Article [13] ST1300 - Gear Position Indicator (Do It Yourself)

[pdfruth]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

So, the photo-cell is not installed in the seven-segment display box. I assume it *could* be, if the box had a clear plastic section on the lid.

Actually, I did install it inside the display enclosure. See photo's below. With my display velcro'd to the base of ST's handle bars (as pictured in my opening post), the sensor is facing straight back and slightly downward. My testing in the garage/driveway works well with this configuration. I've trained it such that;
- With the bike sitting in the garage (nose first), and the garage door open, the display shines brightly.
- With the bike sitting in the garage (nose first), and the garage door closed, the display adjusts itself, and shines dimly. Note: My garage door has one row/panel with windows, so it lets some light in, but it gets dark enough for the light sensor to pick up the fact that it's darker.
- With the bike sitting out on the driveway, in bright diffused light (i.e. mostly overcast), the display shines brightly.
- With the bike sitting out on the driveway, about 30 minutes after sun down, the display adjusts itself, and shines dimly.

So I'm encouraged by my tests with the photo-cell actually inside the display enclosure, in its current orientation. I just gotta get out and do some real-world test rides at dusk. Who knows, its spossed to get up near 60 degrees here on Saturday. Maybe I'll get an opportunity sooner than I thought.

BTW, on my RC51, I have the same setup. But the display is oriented such that the top of the display (where the photo-cell is) points straight up, thru the wind screen. A most ideal situation

Otherwise, the photo-cell could prolly be mounted inside it's own weather-proof (clear-lidded) box/housing (somewhere out in the open). This second box would also be an ideal place for the learn button, for one-handed teaching - one finger for the button, and the rest of the hand to shade the photo-cell (as desired).

Or thirdly, you could put the display and the photo-cell in the gauge-cluster like the other fellow did in the earlier photo(s). But then there's the learn button to add somewhere. Oh, the choices :?:

The choices are endless. The options are limited only by imagination.
The photo-cell I'm using is small enough to be slipped into the empty barrel of an Bic pen. If my testing with the sensor in its current location doesn't work, I may do what the car manufactures do.... drill a small hole in the top of the dash, then glue the Bic pen barrel in with an 1/8 inch of the tip sticking out.

 

[pdfruth]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

.... Pat, did you ever think your post would generate this kind of enthusiasm?

I must say, no, I didn't.
But with all the great, positive, thinkers here... this may just turn out to be something.
Wonderful place to collaborate, isn't it?

 

[st13fundred]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

Sorry pd, didn't mean to waste bandwidth (had a Chris Farley* moment there) in that I didn't see your initial photos already show you DID install the photo-cell inside the your display housing. Don't know how I missed it? Looks great, and even better is that it's working as you had hoped!

Can you please reserve one of your laser-cut boxes for me ? I'll PM you. Thanks!

* Many SNL skits where Chris interviews celebrity personality.. (see youtube videos)
- Chris shyly asks: "Remember when you (insert famous movie, concert, incident)?"
- Celebrity responds with an affirming nod.
- Chris excitedy replies "That was awesome!" (followed by some awkward silence)
- Chris (realizing he asked a rhetorically-obvious question), messes up his hair and says out loud what he's thinking to himself, "Idiot!"
- LOL

 

[Wheels of Fire]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

When I did my project I bought a Bausch & Lomb Magna Visor (head band magnifier). http://www.bizrate.com/learningtoys/oid633693620__nwylf--.html W/O that I could not have done it, period.

You should see the stuff I work on at my job...electronics components this size:

we make automotive airbag sensors/ control mudules.

 

[coldoughboy]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

Hi Pat,

I can't wait to get one one of these on my bike. I WILL be in touch.:bow1:

 

[pdfruth]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

Sorry pd, didn't mean to waste bandwidth (had a Chris Farley* moment there) in that I didn't see your initial photos already show you DID install the photo-cell inside the your display housing. Don't know how I missed it? Looks great, and even better is that it's working as you had hoped!

Sorry that was my fault. You aren't imagining things. I pulled a fast one on ya. Shortly after attaching the picture to post #94, I replaced it with a better one. Demoing a new DSLR.... way better than my little P&S

Can you please reserve one of your laser-cut boxes for me ? I'll PM you. Thanks!

* Many SNL skits where Chris interviews celebrity personality.. (see youtube videos)
- Chris shyly asks: "Remember when you (insert famous movie, concert, incident)?"
- Celebrity responds with an affirming nod.
- Chris excitedy replies "That was awesome!" (followed by some awkward silence)
- Chris (realizing he asked a rhetorically-obvious question), messes up his hair and says out loud what he's thinking to himself, "Idiot!"
- LOL

And who can forget the motivational speaker skit.... "I live in a van down by the river"

 

[pdfruth]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

You should see the stuff I work on at my job...electronics components this size:

we make automotive airbag sensors/ control mudules.

If only I had me some SMT tools... this whole circuit could easily be made to fit inside the display enclosure.

 

[grindz145]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

ive hand soldered 0803 surface mount devices before but thats as small as I really ever want to go by hand. sounds like a cool job though!

 

[pdfruth]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

....I just gotta get out and do some real-world test rides at dusk. Who knows, its spossed to get up near 60 degrees here on Saturday. Maybe I'll get an opportunity sooner than I thought.

Well, it didn't quite make it to 60 here today. But I did get out there and ride. Started 30 minutes before sundown, and rode until about an hour after sundown.

