Hello from Boston, new RCPmk3 install on E36

Post here to say hello! Tell us what you drive, what race series you participate in and how you want to use Race Capture to help you go faster. Pics extra welcome!

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TXBDan
Posts: 69
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 1:43 am

Hello from Boston, new RCPmk3 install on E36

Post by TXBDan »

Hi all,

I finally got everything wired up and working last night.

It's a little clunky because you have to wire the pullup resistors for the thermister sensors in the harness and there is only one 5V Vref pin and one ground pin. So lots of splicing to do. I would recommend the SensorX board!

I'm running oil pressure (AEM), oil temp (AEM), water temp (AEM), TPS (stock sensor), tach (ECU), speed (diff sensor) and its all alive and working. I'm also pleased with the response of the tablet dashboard. I had a fear in the back of my mind that it would be laggy, but i created a tach gauge the same size as the stock one on the tablet and rev'ed with the two side by side. They're exactly in sync.

The only thing i still have to do functionalitywise is write a few LUA scripts:
  • convert pulses/min to mph inorder to get speed from the speed sensor in the diff
  • an algorithm to start recording (i have a 32gig SDcard, i could probably just record ALL the time, but it could be a mess to sift through. i want to record at a track but not on the street so i need to see if there is a "trackfound" variable available. It does autodetect tracks so its in there somewhere
  • an algorithm to stop recording (probably when battery voltage drops below 13V which means the motor is off)
  • an equation to calculate what gear i'm in
I'm really excited about the scripting potential.


Some things i'd like to add hardwarewise:
  • Manual record start/stop button (via digital input)
  • LED to indicate recording state (via digital output)
  • steering angle sensor/trimpot would be kind neat

brentp
Site Admin
Posts: 6282
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:36 am

Post by brentp »

Thanks Dan! Glad you like the responsiveness of the dash - the app framework we use is OpenGL2 optimized, and it has a really fast refresh.

We wrote a blog post for the steering angle sensor here: https://www.autosportlabs.com/30-minute ... r-install/

Agree, pullups are tedious. SensorX helps, we were thinking of an expanded breakout as well, and also finding a way to make a proper 3-wire active temperature sensor based on the TMP36 https://github.com/autosportlabs/TempX
Brent Picasso
CEO and Founder, Autosport Labs
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clifton23
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2018 6:59 pm

Post by clifton23 »

What about brake position? I know there is a pedal sensor on the front of the master cylinder. I am looking at getting a system for my E36 and would want all the sensors you have listed plus brake pedal or pressure.

How is your system working in your E36 after a year or so?

brentp
Site Admin
Posts: 6282
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:36 am

Post by brentp »

Hi clifton23,

The best option would be a brake pressure sensor installed on the front brake circuit; this way you can get a really good profile of how the brake was being applied.

We have a 150 bar sensor here, and other 0-5v sensors can work as well:
https://www.autosportlabs.com/product/1 ... re-sensor/
Brent Picasso
CEO and Founder, Autosport Labs
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