Hi guys, Dio here.
I am new to Arduino and learning programming and wiring to control my car's exhaust valve, which is not working. I googled and found two diagrams inserted below, but they look completely different. One has 4 wires to the unit and the other has 5. Can anyone explain the diff between them?
Different vehicles different models, different manufacturers. Things change a lot in the automotive industry.
What if they use exactly same actuators? Called Kuster. I would like to know what the differences between the two diagrams are in terms of wiring, excluding programmatic matters.
They cannot be they have a different number of wires. Kuster is probably a brand name same as BMW. Of course there is Congresswoman Kuster, who represents New Hampshire's second district. The odds are slim you will get the help you want without more information and links to technical information on the items.
Lol I didn't know about Congresswoman Kuster. Thanks for the comment anyway.
Yes you are right. The name of the actuator manufacturer is Kuster. They supply the same actuator to Ford, Dodge, Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche. The two sketches attached above are for installing the same OEM actuator to control them.
My questions are here. It looks like the #2 wire on the actuator is the one that controls the PWM. The wire is from MCU, go through a transistor, and connect to the actuator. On the sketches, one has a resistor and one does not. Is there a reason for that? Does the need for a resistor change depending on the input voltage?
Another question is that the other wire in the transistor receives electricity through Power. What does this mean? Does an NPN transistor receive two voltages and output them as one constant voltage?
Just for your reference, The coed I am still working on is here.
#include <PWM.h>
#include <EEPROM.h>
const int pwmPin = #output;
const int SwitchPin = #input;
int LED1 = #; // Indicates Valve Closed
int LED2 = #; // Indicates Valve Open
int LED3 = #; // Power/Programme Running
bool valveState() {
return EEPROM.read(0) == 1;
}
void setValveState(bool open) {
if (open) {
pwmWrite(pwmPin, 203); //203/255=0.796 80% Duty cycle to open. Need to check
} else {
pwmWrite(pwmPin, 51); // 51/255=20% Duty Cycle to close. Need to check
}
}
void setup() {
InitTimersSafe();
SetPinFrequencySafe(pwmPin, 200);
pinMode(pwmPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(SwitchPin, INPUT_PULLUP);
setValveState(!valveState());
}
void loop() {
if (!digitalRead(SwitchPin)) {
setValveState(valveState());
EEPROM.write(0, valveState());
delay(1000);
}
}
Sorry but without more information I cannot be of further help. Maybe you can get access to a service manual on vehicles that use them. Some libraries use to have them but I have not been to one in many years so that may not be valid today.
Yes, this was ages ago...
Both diagrams are "identical" except they use different Arduinos and the second one has 2 extra resistors that shouldn't play an important role.
But I don't agree with you, both units have 3 wires (to the actuator) : top one is 12V, middle one is "signal" and bottom one is Ground. Second drawing has 2 identical actuator connectors/terminals and the switch is wired whereas the first drawing only has one actuator terminal and the switch is to be connected to an other terminal.
The strange thing though is that both diagrams connect the transistor the same wrong way :
Pin 3 is Emitter and should be connected to Ground (gnd)
Pin 2 is Base and should be connected to 10K
Pin 1 is Collector and should be connected to the other resistor(s)
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