Interior lights in 16.7 million colors

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Originally posted by 92civicb18b1@Nov 24 2003, 10:05 PM
Who would buy my idea? or actually silverchilds. Does anyone else think its a good idea? I'm actually gonna make a concept one.

I already said I'd buy silverchilds idea.
 
I want silver child's idea. And/or the rpm idea, or just knob idea. They are all neato, aslong as you can screw them on.
 
Originally posted by 92civicb18b1@Nov 24 2003, 03:44 PM
Just incase anyone else wants to tackle this project, you can get leds from LSDiodes.com for like 45 cents each.

The full spectrum LEDs are a bit over a buck a shot. Not bad! I paid 2 a piece for my tri colors from www.superbrightleds.com . I'll keep giving superbright my business b/c they ship fast and the LEDs take a serious beating without burning out.

You can do individual LEDs for the primary colors in the Autometer gauges and behind the gauge cluster, but you'll be hard pressed to fit three LEDs into a shift knob of that size and anything without a diffuser of some sort won't mix the colors properly.

Each color in the LEDs take different voltages. 2 volts approx for red, 2.5 to 3 for green and 4 for blue. The main control box where all the magic happens has trimpots for just that issue. They allow the adjustment of the final output voltage to balance the colors so that when you crank all three dials to max, you get white.

I'll post pics and schematics and all that good stuff when the thing is finished. I'm working on the additional board that will cycle through the colors automagically. The speed is adjustable so you can have a nice subtle change or a full out raver party.

Thanks for all the comments :)
 
Well mine will screw on, then you have to add wires and contacts to make the lights work.

You'll see I'll post it when I do it, i ordered the LEDs today so gimme like a week or so. But it's gonna be kinda ugly cause I'm gonna use the stock shift knob and just make sure that it works before I make a nice one. or maybe I'll try to use fiberglass or clay, I'm not sure yet.
 
I see your point but if only one is lit at a time you'll have no problem.
 
Originally posted by 92civicb18b1@Nov 24 2003, 10:05 PM
Who would buy my idea? or actually silverchilds. Does anyone else think its a good idea? I'm actually gonna make a concept one.

just be sure to post pics when you do a prototype
 
No problem, dude if this works out well can I sell your Idea silverchild? (even thouugh I was the brains of the operation [j/p]). But I really do want to sell it if it looks and works good.
 
**cough** so whatever happened to this idea... :hmm:




:ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r:
 
Originally posted by revolution8k@Mar 15 2004, 06:02 AM
**cough** so whatever happened to this idea... :hmm:




:ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r:
[post=291995]Quoted post[/post]​


tricolor.jpg


Just ordered the last of the LEDs. Also I have installed the circuitry into an armrest (hard to find for my car, so no screwin up). The dials are easy to get at this way, rather than having a box floating around that you have to bend and reach for.

21859_51_full.jpg
 
I'm back, I did make it, it came out looking ok but it was ass, for some reason it wasn't making a good connection I think it was because of the vibration in the shifter, and the LED's were flickering on and off. I'm sure i could have fixed it but I just ended up ditching the idea.

Oh yea, it did work just needed some improvement. Like I said instead of spending time to do it I just ditched it. When I did it, it actually would have been way too expensive to market. Not to mention the install would be more than the average person would want. Let me break it down as best as I can remember.

The contacts:
You need 6 contacts, one for each gear including reverse. Not to expensive to buy, but without the proper machinery it's time consuming. Then you need to strip part of the shifter, so the shifter is able to be grounded (this is nessasary to light the leds). The positioning of the contacts are very important, they can't touch each other and the shifter can not make contact to any of contacts besides the one for the gear it's in.

The LEDs and placement:
Your going to also need 6 LED's, one for each gear.
The shift knob, has to be a universal so the wires are allowed to pass down the shifter. Also most expensive part and takes time to drill each hole perfectly to fit the LED's.

