slate blue

Len that does look very 928 2011ish, maybe a concept to follow in terms of design?

leonard928

Funny that! It looks VERY 928-ish!

However I only posted this as an indication of where Porsche is headed wth it's 'flagship' 911.

What Hans and Paul are up too .. I leave it to them to complete. They've had more than enough suggestions than they need, or can handle up to this point!

hans14914

Been trying to keep my head down and work. We have lots of projects going on - some you guys dont even know about yet.

I completed a new board layout for the last and final climate faceplate revision. It is compatible with the existing controller, but that may be revised, I was never really thrilled with that board.

I am going to take another look at the board tomorrow, make sure I didnt miss anything, and then send out the files for quick-turn prototypes. I generally get boards back in about 10 days.

Without puting too much out there, this faceplate is a hybrid of several past concepts. It has a row of buttons along the bottom which use a more compact version of the magnetic switches used in our replacement window switch system. Each button has its own red status LED in the upper corner. There is a central LCD display, which is a modular unit and allows several different backlight options. Flanking the LCD display are a pair of rotary encoders. Optionally these encoders can be replaced with pairs of magnetic switches.

Shift registers are used both on the input and output. There are several extra I/O along the bottom edge of the PCB for future or custom use: 8 outputs, 1 encoder input, and 2 general purpose inputs.

Connection between the face and the controller is via a 12-pin ribbon cable. While a cased stock-replacement unit is certainly going to be offered, the remote faceplate will be useful on the carputer console and other projects where total depth is critical. I need to make a final profile drawing, but the front panel should be about 12mm thick.

So, this version should have something for everyone, and if it doesnt, there are enough "tools" provided for people to make their own version from the core framework.

The controller is run on an Arduino. I looked several times at using a less expensive embedded device, like a standard PIC or even PICAXE... but the Arduino platform is relatively easy to work with, so again, people can modify the programming for their own needs.

So, the end is in sight. This should work well out of the box for most people, but if not, the framework is provided for an end-user to change it. Schematics, documentation, and code will be available to customers - however modification to the core design will be at your own risk, and direct support for modified designs will be limited to the above information.

Thanks,
Hans

Brent

Glenn M

Hans and Paul,
Keep up the great work!

svpmx83

Super keen and hanging on for the controller board over here

hans14914

Quick update.

We have new faceplate boards, just in this morning. Also arrived today are some nice SMD solder stencils from Paul, which will make assembling these things a lot easier.

These pics are of the front side of the board. You can see the LCD display, the shafts from the rear mounted encoders, and the carbon-ink coated boards used under the magenetic switch assembly. There are pads there for a total of 8 buttons, although I believe the stock replacement will likely only use 6 of the locations. The IDC-16 connector pads you see on the upper-right corner of the board is where the interface connector will be soldered on the back. The actual climate module will connect to the faceplate via a 16-pin ribbon cable, so the face can be remote mounted anywhere in the cabin for those custom projects.

I have a new jar of solder paste in transit, as soon as it get here, I will populate a board and post some pictures.

Thanks,
Hans

finally!

NICE! I am so glad you decided to have some "Classic/Old School" feel via the physical *****! Fingers crossed that OEM 928 ***** can be used.. I am sure either way OEM ones could be modified to work.

Hoping you include the pin outs so we can knwo which wires on the ribbon are power when lights are tuned on so could mount flat LED's possibly in the ***** so they glow at night..

hans14914

There are pads to solder LEDs under the *****. I am not sure if it will be included as part of our offering, as it would require significant tooling in making a clear-core **** for illumination, but it is there for those who will be tweaking theirs. All customers will receive the complete source code and schematic so they can modify it however they would like.

Thanks
Hans

finally!

EXCELLENT HANS! THANKS!

Can you ship mine tomorrow so I have it in time for a drive to Eureka Springs with the wife this weekend?

<JUST KIDDING!>

Probably premature but... guesstimate on when available ? I'd be more than happy to be a beta tester!

hans14914

Cant really comment, as I am not sure these boards are good yet. They certianly passed all the DRC tests, but there could be issues. Assuming that these boards are good, then I will start revising the control module for SMD assembly, since we are no producing our own SMD stencils and fixtures in-house. This also lets me bring back the Infineon ISOFACE hi-side driver, and delete some on-board relays. I would anticipate I would need 5 days or so with my current project load to tweak the exisitng schematics and create new boards layouts for SMD components and assembly. Then I have to test the prototype boards of the revised module, and then ramp up for beta/field testing production. I can get production boards done in about 12 days. So, I am guessing that we are looking at the first week of September before the first beta/test units go out to field testers.

The nice thing is, that if this face does work, we will be able to finalize all the cosmetic details of the console while working on revising the controller, and get out some renderings and pictures of finished consoles.

Thanks,
Hans

he_mech_usmc

Gentlemen,
First off I want to say after reading the entire 47 page content of this thread I am truly impressed. I am looking forward to completed pics of the final product. If you need an OB test platform I would be all for it. The possibility of putting this in my car would make me change my priorities for the car entirely.

Keep up the good work

hans14914

Nothing like freshly baked.....




Boards!

928er

now you are just teasing us....

he_mech_usmc

Hans, I was about 15 minutes from Indianapolis today for work, decided to pop on RL for a little "who's on first." Remembered the Carputer and thought...what more motivation does he need to get this in one piece and in my car...J/K...keep up the good work, it's looking better and better every picture.