DIY Bluetooth + CAN Bus Gauges! MotorvateDIY Garage Ep.39

[@deancm9302]

Nice work Frank!

[@MotorvateDIY]

Thanks for the comment. It was easier than I expected :)

[@matthewk9563]

This is something I need to learn to do! I got a ESP32with 5" touchscreen to read my ecu's can 2wire signal that I want to display and also other sensors and bluetooth lol

[@MotorvateDIY]

In the new year, I plan on making a few videos to show my strategies to reverse engineer the CAN bus including how to make

[@tki4019tki]

I've been looking for this type of device to monitor: Engine Oil Temp, Engine Oil Pressure, Trans Temp without the large round gauges on my 5.9 Cummins. How far are you along on producing a completed device? The diesel truck guys will love this device!

[@MotorvateDIY]

Unfortunately, since most of the data is from the vehicle's network (CAN bus) it is vehicle specific. This only works on Infiniti G37, Q40, Q50, Nissan 370z and other Nissan / Infiniti models from 2010 to about 2017. Now, the Bluetooth gauges should work on everything, as long as there is a way to install the sensors on the 5.9 Cummins and transmission. There may be a way to get the data off the truck's network (if it has one) , but I don't have access to one and would take many, many hours to reverse engineer.

[@tki4019tki]

Thank you for the reply. There are sensors the 06 Ram network. They show up on my phone app, Torque using a obd2 Blutooth sevice and a digital dash. This year model has a oil pressure switch and a trans temp sensor on the valve body. I was looking for a device that would accept sensor inputs, oil pressure and trans temp taken at the torque converter. I mounted an oil P gauge on the steering column and have considered mounting a trans temp gauge beside it. It would be so much cleaner install to have a DD that accepted these inputs. My race car standalone ecu and tcu accept inputs with calibration maps. These open the door for innovation. I see a need for this product in the HD truck market. We spent alot of money improving the gauges.

[@MotorvateDIY]

I see your point. Let me do some research into the RAM CAN bus network(s) to understand them better. The same hardware can be used to display anything that is on the CAN bus or that can be requested via an OBD mode $01 (live data) request.

[@gsxellence]

Frank has done it again 😃

[@MotorvateDIY]

Thanks for your kind words!

[@gsxellence]

@@MotorvateDIY keep them coming 😌

[@MotorvateDIY]

Will do! In the next few days I hope to have an other update video. MUCH progress has been made and it has a much nicer look and added functionality.

[@ndk2k4]

Awesome progress on this thing

[@MotorvateDIY]

Thanks... I don't want to jynx myself, but most of this went together better than expected. My biggest worry was if receiving the bluetooth data and CAN bus data was going to use too much processing power on the micro-controller... BUT it seems good!

[@scy5]

Subbed! I’ve been putting a lot of time into researching the feasibility of doing a VHR swap in my R34. After watching a lot of your videos, I think your future products will be an asset to the swap

[@MotorvateDIY]

Thanks for subbing Matt! As timer permits I am also working on "CAN bus converters" that should make it easy for engine swaps like int the 350/G35 VQ35DE to VQ37VHR.

[@AutoRevLife]

Could you also read and log data like RPM, speed, or mpg?

[@MotorvateDIY]

Yes! The ability to data log onto a micro SD card has been built in from the the start. It currently logs 31 items from engine oil pressure & temp, coolant temp, individual wheel speed, vehicle speed, RPM, corning g force, engine HP & torque, AWD torque, and many more. I could use the "fuel flow rate" and calculate MPG, but it really isn't important to me... plus the car already has that display.

[@anthonymonge7815]

I am currently researching CAN Bus security (or really the lack thereof). This is a good vid that has helped me in the breakdown of CAN Bus signals to Bluetooth.

[@MotorvateDIY]

Keep in mind that the Bluetooth sensor signals are custom developed by me and have nothing to do with the CAN bus signals. Good luck on your research!

[@anthonymonge7815]

@@MotorvateDIY thanks! Do you have a repo for your software/firmware or is it proprietary?

[@MotorvateDIY]

Good question... I have spent $1,200 in purchasing used ECUs/BCMs/IPDMs/TCMs, etc and have about 2,000 hours reverse engineering the Nissan/Infiniti CAN bus and about 500 hours in product development. The initial plan was to start a business and sell these gauges, but I haven't committed to that just yet. I need to look into liability, international taxes and verify I can sell these in the US. (US import laws may prohibit it) Part of me would like to get a small return for my time and the other part is thinking of giving it all away. Until I figure out what I want to do, I will hold onto everything.

