Guidance Requested : Motorcycle Project :)

Using Arduino Project Guidance
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Hello everyone,

With the help of the very friendly community here at forum.arduino.cc I have been able to successfully make a working speedometer using a hall sensor, a neodymium magnet and the Adafruit 1.8" TFT display. Here it is in action :

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bweq3j9pkf7yN21ZWnQ2VDR5ems2cThtaGREdDJxYURRTlI0/edit?usp=sharing

The end goal of my project is to also be able to do the following things :

  1. Control turn signals ( would like sequential turn signals )
  2. Control Ring of LEDs inside headlight bucket or possibly headlight as well
  3. Speedometer Display
  4. Coolant Temperature Display and Warning

This entire set up would be mounted on a 1980 CX500 such as this one :

1024×768 280 KB

And I would like to switch out my current 1.8" TFT to a larger 5" LCD so that it is more readable. It should sit under a singular analog Speedo and Odometer such as this (in place of the Phone in the picture below):

1600×1066 196 KB

In order to do this I plan on making the following changes:

  1. Switching to an Arduino Due in order to support a 5" LCD Display with higher res and being able to handle things quicker in general.
    Guidance Requested: Being a novice coder, will I have to make drastic changes to switch from the Uno to the DUE?

2.Switching to a 5" TFT Display
Guidance Requested : Which one would you recommend? I have found a few such as :

and http://www.elechouse.com/elechouse/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=148_211&products_id=2237
But I'm afraid I may not appreciate the finer details about these displays. Help here would be appreciated.

3.Buying a better Hall-Sensor and Magnet set up.
Guidance Requested : Currently my project is limited to the breadboard. It works, but it seems as though the magnet has to be quite close to be picked up by the hall sensor. Furthermore the sensor is of the hobbyist variety, so I don't think mounting it to the motorcycle would be a wise idea since it may not withstand the elements very well. I was hoping somebody could point me in the direction of a more hardy and mountable hall sensor & magnet set up.

  1. Buying a MAX7219 for LED control but unsure of LEDs.
    Guidance Requested : I believe I will need a MAX7219 to control multiple LEDs more easily. However, I want to use LEDs sold by motorcycle LED stores since these are waterproof and should last. However I am not sure whether I can use just an LED strip and be able to control it via the Arduino DUE. One such example is this : http://www.customdynamics.com/integrated_led_light_bars.htm

  2. Bonus Question: What's the easiest way to weatherproof this set up? Obviously this project is more for fun than for actual use but say I do get fond of it, are there any cheap and easy ways of protecting the Arduino and display from mother nature?

Help will be much appreciated!

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Anyone?

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Was hoping this might get seen again...

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Hi Astra9,

Q4: your weatherproof leds/led strips are likely to have in-build series resistors for 12V operation. This means the max7219 won't be able to drive them. But your Due should have enough outputs to spare. They can't drive the leds/strips directly either, so you will need transistors of some description. Question is, do these leds/strips use the cycle frame as ground? This is often done in vehicles to reduce wiring. If so, you will need to use something capable of "high-side switching", i.e. between +12V and the LED, rather than between the LED and 0V, which is more usual and easier.

Paul

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Hello Astra9,

Q3: Depends on the polarity of the Hall sensor you are currently using. We often use these hall sensor/magnet set ups in the agriculture industry and if you can provide a link to the one you have I could probably recommend a pretty hardy industrial version.

Q5: Radio Shack sells some pretty nice project enclosures that could provide some good protection from your project. You may have to make a few modifications to the enclosure to waterproof it and to keep your display in place. Though I would recommend soldering on a board and using weatherproof heat shrink to protect your board and wires in addition to enclosing.

Best of Luck,

Meg

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