[GJK]

Here is second pic with LED on

[nZtiZia]

there's TWO sensors?!

[Mynoles1]

I will defer to chrisnack on this, but I believe there is only one sensor in question and it supports both displays. Not sure I have heard about a right side sensor that affects the lighting issue.

[chrisnack]

I'm not aware of any sensor on the right, but I can check. I know the one on the left controls both displays.

I had seen similar solutions where people mounted lights like that. That was unacceptable to me. I didn't pay 100k for a SUV to have some random light sticking there. Not to mention the overwash on the display causing glare and a number of other issues.

if that works for you, that's great, but that is not a solution to me personally (my personal opinion only).
I want something that:
1) looks good
2) i don't have to worry about powering up/down
3) responds to varying light conditions automatically

Hence, i designed a solution.

Again, if that works for you, that's awesome, Just doesn't work for me

[chrisnack]

Figured I should post a status update as well.

I finished building the 5 boards i had, programmed and tested them. Also finished the design on the case and pretty happy with how that turned out. I also ordered another 20 boards and components to build those. So should have that stuff in a couple weeks.

I do need to just create the wire harnesses for these 5 and then they will be available, and in about 3-4 weeks or so, i should have those other 20 ready to go as well.

Here are a couple pictures of the case/board assembly. It's about 40mm x 40mm to give you an idea, it's pretty small. Was super happy I was able to get the board size down. I also designed in some mounting tabs so you can easily zip tie the "box", I hate when things don't have that.

These are prototype prints still. The white connectors are the connectors for the power, sensor and led. The 6 pin is the programming port and the 4 pin is for connecting a OLED display to see what the board is doing.

[phillydilles]

Originally Posted by chrisnack

I'm not aware of any sensor on the right, but I can check. I know the one on the left controls both displays.

I had seen similar solutions where people mounted lights like that. That was unacceptable to me. I didn't pay 100k for a SUV to have some random light sticking there. Not to mention the overwash on the display causing glare and a number of other issues.

if that works for you, that's great, but that is not a solution to me personally (my personal opinion only).
I want something that:
1) looks good
2) i don't have to worry about powering up/down
3) responds to varying light conditions automatically

Hence, i designed a solution.

Again, if that works for you, that's awesome, Just doesn't work for me

So I've been going at this programmatically for a bit in KOMBI with no luck, but thanks to our friends on the X3 board, I do believe there are indeed 2 sensors. I've also manually tested the same with a phone flash. See below:

3001 KI_Parameter DFE_HELL_SENS_WAHL worth_01 [03] Comment = Marcel Flesch This parameter configures the brightness sensor evaluation. Sensor 1: the right-hand brightness sensor Sensor 2: the left-hand brightness sensor -> off Combi-sight! DFE_SRS_1198 0: Sensor 1 active; Sensor 2 inactive 1: Sensor 1 inactive; Sensor 2 active 2: Sensor 1 active; Sensor 2 active (average) 3: Sensor 1 active; Sensor 2 active (highest value) 4: Sensor 1 active; Sensor 2 active (lowest value)

Also, rock on... been following this with keen interest!

[chrisnack]

Originally Posted by phillydilles

So I've been going at this programmatically for a bit in KOMBI with no luck, but thanks to our friends on the X3 board, I do believe there are indeed 2 sensors. I've also manually tested the same with a phone flash. See below:

3001 KI_Parameter DFE_HELL_SENS_WAHL worth_01 [03] Comment = Marcel Flesch This parameter configures the brightness sensor evaluation. Sensor 1: the right-hand brightness sensor Sensor 2: the left-hand brightness sensor -> off Combi-sight! DFE_SRS_1198 0: Sensor 1 active; Sensor 2 inactive 1: Sensor 1 inactive; Sensor 2 active 2: Sensor 1 active; Sensor 2 active (average) 3: Sensor 1 active; Sensor 2 active (highest value) 4: Sensor 1 active; Sensor 2 active (lowest value)

Also, rock on... been following this with keen interest!

Great thanks for confirming that! I also tried for awhile to program it, but gave up, just couldn't get anywhere.

[GJK]

Understood. But for now it is lighting the instrument cluster and idrive with very little glare back from the LED light. It looks like a lot on the picture but in real life it is very subtle. Yes I am very interested in your design and look forward to seeing the end results and how easy it will be to install. Don’t need to unplug and plug the USB cable in each time. Once it is plugged into the rear cigarette USB adapter it shuts off after a few minutes when the car is turned off. When you open the door and the display greets you it automatically turns on. Quick fix but looking forward to a permanent solution as to what you are designing. Great job on what you have developed so far.

