Meeting Notes 2020-08-05

Questions for Adrian Au:

1 - Extending the camera enclosure to allow for panel mount connectors (to keep everything watertight, especially in the back area near the seam of the car). And how do we wire up said connectors to the camera itself - are there solder pads to break out wires from? - Adrian has some documentation on the interior of the camera. To link.

2 - What are we doing about the batteries in the cameras? We should double-check their use against the regulations, or if we just have to power everything off of the main 5V rail (which we will connect for charging anyways, but should verify with regs. We’ll remove the batteries to be safe (for regs and generally less failure points)

Additional thoughts from Adrian:

I’m thinking that we stick with the existing Mini USB port for powering the Mobius with 5V (instead of soldering our own leads to the PCB). This is since we will probably want to continue to use the Mini USB port to tap into the video signal. Pin-out for Mobius USB cable can be found here: https://www.mobius-actioncam.com/video-out-enable-for-the-hobbyist/

I believe that we can remove the battery from the Mobius and power it via USB without any problems. However, this is only from the sketchy advice that I have read on forums (https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/running-mobius-with-no-battery-and-powering-it.3375/)

Technically speaking, since the Mobius’ own battery will only be charged via the car’s battery, I don’t see this being any major issue with regulations (which only refer to supplemental, replacement batteries). That being said, we should aim to remove the Mobius' own LiPo battery if possible since it really won’t be too happy living in the hot humid solar car under constant-charging conditions. Worst case, if the camera will not operate without the battery connected, there are replacement super capacitors designed to replace the battery for use in dash cam applications (https://www.mobius-actioncam.com/store/products/mobius-super-capacitor-battery-replacement/).

3 - Not pertaining to Cameras, but we’ll keep them all in 1 place. Where is the front killswitch being mounted (both the interior and exterior ones).

Kill switch, Camera, and turn lights all mounted in the same area on the left side of the car, just in front of the door.
Lights and camera mounted on the inside of the car, and removed from the inside of the car. Killswitch is likely removed from the outside of the car. “This area will not be a fun place to work” - Adrian.

Open

The windshield will not be removable.

Removing the lights and the camera:

Open

The lights/camera will pull up, expose the connector, and the connector can be removed from there.

The killswitch can be mounted to a 3D printed plastic piece that is removable in a similar fashion, towards the outside of the car.

Single 6 pin MX150L on the left, Single 4 pin MX150L on the right. These MX150Ls lead to inline microfits that will be removed when the endpoint is pulled upwards as shown.

4 - Will the front electrical enclosure be contained in the dash panel, or will all the electrical components on the dash panel - killswitch, fans , PRND switches, monitor, etc. not be mounted to the carbon fiber panel?

Screen + Buttons + Infotainement unit will be 1 large set. Separate form the rest of the dashboard. Center Console + Pi will live in this area. This means we only need to run CAN and power to this section of the boards.

5 - Can we get a diagram of the dash / front electronics enclosure / Driver display and controls area? Anything mounted directly to the screen?

Pedal board - will live with the brake pedal. Keeps the analog wiring nice and short. Mount in similar location, tubes and such to consider.
This will be a pedal board enclosure that breaks out all onboard connectors to various MX150L off-board connectors. We should have lots of room in this area.

Driver display section will be a standalone unit. 1 input connector is feasible. This will also be separate than the removable cosmetic section of the dashboard. 4 displays, Power for Pi Zero, Pi Zero, and CAN.
Off the shelf CAN transceiver on the driver display Pi (This one uses an MCP2515: https://copperhilltech.com/pican-2-can-bus-interface-for-raspberry-pi/). Also see the instructions here (https://www.beyondlogic.org/adding-can-controller-area-network-to-the-raspberry-pi/) We can make this a hardware task.
https://libre.solar/devices/rpi-can-gw/
https://mx5things.blog/2017/04/28/raspberry-pi-zero-w-for-car-applications/
https://copperhilltech.com/blog/lowcost-doityourself-can-bus-to-wifi-bluetooth-ble-usb-rs485-gateway-based-on-raspberry-pi-zero/

We can make this section 1 unit, with 1 MX150L going to this.

If we need a 3rd Pi, we can communicate with another of those CAN interface boards, or use USB, etc.

6 - Do we have room for an 8 pin MX150L on the top lights enclosure? - See here: Rear Lights and Camera Subsystem Diagram

7 - Driver ventilation fans. 4 fans is still the plan. 16 pin MX150L

Fans will be mounted to the dash. Wires routed along a cable track on the dash to a single connector on the Front Electronics Enclosure. Need to make sure that the fan connector is easy to access when removing the panel.

I knew I forgot something! - fan control - we will assume these potentiometers will be located in the Center console section. We’ll only use 2 wires to reduce harness count, and have a pullup resistor on-board. These will be routed back to the Front Electronics Enclosure

8 - Horn (the sound-making device). Will be mounted on the front near the right side (we use the horn while passing), so it will be a little louder. 2 pin MX150L to the front electronics. Permanently connected pigtail to the horn.

9 - DRLs

6 pin panel-mounted on the enclosure rear face. (1 on each side)

10 - Clockspring wiring

This will have Power, CAN, and all the switch signals running through the control stock.

The clockspring will be our CAN endpoint in the front of the car - so we only need 1 pair of CAN on it.

We’ll assume that CAN through the clockspring will work. If not, we’ll redo the steering board to route all the switch signals the other way through the clockspring. 1 4 pin MX150L on each end.

Steering wheel end: not under the steering wheel. Looking for something between the clockspring and the steering wheel.

4-pin microfit that slides underneath the rear of the steering wheel.
1 end will be panel mount (steering wheel side - won’t break wires when removing the steering wheel), 1 end will be free (clockspring end).

Near the clockspring:
1 MX150L on the back of the clockspring.

Getting around the tilt mechanism - (and telescoping - 3 or 4 inches)
6 inches of slack in the wire around this section should be fine. Plastic conduit around the wires. No connector on the tilt mechanism - if we’re undoing this, the process is involved enough that we should just undo the pigtail to the driver information panel section.