Thread: Return of the onboard wooly computer

Originally Posted by Shenders1

What would one need to receive such a broadcast? Another Woolly Computer? A card + software for a normal computer? Special CIA-issue fillings?

Black rimmed glasses with tape in the middle and/or on each earpiece, a pocket protector, and a tendency to smell funny.

Originally Posted by Shenders1

What would one need to receive such a broadcast? Another Woolly Computer? A card + software for a normal computer? Special CIA-issue fillings?

An FM radio.

Originally Posted by OSIRIS

Black rimmed glasses with tape in the middle and/or on each earpiece, a pocket protector, and a tendency to smell funny.

I do not smell funny

Originally Posted by phobiaphobe

I think Jesus will return before this thing is finished. But hell, maybe he'll need a data acquisition system for his Honda.

It will never be finished, but I hope to have it in a case for some preliminary testing very soon (need to make a cable tonight)

Well case #1 is a failure. I might have to rethink what to make a case out of and/or get a table saw. The plastic is a bigger pain than I figured. The bad part is I doubt a off the shelf case will work.

I think you need to invest in a ruler.

What is your Length, Width, and Height?

Roughly 8 3/16 x 5 1/4 x 2 3/4

Originally Posted by SheepOfBlue

Well case #1 is a failure. I might have to rethink what to make a case out of and/or get a table saw. The plastic is a bigger pain than I figured. The bad part is I doubt a off the shelf case will work.

Check these:

mini-itx.com - store

You could make a mold then do fiberglass or CF?

Originally Posted by SheepOfBlue

Roughly 8 3/16 x 5 1/4 x 2 3/4

And that right there is the difference between a EE and a Civil or Mechanical Engineer.

Originally Posted by navydevildoc

And that right there is the difference between a EE and a Civil or Mechanical Engineer.

Yep my machinist ability has never been great. I can picture it but the translation I still think the answer is plastic or a plastic hybrid though. I have to think on this a day or two.

1) Need tooling for straight cuts on plastic (probably a new blade for said tooling also)
2) The plexiglass I have is to thin for threading into the edge (might not be able to easily get thicker)
3) Non circular holes are hard to cut cleanly into the plastic (though I can get a functional opening easy)

The size and shape of the unit has been very carefully selected and engineered to fit inside a plush stuffed sheep toy normally available for purchase on on popular adult fetish sites. The toy will be fitted with text-to-speech capability so it can whisper lap times, GPS coordinates, brake rotor temperatures, altitude, Lunar date calendar equivalents and "encouragement" via bluetooth headphones.

Release 2.21 will also calculate the distance and lap time differential to Frenchie and offer several "excuse options." (This feature is being tested in MotoGP right now, but I can't tell you which American Fiat Yamaha rider from Texas is doing the development. It's a secret.)

Originally Posted by CBRVFR

The size and shape of the unit has been very carefully selected and engineered to fit inside a plush stuffed sheep toy normally available for purchase on on popular adult fetish sites. The toy will be fitted with text-to-speech capability so it can whisper lap times, GPS coordinates, brake rotor temperatures, altitude, Lunar date calendar equivalents and "encouragement" via bluetooth headphones.

Release 2.21 will also calculate the distance and lap time differential to Frenchie and offer several "excuse options." (This feature is being tested in MotoGP right now, but I can't tell you which American Fiat Yamaha rider from Texas is doing the development. It's a secret.)

Per the rules I beat FrenchieR6 as she could not behave and crashed and it is carefully engineered to fit in the sub frame of an RC

Originally Posted by CBRVFR

The size and shape of the unit has been very carefully selected and engineered to fit inside a plush stuffed sheep toy normally available for purchase on on popular adult fetish sites. The toy will be fitted with text-to-speech capability so it can whisper lap times, GPS coordinates, brake rotor temperatures, altitude, Lunar date calendar equivalents and "encouragement" via bluetooth headphones.

Release 2.21 will also calculate the distance and lap time differential to Frenchie and offer several "excuse options." (This feature is being tested in MotoGP right now, but I can't tell you which American Fiat Yamaha rider from Texas is doing the development. It's a secret.)

OK to the uniformed it would look like I have made no progress (other than a baad case). But I have been busy rebuilding my development area as my old Linux machine is gone. So now I have Linux running on my Mac. Mystery number one was solved when I figured out Parallels (virtual machine for running non-Mac operating systems) cannot directly access USB storage. I like it but it had to be replaced. So I got VMWare (trial version now) and started to prepare a 1GB CF card using Open SUSE 10.3. Well apparently it has a glitch. When I format a card with ext2 format everything appears fine until boot when it rejects the card and falls back to single user mode at 38400 (115200 is the target) thus the boot fails AND I got garbled messages. Figured this out and am trying a different Linux (I have Debian Sarge, Ubuntu, Fedora Core) Major time dump on this as it was hard to debug.

Started to write up the master to do list so I can get more methodical as the new year arrives. Still need to come up with a case design

So not much apparent progress but a lot of virtual progress and learning. I also got my new Mac really setup nicely now with the only exception being a cross compiler (going to do the Linux box first). Though my research says I can set one up and use Xcode for everything but the final make which will be invoked via script. This means I can use the Subversion version control server on it via various machines.

Also with what I found on the cards I should be able to get Sarge up and running so setting up wireless may go better

so what you're saying is its still no closer to working.

Yep I spent the summer riding and waiting for the Mac Mini to be upgraded after I tossed the G4. So no real progress but I did order a new toy for it. I have been looking at CAN bus for a method of connecting peripherals. And found these interesting little bits and ordered one. CAN and a bunch more

CAN? Good lord, just replace the ECU while you are at it...

Originally Posted by navydevildoc

CAN? Good lord, just replace the ECU while you are at it...

2 decades from now when this is complete a custom ECU will be next

On a serious note... why would you want a CAN bus and all of that hassle when the board you are using already has a bunch of A/D inputs? Just seems to be adding complexity.

Originally Posted by navydevildoc

On a serious note... why would you want a CAN bus and all of that hassle when the board you are using already has a bunch of A/D inputs? Just seems to be adding complexity.

I thought that was his intent ... to make the most complex, coolest system out there.

Originally Posted by navydevildoc

On a serious note... why would you want a CAN bus and all of that hassle when the board you are using already has a bunch of A/D inputs? Just seems to be adding complexity.

Still plotting but that way I could have modules for sensors rather than a monolithic system. If I went that route I might either simplify the main system or be able to do more real time calculations/display. The nice thing on CAN is that it is a simple bus, robust in a noisy area, high speed, easy to expand. So I could potentially feed a lot across it if needed. I could even make a display console that runs off CAN.

I looked at I2C but it seemed to be simple but very limited.

Been a rough winter so no progress to report. I did pickup one of these though to play with a Lap Beacon though

SparkFun Electronics - 14 Channel 10Hz GPS Receiver - Venus634FLPx

Could this be a IR detection circuit That triggers on M1 of a XT beacon

Originally Posted by SheepOfBlue

Could this be a IR detection circuit That triggers on M1 of a XT beacon

It could be, but will it work?