28 feb 2020
23 may 2019
the current panel is a large LCD (34 x 2450 pixels, about 6" diagonal), driven by an Arduino Due. the interface looks crude but it's not at all -- it's carefully designed to to very usable at speed with one hand. the controls are nicely physical, with a solid feel and loud click. the front three pushbuttons are "assigned" to whatever is on the screen next to them; odometers (set/reset) mainly.
on the side are two controls -- not very visible, but placed right in your fingers. the top knob (five positions) selects the "screens" that are each a functional instrument panel. below the big crunchy knob is a smaller rotary encoder which has various functions inside pages (rally odometers, maintenance, etc).
it's the least physically robust box in the car; sitting in the sun it gets very hot inside. i'll probably be replacing it with better hardware. though the screens and functions get tweaked often the basic design has been great so i'm unlikely to change that. SD card access sucks as it is and the cables out the side are ugly. i did bake hot enough one time in the Carizzo Plains that it stopped working; i lost control of turn signals and headlights, the only things this box controls that are pertinent to driving. i draped a damp rag over it when i parked for lunch and it revived. the next revision (parts on order) will have active cooling.
