Directly wiring android phone for display

tfriest · Post by **tfriest** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 4:15 am

I just found out about the race capture/pro and android app display.

How reliable is the Bluetooth interface to the phone for display?

Is there an option to use a USB to RS232 cable to connect from the acquisition box to the phone?

andylaurence · Post by **andylaurence** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 11:45 am

I've not used the RCP Bluetooth, but I've used enough Bluetooth GPS dongles logging to a phone to know that phones tend to be reliable enough for data logging. There's more important things to worry about than working out a hardwired solution for your phone; the logging is all carried out on the RCP, so your data is safe, irrespective of what the phone is doing.

tfriest · Post by **tfriest** » Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:33 am

I have a formula car and use the logger sensors for everything.
So, losing the link to the phone during a race would mean I wouldn't have a water temperature gauge (or anything else that I didn't have redundant gauges for, like RPM).
Bluetooth is also extra power consumption, so the phone is more likely to run out of power...

andylaurence · Post by **andylaurence** » Fri Nov 29, 2013 8:40 am

I think you'll have more problems hooking up a USB cable to your phone in a waterproof manner and finding a phone display clear and bright enough that you can read it whilst driving. Unless you're endurance racing or forget to charge it, I can't see a phone battery going flat during competition. Besides, if you're able to hook a cable up to your phone to connect to the RCP, you could simply use that for power and Bluetooth for data without re-inventing the wheel. I really don't think you'll run into communication issues because of the Bluetooth. Whatever hardware you hack to pieces to make a suitable hard-wired connection will inevitably be less reliable than the heavily tested Bluetooth phone and the solid Autosport Labs product that's designed for the task.

As far as losing the rev counter goes, I would suggest you don't rely upon an Android phone for RPM information. I'd suggest a shift light (or set of sequential lights) for gear shifting. You could use one (or more) of the RCP outputs for this if you so wished, but the OnTick rate of Lua scripting doesn't have the resolution for it. I use a RacePak G2X data logger and its associated display, which gives me 10 shift lights (illuminated in pairs at different revs per gear), gear indicator, RPM (which I've never looked at) and speed (which I've also never looked at. I find that's all I ever need.

F5Pilot · Post by **F5Pilot** » Mon Dec 02, 2013 4:39 pm

I've used a bluetooth gps and with a win ce, and an old AIM DRACK systems (no RF, all hard wired) in the past which both showed spikes in their data when I keyed my radio. I grounded, shielded, and insulated all of my wiring associated with data, now using an XT Racing dash (smallish grey/black screen), which seems to have eliminated the EMI problems. I do not want to add another RF source or recipient to the race car, besides having another task to ensure is working on the grid to introduce errors.

I am interested in evolving to this new solution and would love to get a color/easier to read dash, but it needs to be hard-wired, preferably to the master switch.

Is there another dash solution out there?

andylaurence · Post by **andylaurence** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 9:09 am

I think it's fair to say that what you want isn't RCP and isn't available at the $400 price point unless you're able to write your own Android software and make your own hardware interface (which probably wouldn't be as reliable as Bluetooth). There's lots of systems that fit your criteria. I run a RacePak G2X to give me a dash. I get sequential shift lights, gear position display, RPM, speed and it'd do predictive lap deltas if I did more than one lap. It's about $950 by comparison but each extra channel connects via CAN and costs upwards of $50/channel. There are other more expensive units from various manufacturers.

F5Pilot · Post by **F5Pilot** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:18 pm

Thanks for the reply.

I looked hard at the RacePak G2x, but the complexity and expense of their sensor bus has me disinterested, and is a big part of my interest in this data system.

Frankly, this system is just right, except for the dash.

I was hoping someone had successfully connected a CAN/serial/USB dash to this the system that might work for us.

Thanks
Dave

andylaurence · Post by **andylaurence** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 8:32 am

The RacePak G2x may be complex under the skin, but you don't see that as a user. There's three sockets on the back; power, RPM and CAN. It's absolutely plug-and-play. The down side is the cost of extra sensors, which is why I now use it solely as a dash with my RCP doing all the data logging. I have all the inputs of the RCP for the cost of a few RacePak sensors.