[O' Darkness]

I’ll be 46 in a few weeks, the watch I had was a definitely a nifty little knockoff. I had a fair amount of the real stuff but most didn’t survive. I wasn’t thinking about future investments yet lol. I did manage to save two, and a 5 piece Voltron lion set, but it’s not mint. My Megatron pistol met a horrific fate.

I'll be 48 next week. Close enough, though. Man, I don't care what anyone says, the '80's and '90's were fine by me.

 

[Jason Pittenger]

I found nothing negative about your last reply! Don't be so hard on yourself.

So, just how far down the path are you? Because now that we've been having this discussion, I'm trying to convince myself that I need something that I probably don't!

Seems like Eleanor is running very well. I like your idea of a shift indicator, but where would you put it? On a HUD? Because it seems like having to look at the instrument cluster for a cue on the exact right moment to shift would be wildly distracting to me.

Keep in mind, my one and only accident was t-boning a Honda Element (looks like a toaster on wheels) at 35mph, and if I hadn't taken an extended glance at my left rearview mirror, I could have avoided that lady. My point being that I try to keep my eyes on where I'm going, with occasional quick glances at the rearview. (I should also mention that the mirrors were mounted on the ends of the handlebars, and I'd never recommend those to anyone.

I'm eager to hear your reply, because I have a novel idea for a great helmet HUD. I don't know if it's been done, I tried looking on Google, but saw nothing specific.

I have a Samsung Galaxy watch that my brother gave me last year. It's the very first version they made, and it was brand new when he gave it to me. His excuse for deciding he no longer wanted it was "I don't like stuff on my wrists." I asked "Why'd you buy it, then?" His response was "Because it looked cool."

Nowadays this same version can be found easily for $50, many of them new. Coding apps for Android isn't too difficult, so I think it would be neat to use the watch as a HUD. Or, just as a display for real-time data. I've considered places to mount it, where I could see it easily, and I think it would work great above and between the speedo and tach. I'd like to make one of those panels that Knifemaker made. It would work great there.

I dunno. Just spitballing.

Once again, no offense was taken. It takes quite a bit to get me rattled.

What I have for a shift light is a small amber LED mounted to my windshield frame, quite close to the redline on my tach. It's driven directly from the Ignitech module. I have it set to start blinking at 7500, getting more rapid until it's solid on at 8500. If I ignore that, the rev limiter kicks in at 8700. I found while it could stand to be a bit brighter in full daylight, it can be seen without looking at it. I actually put it on to keep my eyes on the road more under hard acceleration. I don't have to stare down at the tach to make sure I'm not shifting too soon or overreving. At night, it's too bright and almost blinding. But I don't ride as aggressive at night anyways and I usually shift at 7500 max. Most of the time, I'm shifting well before the light anyways. But it's nice when overtaking a car.

Where I'm at is I'm slowly working through a lot of the lower level things. I have the real time clock running along with a routine to set the date and time. This will be needed for log timestamps. I set up a variable to track processor load. It's a dual core processor, but I have to manually assign tasks to one of the cores. The load tracking helps me balance the tasks between cores. I started setting up different screens to display on the touchscreen. So far, it's just a screen that shows date, time, and processor load. I just started working on the serial data. The Ignitech data packets are 152 bytes but the serial buffer is 128 bytes. So I have to split the packets into two pieces. I hope to be reading data from the Ignitech this weekend.

I plan on a diagnostic screen that shows RPM and engine vacuum. This allows me to adjust idle speed. And it allows me to sync the carbs by pinching one carb vacuum hose, than the other and compare readings. I might build some dashboard screens for use while riding, but realistically this device will probably live under the side cover.

I plan on the device running in sleep mode, periodically waking up to poll the Ignitech. Upon response, it will wake up and start logging. I was going to automatically delete the oldest log files as space runs out.

 

[O' Darkness]

What I have for a shift light is a... ....I was going to automatically delete the oldest log files as space runs out.

Sounds like you really know your stuff! What I still quite don't understand is the why of it. What's the advantage of shifting at a specific moment? And, when that light blinks, by the time you react to it that moment is long past, right?

It almost seems to me like it's an awful lot of investment for little/inconsequential return.

 

[Jason Pittenger]

Sounds like you really know your stuff! What I still quite don't understand is the why of it. What's the advantage of shifting at a specific moment? And, when that light blinks, by the time you react to it that moment is long past, right?

It almost seems to me like it's an awful lot of investment for little/inconsequential return.

I think you have to see it to fully get it. WOT in first gear, redline comes really quickly! It keeps me from running into the rev limiter and allows for better acceleration. If I'm passing on a two lane road, I'm very near the top of 2nd gear. I can then shift to third as needed without taking my eyes off the road.

