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Thread: Dash boards

  1. #1
    Hello guys,

    I am opening this new discussion as a head scratch for how to design a dash board. I looked all over the forum but i found nothing that i could start from, we are planning to go simple with a few temp. sensors and rpm circuit using few AVRs, R&B suite and LCDs but i have no idea where and how to start. I'd really appreciate sharing your experiences and opinions...Thanks

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
    Posts
    467
    Clarkson University had an incredible wood-grain dash panel. I'm fairly certain they:

    1. Cut a template of card stock or cardboard to the shape of the void formed between their main roll hoop and steering column supports. It would also be smart at this point to lay out your gauges, LEDs, and other electronic doodads on the template.
    2. Transferred that shape to 1/2" thick pine. Possibly using a felt-tipped pen or marker. If you're feeling fancy you could use oak. If you're feeling racy you could use balsa.
    3. Cut the proper dash panel shape from a larger amount of wood.
    4. Made mounting steel mounting tabs and ascertained the appropriate hardware to mount the dash panel and gauges.
    5. Spent several hours of labor meticulously finishing, staining, lacquering the wood dash panel.

    Looking forward to seeing another wood dash!
    -----------------------------------
    Matt Birt
    Engine Calibration and Performance Engineer, Enovation Controls
    Former Powertrain Lead, Kettering University CSC/FSAE team
    1st place Fuel Efficiency 2013 FSAE, FSAE West, Formula North
    1st place overall 2014 Clean Snowmobile Challenge

  3. #3
    Piece of sheet aluminum with 5 items...

    1. Kill switch
    2. Starter
    3. Big bright red light for oil pressure warning
    4. Big bright blue light for coolant temp warning
    5. Brake bias adjustment knob

  4. #4
    We've got an LCD displaying speed, rpm, lap time(beacon used), warnings, shift lights, neutral, warning lights. Its basically a 80x80mm pcb mounted on the steering.

    We're leaving the dashboard non-cluttered. Just the kill and the ignition will be mounted on the front hoop.
    Regards,
    Nikhil Jali
    Electrical Head '10
    Engine & DaQ '07, '08, '09, '11
    Ashwa Racing

  5. #5
    Do you have to find something in the forum in order to start?
    What is the driver needs?
    what is the rules requirements?
    build a vision before asking.
    Conveyor Systems Design Engineer - EgyRoll
    AUMotorsports Team Leader 09-10
    Alexandria University, Egypt.

  6. #6
    Originally posted by RollingCamel:
    Do you have to find something in the forum in order to start?
    What is the driver needs?
    what is the rules requirements?
    build a vision before asking.
    Asking where or how to start doesn't mean that i don't have a vision. As i know, sharing experiences is the keyword for this forum and that's what discussions are made for... i am grateful for the replies i have got so far and i am looking forward to many more

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Starkville, MS
    Posts
    299
    We made a waterproof enclosure for the dash and electronics out of carbon fiber. The dash ended up with 4 switches ( fan,fuel,start,kill ), a tac, water temp, a light for gear position, and an oil warning light.

    Steps follow as so:

    1. bought some green foam that you normally put flowers and crap in
    2. cut/sanded it down to shape until it fit nicely in the opening of the front roll hoop and steering column supports, while still clearing the template rule
    3. put down a layer of fiber glass over said hand carved shape
    4. painted with primer and sanded
    5. put down two layers of carbon fiber.
    6. DONE!


    link to pics :

    h t t p : / / s825.photobucket.com/albums/zz179/dsr92/FSAE%202010/

    if the link doesn't work, try looking for me ( dsr92 ) on photobucket
    --Dash Robinson
    --Mississippi State University

  8. #8
    I'm too lazy to find the pictures, but they're on the internet. Our 2008 car featured a beautiful, rich mahogany dashboard and steering wheel. It was quite the hit. Anyway...that was my favorite car, and all the dashboard had was:

    1. Tach (needle with homemade background)
    2. Kill Switch
    3. Indicator lights for shifts, overheat, and no oil pressure
    4. There is a start button, but its only there because the wheel was being worked on simultaneously to the engine. The main start button is in the middle of the steering wheel (and is from an S2000).
    5. The Driver Confidence Knob

    exFSAE can say what he wants about having a brake bias adjuster. I think that its far more efficient (and entertaining) to leave that knob unconnected and use it as a driver confidence indicator. Besides, bias, arb, traction control and similar adjustments should be on the steering wheel.
    David Collins
    Sooner Racing Team

    "By definition, a hard driver is one possessing little, if any, brains."

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Kannapolis, NC
    Posts
    382
    This years car had the temp and oil pressure gauges mounted in their standard off the shelf gauge mounting pods suspended under the main hoop by .020 wall gun drilled bolts. There was also an electronics panel on our steering shaft bracket that contained the kill, start, fan, and fuel pump switches along with a very important small green LED. If this LED lit up, you knew something was very wrong with the wiring inside this box.

    the past cars have just used sheets of aluminum with their gauges and switches mounted in a coherent manner mounted under the front hoop. we haven't gotten into the fancy steering wheel mounted anythings quite yet, and with most of the things I really dont see a reason to. It is much easier to see everything and know where it is when its on the dash IMO (aka, when in a helmet, i've found that in our car you cant even see the steering wheel)
    Any views or opinions expressed by me may in no way reflect those of Stewart-Haas Racing, Kettering University, or their employees, students, administrators or sponsors.

  10. #10
    Originally posted by AxelRipper:
    This years car had the temp and oil pressure gauges mounted in their standard off the shelf gauge mounting pods suspended under the main hoop by .020 wall gun drilled bolts. There was also an electronics panel on our steering shaft bracket that contained the kill, start, fan, and fuel pump switches along with a very important small green LED. If this LED lit up, you knew something was very wrong with the wiring inside this box.

    the past cars have just used sheets of aluminum with their gauges and switches mounted in a coherent manner mounted under the front hoop. we haven't gotten into the fancy steering wheel mounted anythings quite yet, and with most of the things I really dont see a reason to. It is much easier to see everything and know where it is when its on the dash IMO (aka, when in a helmet, i've found that in our car you cant even see the steering wheel)
    It was coolant temperature and voltage gauges.

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