Jeff Nielsen wrote:

thanks for the lead.  I have designed, built, and written the software for
some of my own similar aviation applications.  It is not possible to
purchase all the components to build such a system for $100 or less.  The
closest thing I've seen so far is in the automotive world, their standard
engine computers that can be purchased for around $400 without the sensors
or display.  Add the sensors for a few hundred dollars more, but they don't
monitor many of the parameters that the aviation community is accostomed to
seeing, and there is no display.

Grand rapids technologies makes the EIS engine monitor and air-data computer
for $995 plus sensors.  I have a custom version from them that took over two
years of testing on my part and many modifications to the software by them
to get their off-the-shelf unit into a form I found acceptable for use as an
air-data computer, engine monitor, and CONTROLLER (basis for single-lever
power controller).  I have yet to see anyone make a unit that does more for
the money produced in the quantities typical of sport aviation.

The engineering development cost of a typical engine monitor is around $10K
to $100K, depending on the sophistication and testing.  Good luck.

For those at the rotary engine club, I have some prototype single-lever
power controllers that I have built and some automated systems managers for
aircraft systems such as fuel pumps, strobes, pitot-heat, flaps, trims, etc.

 
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