# xDisplay: iPhone/iPod touch based EV display



## jackbauer (Jan 12, 2008)

Well my first question is can it be used to display the data output from the open source controller?


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

if it is truly open source, and gives serial output, and the creator gives us a comm spec, then yes.


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## jackbauer (Jan 12, 2008)

Great news. I've been looking forward to something like this well done. Yep its open source. Off the top of my head its rs232 19200 , n, 8 ,1. Worth dropping a mention on the forum and i'm sure the guys will give you the specs.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...cheap-diy-144v-motor-controller-6404-305.html


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## TheSGC (Nov 15, 2007)

Now this looks sweet! Is it going to be compatible with the Zilla?


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

the more products we can be compatible with, the better!

Just dropped a post on that forum, thanks, I completely forgot!


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

TheSGC said:


> Now this looks sweet! Is it going to be compatible with the Zilla?


I work for EVComponents, of course it is 

I've been in contact with Otmar, and he's very interested in making sure we get the info we need to be compatible.


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

I like the look of that.

Don't have an Iphone though.
Can your app be used on something else as a display?


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

iPod Touch and iPhone will be supported with the first revisions. If the product is popular, we might port to Android and to a PC based application.


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## jackbauer (Jan 12, 2008)

Woody , 2g iphones with dead or weak battery are a dime a dozen. I got mine for free. new bat cost £12 from hong kong. working great.


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

iPod touches are like $150 brand new, use iphones and ipod touches are even less. 

We may port to other platforms later, but this seems like the best direction for right now due to the existing market of iPhone/iPod touch devices out there.


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## illuminateddan (Dec 19, 2009)

Could you implement the available serial interface that is unlocked on the jailbroken iphone?


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## chaster (Mar 2, 2010)

illuminateddan said:


> Could you implement the available serial interface that is unlocked on the jailbroken iphone?


Probably yes , but we run the risk of raising Apple's ire if we do so . But don't worry - we have a non-wifi solution in the planning stages (and it won't require a jailbroken iPhone).. 

Eric


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

illuminateddan said:


> Could you implement the available serial interface that is unlocked on the jailbroken iphone?


Could we? potentially. Is it worth it? no.

It would require that all of our customers jailbreak their iphone/ipod touch, install non approved software and it still limits you to one serial port. 

Bu doing that it would cut us out of most of the market. I personally don't want to jailbreak my phone.


BTW, its already communicating to the iphone with the BMS, working out the parsing of the BMS data right now.


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## chaster (Mar 2, 2010)

Update: xenoDisplay now has preliminary support for the eLithion Lithiumate BMS! 










More information can be found here.

Eric


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## Dave Koller (Nov 15, 2008)

Sweet job !!! I like - I like!! 

P.S. I don't think you need to jailbreak to use wifi - I use it with pdf upload all the time (wifi free app). If you are talking about getting the app on the Ipad iphone Itouch - perhaps... Gen 2 of my PCM board has wifi for all the checks on lowbat, over-rpm, shift, and various voices, well you get the idea..


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Definitely cool. Just to be clear, and since I know nothing about iphones and such, if you pick up a used phone you can use it for this, without "activating" it or having a monthly plan?


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## Dave Koller (Nov 15, 2008)

JRP3 said:


> Definitely cool. Just to be clear, and since I know nothing about iphones and such, if you pick up a used phone you can use it for this, without "activating" it or having a monthly plan?


Itouch uses WIFI, no phone, can do bluetooth etc.. with the right app you can do lots and NO PHONE.. but I think you can do it on Iphone without Hacking (Jailbreaking) by just using the WIFI.. and not getting phone activation.. Not sure - I prefer Itouch and Ipad... (they are not too expensive phones hook into your wallet on a regular basis... 

Jack you have a gen 2 right? Did you jailbreak it ? and does WIFI work as in Itouch?


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## gdirwin (Apr 7, 2009)

Can you tell us more about the hardware side of this?

- which serial to ethernet adapter you have used? Any software dependencies on a particular adapter? (editted -removed POE question)

- ultimately the Elithion and Zilla system will want to connect through separate serial to ethernet adapters - is isolation an issue? How will the software handle N connections?

- which in-car wireless router you have used? Does it allow 12V power supply from the car or do you have a small inverter to 120V?


I have the Elithion BMS and Zilla, so will definitely be looking at this... Looks great!


