The first step in a DIY remote datalogging project

[robot]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Inte...reeboardPytho/

(full disclosure I entered this into a contest, but thought someone here might either find it useful or have useful input)

I started this project after watching F1 and Lemans teams with their cool trackside telemetry setups. I wanted to create something similar that was configurable and not break the bank.

So far this is what I've come up with. There are some limitations, especially with the freeboard dashboard software. It needs to be able to poll faster than once a second to get meaningful data and I have to figure a way to expand wifi over the distance of a track (which is doable) or create a store and forward mechanism for getting data as the car passes by the user in the pits.

[bee_are_zee]

It's an interesting idea. Have you thought of just storing data in variable arrays and then doing a larger push at the lower frequency? The refresh rate would be a bit slower but all the data would be there.

[robot]

Originally Posted by bee_are_zee

It's an interesting idea. Have you thought of just storing data in variable arrays and then doing a larger push at the lower frequency? The refresh rate would be a bit slower but all the data would be there.

Yep. Actually I've though of using some network transport protocols that deal with intermittent and long latency connections (something I work with at work).

I think the outstanding issues for making this useful are:
-Network connectivity
-Refresh rate limitations of freeboard (but the source is on their github, so i'm sure something could be done)
-Port the sensor and UART OBD II device or bluetooth OBD code over...or use something like pyobd as a library for getting OBD and CAN data.

[robot]

More completed...still a ways to go before it could be useful on track:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Remo...th-Intel-Edis/

But if you wouldn't mind clicking and voting that would be awesome.

[GeorgeJFrick]

As a software developer on the verge of buying an AIM SOLO DL, I'm really interested in this. But your instructable seems more focused on what you couldn't do and why. Almost like you are working through your thought process. That should all be left out and the instructable should be the polished set of instructions that remain.

You probably want something in between your work and freeboard. This intermediary will provide data for freeboard to poll and would also be where you transmit to the pit area.

I wish I had the time to work through your instructable, the actual build looks really cool and if you could transmit to the pit you could work towards having an analysis waiting when you get back from each run. For autocross this could make the difference between 1st and 2nd.

Finally, in freeboard.datasources.js it is multiplying the timeout by 1000. You could make your own version of this 'datasource plugin' that just takes the raw timeout as milliseconds instead of assuming it is in seconds; that should speed up polling.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Why not just use a cell phone with data connection as a wifi tether? Not everyone does that, but many have that capability.

- andy

[GeorgeJFrick]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Why not just use a cell phone with data connection as a wifi tether? Not everyone does that, but many have that capability.

- andy

I've been working on this, but it's a bit unreliable; The GPS in a dedicated data logger seems to be of much higher quality than the ones in cell phones. With robot's additional efforts, I may re-approach having data posted automatically to a pit located laptop.

He may end up developing his own more affordable data logger... always worth tinkering!

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by GeorgeJFrick

I've been working on this, but it's a bit unreliable; The GPS in a dedicated data logger seems to be of much higher quality than the ones in cell phones. With robot's additional efforts, I may re-approach having data posted automatically to a pit located laptop.

He may end up developing his own more affordable data logger... always worth tinkering!

Oh I mean just for the data connection for a remote set-up, not the GPS. The GPS is definitely not good enough in cell phones. Need more Hz!

- Andrew

[robot]

Originally Posted by GeorgeJFrick

As a software developer on the verge of buying an AIM SOLO DL, I'm really interested in this. But your instructable seems more focused on what you couldn't do and why. Almost like you are working through your thought process. That should all be left out and the instructable should be the polished set of instructions that remain.

You probably want something in between your work and freeboard. This intermediary will provide data for freeboard to poll and would also be where you transmit to the pit area.

I wish I had the time to work through your instructable, the actual build looks really cool and if you could transmit to the pit you could work towards having an analysis waiting when you get back from each run. For autocross this could make the difference between 1st and 2nd.

Finally, in freeboard.datasources.js it is multiplying the timeout by 1000. You could make your own version of this 'datasource plugin' that just takes the raw timeout as milliseconds instead of assuming it is in seconds; that should speed up polling.

You are correct. I put a lot of stuff about what is incomplete in there. I did this mostly because this is for a contest with a deadline. You kind of have to post before the end date to get "favorited" and get pageviews and all that to win. Usually when I post something it is more complete (like this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Cust...With-OEM-Look/).

If you are looking for something more diy friendly that is like the AIM stuff check out http://www.autosportlabs.net/Main_Page

[robot]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Oh I mean just for the data connection for a remote set-up, not the GPS. The GPS is definitely not good enough in cell phones. Need more Hz!

- Andrew

Sure, tethering a phone is pretty easy. Just make the phone a wifi hotspot and have the Edison (or whatever you use) pair with it. Done. You can also buy data only sim cards with pre-paid service, but they seem expensive to me.

The SIM28 GPS chip that I used (and was given to me as a part of entering this) does 10 Hz max. (Petrel summarizes the update and lock concerns here: http://www.petreldata.com/gps-for-motorsports/)

[mabviper]

I made my own DAQ on an stm board. I find it's smaller. It doesn't do remote telemetry though. I'll leave that for the big boys I've tested mine on autocross. It'll be on a track next year once I get the gps mapping going.

Check out the vids.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0VTlk0RH4Y"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0VTlk0RH4Y[/ame]
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fwyQstk1u0"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fwyQstk1u0[/ame]

[GSpeed]

Very interesting project. Do you see any applications beyond tinkering, though? Rules like this could get really annoying:

Originally Posted by NASA Super Touring Rules

Any hardware that allows a competitor or crew member to
wirelessly connect to the ECU at any time during competition or
post-competition impound is strictly prohibited, regardless of whether such
hardware is external or internal to the ECU, and regardless of the direction of
data flow.