Raspberry Pi microprocessor & Arduino microcontroller

I know a lot of you tech geeks like to tinker. Here's a $35 fully functional PC (Model B) that you can stash just about anywhere. I'm hoping someone puts one (or two) in a Riv. Possibilities are endless!





Specs for Model B:

CPU: 700 MHz ARM1176JZF-S core (ARM11 family)

GPU: Broadcom VideoCore IV, OpenGL ES 2.0 (24 GFLOPS), MPEG-2 and VC-1 (with license), 1080p30 h.264/MPEG-4 AVC high-profile decoder and encoder

Memory (SDRAM): 512 MB (shared with GPU)

USB 2.0 ports: 2 (via the built in integrated 3-port USB hub)

Video outputs: Composite RCA (PAL and NTSC), HDMI (rev 1.3 & 1.4), raw LCD Panels via DSI, 14 HDMI resolutions from 640×350 to 1920×1200 plus various PAL and NTSC standards

Audio outputs: 3.5 mm jack, HDMI, and I²S audio (also potentially for audio input)

Onboard storage: SD / MMC / SDIO card slot (3.3V card power support only)

Onboard network: 10/100 Ethernet (8P8C) USB adapter on the third port of the USB hub

Low-level peripherals: 8 × GPIO, UART, I²C bus, SPI bus with two chip selects, I²S audio +3.3 V, +5 V, ground

Power rating: 700 mA (3.5 W)

Power source: 5 volt via MicroUSB or GPIO header

Size: 85.60 mm × 53.98 mm (3.370 in × 2.125 in)

Weight: 45 g (1.6 oz)

Operating systems: Debian GNU/Linux, Raspbian OS, Fedora, Arch Linux ARM, RISC OS, FreeBSD, Plan 9


Buy here! - http://www.alliedelec.com/lp/120626raso/

sweet! i'd even probably snag one if it could run windows xp

We have dudes at work in the lab experimenting with this all the time! Super cool stuff!

Having a resurgence of interest in these smart little boards, which have now developed quite a following among many geeks around the web. I found another little piece from Italy called Arduino, which is a micro-controller, not a processor like Pi. These have been out for a while, and several versions are available:

http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Products

The original Arduino board is called Uno - it's around $25:



Arduino can be programmed to do things like activate circuits based from inputs based on C/C++ program language. It uses PWM outputs to control levels or flash rates. I could see a board like this thing doing some cool things in a car.

Here are some examples of projects using the Arduino controller:

http://www.instructables.com/group/radioshack

Kind of makes me want to pull out the old soldering iron!

Ive seen dudes with 3D printers using Arduinos to make flying drones and other cool things.

Cool stuff. So many cool hobbies to do but so little time.. fuggin work.. Gotta sell my time to have a place to sleep and food to eat. Gotta find a way out..

A lot of people are using Adruinos for stuff like LED text displays. Nothing high-def or anything but just your basic stuff like scrolling text. If anyone watches the Tested YouTube channel they mention them frequently and show different things being done with them. One guy had a Daft Punk helmet being controlled by one. It was sweet.

Arduinos are the shit. I've done a ton with them. For cheap mircocontrollers they can't be beat, and their modular ability with all the add on shields makes pretty much any project really easy. If you need more processing power or calculating(vid stream processing for example) the RiPi is the way to go, but for cheap remote sensors, simple controllers, mesh networked stuff, rovs, uavs,etc... I love the arduinos...

I've got 3 Arduino Minis in route. Thinking about starting a new hobby.

AA wrote:

I've got 3 Arduino Minis in route. Thinking about starting a new hobby.

Dang, why 3? any plans for them? or just going to tinker?

Just tinkering at first, then may create my first custom GTO electron-mod.

I posted something in this topic on my local forum since there's lots of people that have ls1's and stuff so I was mostly looking for answers about exactly what their rpm signal looked like.

Quote :

I've come up with a little project to hopefully improve upon my nitrous system. I have an idea that I feel aught to be doable but there's a few things I'm not familiar enough with. I'm gonna try to be as concise as I can.

I'm using a Harris Speed Works "the interface" controller to give me the fueling for nitrous through the maf signal. It works brilliantly but it's lacking one feature that I'd like to try to integrate and that is compensation for bottle pressure since it decreases during a run and makes me progressively richer and thus slower as I go down the strip.

One feature of this controller (that I do not use or ever plan to use for it's intended purpose is the rpm-based enrichment function which taps into your rpm lead and richens the result maf adjustment up to a preset amount. The manual for the controller says it will adjust up to 8000rpm and can be set as high as 15%. Based off my rough calculations, 15% is enough to give me bottle pressure fueling compensation for a range of about 150psi which would help with the degrading pressure issue while I'm spraying. More would be nice but that's enough for the trouble I think.

