Switch replacement - Python programmer out there?

[Spittybug]

How's this for a crazy idea:

I'm figuring out how to put a Raspberry Pi computer, multi-relay board and touch screen into the Delorean. I *think* I can learn enough of the hardware side to get this done. I am not a coder however and would take much longer to learn how to make an attractive GUI to control it.

I'm visualizing a GUI with customizable wallpaper on top of which would be buttons for:

Doors Lock - on/off
Doors Unlock - on/off

This could actually be one toggle button whose screen message changes depending on the state. If already locked, it reads "Unlock" and activates pin X. If unlocked, it reads "Lock" and activates pin Y.


Driver Window Open - see below
Driver Window Close - see below
Driver Door Pop - needs to be ~2 second momentary. This is to ensure that the mechanics of the door have enough time to activate and the door begins to open.
Passenger Window Open - same
Passenger Window Close - same
Passenger Door Pop - same
Defroster - on/off
Auxiliary Lights - on/off
Other? - on/off

For the windows, they need to be momentaries (active only while being touched) with one for open and one for closed. Alternatively (and cooler) would be some kind of slider like a volume control. This is the hard one!
Little niceties might include the ability to adjust the screen brightness or to have a lockout button (so little fingers couldn't play...). In theory one could also build in a lock out so that if the car was moving, the door popper wouldn't work, but that's a bit more hardware work than necessary for V1.

The Raspberry Pi can control 21 relays without additional hardware I believe. It's a case of assigning a specific IO pin to go high or low to trigger the relay.

The "cooler" the look to the interface, the better. Picture this as a touch panel built into the surface of the center console right behind the gear shift.

This is the vision in my head. If anyone with coding experience could give me a reality check I'd appreciate it. I'd love to have someone teach me how to do this.

I ordered my birds eye maple veneer today and will be working on my custom center console and dashboard.

Anyone out there up for a cool project?

[Patrick C]

This needs to be a kit!

[Spittybug]

It would be a pretty invasive one.... Lots of wire tapping and stock button removal or disconnection. Plus, where would people put it all if they weren't doing an interior renovation like me?
But yes, it would be cool.
And if commercialized, the programmer would be cut in.........

[Lightning]

I do programming and have already done a raspberry pi project, see https://github.com/LightningTH/Allowance. It has a button to turn on the display along with a 4x10 (if memory serves) text display for showing my daughter's allowance. If the hardware supports it then I can write code to do it.

You'd have to source the display/touch display that you want to use as I'd then have to locate how to interact with it with the raspberry pi driver wise. The raspberry pi does have a number of connections though so it may be possible to jerryrig something too.

[Spittybug]

This is the kind of monitor I'm thinking: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-VGA-2AV-Driver-Board-7inch-800x480-AT070TN93-EJ070NA-03A-lcd-touch-panel/261240497499?_trksid=p2047675.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%2 6asc%3D11%26meid%3D4437519072867559537%26pid%3D100 011%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D2611225 25622%26 or if size becomes an issue, this type: http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-2-inch-TFT-LCD-module-Display-with-touch-panel-SD-card-240x320-than-128x64-lcd/200908823757?rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%2 6asc%3D261%26meid%3D4437539967915977184%26pid%3D10 0005%26prg%3D1088%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D261240 497499%26

The Pi is nice in that it has either an RCA connector for video in or the nicer HDMI.

As I learn, I realize the number of little pieces that must come together. Auto launching the app on car start, making sure the video/input screen properly talks to the Pi, displaying a gui, sending appropriate command to the right relay via the GPIO pins, etc..... I found a neat little hardware board that will tie the Pi into the car and feed it power (controlled) when the car starts and shuts down. It even has a delayed shutdown so that if you are jumping in and out of the car it doesn't have to boot each time. I would look into the power requirement to always have the Pi running so that there wasn't any boot required. Maybe a second battery....

Lightning, do you think the GUI itself would be difficult to make look good? Delorean console quality good?

