Who wants an Arduino-based Aux Instrument Panel?

[Nautamaran]

Great to know you like it.

I just got my unit unboxed and installed the van yesterday. I spent some time with it today and I'm VERY pleased with it so far. Some notes & questions I have.

- The speedometer is off in the case of my van, I have 18" diameter tires so when my speedometer reads 40mph the Nautabox is reading about 35-36mph. Nautabox reports my max highway speed at 78mph while my speedometer says I'm going 82mph.

Adjusting the speed calibration value will fix you right up. This allows you to compensate for tire size, etc. and can be set to match your gps speed, then you’ll likely ignore the cluster’s speedometer - mine reads about 4% high, so I’ve been using that as the default.

- How is fuel economy updated? Do you have an internal odometer or is it based on other factors? How off is this going to be with my larger tires?
- I'm not sure why fuel economy spikes up while I'm stopped at a light, that seems like something that should only update while moving IMHO.

The fuel consumption rate is estimated from the MAF and the exhaust oxygen ratio provided by the O2 sensor (lambda), then using a constant fuel:oxygen ratio. This fuel rate (Litres per hour) is divided by the vehicle’s calibrated speed to produce L/100km, which is converted to MPG. When stopped, the value reverts to L/hr (usually a value close to 0.8) and in converting that to MPG it inflates to hundreds of MPG. That’s a bug that I’ll fix shortly. Sorry about that...

There is a six value rolling average, so the value takes a few seconds to react when pulling away from a light or otherwise hammering the skinny pedal.

I have yet to pull it apart and see if I can modify things. If the code is modifieable, I can already think of a few things I'd like to do...

- Memory for the last screen you were in. I quite like defaulting to the detail screen but understand why it defaults to the driving screen.

The complete source and copies of the libraries I’ve used are included on the SD card shipped with your unit. The GUISlice library I am using seems to REALLY want to start up on page one... I got tired of arguing with odd behaviour and gave in. There are status bits written to the EEPROM so the box does remember where it was before losing power... just as it remembers which units are selected for speed, pressures, etc.
(clicking on many of the values on the driving screen will toggles that group’s units. Boost and rail pressure; temperatures; economy; speed)

- A lookup for codes. I would put the time in to define the dictionary for this, probably referencing the large Sprinter code reference PDF manual I have saved.
Select the code, a button that says "define" pops up, click it, nautabox looks it up in its internal dictionary and tells you.

There’s about 100kB of flash memory remaining on the arduino board, so this is certainly possible.
I did consider including the PDF of the code book on the SD card, but it’s still under copyright and I didn’t want to infringe. Pulling the text from the PDF seemed equally sketchy?
But remember: Those 8 kilobytes of ram vanish quickly at runtime...

I haven't yet enabled logging but can see where it WILL be useful in the future.

Have a peek - The log file records a bunch of extra parameters that are not displayed on screen, including the four wheel speeds. The DTCs will also automatically be written to a separate file on the SD card whenever you read them from the engine or transmission.

I used mine on my 2006 140" HC. It's configured with a dinette/bed combo and tools for work. At a stop light I idled anywhere from 23% to 40% LOD. While cruising it never went above 60ish%, stop and go driving did bring the LODS up especially when trying to get the van to do a reasonable takeoff.

I really REALLY REALLY like it so far though, once I've spent some more time with it there will be a video up about it on our YouTube channel Florida Van Man.

I look forward to seeing it,

-dave

 

[Thetechie]

I know I’m way down on the list, but man I can’t wait to get one! Mine is my daily driver, and this info would be amazing to have!

 

[Nautamaran]

I know I’m way down on the list, but man I can’t wait to get one! Mine is my daily driver, and this info would be amazing to have!

Hang in there! I should ship yours in about three weeks...

-dave

 

[Thetechie]

Hang in there! I should ship yours in about three weeks...

-dave

Oh boy! That’s exciting! Happy birthday to me!

 

[Cwhite87]

All this input is exciting, i look forward to when mine arrives.

 

[Surf44]

Very Cool! Just got my 04, sorry if I missed it but what is the price and wait time on them?

 

[Nautamaran]

I watch this thread, so you’re in slot #50 on my “interested” list.
(PM me and I’ll add you to my list - I’m working on slot #25 today...)
My first batch was priced at US$175.

-dave

 

[white whale]

I think Naut became my new superhero. I skipped over this thread each time - Arduino? What the heck is that? Someone selling a wrecker part?

Months ago I subbed to Florida Van Man YT channel. And today new content the NOT A BOX (NAUT) and a Canada flag popped up. Ok now I get the connection - Calgary.

https://youtu.be/qqIlhUG6Ikk

Good review from him at least. Now I have to go learn some more.

 

[Midwestdrifter]

Crap, its gone viral!

Naut-just-a-box...

 

[JoeyB]

I’m working on slot #25 today...)

Oooooooh that's me!!

 

[iconoclasticity]

Too late to get on this train?? I would love one of these for my 2005 158

 

[Nautamaran]

Too late to get on this train?? I would love one of these for my 2005 158

I’ve got you down for unit #52... likely to ship some time in late March?

-dave

 

[Oroskenneth]

I would buy one when funds are available, I just watched a video on this on YouTube, amazing device.

 

[Nautamaran]

...in other news, I placed an order for data loggers early in January for delivery between Jan 26 and Feb 7. Vendor didn’t provide a tracking number. I‘m down to three and was not happy at yesterday’s empty mailbox.

There may be an interruption in completions?

-dave

 

[turbodave]

Dave:
Just got back to where my unit was shipped to and installed it.
AWESOME!
I've got it mounted on the dash next to the A pillar. Probably build some sort of shade to cut down the glare on the screen.
Question: I had my Scanguage displaying daily average mpg rather than current mpg. Is that possible?
Thanks!
Dave

 

[Nautamaran]

Of course *anything* is possible... but no, I haven’t written the code for that at this point.
I don’t *think* odometer data has been located, otherwise it would be pretty trivial (daily miles divided by drop in fuel tank level)

-dave

 

[turbodave]

Dave:
Thanks for the quick reply. Can I add it to the "wish list" ?
Dave

 

[Midwestdrifter]

The good news is that with a bit of reading, most anyone can reflash the firmware with updates. I expect that Nautamaran will offer bug fixes down the road. Feature upgrades could possibly be arranged, and may have a nominal fee? I would be fine with paying for further development. I realize how much time this takes.

 

[ClyneSnowtail]

The good news is that with a bit of reading, most anyone can reflash the firmware with updates. I expect that Nautamaran will offer bug fixes down the road. Feature upgrades could possibly be arranged, and may have a nominal fee? I would be fine with paying for further development. I realize how much time this takes.

Yup. Ive been doing some tinkering with arduino myself lately and so it nice hes using that platform, at least for me, its easy to upgrade it and get new features, fix bugs.

Maybe putting all the code on something like github so others can submit patches against it, and we can keep track of bugs, errata, feature requests, etc.

 

[nordicenergy]

I'd be interested in two if $200 range can be achieved.