MPGuino release one workspace

[wagonman76]

Thanks for the input. Ill have to keep that in mind about interference.

I just got the main stuff in today. For this time I am going to try the Freeduino USB pre-made board, and the recommended display. Ill put together an extra computer from extra parts so I can have the USB. I also bought one of the green displays to try. Still waiting for the little parts from Radioshack, takes them forever to get parts in. They said about 1.5 weeks, so should be next week sometime. Then Ill lay the tactile switches and components onto one compact piece of PC board. If this unit works out well I would like to try the Iduino next.

Even so, the Freeduino is about half the size I imagined it would be. Im glad I ordered it premade since Id have not been able to solder that tiny, even with the chip presoldered in. Being as small as it is, I might just leave it all in one enclosure rather than splitting them. Even so, I have thought about getting a roll of light gauge shielded wire for hookup to help eliminate crosstalk. I want to make 2 units, one for the van and one to swap between the Celebrity and the Pontiac 6000 winter wagon.

I had one question about supply voltage - what is needed for the Freeduino? 5v, 12v? I will probably just hardwire past the socket and use a PC power plug for the 4 wires, that is a good idea.

[awillard69]

I don't know about the iDuino, if it has an onboard regulator, or not.

The Freeduino board has an onboard 5v regulator, so any input voltage greater than about 7v should be enough. 12v right from the vehicle should work fine.

As for the size, yes, the Freeduino is very compact. Soldering wasn't that big a deal, just get some magnifying reading glasses, helps a lot. Plus, the assemble-it-yourself cuts down on the price a bit, too.

[cmags]

Originally Posted by dcb

8/1/2008
updates for v0.68

Removed all dependencies on timer0 so we should be arduino 0012 compatible. This also establishes an ISR under our control for scheduling events. Disabled Timer0 so use millis2(), delay2(), etc.

Knocked off a few hundred bytes by converting LCD to a namespace instead of a class.

Is arduino 0012 available yet? Don't see it on arduino.cc. I'd like to see if it resolves the video driver crash I get sometimes while running arduino (on two different machines).

[SVOboy]

Nice updates! Will upload a new version pretty soon.

Do we have a repository on values for different cars yet? We could easily make and stick a post with some tables,

[Wonderboy]

Ok so I finally got around to continuing my troubleshooting.
Recap:
I have everything soldered, I tapped all my leads/cables, and the software uploaded successfully(according to the arduino IDE), but my LCD just illuminated. That's it.

I resecured all of the connections from the LCD and the circuitry to the little holes in the 'guino. I turned the car on, and the LCD went on, but nothing still. I didn't reflash the 'duino at that point because I didn't have my laptop with me...BUT I noticed that the 'duino chip was getting REALLY hot, specificallt the 3-prong potentiometer (I think it's a pot) in between the power plug and the USB plug. I decided it would be best to cut the power, so I did.

The next time I worked with it, I had the laptop ready to reflash it, and even try to re-do the bootloader. I connected it up to the USB, making sure to switch the pin setting to USB, and the IDE said it couldn't connect to the device. I then noticed that the actual PROM IC was getting VERY hot. This is bad.

I think I might have fried my 'duino. I'm very sure that I have all of the wiring correct. One thing is that I have 12v running into the duino... it had sat there since the last time I posted, lighting up the LCD wherever I went, not getting hot or anything, but considering how much voltage is required to run the 'duino and the LCD, do I really need all 12v? I'd be willing to buy another 'duino, but another development has come up:

I found a 99 civic EX coupe for sale (check it out on binghamton NY area craigslist). I'm pretty sure I'm going to get it - I drove it, and it seems fine. AC doesn't work (don't care) and it has 176k. It costs $2500 and I'm going to make sure the heater works tonight. Should I buy it? My 93 Corolla works like a champ and burns a little oil - has 140k, but I really want a honda and a little more stock MPG capability... OBDII would be nice too. What do you guys think?

[dcb]

SVOBoy: No repository yet, just my post about the 97 saturn. I'm not to sure about the instant reading yet either, haven't had the saturn to play with so I don't know if it looks any better with a hall effect, but it is still all over the place with the metro , might have to gut it till later.

(quick table test...)

R1C1	R1C2
R2C1	R2C2

Is that what you meant by "Table"? looks like it aint happenin like that

Might be a job for a wiki, here or google, or even wikipedia.

[dcb]

Originally Posted by Wonderboy

I'm very sure that I have all of the wiring correct.

Something is not right with your setup. If the wiring is right, then something must be shorting out or something. Can you unplug the additional circuitry and see if it will let you program it then?

P.S. Can you branch the "other development" disussion off into another thread?

[drivenByNothing]

I've been trying to figure out a way to keep track of the tank mileage and possibly a tank odometer via eeprom automatically, but with a limited number of writes.

I'm thinking that this can be accomplished if it writes when the speed is at 0 for 1/2 a second and the number of miles traveled is different than the stored value (of course, other conditions can be used so that it doesn't continuously write to the eeprom while at a stop light or something).

This would also tell us if we're in the ball park because we can check it against the old-school "fill up and check and divide by number of miles" test.

I'm still learning how to program this thing whenever I have some spare time, but I'd be happy to attempt to code something up.

Matt

[drivenByNothing]

PS Here's a wiki I threw together. http://collegepix.net/mpguino

[SVOboy]

Originally Posted by dcb

SVOBoy: No repository yet, just my post about the 97 saturn. I'm not to sure about the instant reading yet either, haven't had the saturn to play with so I don't know if it looks any better with a hall effect, but it is still all over the place with the metro , might have to gut it till later.

(quick table test...)





Is that what you meant by "Table"? looks like it aint happenin like that

Might be a job for a wiki, here or google, or even wikipedia.

I was thinking of just using the wiki on here for the table, could be done easily enough, I'd think, but gimme a few hours to recover and I'll try and set something up.