So the controller is looking for an LS1/2/3/6 rpm signal - I want to take a standard 0-5v nitrous pressure sender and digitally translate that into a made-up rpm signal. I'm figuring I'd need some kind of programmable micro-controller/programmable IC type deal to input the voltage curve and give me an rpm signal and then tune the ranges such that it works for my nitrous controller. I don't know exactly what my controller does as far as the relation between rpm and the preset fuel adjustment percentage but I could test and figure that out by plotting its output vs rpm after I have a way to do that.

So where I'm left with some questions is does anyone know exactly what the rpm lead for my nitrous controller is looking for from an electrical standpoint? In other words, I don't really know what an rpm or tach signal is in this case (it's meant for an LS1,LS2,etc btw). Secondly, I'm not as much of a geek as I wish I was - what can I use to do this whole digital I/O conversion?

If anyone has any other totally different ideas about how I could accomplish this blast away!

I'm not that familiar with what sorts of signals these controllers are able to output. I don't think the 0-5vdc input would be any trouble but can they put out the high frequency of an rpm signal? I vaguely remember when I was trying to research the construction of an LS1 rpm signal that it's around 9v-12v peak square wave frequency. Some guy on the internet says 60hz=1900rpm. Some other guy says 2pulses/rev (LS1). Either way I can figure that out but I don't actually know whether or not the controller is able to generate a 10v frequency like that to convince my nitrous-maf controller it's actually an LS1 rpm signal.

This knowledge is based only on my own day-old research and applies to the Mini Pro version:

The Arduino Mini controller can accept up to a 12v input up to 40mA; output is 5v up to 40mA per pin. The idea here is to use a switching transistor or small relay for higher volt/current output.

General specs from Arduino state the "analog" output setting means 490Hz or 980Hz, depending on the module and output pin selected. That would suggest a limit at those frequencies, but...

The Arduino chip runs at 16MHz, and I found someone using a Mini to generate signals up into the 4MHz range, so looks promising:

I'll try to get something concrete on what the full range of the rpm signal I need to create is and go from there. But we do know I'll need a transistor for the output side (unless my nitrous controller is really forgiving about voltage). If I do run a transistor, I'd have to make sure it can cycle fast enough. I'm guessing any relay is out of the question speed-wise. I'm thinking if one output channel on the logic controller isn't enough, I could have multiple outputs/transistors alternate triggoring from the same input line which would give me 1x more total pulses each additional channel. obviously the processor is fast enough at 16mhz.

Every transistor I've seen has a switching spec in the MHz range, so I wouldn't worry about that. Solid state is fast, fast, fast. These are the devices in audio amps that create sine waves up to 100Hz without distortion.

The 16MHz is the processor speed. I haven't confirmed the output switching speed, but I think it would be plenty fast enough. I'll let you know if I find any more info. What kind of switching frequency are you looking for top end?

AA, what are you using the Arduino for?

I built a lane change feature for the GTO. A brief nudge of the turn signal stalk will cause a 3 flash burst in that direction. Haven't actually installed it on the car, but in bench testing it works. Programmable to 2, 3 or 4 flashes.

Next project will be an auto TC-off circuit, which will activate when the engine starts. A toggle switch would activate/deactivate. This one could be used in the Riv as well.

Tc off is a nice idea. An m6 gto has tc? I might do that myself and just yank out the light. That's the only thing that bugs me about disabling. I hate looking at that light at nIght

You can disable the TC light from the left side of dash. Just poke a finger in there and rotate the bulb.

All GTOs have TC. Honestly it's useful on the rain. You'd have to be absolutely insane to drive on snow without it. M6 even has a shift lockout to make you shift from 1st to 4th under 2500 RPM. Glad that's gone.

AA wrote:

You can disable the TC light from the left side of dash. Just poke a finger in there and rotate the bulb.

All GTOs have TC. Honestly it's useful on the rain. You'd have to be absolutely insane to drive on snow without it. M6 even has a shift lockout to make you shift from 1st to 4th under 2500 RPM. Glad that's gone.

simple tune on my gto with a hptuner setup and my CAGS was gone. My Brother is a geek with the raspberry could the raspberry be programmed as a progressive controller for NO2 based on map psi and TPS signals?

So, 5 years have passed. Does anyone have an Arduino in the Riviera? If so - what does it do?
I'm working on my lane change turn signal system. Programming is completed (Ver. 0.9) and tested on the table, now it's time for a hardware implementation. Damn quarantine, don't know when I'll have time for it. Can't wait to show you guys what I came up with, you haven't seen anything like it )  It's still just a simple lane change turn signal, but with a twist.
Next thing to do - sequential lights.