The display switched from bright to dim about 20 or 30 minutes after sundown (perfect). I proceeded to;
- Ride up and down the freeway, under the freeway lights, and in traffic. Other car's headlights all around. Display never flickered.
- Drove down mainstreet (if you can call downtown Castle Rock "mainstreet"), under the city street lights. Display never flickered.
- Stopped at the gas station, to fill her up, on the way home. Sitting under the canopy at the gas station, under bright fluorescent lights. Display never flickered (always staying dim).

And of course, it correctly indicated which gear I was in at all times.

So, all-in-all, I'm quite happy with the behavior thus far. The ambient light sensor circuit & algorithm appear to be "Working-As-Designed", as the say.


Edit: Thank goodness for heated grips ;-)

 

[curmudgeon]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

Pat, in the early 80's we used to buy our groceries in Castle Rock. Last time I was through there I couldn't believe how it has changed. We had a house on 10 acres half way between Franktown and Elizabeth. I worked for Continental Airlines at Stapleton airport. At that time they had only started talking about building an airport east of town.


Phil

 

[Old Vic]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

I think that pdfruth has played a cruel and inhumane trick on us mere mortals! For those of us that are electronically limited, all these wonderous ideas that have been born to reality, only gives us a glimpse of what could be. I for one feel that pdfruth has an obligation to provide a finished product that can be enjoyed and appreciated by the rest of us mortal ST riders.

Didn't Bill Gates start out that way?


Old Vic

 

[ChipSTer]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

I think that pdfruth has played a cruel and inhumane trick on us mere mortals! For those of us that are electronically limited, all these wonderous ideas that have been born to reality, only gives us a glimpse of what could be. I for one feel that pdfruth has an obligation to provide a finished product that can be enjoyed and appreciated by the rest of us mortal ST riders.

Didn't Bill Gates start out that way?


Old Vic

Or at the very least get with someone like Motorcycle Larry and see if they can mass produce them... If I've understood it correctly they should work for nearly any motorcycle...

 

[Lost Dutchman]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

Thanks & kudos to you!! I really gotta admire your effort's and your generosity in giving it to everyone.

For us 1100 owners with the mechanical speedo. Does anyone know of a way to get the gear info to the chip?

Thanks again to pdruth!

 

[Reg_Siemens]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

As another 1100 owner, I've been watching pondering the same and I'm guessing the 1100 owners with ABS should be able to use the ABS pulses, not? I'm also guessing that the standards could be fitted with the VSS pickup from a cruise control unit? Any thoughts pdtruth?

 

[pdfruth]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

...For us 1100 owners with the mechanical speedo. Does anyone know of a way to get the gear info to the chip?

I've been sitting here pondering this too.

.... I'm guessing the 1100 owners with ABS should be able to use the ABS pulses, not?

In theory, the same basic algorithm could be used. So, ya Reg, this should work (in theory). Although just the thought of tinkering with anything in the ABS circuitry kinda gives me the willys, if you know what I mean
I'd have to get a look at the signals with a scope to see if any signal conditioning is required. And there may need to be some scaling adjustments made, based on the frequencies involved. How many teeth are on the ring for the ABS's rear wheel rotation sensor?

The other challenge to overcome is finding a signal to determine engine RPM. On the FI bikes it's easy... just watch the signal from the Ignition Pulse Generator (IPG), as I have done on the ST1300. Older ST1100's don't have one. Most common technique used in that case is to pick off the signal from one of the ignition coils (again, would involve some signal conditioning).

Any ST1100A owners in the Denver area feel like doing science experiments?

.... I'm also guessing that the standards could be fitted with the VSS pickup from a cruise control unit?

I haven't had an occasion to mess with one of these setups. How do they work? How/where is the VSS attached? Is it solid state, or mechanical? Again, would have to get a scope on it to see the signals involved.

 

[Reg_Siemens]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

The cruise control pickups are basically a coil that generates a pulse when a magnet passes by. While I don't have a scope and frankly I wouldn't know what I'm looking for, a VOA meter shows definite pulses when the wheel is rotated.

Here's a photo of the electronic cruise control pickup mounted on my earlier ABS Standard. My current ABS actually has recessed rotor bolt heads so the magnets just sit inside those recesses but the idea is similar.

 

[grindz145]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

something like that would be sufficient for generating a similar gear position signal (only not even close to as accurate) If you could tap off that I could easily modify the code to make it work with a hall effect sensor. Man I love this thread!

 

[John Anthony]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

For those of you in the greater Seattle area who are interested in this project, in another week or so (got to complete a wee bit of work on Maggie's ride), I'll have a GPI installed and tested. I'll also be providing Pat with photos of my installation as well to help with the overall documentation.

John

 

[Marshal_Mercer]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

For those of you in the greater Seattle area who are interested in this project, in another week or so (got to complete a wee bit of work on Maggie's ride), I'll have a GPI installed and tested. I'll also be providing Pat with photos of my installation as well to help with the overall documentation.

John

John:

I'm in a lesser suburb of Seattle: West Covina, CA, and I'd love to get involved in some way, in any GPI activity you have going. If writing a check to help offset your cost will help, I can do that. This is too good a project, too well thought through, to leave alone. Thanks for taking it on.

Marshal

 

[John Anthony]

Re: My home-built DIY gear position indicator - includes plans

John:

I'm in a lesser suburb of Seattle: West Covina, CA, and I'd love to get involved in some way, in any GPI activity you have going. If writing a check to help offset your cost will help, I can do that. This is too good a project, too well thought through, to leave alone. Thanks for taking it on.

Marshal

Marshall - The nice thing about owning an ST is that just about any place is a "short" fun ride away. pdfruth (Pat Fruth) is the guy you want to contact regarding your generous offer of support. I think a lot of us agree with you that this is a very well thought out project that Pat has put together. He's really terrific work.

John