Permanent Traction Override Switch

[FLYFISHR]

Originally Posted by stugray

http://www.dfrobot.com/wiki/index.ph...2#Example_Code

It is an arduino based microcontroller .
a USB cable and you can program the io pins to do anything you want.
For this application it would be 1 pin and 5 lines of code.

Thanks This old dog is going to have to learn some new tricks.

[Akari]

Originally Posted by Dustin

Again, I wasn't referring to the investment as monetary no matter if you or the OP keep insisting that is what I meant by it. I was referring to the TIME invested vs the TIME saved. That is what this mod is for correct? To save time? I know well enough that nothing you do to a car will be a monetary investment that you will get a return on. Anyone who thinks so is a fool.

Again, I now it's me over thinking it. It just seems ridiculous to me to do this to save a couple of seconds when you get in your car. I guess if you get a sense of accomplishment out if it then that's all that matter. Out of 86,400 seconds in a day you saved 2-3.

This mod isn't about time, it's about convenience and consistency. The one time I'm excited to throw the car into a corner at full speed only to have my fun dangerously ruined makes this mod worth it. The one time I don't spill my drink trying to juggle it and hold the button down. You're looking at this with an extremely narrow mindset about purely time savings. Guess what? You've spent more time in this thread then it would take you to disable the system like many of us have.

Let me tell you, the first time I forgot to turn this off at the track and entered Turn 1 at The Ridge was not only a horrible experience but also a potentially dangerous one(At which point I had to try to hold down the button while shifting before turn 2).

[mig86]

Originally Posted by stugray

http://www.dfrobot.com/wiki/index.ph...2#Example_Code

It is an arduino based microcontroller .
a USB cable and you can program the io pins to do anything you want.
For this application it would be 1 pin and 5 lines of code.

I have designed plenty of electroncis for cars and for me a micro is over the top in this application, but it could be a good way to learn some programming etc.

One thing to be carefull with.... The elctrical environment in a car is very tough.
Many micro circuits will reset, or in some cases burn out.
The signal protection and power supply circuits need to be carefully designed to give long term reliable performance (Things like reverse polarity protection etc).

If I were using a small micro for this application, I would have ended up with a similar (or larger) component count to end up with the same robustness.

[mig86]

Originally Posted by DarrenDriven

@mig86, you aren't the first to do this... hehe, but I will roll this topic into the others.

I did this 2+ years ago, then @2superblus refined my circuit, and now you have yet another way.

Combined with the other topic.

Ok, Didn't see these earlier (great minds..)
I guess what most people realy 'want' is a plug and play solution.....

Thanks for fixing up the thread.

Mig

[stugray]

Originally Posted by mig86

I have designed plenty of electroncis for cars and for me a micro is over the top in this application, but it could be a good way to learn some programming etc.

One thing to be carefull with.... The elctrical environment in a car is very tough.
Many micro circuits will reset, or in some cases burn out.
The signal protection and power supply circuits need to be carefully designed to give long term reliable performance (Things like reverse polarity protection etc).

If I were using a small micro for this application, I would have ended up with a similar (or larger) component count to end up with the same robustness.

The reason I suggested this is:
powered from microUSB connector so the car already has clean power.
the device is the size of your thumbnail (smaller than the PCB above)
(it would fit on the back of that pushbutton)
it is designed for potential customers for sewing into clothing so it is very robust

And I exaggerated above, you need three pins.
Two pins, one for each button on the console, and I forgot your enable pushbutton input.

If you wired the device in, you must know the voltage supplied to the pushbuttons.
I assume it is 5V since it comes from IO pins on the ECU.
If 12VDC, you would need a couple of transistors to pull the signal down.

I also suggested it because it could perform the pedal dance too, I just havent gotten around to trying it yet.

ANd that whole device is just one "component" so your count would go down and not need a PCB

[steve99]

Originally Posted by Roadcone

so, where can we buy this... this lazy ass american is tired of holding down buttons

see here for LAM module $50

LAM=Lazy Ass American

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...14&postcount=1

http://www.kptechnologies.com/docs/F...stallation.pdf





.

[mig86]

Originally Posted by stugray

The reason I suggested this is:
powered from microUSB connector so the car already has clean power.
the device is the size of your thumbnail (smaller than the PCB above)
(it would fit on the back of that pushbutton)
it is designed for potential customers for sewing into clothing so it is very robust

And I exaggerated above, you need three pins.
Two pins, one for each button on the console, and I forgot your enable pushbutton input.

If you wired the device in, you must know the voltage supplied to the pushbuttons.
I assume it is 5V since it comes from IO pins on the ECU.
If 12VDC, you would need a couple of transistors to pull the signal down.

I also suggested it because it could perform the pedal dance too, I just havent gotten around to trying it yet.

ANd that whole device is just one "component" so your count would go down and not need a PCB

Hey, Offourse that device could be used in this application. That wasn't my point, don't take me the wrong way..

But I design electroncis. Because I want to.
So I woudn't personaly purchase an item like this, I would design a PCB for a micro. If you take that point of view and look at the components on the board (Remembering there is no power supply or conditioning components here) then to do it well (from my point of view) it needs more components and cost for no benefit. Remembering I needed to solder many up by hand so SMD is a pain if not realy required.

I'm not some sort of anti micro guy. I work with all sorts of micros all the time.
But for this PCB's original application it just didn't fit for me, didn't suit the criteria.

I'm not criticizing the Beetle, or Aruduino generaly.

Where the Beetle could be cool is when using more of it's processing power, For example to indicate the current mode via the button illumination (pulsating illumination level etc).

Out of interest, where do you think you would take the 'clean' 5v power supply from in the vehilce?

-Mig

[stugray]

Originally Posted by mig86

Hey, Offourse that device could be used in this application. That wasn't my point, don't take me the wrong way..