[LordFly]

Although I have NO experience with either Python or the Raspberry Pi specifically, from a programming standpoint, your goals of basic relay control seem.... well, very basic. I don't see any reason this couldn't be done. In fact, since the Raspberry is a computer, I'm surprised you haven't planned to take it a little farther and make it your media player as well :D

[Spittybug]

Just found this: https://sites.google.com/a/jasonfindlay.com/pi-relay/ This is what I'm trying to do except rather than it be phone based, it needs to be touchscreen based so that it can be embedded in the car. Good section on connecting to the RPi too.

My Megasquirt now interacts via bluetooth to my laptop. The tunerstudio software I use on the laptop is also available in Linux, so should be able to be run on the RPi. Getting my head around all the possibilities here! Side swipe the embedded screen and away goes relay control and up pops the Tuner studio app to control the Megasquirt! Swipe again and get the plugged in GPS sensor...... I think I'm going too big at this point.... one step at a time.

[Lightning]

All of the little pieces do add up. As you mentioned, thinking about the on/off as the raspberry pi does take a few seconds to get going. I'm not a graphics person. I know people that are, at the same time I may be able to throw something together with some high res pics of the current interior to help match if you wanted nice pictures and not a more flat look. Keep in mind that a picture of a button may look better as a new flat button vs trying to mimic the original.

The biggest is going to be how the screen interacts with the raspberry pi and how does the screen send the touch data. Some come across as mouse movements while others have special pins that you have to decode.

There are also screens like this one (http://www.adafruit.com/products/1601) that could be useful.

The other thing you have to pay attention to is noise in the power lines. The delorean's electrical is very noisy due to it's design. i'm quite sure touch screens could show odd symptoms (touch position jumping around for instance) if there isn't at least a minimal noise filter on the power going to the raspberry pi/screen. Of course this is only known by trying and testing to see if anything is required filter wise.

[nullset]

Don't forget the diodes if you're hooking relays up to your RPi. When you stop providing current to a relay, it causes quite a large voltage to appear. This voltage can quickly fry your expensive raspberry pi.

I'm an embedded engineer by trade. I've wanted to do an entirely modern replacement delorean electrical system for a long time. I wish I had the time for it...imagine being able to remove the miles of wiring and replacing them with a modern data bus......it would be so wonderful.

--buddy

[Spittybug]

Yes, I've seen that screen, but I think it is pretty small.

For the interface, I wasn't thinking anything fancy, at least not for the prototype. If the wallpaper were replaceable by just changing a .jpg file, that would make "customizing" the look easier. For starters, just a carbon fiber look background would work great. For the buttons, I was truly just thinking of something that looked like an elevator panel, with driver side and passenger side. The key is making it use the whole panel's real estate and making it look like a control panel, not a computer program.


O
Door Lock/Unlock

O Open Window O
O Close Window O

O Open Door O

O Defog O Aux Lights O ?


Like I said however, if the window were a slider on the screen, that would be very cool. That would be significantly tougher I'm sure! Maybe a couple of others on the bottom for brightness or to switch to another app....

From the little bit I've learned so far, this degree of control is pretty straightforward using the relay board. (says he as a neophyte..............)

[Spittybug]

Don't forget the diodes if you're hooking relays up to your RPi. When you stop providing current to a relay, it causes quite a large voltage to appear. This voltage can quickly fry your expensive raspberry pi.

I'm an embedded engineer by trade. I've wanted to do an entirely modern replacement delorean electrical system for a long time. I wish I had the time for it...imagine being able to remove the miles of wiring and replacing them with a modern data bus......it would be so wonderful.

--buddy

I believe the relay board has on-board optoisolators for that protection. http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Channel-5V-Relay-Module-Board-Shield-for-Arduino-PIC-AVR-MCU-DSP-ARM-US-Stock-/360717697832?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53fc734328

[nullset]

I believe the relay board has on-board optoisolators for that protection. http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Channel-5V-Relay-Module-Board-Shield-for-Arduino-PIC-AVR-MCU-DSP-ARM-US-Stock-/360717697832?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53fc734328

That has optoisolators and the diodes.

