Hello.
I was thinking I would share 2 projects with you guys that I am going to be working on this winter.
These are going to be made regardless if you want them or not, since I need them :) its just a question if I should bother to document the process and share or not.2 summers ago the top bolt came loose from the cam cover hit the cooling fan and deflected off the engine and embedded itself in my nice new (2 days old) alu rad.
I was doing about 120mph at that time so i felt and heard nothing. But 2 miles down the road i did notice something, near complete loss of power.
Blew both head gaskets, warped both heads and warped the engine block. All this without moving the cooling temp gauge on the dash. Being a total geek and computer nerd i decided that i need to have a pressure logging, teperature and warning system. Sadly i couldn't find one in my price range (sub 12$)
So I am building one. The platform will be an Arduino board with a SD card shield on it.
And i will try and keep it under 30$ for the hardware (it will just be a list of what to buy on Ebay, you can pay as much as you want to the people you buy it from) excluding sensors.
The source code will of course be free, sharing is caring as long as its not chlamydia. Ever driven your Z and you hear that sound that shouldn't be there and instantly your wallet tries to crawl up inside your ass in fear of being the victim of a total engine rebuild?
That happens to me every goddamn time i go for a drive now.
At least this will give me a peace of mind that i got pressure where i want it and coolness where it should be (I will still be paranoid but that's a personality trait i think). So here is a question to you guys. What would you want to log to feel more safe? Would you want to log it with the stock sensor or an external one? Why?
And yes, I know. There are loads of other systems for logging and warning. But they cannot beat the price of 2 pizzas.
The second project is going to be a pwm speed controller for an electrical cooling fan based on speed and temperature (and electrical power steering).
This came about when i realised my daily driver (RS6 C5) would sound like a jet when backing out of my garage but baerly audible when i start moving.
This is a rather nice thing because when you need the power (Going fast) you wont need to spend it on the fan.
And when you need the fan, you are not that in need of power.
So wouldnt it be perfect if you could control the speed of the fan from a simple map with speed on the y axis and temperature on the x axis?
Not very hard to make, so i will be making one for my car.
That code will be free of charge to of course.
No doubt there are people that think this is easy stuff and some might even steal the idea but i know there are at least one person out there that needs it (me) so maby there is more :)
Thoughts? Better ideas?
tl;dr Would there be any interest in a very simple logging system with warning output?
And do you want a fan controller for the price of a Happy meal and a Big mac?
Not peddeling anything here, the one building would be you :) I would just provide you with the means to build it.
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