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## Thaniel (May 25, 2008)

Dave Koller said:


> Itouch uses WIFI, no phone, can do bluetooth etc.. with the right app you can do lots and NO PHONE.. but I think you can do it on Iphone without Hacking (Jailbreaking) by just using the WIFI.. and not getting phone activation.. Not sure - I prefer Itouch and Ipad... (they are not too expensive phones hook into your wallet on a regular basis...
> 
> Jack you have a gen 2 right? Did you jailbreak it ? and does WIFI work as in Itouch?


Yup. An iphone without a cell service plan still functions like a itouch via wifi. Just says "no servce" where the cell phone status is. As a bonus a used one should still be able to dial 911. Not going to test that feature though.


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

JRP3 said:


> Definitely cool. Just to be clear, and since I know nothing about iphones and such, if you pick up a used phone you can use it for this, without "activating" it or having a monthly plan?


would be better to just get an ipod touch if its only Wifi.




We're currently looking at other options. There are many android devices out there, and serial to bluetooth dongles are fairly inexpensive.

Me and Eric have gotten sidetracked with work and other projects, so this is a bit of a lesser priority. I need to talk to him this week to see whats up.


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

> - which serial to ethernet adapter you have used? Any software dependencies on a particular adapter? (editted -removed POE question)


I can't let you know what we're using just yet, we've tested one device to get the concept going, but the cost is a bit more than we want it to be, mostly because its wifi. There shouldn't be any dependancies, but the way one device spits out serial over wifi may be implemented differently. We haven't been able to compare another at this time.



> - ultimately the Elithion and Zilla system will want to connect through separate serial to ethernet adapters - is isolation an issue? How will the software handle N connections?


serial to wifi adapters. We haven't tested isolation issues yet. That can be implmented with more hardware if its an issue. Iphone/ipod are not 802.11n compatible. Only b/g.



> - which in-car wireless router you have used? Does it allow 12V power supply from the car or do you have a small inverter to 120V?


Again, can't tell what we've used. Its a DC power supply, at 12V.




> I have the Elithion BMS and Zilla, so will definitely be looking at this... Looks great!


Its working so far on the Elithion system fairly well, but we've put the project on hold for a while since Eric has some other more pressing work to do.


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## lonestarrpm (Aug 18, 2011)

Any updates? 

List of compatible hardware?

Any port to the Ipad?

thx,

Mike




frodus said:


> I can't let you know what we're using just yet, we've tested one device to get the concept going, but the cost is a bit more than we want it to be, mostly because its wifi. There shouldn't be any dependancies, but the way one device spits out serial over wifi may be implemented differently. We haven't been able to compare another at this time.
> 
> 
> serial to wifi adapters. We haven't tested isolation issues yet. That can be implmented with more hardware if its an issue. Iphone/ipod are not 802.11n compatible. Only b/g.
> ...


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## chaster (Mar 2, 2010)

Mike,

I've pretty much abandoned the iOS platform because of Apple's draconian hardware policies. Wi-fi worked, but it had problems with consistency and the necessary hardware was expensive to boot. I've been planning on moving to Android using Bluetooth and USB/serial support which should fix these issues (both signal consistency and cost), and that's still the plan, but my day job has been killing me for the past year, leaving me almost zero time to work on this. 

I know there are a couple other projects that have popped up (don't have links handy, but Frodus should) that are following the Android path, so you should take a look (unless obviously, you're hard-tied to iOS for whatever reasons..) Get Apple to stop acting like d*ckheads about their precious hardware interfaces and maybe I might come back to them for the xDisplay, but I doubt it.. (this coming from an iOS developer too.. lol)

I wish the news were better, but it is what it is...

Eric


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## dimitri (May 16, 2008)

There will be a new version of EV Display from CleanPowerAuto coming out soon. It will have all the same features as current EV Display but instead of 2 line LCD screen it will stream data over Bluetooth serial port. Android app is being developed to pickup the data stream and show it as analog/digital gauges. Data protocol will be openly published, so people can develop client app on any platform.

I am almost done with prototype and will be posting more details soon.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Nice D. Does that mean it can display all data at once, temp, ah, current, voltage, etc.?


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## dimitri (May 16, 2008)

JRP3 said:


> Nice D. Does that mean it can display all data at once, temp, ah, current, voltage, etc.?


That is the plan. The unit will stream all data in each packet, every 0.5 sec. It will be up to the client app to grab data and display it in any combination or format.


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