TTXGP and Getting Back on Track

What timing, the TTXGP is upon us and I am scrambling to get back to my muse, the TronBike related activities.

I really wish I went to this race, its just so up my alley. If only if only.Electric Motorsport is there at least, and there is always next year.

The TBM net has proven physically stable enough to proceed with some software. The first goal is to get the C version talking to the controller, then make it a server for the iPaq and maybe iPhone hit. I love that the MotoCzysz is using an iPhone/iPod as their connect - bet its got Wifi too :)

TBMNet Is Coming Soon

TBMNet, I named it in honor of the infamous "Skynet". Basically I am wiring up way too many computers and methods of access into the Tronbike. Lets hope it does not gain self-awareness.

I've swapped out the cluster to make space, added lots of wiring and little boxes to allow me to connect Tronbike to about anything electronic imaginable.

• WIFI
• Bluetooth
• Multiple ARM CPUs
• Multiple touchscreens
  
• USB Client/Host
• RS-232
• Compact Flash
• IR (yes, infrared)
• GPS
  
• iPhone

The goal is better instrumentation and UI and hopefully represents the start of several evolutionary steps.



Time to write some software!

Tronbike 1.2.6 + TBM 1.5 = 'Normal'

I just posted the ride log from the last 3 months, and noticed the new TBM 1.5 is making riding my electric motorcycle almost "boring". Riding itself is taking more of my attention than risk of breakdown.

The biggest annoyance is that flipping on the light zaps the computer/forces it to restart. I might need a capacitor or something inline to condition the line - putting the light on its own switch is next on the todo for 1.2.8.

In related EV news, I am looking to put money down for a Tesla Model S, and shopping battery options for the bike. Hopefully the actions are not mutually exclusive, though promising to buy a Tesla will likely kill budget/prospects for doing my own car conversion.

TBM 1.5 Headway

1.5? Where is 2.0? The day job has been beckoning (see March Madness on the iPhone for clues ;) ).

After weekends of stabilizing my home network, I figured out how to run my Linksys PCMCIA card on my WPA network, plugged into the faithful iPaq PDA.

I was able to log into the PDA while it was connected to Tronbike, allowing me
to debug in real-time where I found some sillyness that had prevented this edition of the code from running. In fact the X session of the UI was even displayed on my laptop, allowing complete remote debugging. Very exciting,
this approach will make TBM 2.0 development much quicker.

I am thinking about working out the server side of data downloads on 1.5 too,
probably will use the Apple TV box as the server since its always on.

The only issue is the physical mounting - the antenna sticks out too far to place in the hard-won location the current TBM 1.0 enjoys.

I was forwarded this link to another sick TTXGP bike.

New Rear Brake Pads But No Rotor

I finally had a moment in the garage, and so put the bike in the rack, removed the chain, axle, dropped the calipers and got the wheel off the Tronbike. It was like old times, I really enjoyed myself.

Once off, I was able to compare the newer rotor I bought off ebay and found it to me slightly larger, like 5mm in diameter, than the existing disk. The markings indicated a width of 6mm vs 5mm as well, and even though the bolt holes lined up, the cooling holes did not. ZX1000 != ZX1100 rotor, despite the numbers matching in the catalogs.

SO I punted, put the wheel back on and decided to follow the manual to replace the pads anyway. This went much better, the new pads fit great.

Once put together, I took a ride to drop off a DVD at the rental place and got home before the much needed rain. The TBM drove me nuts again, I'll try the backup TBM thats NOT using the CF card, which I suspect is the problem.

Messing with the bike was fun and an energy boost I missed, I need to follow my heart more often.

Oh, ZX1000 88-95 rotor for sale cheap :)

About TBM2 So Far

Happy New Year! Tronbike 1.x is riding reliably and is almost normal. The meter is the most unreliable component, gently prodding me to work on the new solution I am calling TBM2.

So far, this consists of a small ARM board computer running Linux. Getting the included kernel (2.6.13) to properly support my personal myriad of USB devices has been the goal, and last night finally my USB-WIFI device, a Linksys WUSB 11, finally made contact. The GPS works over bluetooth, and I have cross-compiled the "gpsd" to make access to the data "standard". Storage devices/USB memory sticks thankfully work right out of the box.

I should confirm RS232 support, either using my Keyspan USB-serial dongle or the built in RS232, but that should be easy, right ;)

NOW the hard part begins. I need to either port/install PythonGTK to the new platform OR port the TBM1 guts into C and cross compile. The GTK on the iPAQ gave me graphics, so more than a C port, I would need to use perhaps the board's included "QTopia". Because I have WIFI, another idea is to just create an iPhone application for the display system, and bury the current board within
the bike. I also could run the TBM2 as a network host for TBM1 on the iPAQ, using "usbnet" or even WIFI.

Besides the USB options, the distro on the ARM9 is pretty sparse - the "Familiar" distribution for the old iPAQs is far superior for usability and features. "Familiar" linux has an entire packaging system even.
Porting/supporting Bluetooth on just the right ancient iPAQ still might be the path of least work to getting something useful on the bike.

Computer Upgrade Underway

A new computer solution is in the works for Tronbike and its meter. More news soon!