I put the dyno chart and gear ratios into a spreadsheet and found the 750 accelerates fastest by holding right to redline vs shifting early.

Here's a few updates. The RPM and KPA is just test data for now, not actual reported data. The GPS data, core load and battery data is real though. The module battery, not motorcycle battery.

I have the data lines tied together, so it loops the data output back to the input. This suggests that the data interface is working correctly. I just haven't connected it to my Ignitech yet. Nevertheless, I was getting 38 samples per second, on par with what my laptop would do. That should translate to over 30 samples per second when connected to the Ignitech. I don't have the SD card working yet. I'm hoping that doesn't slow it down too much.

 

[Jason Pittenger]

I tried connecting my device to the Ignitech and I got a bunch of garbage data.
Turns out the Ignitech uses RS-232 voltages (+/- 6 to 12V) while the M5 uses 3.3V voltages.
Here's the same data being sent by both.

I found a nice compact level converter.

https://rs232-converters.com/rs232_to_ttl5v_converters.htm

Once I have that, I'll be able to make more progress again.

 

[Green1]

Techie meet gearhead. Like the guy said, "It's the age of the geek!" It is more tech than I would use often but I would like having the ability to adjust the timing/carbs with the visual aids. (I don't ever look at my tach while running up through the gears. I just shift when it sounds right.) I only really watch the tach in the upper gears when going fast but I don't do that much anymore, getting old. You are certainly bringing the old Vulcan into the 21st century. It might even be possible to convert to fuel injection with your setup.

 

[Spockster]

Can probably adapt a throttle body and computer, or just have Jason whip one up. Fuel injection, no jets, bowls, or floats!

Should be plenty of OEM throttle bodies in the parts auctions. EFI has been around long enough for the parts to pile up. The Kawasaki Brute Force 750 is injected.

 

[Jason Pittenger]

I have GPS data working. I have a screen setup with 4 parameters shown (out of 10 or so). I'm still waiting on my serial adapter so I'm working on all the other parts of the logger.

Since I'm partnering with a guy out of New Zealand, I set it up with both US and international units. Today I set it up to read parameters from the SD card. Bike specific things like Redline, gear ratios, tire size etc. I have it calculating speed from RPM to form a gear indicator. When calculated speed is within 10% of GPS speed, I pick that gear to indicate on the display. I can also display the calculated speed, but only when it's within 10% of one of the gear's calculated speed.

I haven't started messing with the accelerometers yet. I'm testing writting to the SD card now.

Here's a picture of it out on the road in New Zealand. There's some rounding issues. It's displaying the compass heading, elevation, speed, and unit (not vehicle) battery percentage.

 

[O' Darkness]

I have GPS data working...[REDACTED TO SAVE SPACE] ....It's displaying the compass heading, elevation, speed, and unit (not vehicle) battery percentage.

My brother and I were talking a little about your project, and he told me to ask you something and I completely forgot about it until I saw your post again today...

He wanted to know if you considered reading RPM's optically? Not sure I understood what he meant, but I think I get the idea. Is this something that's commonplace or no? I'd never heard of it until he mentioned it.

 

[Jason Pittenger]

He's probably thinking of something like this?

Amazon.com: Digital Photo Laser Tachometer Non Contact Tach RPM Meter : Industrial & Scientific

Buy Digital Photo Laser Tachometer Non Contact Tach RPM Meter: Tachometers - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Basically this works by putting a reflector on a shaft and it measures the time between reflection pulses. It would be hard to do on the 750 since it doesn't have any exposed shafts. The hard tail bike that someone posted had an exposed driveshaft, but that wouldn't give RPM, only speed.

I could measure the pick up coil signals to determine RPM. That would be fairly easy. Or the stock tech measures the frequency of the ignition coil pulses. If I added either of these RPM options, it would make it work with bikes that don't have the Ignitech installed. At least somewhat. It wouldn't have advance numbers, manifold pressure, etc.

I'm thinking of adding a rev counter, as in total revs. Like an odometer? Since I'm not able to count revs directly, I was going to take the reported RPM and multiply it by the time since the last data packets to guess on the number of revs. I don't know what I'd learn from it, but it'd be interesting.

 

[Jason Pittenger]

More screen shots. These show all the different data that can be displayed on the screen (and logged) so far. Up to 4 displayed at a time, and you can mix and match what's on screen. I also added the ability to write standard .GPX files. Anything with imperial/metric units has both units available. Time can be 12/24hr and is set by GPS. It's stored locally so time is always available immediately at power up.

RPM turns orange at 7500 and flashes red at 8500. Vehicle voltage turns white when it's in a normal range.

 

[O' Darkness]

More screen shots. These show all the different data that can be displayed on the screen (and logged) so far. Up to 4 displayed at a time, and you can mix and match what's on screen. I also added the ability to write standard .GPX files. Anything with imperial/metric units has both units available. Time can be 12/24hr and is set by GPS. It's stored locally so time is always available immediately at power up.

