Dyno Load Control

Using Arduino Motors, Mechanics, Power and CNC
1

Hi There!

have been away from Arduino for a while, and i am kind of rusty.

I need help with Load Control on a Water brake Engine Dyno.
Im not going to calculate Torque or Horsepower with the Arduino. ONLY load control.

Using a Arduino UNO R3
Im going to put a Stepper motor (NEMA17) on the load valve, for manualy controlling the load, with a Potentiometer.
(I have pretty much that figured out).

But it would be PERFECT if the Arduino could Auto control this valve, based on Engine RPM, so the RPM would be steady independent of the Torque produced by the Engine.

My plan was to take the signal prom a VR sensor on the shaft, that gives me 60 pulses per Rev, and convert this to squarewave.
Maybe an HallEffect, with 1 pulse per revolution is better?
Max RPM is probably around 8000, maybe 10000.

Im thinkink of som kind of PID regulator here.

Here is a Production one.

http://www.depac.com/images/adl-1280.jpg
http://www.depac.com/images/v-sys-a.jpg (picture of console)

- YouTube (in action Video)

And we are waiting for the manufacturer of the logging system to implement Load Control into the logging Software.

Have anyone done anything in this direction, and understand what im trying to do?
If someone have done a cruise control. It should be similar.

If someone can do the coding for me, i even pay for it.
The Harware stuf, is more my kind of thing.

LarsPerformance

2

Hello Larsperformance , OLD post, I noticed no replys in the forum but many views on the topic , how did you go with you project controlling load on the engine dyno? What water brake dyno do you have ?

Why not have the arduino display Calculated BHp , Torque and RPM ? since your already measuring RPM and torque ?

measuring torque with a laod cell and using a Load Cell Amplifier HX711 Breakout with arduino
Strain Gauge / Load Cell / Wheatstone Amplifier Shield Load Cell / Wheatstone Amplifier Shield (2ch) - RobotShop

Drive shaft speed measuring with a arduino (slotted) hall effect speed sensor shield to get RPM
LM393 Comparator Speed Sensor Module for Arduino (Works with Official Arduino Boards) http://www.dx.com/p/lm393-comparator-speed-sensor-module-for-arduino-150663#.VmUaK9KrSt8

Also add on BHp correction with the aid of Arduino Weather Shield access to barometric pressure, relative humidity and temperature

Controlling dyno load with a stepper motor is a great idea , by selecting a targeted RPM and just crack the throttle Wide Open (Throttle , WOT ) and the adruino clamps down on the targeted RPM testing and HOLD it there with + or - a certain resolution rpm %.

There are enough 0/1 pins for more data logging on the Arduino Mega maybe even for more flexibility using a Arduino Yun for future add_ons.

Arduino Analog Data Acquisition with LabVIEW

Fetch: Arduino Data Acquisition/Oscilloscope (Alpha2 Release)
http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=134913.0

arduino Data Acquisition

1 ... Honeywell vacuum/boost pressure sensors ( 1 bar , 2 bar and 3 bar )
2.... A/F ratio ...... number of channels ( LM-2 Wideband O2 Digital Air/fuel Ratio Meter - Innovate )
3..... MAX6675 Module + K Type Thermocouple Sensor Temperature 0~1024℃ ForArduino
4..... exhaust temp ( above )
5 .... water temp
5...... oil temp
6 ...... OBD2 log all sensors on the EFI engines
7 ...... list is endless what one can capture as raw data and save it on a spread sheet.........

Would be nice to see a Arduino board running such a dyno. All the arduino sensor shields are available at a very nice price.

I have a similar interest that you have.

The DEPAC system is a nice piece of equipment add_on to a water brake dyno.

Bye

water brake dyno.JPG
water brake dyno.JPG800×600 31.7 KB

3

Still an Old thread, but im updating, for you to know.

This thing with DAQ with LabView is a nice thing, but over my head.
And it would have given me endless of possibilities.
But its over my head.

I bought a Dynertia3 DAQ from down under.
They are releasing Closed loop as we speak.

Only drawback is the limited I/O

Im using an Innovate LM2 with some extensions to monitor stuff under Tuning.

An Arduino controls the Stepper/Load with feedback, compared to my setpoint.

Waiting for Dynertia LoadControl release any time.

I know this stuff cost money, but noone is willing to pay for a DynoRun based on LabView and some cheap electronics.
Me and Myself know that Repeatability is the key to success, but owners of the Engines getting Tuned, expect paperwork they can brag about on FB and Forums.

4

Hi
I just found this post. i am looking at converting my old waterbrake dyno to a load cell etc. Peter 351 would you help with info about the convertion using Arduino Mega? if that board is sutable? I am new to this and have very little idea of what is required re programing and setting it up. All the manual works I can do just the electronics stuff i dont know much about.
Many thanks
Mark

5

What do you want to do?

Are you just updating the logging functions, or full makeovermwith auto-load.

Problems i have had with the brake, is to get a valve that is fast enough.
But not to hard to do!

For logging the "Innovate Motorsport" stuff is pretty cheap, and the Software is free

Regards

6

Hi
I would like a full makeovermwith auto-load if possible. It would require to log or print out the graphs. Is it posible?

7

Dragging an old post back up.

I just found this post. I've been working on creating a sketch to use an arduino to capture data from my dyno to be logged using Innovate Logworks. I must be on the right track after reading through this thread.

I have the HX711 to read the load cell, have a hall sensor on the roller triggering an interrupt for RPM, and have it outputting data to the Innovate MTS chain. I ended up just mimicking the LM-1 because I understood the protocol documentation for it best. I didn't figure out the two-way communication required for the newer protocol. It all bench tests ok at the moment. I will update once it is fitted on the dyno and I have some real world logs.

In the future I expect to develop the sketch, or use a second arduino to control the load. At this stage I've found I can get good results simply controlling the tap manually.