Building a digital inclinometer

Nice project. I'll order parts later this week.

If you wanted to vary the brightness by the stock dimmer knob, it should be straightforward. The dimmer circuit works by raising the ground voltage for the lights. The difference between that voltage and 12V is the effective forward voltage of the LEDs, thereby controlling brightness.

You could use something like this to grab the voltage and dim the screen accordingly - 12V = screen off, 0V= screen bright - and with 10bits you have lots of steps in between.

Or maybe I might try that....

 

Absolutely, if you get that figured out I'd love to include that as an option! I can even send you a completed kit so you can work with the actual hardware I'm using. PM me!

I didn't want to make that the only dimming option as some people just want a completely self-contained box without having to hack their truck. So there's a brightness control in the menu with 8 steps.

 

Having both options would be awesome! I'd imagine most of us are probably going to want to hardwire it into the truck anyways so we don't have to worry about a battery and so it turns on and off with the truck.

 

Cool project! I looked into doing this kind of thing however the liability issue was too much. I had an LLC and product insurance (even low numbers) was $5000/yr for the first and $2000 for each additional product. Absolutely ridiculous for small quantities.
Most places do a waiver or disclaimer to avoid the insurance, however that means if someone chooses to sue you, you still have to go out of pocket for legal defenses. Also, if you don't do an LLC (or if you do and don't keep separation of funds) then they can go after your house/car/bank account.
Welcome to the country of the free....such BS.

 

Can't believe no one has repped you for your hard work, enjoy the new green bars.

 

Indeed. However, if they are already pulling power and ground, pulling another wire for the dimmer shouldn't be too hard. For those that are willing to do that, that is.

Anyway, PM inbound.

 

As would I.

The old overhead console temperature and compass section is is where I would want to mount mine as well. I would even be agreeable to sending my empty housing assembly in so that you would have one to measure and test with.

Link to Dizo's image
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd84/Dizodax/TACOMA Temperature Sensor Board/IMG_8646.jpg

 

I was thinking about the overhead console as well. My temp and compass are in the mirror so I have two sunglasses holders. Not sure if the old temp/compass display will retrofit in place of a sunglasses holder or not.

Another idea I had was just above the radio. There's a fair amount of plastic above the cd slot. I haven't had my radio out so I'm not certain it would fit, but someone posted a picture of a tacoma at the SEMA show with an ipad mounted just above the slot so that makes me think it might work.

 

Here is an image of a 07 stock radio. It looks like there would be enough room for a lil screen

 

Yep that's where I'm planning on putting mine. We can pull power down from the overhead lights that are right there, and I'm going to add a little rocker switch so that when the case is folded up it switches off the power.

I'm going to look into getting a little enclosure/adapter 3D printed so people can drop it right in there!

 

Thanks!

 

In for a future sale when they're ready.

 

Great project. As soon as you start selling fully contained ready to mount displays, I'll get one for my Tundra....

 

The problem with mounting solutions is he either has to come up with multiple solutions (for example, 2012+ Tacos don't have the overhead compass screen) or come up with one to keep costs down. I do wonder if the compass panel fits right into 2012+ consoles, but I imagine it would. I don't use the tiny ass front holder for anything since it is so small.

I'd source a display either on here or a junkyard. The people on eBay typically charge out the ass for those consoles or even the compass by itself.

Who knows, being so small what if someone found a way to make an almost "double-din" panel to fit in that pocket above the cupholders. So you'd still have part of the pocket for loose items and the top half for the inclinometer. But then you'd have to look down all the time to see it.

 

Yeah, doing custom enclosures for every truck in existence would be tough, although with a 3D printer it actually becomes possible to prototype and fit things yourself. This is an awesome time we're living in as it's becoming possible for a normal person to produce things that a couple years ago only companies who can invest millions in R&D would ever be able to do.

That's why I want to start with just a standard, stand-alone enclosure that you can stick on your dashboard (or suction cup to your windshield). It'll work with any vehicle right out of the box. Depending on how successful this thing is then I think I'll start looking into custom enclosures on a truck by truck basis. I'll start with the 2012+ Tacomas since I have one and iterate pretty quickly.

 

This is what I'm interested in!

 

Good to hear! I'm glad it will be more universal at first. I don't feel like sourcing a compass assembly or having to go get a Dremel to fit it

 

New video! Here's a walkthrough of the mostly-final hardware and all the various functionality:

http://youtu.be/5C5nn-j0mq0

 

I want one!! Do you have any prices in mind? I think you posted a list earlier. Any changes or still around there.