I just got my Arduino Uno in the mail today and must say it's quite impressive. For those not in the know, this is a simple I/O board for DIY electronics projects. Here's a link to more detailed information and a datasheet from the manufacturer.
It fits in the palm of my hand. I didn't expect it to be that small, but this is my first electronics hobby "kit" (I bought it along with a small solderless breadboard and an LCD display) so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The Arduino even has a "reset" button on it!
I am thinking in the future that an Arduino or two could be the basis of a DeLorean digital dashboard. When you think of it, this would be fairly easy: all of the gauge senders are electronic. (Well, almost all of them: the speedometer/odometer is the obvious exception, but with GPS speedometer/odometers now available requiring only 6 seconds or less to find a signal, I think a GPS sensor would be an appropriate substitute.)
So what does all this mean right now? Nothing for the community, I'm afraid. I can't offer a digital dashboard for the DeLorean community, but in the process of creating one I need knowledge.
I am hoping that someone here already knows what I can expect from the various sensors/senders in our cars, e.g. a sender will send a value of 15 Ohms to 200 Ohms and the gauge reads 0 degrees to 260 degrees. I guess I could test these using my own multimeter but I am hoping someone else has already figured this out so I am not duplicating another's work.
What I REALLY need to know, though, is if there's somewhere out there where I can buy a GPS sensor to use for an Arduino-based speedometer/odometer. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Farrar