... well, at the moment I stuck with the hardware implementation. I can't figure out where to tap into the turn signal wiring so I can initiate blinking without actually moving the stalk. Yes, I have all the circuit diagrams, but... I stuck. It turned out to be much more complicated than I originally thought.
Meanwhile another idea struck me I always wanted HUD and now, with Arduino and small OLED display, I can make one myself. Nothing fancy, just a simple HUD with speedometer. There is a pin in the PCM connector (and somewhere it the IP) which produces 4000 impulses per mile and that's about all I need for the speedometer. Count amount of impulses per second (or 0.5 second), calculate the speed and display it flipped vertically. Easy!  ))  
Can't wait for the package from AliExpress to arrive.

DeepFrozen wrote:

... well, at the moment I stuck with the hardware implementation. I can't figure out where to tap into the turn signal wiring so I can initiate blinking without actually moving the stalk. Yes, I have all the circuit diagrams, but... I stuck. It turned out to be much more complicated than I originally thought.
Meanwhile another idea struck me I always wanted HUD and now, with Arduino and small OLED display, I can make one myself. Nothing fancy, just a simple HUD with speedometer. There is a pin in the PCM connector (and somewhere it the IP) which produces 4000 impulses per mile and that's about all I need for the speedometer. Count amount of impulses per second (or 0.5 seconds), calculate the speed and display it flipped vertically. Easy!  ))  
Can't wait for the package from AliExpress to arrive.

I presume you're splicing relays into the turn signal wiring, in parallel with the switch in the steering column, to initiate turn signal blinking according to the schematic in your factory service manual showing the colors of the wires that go to the switch in the column. As you know, there is one flasher, the turn signal stalk chooses to ground one or the other cornering light and turn indicator. I do not remember how the dash turn indicator gets its signal. So I further presume you've figured out that a relay for each of right and left turn indication would enable you to simulate the make/break of contacts in the steering column for right and left turns, and the repeaters in the instrument cluster will flash as they are supposed to because all you then would be doing is installing a parallel switch.

I think your "problem" may be that the Riviera has a "floating" ground, some circuits are switched with the + and others with the - voltage. You'll need to keep the lighting circuit isolated from the switching circuit since you are not using a mechanical switch.

So...

My guess (this is an educated wild guess) is that if you wire diodes in the appropriate orientations into the switched circuit, you can get this to work. I did something like this to get the auxiliary fog and driving lights I had installed in a 1990 Subaru Legacy to actuate properly. They are supposed to allow fog operation with parking lights or headlights on, and driving lights only in conjunction with high beams. I used a separate relay for each level (fog or driving) lights, and a relay that switched between enabling the fog or driving lights to operate at all.

Albert, thank you for your answer.

There is no pinout for the turn switch connector in the FSM, but there is this:


And C202 connector, I presume, has all the pins I'm going to need for my task:
 

With all this, I couldn't get the turn signal to blink, this is how bad with electricity I am.
For example. A7 - turn signal lamp feed left front. Shouldn't left front lamp start to blink, if I connect A7 to A4, "turn signal lamp flasher output"? I mean - this is exactly what turn signal stalk is doing, when I move it, right? Well, apparently, it's not that simple - nothing blinks. And I can't see why )
Looking at C202 connector description I even want to ask, what's the difference between "output" and "feed", but I won't, this is too embarrassing )

I gave a strong effort toward building a lane change feature (not on my Riviera) using Arduino controllers. I finished the sketch, but in the end it required using two controllers, one for each side. I also couldn't quite get it to plug & play in the flasher module socket, so I set the project down for a while. Still haven't wired it up.

I'd be happy to share the sketch, but it's been so long I've forgotten the logic of how it worked! Arduino code (C++) is non-intuitive for my brain, so I end up finding similar sketches created by other smart people, and modifying or combining with other sketches for my application.

I'll be watching with interest, and will try to answer any questions.

AA wrote:

I gave a strong effort toward building a lane change feature (not on my Riviera) using Arduino controllers. I finished the sketch, but in the end it required using two controllers, one for each side. I also couldn't quite get it to plug & play in the flasher module socket, so I set the project down for a while. Still haven't wired it up.

I'd be happy to share the sketch, but it's been so long I've forgotten the logic of how it worked! Arduino code (C++) is non-intuitive for my brain, so I end up finding similar sketches created by other smart people, and modifying or combining with other sketches for my application.

I'll be watching with interest, and will try to answer any questions.

For the Riv, a better solution for lane change feature might be a simple analog circuit that once it is pulsed holds itself high. I'd look (web search ) for an old Forrest Mims or Popular Electronics circuit for that one.