There's no need for relays for any of this though. It's all reasonably low currents and could easily be handled with MOSFETs in a much smaller package.

[LordFly]

There's no need for relays for any of this though. It's all reasonably low currents and could easily be handled with MOSFETs in a much smaller package.

Window motors, door popping solenoids and headlights are low current? :hmm:

[nullset]

Window motors, door popping solenoids and headlights are low current? :hmm:

Reasonably so, especially given the exceedingly low duty cycle.

Headlights would probably be the only thing I'd consider medium to high current.

A friend of mine is working on this: www.motobrain.com

[Tomcio]

Window motors, door popping solenoids and headlights are low current? :hmm:

No problem with driving those with MOSFETs. I'm driving OEM cooling fans like this and the transistors don't even get hot.
BTW, those solenoids that change gears in an automatic transmission are driven with MOSFETS.

[LordFly]

Sorry, I'm from the world of small electronics. Anything over 1 amp is high current to me :D

[Spittybug]

That has optoisolators and the diodes.

There's no need for relays for any of this though. It's all reasonably low currents and could easily be handled with MOSFETs in a much smaller package.

Relay board is cheap. $10 for 8 relay and other sizes available. I already have one and it's not very big. I'll take your word that it is overkill, but it's also plug and play, at least from a hardware point of view.


With the interest this thread is generating and with several of our members having considerable talents in this arena, perhaps there is a group collaboration opportunity? I don't see this as an end product that could really be sell-able because of the degree of customization and butchery for an individual to put it in their car. But if the project were "open source" per se, then all could give it a try if they wanted? I'll volunteer to PM it, despite my lack of programming skills. As I've said, I do indeed intend to educate myself on this stuff! Let me know if you are game.....

[Bitsyncmaster]

Those relays are rated for 10 amps max. So they could drive one door actuators maybe the solenoid since they only run for one second. One headlight but probably not two since headlights are on a long time. One window motor as long as you don't stall it to long.

[Exolis]

Those relays are rated for 10 amps max. So they could drive one door actuators maybe the solenoid since they only run for one second. One headlight but probably not two since headlights are on a long time. One window motor as long as you don't stall it to long.

Agreed, Head lamps will probably need a higher rated relay. Do consider the in rush current by a headlamp, I've seen in rush current of up to around 40A, granted it's for a short period of time, but doing that on a low rated Relay will shorten the life considerably. So I would recommend finding bigger relays.

As for programming, Python is on my to do list, probably after I get comfortable with LabView. I do love the idea though. I've been slowly doing some stuff to redo the entire harness with the addition of an IPDM.

[LordFly]

Use those relays to drive the standard 30/40A relays that are available everywhere. Those will run your headlights all day long.
https://socalsac.com/sites/default/files/100_0172.JPG

[Spittybug]

Headlights are not on the list right now, but the limitations of the relays is duly noted.

See the above posts for the preliminary items to be controlled.

[Josh]

Subbed. This is quite the cool idea. Just me brainstorming and would add alot of complexity, but add a temp sensor and a a more detailed program and you could have automatic climate control. Also the fact you can tie this in with the MS for realtime readouts in your dash really perk my ears up!

[Spittybug]

Subbed. This is quite the cool idea. Just me brainstorming and would add alot of complexity, but add a temp sensor and a a more detailed program and you could have automatic climate control. Also the fact you can tie this in with the MS for realtime readouts in your dash really perk my ears up!

:rock_on:

[Kane]

One of my hobbies I get back into every once in a while is home automation. The same ideas and components could be applied to car automation. It wouldn't be that hard to make a full KITT type system that controlled most if not all of the electrical functions of the car and even have voice commands and responses.

Of course, something like that would take it past what a Pi could do, but there is nothing on the technical side that is not realistically possible.

When I get my car back I will probably start tinkering with the same ideas. I had a CarPC/Carputer in my truck that I had before the D and had it doing GPS navigation, media playback, satellite radio, and internet functions such as reading my emails to me or browsing the web.