But I design electroncis. Because I want to.
So I woudn't personaly purchase an item like this, I would design a PCB for a micro. If you take that point of view and look at the components on the board (Remembering there is no power supply or conditioning components here) then to do it well (from my point of view) it needs more components and cost for no benefit. Remembering I needed to solder many up by hand so SMD is a pain if not realy required.

I'm not some sort of anti micro guy. I work with all sorts of micros all the time.
But for this PCB's original application it just didn't fit for me, didn't suit the criteria.

I'm not criticizing the Beetle, or Aruduino generaly.

Where the Beetle could be cool is when using more of it's processing power, For example to indicate the current mode via the button illumination (pulsating illumination level etc).

Out of interest, where do you think you would take the 'clean' 5v power supply from in the vehilce?

-Mig

1 - I am an EE, so I get what you are saying.
2 - The Beetle that I posted the link to is already soldered down to the PCB. It is a complete finished unit.

You take it out of the ESD bag, plug in a USB cable, and thats it.
It is ready to use complete with external IO solder pads.

The clean power would come from the USB port which is rear IO from the stereo.
The total cost of the unit is probably less than your discrete components

Maybe this will help:



In fact the "old school" method of just making a variable timing pulse was to use a 555 timer IC.
This is now even easier and fewer components than even your basic 555 IC setup.

[mig86]

@stugray

I realy don't want to get involved in a Tit for Tat arguement that goes nowhere in this thread.

I'm not realy sure what your point is, or why you want to push this solution as being so superior. I have already indicated that the beetle could work for this application. And since you already posted the link I don't see the need to then put up a picture (we can all follow links).

As you are an engineer, you will understand the idea of designing for purpose.
I have already indicated a number of times that this circuit was orriginaly designed for another purpose. In that application there is no 5v line available (race cars don't have stereos), so to use a micro (Any) straight away you have to add a power supply cirucit (in the case of the beetle this would be on another board).

To put it in perspective, this board cost less than $5 (PCB + Components) and met my requirements of being quick to assemble (no SMD). It operates as required.

Just to give some perspective that i know what I'm talking about and am happy to use micros look here on PG36:
http://romeomanciu.no-ip.org:55555/M...%202008-05.pdf

[Dipstik-sportech]

Please make these!!!! I want to be first in line

[mig86]

This was my first topic\post on this forum.

So far I have had one person tell me that I'm wasting my time. (spending quite a bit of his own to get the point accross).

Another person seems to want to tell me how he would have done it better (according to his criteria).

After taking a look through other posts on other threads, I've come to the conclusion that this is not the colaborative, constructive community I expected.

Too much negativity, **** measuring, flamers and trolls.

Lifes to short.

Think I'll park my account and enjoy my car.

-Mig

[stugray]

Originally Posted by mig86

@stugray

I realy don't want to get involved in a Tit for Tat arguement that goes nowhere in this thread.

I'm not realy sure what your point is, or why you want to push this solution as being so superior. I have already indicated that the beetle could work for this application. And since you already posted the link I don't see the need to then put up a picture (we can all follow links).

As you are an engineer, you will understand the idea of designing for purpose.
I have already indicated a number of times that this circuit was orriginaly designed for another purpose. In that application there is no 5v line available (race cars don't have stereos), so to use a micro (Any) straight away you have to add a power supply cirucit (in the case of the beetle this would be on another board).

To put it in perspective, this board cost less than $5 (PCB + Components) and met my requirements of being quick to assemble (no SMD). It operates as required.

Just to give some perspective that i know what I'm talking about and am happy to use micros look here on PG36:
http://romeomanciu.no-ip.org:55555/M...%202008-05.pdf

I'm sorry. I only kept responding because you appeared to be confused by saying things like "parts count" This would REDUCE parts count.

Or having to solder SMD (SMD parts are already soldered).

And the fact that this would be LESS cost and LESS work
(and I guess nobody caught the part about me building one to do the pedal dance)

SO I''ll just shut the fuck up then.

[USN.Spence]

Originally Posted by mig86

Hey All,



After getting sick of holding down the traction button for 3 sec each time I get into the car, I installed a latching switch on the dash (see images below).



When switched on, it will turn off TRC and VSC when the car is started.



Initially I hooked this straight into the existing circuit, but the ECU is a little too clever for this.

When you go over a certain speed and have the button 'jammed' on, it detects a switch failure and turns all features back on.

To overcome this issue, I have re-used a circuit I designed for a seat belt warning light in ICV's.

Now the line is held low for approx 7sec.



The illuminated 'Halo' is connected to the interior illumination rheostat circuit, so it dims with the other functions.

I plan to get a small laser etched switch plate surround with words like 'TRACK MODE'



If there is any interested in the parts or instructions to hook up - let me know.


-Mig

Interested in both, parts and instructions

[xbb1024]

Originally Posted by mig86

Hey All,



After getting sick of holding down the traction button for 3 sec each time I get into the car, I installed a latching switch on the dash (see images below).



When switched on, it will turn off TRC and VSC when the car is started.



Initially I hooked this straight into the existing circuit, but the ECU is a little too clever for this.

When you go over a certain speed and have the button 'jammed' on, it detects a switch failure and turns all features back on.

To overcome this issue, I have re-used a circuit I designed for a seat belt warning light in ICV's.

Now the line is held low for approx 7sec.



The illuminated 'Halo' is connected to the interior illumination rheostat circuit, so it dims with the other functions.

I plan to get a small laser etched switch plate surround with words like 'TRACK MODE'



If there is any interested in the parts or instructions to hook up - let me know.


-Mig

I'm interested in your illuminated trunk switch. Is it OEM? if so, what is the part number? otherwise, where can I find one?