Homebrew MTC

[martinarcher]

Sounds good. Keep me posted.

If your not able to find out what it's written in, just PM me a chunk of the code and I could probably tell you.

[old skool malibu]

If it is that programmable you should be able to do some boolean logic? It would be really easy to integrate if you have the ability to use that GPS speed and set the permissive above 5 mph or so.

I think 5 mph is a little on the quick side? Mine goes up as long as you are in gear and moving ..slightly over idle speed. Its a nice safety feature, but can be a pain at times. I would stick with Trents suggestion if you can incorporate it!

[old skool malibu]

Scott - were you going to use the power wedge so it will not go into position until boat is on plain? The wedge assumes a vertical position (0%) until riders speed then it will move to the preset.. it most cases 75 or 88% if you like full wedge. Anything greater than 88% is a bit much.

[scott_fx]

Scott - were you going to use the power wedge so it will not go into position until boat is on plain? The wedge assumes a vertical position (0%) until riders speed then it will move to the preset.. it most cases 75 or 88% if you like full wedge. Anything greater than 88% is a bit much.

i did not know that is how it worked. i can try to have the event based on a set speed (say 16mph or so). I dont know how i'd figure out how to tell the computer the boat is on plain.

when you say a bit much. what does that mean? is the ramp just insane?

when the rider falls and you slow down, the wedge always goes back to 0%?

also... the percentage between 0-100.... what would be considered a 'deploying' angle and at what point would you consider the wedge at 100%

martinarcher...i hope you're paying attention... i may be needing your help afterall

Scott, this looks great so far. One thing I would caution about on the wedge would be the safety lock out once it is in the deployed position. If you can I would integrate the speedo into the "up" function. This is the way the Malibu power wedge is set up. This should prevent any accidents with some one playing with the wedge control while people are in the water around the platform.

Other wise this looks amazing!

i dont think this would be a problem after i figure out gps speed based events.

actually... i think there is that transmission warning light that turns off when the boat hits a specific rpm. i could have that signal the computer and letting it know when it's ok to move the wedge.

I think i recall seeing wire going into the v-drive unit. does anyone know if there is a wire/lead that gives a signal when the v-drive is in 'gear'?

Edited May 10, 2011 by scott_fx

[winddawg]

i did not know that is how it worked. i can try to have the event based on a set speed (say 16mph or so). I dont know how i'd figure out how to tell the computer the boat is on plain.

when you say a bit much. what does that mean? is the ramp just insane?

when the rider falls and you slow down, the wedge always goes back to 0%?

also... the percentage between 0-100.... what would be considered a 'deploying' angle and at what point would you consider the wedge at 100%

martinarcher...i hope you're paying attention... i may be needing your help afterall

i dont think this would be a problem after i figure out gps speed based events.

actually... i think there is that transmission warning light that turns off when the boat hits a specific rpm. i could have that signal the computer and letting it know when it's ok to move the wedge.

I think i recall seeing wire going into the v-drive unit. does anyone know if there is a wire/lead that gives a signal when the v-drive is in 'gear'?

If I am not mistaken and depending on the model year you have two sensors on the transmission one is a temp sensor and the other is the lockout for trying to start the engine while in gear. The neutral lockout might be the solution you are looking for to control the use of moving the wedge up or down.

-Dave

[martinarcher]

i did not know that is how it worked. i can try to have the event based on a set speed (say 16mph or so). I dont know how i'd figure out how to tell the computer the boat is on plain.

when you say a bit much. what does that mean? is the ramp just insane?

when the rider falls and you slow down, the wedge always goes back to 0%?

also... the percentage between 0-100.... what would be considered a 'deploying' angle and at what point would you consider the wedge at 100%

martinarcher...i hope you're paying attention... i may be needing your help afterall

i dont think this would be a problem after i figure out gps speed based events.

actually... i think there is that transmission warning light that turns off when the boat hits a specific rpm. i could have that signal the computer and letting it know when it's ok to move the wedge.

I think i recall seeing wire going into the v-drive unit. does anyone know if there is a wire/lead that gives a signal when the v-drive is in 'gear'?

As long as your software has knowledge of the speed input and can fire some sort of angle (or percentage as Malbu calls it) based output this stuff is easy. I got your back.

At work I have to worry about encoder RPM/speed, inclinometer pitch and roll angles, computed arm heights, machine speed and acceleration, motor status, hydraulic outputs and valve feedback, and on and on.....