[@anthonymonge7815]

@@MotorvateDIY I can fully respect that. The work I am doing now is for my PhD. I keep it close to the vest because others may try and beat me to it and then I have to find another option. Already happened once. I should be done in about a year. I will reach out when done and show what was discovered. It is more on security of the CAN Bus (which has crappy security now).

[@MotorvateDIY]

Thanks for your understanding! If you are looking at automotive security, you might want to also look at RTL_433 with a $40 "software defined radio" With this, I can get the tire pressures and unique TPMS IDs of the cars that drive by my house...plus my neighbours weather station temp/humidity and much more.

[@silverwinterstorm69]

Awesome sauce. Wondering as to the outputs... This would be perfect for my HUD build.

[@MotorvateDIY]

The wonderful thing about programming a micro controller is that you can convert the data to almost anything :) Tell me more about your HUD set up and let see what we can do :)

[@silverwinterstorm69]

Sorry just read your reply. So far the hud input in HDMI. Next iteration will be a sdiy build using a possible pico projector, with teleprompter as my screen. Plan on fully integration with turns, headlights, obd readout. Basically a raspberry pi in current iteration. I'll load a vid of this build if you like. And next to come. I would love to integrate yours into mine. Complete with infinite focus...

[@silverwinterstorm69]

Granted with just select gauges in driving mode.

[@MotorvateDIY]

I'd love to see a video of your set up!

[@davi5music521]

Any project website? How you filter data?

[@MotorvateDIY]

No website, but you can see the progress on my Facebook page: Frank Motorvate. As for filtering data, there isn't any. The ESP32 is fast enough to process all ~1200 CAN frames per second.

[@jezraelflecha1633]

Hello. I love watching problem solving at it's best. I'm in the middle of a SBC 400 swap into my 1955 plymouth. With that swap, I plan on using the Holley Sniper EFI and changing my dash to an aluminum dash (deleting all the old gauges and nobs). They have a separate digital dash/cluster that is over $2000. I would LOVE to have a 12-14 inch screen as my dash/cluster but that is a whole lot of money. If you could make something that just reaches the canbus, the market could be huge for carb to EFI guys like me.

[@MotorvateDIY]

Thanks for the comment. At this time, I don't have the resources to research what would need to be done, BUT I will add it to my "to be investigated" list :)

[@Grey-Troll]

That's pretty freakin sweet dude... Been looking around extensively for a all-in-one display or at least modular display, specifically a rectangular one, that displays tire pressure, coolant temp, and oil pressure. Those awesome TPMS systems don't exist with those additional features (too bad, because those are perfect for replacing the compass etc. display above the rear-view in older SUVs). Pretty much ALL of the oil/coolant gauges out there are those ugly as sin giant round things that can't really be modified for a somewhat factory/integrated look that I very much prefer. If your car doesn't have TPMS from the factory Ill bet a 433mhz receiver on your server and aftermarket valve stems would get you that data fairly easily..

[@MotorvateDIY]

Thanks. My biggest challenge is making an enclosure for it and finding a good place to attach it in the car.

[@gjsxnobody7534]

Any guidance on how to reverse engineer the CANbus data?

[@MotorvateDIY]

Oh boy.... that's a tough question to answer. As I see it, you need to know a little about a lot of things to reverse engineer the CAN bus. For example, you need a wiring diagram to know how many modules are on the CAN bus. You also need to know what each module does, so you have a rough idea of what inputs it needs to do its job. You also need to understand hex and binary number systems. In the fall, I do plan on doing an "Intro to CAN bus reverse engineering" episode to share what I have learned and to give tips to recognize different types of signals. I hope you can wait until then!

[@Gfunkbus76]

Great looking work! Thanks for sharing! I was concerned about lag on wireless but looks like the gauges are pretty responsive!

