DIY Race Car Telemetry

Send in your story anyway! :)

Jaynen,

so remember - OBD2 is convenient, but when you enable multiple channels the individual logging rates go down. e.g. when logging 10 channels at 50Hz, the individual channel rate is only 5Hz. So it's a kind of apples-oranges comparison.

I have an NA miata 90 so I don't think I have an OBD stuff at all would be all manual sensor inputs for me

Here's my papercraft model:

Cool! What kind of power does it need? Can you calibrate the sensors for it being mounted on different angles or does it need to be flat?

Could you do a "portable" install?

Works fine in this car

Those were not questions about your papercraft model ;p

Here is mine I built a few years ago.

https://mbed.org/forum/mbed/post/3519/edit/

My project is somewhat unique. I have seen questions related to such a device but I now have it all working on one chip. I have a vintage car that I take to the track often. of course, the only thing vintage about it is its looks. Just about everything else has been brougt up to a modern standard. This includes the engine where the original carburetors were replaced with a Megasquirt fuel injection system. Megasquirt is an open-source engine management system with all of the functionality of the much more expensive systems like Motec. It is reasonably priced and geard toward the DIY developer. While the system has always worked well I needed to see what the engine was doing while driving. This meant a display project.

Last year I built a simple device that would talk to the Megasquirt ECU and display parameters on an LCD. Being a track car means no radio and that slot is the perfect size for a character LCD. I must admit that I played a partial role in the code devlopment for that ATmel device. Many thanks to a sympathetic co-worker. When I originally started the display project I envisioned additional functionality. Who knew it would take so long to make this happen. My code skills are poor at best but I can say I made this happen with only a little outside help. The same person that helped with the example code showed me the mbed and was amazed at the high level of functionality and number of output ports. So I bought one thinking this would be the next generation.

The additional functionality I wanted was based upon datalogging capabilities. Vehicle dymanic systems and loggers are easy to find if you want to spend the money. When I saw the examples on the mbed I was really happy. Everything I needed was right there. SErial connection to ECU. accelerometer, 4bit parallel display, SPI for SD card and an additional serial port for GPS. yes, that is 5 devices working off the same MCU.

My build answers the call from DIY track enthusiasts, Motorcycles and other users that can not carry a laptop for obvious reasons. This is not meant to replace a laptop but rather be a supplement. The current setup has the following features:

microSD card switch operated file format (.frd) that imports into Megasquirt TunerStudio Software for engine analysis, tuning and feedback (Thanks to Phil Tobin for the help) LCD display compatibility (# variables depends on size)

3-axis accelerometer

10Hz GPS switch activated logging capability of engine parameters, acclerometer and GPS for vehicle dynamics in .csv format that imports into popular video editing software (Trackvision) data rate ~10Hz (GPS limited)

I had some boards made to complete the project. The boards have been complete for a while and I had to assemble and debug. This took way too long since my day job got in the way. All of the issues have been software related. Thankfully, no current board revisions are planned.

The boards are dual sided. The topside is basic functionality for the MS system. This includes a micro controller, SD card slot and power supply. There is also display output and a trim-pot for the LCD contrast. The dual sided board was made with a full ground plane. Hopefully, this will cut down on cross talk and noise from the car environment. Boards are Sn plated Cu.

The backside of the board is for additional functionality. I have installed a 3-axis accelerometer and 10Hz GPS. This provides full vehicle dynamics capability whereby I can log all the parameters of the engine along with position, velocity (yes, speed and heading direction) and acceleration data.

Everything mounts nice and neat in a standard plastic project box. There are two switches to enable different datalogging functions. These are the .frd format for using in Tunerstudio and the vehicle dynamics logger which is a parameter datastack in .csv format. The comma separated value (csv) table will allow insertion into popular track video overlay programs.

There is a realtime output in the form of a multi-line character display. I have 2x20 and 4x20 display capability.

Guys just posted on facebook that both Krider racing entries in the 25hrs of Thunderhill will be running racecapture pro

Here is the live telemetry from the racecapture pro unit at thunderhill

http://www.race-capture.com/rcl/krider-racing-red-team-2/

Jaynen, you beat me to it - thanks for posting it!

Short notice had us not be able to add additional sensor channels but we jumped at the opportunity to show it working in a real-life scenario, and 25 hours at that!

Here's our bench setup

and installed in one of the Krider Racing cars (Red Car)

We have it installed in the Blue Team car, but we're diagnosing a problem. We think a configuration problem is causing it to stop transmitting. I'll see what I can do during the couple of minutes during pit stops :)

Jpnovak,

cool project! A lot of people have had that creative itch to scratch, so that's why we wanted to make Race Capture open source- there are so many possibilities via community contributions.

Aww, yeah. we have both cars rocking the data.

http://www.race-capture.com/rcl/krider-racing-red-team-2/ http://www.race-capture.com/rcl/krider-racing-blue-team-2/

Jaynen, the lap times and lap counts are being calculated internally by RaceCapture. I mention this because you've asked about it before.

-Brent

Yeah I was not asking about if it could do lap times (assumed it could) but more if it could display to the driver a predictive time based on their current time for the current lap/segment.

I asked because it was the key feature I was hearing over on miata.net that guys wanted out of their systems.

I do hope I will be able to set it up easily for point to point IE autocross sessions. And maybe with a quick button to tag/swap drivers

Update - we posted more info on the mobile app, here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151293693349231&set=a.424265584230.197157.34953614230&type=1

Nice! Can't wait. Not sure what hill is high enough I should shout from to help you guys meet your goals? I assume you are hitting chumpcar/lemons forums? Maybe Bimmerworld or Rennsport?

Thanks Jaynen!

We rely on all of you to spread the word. If we initiate the conversation on the forums, it would legitimately be viewed as spamming.

After someone posts, we sometimes go in and say hi and offer to answer questions (like here).

Ah, I have already done it on all the forums I frequent. Hopefully others are as well

New video update is up! We just added the bluetooth module + mobile app perk. check it out!

http://www.indiegogo.com/RaceCapture/x/1769076?c=activity

Added to my perks :)

Will source be delivered with the mobile apps for people who want to compile for different platforms? My phone runs a GNU/Linux OS.

We added another incentive to help get our project to the finish line - if we hit our $30K goal we will throw in a sequential shift light with your race capture funding perk!

details here: http://www.indiegogo.com/RaceCapture?c=activity

Spread it far and wide so we get maximum exposure!

GameboyRMH - so you're running a Linux OS on your phone but it's not android? what is it, exactly?

Hey guys.. I have been looking threw all this.. I have seen info talking about OBD2 capabilities but I haven't read anything that shows you have something to support it right now?

I am curious since I went to a lot of work wiring my car up to run on a factory OBD2 ecu.. I did this for easier diagnostics and data logging...

I am wondering if you have something that will plug into the OBD2 port and allow me to data log threw it...

AutosportLabs wrote: GameboyRMH - so you're running a Linux OS on your phone but it's not android? what is it, exactly?

Maemo.

It's not too different from a desktop Linux distro.

In reply to crazycanadian:

Hi- Race Capture Pro was specifically designed first for high performance logging from discrete sensors, and OBD2 integration is planned for future support. It will likely connect to the hardware expansion port to the right of the terminal block.

GameboyRMH - Yes, we will offer the source of the mobile app - it will be Java / Android.

We are at $23,943 at the moment- getting close to hitting our target and the days are winding down. spread the word- we really want to design and build a bunch of sequential shift lights as that bonus perk! :D