Working on some custom controls for my vintage air

[scott_fx]

I apologize guys! i never got any reply updates on this thread. i thought everyone forgot about it!


So an update.
here are a few of the hurdles i'm facing:

1) I had a fellow member graciously lend his printing services to help with getting the backplate/artwork nailed down. unfortunately i was never very happy with the results that i was able to achieve. I'm now exploring getting a panel cut out of acrylic or aluminum and will take it from there.

2) i STILL don't have my car back from the shop. it's been well over a year and i'm at whit's end over the entire process. The new 'estimated' finish time is right around the 4th of july. We'll see how that pans out. Unfortunately i can't do any more testing of the controls until i get the car back.... and then there is another pending set back. On august 27th we are uprooting our lives and moving to Massachusetts. So i don't honestly know if i can give this any of my time until the fall or winter, unfortunately. On the upside... i wont be in this time suck of an industry anymore and may actually have more time to dedicate to the project.

3) as far as selling kits. I will promise one thing... I will give an honest effort into getting some boards made (you may need to make a faceplate as they are different for each car) If at any point i do not feel like i can keep up with the demand, offer great quality control or provide tech support of selling them as kits, i will make a detailed 'how-to' so you guys can copy my work. I will also make the code 'open source', so anyone here that knows how to code with the arduino ide can make alterations or improvements to the design. The latter is what i really would like to do. I believe in the community being more powerful than the individual.

Did you ever get this finished? I absolutely love the simplicity of this design. Can you possibly provide a list of components if you aren't thinking about marketing? What kind of micro controller are you using? Something like a Arduino with C# code? Do the knobs directly control the pots and VA system and then the micro controller just displays? Is VA's unit set up for toggle through signals for the vent selection or is that something you're implementing programmatically? Like each time the button is pressed you select a different voltage? I would love to replicate if possible! Thank you! Definitely a product that is very needed in the aftermarket!

it's written for an arduino. i'm testing it on a mega, uno and nano.

v01 will have the pots directly controlling the va system and the unit just being a 'dumb display'. this will get the unit in the car and field testing its ergonomics. vent selection will be a simple diode and resistor and two digital pins. one for 2.5v, one for 5v and then both off for 0v.

v02 will have the pots controlling dac's or digital pots. (so i can put in a feedback loop to maintain temperature). vent selection may be same as above or with a digital pot

va's setup doesn't processing the toggle through signal. what it does recognize is voltage. so for instance. if you want to have just the floor vents on, you give it 0 volts, if you want the upper vents, you give it 2.5 volts, if you want the defrosters on, you give it 5 volts.
so yeah, each time the button is pressed, it will output a different voltage

the list of components are pretty simple:

arduino of choice
dot-matrix led (can probably easily switch it for an alpha numeric display... but it wont be as cool)
3 dacs or a 3 chan digital pot ic
momentary push button
thermistor (for temp feedback)
2 10k pots
various wires, terminals and pcboards

If you are handy with eagle or fritzing and you would like to collaborate on this project, i'd be very interested in talking more about it with you (or anyone).

[cjohnson6772]

Sorry for the delayed reply but thank you for your thorough response! I am mechanical engineer and have a good bit of experience with cad softwares and the like. I must admit I have never done any PCB design but the fritz in software looks like something I would be interested in throwing some time into learning. I also have some arduino experience albeit a couple years back. I am very proficient in C# and programming in general though. Not sure if I can help but I would love to talk sometime and see if I can contribute. I'll PM you my number and you can give me a call at your convenience. Thank you from the whole restomod community.

[scott_fx]

Awesome. I just replied. Your help and expertise is more than welcome! I really would love to get this project into the community...

[scott_fx]

Been a while, but I am almost to the point where I'll be installing my interior. Here is the latest on that project.


https://youtu.be/O7kUlYn3HjM

[reason]

looks very pro- impressive build

[scott_fx]

Thank you. It came out better than expected.


Here it is all assembled and powering up.

https://youtu.be/BbWFiTpDX58

[Whooppass]

Awesome job man

[nvmyss]

Thant is sweet if you decide to make a kit or sell complete units put me on the list.