Nice work...

 

So with the adruino could you make it do live fuel calculations like the new trucks? That would be cool, or I would do it at least.

 

If I had some way to measure fuel use, then yes. I'm thinking I'd need a pair of positive-displacement flowmeters - one for the intake to pump, one for the return. The difference in flow is what's used. With those inputs, yes, an arduino could easily calculate usage.

 

For gas mpg there is an app, or at I was told. The app required MAPP and vacuum IIRC, vacuum is a little hard to come by on a diesel but if you have an auto, the MAPP is there. No sure if you could sub the FILP or not like the auto trans uses.

 

Well that would be very interesting to figure out, but it seems like the flow meters are pretty salty. This is cool! My 1987 truck could be like the brand new truck my boss got! Besides the fact that you are one of the only people on here that understands how to work/program the things.

 

This a very interesting Idea with some even more interesting possibilities I am going to start gathering parts to install a set up on my truck.

 

Might look into the Raspberry Pi too. Hasn't been out as long as the Arduino, so doesn't have the apps yet, but has more potential.

 

I would love to set something up like this in my truck and my car. How does one go about leading how to use/program these things? I have heard or the Arduino unit a lot (I do some electrical work here and there and watch/read a lot of DIY stuff) and never thought it could be used for something like this! Can you use any display?

Did some looking around. How hard would it be to program something like this? http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V85trMiIy_k

 

First, take a look at the Arduino website. It's got a lot of tutorials; Arduinos are a lot easier to program than most other microcontrollers -- you just need to plug it into a USB port, fire up the IDE, code what you want and hit the 'compile and send' button. Simple.
Secondly, I've not messed with graphical LCD libraries/touchscreen input.

I'm using a variation on the LiquidCrystal library to drive my LCD with a 4-bit parallel interface: Arduino Playground - SC2004CSWB I think.
At least, that was what I did originally. More recently, I'm using a 20x4 char LCD with a i2c serial adapter board, so it only requires a couple of pins.

Arduino - TFT explains how to use a simple color pixel LCD.
More advanced technology requires a built-in computer to be able to drive it properly -- think of it as a 'graphics card', separate from the main 'CPU'.
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11741
That's probably what he used; it offloads all the 'work' to the display card itself, so you don't waste all your CPU cycles making pretty graphics.

 

What would you recommend to get as a beginner starting out with it? And what are your thoughts on the raspberry pi?

 

I'm going to say that you will want to start out with an Arduino Uno. http://store.arduino.cc/product/A000066
(or buy it elsewhere; there are Chinese copies of these out there for half the price, but the quality varies -- some work the same, some have issues)

Then, what do you want to do with it? You might want to read through some Arduino tutorials on the website, purchase the components off Ebay that you need, and play with it.

Once you get to wanting to do interesting stuff with it, you're going to need:
1. LCD. Like these: 20x4 lcd arduino | eBay Any of these will work, one way or another.

2. Soldering Iron/station
I use a Chinese temperature controlled soldering/rework station: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-2-IN1-SMD-SMT-SOLDERING-REWORK-STATION-WELDER-HOT-AIR-IRON-KADA-852D-110V-/321129368034?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ac4cd49e2 A bit expensive, but worth it if you intend to do a lot of soldering. It's a lot easier to work than the cheap non-temperature-controlled irons, and heats up a lot faster. This also has a hot air gun for various things(I use it for precisely melting hot glue, shrink wrap etc).
Here's a cheaper alternative with /just/ the iron: http://www.ebay.com/itm/110-V-45W-ESD-936-Soldering-Station-Solder-Iron-Hot-Gun-Tool-Solder-Welding-/371091694885?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5666c9e525
3. If you intend to make custom circuits like I did, you'll want a 'shield' you can solder on.
I used one of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Proto-Shield-R3-Prototype-Shield-Stable-for-Arduino-UNO-R3-/221551573292?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item339580b92cFor a beginner, something like this might be a good idea: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arduino-Prototyping-Prototype-Shield-ProtoShield-With-Mini-Breadboard-NEW-FM-US1-/291261800887?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43d08e61b7
4. Wire. If you can find a few feet of stiff phone wire(i.e. the stuff that goes in the walls), I like that. It needs to be solid-core wire, for the stiffness. You can buy jumper leads on Ebay, but this is a /lot/ cheaper and easier to cut to the correct length(and you can use it both in solderless breadboards as well as soldered boards.

Then... start experimenting! One of the first things you will learn is how to use the usb/serial out to send text/information to an attached computer, so you can test how things work using that.

 

Awesome thank you so much! I bought a kit from Vilros that has an LCD and an Ethernet shield and a bunch of random resistors and leds and whatnot last night. Being that my dad is an electrician I have a lot of solid housing wire but no solid phone wire stuff. The soldering irons o have are the cheapo radio shack ones so I will definitely look into getting one of those that you posted links to. I just haven't been in the DIY stuff long enough to learn of any good variable temp ones yet. Here's a link to the kit I bought http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00D48SFRA?cache=a577e05448d4862a7fdba58903c7569a& pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1413774277&sr=8-3#ref=mp_s_a_1_3

 

Cool.

Basically, wire wise, all you need is something small enough to go through the holes, and solid core(no stranded wire). Phone wire is just cheap and readily available. Your local Lowes or Home Depot should probably have a remnant that's what you need, if you can't find anything lying around.

 

Hi Guys

I'm building my FordUino (Ford~arduino)

I'm using an MEGA 2560 and TVout for display.

Arduino Playground - TVout

I believe your project is great !!

Can we work together ?

 

Cool!
I'd like to see pictures!
I'm not sure what you mean -- I've provided my code, everything I did. I don't have your hardware so I'm not going to be much use troubleshooting things... and I'm extremely busy these days so I may not even see this topic for days.