Edited May 10, 2011 by martinarcher

[scott_fx]

so, spent the last two weekends putting the boat back together after a huge ordeal with the upholstery shop and me having to take the pieces as they were and make arrangements to have the boat redone next year. finally got everything wired up, the electronics waterproofed and; with a few exceptions, everything is working great. the exception though... is a big one. the screen i had; which was supposed to be sunlight readable... clearly is not! so i'm exploring new options. first; which i just ordered is a 10" tablet pc:

http://www.shopfujitsu.com/Q550/index.php?gclid=CM7qpLLT1qkCFcce4QoduSlRwg&WT.mc_id=AD_google_Stylistic+Q550+Slate_Stylistic_Stylistic+Q550_Phrase&WT.srch=1

it is known for its sunlight friendly screen.

i think i may look into a tower mount option for this so that it can be easily removed and used indoors.

[martinarcher]

You can't put a post like that in this thread without pics....heck I want video!!

Yeah, sunlight is one of the weaknesses of my GPS speedo. If it is shining directly on it it looks beautiful, but if your driving into the sun it's tough to read. Probably the opposite of your LCD.

Edited June 28, 2011 by martinarcher

[scott_fx]

give me till after the weekend. i have a houseboat trip planned on the 4th so i'll have some real world experience by then. im tearing out the dash though because my computer is useless with that screen.

on an up note... i was up until 2 am last night coming up with my alternative and it's working great. i used a couple programs; eventghost and a winamp remote, and paired up the computer with my andriod phone. I set up macros that can control the wedge and ballast pumps as well as access my mp3 library. this i actually a pretty solid alternative to hacking up your dash. you could control everything from an android phone or tablet if you wanted too.

[martinarcher]

give me till after the weekend. i have a houseboat trip planned on the 4th so i'll have some real world experience by then. im tearing out the dash though because my computer is useless with that screen.

on an up note... i was up until 2 am last night coming up with my alternative and it's working great. i used a couple programs; eventghost and a winamp remote, and paired up the computer with my andriod phone. I set up macros that can control the wedge and ballast pumps as well as access my mp3 library. this i actually a pretty solid alternative to hacking up your dash. you could control everything from an android phone or tablet if you wanted too.

Awesome man. Sounds like a really cool alternative!

[ecadwell]

give me till after the weekend. i have a houseboat trip planned on the 4th so i'll have some real world experience by then. im tearing out the dash though because my computer is useless with that screen.

on an up note... i was up until 2 am last night coming up with my alternative and it's working great. i used a couple programs; eventghost and a winamp remote, and paired up the computer with my andriod phone. I set up macros that can control the wedge and ballast pumps as well as access my mp3 library. this i actually a pretty solid alternative to hacking up your dash. you could control everything from an android phone or tablet if you wanted too.

Wait, what?? This thing really took a quick turn in a different direction! I'm also waiting to see the pics/video, but this is also a supremely cool idea! Patiently (sort of) waiting...

[scott_fx]

Wait, what?? This thing really took a quick turn in a different direction! I'm also waiting to see the pics/video, but this is also a supremely cool idea! Patiently (sort of) waiting...

ha, yeah. have to roll with the punches i guess.

the transflective screen....it was horrible. money waisted but came up with a cool setup to replace that one. the android fix worked but it was very limiting. it wasflyingblind most of the time. i think ill still incorperate that functionality into my setup, but just as an auxiliary control (you could actuallt use it to adjust the wedge whike being towed :D)

anyways.... this setup is completely wireless,yet is still integrated into the boats controls.

it now consists of a fujitsu q550 win7 tablet (but may try it out with the smaller hp slate), a linksys wireless hub, belkin network usb hub,usb dac and the mjs usbio1's. the upside..cost. this is a less expensive solution and an easier install. def a weekend project (after i get the interface buttoned up for everyone)

the tablet now is fully unteathered and portable so it can be taken indoors or in the tow vehucle. also, on order is a waterproof pouch. i could take this on a tube if we were just relaxing and floating around.

check it out

Edited July 13, 2011 by scott_fx

[scott_fx]

if anyone is interested in going this route. i just found a killer deal on some screens that are sunlight readable

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-SAMSUNG-7-LED-LCD-Touch-Screen-Monitor-Kit-Outdoor-/110659973152?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c3d93020#ht_15332wt_905

they dont come with a case but i hear the seller is designing some for future release.

could be a solid screen for the application

[scott_fx]

havent had a lot of progress as of late (been doing a ton of boarding though :D)

my motion computing cl900 FINALLY came in and is awesome!

sunlight readability is pretty good you can read it in every condition except when the sun is directly reflecting off of it into your eyes.

linked up to the belkin hub effortlessly

relatively heavy for a tablet but not horrible

battery life...AMAZING this thing will last all day on a charge... well they spec it at 8 hours but with the use it'll see on the boat... it'll last all day.

it's waterproof, can handle splashes. all the ports are sealed...except the dock port. odd.

performance... well it's not great; after all it's a tablet pc. it runs riderunner fine.

it also has a nifty little dock for the digitizer pen (in case you need to do any on the fly coding?

