PDC....

[apex]

Most of us have ECU's, some have Ignition controllers, then there's Gear Controllers, well what about PDC's?

Power distribution controllers, that replace your stupid relays and fuses with logic controlled electronic switches with programmable current limits. Programmable switch logic and the like.
All in one nice little box...

These aren't new, they're out there in the motorsports community and ain't cheap...
Well what about the rest of us?, the club racers, the hot rod builders?, we're still dinking around with relays, clunky switches, and if we're on the high end of this scale, we've got panel mounted breakers....
Wow, now isn't that exciting?

Our cell phones pack more computing power that our first PC (depending on our age), and yet we use power management technology in our prized vehicles that was invented in the 1800's...

The programmable panel switches that I've seen connect to yet another stupid relay/fuse center.
I myself am ready to move beyond all this, however there's nothing to fill that void...

It's Motec motor$port style or the relay highway...

Now wouldn't these be cool running our nice little PDU?






Food for thought...

[brentp]

Thanks for the suggestion!

Are you basically talking about solid state relays? What we're using in Race Capture Pro data acquisition system are self-protected mosfet outputs for driving accessories. The mosfets are protected against over-current, over-temperature and inductive loads up to 1A.

Larger, more capable versions are possible outside the unit, as a dedicated module as you describe.

it might be possible to make them intelligent - as in, connect to an automotive CAN bus, for example. they could respond to a network message on the CAN bus to turn on or off.

[apex]

Yes, solid state relays, with programmable current settings and control logic.
I wasn't sugesting a mod to your existing logger project, more about a new product altogether, specifically for chassis power distribution and control.
Any chance we can get together to discuss?, I'd love to meet you all.
Mike

[brentp]

sure, Mike- drop me an email - brent (at) autosportlabs.com