Automotive Rim measuring device for straightening purpose.

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi all pardon my newbie status I am looking for advice and any info you guys can give. I need to build a device that can measure in MM the bends in rims so I can record before and after results. I would like to either bluetooth the info to a tablet preferably or a laptop, also while all this is going on could it be live as well. My intent is to find measuring from the inside of the rim the most outer spot at which time I can zero the reading then spin the wheel to find the low spot "point of impact bend" and image that.

At the moment I been using digital dial indicators, which I get excellent results, I build my own wheel fixture and the hydraulic part that works exceptionally well. Being I work at a dealership and use their straightening equipment machine it has a computerized program to straighten the wheel. I built my own due to the fact theirs is not efficient as I would like it to be, in other words painfully slow by comparison. What I do now is take first reading put rim on my device repair it and back on theirs to get a final reading. Nine out of ten times my numbers are better than the programmed tolerances of the machine. I am not going to get this sophisticated a this but need just a reading so see the picture I captured.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated on a shoe string budget too.
Thanks well in advance Best Regards.

machine.jpg
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2

Image from Original Post so we don't have to download it. See this Image Guide

1b39750ae6c8dbaca51d8ef97a9f64f5db928807.jpg
1b39750ae6c8dbaca51d8ef97a9f64f5db928807.jpg2000×1440 229 KB

...R

3

You say you have a digital dial gauge. Can that be coupled to the Arduino (or PC) so that it can read the values? If so, post a link to its datasheet or user manual.

If not then I think you will need to find one that can be.

Until you can get accurate readings into your "computer" the rest is irrelevant.

By the way, if you can connect the dial gauge to a PC I don't see a great deal of value in using an Arduino as man-in-the-middle. But you may have other things in mind.

...R

4

Thank you for the feed back.
1 reason for the arduino would be I can leave it out attached to tool cart and nobody would know what it is and if I could bluetooth to a tablet it would be safe from the sticky fingers who would love to walk away with a laptop.

2 These digital dial indicators do not come with schematics for a hook up, a manual well if you want to see the temp spec it can be used in or battery then that is there.
I guess I have to google more info as you said. Thank You