Projects that use the serial port?

So, are there any projects that use the serial port besides the one for controlling your empeg through a palm?

It seems like having the serial port should be invaluble, but I can't think of any projects that actualy "hijack" it and use it for anything besides issueing commands to the player.

Matthew

Off the top of my head:

* The GPS projects read data from the GPS receiver over the serial port.
* Someone made a video generator that uses the notification data sent on the serial port.
* The folks tinkering with car diagnostics use the serial port.

/Michael

Yeah, I just found that the GPS project was actualy getting going tonight. (It's been hiding under some "programing project" thread in programming or something, which i'd been ignoring). I'm checking ebay now for a cheap GPS.

Have the OBD people gotten something going on the empeg? I could have missed that too.

The video titler if i'm not mistaken just took the data from the player software, and didn't write any code for the empeg, righ?

Matthew

Can't find the demo GPS code, any idea where I can get it to take a look?

Cheers,

Yeah, it's hidden in programming about five pages down into the "Programming Project!" thread. There's a screen shot, so someone seems to have gotten it working.

http://empeg.comms.net/php/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=hackers_prog&Number=77301&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=

Matthew

The video titler if i'm not mistaken just took the data from the player software, and didn't write any code for the empeg, righ?

Correct.

Don't know if the ODB boys have anything running yet.

/Michael

Cheers Mate

I have both GPS and OBDII limping along with an accelerometer and serial mux sitting on the work bench.

So, yes, we ARE using the serial port!

Cheers,

Rex.
P.S. The GPS stuff isn't hiding so much as not really being ready for prime time. If I could use the serial port while the player was running it would be in much better shape.

How do you have both GPS and obd2 running simultaneously on the same port?

Calvin

I don't, yet. That's what the mux is for. Both GPS and OBD are low data rates so (in theory) they can be combined into the same stream with no loss. The accelerometer is a very low data rate and should fit in fine as well.

Cheers,

Rex.
[EDIT: I should have pointed out that I have both running, just not at the same time.]

I always liked Hugo's (or was it Rob's?) original idea of having a switch sensor on the passenger seat which would connect to the serial port and automatically invoke a specific Wendy Filter when the passenger seat was occupied.

What happens when two transmit at the same time? Does your mux correct for potential collisions?

Calvin

Oh, it's more than a simple mux. The data streams are buffered at the low speeds (4800 or 9600bps) and sent to the empeg a line at a time at 57,600bps with a prefix to indicate where it came from. No collisions to worry about.

Simple in concept but it's really pushing the PIC I'm using. Might need a faster or bigger chip.

I'd prefer a pressure sensor instead of just a switch. Find the approximate ass-weight of your common passengers and somehow get the different weights to invoke different filters.

Or just have it automatic. When a certain person sits down in the car, invoke that filter by hand the first time, but subsequent visits by someone within 5 pounds will invoke the same filter. If it gets it wrong because the passenger gained weight, then re-invoke the filter.

Even better!

How about a low frame-rate serial cam so we could run face-recognition software?

In reply to:

---

P.S. The GPS stuff isn't hiding so much as not really being ready for prime time.

---

Even if it's not's ready, it's one of the coolest add ons for the empeg yet. Now if only more maps came with latitude and longitude...

Matthew

The GPS stuff isn't hiding so much as not really being ready for prime time.

And the OBD II project? Is that ready for "prime time"? There were lots of people interested in that if I remember right.

The OBDII project is at about the same point as the GPS. (They will eventually be the same codebase.)

However, I have a bad connection in my interface I need to fix before testing more :-(

Does anyone else have the hardware (an ELM323 interface) to use this code?

Cheers,

Rex.

Shouldn't it be easier than that? One could use the Phone Mute Sense as the Passenger Seat Switch, as we are already able to reprogram its behavior with Hijack.

I have some ELM 322 chips, the GM version.

TommyE

I don't know if this product will help at all. I have an OBD-I, so I can't use it (I wish I could) But check it out. Sorry if this is old news.

http://www.abcwc.net/accounts/quanta/

I'm thinking about doing an OBDI program for the empeg - dunno if anyone's seen WinALDL, but I was thinking about doing something not dissimilar. Is anyone else doing this - I can see a lot of mentions about OBDII. Would anyone else be interested?

Cheers.