Go Back   The 75 and ZT Owners Club Forums > The 75 and ZT Owners Club Forums > The 75 and ZT Owners Club General Forum
Register FAQ Image Gallery Members List Calendar Mark Forums Read
Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12th March 2019, 21:20   #1
neilbaker86
Gets stuck in
 
MG ZT

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Oxford
Posts: 846
Thanks: 124
Thanked 312 Times in 147 Posts
Default Steering wheel button illumination & gesture sensor - Possible group buy?

It has always been a bugbear of mine that the audio (and cruise control) switches on the steering wheel don't light up on the 75/ZT, as you have to remember which is which when driving at night, this gets even more haphazard when the steering wheel is turned upside down.

So I decided to do something about it and I have redesigned the switch PCBs to incorporate surface-mounted LEDs.




However, there is a major stumbling block on cars with cruise control, this being that the squib (clockspring, or slip ring as sometimes known) doesn't have any spare pins on it, meaning there is no easy way to get the supply to the LEDs in to the steering wheel without tying yourself in knots. So I came to the conclusion that the only way to achieve this is to convert the analogue signal from the switches to a digital signal (serial data), send it through the clock spring, and then convert it back to the original analogue signal for the rest of the car to understand as per normal.

This means I can compress the four analogue wires down to two, freeing up one for a +5v supply to an encoder housed within the steering wheel, and one for the all important illumination supply wire to the LEDs, which works with the dimmer on the light switch pack so the brightness can be adjusted.

This 'digital' version also has the added benefit of dealing with the issue of an incorrect operation occurring when using the audio controls, as they rely on a resistance network which can become confused as the switches age/wear and the contacts become tarnished altering the resistance seen by your headunit. You may have noticed TRK+ occuring when you actually pressed VOL+ etc - somewhat anoying when you go to turn up your favourite track!











Further to this and for a bit of fun I thought I'd add a BMW-style gesture sensor, so you can control the headunit by making simple gestures in front of a sensor, this is demonstrated in my own car in the video below. (Note the prototype PCB in the vent is green in colour, any production one would be black to blend in).






Swipe left for Track-, right for Track+, swipe up will turn the volume up three notches, swipe down will turn it down three notches.

As I've gone to all this trouble, I wondered if this would be something which other owners are interested in as a possible group buy?

I assembled this one myself by hand, but I simply wouldn't have the time to sit and fit all these tiny surface-mounted components on mass, so would have to arrange to have a batch of PCBs made up professionally by machine, so if there are enough of you interested please let me know by replying so I can judge the numbers and see if it is viable.

I'm guessing here as without even a vague idea of numbers pricing is just a guess, obviously the more there are the cheaper it would be, but I suspect a single switch PCB and required wiring loom for cars without cruise would be around £30-£40, up to around £130-£140 for a full two switch PCB, encoder, decoder and gesture sensor kit, as it involves 6 PCBs for a full kit, including two microprocessors, ambient light sensor device and several connectors and wiring looms which need to be made up by hand, unfortunately I am restricted in which connectors I can use as they obviously have to plug in to the ones already in our cars.

Also, I am only on this forum, so if any of you are members on other ones for our cars please let them know on there too, as I can only see this being done in one go.

Please note: My headunit is an aftermarket one with a steering wheel control learning function, but the signal put out by my decoder is the standard signal that you would get from the original switches, so it works with an original headunit (that had hard-wired steering wheel controls - not infra-red ones) or off-the-shelf steering wheel control adaptor for aftermarket headunits (Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood etc etc). The decoder simply plugs inline with the original wiring on the steering column.
neilbaker86 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12th March 2019, 21:34   #2
trikey
Premium Trader
 
trikey's Avatar
 
Rover 75

Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Devon
Posts: 33,710
Thanks: 8,837
Thanked 14,831 Times in 8,030 Posts
Default

Impressive work

That kind of electrickery is way beyond me, I can see you will have a long queue forming shortly.
__________________
Lest we forget..
trikey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12th March 2019, 21:41   #3
Darcydog
This is my second home
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 5,428
Thanks: 3,123
Thanked 3,170 Times in 2,096 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by neilbaker86 View Post
It has always been a bugbear of mine that the audio (and cruise control) switches on the steering wheel don't light up on the 75/ZT, as you have to remember which is which when driving at night, this gets even more haphazard when the steering wheel is turned upside down.

