Using GPS Data for Speed in WD

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Using GPS Data for Speed in WD

Postby harashin » Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:13 am

Hello

For a project I am working on right now we are trying to use a GPS to get the speed of a vehicle and use the speed to adjust the playback speed on a video inside of Pandora's Box.
As of the current moment we had been using a serial device connected to a GPS Unit that has an antenna and use the data from it to make the speed appear inside of WD and everything went well. However, our customer is now wanting us to use a CANUSB device to get the same data and we have not been having any luck getting information from the CAN device and I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for something we could use?
The reason for the change to a CAN device is because with a serial device once we go into an area where we cannot get GPS data our customer is worried the videos would stop and with a CAN device I suppose it adjusts for this?

I figure there would be a way to use a range node to keep the same speed until changed back but was wondering if anyone has any ideas on this?

The product versions for our project:
PB Manager 6.1.4
WD Unlimited 6.1.0
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Re: Using GPS Data for Speed in WD

Postby justyn roy » Fri Feb 07, 2020 2:45 am

There are ODB II to serial devices to plug directly into a computer using USB, but I'm not sure how hackable those devices or programs are.

I'm not sure how savvy you are with building/tinkering.

There are quite a few projects out there that use Arduinos or Raspberry Pis with the OBD II port.

You could use an Arduino and a product like this (found this on Google - haven't used it) https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13262?_ga=2.173514720.231514213.1581038498-1960541084.1577648685
If you pair this with an Uno and an Ethernet Hat (And a bit of coding) you could build a project that would output UDP packets with speedometer information in it and pick that up with the Widget Designer.
I don't know if it's compatible with the Ethernet Hat as well. Sometimes boards like this will use the pins needed for the Ethernet Hat for communication.

The Raspberry Pi has the ethernet port built-in, but it does take longer to start-up (about 1 - 2 minutes depending on which model you get) when the vehicle is started. An Arduino is usually working in under two seconds after powering up.
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