Work on lighting lift gate appliqué begins

[Danal]

I just successfully did the update - Thanks Danal.
Before Step 2, be sure and install the USBTiny driver.

Hmmm.... One reason I went this way (instead of FTDI) was to eliminate drivers. Oh Well...

I will put the driver in the package, just for simplicity.

 

[kaneda]

Danal, Artsci,

Have you though to get info from the CAN bus to get more information from the car systems (like charging) and feed this to the appliqué system you have to provide additional features ?

Obrien28 has done some very good progress on decoding data on two of the buses and you already can get turn signal messages, etc.

i can see a good synergy between the 2 projects. What I have in mind would be a first box (arduino+MCP2515/2551+BLE) plugged into the diagnostic port under the dash screen and send relevant info via Bluetooth to the Appliqué to drive the lights.

Doing this would allow to get some more with the appliqué like a special mode when charging for example, and make the installation much easier, because you would no longer need to tap on all the wires in the back, bringing your solution to the next level :tongue:

Summer is coming, and I'll have more free time with the kids gone to help in this.

 

[artsci]

I just emailed the update below to everyone who is awaiting shipment of an appliqué order.

As you probably are aware from his posts on TMC, Danal has been updating the controller commands. At the moment I have enough long letter boards to fulfill nearly all orders but shipping of the next batch of appliqués is awaiting a shipment of controllers from Danal, which should happen on Monday or Tuesday. As soon as I receive the controllers from Danal (likely Wednesday or Thursday), the next batch will ship. If your order is among that batch, you’ll receive an email confirmation with a tracking number.

Speaking of shipping, the first batch was shipped via the US Postal Service. The appliqués are shipped in a 57” long, 3” diameter cardboard shipping tube. Believe it or not the Northridge, California Post Office appears to have managed to lose one or at least misplaced it.

To avoid problems of this kind with future shipments, all new shipments will be made via Federal Express and a signature will be required for delivery.

The applique supply problem has eased at bit and I now have 13 that are awaiting water jet cutting of the TESLA letters. I anticipate that will happen late next week or early the next. Once we have those appliqués back from the outfit doing the cutting we’ll be able to ship all but 5 of the remaining 28 orders that have not shipped. In the meantime I anticipate obtaining another 5 appliqués in a week or two at the most.

I apologize for these delays but as you well know Tesla parts are often hard to come buy and the appliqué supply is almost always stressed.

 

[tomas]

Thanks, Rick. I'm really glad you are dropping USPS and going to Fed Ex. I won't buy anything if I'm aware it is shipping USPS. Their service in my area was never six sigma, but has now deteriorated to total unreliability. I've had several packages "lost", which I suspect is a euphemism for "too much of a bother to deliver". And, no week goes by where we don't receive mail from neighbors. I've had bills not delivered, resulting in late payments... presume some neighbors just chuck mis-directed mail rather than re-delivering. I get a neighbor's Medicaid check almost every month, good thing I'm a nice guy...

The USPS can't be shut down soon enough for me. Between email and RELIABLE services like FedEx and UPS, they really serve no function any more.

 

[Paul Carter]

As if waiting 1,201 days now for the Model X, hasn't given me patience enough, you're ensuring I still have them right? tee hee.... my faith in you both has not wavered a bit! Looking forward to seeing it when it gets here.

 

[Danal]

As if waiting 1,201 days now for the Model X, hasn't given me patience enough, you're ensuring I still have them right? tee hee.... my faith in you both has not wavered a bit! Looking forward to seeing it when it gets here.

 

[artsci]

Thanks, Rick. I'm really glad you are dropping USPS and going to Fed Ex. I won't buy anything if I'm aware it is shipping USPS. Their service in my area was never six sigma, but has now deteriorated to total unreliability. I've had several packages "lost", which I suspect is a euphemism for "too much of a bother to deliver". And, no week goes by where we don't receive mail from neighbors. I've had bills not delivered, resulting in late payments... presume some neighbors just chuck mis-directed mail rather than re-delivering. I get a neighbor's Medicaid check almost every month, good thing I'm a nice guy...

The USPS can't be shut down soon enough for me. Between email and RELIABLE services like FedEx and UPS, they really serve no function any more.

