anyone interested in Alpina-like gauges?

[jdantuono]

Would prefer the OBC open source route, but this would be a viable alternative.

[Marv17]

Looks really good. Looking forward to finally products being produced. 3D printing is a good idea. I may have access to one soon at school.

[ChuckDizzle]

definitely a very interesting and awesome idea. The authentic Alpina gauges are rare and really expensive, every once and again you see them pop up on eBay. This would add great competition for the other gauge pods available.

[WATTSBMW3]

This has the potential of being the coolest mod, especially if all possible options are offered .
The thin strip of unused real-estate thats in the middle of both displays could offer A couple of trick options.
How about offering rev limit pixels/dots (amber or multi-colored), like those on the BMW Performance steering wheels version 1 or version 2 . The direction of the LED's could go from the edges to center or vice versa . Some drivers would also appreciate that area as a stealthy radar detector display.

[Slippery]

Interested

[Aquaticbob]

Some drivers would also appreciate that area as a stealthy radar detector display.

This is what I specifically would be interested in. I worked on making something similar to that myself, but haven't really come up with much. If this was available with the final product I would be in for sure

[aga080]

in...lets see how this goes

[trooper001]

Subscribed.

[gpeterson]

Count me in as interested.

Just a thought: Could you integrate you gauge display to work with these units?

http://www.plxdevices.com/product_cat.php?id=SEMO

If you could, then the end user could just pick the things that they want to monitor, and have the flexibility of the four displays.

I could do that, but my controller for the displays will essentially do the same thing at a much lower cost (at least for typical analog senders with variable resistance).

You don't have to remove the steering wheel to pull the cluster.

Do you have a tilt wheel?

I have an Alpina with those guages but even I would be interested if did boost/vac, wideband and coolant temperature. Battery voltage is pretty useless IMO.

I agree about battery voltage but will probably make it standard just so things are symmetrical. I'm guessing most people who add gauges do oil pressure, oil temp, and water temp, so bat voltage fills the 4th spot. But... my goal is to make it somewhat easy to swap the icons next to each display and the controller will be re-programmable so that the 4 displays could be used for just about anything.

What is a popular sending unit for measuring boost?

[R0b0t]

Use a Freescale pressure Sensor http://code.google.com/p/robotmeter/wiki/BoostPressure . Easy, cheap and made for automotive applications.

[gpeterson]

Use a Freescale pressure Sensor http://code.google.com/p/robotmeter/wiki/BoostPressure . Easy, cheap and made for automotive applications.

Nice, thanks for the tip! They are only ~$15 and will be simple to work with.

[R0b0t]

They don't measure neg pressure (vac) though.

(I also sent you some pms but they didn't seem to go through)

[Marv17]

You can remove the cluster thru the top gap of the steering wheel. Well at least I can, I hv the 3 spoke triangular steering wheel.

[jrsmitchell]

What is a popular sending unit for measuring boost?

In my exerience the GM 3 bar map sensor is pretty popular. Used alot in Megasquirt, Hondata, DSMLink, etc. They're readily available and pretty inexpensive. Soe tech info here:

ttp://hhscott.com/93tmv/3-bar_map.htm

AEM makes higher bar sensors but they're pretty expensive.

[R0b0t]

In my exerience the GM 3 bar map sensor is pretty popular. Used alot in Megasquirt, Hondata, DSMLink, etc. They're readily available and pretty inexpensive. Soe tech info here:

ttp://hhscott.com/93tmv/3-bar_map.htm

AEM makes higher bar sensors but they're pretty expensive.

This. I just read the spec. Skip my suggestion. This one is better.

0-5 V and in a reasonable range. Almost no work on your part to get it to work with whatever micro controller you are using. (what are you using btw).

[gpeterson]

This. I just read the spec. Skip my suggestion. This one is better.

0-5 V and in a reasonable range. Almost no work on your part to get it to work with whatever micro controller you are using. (what are you using btw).

Most likely Arduino. If I go that route it will be a bare atmega & supporting components on my own boards.

[M3MPHIS]

I'd be interested.

[gpeterson]

You can remove the cluster thru the top gap of the steering wheel. Well at least I can, I hv the 3 spoke triangular steering wheel.

Ah, I may have had a 4-spoke last time I tried.

I spent more time on the housing today and am getting close to a mockup that I'll use to make a mold for casting housings. Will post pictures if things turn out well.

[najnad]

sign me up for one with a boost gauge

[illmatik]

I'd definitely be interested... would love to get a digital readout of my boost psi and that just looks really good.

[gpeterson]

I haven't made much progress on the housing due to being really busy at work, but I think I'm headed in the right direction and may have more time next week to get back to it.

[camdinans3]

I would be in for one as well.

[IR M5]

I'm interested. Keep us posted.

[M3only]

Add me to the list of those interested. Thanks for working on this!

[NeilM]

I haven't made much progress on the housing due to being really busy at work, but I think I'm headed in the right direction and may have more time next week to get back to it.

Low volume, easy to model geometry, unstressed part: sounds like an ideal application for 3D printing.

Neil