[Mk2] [Generic] Gear Indicator LED display

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scann2
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 7:42 am
Location: Germany
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[Mk2] [Generic] Gear Indicator LED display

Post by scann2 »

Good day all, like many of you, we all like to play with our Two's and during the winter i've been playing around with a nice little project which may interest some of you. More of a technical challenge rather than something really of any use but still its turned out to be quiet nice. Basically i've replaced the small battery indicator dial with a custom made unit with a 20mm 7-Segment display held behind 5mm green acryl plastic with a matt black foil cover with a rectangle hole cutout for the display. The sensor unit mounts and senses the position of the x2 gear shifter rods, those who have looked in there know that they move in a sequence so i've played around and decoded the positions to display the correct gear, this way its much more accurate at determining the position rather than the common method of microswitches clicking on when the gear shifter moves to which ever position.
Also, i've tapped into the -IG tacho signal with a special circuit which makes the gear number flash when ever you reach the desired set rev limit, this is like a gear change indicator too which also beeps when you hit this preset level USeful i suppose if you do some track stuff.
Nice little gadget i suppose but thought i'd share it with you. Cheers.

See here;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fglT8QSb4co
Ren0W
Posts: 1829
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2008 11:38 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: [Mk2] [Generic] Gear Indicator LED display

Post by Ren0W »

Cool !

Make me one in blue? :eye:


So I can bin my Ecliptech shiftlight and EMSpowered digital boost gauge ](*,)
Rob
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Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2004 6:48 pm
Location: Baydon, Wiltshire

Re: [Mk2] [Generic] Gear Indicator LED display

Post by Rob »

Nice bit of work but........

could you tell me the make of your gear knob and where you got it? Been looking for one like that for yonks!
cantfindausername
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Re: [Mk2] [Generic] Gear Indicator LED display

Post by cantfindausername »

Very nice!! Would be interested in one of these as the stock gauge is just taking up space in mine.
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Steve-O 2007
Posts: 6233
Joined: Sun Nov 12, 2006 1:54 pm

Re: [Mk2] [Generic] Gear Indicator LED display

Post by Steve-O 2007 »

nice!! What sort of price will these kits be or is it just a one off for yourself??
GBTurbo
Posts: 138
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 1:25 am
Location: Hants. 1995 Rev 3 Turbo

Re: [Mk2] [Generic] Gear Indicator LED display

Post by GBTurbo »

This is very cool, but I like watching my boost gauge go well over the + mark :D
scann2
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 7:42 am
Location: Germany
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Re: [Mk2] [Generic] Gear Indicator LED display

Post by scann2 »

Evening all, sorry for not replying earlier, been on vacation and getting the MR2 here in Germany ready for the TUeV / MOT / yearly legal road check, not sure what its called in the US?
Well i did the first drive with the prototype yesterdy, it worked great, looks cool to see it changing, note in the video it looks delayed / not in sync but thats since i made two videos and tried to sync them together as though i had two cameras running so its not quiet 100% but shows the principal. Anyway, i real life it works and shifts fine, the only thing that is not quiet working yet is the gear shift system, this should flash the 7-segment display when your preset rpm is reached and sounds a piezo sounder, problems are the following: 1. it sounds randomly at almost any low rpm, the signal to the Tacho (-IG) is not very clean so i will need to clean this signal up. 2. i realised yesterday that (Of course) when in 5th gear it still sounds telling you to change up when in fact you cannot, therefore i need to disable the change function when its in 5th gear, this is not an issue.
Anyway, i have been working on the PCB, i bought a pcb software to do this and i must say its great, see pic of what the pcb will look like. The other pic shows the prototype installed in the centre console, yes i know its complicated and much more so than i ever imagined it to become, theres over 80 components on there which makes the pcb double layer unfortunately. Will post more pics when i get more done ok, and again sorry for the late reply.

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/9575/gksgipcb.jpg
http://img193.imageshack.us/i/cimg0682k.jpg/
http://img121.imageshack.us/i/cimg0685h.jpg/
http://img145.imageshack.us/i/cimg0679p.jpg/
Baktasht
Posts: 240
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:23 pm
Location: Austin, Texas, USA

Re: [Mk2] [Generic] Gear Indicator LED display

Post by Baktasht »

Great work! That would be a neat addition to any mr2.
Quigonjay
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Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2005 8:43 pm
Location: Blackburn

Re: [Mk2] [Generic] Gear Indicator LED display

Post by Quigonjay »

good work buddy, get them on the market :thumleft:
Barnz
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Re: [Mk2] [Generic] Gear Indicator LED display

Post by Barnz »

Loving this, what a great mod!! Obviously i have an auto so i get it for free \:D/ :lol:
Si_Crewe
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Location: Near Dumfries

Re: [Mk2] [Generic] Gear Indicator LED display

Post by Si_Crewe »

I'm a sucker for gadgets like this but whether I'd actually fit one or not would probably depend on how fiddly it is to hook the sensors up to the gear linkage.
To me, it's the sort of thing that'd be cool if it was "plug n play" but if I had to spend a day digging around to get to the gear linkage, I'd probably give it a miss.

All credit to you for doing it. :)
I'm just pointing out that it might not be a huge marketting success if it's hard to fit the sensors.

Also, maybe it'd be better to use a lower-case "r" for reverse, rather than a capital "R", which looks like an "A"?
Unless, of course, the German word for "reverse" actually starts with an "A", in which case please excuse my ignorance. 8-[
Craigo
Posts: 433
Joined: Sat May 12, 2007 4:51 pm
Location: Bath

Re: [Mk2] [Generic] Gear Indicator LED display

Post by Craigo »

always wanted one on my CBR but on a car i cant see the point!

impressive nonetheless.
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