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Interacting with Onboard Car Computers?

Posted by Cliff on from the dashboard-statistics dept.

joshmccormack asks: "I've seen lots of projects where people are making great looking computers that fit into the dashboard of their cars that play MP3s, movies and even some that do some GPS and mapping stuff. I'd love to find projects where computers connect with the on board computers in most cars from the mid 90s on to show temperature and performance of various parts of the car. There are diagnostic tools that mechanics use, and that you can get to get data, but I'm particularly interested in real time, in-dash, open source options."

2 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. Obstacles by The+Clockwork+Troll · · Score: 5, Informative
    One of the nice side effects of emissions legislation in the past 10 years is that all cars since 1996 are required to have an on-board diagnostics port to which standard tools can connect and report on the vehicle's various operating parameters (ignition timing advance, manifold pressure/mass air flow, various temperatures).

    On OBD-II equipped vehicles, the port is typically located to the right of the steering wheel in the driver's side footwell. It is trapezoidal.

    There are many systems available for reading this information, from scan tools to computer interfaces.

    It sounds like what you want is something like the PSI data display unit (DIN-sized). These connect up to OBD-II enabled cars.

    The big problem you may run into is that the OBD-II standard requires only that the most basic parameters be reported to scan tools. Manufacturers are notorious for obscuring the most interesting information and it's typically been up to enthusiasts to reverse engineer manufacturers' proprietary additions to the OBD-II protocol.

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  2. Here ya go by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm designing something similar for my truck.

    Inexpensive Free software for Win or Mac. Inexpensive cable.
    Expensive. Very pro display, and you can get all the extended codes sets.
    Opensource(you still need to build/buy the cable)

    There are others out there. Google for obdii

    All you need do is hook this up to the serial port of whatever car PC you make, and run the s/w. Presto, virtual dashboard, with more readings than you will ever use.

    Friend of mine at work has the cheaper one, and it works quite well. You can even record a drive, and play it back later. Output to OO.org or excel compatible csv for further analysis.