[chrisnack]

Originally Posted by GJK

Understood. But for now it is lighting the instrument cluster and idrive with very little glare back from the LED light. It looks like a lot on the picture but in real life it is very subtle. Yes I am very interested in your design and look forward to seeing the end results and how easy it will be to install. Don’t need to unplug and plug the USB cable in each time. Once it is plugged into the rear cigarette USB adapter it shuts off after a few minutes when the car is turned off. When you open the door and the display greets you it automatically turns on. Quick fix but looking forward to a permanent solution as to what you are designing. Great job on what you have developed so far.

Thanks appreciate that!

[chrisnack]

Look what showed up today!

[LexxM3]

Originally Posted by chrisnack

Look what showed up today!

Where are you ordering boards and assemblies from again? They seem to do good work at reasonable quantities, at least visually. Do they perform any manufacture testing for you? Do you supply complete part kits or do they source everything for you, including MCU? Any Gerber or any layer data gotchas or is it pretty straight forward and the design rules are explicitly supplied ahead of time? You can PM me if more appropriate. Thanks.

[chrisnack]

Originally Posted by LexxM3

Where are you ordering boards and assemblies from again? They seem to do good work at reasonable quantities, at least visually. Do they perform any manufacture testing for you? Do you supply complete part kits or do they source everything for you, including MCU? Any Gerber or any layer data gotchas or is it pretty straight forward and the design rules are explicitly supplied ahead of time? You can PM me if more appropriate. Thanks.

I have the Gerber, BOM and component layouts from the design and I provide those. I’m having them do the surface mount and then I’m hand soldering the rest for now, as it reduced assembly time and cost to get them to me quicker. This last batch was the quickest I’ve ever gotten them.

I’m doing all the bench testing myself. I have a chunk of boards form one of the first designs that are useless from a PCB design error. There are component shortages so I’ve had to swap components a few times now, but as long as things are the same size it usually works fine.

I usually test the board with a bench power supply and then solder the components, then program the board and test it again to make sure it’s working as expected with the software loaded. Then I would say it’s ready to “ship”.

I’m waiting on some other components but once those show up then I should have roughly 24 boards ready to go. I probably won’t order more until I sell through these as I have quite a bit of money invested in this project at this point.

JLPCB is who I used as they can source the components for assembly.

[Golfnatic]

Please PM me with a price when you have one and I'm also interested in testing for you if you still need that.

[chrisnack]

Just haven't posted for a bit and i usually do at least once a week update.

Had a small malfunction with my printer that took a few days to fix this week. Also dealing with the joys of selling a house, so just been slow going the last couple weeks.

Should have a couple units out to a few people this coming week and am looking forward to feedback on how things work for them.

Probably will be a little slow on updates over the next couple weeks as i'm wrapping up packing and i think we are moving on June 1st. But once that's done and settled, then should have more time to get the rest of the kits together in June.

Thanks everyone for your patience for a little while.

[chrisnack]

Hey everybody.

Couple test units are going out to a few users, will work through any issues with those people and then barring no major issues, will be ready for prime time!

[chrisnack]

I do have one more unit ready to go for someone if they want to be in on the testing.

I don't think I'll change it very much at this point, but if you want to get in early and get a discounted unit, let me know!

[nZtiZia]

did I miss the boat?! your site shows everything's sold out!

[chrisnack]

Originally Posted by nZtiZia

did I miss the boat?! your site shows everything's sold out!

I'll PM you.

[chrisnack]

Here's a video I made to just show what we all have going on with the box. Hope it helps.

[chrisnack]

Here is the installation video:

[Socosurf]

Love the concept here but it's a lot of work just to put a "more hidden" light to trick the sensor. I've been dealing with this issue since I had tint and I almost don't even notice it anymore.

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by Socosurf

Love the concept here but it's a lot of work just to put a "more hidden" light to trick the sensor. I've been dealing with this issue since I had tint and I almost don't even notice it anymore.

i don't know how extensively u followed this issue, but folks experience varying levels of dimness. i remember seeing a video where the displays went extremely dim in one car in daylight conditions i know for a fact my car wouldn't have dimmed that low, not even on a dark night. lighting is subjective which feeds into people's tolerance as well. my sensor appears to function as intended without extremes, and i had no change in dimness after installing ceramic tint.

he admitted a simple USB book light (or similar) could easily do the trick as others have already done, but his "OCD" kicked in. it may seem "a lot of work" for you because 1) your sensor functions properly and 2) you "don't even notice it anymore", but if it were a safety issue because it's too dim to see (as some have reported), i'm sure you wouldn't say the same and would see the value in it.