Paul:

    After reading some of your emails concerning home-brewed engine
management systems, I started thinking that it might be fun to create an
entire glass panel for an aircraft.  Since I know you have machines that run
old MSDOS, I looked for one of my old compilers.  I havent written any DOS
graphics stuff in probably 25 years, but thought I would give it a try.  I
downloaded Turbo Pascal 7 from the web, and found some compatible video
drivers from somewhere in Denmark.  It seems the old 1980s video drivers
were a far cry from what is found in modern machines.  After an evening of
hacking around, I got the compiler to run on my WindowsXP machine at the c:
command prompt.


I looked at a couple of web sites for commercial glass
panels and implemented some of the features I saw into a little demo program
I wrote.  Since I have no aircraft engine or sensors to tie into, I wrote a
little simulation routine which currently replaces routines which would
check the analog and/or digital ports.  I set the simulation routine to
output data about once/second and display it on the screen.  I use a trig
function to build some variability into the simulated values so you can see
if it is working.


None of the graphics produced are graphical images, They
are all produced by compiled mathematical functions in my program.  So if
you are interested in trying it ...  go to http://poplar.us/panel.zip and
download and unzip the zipped files into a temporary directory.  The
executable file is 'panel.exe' The BGI files are video drivers that worked
on my Sony laptop The CHR file is a font file for generating characters in
graphics mode.  I don't have a virus checker on my old laptop, but I
reinstalled XP on my machine not long ago, so it probably is clean.  To test
- go to the temporary directory created above and run the executable file,
Let me know if it works


    Robin

After writing that we discovered the ATmel ZBasic computer that
sends engine info out, automatically more or less, to a USB port.
Unfortunately there is no support in DOS QB for USB ports. It is
possible to get a USB to RS232 adapter cable but new computers do
not have RS232 ports. I have not tried using DOS QB to access one
of the com ports connected to a USB port. It might work.

The engine and other data comes out of the Atmel as ASCII strings
so a com or terminal program of some sort is needed to sort the
data and label it. I think this would be best done using Windows
VB or C running in a cheap net book computer with a USB port.
I am sure VB supports USB ports.

There is another new processor out there worth looking into.
It is called a "Parallax Propeller". It contains eight 32 bit
processors one or more of which can be devoted to the LCD screen
display. Not unlike a PC with a graphics card.

In that case you would need a stand alone LCD
monitor I think. The processors run in parallel and can share a
common memory. Much work has already been done on the display aspects.
It is programmed in a simple Basic like language called "Spin".
One advantage is; most data is 32 bits long which simplifies
the math. I don't have one yet but they have a comprehensive
kit with proto board and thick book for $99 at Fry's.
http://www.parallax.com/

I might try this one on my stand alone multi-strike CD
ignition system. It appears to have better support for
random interrupts such as ignition trigger signals.

I can use one of eight dedicated 32 bit processor for each
Hall Effect ignition trigger sensor. They will all run the same
short and simple Spin program. There are about 28 I/O
pins available on the 40 pin dip.

Paul Lamar