Hardware additions.

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Mekanix1

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2016
59
8
I've added a few things to my head unit but i would like to add more sensors.

First was the external wifi antenna.
Then the extra ground from the display panel ground to the chasis.

And now im wondering how i can add basic arduino sensors.

Such things as:
Accelerometer
Gyroscope
Compas
Light intensity
Preasure
Temperature

Is it as simple as getting the sensor and adding it to the i2c bus or is there a better way?


Another thing is that I'd like to add a battery backup and connect it so that the os recognises it and gives me voltage and temperature. How could i do that ?


And lastly I'd like to change the right tune knob to a rotary knob instead of the spring loaded one. I just dont know if i could get a rotary one to replace it or if i would have to use a rotary encoder and an arduino to translate that into momentary on/off's.

Thanks

Stephen
 
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Mekanix1

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2016
59
8
Cool thanks.
Im subscibed to that thread.
Does the android os sensor suite also include libraries for external sensors and would it recognise a well known sensor if i simply connected it using any of the busses?

As in: could i add a light sensor and have the os recognise that its a light sensor and to use that for diming the screen like a typical smart phone or what is the process to make that happen?
 

pounce

Senior Member
Mar 15, 2008
205
30
Cool thanks.
Im subscibed to that thread.
Does the android os sensor suite also include libraries for external sensors and would it recognise a well known sensor if i simply connected it using any of the busses?

As in: could i add a light sensor and have the os recognise that its a light sensor and to use that for diming the screen like a typical smart phone or what is the process to make that happen?

I guess you read the other thread.

How would the OS auto magically recognize your sensor and know what to do with it?

Do you really have a problem with dimming or are you looking at tinkering with this for fun?
 

popeye70

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2013
58
11
I like Mekanix1's idea...
I would really like to see inclinometer and G meter working in Torque app.
 

Mekanix1

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2016
59
8
I guess you read the other thread.

How would the OS auto magically recognize your sensor and know what to do with it?

Do you really have a problem with dimming or are you looking at tinkering with this for fun?
Just for fun. Id like to add the same sensors that would be in every smartphone. I thought that the framework would be there and all i would have to do is find a way to make it happen.
 
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Mekanix1

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2016
59
8
What is this good for? Is it because of noise in the speakers? Because I have a noise and maybe this is another try for me to get rid of :)
On mine there was terrible emi interference when using the front mic and making calls over bluetooth.
Turns out it was because the ground plain of the display was inducing emi into the mic and feeding it through to the bt module.
I added a ground wire from the display board's ground to the chassis ground and it reduced the noise considrerably.
The next thing i did was disconnect the mic ground and just connect that directly to the chassis ground instead of on the display board and that fixed the problem.
 
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Mekanix1

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2016
59
8
External usb sensors maybe can be easier solution than build them? http://www.yoctopuce.com/EN/products/usb-position-sensors/yocto-3d

However, i think the bigger problem is not hardware, but software: the Android OS of Huifei HU is not a "full and standard Android 4.4" so it is missing some features, like sensor reading capabilities...
I used an android sensor scanner on my unit and it said there was support for a variety of sensors but no input was detected.
I wonder how much one of those would cost to get and if android would recognize it.
I mean the unit does recognize different usb things I've connected.
It recognized a usb keyboard and mouse.
 
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Mekanix1

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2016
59
8
Just tried with an arduino connected via usb.
I uploaded a simple serial command called ping pong.
Basically when the arduino senses a connection to something on the serial it sends the text ping, and using a basic serial terminal app I got the text. Then responded with pong and it responded back. So, There is one way of having communication with an external device to do something useful.

The next thing I tried was upload a sensor suite app. If read a pressure sensor, humidity and temperature along with a real time clock.
Once connected it fed all that information to the serial program. I could see how I could add temperature and vibration sensors to it so that I could read something useful happening in the vehicle. Then I could just add sensors to the drive-train and have a way of monitoring. lots of interesting things to mess with.
Now its just a matter of using processing to create some sort of GIU. Arduino i can play with but processing is stil la mystery to me :p
 
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spy king

Member
Jul 22, 2011
32
1
I have been looking into this as well, but more as a future plan, as I don't have my HU yet.
Would be interested in getting direct sensor I2C support, shall start doing some digging to see how it's dune in regular phones
 

MatthewOgs

Member
Sep 17, 2016
10
1
Boksburg
Did anyone come right with integrating external sensors to these HU units. Would love to use Torques inclinometer functions with an external accelerometer
 

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    Just tried with an arduino connected via usb.
    I uploaded a simple serial command called ping pong.
    Basically when the arduino senses a connection to something on the serial it sends the text ping, and using a basic serial terminal app I got the text. Then responded with pong and it responded back. So, There is one way of having communication with an external device to do something useful.

    The next thing I tried was upload a sensor suite app. If read a pressure sensor, humidity and temperature along with a real time clock.
    Once connected it fed all that information to the serial program. I could see how I could add temperature and vibration sensors to it so that I could read something useful happening in the vehicle. Then I could just add sensors to the drive-train and have a way of monitoring. lots of interesting things to mess with.
    Now its just a matter of using processing to create some sort of GIU. Arduino i can play with but processing is stil la mystery to me :p