RaceChrono Hardware Datalogger - Ideas Please

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  • BTW, I don't think a compass will work on a race car at all. You'll probably have to use gyros for the drift angle.
  • It's kind of an experiment... One requirement to really process it is to compare the magnetic inclanation vs. the satillite true north. And since that's not at the north pole- it will have to be done at each location. Considering the cost of the digital compass, it's not a huge problem if it doesn't work.

    Like I said- it's going to be fun!
    Eric
  • Has anyone tryed this device from mattnj?
    When will you start selling this devices???
  • Is there any info on Race Logger project???
  • I tried that 10 days ago but no response :-(
  • Sorry to hear. The RaceLogger project is by Matt so I have no control over it.
  • edited July 2010
    I just found this thread some days ago.
    First I planned to simulate the OBD reader protocol with a microcontroller to get rpm, throttle and brake data from my motorbike to RaceChrono.

    But this protocol described here is much less complex. :-)
    I'd like to build a simple device counting rpm and having 5 analog inputs.

    Actually there are a few open questions:
    Main question: What ranges are allowed for the data fields?
    Can <rpm> be a 5digit value or is it limited to 9999rpm?
    Whats the full scale range for <a1> to <a5>? Using a 10bit ADC the value 1023 would be nice. Or is there a limit from 0 to 100? (the example data say no, but where is the limit?)

    How can I activate or show the data in RaceChrono Graph? I thought this should be identical to an OBD logger, so I can toggle the displayed data in Liveview.

    Best regards,
    Dani
  • All values saved are signed 16bit, so from -32k to +32k. It should work identical to OBD-II. You can select the RaceLogger channels from Graph properties once they are logged.
  • Thanks for the answer.
    There were two little mistakes in my sentence. I added a "," after the last value and calculated the checksum shiftet by one. :(
    Now its working fine in RaceChrono and I will work on at the hardware part and do some testing.

    Actual, my datalogger (heavy prototype an eval-board) sends data every 200ms (timerbased with crystal). No timestamp is added, because I don't know the GPS's time. My suggestion is to send a GPGGA or GPRMC sentence to the datalogger once (once, because every sentence every 200ms may disturb the datalogging accuracy). Then it can synchronise to the clock an output sentences with timestamp.

    My goal is to make a little inexpensive hardware, to log data from motorbikes without OBD. The project should be simple to build by anyone who can solder SMD parts.
    Give me a few weeks and I'll post the "RaceDataLite" project somwhere in the www and drop a link here. ;)
  • edited July 2010
    If you don't have the <time>, RaceChrono will estimate (guesstimate) the timestamp from the <count> field. This is how it's done for the GPSless RaceLogger too. Timestamp is for future GPS loggers.
  • Dani_Duke: Your project is interesting and very cool !
  • Hi Dani_Duke: I'm sure this will also fit for go-kart. So, best luck to your project. And keep us informed of where you are.
  • @Dani_Duke : I just want you to know that your device is exactly what I'm waiting for ! :-) And I'm not the only one here ;)

    Keep us informed please if it comes to reality ! I'm ready to solder everything needed :)
  • Anyone know if this product ever eventually made it to production? The www.racelogger.com website seems to be unresponsive. All a bit mysterious. Would seem a pity if things didn't come to fruition on this product after all the time and development that apparently went into it...

    I am very interested in running racechrono software, but I need a datalogger like this one in order to do so, as my car (1990 Porsche 944 S2) is pre-OBDII.

    Can anyone point to or recommend any other products that might be suitable?
  • This is the only product I'm aware of that has started development and will interface directly with RaceChrono. I was selected as a Beta tester for this hardware logger, but I'm yet to see one. I think the person running the project is very busy. He told me a month or two ago that he still plans to release the product. It's a shame it hasn't been made for sale yet as I'm sure there would be a good few sales from it. There's one sale here, for starters. If it's not forthcoming by the end of the season, I'll be buying a proper data logger as I need more than GPS and my race car doesn't have OBD.
  • edited August 2010
    Today I'd like to give an update of my work. I already ordered three PCBs for prototypes.
    My logger will be a very simple device. I use an Atmel Mega32 and a BTM112 Bluetooth Module from Rayson.

    It should look like this ;-)
    http://www.imagebanana.com/view/kxvw3mzd/RaceData_top.jpg
    http://www.imagebanana.com/view/q05m5mfq/RaceData_bottom.jpg

    Unfortunately I'm not able to sell complete devices later. I think I'll release the layout and firmware under creative commons license. Maybe I can offer PCBs with a programmed microcontroller soldered on it.
    For use in different environments there is a lot work to do on the software side, because for my needs I hardcoded all parameters (e.g. correction factor for rpm, adc range, bluetooth pin...).
  • Looks good, Dani_Duke... but why SMD? That makes it hard to put together without special soldering equipment?
  • SMD for Surface Mount Device



    You have a guide for this here :


    http://www.infidigm.net/articles/solder/
  • Dani,
    Thanks for the update. Are there any budget or material roadblocks that need to be addressed?
  • We have a different project working right now- using parts from Sparkfun, but are having different problems.

    Logging voltage looks fine- although, I'll have to pre-process the information so that the numbers make some sense- not a big deal. Using the string that was posted in reply to one of my above questions got it going.

    But we are haveing speed and noise issues that I'll post in a new thread.

    Still, the data logger works fine, so far.
  • @alfadriver - is that the logomatic v2 you're using? I have one of them in a box that I've not got round to setting up yet.
  • andylaurence
    I don't actually know- my friend is doing this, since he volunteered for fun. I'll ask, though.

    It's an interesting set up, that's for sure- we even have a serial accelerometer, but it's taking up valuable I/O on the main board, so if we want to run this as a stand alone SD card output, that's going to have to go.

    It's currently working well as a bluetooth connection, as was intended, but since RaceChrono is so good at importing data, then the stand alone option is very appealing. (less risk to a PDA or phone or whatever you use plus easy use for a laptop)
  • When trying to load the racelogger website, I'm getting the message:

    "Error establishing a database connection"

    Things seem to be quickly going from inauspicious to very inauspicious for this project :\

    Very strange. I hope mattnj is OK.
  • The first two prototypes are ready for testing.
    Hardware looks good so far, obviously no layout errors.
    Bluetooth connetion is reliable. About 30m in our assembly hall and 10m inside the concrete building.
    All 5 analog channels and rpm fixed to 5Hz at the moment. I think 10Hz are possible with some firmware changes. But that's a task I have to do later.
    First of all I have to install one device in my motorbike for testing at Nurburgring next week :)

    Then I'll post an update.

    @aol, is it possible to give the Analog 1 to Analog 5 other names inside Racechrono?
  • I can volunteer as a tester if needed. We have a full Challenge series team with mulitple vehicles.
  • Maybe Dani_Duke should start a new thread to discuss developments on his project, and leave this thread to discuss mattnj's racelogger? Might be less confusing.
  • Put me down for one if you're selling them. I've got a sprint on Monday in my ADR.
  • Antti, have you published (or are you intending to publish) the spec for the datalogger protocol you implemented for the Racelogger unit? Perhaps it would be a useful de facto standard for Racechrono dataloggers in case anyone else wants to build or develop their own logger unit.
  • he did post it- read the reply to the same question I asked back in February.

    We've got it working perfectly. Interestingly enough, we are not using the data logging mode- by just adding the properly formatted RC1$, RaceChrono just reads it. Antti has done a great job at that.

    Eric
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