DIY Bluetooth + CAN Bus Gauges! MotorvateDIY Garage Ep.39

DIY Bluetooth Gauges + CAN Bus Gauges! MotorvateDIY Garage Ep.39

In this episode of Motorvate's DIY garage, we will give you an update on something we have been working on for a while... Bluetooth Gauges with iPhone app!! (and a little more... keep reading)

It is reassuring when we can monitor critical engine stats with a quick glance. BUT if you have ever installed any type of engine sensor, it is not quick or easy to get the the wires through the firewall and into the interior. Often the dash needs to be partly removed and you hope there isn't water leak where the cable passes though the firewall.

Last year on the G37, we installed a fuel pressure sensor, engine oil pressure sensor, manual transmission oil temperature sensor and a differential oil temperature sensor for data logging project. (Details in a future episode)

For the fuel and engine oil pressure sensors, it required most of the trim to be removed below the windshield as well as the glove box and some interior trim. About 4 hours later we had the sensors installed and were ready to put the car back together....

This got us thinking... Wouldn't it be nice to have a wireless sensor? Maybe something like Bluetooth? Then, there is no need to worry about getting a cable from the engine to the interior.

Sooooo....
We are now testing the prototype version of the Bluetooth Sensor Server. This will support up to 8 sensors and send the data out to the Bluetooth network.

Then we got thinking about the car's CAN bus... Since there is so much data being broadcast on the car's network, wouldn't it be nice to display some of it in a gauge format? So we added that.

A while ago, a good friend from California (Hey Eugene!!) asked about an air/fuel gauge.
Since that isn't on the CAN bus, we simply added the OBD request to get the current air/fuel ratio.

The end result is that we now have a module that connects to an 8 input Bluetooth Sensor Server, the car's CAN bus network AND can request any OBD data. PLUS the option to record everything to an SD card, for later analysis.


We have more testing to do, but so far things are working very well.

So to wrap up.... As you know, this channel is all about Doing It Yourself.
The plan is to create DIY kits that you can assemble for your own G37.

That's all for now!
Thanks,
Frank @ motorvate