Not sure whether this is the right forum, but it is related to electronics.

Race cars are completely wired for telemetry and remote monitoring. I want a poor man's version on the S2000.

Our cars have these fancy digital readouts on the dash, computers and sensors to control just about everything the car does. I want to hook up a computer that can read out everything the car knows and publish it on a web page. This would be connected to the internet over cell phone or wireless broadband.

So, for example, the page would show a top view diagram of the car, and next to each tire would be the temperature and pressure (from custom sensors) and the rotation speed (from the ABS system). Little indicators by headlights and tail lights to show when they're on, high beam, flashing, etc. Lots of stuff on the engine, like coolant, crankcase, and transmission temperatures, what gear it's in, tachometer, speedometer, odometer, and diagnostic codes. Stuff about the environment, like cabin and outside air temperatures, and whether the top is up or down, trunk open. Click a button and you're chatting with my passenger (not me, of course, I'm driving).

So is this feasible at all? Has anyone hooked into the electronics outside a Honda shop? Is it dangerous? Could it affect the engine tuning parameters?

I've only had my baby four days. I've ordered the service manual and the electrical diagnostic manual in hopes they will have some answers. I've started looking into tire pressure sensors. I know a lot about computers, sensors, and wireless communications. What I don't know is how accessible the car's built-in electronics are. Any suggestions where best to find out?

 

1. Yes. With my limited knowedge of the interworkings car it should be. But it will be a large under taking. But I am sure this is smaller then other you have done. (Read your web site)

2. Yes. Modifry has done the most that has generated "Mods" that he sells. There are others too, but his "Shift light" comes to mind on this topic.

3. Out of my scope.. But I am sure that if you cut the wrong thing it could be. I am thinking Head under dash, and tripping the airbags. I have seen this done before in the Alarm installation shop. Knocked the installer out cold.

4. Same as three.

I hope this helps.

 

Ron,

This is definitely doable, but as J said, it's a major undertaking. The difficulty level depends on several factors, for sure. If you're only interested in a few sensors, such as the ones already checked by the ECU, it's not to bad from that standpoint (but it doesn't look like you'll be happy with that). So, you're going to need to tap into a LOT of wires (brakes, lights, ECU, etc.) and add quite a few more (inside, outside air temp, etc.). In and of itself, this isn't a difficult part, but it's very time-consuming and tedious.

The transmission of the data can be either easy or hard, depending upon chosen method. You could write a simple VB program and run a laptop, or you could go my favored route, a dedicated embedded system (with this being the more difficult of the two). Then you have to actually transmit, which means some sort of connection between the cell phone and the electronics. With the laptop, there are programs out there that do this for a fair price, but being the techhead that I am, I would want some sort of direct interface to the phone.

Then you have to set up the receiver side of things, and correctly display things to a website.

Well, you get the idea....I applaud you for wanting to do such a fun project, and if I had the time, I'd help, but I currently have too many things on my plate. Keep us up to date on what you decide to do...oh, and WHY you decided to do it.

 

Ron,

you've gotten some pretty good advice so far. Here are a few things I haven't seen covered so far:

tire pressure and temperature: SmarTire makes sensors that do short-range wireless transmission of this info; Tire Rack sells their systems (shameless plug: I have a SmarTire set I'll be selling).

status of convertible top: I think you'll have to come up with a new sensor for this.

gear: same thing, unless you infer it from speed and RPM.

air temperature: probably also requires new sensors. You can probably get current atmospheric pressure and intake air temperature from the ECU, though.

Search this site for OBD-II.

Good luck, it sounds interesting (and crazy ).

Ted

 

I have to go with MacGyver, this would be a massive undertaking, with most of it being embedded systems work. Data acquisition systems for a laptop are expensive and may still be limited to the number and types of inputs you can use. A custom embedded system gives you far greater flexibility, but from a design standpoint, you're looking at a nightmare of a task. First step is research, determine EVERYTHING you want to tap into, all the new sensors you want to add, and understand how each communicates information (frequency, amplitude, duty cycle/PWM, etc.). Then select an embedded processor that can easily interface with all of those input types, as well as utilize whatever wireless infrastructure you choose. I hope you have experience writing assembly code, you're going to need it. The PC side should be trivial by comparison.

I could literally see this taking months to complete, even if it were a full time endeavor.

Jeff

 

Guys,
Thanks for the information and support. I looked at Modifry's site and was a little discouraged to find that, like MacGyver said, not every system is digital yet. Still, the fun will be to find out just what information is easily available and what may take more work to capture.

Why do I want to do this? Because I love my S2K and want to mod it, but don't have much interest in either racing or appearance. This is an area I understand, and that no one else is doing, as far as I can tell. I love to break new trails. I will keep you all up to date on the progress.

 

If you need help with a particular circuit, or maybe a small function or two, I'm sure we could pull ourselves away for long enough to help with that...so long as we can get the full schematics and final code