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Hello, Im wanting to change some things up with my truck as its my second vehicle and don't have much to do. Id like to change the HVAC system to either a touchscreen or something more modern like the newer trucks. Iv already looked at it some and can see that the heat and cold lever controls a cable and I have thought of a way to control that. the rest of the settings though, and is where im a little stuck, does anyone have the diagram for the actual control box of it?
Hello, Im wanting to change some things up with my truck as its my second vehicle and don't have much to do. Id like to change the HVAC system to either a touchscreen or something more modern like the newer trucks. Iv already looked at it some and can see that the heat and cold lever controls a cable and I have thought of a way to control that. the rest of the settings though, and is where im a little stuck, does anyone have the diagram for the actual control box of it?
Interesting idea. Have a mockup of what you are thinking?
Yes, kind of! Id like to use an Arduino or Raspberry Pi with a touchscreen to have everything digital. So from the touch of the screen it goes to the Arduino or Raspberry and then they are like miniature computers that control inputs and outputs and then it would send power to the pin that is connected! Thats the simple concept of it now, and I feel that it wouldn't be too hard if the outputs just change the power source if that makes sense! Theres some ideas of it on YouTube with CarPC's, this is one that I like.
I figured you were looking at something with arduino. Very interested in following your progress.
I may be getting ahead of your plans but are you thinking of giving it the same footprint as the current hvac controls (short and long rectangle)? Or possibly combining the radio/hvac into one big tall touchscreen.
Here is my android headunit just as a visual reference. Of course it doesn't touch the hvac controls so will have to use our imagination on that. I've been wanting to add an arduino unit for sensor monitoring via Torque but have yet to start.
What I think would be really slick is to make an interface that looks just like the factory hvac controls (same footprint and layout) but just wouldn't have the levers. Would just have touch sliders and position indicators. Of course, that's just my taste.
Combine it with the radio and put in pull out cupholders where the hvac controls go...
Now that's a great functional idea.
Garrett - how easy it is to control vacuum with the arduino? Temp is a cable but most of the other doors are actuated by vacuum. You'll gain a decent amount of space by removing the factory hvac control but I wonder if it will get tight in there with all the new motors, arduino, etc
Most of the newer HVAC systems use a little servo motor to move the doors and other various devices. Do you have the capability to drive a motor and know it's position at all times? If it was strong enough, it would pull or push on the cable. And you could also have another servo that pulled or pushed on the original vacuum switch. But you would need some feedback from the motor to know it's exact position so you could start it and stop in in the correct spot for the different modes.
Yeah see, I was just in the planning of it and was hopping to dig a little deeper and get advice to see if it would even be possible. I was just hoping for something that I can plug directly into the wiring harness for the vac and control just by controlling the power of the Arduino. I was hoping I wouldn't have to breakdown the whole dashboard and place motors or anything back there. I knew for the cable I could hook a linear actuator to control it and determine the distance!
Id even be okay with aftermarket controller, something modern would be awesome! Im looking to have a mix of new school and old school.
I like the idea of getting rid of the vacuum and going with motors.
Unfortunately I don't see it being anywhere close to a plug and play setup. Electronically you'd want to swap everything over to relays (good mod for the blower anyways) which adds up to 5 I think so youve got a pretty big cluster of wiring there. Then add in all the solutions to the diverters and the space just adds up.
Don't mean to be discouraging as I hope you go for it, just trying to help with expectations.
Im not sure I understand why I would need to get rid of the vacuums and going to the motors. If the vacuums are controlled by the power through the hvac control then why couldn't I control them with the power of an Arduino?
