rxeightr

Guys & Gals,
Just wait until you see what else Hymee has to share with all of us enthusiasts. During his visit to Alabama in the U.S., yesterday we hooked up as Hymee accepted my invitation to come over for a little cookout. It was a treat to have him over & see him again (we got together a year ago in Huntsville during his last visit).

I've thought about going into great detail here on what I think about this guy, but decided to keep it simple by saying, I like how Hymee thinks. Simply put, he is not driven by making money, but by making his RX-8 better suited for his driving style, and offering these to others of like mind.

I touched a prototype PC-based product that easily connects to your RX-8, and allows you to see & record a multitude of signals being fed to your PCM. I cannot remember all of them, but in either english or metric, you can view a needle dial with information such as O2, exhaust temperature, water temp, open loop vs. closed loop, MAF readings, voltage, etc, etc.

This product can be used at idle or mobile. I believe Hymee mentioned it would also be available in a Palm style operating system. The only reason I got to see this product was he wanted to make sure it would work as designed on North American spec RX-8's, which it did.

The recording feature is sweet. I believe it records information 6 times a second, but I could be off there. It may be more often. Hymee drove under varying gearing & throttle conditions while I watched the information screen. While this all was mind blowing, the readings from the O2 & MAF were the most intriging.

That's all I will say for now. I have already pre-ordered mine, as the price range he is talking about will make this affordable to everybody.

Oh, the neatest thing about this product? This is only the beginning. Just hang on, because Hymee has more surprises coming our way. Stay tuned.......

mysql101

what is the price on it, and is it a viable alternative to the canoscan?

G8rboy

Yeah- it sounds a lot like DHarrison's canscan tool/software... is Hymee writing an enhanced front-end for it?

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

I suppose this is my cue to start answering some questions!

It does plug into the ODBII diagnostic port under the dash of every RX-8, so it might sound sound a lot like it. But it is much more. The released version will have a full, professional interactive user interface with a guage style digital dashboard and logging. Here is a very preliminary sample:



Don't take too much notice of the layout and a few of the text lables overlapping. The dials might even take on an even sexier look. I thinking of skinning them to make them look like the RX-8 guages Also - the units are in metric as displayed, but we can offer the option of using US/imperial units if you really want to.

It is also capable of reading the VIN of your vehicle. But more - it can read the "Calibration ID" (CalID) of the current PCM "flash"



You can probably tell (if you look hard enough) that this car has had the "M" flash.

The tool offers the user the ability to read DTC's, as well as clear them. I will let others here explain the benfeits of being able to do that.

I assume you mean a front end for "CanScan"?? The answer is no. We are OEM'ing our own hardware, and writing our own software. The software is written by professional Software Engineers. It is written in .Net, and we plan on releasing a version on PocketPC.

I have been told by a mutual friend (not rxeightr) who owns a "CanScan" it does not have the ability to log AFR's to file. Our unit can log all operating parameters read to file for later analysis. We have some way cool plans in mind for this :D

During the initialization sequence, the unit queries the vehicle for all the available parameters that the vehicle supports. For example, the gauges above don't show the MAF (Mass Air Flow), but I demonstrated to rxeightr when we were driving along the real-time grams/second values available. He was pretty amazed to say the least.

We will release pricing details on my web site in due course. The current intention is to provide the basic scan tool software and required hardware for a very reasonable entry level price, and probably allow people to download the software from the web for free. That means it is easy to distribute free upgrades. We then have a range of more and more products planned that add various levels of value added functionality. The details of that include advanced analysis of operating conditions and other things - details to come with time. Also - start thinking of the possibility of getting the latest "flash" from Mazda and flashing your car yourself And then, perhaps, the next logical step from there....... I'll let y'all ponder that one.

It will be all based around a common peice of hardware :D

I can't talk prices here, unless someone wants to sponsor my advertising budget

Currently looking at a Q4 delivery timeframe. A nice present to want for Christmas (Actually - a November release would be nice, but we are not sure if we will hit that date)

It will also potentially work on ANY CAN-bus based vehicle. I know it will work on the Mazda6 for instance (we have tried it). Initially, since we are '8 enthusiasts, that is where we will concentrate our efforts.

My development partner in this is "sco" from around here. We are both qualified software engineers. My only other qualifications is my "car enthusiast" hat, as well as my contributions around here

Cheers,
Hymee.

PS. I'll post a seperate thread talking about my all too short visit to rxeightr and his family, and the deliciious cookout served up for little old me

Ajax

Hymee,
Looks good. Skin those gauges to match the RX-8 and it'll look really sweet. Course function over form outright should be what you're after.
I guess it makes sense to write it in .Net, though I would've gone java just to maintain platform independence (there might be some linux using 8 owners out there).
Good luck and I can't wait to see the price. This product looks really useful.

JM1FE

Could I respectfuly suggest that you do this in one of two ways...

1. Write it in an OS-agnostic manner where it could be easily ported to various *nix platforms (including OS X) for those of us who do not choose to support a certain vendor from Redmond.

OR

2. Develop it strictly in a Linux environment, and release it on a 'live CD' (e.g. a customised version of Knoppix: http://www.knoppix.net/ ) where people could pop the CD into their own PC and boot/run directly off of the CD - no installation necessary, no disturbing of their PC configuration, and you could make it pretty much a kiosk-like environment.

