DTADroid - The Android App for DTA ECUs

Before I talk about the app, I want to say a massive thank you to Trevor Page (Trev16v) who has saved me months of work by helping out with this. He's effectively handed over MSDroid to enable me to build an Android app that works with DTA ECUs. You'll even see it some of MSDroid logos in the video below still, as I haven't worked on making it pretty yet.
Once I have the part of the app that is specific to DTA stabilised and working, I'll be contributing to MSDroid as well. Large parts of the two apps will be the same, so I'll be responsible for the DTA specific part, but we'll be working on the shared bit together.

A bit more information now.

What is it?
DTADroid is an app that is dedicated to the DTA S Series ECUs that will incorporate a dash board, and the ability to log data.
It's at a very early stage of development at the moment, but, with Trev's help today, we hacked together enough code to get the app talking to my DTA ECU. See the brief video below.

What ECUs are supported?
Currently, any DTA S Series ECUs will be supported.
E48 and P8 ECUs may be supported in the future.

What connections are supported?
Connection to the ECU will be via Bluetooth and USB.
These will support the DTA RS232 stream to start with. CAN support will also be added at a future stage.

What hardware is required?
You will require a 15 pin to 9 pin serial cable as DTA use a 15 pin connection, but serial ports only have 9 pins.
You will also either require a Bluetooth dongle, or a USB to RS232 cable.
BT is recommended, as it's not possible to charge an Android phone when using a USB to RS232 cable.

EFI-Parts sell the 15 pin to 9 pin adapter cables here.
MEF Motorsports sell the above adapter and the USB to RS232 cable here.
For the BT dongle, search "BTLink Bluetooth Serial RS232 Adapter" on ebay

A brief video:
[video=youtube;Wt15z2xE-YI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt15z2xE-YI[/video]

What's Next
Next steps are to fix the Rev counter and system voltage data streams, as they're being read incorrectly.
Fix USB comms, as that currently doesn't support the DTA baud rate.
Massive code tidy up. Change hacks into production ready code.

The first release will simply be a dashboard that will be pre-configured. This will be a general release that shows a couple of gauges, and will be used to test the code on as many devices as possible to get the code as stable as possible. This stage is still a couple of months away.

So stay tuned, and I'll keep this thread up to date with any info.

 

Brilliant. I was wondering if something like this was available for dta. Will be looking forward to when its ready and available.

 

Thanks. That's what started me on this route, I couldn't find anything out there.

 

Very productive day that was yesterday! It is awesome to see the MSDroid code being branched to create an app for an entirely different ECU.

 

More development done. USB and BT working correctly, and all the data streams are being read correctly now.

[video=youtube_share;5mm7CfyZ4Hw]http://youtu.be/5mm7CfyZ4Hw[/video]

There's still quite a bit to do, but things are moving along nicely.

 

great work chaps when do you think it will be ready ?

A few of my friends run DTA and will be keen to use this.

 

Thanks. Currently working through a Bluetooth connectivity issue, but hoping to get the basic dash app released by the end of the month. Depends a bit on how much time this issue takes.

 

I'm finalising the dashboards that are being shipped with the app. I've got two portrait dash layouts, each with 8 gauges on. You can switch between them by swiping right and left:





There's currently one landscape dash:


I'm thinking of doing a second landscape one. Anything in particular you'd like to see? No promises!!
With the full app you will be able to design your own dashboards, with loads of built in dials and gauges.

Also, if anyone has a Prolific Serial to USB cable I can borrow to test that code, it would be appreciated.

 

Good effort! The missus won't be happy when I'll be robbing her phone to try this out lol.

 

I`ve shared a lot of thoughts with Trev for MSDroid, do you guys share those suggestions with each other, or would you like me to ping them over ? They are just as relevant to DTA as to MSD.

 

Any feedback appreciated. I'm not involved in the day to day of MSDroid, so I won't have seen that.
Long term plan is for both of us to develop the common parts of the code together, and we'll each be responsible for the unrelated parts. We'll then be sharing this sort of thing.

 

As of now, all the coding is done, apart from the Prolific support, which I'll do this week.
I need to redo the logo, and the front page, also hopefully this week.

I'm then on holiday for a week, so this should be released around 15th August barring any unforeseen dramas.

I also want to do a series of videos to show how to connect and change things, although it's all fairly straight forward. And a website, with some more information on.

 

Some final screen shots:







Prolific support complete as well, so I'm pretty much ready to go. I'm on holiday for a week, then I'll tie up a couple of loose ends, and release.

 

Good work!

 

Top result Sparrow!
Any suggestions re a suitable 7-8" Android tablet to use as my dash?

 

Thanks
I've not got one yet, but leaning towards a Google Nexus 7. I would like one of the 8" pro series tables, but can't justify the extra cost.
Any of the better ones will work fine.

 

Aaaargh. This is in the Play store ready to be released, but it turns out that building a website is harder than I remember.

 

I've picked up a second hand LG G-Pad. Will let you know how I get on with it.

 

The website is at www.dtadroid.com. If anyone has any feedback, that would be much appreciated.

The link to the app store is currently not working, as the app hasn't been published yet.

 

Just in time! Will be purchasing your app ready for when my car is done. Well done and good luck