Hi Everyone!  Been quite busy the last few months working on development for V3 of the Shift Light. I'm excited to say: all that hard-work is finally about to pay off.  I've finished prototyping with upgraded parts and about to release the first circuit board for production and BETA testing.  Development was challenging. I collaborated with numerous users to make improvements to the circuitry and user interface.

Therefore, I'm discontinuing the previous shift-light versions. Although I do plan to grandfather the software improvements as a FREE UPGRADE for all current users. This means I have a very limited supply of shift-lights remaining and will not be ordering more. I'll send out an email newsletter when stock of the new V3 is ready for sale. 

Stay Tuned!
​- jon

Sorry, folks.  The Chippernut forums are currently down. I spoke with technical support and they are working on the issue.  I apologize for the inconveneince.  If you need any information or support, please contact me directly at  jon@chippernut.com .   I currently have a backlog of emails I'm trying to respond to, so please be patient as it may take me a day or two to respond. 

Thanks again for stopping by!
- jon

Hi Everyone, 

Just wanted to update you that I'm back and catching up on emails and forum posts.  I had a really busy last week and it didn't help that my primary Chippernut computer had a serious OS malfunction that took me out of commission for a few days. I also juggled the install of a new transmission in my IS300 - which proved to be quite time intensive.  I'm all done and ready to get back to work.  Thankfully my data was backed up on a separate server, so nothing is lost.  Stay tuned for some exciting developments yet this year! Thanks again for your continued support!

​- jon

Check out this fantastic 3D printed enclosure for the Mini! Great work!!

Check out this awesome HUD integration in a Corvette. Thanks to Carson for sending this in!

Great news for customers around the world, the Chippernut eBay store is now live!  Customers outside the U.S. can now expect greatly reduced shipping costs, too! Stop by and check it out! 

All Shift Light circuit boards (those sold separately, in the DIY kits, and the assembled kits) have an updated design revision v2.41. This revision corrects an error with v2.4 by adding a new trace, so a manual jumper from pins D2 and D8 is no longer required.  v2.41 also has some additional labeling on the silk screen to aid in assembly. 

The arrival of these new boards means kits are restocked and available for purchase in the online store.  More news coming soon. :) 

Stay tuned!
- jon

I published a code update for the old displays (legacy) 2.31 and the new TM1637 displays v2.41.  Going forward, the old displays will retain the v2.3X series. If I eventually make the switch to TFT or OLED, that will get an entirely new version prefix v3 series. 

This latest code improvement was made to the "error handling" and "smoothing" sections of the RPM calculation. In an effort to deliver the most-precision possible, I ran into a serious issue with the "neopixel" library for the WS2812B LEDs. The issue is directly related to how the library turns off all hardware interrupts to deliver the precise data timing needed to drive these LEDs. The problem is, I'm relying on the internal timers (directly related to the interrupts).  So basically, each time the LEDs were updated the clock stopped - so to speak. 

So, when you're trying to measure a frequency using very careful timing, and your stopwatch is broken, it makes things pretty difficult to say the least.  This would result in a "jumpy" gauge reading at certain RPMs.  Oddly, specific RPMs (frequency)  were more susceptible than others. 

Rather than ditching the Adafruit Neopixel library or rewriting it (which I did try for a few days), I decided to live with the erroneous results and handle them in software. Basically, it detects an erroneous result by comparing the previous RPM reading to the current RPM reading. If the RPM increases by 20%, it throws away that reading the instead relies on the previous reading. Remember: these readings occur at extremely high speeds that even the most fast-revving engines cannot touch. So I feel safe doing this.

The software also counts the number of fixes that are applied simultaneously - to make sure we're not over-correcting while the engine RPM is changing. 

This new error handling is enabled all the time regardless of SENS option.  The "COnd" Smoothing feature still works to remedy any remaining noise you may experience associated with your specific installation by maintaining a rolling average of multiple RPM readings. 

Let me know what you think in the forums or comment below.

​Stay Tuned!

Check out the forums for all the v2.4 code and documentation. 

https://www.chippernut.com/forums.html#/20160329/schematics-and-code-4-5198653/

Note: This code is for the new display type (TM1637 controller). If you have the old display type (HT16K33) from Adafruit, this code will not work.

I'm currently updating the code for the old display type and will publish in a day or so when I get the last bugs worked out.  Going forward, I am phasing out the old display. The pin-out is exactly the same if you want to upgrade to the new display type.