ECU Diagnostic Software Re-Write

[aide]

V8 GRF said:

If you wanted to use the phone for recording translations something like this might be of interest rather than using a phone?

http://www.invensense.com/index.html

There are so many interesting things to tinker with!

[aide]

Jhonno said:

Yup..

N4 should work with bit of tweaking.

[aide]

crypto said:

Excellent idea and great work ! Regarding the name, it probably depends if you want to sell it (the TVR clientele is anyway limited to a few thousand) or if you consider it as fun/hobby project ? I'm not familiar what the search criterias are on play store. But when I would be looking for such an app, I would enter keywords like "tvr, mbe, ecu, ajp, obd". So maybe "TVR Ecu Control" would be a good name ? This is generic and allows "future" extensions...

May I ask a few questions ? did you really implement all functions from the pc diagnostic sw ? what kind of bluetooth-rs232 adapter do you use ?

Thanks, Peter

Hi Peter,
I'm still undecided about a name. Considering MBE-Bot.. Tiv-Droid..
Yep, I've re-written it all.
I got a cheap/unbranded dongle from china.
I'll release support/details on it in due course.
Cheers for the suggestions, much appreciated.
Regards
Aide

[aide]

Gazzab said:

This app really is ace!
Saw it today at chatsworth. Very impressed!
It really does need to be called Ace....!
Can then append for make and model eg Ajp, Tvr, Cerbera, S6, Ferrari etc

Glad you liked it Gary, AJPAce does have a nice ring to it...
Thanks for letting me demo the app on your car today, much appreciated!

[aide]

C3BER said:

Just missed seeing it but I'm sold on it. Just let us know when it's available.

Shouldn't be too long before v1 is released.. I missed you as we'll today as I wanted to have a nosey at your car!

[aide]

Thanks for some great feedback and big thanks to those who suggested improvements and let me demo on their car.

Will push to release earlier...

[aide]

spitfire4v8 said:

Gazzab said:

Happy to defer to the king of ajp mbe.... ;-)

[mcdonaldsadvertvoice] y'alright [/mcdonaldsadvertvoice]

my trusty laptop sees me through but it is a rather neat piece of kit that android app, ideal for any cerbera and sp6 owner to just make an occasional check up on their engine health or do some more in depth fault fixing/set-up. early detection of faults is key on these cars so it should prove to be a valuable tool for many many owners.

Thanks Joolz, that’s so true, I just leave the ECU lead plugged in all the time now and have routed it under the carpet. So the small, quick check every time I start the car in the morning now includes an easy check of tp’s, lambdas, adaptives and fault codes..

[aide]

optimax sniffer said:

When it is released could list the devices that it is comparable with?

I'm looking to get a cheap android phone / tablet from fleabay to run it

Yep will do. You need a phone that has "usb host" capabilities.
I will release it for the Samsung Galaxy S3 first then I'll enbable it to be downloaded off the play store for each new device I sucessfully test it with.

[aide]

DustToGlory said:

Aide, I thoroughly enjoyed your company over the weekend and admired the Android App you have re-written. Hopefully catch up with you at the Ace Cafe.

Dan

Thanks Dan, same here.. I had a great weekend and such a laugh in the hotel bar and restaurant with yourself, braders, his brother Peter and Tony. Looking forward to the next Ace Wednesday.

[aide]

KPW894 said:

Aide - I've got a Tuscan and have been following this topic with inteest. When do you think you'll be ready to release it and will it work with the Tuscan?

Thanks.

Kieron.

Hi Kieron, Yep, will work on your Tuscan as long as it has its original MBE ECU
I'm going to push to get V1 really soon.
Best wishes
Aide

[aide]

Jhonno said:

I have an N4 it could be tested on..

Thanks Jhonno, will keep that in mind as I won't be buying every flavour of android under the sun to test on..

[aide]

Supateg said:

Would it be a help to start a list of phones and names available to assist you. Also you could suss out demand by phone type?

I'm a HTC wildfire s user by the way.

Cheers, looking forward to a great app!

-Craig

Steve_T said:

Rather than push all the load on Aide is there a way for the Cerbera community to pickup the testing load? I write software for a living and I expect there are others too. Perhaps there is a way we can test and report back, reduce the workload?