So I decided to do something about it and I have redesigned the switch PCBs to incorporate surface-mounted LEDs.




However, there is a major stumbling block on cars with cruise control, this being that the squib (clockspring, or slip ring as sometimes known) doesn't have any spare pins on it, meaning there is no easy way to get the supply to the LEDs in to the steering wheel without tying yourself in knots. So I came to the conclusion that the only way to achieve this is to convert the analogue signal from the switches to a digital signal (serial data), send it through the clock spring, and then convert it back to the original analogue signal for the rest of the car to understand as per normal.

This means I can compress the four analogue wires down to two, freeing up one for a +5v supply to an encoder housed within the steering wheel, and one for the all important illumination supply wire to the LEDs, which works with the dimmer on the light switch pack so the brightness can be adjusted.

This 'digital' version also has the added benefit of dealing with the issue of an incorrect operation occurring when using the audio controls, as they rely on a resistance network which can become confused as the switches age/wear and the contacts become tarnished altering the resistance seen by your headunit. You may have noticed TRK+ occuring when you actually pressed VOL+ etc - somewhat anoying when you go to turn up your favourite track!











Further to this and for a bit of fun I thought I'd add a BMW-style gesture sensor, so you can control the headunit by making simple gestures in front of a sensor, this is demonstrated in my own car in the video below. (Note the prototype PCB in the vent is green in colour, any production one would be black to blend in).






Swipe left for Track-, right for Track+, swipe up will turn the volume up three notches, swipe down will turn it down three notches.

As I've gone to all this trouble, I wondered if this would be something which other owners are interested in as a possible group buy?

I assembled this one myself by hand, but I simply wouldn't have the time to sit and fit all these tiny surface-mounted components on mass, so would have to arrange to have a batch of PCBs made up professionally by machine, so if there are enough of you interested please let me know by replying so I can judge the numbers and see if it is viable.

I'm guessing here as without even a vague idea of numbers pricing is just a guess, obviously the more there are the cheaper it would be, but I suspect a single switch PCB and required wiring loom for cars without cruise would be around £30-£40, up to around £130-£140 for a full two switch PCB, encoder, decoder and gesture sensor kit, as it involves 6 PCBs for a full kit, including two microprocessors, ambient light sensor device and several connectors and wiring looms which need to be made up by hand, unfortunately I am restricted in which connectors I can use as they obviously have to plug in to the ones already in our cars.

Also, I am only on this forum, so if any of you are members on other ones for our cars please let them know on there too, as I can only see this being done in one go.

Please note: My headunit is an aftermarket one with a steering wheel control learning function, but the signal put out by my decoder is the standard signal that you would get from the original switches, so it works with an original headunit (that had hard-wired steering wheel controls - not infra-red ones) or off-the-shelf steering wheel control adaptor for aftermarket headunits (Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood etc etc). The decoder simply plugs inline with the original wiring on the steering column.
I really like this!

I am a technical imbecile when it comes to electronics - and my steering wheel controls have never worked so I have a newer one with cruise control ( I have the CC kit ready to fit) so having the switches lit would be excellent.

Very interested- do you do a fitting service?
Darcydog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12th March 2019, 22:09   #4
neilbaker86
Gets stuck in
 
MG ZT

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Oxford
Posts: 846
Thanks: 124
Thanked 312 Times in 147 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darcydog View Post
Very interested- do you do a fitting service?
I won't, as to be honest I simply wouldn't have the time, but I'm sure some traders on here will be willing to offer their services (obviously for a fee) and I'm more than happy to offer them any support/help I can. I will also do some YouTube installation videos if the project goes ahead. It's not particularly difficult, there is no soldering required or anything, just a bit fiddly and time-consuming to remove the airbag and switches etc (and fascia/vent for the gesture sensor).