It's a bit more expensive then a mobile pc but its well worth the price

I decided to go away from the usbio boxes i have been using. After more thought, the wedge adjustment is slow and not as professional functioning as i had hoped. I'm going to order a fusionbrain as soon as the plug in for riderunner is ready. this single board will give me all the outputs i'll need to control ANYTHING on the boat but it'll also let me read in analog sensors. i'll be able to have a constant visual display of what angle the wedge is at. it'll open up the option of creating a dial on the screen to set the wedge position. as well as; if i decide to, have a manual knob that i can adjust on the fly while driving.

The board opens up a ton of options (can read engine sensors, depth transducers, can control servos, etc.. oh and is 1/3 of the price.

Edited August 5, 2011 by scott_fx

[martinarcher]

Looking really good man! I really like the interface as well. What's the size of the screen in the youtube vid? Looks plenty big to see well, but also integrate into the dash nicely.

Makes me want to start one of my own!

[scott_fx]

the one in the vid is no longer. i returned it for the more robust motion computing one. they are about the size of an ipad. The dash integration is no longer (for the moment at least) this is a fully mobile solution. I'm retaining the perfect pass in the dash and i'll be adding a dial for the wedge (can be controlled from the pc or the dial). I may toy around with a tower mount rig, like the mounts for a rear view mirror.

i guess this is homebrew mtc v02... though my setup can easily work with the old in-dash design as well

[scott_fx]

so a little more progress on v02 of the project. not much but here i started the dev portion of the rotation angle sensor that im building into my new setup

here is a video of the proof of concept.

total cost of parts for this was under $5. if you look at the multimeter you'll see that it sweeps as the magnet rotates. I plan on taking this data and inputing it into the pc. this will let me know where the wedge is at all times. I'll also be able to engage the wedge when i get up to speed like malibu's set up (but mine will never lose calibration

the resolution is a lot higher then what i set my multimeter to fyi

Edited August 6, 2011 by scott_fx

[martinarcher]

That's a really good application for a magnetic hall effect sensor. Should give you good resolution and like you said be very repeatable and only need calibrated once.

Heck if you want to go nuts....check out an optical encoder for measuring the movement of the wedge. Most of the ones we use have 32k steps per revolution or better.

[scott_fx]

thanks man. i think you're the only one following this thread anymore lol i should just start pm'ing you my updates. ha!

i looked into optical encoders a bit. couldn't find a solution that was inexpensive and ip67 rated. this hall sensor should be good enough and it can be totally encased in some silicone. oh... and the other BIG issue. is that im almost comfortable with the analog output, i am not sure how the optical encoder works and how to read the data off of it. that is a bit out of my comfort zone

the hall ic can be easily integrated into non pc applications too. i'd actually love to take a crack at an arduino set up for a forum member if there was any interest. maybe a digital readout or led bar of the wedge position. I've always wanted to learn to code the arduino. (looks relatively easy compared to c++ or vb)

Edited August 6, 2011 by scott_fx

[martinarcher]

You got that right. Encoders are expensive and complicated, but very accurate. Most talk via ethernet or canbus and require you to use custom drivers or some other way to read and write information to the encoder using their protocol.

The hall effect is the simple yet effective approach and like you said can be waterproofed - plus it's cheap!

Arduino's are awesome little controllers. I have a few. The GPS speedo on my boat is run by one. The software you write for them is very close to C, but a bit easier to pick up. Warning! Browsing the Arduino forums can be very addicting and cause you to come up with all sorts of cool project you can't live without.

[scott_fx]

You got that right. Encoders are expensive and complicated, but very accurate. Most talk via ethernet or canbus and require you to use custom drivers or some other way to read and write information to the encoder using their protocol.

The hall effect is the simple yet effective approach and like you said can be waterproofed - plus it's cheap!

Arduino's are awesome little controllers. I have a few. The GPS speedo on my boat is run by one. The software you write for them is very close to C, but a bit easier to pick up. Warning! Browsing the Arduino forums can be very addicting and cause you to come up with all sorts of cool project you can't live without.

lol.. so i just went and checked out the arduino projects and it led me to this

http://www.cibomahto.com/2008/02/thing-a-day-day-9-servo-as-input-device/

part of my plan for v02 (v02.1?) was to have a dial on my dash that i could use to quickly adjust the wedge. I was thinking about using a motorized potentiometer but that would add a whole new level of difficulty because the inexpensive ones aren't 'smart' they just have a motor on them. i want to have the dial automatically adjust if i hit one of the preset on my tablet. i think that this may be the solution i was looking for. thoughts? am i missing something that would not let me do this?

i wonder if i can leave it in the off state until the foil moves into position then the fusion brain (the new i/o board i'll be using) would power up the servo and move it to the correct position. then it would go back to it's rest state until the wedge completes another movement.