Amen. When I traced the appliqué and saw that I had not been delivered (even though it had been at the Northridge PO for 3 days, I called the USPS help desk and was told I'd have to speak to the post office from which it was shipped (mine, Timonium, MD). I replied, "But the problem is in Northridge CA not Timonium MD. They insisted I had to speak to the Timonium PO. So I did. What did they say? We can't do anything -- the problem is in Northridge -- you have to speak to them.

Yes, USPS cannot be trusted with valued shipments. How can they possible lose or misplace this?

 

[brucet999]

Amen. When I traced the appliqué and saw that I had not been delivered (even though it had been at the Northridge PO for 3 days, I called the USPS help desk and was told I'd have to speak to the post office from which it was shipped (mine, Timonium, MD). I replied, "But the problem is in Northridge CA not Timonium MD. They insisted I had to speak to the Timonium PO. So I did. What did they say? We can't do anything -- the problem is in Northridge -- you have to speak to them.

Yes, USPS cannot be trusted with valued shipments.

I had a valuable and time-sensitive USPS shipment fail to arrive at the Loyola Marymount U boathouse on time. They called me about it because without the parts they could not get one of their boats to a regatta 400 miles distant. My local PO traced the package as having arrived at Culver City PO ten days before. Calls to Culver City postmaster elicited no information about its whereabouts, but miraculously it was delivered the next day!

 

[artsci]

Even with out being lit the appliqué shows off the TESLA brand.

 

[brucet999]

Even with out being lit the appliqué shows off the TESLA brand.

View attachment 82042

Oh, that does look great in daylight. Well done.

 

[obrien28]

Hi @kaneda I'm Liam (AKA obrien28)

To answer your question, Danal and I have been emailing back and forth about the CAN bus, however, he has been so pressed for time just getting the appliqués out the door that he hasn't had time for much decoding. In the long run it would dramatically open up what the appliqué could do, but it will take some work. If you are interested in helping out just PM me with your email and I can get you up to speed on where we are at so far.

You mention using the MCP2515, however, I have had nothing but trouble using it to handle logging the full load of the MS bus, due to it's low number of RX buffers. A better solution might be something like the upcoming Spark Electron, which has built in cellular and an ARM Cortex 3 chip which (if I remember correctly) has a built in CAN controller, but not a transceiver, something easily remedied with a stack on shield. This would simplify the hardware stack and be accessible from anywhere with cell service. I have also seen a shield that can log CAN messages to a MicroSD card, enabling logging even without an internet connection.

Things to consider, but not until we have a better grasp of the CAN messages and some willing testers

 

[JPP]

Danal--when you get the Mac version of the update packaged, please let us know. BTW, assume you saw Zane's mod of drilling an access hole in the controller box for current/future USB access....neat.

Many thanks for all of your efforts.

 

[kaneda]

@Liam, PM sent

happy to help where I can :tongue:

 

[faughtz]

Danal--when you get the Mac version of the update packaged, please let us know. BTW, assume you saw Zane's mod of drilling an access hole in the controller box for current/future USB access....neat.

Many thanks for all of your efforts.

But in the end, it doesn't help much - still need access to reset button.

 

[Danal]

But in the end, it doesn't help much - still need access to reset button.

The Underlying Controller (Adafruit Pro Trinket) is just not reliable enough about resetting to USB loader status. Therefore, it is really better to open the case, see the lights, press the button, etc. That is exactly why I did not drill the hole in the cases. In the long run, there may be a fix for this... maybe...

A couple of notes related to other posts above:

Spark/Particle: I did participate in the KickStarter for the Spark Electron... so we will see more about those when they ship, I should get some of the first ones. (I also have Spark Core and Spark Photon now, not really applicable to this project... just noting that I won't be starting from ground zero in their ecosystem. )

CAN Bus: I have kicked around that idea. "Read Only" CAN interface would solve a lot of problems, and the body-control bus is available right where we are recommending picking up 12V, right at the Liftgate Control Module. Perhaps a "Release 2", in a few months.