[@MotorvateDIY]

Hey Gavin! In this video the BLE server is only sending data at 9600 bits/second and uses a 128 sample moving window average to reduce gauge flutter. (up 1 digit, down 1 digit, up 1 digit...) The BLE data rate can easily go up to 38,400 bits/second and a RC low pass filter could be added so the MWA could be reduced. BUT as I see it, if a gauge updates 4-8 times per second, it looks instant :)

[@wilbertwilson9387]

Great Work. I am interested in how the differential temp sensor was done. I hear some noise in my G35 rear-end, changed bearing still have noise. Want to know if it's heating up.

[@MotorvateDIY]

I'm going to add a section to motorvate.ca that will show how to do this. Until them, I used an early 2000s Sentra engine coolant sensor from a scrap yard and a threaded adapter to fit it into the drain plug of the diff. This plugs into the Bluetooth server and sends out the temp. Give me a few weeks to get the page up. I will post a short video when it is done.

[@josecastillo2536]

Very cool! Just curious, are you able to get live TPMS data for each tire with this?

[@MotorvateDIY]

I think so... but I have more testing to do. I will have an update video in the next few weeks.

[@RoyMay24]

TPMS sensors don't constantly transmit data. The pressures are stored in persistent memory unless specific conditions are met, such as a decrease in pressure. But yes, you can read tpms data

[@MotorvateDIY]

Correct, but in the case of the G37, the tire pressures are updated every 13.5 to 65.8 seconds when the car is in motion. When stationary, they are updated every 10 hours. So the displayed tire pressures are as "real time" as possible.

[@zigarten]

Hey, off-topic, where'd you get that phone holder?

[@MotorvateDIY]

It is from Amazon: www.amazon.ca/Holder-Release-Installation-Compatible-withiPhone/dp/B09LQCNXJ5/ref=sr_1_8

[@independentsoul7396]

so way back in the Maxima days there was a mod to keep the fog lights on when the high beams were used. is there a similar mod of that type that you may know of for the G? i'm installing some switchback fog lights and assume i'm gonna have issues with the color flip when i use the high beams.

[@MotorvateDIY]

I remember that.... I had a (wonderful!!) 1995 Maxima and many people did that mod. However, for the G the BCM (body control module) receives the headlight and fog light requests and won't allow high beams and fog lights to be on at the same time. I am not familiar with "switchback fog lights" so I don't think I will be much help. You could post this on myg37.com, they have some very knowledgeable people there that are happy to answer questions. Good luck!

[@Billsta_Yall]

Hey frank! Love the work! What is your process for reverse engineering the CAN bus? Are you on the lookout for specific bits of code or just throw darts at the board and hope one hits?

[@MotorvateDIY]

Thanks! A year ago, I didn't know anything about the data on my car's CAN bus, and since there are over 2,000 messages per second, I needed to develop a strategy. In the spring, I will put together a video showing how to get started, things to look for. The short version is to record the CAN bus data and go for a drive. Most of the time I will write a script of how to drive/what to do and then follow that. For example it might be something like: 1/2 throttle acceleration up to 50 KPH, turn right, stop, back up, accelerate up to 70 KPH, brake, turn left, come to a stop. Then I use a program that will plot the data in a graph, and try to find items that follow the driving pattern. Things like vehicle speed, throttle position brake lights, and turn signals are usually easy to find. However, all you have now is the raw data. It need to be converted to the real values. For example, often the vehicle speed on the CAN bus is the actual speed x 100. Why? This prevents the micro controller from needing to do floating point math, witch takes more time than integer math. You also need to understand bits, bytes, and binary/hexadecimal number systems. As for the program I use, I really like SavvyCan. It is free and you can find it on GitHub.

[@dasburninator]

Have a github repo with this documented at all?

[@MotorvateDIY]

It is on my list of things to do, but hasn't happened yet. However, it is based on the ESP32 BLE client example.

[@slabua]

Secret stuff

[@MotorvateDIY]

Not for long... This will be an open hardware project and the source code will be released once the GTR gauges are done beta testing.

[@Forged407]

Hey frank

[@MotorvateDIY]

Hey Tommy!

[@stevecarlisle3323]

Its a video about what CAN be done, not HOW to go about doing it.

[@MotorvateDIY]

That's correct. Are you asking for a video on HOW?

[@jcprice1234]

@@MotorvateDIY I don't know if they are but I would love one with a parts list and sample code - I'm inspired to do a project 😂

[@MotorvateDIY]

If you are looking for really good LCD gauge examples and sample code, have a look here: www.youtube.com/@VolosProjects This guy does fantastic work!