Extend those functions a bit further with this whole idea of relay control, and you could easily have something that could control all electrical functions of your car. And do it all with a pleasant voice.

And while something like this wouldn't probably be a commercial product, it could easily be written up on blogs such as Hackaday and Jalopnik. And that type of recognition is all this geek is looking for.

[Spittybug]

This thread went quiet.... Here is a picture of what I would envsion the GUI to look like: 25071 This is from Tesla and only the left side would be necessary.

I've found the necessary code to run upon button push to control the relays; it's not very hard. It's the GUI that's......wait for it.......sticky!

[Lightning]

Well, i'm not a graphics person, I just make things work.

[jwrayth]

I've been watching this from a distance since I'm not particularly a Python programmer... but I am a GUI Programmer in the games industry and have a Raspberry PI (Model A) I'm not doing anything with at the moment.

If you were intending to implement this (or at least the view layer) in C/C++, then I'd be able to jump in and start tinkering... but my Python knowledge hovers around zero, and I don't really have the free time to learn it.

[Spittybug]

I've been watching this from a distance since I'm not particularly a Python programmer... but I am a GUI Programmer in the games industry and have a Raspberry PI (Model A) I'm not doing anything with at the moment.

If you were intending to implement this (or at least the view layer) in C/C++, then I'd be able to jump in and start tinkering... but my Python knowledge hovers around zero, and I don't really have the free time to learn it.

I'm a total noob at this....I wouldn't care if it were written in French if it did the task! lol...... Would it matter what language? In my little brain I see it as basically each button calls a little routine, the purpose of which is toggle a relay on or off, either momentarily (while button is held - for window motors) or absolute (lock/unlock). I've see the code to activate the relays and is short and sweet. The ability to do something like a GUI switch that looks like a rocker or slider switch for on/off or a slider switch to control the up or down of the windows... now that is tricky I'm sure!

Am I wrong in believing that the Pi can handle C/C++ code if it has the right interpreter?

[jwrayth]

Pi can definitely handle C/C++ :) If you layered the design of the application correctly so the controller layer (code actually switching relays, returning state information, etc...) could be entirely independent of the View (UI) layer. It would just be a matter of designing/agreeing on an API for the two to interact.

That way the UI could theoretically be replaced without the controller layer needing modification, or allowing for different views entirely (e.g. run the UI elements from a smart-phone app and send commands over Bluetooth to the Pi, and have that then have a Bluetooth view that talks to the control layer).

[Spittybug]

Woooosh.... the sound of your post going way over my head! LOL... not entirely, but a bit.

I'm not sufficiently educated in the programming side to follow the details, but the high level I understand. I also have the relay/car integration side under control and am able to do the mechanical installations etc...
As pointed out earlier, having the default screen upon car startup be the doors/window/other switches on the display is the goal. I'd like to have the ability to "swipe" away that screen to run the Linux version of TunerStudio so that I can observe/edit the Megasquirt system.

I'd welcome collaboration and don't mind being the "mule".

[Kane]

I think you are focusing too much on the GUI being the hard part. To me, the hardware wiring and circuit design of the ways the Pi has to connect to the various relays of the things you want to control seem like a thing to be much more careful about. The software side of things is the easy part to me. And what the button looks like is entirely trivial to me as well.

I am dead serious about designing and completing a project like this when I get my D back. It looks like it would be best to do my own separately from what may come out of this thread.

[jwrayth]

It's all a matter of perspective. A polished GUI can be pretty daunting to implement for someone without experience, where as wiring the electronics in the car is much more comfortable. I'm comfortable with both sides, but not interested in a modification like this for my DeLorean.

The UI to control it all really should come last as Kane suggests though, and be built on top of the underlying control system that talks to your relay/switching hardware setup. So I'd say you need your circuit design locked down first (potentially substituting the GPIO from Pi for a low amperage circuit for testing), then it's a matter of putting together some simple Python scripts to control/poll the GPIO pins.

Once you have it in place to drive your GPIO pins from these scripts, then the UI side is simple enough :) Well, depending how aesthetically pleasing you want it to be.

