Quote:
Originally Posted by nickdigger
If you want a bigger, readable bar graph, just upgrade to a 20x4 LCD.
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If I wanted better fuel economy, I should just get a Prius. Sound familiar?
Quote:
Originally Posted by nickdigger
Reprogramming the CGRAM on-the-fly is a neat idea, but the gap between rows 0 and 1 is kinda off-putting, whereas it's not really noticable with the bigger, wider block characters. On my 20x4, the graph is 15 columns wide, and the 16x2 has 11.
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Just as
not everyone can justify (or afford) spending $10 on a Parallax 5-position button, not everyone can justify (or afford) upgrading to a 20x4 LCD display. Anyone who currently owns the bone-stock MPGuino hardware (JBD or
meelis11 or anything else directly based on
dcb's work) can run this software, with no hardware modifications to speak of.
Okay, granted, AtMega168 owners who wanted this graphic display would not be able to do their own display screen edits, or use a clock, or take advantage of late-model Chrysler pressure-corrected fuel readings, or sped-up serial datalogging, or have the ability to calculate their fuel factor without the use of an Excel spreadsheet. (oh, wait - they couldn't do that to begin with) They'd have to pick and choose what they wanted out of the code, which was how they had to do it before (they just had to figure out and add the programming themselves, instead of uncommenting a single line). However, the base code (without all of the extra bells 'n' whistles I've added, which is already much improved over the 0.86 original) should run on a 168 with no problems, which is something you just can't say about 0.86. Besides, I'm working on shrinking the code. Seems to be a pattern - get it to work, then shrink it.
Not that it matters, because anyone wanting to get a 5-position switch, or a 20x4 LCD, should be able to afford an
AtMega328 for $2.88 plus shipping.
In any case, this graphical ability will visually reinforce many of the things that other EM'ers have said here on this board, and will convince people (who use this gauge) to drive more economically. For instance, fuel economy drops as speed increases. Makes sense, right? Now, with this code and the MPGuino hardware, you have a graph that shows this - that you yourself generated as you drove! Can that be done with a ScanGauge or an UltraGauge? (which, by the way, only work on OBDII cars?)
As you mentioned, I do not expect that fuel economy over time would really be sought after, but fuel economy over speed? Or fuel used at a given speed? Or distance at a given speed? I dunno - I've been wanting that for over a month now, and just now got around to coding it in.