Description of the OpenECU hardware interface I'm working on

Developer topics relating to hardware that interfaces PCs to ECUs

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Postby hrmax » Thu Feb 10, 2005 7:13 am

cboles, any time table on the completion of the cables? I am very interested and I am a software developer myself, so I may be of some help to others as well as things progress.

Max
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Ahem...

Postby bofh » Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:36 pm

I know life has a tendency to intrude, but any progress on the hardware?
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Postby cboles » Fri Feb 25, 2005 6:33 pm

I just got the circuit boards back from China today. I built one up and it is working fine, so I'm sending them off to an assembly house tomorrow and should have finished units back in 2 weeks. Sorry it's taken so long! Maybe I'll set up a site soon so people can pre-order them so I can get them to everyone quickly.

Colby
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Postby bofh » Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:18 pm

Ahem... Any word?
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Postby cboles » Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:59 am

They're working on them. I wasn't able to send the parts to the assembler before I left for a week, so things got pushed back another week. I'm getting an ETA from them today. Once I get them back, everything will be ready to go.
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Postby tones111 » Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:49 pm

cboles,
I'm just getting up to speed on the openecu project, but am excited about the concept and looking for to helping out as much as possible. I don't currently have any OBD-II interface hardware, and am looking forward to hearing about the progress you're making with your interface. The picture of the cable is great, and it looks like it's going to turn out to be a very nice product. I think going the USB route is definately the right choice when looking at the current state of PC periferal interfaces.
As I'm just getting up to speed with the SSM protocol I was wondering if the FTDI chips create any sort of bandwidth limitations. It looks like the SSM interface runs at 4800 baud, so I'm assuming the FTDI drivers don't have any problems maxing that out. Using the FTDI setup is great as there is no need for driver development, and they come in a small form factor. Another option that could be beneficial down the road could be to use a PIC microcontroller (ex: 18F4550) to handle the USB transactions and reap the benefits of using a USB interface on the PC side instead of simple RS-232. Another benefit is that the Pics come in a DIP package and could provide a cheaper (aka: homebuilt) solution. The downside to all of this is that instead of a slick cable, we'd need a box to house the board. It would provide a lot more flexibility and could simplify the PC side of the software though. (just thinking out loud).
Again, I want to reiterate that I think you've come up with an awesome solution and can't wait until they become available. My thoughts were more focused at defining the long term goals of the project and where everyone wants this to go. I think we have an opportunity to really do something special for the subaru comunity and set a precedent for other auto enthusiasts to follow. I'd love to help out in any way possible and will keep my eye on things to see where I can be of use.
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Postby cboles » Tue Mar 22, 2005 4:50 pm

The assembled boards should be shipped back to me tomorrow, so I should be able to start testing and get them out by the end of next week.

tones111:

The SSM protocols are basically half duplex serial at various baud rates, so a USB to RS-232 serial solution like the FTDI chip is ideal because we can then write source code which is relatively platform independent. There are FTDI drivers for Win32, OS X, and linux. In addition, other OBDII programs out there can also use the device and it is compatible with numerous home-made solutions.
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Postby cboles » Mon Mar 28, 2005 5:18 pm

I have the boards back now. I just need to do some testing and pop them into cases - look for an announcement at the end of this week - they should be ready!

Colby
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Postby Hitokiri » Mon Mar 28, 2005 7:24 pm

YYYAAAYYYYY!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTT
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Woo Hoo!

Postby bofh » Tue Mar 29, 2005 2:36 pm

Things should start hoppin now! Ooops... Missed easter. Wrong joke. But summer better than others. :D
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Postby yarikoptic » Thu Apr 14, 2005 8:48 am

Colby,

Will be the interface principal electric schematics ever released open? it is not for replication but for introduction of possible mods.

BTW - do you have spare pins for OBD-II socket available if I would decide to engage couple more of "empty" ones?
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