[Spittybug]

I'm the guy that ripped out K-jet and put in a whole new harness to handle my Megasquirt system :smile: Cutting into the D wiring isn't intimidating to me. My door lock/opener is a home built joystick that sits where the clock used to be. The window switch are relocated too. My auxiliary lights on the car are wired to the center console......

I already have the 8 relay board that is connected to the Pi with just a couple of wires and then one per GPIO pin. I don't yet have the touch screen monitor, but I'm looking at this one or comparable: http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-Inch-TFT-LCD-Monitor-For-Raspberry-Pi-Touch-Screen-Driver-Board-HDMI-VGA-2AV-/121225142642?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c3994e172
25083 As I've said, I'm not a programmer, but some minimal searching and I find code to assign GPIO output to soft buttons. I don't *believe* the hard part is the hardware integration or control. The interface design, aesthetics, coding and other bits I believe are what is beyond me.....




# Tkinter and GPIO together

from Tkinter import *
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO

GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
GPIO.setup(24, GPIO.OUT)
GPIO.output(24, GPIO.LOW)

def toggle():
if GPIO.input(24):
GPIO.output(24, GPIO.LOW)
toggleButton["text"] = "Turn LED On"
else:
GPIO.output(24, GPIO.HIGH)
toggleButton["text"] = "Turn LED Off"

root = Tk()
root.title("Toggler")
toggleButton = Button(root, text="Turn LED On", command=toggle)
toggleButton.pack(side=LEFT)

quitButton = Button(root, text="Quit", command=exit)
quitButton.pack(side=LEFT)

root.mainloop()

[jwrayth]

For the next week most of my "project time" will be taken up with maintenance work getting my DeLorean ready/passed it's MOT. After that if you still don't have a programmer to help out, I'll volunteer :)

[Spittybug]

For the next week most of my "project time" will be taken up with maintenance work getting my DeLorean ready/passed it's MOT. After that if you still don't have a programmer to help out, I'll volunteer :)

You need Ed Chyna's help (Wheeler Dealers) since he made it look so easy on the telly! Where in the UK are you? My grandma used to live in Sydenham until she died in the 90's. My "aunt" lives in Radford Semile outside Lemington Spa. Lovely part of the world. The megasquirt "guru" James lives in Birmingham. I tried to meet up with him a while back but we couldn't make schedules meet.

I'd certainly love to have the help!

[jwrayth]

The MOT work itself is all pretty simple (Replace windscreen washer motor, replace parking brake cables, new parking brake pads, rear fog-light modification, double check bulbs and fluids), it's more that I relocated from England up to Scotland last year and had to store some of my larger tools. So I need to do a couple of trips to get all the tools together, then sit down and do the work, then pack it all back up and get the car off to be tested. Time is never on my side when working on the DeLorean, funnily enough.

I used to drive the DeLorean through Radford Semile on my way to work at Codemasters during the summer days :) Quite miss it now, even though I grew up in Scotland and it should really feel like "home".

But back on topic; I'm going to clean format and set up my Pi for development again over the weekend, then once the MOT work is done I'll be in touch to discuss what you need further :)

[Starglider]

It's all a matter of perspective. A polished GUI can be pretty daunting to implement for someone without experience, where as wiring the electronics in the car is much more comfortable. I'm comfortable with both sides, but not interested in a modification like this for my DeLorean.

Ditto. It's fine as an idea, seems straightforward to implement, I just prefer to keep things 80s looking. I do plan to make something like this if and when I do a custom time machine prop set though.

[robvanderveer]

Don't forget to design a PROPER power supply for that Pi and display. They say electronics and the alternator output of a running engine do not mix well.


Rob

[Exolis]

Don't forget to design a PROPER power supply for that Pi and display. They say electronics and the alternator output of a running engine do not mix well.


Rob

^^ This. Also, it is important when it turns on and off. If it is tied into ACC or IGN, it's going to be on during cranking, so it's also going to have to withstand the voltage drop. It might not sound like a problem, but even the Voltage ripple during cranking can cause all sorts of havoc if it is turning on and off repeatedly or loses power for few milliseconds.