When I get an 8, with Nav, hopefully, I'll be adding my own computer to display through the Nav screen for entertainment, communications and vehicle telemetry (gpsDrive, for example <http://www.gpsdrive.de>). I'm keeping an eye out for the right deal on a G4 PowerBook with a damaged screen that I can cannibalise for the project. I would love to have this as real-time info integrated into my system.

Please consider alternatives to the monopoly.

Thanks,

mysql101

I don't see any problem with the software running on windows.

timbo

As much as I'd prefer an OSX and Palm OS platform, it makes sense to do what you're doing. Go guys, go (and put me down for a pre-order)

Tim

sco

We hear you on Palm OS, OSX and Linux.

The reason why we're going with .NET is that both Hymee and I are experienced developers on Microsoft technology - that means it is "easy" for us to do the core coding, as we're comfortable with the technologies and this means it takes us less time to write the code, which means lower cost and/or more features than if we were using technology that we're less comfortable with.

Certainly for the first release, we'll be focused on Windows and Pocket PC. In the future we may support other platforms -- no promises though apart from the fact that we'll consider it.

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

Code / platform argument organisers will be banned! This is about something useful to RX-8 owners.

I am more pragmatic about software development, than language or platform religious.

Cheers,
Hymee.

(Sorry - hurried post in DFW airport, boarding in 2 minutes. Bye!!)

G8rboy

Very cool... I'm excited about the possibility of a PocketPC version... I have an iPAQ sitting around doing nothing right now. While I already have a CanScan tool, I'll keep my eyes open for what you have to offer in a few months... keep up the good work.

Liquid Rhino

Nice work Hymee! :D

wakeech

neither do i, but it would cheese me off if i couldn't use such a wonderful product as this without buying a whole goddamned computer for the specific reason of screwing with my car... although i suppose the unscrupulous could pilfer an old VPC program had they the means to run it (i can't remember if you needed an extra card or somethign to do it... i haven't dicked with windows stuff for a very long time).

mysql101

On the flip side, if it had to run on a linux boot cd, or on linux directly, that would make it inconvient for far more people.

Don't get me wrong, I don't care for microsoft either, but my laptop and desktop at home run windows for web development. All my servers run Linux or BSD.

RX8-TX

Java, J2ME and ANY flavor of Java SUCKS! I am not resisting starting a platform war. I had to deal with more stupid Java implementations and stupid platform critters in less than 6 months, than I had updates to do on Windows (I am not kidding) The way to go is either C++ or .Net to be safe. Avoid the Beans.

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

just for the record, the CANScan does log a/f ratio

Ninja

This is too funny. I work for MS and I will not join an OS or Language war. :p

I would be concerned about a self booting solution because then it would essentially have to duplicate the file system (NTFS, FAT32, etc.) to do logging to file.

Hymee, I don't know if you want to release the hardware details (obviously not until you've released the critter)... With enough hardware info someone could write a platform independent version of the "guage" software you're doing. In fact they could do a whole lot more.

This is cool, I would prefer C++ because .Net can be such a memory pig. But that's mostly preference, I definitely understand that you can be a whole lot more productive in C#. I can't say "put me on the list" without knowing the price, but I would definitely consider something like this.

I *can* say that I would definitely be interested in doing some of the software if given the chance. PM me if you need some dev resources or have technical issues that I might be able to help with.

-Dennis

robertdot

Windows or Linux, bootable or not, I'm on a Mac, so it wouldn't help anyway. Though, if I were going to be doing it alot, I'd just buy an old PC laptop to leave in the car (cause this will probably need serial interface, which Mac hasn't had from the factory in ages).

timbo

Good point arises from your comment, robertdot.

Hymee/sco -- is the hardware going to have old style serial plug or USB?

At least if it is USB, it *may* allow Mac users to run under VirtualPC :p

robertdot

If they are running it from the CAN/OBDII interface, I'd bet serial. If not, they'll have to have a box in the middle to turn the serial signals into USB signals.

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

I was just going by what a purchaser of that product told me. I think I also alluded to that, rather than being definate.

Cheers,
Hymee.

Dark8

Or find somebody with an iPac laying around collecting dust. :p I think a CE based appliance would be very handy for this application.

Ninja

Wow, I hadn't realized modern Macs don't have a serial port any more - makes sense I guess. I haven't had anything but a Kernel debugger connected to my serial port in years.

What interface would be used to connect this device to a Pocket PC?

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

A PPC has a serial interface. You just need the correct cable. I have a "Belkin" brand one, courtesy of sco.

As for USB only laptops, we have covered this as this problem has already reared it ugly head. The hardware we use outputs to "normal" serial (aka COM port style). the expensive option is to get a PCMCIA (PC-Card) serial adaptor. The really cheap option is to get a USB-Serial adaptor.

The problem with the "really cheap" ($30 AUD) option is that I tested such a bargain basement product, and they are unreliable. Wildcard uses such an option based on my "certification" process.

So for the "best" option: I am happy to recommend a HymeeApproved USB-Serial interface that stands up to it, and has proven completely compatible. I'll advise exact details etc. when appropriate. I won't sell them, I'll let y'all get them from your "local". It was only marginally more expensive at $42 AUD, so good value.

Cheers,
Hymee.

mysql101

no, send me one, i'll test it even better