RPM turns orange at 7500 and flashes red at 8500. Vehicle voltage turns white when it's in a normal range.

You're making great progress! Now, if there's a way for you to program that thing to tell someone to stop tailgating me, I'll buy one.

(Actually, I'd like to get one of those little scrolling-text LED things, and mount it on the back of my helmet and have it say "BACK THE **** OFF!")

 

[Jason Pittenger]

I set it up to record GPS coordinates in the industry standard GPX format.
I went for a walk around the block and I dropped the GPX file into a GPS visualizer.
Pretty darn cool!
This was logging at a rate of once per second.
The track name is auto generated (though I see it put the day down as "0030" instead of "30").

 

[O' Darkness]

Very cool! My phone does the same thing. I use it every time I ride. It also records my speed when moving. I decided to start doing this after my friend Caleb's accident. There was debate about what had happened, and how. This way, if something happens to me, at least they'll be able to see exactly what I was doing.

 

[Jason Pittenger]

Very cool! My phone does the same thing. I use it every time I ride. It also records my speed when moving. I decided to start doing this after my friend Caleb's accident. There was debate about what had happened, and how. This way, if something happens to me, at least they'll be able to see exactly what I was doing.

I use Calimoto to record every ride. It leaves a marker on the in app map for every ride you've ever taken. And it's possible to export each ride as GPX data.


As for more updates, I have my serial data level converter now.
I tested it with a computer simulation of the Ignitech and it's working! Tonight I test it on Veronica!
I've started working on the accelerometer. Lean angles should be pretty easy to come by.
It can sense horizontal rotation (yaw), so I set it up to self-calibrate to GPS heading data.
Whenever I'm moving above a certain speed, it displays GPS heading data and calibrates Yaw.
Below that speed, it displays the Yaw data.
Thus, turning around it will act like a compass.

I have the log files working well now too.

 

[Jason Pittenger]

Here's actually connected to Veronica!
The ignition timing isn't reading correctly, but everything else appears correct!

 

[O' Darkness]

Here's actually connected to Veronica!
The ignition timing isn't reading correctly, but everything else appears correct!
View attachment 55109

Nifty! Those leads remind me of the receiver/servo/gyro leads on RC aircraft.

I've got a whole bunch of mercury motion switches from thermostats, been contemplating a lighting setup that kicks on when I decelerate. Haven't decided on anything yet. I collected these things for awhile, figuring I'd sell the mercury, but never did find a buyer. Not even sure what else I could do with them.

 

[Jason Pittenger]

Here's a brief update.

M5 Core2 and Ignitech on a Kawasaki Vulcan 750

youtube.com

I can't get a video of it, but the gear indicator is working well. It uses GPS and RPM to figure out what gear it's in. As soon as the calculated speed matches GPS within 10%, it selects that gear. A mismatch of 12% will force it to find another gear. It's a bit flakey below 20 mph, but it's very good at 60 mph.

 

[mmart]

YouTube has the video marked private.

 

[Jason Pittenger]

The video should work now.

Here's a log from this morning's ride.
When it works, the calculated speed lines up almost perfectly with GPS speed.
Since I don't have any way of directly detecting the clutch or neutral, it get's a bit flaky at times.
Around 325 seconds, I was coasting and revving the engine.
It tries desperately to find a gear that matches.
Rapid acceleration also causes issues as there's a bit of lag in the GPS response.

The top graph is my calculated speed, with gaps where it doesn't know what gear it's in.
The middle is GPS vs calculated speed. It's spot on most of the time.
The bottom shows what gear it thinks it's in.
I need to set a minimum RPM for when I'm coasting at idle, so it doesn't try to guess a gear.

During this particular stretch, you can see the calculated speed wasn't consistently available until about 30 MPH.
The shift from 3rd-4th shows a speed drop from 33 MPH to 30 MPH and back to 33 MPH as it reselects the next gear.
Same thing happens 4th-5th dropping from 38 MPH to 33 MPH and back to 38 MPH.
The blip at time 80 was me pulling the clutch to see what the calculated speed would do.
The GPS speed shows some lag, most prominent around time 120. The lag is also visible at the beginning when I am decelerating in gear.
Zooming in closely, the lag seems to be about 0.5 - 0.6 seconds.
At time 54 and 154, I pull in the clutch to stop and the calculated speed goes away.
However the calculated speed briefly comes back at time 60-64 as it finds a gear that matches that GPS speed at idle RPM.

Battery usage is about 16% per hour, or 6 hours on a charge.
The G forces are very noisy with road bumps. I need to add some filtering before I can get usable G-forces and lean angles.