DIY dongle build and documentation

While heavily a Work in Progress, Bob has started to put together some decent documentation on the dongle. It’s in the Wiki section of the firmware on gitlab. Have a peek and maybe you want to go on an order spree.

On the hardware side, as you probably have noticed we’ve progressed from the breadboard to veroboard-and-hot-glued in an OBD2 dongle enclosure. At least our builds are now a bit wife-friendly 😉

On the software side we’re working on a few features such as direct access to the Multimedia CANbus that Bob mentioned in the previous post, It will open up a few possibilities you will really like (more on that later). Also, we’re working on making the thing a bit more secure, but also more friendly for the non-technical user.

And then there is the ton of other things small and large. To name just a few:
– some things need to be slightly changed in CanZE now that is fed with data so much faster
– a setting screen in CanZE for this device
– low level technical stuff to make more things possible

For the techies: implementing sending multi-frame ISO-TP messages is needed. It required a lot of testing and coding and what not. This is how my desk looks around midnight. CANbus sniffer (Arduino DUE with GVRET) under USB control, T-cable with custom RJ-45 pinout, RJ45 splitter, RJ45 coupler with a CAN termination resistor tucked inside, RJ45 power insert contraption with lots of hot glue, the DIY Dongle being monitored over USB ……..

Is anyone experienced in moving this sort of home grown garage build stuff to the level of a decent and efficient PCB design without using a development board, a production run and maybe even fulfillment?