[Spittybug]

I'm planning on either a form of secondary battery system to keep him powered when the car is off (immediate availability) or something that does indeed "isolate" him from the noisy electrical system.

[Spittybug]

Minor victory today. I connected RPi to the relay board and using very simple commands I can turn on/off all of the relays which are capable of switching 10A, 30VDC. I used python language, but I think I have also found the same in C++. Bottom line is that it is only a few lines of code per relay.

1 relay for door locks - locked or open
2 relays per door for windows - momentary switching for up and for down
1 relay for rear defroster
1 relay for auxiliary lighting
1 relay for as-yet-unidentified need

= 8 relays available on my board.

So, the issue of RPi to relay, relay to car wiring has been solved. Bring on the GUI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a lead on a car power shutoff switch http://www.mausberrycircuits.com/collections/car-power-supply-switches/products/2a-car-supply-switch and will continue to pursue the idea of a separate battery.

The touch screen display is next............

[Spittybug]

It looks as if the RPi isn't going to be capable of running Tuner Studio well enough to reliably monitor/edit Megasquirt in real time. Too much overhead for the poor little guy.
The door/window/lights controller is still a go however. I've got a better understanding of controlling the GPIO pins and as mentioned, can turn the relays on/off.
Anyone had a chance to doodle with a GUI?

[Spittybug]

Any ideas from the programmers that stuck their hands up?

My touch screen is "in transit" from China.................... I bought this one: http://www.sainsmart.com/7-inch-tft-lcd-monitor-for-raspberry-pi-touch-screen-driver-board-hdmi-vga-2av.html/

[robvanderveer]

7" how do you fit that display without a proper mounting plate?


Rob

[Spittybug]

7" how do you fit that display without a proper mounting plate?
Rob

I'm working on a custom center console (something like Tillsey's but without buttons) and will be mounting the touchscreen aft of the stick shift. I need the physical unit to get prototypes made, but mocking it up looks very promising.

[Spittybug]

STUCK....

My monitor arrived and I connected it all up. With my virtually non existent programming skills, getting the eGalax touchscreen calibrated just isn't happening. I have a Raspian image, but am not sufficiently educated in Linux to know how to add drivers, know where to park things, etc. I downloaded another guy's image and was able to get it working, but changing calibration settings didn't help. I touch in one place, the action occurs elsewhere..... so close, yet so far...

The documentation from the Chinese manufacturer is of course useless. The driver disk contains a bunch of different folders, none labeled Raspberry Pi. There is a Debian one, but it says for x86, so I think this is not for Pi's processor? Uggg.. lots of Googling. Thank goodness reflashing the operating system is easy.

I need to go find a smart 12 year old.

[robvanderveer]

Connect to a forum like EEVBlog and ask people who do this stuff daily. I'm Arduino based, so i cannot help you with the RPi.


Rob

[Flicky]

How is it going?

I saw a projects that will let you build the UI with HTML forms with some special tags. Think of it as a web page that links to a service running on the RPi that can automate and read the relay states.

My suggestion would be to add a backup camera view when the trans it put into reverse.

[Farrar]

I subscribed to this thread because I have been wanting to re-design the console for YEARS and using a 7" touchscreen LCD was one of the main features I wanted to have. (I am not a MegaSquirt user, though.) Obviously, this is a long way off because my car has other problems, but I enjoy the information posted here and I want to show my support.

So.

Yay!

:D

[Spittybug]

Sorry for the delay, I was at a Dude ranch playing cowboy.....

I've found a guy somewhere in Eastern Europe that has been doing some neat stuff making his RPi into a car entertainment center and providing the images for such. I'm using them to learn from. Getting the touch screen to work properly and calibrate it is a bit more of a challenge than I originally hoped. The Chinese supplier is essentially useless in providing drivers/instructions. The Python scripts to turn relays on and off is simple. The challenge is the GUI and "linking" it to the relay commands.