Cheers,
Steve

P.S. Not looking for a freebie here, just to help a bit and get a copy a bit earlier.

Just to address both queries at the same time, and to perhaps help all the other people that have the same concern, but for a different Android based phone.

At the moment the app will only work with Android based devices that have “USB host” capabilities – the Samsung Galaxy S3 being one such device.

This capability is necessary because the TTL logic in the USB to Rs232 converter cable, used to connect the Phone/Laptop to the ECU, needs a separate power source.

By default, USB ports on PC’s and Laptops are USB Host enabled, but only subset of smart phones have this capability.

So, the app will successfully connect to your ECU, via the standard cable, iff your android based device is USB host enabled.

This seriously curtails the number of Android devices that are the app will work on but…

I’ll release a wireless [Bluetooth] version (V2 or perhaps V3) in due course.

And that is when I’ll need testers..

In the meantime, if anyone knows a workaround for the USB Host requirement, then we could potentially adopt it and release the app for more devices earlier.

Hth
Best wishes
Aide
now, I have to install a new Lambda sensor, which I found out was dud with the App on the morning I was leaving for Chatsworth!

[aide]

jammy_basturd said:

Don't quote me on this, but I believe you could use a powered USB hub and a micro-to-usb adapter to get around the TTL problem?

That's good idea. A powered USB hub.. best way to test it would be to get an external usb hard-drive, plug it into the powered usb hub and then into your non "usb host" enabled phone and see if the phone can access the hard-drive?
I'll have a look and see..

[aide]

Maybe if we use one of these cigarette lighter usb power adaptors, to power one of these usb hubs.
And then connect the phone and the cable together via the hub?
I can try that out and see if it works..

[aide]

Just a brief update and a bit of insight..

There are three instances of the rewrite that I'm currently working with:
1. Windows - A quick and dirty command line version
2. Android - Text Display version on a fully functional backend
3. Android - Graphical Display version that's not finished just yet

Here's a screenshot of the Text version I demoed on Gazzab and Rufus Roughcut's car at Chatsworth.



Hope to get a the Graphical Display version finished over the bank holiday weekend..

Regards
Aide

[aide]

Rufus Roughcut said:

Nice one Aide.
Just an observation from that screen shot, I'd be checking the lambda sensors aren't swapped over. Classic symptoms are maxed out positive and the other maxed out negative.

Mark

Thanks Mark, actually that screen shot was taken with my phone connected to the ecu on my desk in the lab - which is connected to the engine simulator..

But my actual adaptives are currently pretty similar :-/

(it's actually really difficult to get the adaptives between +/- 10% on the simulator as I only simulate static lambda values - if I used two sine waves 180 degrees out of phase between 0-1.5V at 20hz I'd say the ECU firmware would quickly balance the adaptives)

[aide]

Hi,

Just a short update.

I spent some time looking into the USB host issue. I think using a powered usb host will solve that problem. So, if you use a powered usb hub to connect your android and the usb-to-rs232 cable together it should alleviate the need to have a USB Host enabled phone. I'm not 100% sure, but I found this article and have one of these on the way to test the idea. Will keep you updated.


Here are a couple of screen shots:

Main Menu




Engine Monitor Screen:




Electrical Fault Status Screen:

that's not my car with all the faults above btw! it's connected to the the test ecu I have running on my bench



I have a few bits and pieces to finish off this week and that should leave me with a complete working copy of the original ECU Diagnostic software. Which, I have to admit currently has a pretty crude front end, but I also have a working prototype with a nice GUI that I'll polish and use for the final release.

Best wishes
Aide

[aide]

Just added the Throttle Position Sensor Screen:


Will add the AFR Control Status Screen next..

[aide]

I looked at the Parrot head unit, certainly does run Android.
They're pretty cheap at around £160..
(I actually just missed out on one for sale in the ph clasififed a while ago)
I can see no reason why we can't tailor a version that suits the Parrot system sometime after the initial release

[aide]

On holidays right now and will be pushing out a very basic version as soon as I get back (more or less what you see above)

I wanted to deliver V1 with a fancy front end but wasn't happy with my first attempt so have scrapped that in favour of a more polished version.

So I'll release a very basic version as soon as I can and then a better graphical version later..