Couple more photos of the gesture sensor fitted below:




neilbaker86 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12th March 2019, 23:39   #5
slovcan
Gets stuck in
 
75 Tourer CDT MK2 manual in Glorious Grey

Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Slovakia
Posts: 987
Thanks: 926
Thanked 346 Times in 252 Posts
Default

That is really cool.
__________________
Southern Slovakia

Anything can happen in Formula 1 and usually does - Murray Walker

1999 Triumph Trophy 900, Saddlesore 1600, Iron Butt Riders Association #63720

2005 Rover 75 CDT Tourer MK2
slovcan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13th March 2019, 04:35   #6
MWMan
Loves to post
 
Rover 75 Tourer

Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Bishop's Stortford
Posts: 418
Thanks: 210
Thanked 289 Times in 124 Posts
Default

No illumination on these buttons has bugged me as well. Your solution is ingenious and quite frankly amazing. I would be very interested if you go ahead with a group purchase.

Well done!
MWMan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13th March 2019, 06:29   #7
Mike Trident
Posted a thing or two
 
Mike Trident's Avatar
 
Rover 75 CDTi Saloon & Citroen C1

Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Oakenshaw, Near Bradford
Posts: 1,618
Thanks: 385
Thanked 552 Times in 328 Posts
Default

A new gadget to fit to my car!

I'm in for the full Monty
__________________
Rover 75 2.0 CDTi (131Ps) Conn SE Saloon. (Manual)
160 Remap, cruise control, electric window blind, temp gauge, Real walnut / ZT interior, FBH with GSM control.

BORN
Tuesday, 5th October 2004 @ 12:35:52
This vehicle was the 104,679th 75 to run off the production line, out of 112,381
This vehicle was the 3,318th 75 CDT Connoisseur SE (135) to be made out of 4,744
This vehicle was the 12,440th 75 in Starlight Silver (code: MBB) to be made out of 14,280 Starlight Silver 75s
Mike Trident is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13th March 2019, 08:20   #8
handyjackdaniels
Posted a thing or two
 
handyjackdaniels's Avatar
 
Rover 75 2.5 v6 in firefrost red

Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Letchworth
Posts: 1,402
Thanks: 383
Thanked 121 Times in 106 Posts
Default

Now this is pretty amazing!!! Can you do anything with lighting up the steering lock, its a pain in the rear end fumbling around trying to find the hole in the dark.

Seriously though I would be interested.

Steve.
__________________
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
handyjackdaniels is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13th March 2019, 08:31   #9
marinabrian
 
marinabrian's Avatar
 
MG ZT

Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne
Posts: 20,151
Thanks: 3,565
Thanked 10,837 Times in 5,718 Posts
Default

That is seriously impressive stuff

For a prototype PCB, that looks so professional and it would be interesting to see what price these would come in at if assembled with pick and place rather than hand assembled.

Keep up the good work.

Brian
marinabrian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13th March 2019, 08:44   #10
kelvo
Gets stuck in
 
kelvo's Avatar
 
MG ZT 190 SE

Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Chatham, Kent
Posts: 569
Thanks: 22
Thanked 163 Times in 135 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by MWMan View Post
No illumination on these buttons has bugged me as well. Your solution is ingenious and quite frankly amazing. I would be very interested if you go ahead with a group purchase.

Well done!
It can be annoying at night, but the fact that these can be illuminated internally makes you wonder whether they were designed to be.

Not really sure that I have much need for the gesture sensor as I have got the OEM hi-line system but suppose that could be more useful for more modern stereos.
kelvo is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 09:03.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright © 2006-2023, The Rover 75 & MG ZT Owners Club Ltd