Hello Paul & Group,

There was an "Ultra-squirt" project going on about two years ago. Seems
that it didn't materialize, but the hardware choice was interesting:

Freescale MPC55xx - 32-bit PowerPC core, programmable eTPU timer for
ignition + injection, DSP knock indication built-in, CAN bus, plenty of
i/o, good set of driver/sensor circuits.

What's interesting here, is that - if i understood correctly - the eTPU
unit offloads the ignition/injection timing task from processor, and it
is still fault-tolerant (ie. missing teeth, no CAS signal etc.)

Here's some video clips. Not really a proper product introduction, but
gives an idea how eTPU works.

Using the Engine Position eTPU Functions - Freescale Application Note: 3769
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1NplNEAaww

eTPU Set 2 Simulator Demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu_zBkoByVQ

Link to Freescale eTPU user guides:
http://tinyurl.com/2wzw45p

Back then, the required CodeWarrior version cost $5000, now it is $955
or $1955 - the difference seems to be the "Optimizing C/C++ compiler"
Runs on Linux or win2k - 7, new version 10.0 within Eclipse. Yes that's
more than OSS price, but... it ought to be good.

It seems that this is the best platform to develop a really capable
FADEC product for rotary engines.
...Just that there should be someone involved who could (and will ;)
make neat C code...

Anyone tried 55xx / 56xx?


Petri Flander


I have code warrior for some of the smaller Free Scale chips but what
I don't like about it is the  C or assembly language required.

Atmel ZBasic is an order of magnitude easier to learn and
faster to program. There are some trade off as a bit more hardware
is required. It is fast enough for simple AC engine EFI and EFIS.

Paul Lamar