New digital carb sync board

[tz89]

Here are a few pictures of my new board. A number of you have asked to get one. Please take this Google form survey to help me decide whether to make it available. http://goo.gl/forms/Oupfgt3SeK

 

I'm posting this as a new thread and hope the old thread will wrap up. Please respond here.

 

The first photo using a hot plate to neatly solder the sensors. The pads are big so a soldering iron works. A close up showing the hot plate results. A close up of the soldering iron results. A close up showing alignment of sensor notch with white dot on board.

 

 

Everything else is soldered on by hand using a soldering iron. The finished board before mounting the LCD screen. The parts. The other board hand soldered with 6 sensors for a Valkyrie, with a removable LCD screen. My board layout guy Jenner Hanni helped a lot to get this all in shape.

 

 

The first prototype on the bike. And some early work on a future RPM feature the board is designed to use.

 

 

Typical configuration for a Venture with LCD mounted.

 

Edited November 22, 2014 by tz89

[tz89]

This was the original thread:

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?73158-Built-a-digital-carb-sync

[StarFan]

Hi Tom.

Looking GOOOOOOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anxious to know the decision if you will offer it for sale.

You can certainly sign me up for a unit.

 

 

Friendly regards,

Jonas / StarFan

Edited November 20, 2014 by StarFan

[ChrisFrench]

Hello Tom,

 

I want one here in France

 

Congratulations for the work

[tz89]

I would like some feedback from that group of riders.

[StarFan]

I would like some feedback from that group of riders.

 

Not many Valkyrie riders here but some though.

Have you tried to post on some info about your new gadget on this site ?

http://www.valkyrieriders.com/

[tz89]

I'm not a member or Valkyrie owner. I try to be respectful. But maybe I can join and go easy.

[StarFan]

Well Tom, in my eyes as a motorcycle enthusiast I would look at it as respect if someone introduced such a great invention to me. But I know what you are saying and joining and going easy is one way of doing it.

[MiCarl]

I replied to your survey. A question I didn't ask: How sensitive is it? It needs to read at or better than 10mm Hg.

 

Also, all the other tools out there use units of a column of mercury. So the display should read in either inches or mm (or both) Hg.

[tz89]

I usually set the software to read out in 1/10 inch of Hg. That's practical for setting the sync and reliable.

 

I've tried it at .05" which is about the most accurate it can get. There is no practical need for that much accuracy imho and you have to start thinking about the error rate. You can't use this as a weather station. It will never rival a classic mercury manometer in good working condition which is still the best if you have one. But it is not toxic and way more portable.

 

The sensors I use and recommend using are quite good. Here's the data sheet link: http://www.freescale.com/files/sensors/doc/data_sheet/MPXV6115V.pdf.

Edited November 21, 2014 by tz89

[tz89]

So the display should read in either inches or mm (or both) Hg.

 

btw - thanks. That's a good feature request: ability to change the scale and/or units.

 

Any other ideas please let me know or list them when you take the survey.

[MiCarl]

I usually set the software to read out in 1/10 inch of Hg.

 

That's almost 4X what I asked for. That will work.

[Stealthblade]

I have a buddy with a Valkyrie. We are planning to buy a Morgan over the winter.

I sent him the links to "feel out" his guys on a Valkyrie forum.

 

Seems like putting support behind you would be worth the wait for production.

Nifty tool you have there, and yes, I have followed your progress from the other thread and found it fascinatingly above my head, even though I routinely build computers and servers and do a bit of php programming.

 

Just took your survey, and I liked the questions that were asked.

 

Looking forward to putting my name on the waiting list.

 

Bob

Edited November 22, 2014 by Stealthblade
I had more to say

[tz89]

Thanks to those filling in the survey. it helps a LOT. Keep it up, please.

 

One responder wanted it to be able to power off the bike instead of batteries.

 

Done. All you need is a wire with a barrel jack connected to your bike or dc power. This thing can run on 12v already. Anything from about 4.5v to nearly 18v dc.

Edited November 22, 2014 by tz89

[Prairiehammer]

Thanks to those filling in the survey. it helps a LOT. Keep it up, please.

 

One responder wanted it to be able to power off the bike instead of batteries.

 

Done. All you need is a wire with a barrel jack connected to your bike or dc power. This thing can run on 12v already. Anything from about 4.5v to nearly 18v dc.

 

A suggestion for those who want to power your device from the bike's electrical: consider offering the SAE 2 pole connector common to the various battery chargers/tenders. A lot of people have that pigtail wired into their bike already.

[is-serp]

This is very exciting for me, both as an amateur bike builder, and as a software professional, so first of all I would like to thanks you for sharing this.

Do you have any plans to publish the PCB/schematics and code for this? or maybe open sourcing it so third parties can chime in? Or at least put it on some crowdfunding site?

I'm very very eager to play with this

[tz89]

Thanks! I am thinking of posting the software on an open source platform but have not made that decision or commitment yet. I am naturally inclined to open source, but there a good reasons either way. Stay tuned.

[tz89]

I have one board and parts kit left over from my prototype run. As an experiment I've posted it on ebay.

 

Most forums discourage posting ebay links. You can search on digital carb sync or use the #s

 

111530378990

 

111530378389

[Freebird]

You can post ebay links here, just post them in the right place. Links to Classifieds, Craigslist and Ebay. Anywhere else and they do get deleted.

[tz89]

Thanks. Will do.

[tz89]

Response to a couple of comments from the survey:

 

 

Yes - it does hook up and display all 6 carbs at once. There are 2 rows of 3 sensors and 2 rows of info on the display to match.

 

 

All the drill holes line up so it will be easy to mount in a case. I have not designed or built a case.

 

 

I am considering posting the software on an open source platform but have not committed to that yet.

 

 

Thanks again for the suggestions and questions.

[tz89]

FYI

 

 

The software has been published on GitHub in repository Digital_Carb_Sync_Shield.

 

 

The board files have not been published.

[tz89]

This is very exciting for me, both as an amateur bike builder, and as a software professional, so first of all I would like to thanks you for sharing this.

Do you have any plans to publish the PCB/schematics and code for this? or maybe open sourcing it so third parties can chime in? Or at least put it on some crowdfunding site?

I'm very very eager to play with this

 

 

It is posted on GitHub. See above. The board files, too.

Edited December 1, 2014 by tz89

[tz89]

Here's a picture of a small batch of the final board I just got. The main changes were to replace the voltage switch with a jumper, and evenly align the sensor pads so it looks better.

 

I have one guy doing a build that will help me field test the instructions. I'm still not sure what happens after that - in small quantities it is kinda spendy. I'm having fun with it, though.

 

[tz89]

Some factoids you can help me chew over.

 

I posted info on this Venture forum and on a Valkyrie forum. Those are the two bikes I had in mind to benefit most during design although of course it would work on any multi carb engine (up to 6). There was generally favorable to enthusiastic response from those who posted.

 

My survey attracted 22 responses.

 

My Ebay no reserve auction of a board drew 3 watchers and no bidders. The parts kit did sell to someone who wanted to do a build and bought the kit for convenience.

 

Discussions with a Chinese manufacturer resulted in a cost per assembled board of $150 for small volumes and $61 for quantities of 1000 or more. I could probably sell a kit for that to do it yourself types but that's about it.

 

Now what?

 

I'm thinking that I'll build one more for my brother. I have 2 for me. I have a few more boards and parts kits without sensors. I might hang on to them or make some available to open source collaborators on GitHub. I would swap a board and parts for a nice case if someone has that capability. And I am open to more suggestions. Stay tuned!

Edited December 13, 2014 by tz89