I've invented a gizmo for kit cars

[FW500]

A while back I started to work on a little project for my boy-racer chariot. I wanted to pull data out of my ECU (Autronic) and display on a LCD. I'd therefore be able to monitor useful stuff like charge temps and useless stuff like ignition angle.

After getting that to work nicely I realised that the LCD could be used for more every-day stuff too and what with the boy-racer-mobile chopped in for the Westy I looked for areas that I could perhaps improve.

In the centre of my dash I had a block of warning lamps. The unit was designed with motorbikes in mind so there's a couple of warnings that are irrelivant to me so I got thinking about building a warning lamp console that was completely user customisable. The user can decide what warning lamps to use and what colour they are and then display them on a nice colour LCD.

Here's a video of what I've built:

CLICK ME

Obviously, I need to tidy a few things up and drop the unit into a casing but besides from that I'd really appreciate some feedback - good or bad. I've applied for a patent and hope to be selling these so I need to be sure it's ready for the market beforehand.

[frubpato?]

Its quite cool seeing something like that in development stage .

Questions that come to mind are

1.  Does it default to the indicators evn when you are moitoring something else ?

2. Daytime illumination and nightime dimming ?

3. If this is the only indicator of headlamps or indicators being on  -  does it pass SVA or DVLA regulations?

4. Are you planning on manufacturing or just taking a license fee ?

It would look good instead of the usual T shape of the idiot lights in the westfield  .

What might be even better is a override  -where if a (programmed) critical warning like low charging or oil pressure was sensed , the whole screen became that icon in either amber or red depending .

Keep going though , the fact its user configurable puts it ahead of anythinhg else on the market I would have thought

[bedlam age]

Mazin!

[FW500]

Its quite cool seeing something like that in development stage .

Questions that come to mind are

1.  Does it default to the indicators evn when you are moitoring something else ?

2. Daytime illumination and nightime dimming ?

3. If this is the only indicator of headlamps or indicators being on  -  does it pass SVA or DVLA regulations?

4. Are you planning on manufacturing or just taking a license fee ?

It would look good instead of the usual T shape of the idiot lights in the westfield  .

What might be even better is a override  -where if a (programmed) critical warning like low charging or oil pressure was sensed , the whole screen became that icon in either amber or red depending .

Keep going though , the fact its user configurable puts it ahead of anythinhg else on the market I would have thought

Thanks - I like the idea of the critical warning lamp. I'll try to build in a user option to display a critical warning.

1. If the user has selected indicators then they will illuminate if the selected wire goes live - it's the same for all of the bulbs.

2. The screen is backlit by default (the display looks a bit crap in the vid because there's a cover over the screen and the camera was crap). Dimming is possible with the screen but I've not programmed it as I felt warning lamps should be as bright as possible.

3. I can't imagine it's a no-no for SVA but it'll be worth me checking.

4. I'm planning on manufacturing myself although the casings will need to be outsourced.

[Richgm]

Patent it before someone else does.

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/

[Norman Verona]

Neil, It looks like it can be a very good product and sell very well, depending on price. I won't make any comment about the product but more about it's marketing.

You need to research price. The price must not be based on cost plus something but what you think the market will bear. Research will show you what similar products are priced at (see DT catalogue). Then, when you decide on what people will pay for this you can see if you have sufficient margin for advertising, marketing and warranty costs. You will also need some setup costs, not least legal advice for T's & C's of sale,

Next, please, please redo the video. Even at this stage poorly produced and very long winded video will put people off. A shorter video with the camera on a tripod and a much briefer setup sequence will "sell" your product much better. The set up sequence needs to be much shorter and the finished demo longer. It also needs voice explanation. The titles need to be a different colour (or maybe shown on a blank screen) as they are difficult to read at the moment.

I trust you take the above in the manner it's intended. It's a really good product and needs marketing (even at this stage) far better. The marketing video doesn't only introduce the product but the team behind it. Anything less than perfect has a negative impression.

[ljsanders]

Patent it before someone else does.

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/

I think under UK law its a bit late for that now. its out in the public domain as its been posted on the internet.

[FW500]

Norm thanks very much for the advice. The cost plus comment sounded very very much like something a management consultant colleague of mine used to say about our company's product. I agree completely and I'm not planning on getting rich off the back of this but if it's useful to others then I'm happy to earn a few quid from it.

Thanks for your points about the video. It was knocked up using the missus still camera last night in a dimly lit garage. I'll sort out something better when the unit is properly finished.

The setup sequence will dissappear from the finished product. The unit was intended for something else to begin with but whatever replaces it I'll make it a bit snappier.

Thanks for the input - it's very much appreciated!

[Pilot Pete]

Is t his something similar:

http://www.advantagemotorsports.com/PDG.htm

[Norman Verona]

QUOTE

I've applied for a patent

Patent applied for is good enough.

Neil, you should/can make some reasonable money from this. If you go to the trouble of producing a nice box with quality instruction manual and the product is good as well as having a market then you're entitled to a good return.

Looking at DT's catalogue I would put it's value at £70-£100. The better the case (carbon?) the higher the price.

That's not to say you can't offer a big discount to (genuine) club members.

ps, just to say that I wouldn't want one - probably weighs too much  

[sport 2000 Dan]

Obviously you need someone to do a long term test on it!! hint hint  

Very good idea, and can see a very lage market for this if you do everything right.

Good luck and all the best for the future

Please keep us updated with how it goes and more importantly how much one of them is going to cost, im not going to be the only one who is interested.

P.S any data logging possible??

[bhouse]

Next, please, please redo the video. Even at this stage poorly produced and very long winded video will put people off. A shorter video with the camera on a tripod and a much briefer setup sequence will "sell" your product much better.

Neil -

that looks like a fantastic product with good potential.

I run a video production company and would be very happy to offer help with putting together a short piece to impress potential customers/suppliers/distributors.

Please pm me if you'd like to talk about the possibilities.

Brian

[FW500]

Is t his something similar:

http://www.advantagemotorsports.com/PDG.htm

That's a nice little unit - offering quite a bit more than mine will but it's in a different price league fortunately.

At present I should be able to knock these out for around the £100 mark which considering I paid more than that for the LED block seems fair enough. I haven't priced up getting a nice casing, more ergonomic buttons and proper automotive connectors but at a guess that'll cost around a fiver, but a lot depends on the Euro as that's where most of the components come from unfortunately.

As for the datalogging, it is possible, but the memory on the chip is very limited. My entire program (All the warning lamp program including graphics as well as the Autronic integration) takes up 40% of 256k. that'll creep up to about 60% by the time it's polished off so it doesn't leave much space for storing datalogs. I will be able to build in a memory card reader too but that's for the future and I want to keep the unit compact.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

 I'll have one!

as frubpato said I think it would be a good feature if for critical warning lights like the oil pressure they could flash up to fill the whole screen, but I can certainly see a market for it if priced competively to fill the gap between the digi dash's and the T-shape light clusters.

[simon besant]

when thinking about boxing the unit also maybe offer a unit that can be mounted behind the dash so it fits flush rather than being fixed to the face of the dash and protruding out.  (if that makes sense)