5 ms·
Hi, I'm the author of the article. Feel free to ask any questions you may have. I have to go to bed, I have work in about 4 hours, so I'll reply when I can.
by 0dyl 5y ago
Hi, I'm the author of the article. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.
I have to go to bed, I have work in about 4 hours, so I'll reply when I can.
- jgilias 5y agoThis is what I love HN for. Every now and then there's a submission like this that makes me go: "How do you even...". That being said, is there maybe somewhere a more thorough write-up about the whole thing? You know, with more in-depth technical details, gotchas, and so on? I'm sure many people would enjoy reading that! Thanks for posting!
- 0dyl 5y agoThank you so much for the kind words :) Sorry, no. I don't have a blog or website or anything. The closest thing I have to a devlog are some posts in a private Facebook group dedicated to the Holden Commodore. I think this project is almost 12 months old now.
- kleiba 5y agoWhat are the legal hurdles you had to jump to get this hack approved for street use? As car modders know all too well, this can often be the hardest task.
- Grazester 5y agoI follow the car modding scene and to be honest, in the U.S. there don't seem to be anything preventing this from being street legal. Even in California, something like this being a non-engine mod I don't see it being an issue.
- greyhair 5y agoAgree. If you start messing with the engine, and heaven help you, emission related equipment, you are going to have a long journey, and a lot of bumps along the way. Anything else? Pretty much, have at it.
- 0dyl 5y agoIt's very much the same in Australia. The approval I got from the engineer was due to the following points: 1. The 6 speed came out of a newer generation of the model. 2. My controller has some safety features. 3. My controller emulates factory hydraulic behaviour. Had I implemented something like a transbrake, I would have been in for a very long ride of red tape.
- 0dyl 5y agoFortunately, and surprisingly, this project was smooth sailing on the legal front. I contacted a VicRoads certified engineer in regards to the project and got the all clear. Even my insurance was OK with it. I think it's because most of the legislation is aimed at engine modifications.
- Imperatorn 5y agoThat's cool. Over here (Sweden) it's not easy (if at all possible) to get these kinds of things approved.
- 0dyl 5y agoThat really sucks :(
- danielEM 5y agoOut of curiosity, what is your job?
- alephu5 5y agoYou're a wizard. I wouldn't have a clue where to start with a project like this.
- 0dyl 5y agoThank you! I spend a tonne of time in the reference manual for the 6 speed, and things clicked for what my next steps should be. It was really about trying to familiarise myself with the problem as much as possible.
- lbj 5y agoNo questions, but let me just congratulate you on a wonderful hack, very well done!
- 0dyl 5y agoThank you so much for the kind words :D
- pretty_dumm_guy 5y agoHi, Firstly, Congratulations. This is no trivial accomplishment. Here are the questions I have. 1. Normally, cars come with their own ECUs for the engine. Interfacing with them requires knowledge about the underlying firmware used afaik. Did you happen to reverse engineer the firmware so that you could interface your own electronics with the provided ECU ? 2. How did you make the car believe that your 6 speed automatic transmission was a 4 speed automatic ? 3. > "the ability to go ahead and change the way it works whenever I want." - Could you please elaborate what you mean by this ? Again, I am amazed by what you have accomplished. My inner mechanical engineer is so keen to know how this all came together. I think everyone would definitely appreciate if you could provide a rough overview of how you achieved these things. Thank you :)
- 0dyl 5y agoSorry for my late reply. I'm currently at work- I'll make sure to reply when I knock off. Have a great day :)
- pretty_dumm_guy 5y agoNo problem at all. Take your time :)
- 0dyl 5y ago1. I don't interface to my car's electronics over serial or CAN bus. Instead, I interface by emulating actuators and sensors the 4 speed gearbox computer expects. 2. I'd like to introduce you to "manualisation" [0]. It's where the solenoids of the 4 speed are wired directly to the gear selector switch. The 4 speed computer is surprisingly tolerant of this, and it forms the basis of my interface. My interface provides enough information to the 4 speed computer to stop it from erroring out or putting my car into limp mode. However, it is aware that something has changed because changes in engine RPM do not correlate with its shift commands. 3. I mean in terms of software. I can modify the behaviour of my box more than a standard tune can. I can add a 0-100KM/h tracker to my system, or shift lights, I can fundamentally change the decision making process in shifting (for the moment it's torque based), etc. I could go out on a limb and a GPS module and a map; it'd select a gear based on the corner angle and speed or so. Thank you for kind words :) If you have any other questions, ask away! [0] https://youtu.be/H1T6vr44Zak https://youtu.be/H1T6vr44Zak
- riatin 5y agoLong live Holden, long live the ute!! Thanks for keeping your VZ alive
- 0dyl 5y agoI plan to keep it for a while yet!