Wiring:
This is technically pretty simple, 12 wires. 6 wires from one of the prongs of the each LED has to have a 12 volt source when the car is in the ON or Start position. The remaining 6 wires have to be attached to the contacts to enable the ground connection when it is in gear.

The shifter being grounded is very important. I had some problems with this, I ended up grounding the entire shift linkage and shifter. Mine for some reason wasn't grounded from the start (i don't know why).

I know I'm forgetting bits and peices but I think I layed out the basic procedure. I've been sitting here trying to remmeber every step and am getting tired of the same topic. I'll check back and add what I missed later or next time I see the thread.
 
Sorry you had to abandon it... could have been pretty cool. :)

Here's an idea- instead of trying to turn on an LED for each gear by making the shift lever into a contact, build a simple circuit that monitors engine speed and vehicle speed directly off the ECU. You can make a simple harness that plugs right in between the ECU and the car, or have a few wires that splice in like a VAFC or an RSM.

Your circuit reads the engine speed and vehicle speed, calculates a ratio, then compares it to a table in memory.... then decides which gear you're in and sends out a signal to light something up. You could also make your circuit programmable so that each ratio is user configurable- then you don't have to have pre-programmed lookup information in your little box.

:)

Sound easy?

:lol:
 
Originally posted by Calesta@Sep 7 2004, 10:06 PM
Sorry you had to abandon it... could have been pretty cool. :)

Here's an idea- instead of trying to turn on an LED for each gear by making the shift lever into a contact, build a simple circuit that monitors engine speed and vehicle speed directly off the ECU. You can make a simple harness that plugs right in between the ECU and the car, or have a few wires that splice in like a VAFC or an RSM.

Your circuit reads the engine speed and vehicle speed, calculates a ratio, then compares it to a table in memory.... then decides which gear you're in and sends out a signal to light something up. You could also make your circuit programmable so that each ratio is user configurable- then you don't have to have pre-programmed lookup information in your little box.

:)

Sound easy?

:lol:
[post=387265]Quoted post[/post]​
:lol:

Microcontroller programming is your freind. :nod:
 
I don't know shit about that stuff I dont think I could do that. That would also up the cost a bit. If someone knew how to do it, it would simplify the whole thing.
 
Now that I think of it, LOL, if you had that board thing, it never actaully knows what gear your in, it's just guessing what gear you should be. IE just a shift light.
 
Originally posted by cheese9988+Sep 8 2004, 11:29 PM-->
Microcontroller programming is your freind. :nod:
[post=387777]Quoted post[/post]​

MmmmmmmmmMMMMMMMM YYESSSSSSSSSS!!! /Yoda

Originally posted by 92civicb18b1@Sep 9 2004, 06:24 AM
I don't know shit about that stuff I dont think I could do that. That would also up the cost a bit. If someone knew how to do it, it would simplify the whole thing.
[post=387845]Quoted post[/post]​


Not really- you'd be surprised how little a simple programmable microcontroller can cost. Hell, the memory chip for your ECU only costs about 2-3 bucks, and it can store quite a bit of information. All you need is a simple chip that you can program with 6-7 different values (1-5 or 1-6 + R) based on a ratio between two inputs (engine speed signal and vehicle speed signal) and you're good to go.

92civicb18b1
@Sep 9 2004, 06:28 AM
Now that I think of it, LOL, if you had that board thing, it never actaully knows what gear your in, it's just guessing what gear you should be. IE just a shift light.
[post=387846]Quoted post[/post]​


If you program it exactly for each car (make it end user programmable) then it's not guessing at all- it knows. It wouldn't be a shift light either- it would work at any engine RPM.
 
HMM, since you know about this why don't you give it a shot, I tried and didn't get the positive result I wanted. Myabe you'll have better luck with it. You'll make some money at the same time.
 
Maybe later- I need money before I can make money, but I'll definitely think about giving it a shot.
 
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