LED helmet display

[gulfpete]

I've had the FZ6 for a month now so I figure it's time to start hacking it.

I'm pretty sure I can tap into the communication line from the ECU to the display (k-line) and get speed and revs and gear selected (mixture of speed and revs). Also tap into the indicators in the display.

I'm thinking of sending this info to a box mounted in my helmet about the size of a matchbox with 2 multicolor LEDs. Have 1 change color at set speeds, probably 60, 80, and 100 kph and 1 change color depending on gear changes. One would flash in time with the indicators too, left one flashing for left turn and right for right turn. Both flash quickly if over a certain rpm too.

Problem could be the brightness at night - they'd have to be adjustable.
The battery could explode in a crash - not likely and a crash that big my face would be a mess anyway.


Thoughts?

 

[agf]

have a look at the HealTech range of products, will cost you $ and if you really want an electronic project-go for it. The Gear Indicator from Healtech can be set so it flashes at a certain point if I remember correctly or you can set it at a speed as well so it flsahes as well as record the gear you are actually in. Other might chime in with info for
you too

 

[gulfpete]

Thanks, I did look at gear indicators but I want more.

I'm not good at explaining my ideas.
I like the idea of a heads up display so I'm thinking similar to that but with LEDs in the helmet, just visible in periphery vision so I don't have to look down at the bike display.
This way I'm getting all the info I need while concentrating on the road.

 

[agf]

I think you explained pretty well the goal, and I figure the end result will be one of those things that would be really good via blue tooth. size is always the issue but if you get the concept right then its a matter of just working on it til you can refine it as small as you can. getting it into the helmet without compromising its integrity is key, I just remember all the news stories about extra stuff attached to the surface of helmets that our Australian Police like to pick on.

 

[FinalImpact]

Decoding the comms from the ECU is the first big hurdle. Although talking to the ECU is K-line, I think the data to gauge is I2C or something of that nature.

I wish you luck!

 

[gulfpete]

It looks like [MENTION=17099]markersniffen[/MENTION] did it - He has a thread - "LED Panel & Arduino instrument cluster" though it looks like he didn't finish the project. Life seems to get in the way of these projects.

It looks very close to RS232 comms so I might be able to listen with a RS232/TTL converter only hooking up RX and ground. Worth a go as I have a couple on the bench beside me.

Yes probably will be bluetooth but I'll just run a few wires to the helmet if I can get some meaningful info. I do have a bluetooth arduino here so I'll use that.

 

[markersniffen]

Thanks for tagging me - I did kind of get this to work a while back...and yes, life definitely gets in the way! I just started renting a space at a local custom motorcycle shop, so I'm getting some more quality time with the bike now. =)

Regarding this project, I managed to *listen* to the bike through the k-line using Software Serial on my Arduino Uno. I used an inverting schmitt trigger to get the Uno to accept the signal coming from the bike. I had to put a special baud rate into some Arduino file...I was teaching myself all this stuff as I went so I really don't know exactly what I am talking about....but I saw data! I can't remember exactly, but I think the date for the speed (or rpm...) was not straightforward....at least not that I could figure out. I threw a google drive folder together with some of my stuff...some screengrabs, my arduino code, and a video of me demoing it:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_TErllkyzM4RWR3ZTVjYzg0aXM?usp=sharing

Ironically, a few months ago I started playing with an in-helmet HUD concept as well....it's a solid concept, so I hope you make some progress!

https://goo.gl/photos/Sf5LcJ7Stzh2g9bk7

 

[gulfpete]

All good, thanks Mark your google folder helped a lot.

I have uploaded some photos and a spreadsheet to
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0McLfYWXJkLWndWMTJkVzE0ZW8?usp=sharing

I pulled the wiring connector apart and soldered wires onto the pins. They come apart easy, just pull the plastic clip away from the pin with a screwdriver and the pin comes out. I uploaded a (bad) photo of it.

I ended up getting a baudrate of 15625, the program I wrote to get that is in the folder. I measured the length of the incoming signal - 1/(signal length * 1000000) gave the baudrate and looked for the shortest signal / longest baudrate that looked right.

The rs232 chip worked fine though I had to invert the signal, in the program the "1" in the call for software serial does that.

The RPM is the total of 55 readings.
Speed (KPH) is 55 readings / 9.
Next is all is good signal, I got 128 there a couple of times but no idea what that means.
Then coolant temperature, take 30 off that reading is deg Celsius.
Last is a checksum, just all the other numbers added up.

The selected gear works great, I just divide the RPM by the speed and have a table to work out the gear, only works when the clutch is out though.


I'm getting a couple of multicolor LEDs of ebay, looking forward to hooking them up.