Long time elapsed and i was very very busy but now i think i'm back with a new project.

Before the Roadster it was the carpc

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2n...multanes_music
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2n...o-player_music
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2m...et-radars_auto
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2n...-embarque_auto

But all this is so virtual...
Now it's possible to interact with the outside world playground in a simple way, playing with high surge electric devices.
100 Amps (1200 Watts) under your fingertips...that can be up to 200 Amps (2400 Watts) at 12v.

Roadster T1







10 Fused outputs of 10 Amps / each.
20 digital inputs
4 analog inputs
4 analog outputs
Watchdog
40 I/O with a scan time of 10ms, expandable up to 90 I/O
I/O can be assigned in other combination with more outputs and less inputs etc

and as usual the computer aboard adding comfort to the power of this automation unit.

Motherboard specs

• VIA EPIA PX10000G
VIA C7 1.0 GHz - Socket NanoBGA2
• VIA VX700 Unified Digital Media IGP Chipset
• 1 DDR2 533 SODIMM socket Up to 1GB memory size
• Integrated VIA UniChrome Pro II 3D/2D AGP graphics with MPEG-2/4 and WMV9 decoding acceleration
• 1 UltraDMA 133/100/66 connector (2.0mm 44-pin header)
• 1 SATA connector
• 1 VIA VT6106S 10/100Mbps Ethernet controller with Power Management System
• VIA VT1708A High Definition Audio Codec
• 4 USB pin headers for 4 USB 2.0 ports
• 1 COM port connector
• 1 PS2 mouse/keyboard pin header
• 1 LVDS/DVI connector
• 1 Multimedia connector to support external TV-out interface,
Video capture port interface and Low pin count interface
• 1 Audio pin header for line-out, line-in, mic-in, S/PDIF in and 7.1 channels audio output
• 1 Fan pin header for CPU fan
• 1 Pico-iTX power connector
• 1 RJ-45 LAN port
• 1 VGA port
• Award BIOS
• 4/8Mbit flash memory Management
• CPU temperature reading (manufacturing option)
• Watch Dog Timer (manufacturing option)
• Keyboard-Power-on, Timer-Power-on
• Wake-on-LAN
• System power management
• AC power failure recovery

 

heh heh

 

Forgot to mention as this machine is not O.S. dependant it works with windows and linux.
The programmation of the automation part is extremely simple through scripts/batch files or integrated in code and can be binded to user's graphical interface. Everything is in the box, plug and play . Sky is the limit

 

uh...so what is it?

 

It's a pc and a programmable logic system independant but they are cooperative.
Both are living in the box and each of them is doing what it is made for at it's best without being invasive. The PC won't take calculation power from the PLC and the PLC won't take calculation power from the PC.

In one hand you have the classical carpc or carputer and on the other hand you have the needed hardware to act on electrical devices without the hassle of having a bunch of cards, usb wires, hubs, gadgets etc.
This box allows you to drive and get feedback from anything that works with electric power through a touch screen or powermate or any peripheral.

You have an overall 1200 Watts of power to drive things like pneumatic struts, actuators, dc motors and you also can read values from sensors and as everything is not binary in real world lol, it's also possible to drive devices that are requesting voltage variations, so we have PWM outputs as well.

So it is a PC and it is a Programmable Logic Controller in one box with reasonable dimensions. 250 x 170 x 70 mm

 

The guy who created it is here....

http://www.r-kraft.com

My only issue with it is that there are not enough analog lines going in.. not so easy to have it read analog devices which is what we have the most of in our cars.. well at the least the ones I am interested in. water/oil/fuel/pressure/etc

Working on a project of my own at the moment on this..

 

Yes but there is not yet information about this thing there

 

Keep us posted. Your comment echoes by thoughts. I'd love to monitor everything under the hood, but it's all analog. I think they have converters, but it'd be cool to just run them all to a set of terminals and have the system integrated.

 

Well ports can be assigned at the fabrication moment in other combinations with more outputs and if analog inputs are preferable then it's possible to get 20 analog inputs instead of 20 digitals but as some products already exists for monitoring what's happening under the hood i was not with the idea to be in competition with such products.
I was more aiming the pure mechatronics side of things with end of course switches, pneumatics struts, actuators, stepper motors, dc motors etc. Of course this exists as well but this implies some more gadgets, cards, wires...a pretty mess of circuitry, that's why i decided to build something simple that one's can just plug, program and play.

 

Pico-Itx and twin automation boards

 

a tiny video of the thing stressing output relays, to make it usable in a video, the work of the relays is delayed otherwise they enter in a kind of vibration which could make think they are feed with AC

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance..._mov023_people

next is to find an idea of what to do with it...on a diesel engine, there is not a lot i can do, the Porsche was a far better playground but i have it no more

 

Hi Kraft, sorry to hear you don't have the Porsche anymore, I remember your previous plans, you were on the verge of creating something us 928 lovers could have made great use of. I guess the new project is a better choice to reach a larger market after all how many 928 owners are there and of those how many want to hack their system to install the interface you had planned...not enough to cover the cost for you to develop it that's for sure.

This new device looks like something that would go over well with the guys who customize cars for rich people and rap stars etc. Bling my Ride or whatever the heck that TV show is.
Nice to see you're still inventing and bridging the divide between the typical drivers interface and the digital world that has yet to be explored.

 

Build an analog multiplexer.

 

hello,

well the thing i made for Porsche is still somewhere on a shelf, the screen is taking dust, this was the good time when my old 944 was offering something i didn't really realized. A huge playground in which a lot of fun perspectives were...
I still have the bimmer but i definitely don't like this car. To be frank i bought it not for my pleasure but to stick to an economic reality,
I could say i hate it without regrets.
My Porsche never costed me something else than oil and gas, on the Bmw's side it can't be said the same.
The bimmer, this panzer, ruined the last surviving cent we had...and still it is not a car i appreciate.
If one day i become rich, we know all this will never happen, i would buy a Porsche again

The thing i made has evolved, any input can be analog now and this thing is not really intended for bling my ride, i was more thinking about something like this



or water injection things, monitoring sensors that are not stock, electric oil pumps to sustain oil flow after engine is stopped and other things where real time matters...like valves to pneumatic shocks that can adapt car's height depending of the speed or road quality or any other idea more or less serious.
Sky is the limit.

 

What is going on inside (i know a mess of wires but i still have things to wire so...i'll clean up all this when i finish)
http://www.youtube.com/v/f3e1S4gGO3w

and outside when the Roadster takes over my car
http://www.youtube.com/v/5fiD9eyCaLQ

A new frontend to get all the benefits of the bot part, added a valet mode as well...
This toy gives a new taste to my old car...if only i had this thing when i used to have my Porsche