

I'm running out of excuses to not just try this The component board is secure for now, the wires will get trimmed to length later. The injector signal goes to the leftmost blue terminal block and the vss goes to the one next to it. Car battery voltage goes to the external power jack. The other terminal blocks are ground and 5v for convenience (not enough ground and 5v pins to go around). Note: for the arduino connections, I just tin the ends of the wires with solder so they fit snugly in the pin sockets when pushed in, takes a little practice.

[cmags]

So this project seems to be coming along quite nicely. I see a very reasonable schematic and good code. How close do you think you are to actually testing this in car and having a functioning MPG meter? I'm trying to decide on waiting for this and building one myself, or hopping in on that $135 ScanGuageII group buy going on in the forum. I have until Tuesday to decide. (Though I may pick up the SG and sell it later if this turns out to be sufficient for my needs).

One final question - in regards to the calibration techniques mentioned - they all seem to start out with a "guess". Are they suggesting that the guess is for initial calibration and then finer calibration is required later? I may not have read closely enough (and I haven't yet read the code), but I didn't see where the fine calibration comes in.

Thanks again for all the work being put into this. It's certainly looking good!

[larrydag]

cmags, I don't know for certain but there is still some considerable testing to be done. Getting the hardware configured is just step one. I don't know if anyone has fired it up in their car yet. Troubleshooting the code and working with the car is going to be step two. If you need to decide by Tuesday than the Opengauge is probably not going to be done by then.

Other than that we could always use a another hand in helping with the project!

[i_am_socket]

I'm loving the progress on this :-) The SG has way more options than I need at a price I don't need as well, and this project is the barebones I'm looking for. What is the general guestimation of beta hardware completion? Is there a list of milestones?

I'd love to help but my only experience with electronics is splicing wires and a failed DIY walkman kit. I'll look through the code, but the language is a bit foreign to me (I do mostly web/database work in PHP & Javascript)

[dcb]

cmags, re: calibration:
After the initial guess, the version we have here will benefit from a "true up" when you refill your car. Basically you
1. top off the tank
2. note your milage on the odo
3. reset the guino
4. drive for hundreds of miles
5. go to the same pump at the same station pointing in the same direction (same time of day/temperature would be nice)
6. fill up the tank to the same spot/number of clicks
7. note the change in mileage on the odo, see if it matches the miles on the guino
8. note the gallons it took to fillup the car, see if it matches the gallons on the guino

If 7 or 8 aren't reasonably close, then note the percentage that the reading is off and adjust the vssPulsesPerMile (for 7) or injectorGPH (for 8) at the top of the source code (at the top of this thread) by that percentage and reload it onto the guino.



Eventually we hope to have enough data from enough different types of cars that people can get a pretty good first guess based on their vehicle, but even a bad guess will give you a relative reading that you can use to see if you are improving or not.

Also we hope to utilize these buttons and add menus and such with future software upgrades so you can calibrate it in the car, but we are gunning for a simple working mpg gauge at the moment (with maybe a few nice features):
http://forum.ecomodder.com/showthrea...9.html?p=22751

[cmags]

Thanks for the update, dcb. I guess the good "guess" will definitely still be useful as a relative gauge, and tuning it up via tanks will be fine. (By the way, is there any knowledge out there about how consistent even the same pump is at turning off at the same point?) It'll definitely be close enough.

In terms of having this ready by early next week, I understand that wouldn't have been do-able. I just need to decide whether to wait on this or jump on the SG by then. I've got a trip from Atlanta to Boston and back coming up in June and would like to have some sort of MPG meter by then to try to keep my fuel costs under the projected $500 (~$50/tank, baseline of 300mi/tank, 1200mi each way, plus driving around for two weeks visiting friends and family). I'm taking steps to improve my mileage, but the feedback will be key in that.

I'll prob. jump on the SG anyway, but I love DIY's so something like this is right up my alley. The SG has a number of other features that I'm interested in, such as the code reader, and intake temps etc (useful in gauging whether a grill block is overheating the car). If the *duino platform matures enough to be able to be able to string peripherals off it, I'm all for it.

Thanks again, and keep up the good work. I'll be keeping an eye on this project.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by dcb

05/08/08 Couple of code tweaks and a test run in the car (97 saturn s2) was promising. The miles reading is in the ballpark, but the gallons was at least an order of magnitude off. Also everything was in whole numbers, will need to include floating point routines or device an integer based strategy.

Woohoo for first test run! Congrats.

[dcb]

Here's a couple pics.
I scrounged up a quick and dirty bit of hookup parts from the garage and hooked it up today:


The mileage reading was suprizingly not horribly far off, gallons needs work, as does fractional numbers.


At night that LED is a killer, I think we will be glad to have brightness control

[larrydag]

Here is my working prototype. This was the best picture I could get. dcb, you're going to have to tell me how you got to hookup with your ECU. Did you go to the external ODB connector or did you splice into the main connector.

by the way, if anyone has experience with Honda ECU's let me know. My ECU is 37820-P0B-A51

[MetroMPG]

I may be mistaken, but Schultz may have access to a db with ECU pinouts...

[larrydag]

Thanks Metro but I can get the pinouts. I just don't know how to connect to the thing. It's a closed box except for the big 3 connectors to the pinouts. Any ideas?