reno stallion

It took a Sh-- I mean POOP

jim lockwood

What went wrong with it?

As I recall there has ever been only once source of solid state VRs for C1s... an elderly individual who had a small garage operation, I think. Was yours one of his?

DblTrbl

If you're going to build one, here is a great article that talks about how GM controls their modern alternator. https://www.motor.com/magazine-summa...september2015/
or the PDF version

I have arduino controlled regulation in my C3.

jim lockwood

Thanks for the article. Every regulation mode described is well within the capability of an Arduino-controlled VR.

Tell me more about the Arduino regulator in your C3. Did you build it? Can you share the source code? Pictures???

DblTrbl

Yes, i built it. I fell very deep down your Arduino projects for my car rabbit hole.

I swapped the alternator to a GM PWM controlled Alternator. This allows the arduino to more easily control the voltage by eliminating the building of the regulator itself.

Actually the arduino controls more than the alternator in my C3. It also controls the the radiator fan, the oil cooler fan, trans cooler fan, fuel pumps, the transmission, the touch screen for selecting driving modes, and more. Here is the link to my build thread 10 second C3 cruiser

jim lockwood

What an impressive build! You did everything except form the frame rails for that car! Well done!

Your programming skills greatly exceed my own. I'm still back at using 4x20 alphanumeric displays.

Gotta question... I see that you used an Arduino Due. Why? Did you need the computing horsepower? I've gotten by with Megas, Unos, and even Nanos. I've looked at using a Due but its 3V logic interface keeps getting in the way. All the accessories I use operate from 5V and to use a Due, I'd have level converters everywhere.

DblTrbl

I used the Due for the first pass because I thought I might need the horsepower and I wanted the built in D/A. converter. But the Due has a boot up flaw that I couldn't live with. Also, as you noted, I hate the 3V interfaces and didn't like that the Due has no NVRAM.

The second time around, with the touch screen this time, was with a mega. I got past the D/A issue by PWMing an R/C network. Everything else was easier with the Mega, no shortage of horsepower for all the stuff in my car.