I have been getting quite a few requests for the video harness connectors lately, so since I am not putting those harnesses together anymore, here are some links to the Tyco connectors. They are all part of the Mark II series.
I have put the firmware on sourceforge.net under a project aptly named, IEBus Controller. Its getting to the point where I cannot work on it enough nor make enough progress to warrant keeping it all to myself. This doesn’t mean that I wont be working on the project, but it does mean that I welcome anyone who is willing to help out in making this project a reality.
I decided to do this when I realized that a couple others are working on their own versions of the project and repeating work that I had already done. It’s simply not fair for me to hold out on my progress. I was hoping to get everything perfect then release it all at once, but I think at this point its best that I get more people in the trenches with me to help figure out the problems.
So checkout the project page over at the Sourceforge project page. There is no release just yet, but those wishing to work on the project with me should pull down the latest from the Subversion server. If you send me a message, I can give you access as a developer so that you can commit changes. You will need an account with Sourceforge.net in order for this to work. Also, I suggest tortoiseSVN, it has shell integration and has been very easy for a novice SVN user, like myself, to get used to.
I just finished putting together the prototype board with the relays all working as they should be. Its a nasty looking beast of a prototype board but its working. I will be testing out the features of switching the video and disabling the IEBus signal from reaching the navigation computer while in “PC” mode tomorrow afternoon. For now I have posted some pictures of the board below. Enjoy!
Here is a diagram that I put together to show how I used both the 20 pin and the 8 pin (C) connector together to form a completely plug and playable solution for Dom’s video converter box.
(Both plug N play harnesses featured in this diagram are available for sale through this website. Email robbienewton (at) gmail (dot) com if you are interested)
Just thought it worth mentioning that if anyone needs any of the 16 pin connectors, I have a few available. It came to mind because a guy by the name of Garrick Lau sent me an email asking if I had any I could sell to him. He is working on completely replacing the navigation system in his 04 NSX! He needed the 16 pin for the XM connection that includes XM traffic.
If you would like to check out Garrick’s project page, click here.
With Dave’s help, the video switcher relay circuit is setup and working. I have not yet hooked up the actual wires that control the video toggling on Dom’s unit to the relay because its all pretty well installed in the car. I would do it tonight but its raining outside. For now (testing), the relay is hooked to an LED and will toggle on or off for each touch of the cancel button on the dashboard. That is working perfectly, so when the normal toggle switch for Dom’s unit is removed and the two wires are instead hooked into the relay (replacing the led), I see no reason why it would not work to switch the video over.
Going forward, I am thinking of making the button that causes the relay to flip, programmable on the circuit. I could modify IEBus Studio to handle talking to the unit to program the button sequence and write it to the internal EEPROM. Maybe even putting in a couple more relays that are controlled the same way. So basically you would program a button sequence into the module that will flip a relay to do whatever you want.
Hopefully this nasty weather and the cold I caught from it will subside soon and I can move forward with some more testing. I need to get a working PCB, this breadboard is a huge pain in the ass to lug around.
Anyways, thats all I have for an update right now. I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!
Well its been a long time coming but when I finally received the ‘C’ connectors this week, I made a harness from them to gain access to the ACC for starters. I had installed the PC in the trunk already but was waiting on these parts so that I could hook up the ACC line to have the PC start when I turn the key.
Once it was all hooked up, I connected the IEBus development board, started the Mouse Control test application on the carpc, started up Media Engine (a carpc front end application) and got my wife to test it out with me while I rolled the video camera.
Needless to say, everything is working well together. The firmware is translating the IEBus signals to text and transmitting over serial to the PC, the DLL (built from event discoveries in IEBus Studio) catches those signals and makes them available as software events. The Mouse Control test application has defined event handlers that will move the mouse and click on the location that came over the IEBus when I touch the screen.
Here are a couple pics of the setup:
I have put together a quick video of it that you can see here:
I decided to go ahead and place the order for the C connectors. Due to a request I received in email, I will be selling both a harness that will terminate to a DB9 connector (just like the AH-20 harness) as well as a DIY kit that will come with a plug, cap, DB9 connector and 10 of the special metal connectors needed for assembly of the 8 pin plug (two extras).
C Connector Harness $45.00
C Connector DIY $20.00
I have also decided to offer a DIY kit for the AH20 harness. It will include both the plug and the cap connectors, the DB9 connector and 25 of the special metal connectors needed for assembly of the 20 pin plug (5 extras).
AH20 Connector DIY $25.00
Contact me via, robbienewton [aT] gmail [d0t] com to place an order!
I may be able to get some of the C connectors (8 pin) for the back of the navigation unit. Would anyone be interested in a harness to gain access to the wires on that plug without damaging anything?
So far I have had one person request it and have been thinking about doing it for myself to get to ACC, Power, and Diagnostics in the trunk. With a simple little harness for this you could make any solution involving those wires, plug n’ playable.
Let me know if it would be worth it for me to order some. It has to be a bulk order, therefore it would be quite an investment on my part, so if you care, please leave some feedback.
The reference to the “C” connector is from my 2006 ETM. Click on the thumbnail below to see a PDF with an image of the connector.
I made a video showing a recent test that I did with the latest version of the mouse control software. The software shown in this video will cause the mouse to move to the touch event’s coordinate and click. This is triggered by the touch event handlers in a DLL which was produced by IEBus Studio. The grid application shown in this video is merely there to provide a visual representation of the clicks.
A video of an earlier version of the mouse control app can be see here. It’s a test that was actually performed in the car, live.
And here is the video of the test working perfectly with the IEBus Emulator. I see no reason why this won’t work perfectly in the car once I get the new motherboard for the carpc.