And, last, a status update: Several "tough nuts to crack" have now been coded and tested in R30, and I'm doing final checks in prep for shipping Artsci a big pile of control modules in the next day or three. He already has the "long boards" that go in the displays, so it should all percolate through fairly quickly. As a reminder, the goal of software R30 was to stabilize everything we'd been piling on in the R21/22/23/24 releases. We (okay, I) moved too quickly with features and destabilized some things. R30 will fix that.

Of course, R30 will be available to anyone who wants to pull their controller and updated it with a laptop. More instructions for that, and a cleaner procedure, coming AFTER R30 ships to waiting customers.

 

[JPP]

Of course, R30 will be available to anyone who wants to pull their controller and updated it with a laptop. More instructions for that, and a cleaner procedure, coming AFTER R30 ships to waiting customers.

I assume that if we install the controller under the driver's side recessed handle in the rear hatch trim, that we would simply pop off the plastic cover, unhook the controller from the Velcro, pull the connector, and remove the controller, do the f/w update/upgrade, and just reinstall/plug & play (...artsci--do I have this right?).

Thanks.

 

[artsci]

I assume that if we install the controller under the driver's side recessed handle in the rear hatch trim, that we would simply pop off the plastic cover, unhook the controller from the Velcro, pull the connector, and remove the controller, do the f/w update/upgrade, and just reinstall/plug & play (...artsci--do I have this right?).

Thanks.

Pretty sure you have it right but Danal should confirm.

 

[Danal]

Yes, the install guide recommends placing the controller just inside the left handle for this very reason. Easy to access without removing a bunch of trim. Just pop the left handle, grab the controller off the double-sided tape or Velcro that you used to install it, unplug it*, and take it to your laptop.

There is a set of very basic "Techie" instructions on how to update, and a link to the public code folder, earlier in this thread, post #539. Only consider doing this if you are comfortable after reading the procedure. I will be creating a more "point and shoot" method (and Apple Mac support) AFTER we get the shipments out to the initial order folks.

Meanwhile, if you are totally comfortable with this, as of this morning, "R30 Release Candidate" is on the shared folder linked in post 539. Expect it to change throughout the day today, and possibly tomorrow. The 'readme.txt' will always have the current status, and any notes or tips.

Danal


* At this point, if I've kept proper track, everyone should have a "Plug" based controller. I say this because some of our early releases were screw-terminal based. (If anyone still has a screw terminal controller of those, please PM me directly, and include a shipping address. I will "hot swap" with you, AFTER we have the initial order set fulfilled.)

 

[faughtz]

For artsci and Danal:
I was out of town most of the week and came home expecting to be able to install s/w post 188 since I had received new s/w update available msgs on my phone. Nope, when I got home no clock icon or any sign of new s/w. Since I had never heard of this happening and thought I might somehow not see this update again, I called the (nameless) SC. The person I have spoken to several times and has always been a help, said he would pull logs and try to see what happened. He called back and said they had not yet reviewed logs, but I was welcome to stop by for a "sideload" of the s/w. They took the car back to the service bays and I sat down for an expected 45 min wait to download, but not install the s/w. 5 min later he came back and said could I come with him. That didn't sound good, so I followed. I had sortof forgotten about the applique. The service manager (a Tesla owner) and practically everyone else in the office was gathered around the back of my car watching the Kitt display. We were still talking 40 min later when the sideload completed. You guys hit a homerun - and I got my s/w update, 238.

 

[artsci]

For artsci and Danal:
I was out of town most of the week and came home expecting to be able to install s/w post 188 since I had received new s/w update available msgs on my phone. Nope, when I got home no clock icon or any sign of new s/w. Since I had never heard of this happening and thought I might somehow not see this update again, I called the (nameless) SC. The person I have spoken to several times and has always been a help, said he would pull logs and try to see what happened. He called back and said they had not yet reviewed logs, but I was welcome to stop by for a "sideload" of the s/w. They took the car back to the service bays and I sat down for an expected 45 min wait to download, but not install the s/w. 5 min later he came back and said could I come with him. That didn't sound good, so I followed. I had sortof forgotten about the applique. The service manager (a Tesla owner) and practically everyone else in the office was gathered around the back of my car watching the Kitt display. We were still talking 40 min later when the sideload completed. You guys hit a homerun - and I got my s/w update, 238.

Thanks for sharing the story. Mine was a big hit with my SC staff as well.