Need electronics whiz
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Evolving Member
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 427
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From: DC area
Need electronics whiz
Hey, I'm working on a project to build a digital boost meter into the spot where the factory clock is. I have found the required components, but I have no microcontroller experience or knowledge, less the programming hardware. I plan on using a PIC16F877 small graphic LCD (100 x33 or so) to display pressure as a number and moving bar graph. I need help on the microcontroller wiring and programming. I'm a mechie, i have electronics experienece, but not to this extent. any of you guys out there have any expereience in this field that would like to help me undertake this project?
Re: Need electronics whiz
Originally posted by Thwack
I'm a mechie, i have electronics experienece, but not to this extent. any of you guys out there have any expereience in this field that would like to help me undertake this project?
I'm a mechie, i have electronics experienece, but not to this extent. any of you guys out there have any expereience in this field that would like to help me undertake this project?
Thread Starter
Evolving Member
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 427
Likes: 0
From: DC area
damn I shoulda shown you the datasheets I had with me when i met you today. Fastgirl, did you show up to dyno day? I didnt meet you there if you did.
Ok heres the rundown. I'd like to put a graphic lcd into the spot where the facory clock is and backlight it with red LED's. I'd like for this LCD to display boost pressure. I have found a pressure sensor I can use to tap into manifold pressure line (like a regular boost gauge) This sensor will return an analog signal from 0-5V linearly related to pressure. I need someone to help me take a microcontroller (the one mentioned above, or similar) that will take that analog signal, multiply it by the correct factor to give PSI, and also show a rapidly updating bar graph to display yhe pressure also.
There is some guy in UK who did this exact thing, and it can be found here:
http://www.skpang.co.uk/boost_guage.htm
This is exactly what I'd like to do, but instead of having it in a housing, I'd like to simply replace the factory clock LCD with the graphic LCD.
I have found datasheets and some information on PIC programming, and figure that with enough time and trial and error, i can get it running myself, but i'm sure it would go much easier if i found someone with experience with programming these things. Especially if they already have the hardware for the programming, as that will save me that much in development.
take a look at the link above, and if you say "I can do that" let me know and we'll see if we can team up.
I think this is a geat alternative to putting a boost gauge on the A pillar or on the steering colun, and keeps the car looking stock.
Ok heres the rundown. I'd like to put a graphic lcd into the spot where the facory clock is and backlight it with red LED's. I'd like for this LCD to display boost pressure. I have found a pressure sensor I can use to tap into manifold pressure line (like a regular boost gauge) This sensor will return an analog signal from 0-5V linearly related to pressure. I need someone to help me take a microcontroller (the one mentioned above, or similar) that will take that analog signal, multiply it by the correct factor to give PSI, and also show a rapidly updating bar graph to display yhe pressure also.
There is some guy in UK who did this exact thing, and it can be found here:
http://www.skpang.co.uk/boost_guage.htm
This is exactly what I'd like to do, but instead of having it in a housing, I'd like to simply replace the factory clock LCD with the graphic LCD.
I have found datasheets and some information on PIC programming, and figure that with enough time and trial and error, i can get it running myself, but i'm sure it would go much easier if i found someone with experience with programming these things. Especially if they already have the hardware for the programming, as that will save me that much in development.
take a look at the link above, and if you say "I can do that" let me know and we'll see if we can team up.
I think this is a geat alternative to putting a boost gauge on the A pillar or on the steering colun, and keeps the car looking stock.
I can do that. 
Actually writing the program for the PIC would be the easy part for me -- I've been doing embedded programming like that for 15 years.
What I don't have is a good workbench environment for building that type of thing -- power supply, oscilloscope/logic analyzer, some sort of device to actually burn the program into the PIC, that type of thing.
The first order of business would be to burn a boot loader into the PIC which can load programs over a standard serial cable, burn them into flash and run them, thus providing the ability to update the firmware at any time using only a PC and a serial cable. That should be the only time that a hardware PIC burner would be needed. One could probably cheaply design and build a hardware PIC burner which would attach to a PC's parallel port.
But life would be much easier if one could buy, rent, or borrow the use of a PIC burner...
Actually writing the program for the PIC would be the easy part for me -- I've been doing embedded programming like that for 15 years.
What I don't have is a good workbench environment for building that type of thing -- power supply, oscilloscope/logic analyzer, some sort of device to actually burn the program into the PIC, that type of thing.
The first order of business would be to burn a boot loader into the PIC which can load programs over a standard serial cable, burn them into flash and run them, thus providing the ability to update the firmware at any time using only a PC and a serial cable. That should be the only time that a hardware PIC burner would be needed. One could probably cheaply design and build a hardware PIC burner which would attach to a PC's parallel port.
But life would be much easier if one could buy, rent, or borrow the use of a PIC burner...