On the car interior front, I've cut the MDF for the 3 knee pads and epoxied in the bolts. I need to go to the pick a part and get F-150 or comparable air vents to insert (I'm doing away with the silly door vents). I have the bird's eye maple veneer ready to apply.

On the supercharger front, I have the crank pulley! Now I either need to tack on a Vbelt pulley for the A/C, or I need to replace the A/C compressor.

Too many projects in parallel!

[Spittybug]

Dashboard progress.... FYI, these are '02 Mitsubishi Eclipse dash vents. O'Reilly has the plastic hose (2 3/4" diameter) to connect them.

This is birds eye maple, 6 coats of polyurethane. The ends are black rubberized paint with the poly on top. Studs are actually bolts with recessed heads, epoxied in, covered by veneer.

I was hoping to get it more silvery than yellow, but alas..... I have yet to attach the SMLEDs to the underside/backside to illuminate the foot wells. I went with the same multicolored ones (and controller) that I and others have used for the binnacles. I'm also going to attach my Lotus badge to the lower, inner corner of the passenger side piece. I just noticed that I didn't get the 3rd one in the pictures....it's there!

I want to do the same birds eye maple along the center console and embed the video screen just rear of the gearshift.

Opinions? Good or bad welcome, just be polite!

[Farrar]

I've been looking for that style of vent for some time, so thanks for the reference! Neat job!

[Patrick C]

Very cool! Same vents I used, they work well!

[Bitsyncmaster]

My preference would be a dark stain over the maple.

[DrJeff]

The wood has a Kevlar (tm) look.

[LordFly]

Will there be more wood later? No offence, but it looks very out of place with just the 2 pieces.

[Spittybug]

I decided that I did not like the wood despite all the hard work.:sad30:

I did very much like the air vents and the significantly better job of cooling they did. Even though I had sealed up my door vents, these vents seem to pass much more air and it's in a better place. I've therefore installed them into the stock knee pads like Patrick did. Much easier than I had expected to be and they look great. I now need to find a good way to mount the RGB foot well lighting.

Needless to say, the center console will no no longer be designed in wood. I'm thinking SS or maybe carbon fiber. I still want to do it and embed the touchscreen.

[Alan]

I decided that I did not like the wood despite all the hard work.:sad30:

I'm sorry you put a bunch of work into it and ended up not liking it so much but I thought it looked out of place. I think you made a good decision.

[Spittybug]

I'm sorry you put a bunch of work into it and ended up not liking it so much but I thought it looked out of place. I think you made a good decision.

As much as I love wood (see the pics of the dashboards I made for previous Triumph Spitfire restorations, '77 and '79), it doesn't belong in the Delorean.

[Alan]

No argument there. Those are gorgeous. Wood shift knob in the second picture, too?

[Spittybug]

No argument there. Those are gorgeous. Wood shift knob in the second picture, too?
Yup. And if you notice in the first pic, the '77, there is a little lighted switch on top of the gear shift (also wood). That was to put it in overdrive. Neat.

[klaatu42]

Howdy. Just joining the party to share my progress with an iOS version:

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?12085-DeLorean-Control-iOS-App-App-and-Bluetooth-relay-system

Going the Bluetooth route with iOS means that you can mount an iPad Mini in the dash (which is exactly the size of the radio and vents) without having to wire anything to the relays, with the added bonus that you can control the car from your phone outside the vehicle as well. I'll be posting more detail in that thread shortly, including a video showing progress so far on #11633.

Andrew

[blueguse]

Very cool! Same vents I used, they work well!

Hey Patrick, I was looking in on the forums to see if I could find out how to did your momentary switches to control your wings-a-loft. But it looks like I found you. Have any info to share on how you did it?

Thanks

[Patrick C]

Hey Patrick, I was looking in on the forums to see if I could find out how to did your momentary switches to control your wings-a-loft. But it looks like I found you. Have any info to share on how you did it?

Thanks

Hi there! They provide a momentary ground to a relay to trigger the actuators.

[blueguse]

Hi there! They provide a momentary ground to a relay to trigger the actuators.

Well that's straight forward. Thanks for the quick reply.