A bigger display for the SOC Meter

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evnow

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 22, 2010
Messages
11,480
Location
Seattle, WA
I've been looking for a bigger display for the SOC meter/gauge. The LED display that is used now is 12x40 mm with 4 characters. The idea is to take Gary's SOC software and modify it to make it work with the bigger display in an open source effort.

Must have for the bigger display are
- It must have serial interface
- Libraries for AVR needed in case the display is not a character display (i.e. the display is a graphic one)
- A reliable supply i.e. not a one off unit on e-bay.

Nice to have
- The bigger the better. 16x2 LCD is what I'd consider the smallest.
- The cheaper the better. $50 delivered is the highest I think we should look for.

Ideas ?

The candidates, so far.

1. Sparkfun 16x2 character LCD adapted for serial interface $24.95

Comes in different colors. 71.4x26.4mm.

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9395

09395-01_i_ma.jpg


2. Sparkfun 20x4 character LCD adapted for serial interface $29.95

Black on Green only :( 87.3 x 41.8 mm.

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9568

3. Sparkfun Graphic LCD 128x64 adapted for serial interface $34.95 (out because it needs 6 to 7V input)

The firmware by SparkFun isn't too good - but difficult to update the firmware. 65x35 mm ?

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9351

4. Sparkfun Serial Miniature OLED Module 0.96" $39.95

This would be very nice. It even has a microSD that can be used for logging ! The problem is it is very small - Display Area: 20mm x 14mm.

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8538

5. 132x132 Serial Color Graphic LCD - $35.99

This is the very popular color LCD used by Nokia in 6610 phone. Display is 30 mm x 30 mm (so more than twice the size of OLED above). Works well in day light (like the Nokia phone does). LCD is made by either Epson or Philips.

They are available from multiple sources and on e-bay. For eg. from gravitech.

http://www.gravitech.us/13secogrlcd.html

The LCD is available for $15 from sparkfun or even lesser on e-bay. But it takes 3.3V and can be difficult to solder. So, a breakout board that takes 5V directly from AVR makes it easy for $20 more.

There are a lot of different libraries available to drive the display.
 
I've bought 2 displays. Will see how they work. I'll probably put out the code for both the displays.

1. New Haven : NHD-0216S3Z-FL-GBW - 2x16 Characters, STN-GRAY, Y/G LED backlight, Transflective, SPI & RS232

Important factor was that it has big characters - almost 1 cm tall compared to 0.5 cm for other LCD displays.

http://www.newhavendisplay.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=253&products_id=446

I bought it from onlinecomponents.com for $17.50 + shipping.

http://www.onlinecomponents.com/new-haven-display_nhd-0216s3z-fl-gbw.html?p=37682558

nhd-0216s3z_MED.jpg


2. Nokia 6100 / 6610 Color LCD (PCF8833) Module : 128x128 mini color LCD

From ebay for $16.99. But this is coming from China and will take 2 or 3 weeks to land.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160553758987
 
#1 looks nice, has bigger characters, and is easy to interface (TTL "RS232" = UART).
Please let us know how it looks in the sunshine.

It has a large display, but it is about 5" long, requiring a "large" project box, or mounting the display seperately. Mounting this display higher might be needed because of its limited (10º) viewing angle from above (60º from below, 45º on the sides).

Also, it draws almost 400 ma (about 5 watts from 12v).
 
I somehow linked to this site and found this. I have no idea if it would work for what you guys are doing, but I thought I'd post it here FYI. Seems like a few buttons might be nice for navigating a few screens on the SOC meter.

http://www.mini-box.com/picoLCD-256x64-Sideshow-CDROM-Bay

picoLCD-256x64-Bay-sideshow-b4.jpg
 
At 5.39" wide, it might be difficult to put in a box that would fit well on the shelf below the Nav screen.

I tried to keep to lower power, easy to package, and larger, easy to see characters.
 
It's designed to fit a standard 5 1/4" Computer case slot...

palmermd said:
I somehow linked to this site and found this. I have no idea if it would work for what you guys are doing, but I thought I'd post it here FYI. Seems like a few buttons might be nice for navigating a few screens on the SOC meter.
 
You could always have something like this stickin' out the top of the dashboard:

nixieclock.jpg


:lol:
=Smidge=
 
I have one in a mahogany case at home that I built a few years ago... There is just something cool about Nixies! Mine is from the sublime to the ridiculous though, I used a WWVH receiver to drive it!

Smidge204 said:
You could always have something like this stickin' out the top of the dashboard:
 
ok, put one of these in front of the current dashboard and then display a sweeping needle that has a version of the chart that TonyWilliams developed. In other words have a 0-100 sweeping needle that goes 180degrees like an old fashioned speedometer. In the center, put a SOC value 0-100%. Based on the current SOC put thin needles pointing to the 40, 50, 60, and 70 mph range estimates. Then put a bigger needle pointing to the range estimate based on current speed. As I write this, i'm conflicted. I don't really like the estimate using current speed, and damping with 5sec, 5 minute or other time delays is not good either. Perhaps the estimates alone with SOC is enough.

Anyhow this would be an awesome way to put the extra information from the CanBus right over the top of the current dash.

http://www.planarembedded.com/electroluminescent-display/transparent-display/assets/Transparent-EL-datasheet.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
You could just use one of the large dual needle meters that we Hams have been using for years as SWR/power meters... :lol:

palmermd said:
ok, put one of these in front of the current dashboard and then display a sweeping needle that has a version of the chart that TonyWilliams developed. In other words have a 0-100 sweeping needle that goes 180degrees like an old fashioned speedometer. In the center, put a SOC value 0-100%. Based on the current SOC put thin needles pointing to the 40, 50, 60, and 70 mph range estimates. Then put a bigger needle pointing to the range estimate based on current speed. As I write this, i'm conflicted. I don't really like the estimate using current speed, and damping with 5sec, 5 minute or other time delays is not good either. Perhaps the estimates alone with SOC is enough
 
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