(here is the home page for the "MINI circuit")!
So I decided to make a little circuit that would provide this feature for GBMINI! Nothing more complex than a small processor and some interface circuits ... I could also incorporate a "garage door opener" interface for my friend Gavin ... Easy! Or so I thought ...
I began with a PIC16HV540 which was supposed to directly handle the 12V levels in a car; my first design demonstrated that the existing MINI circuits were not keen on having other circuits added to them - I lost the ability to open or close windows, doors, etc! I updated the design but while waiting for the second set of boards to arrive, the HV540 in the test circuit in GBMINI smoked! Apparently the Microchip HV design is not robust enough to live in a car after all (in their defence they do not say it is suitable for cars, but they do tout its 12V capabilities ...
So back to the drawing board again for the third design - now using a normal 5V level PIC with a LM317 pre-regulator, and all the necessary interface circuits to fool the MINI into thinking nothing has changed ... I ordered five circuit boards from Bare Bones PCBs for $50, received them in about 3 days, built one and tested it:
The circuit worked fine on the bench, so I installed it in GBMINI and tested it:
The circuit installs between the toggle switch panel and the car harnesses; an 18 way connector (the black one) is removed from the back of the toggle switch panel and connected to the circuit:
An 18 way connector-to-connector harness I made then goes from the circuit to the toggle switch panel:
The wiring and circuit design allows the PIC to detect when the toggle switches are activated by the driver; it can also simulate their action! I have programmed the PIC to register a quick double click of the close/up window switch (for the driver and passenger sides); the circuit then maintains the switch active for 6s while the window closes. If the driver hits the down switch during the 6s, the auto-up is cancelled. Although the circuit has no way to detect when the window is fully closed, the existing MINI circuits do this and switch the motor off - the circuit fools the car into thinking the driver is simply holding the switch closed.
Another function I included in the original circuit provides a "closure" signal to activate a remote garage door opener. If the door unlock toggle switch is held for more than 0.5s, an opto-coupled signal is generated which can be wired to the garage door opener to trigger its function. This will hopefully provide a tidy garage door opener install in my friend Gavins MINI.
On the pictures you might see un-populated areas for additional circuits, intended to provide a "switched 12V" to control, for example, a radar detector which could be turned on/off using a toggle switch. I don't need this function, but my friend Ivan does!
A little bit of electronic fun :)
Here you see the 18way extension harness leaving the circuit on the right, the original MINI connector plugged into the circuit, and the two wires to control the garage door opener.
Gavin put velcro on the back of the circuit and on the back of the garage door opener (you can also see the wires from the circuit connecting to the modified garage door opener); he also put velcro on the back of the trim piece below the toggle switch panel, giving him a tidy final install:
(More pics of GadgetGavs install in the gallery, starting here)
The extra circuitry,unused for my auto-up windows and Gavins garage door opener, was designed specifically for Ivan.
Ivan wanted the circuit to control his radar detector - his requirement "steals" the rear fog toggle switch which is unused on his MINI; when the car is started power is applied to the detector - if he toggles the switch, power is turned off and the LED on the switch turned on as a reminder. A second toggle restores power to the detector (and the LED turns off again):
Also, from an idea by Paul & Kev, I added circuits to implement TRACK MODE DSC - this feature can be activated on demand to automatically disable DSC each time the car is started. The feature can be de-activated for on-road driving.
My biggest headache, making the 18 way harnesses to connect between the circuit and the toggle switch panel, was solved thanks to Aaron & Chris at Inside Track Cabling; they built 25 harnesses which significantly eases my pain & suffering!
I have tested the latest circuit design which incorporates the ability to provide "track mode DSC" and am preparing to make circuits for interested parties ...
I have altered the programming slightly, since learning (thanks to Vin & Mike) that on some MINIs, holding the door unlock switch for a few seconds auto-opens both windows and, if present, the sunroof. While this is not a big problem when activating the auto-up, which is done once only for each window and can be done when the weather is dry, it would cause problems when holding the door unlock switch to activate a garage door opener!
So the updated software will activate the garage door output when the door toggle switch is either held up (unlock) or down (lock) ...
By mid March 2004, I have shipped the batch of 25 circuits, including this very custom one for "Aruna" which includes auto-up (of course), 9V power for a garage door opener, and a rear-fog toggle controlled output for extra lights:
I should have them back, built, by the end of April, then I will contact everyone to confirm their interest. I am having half the circuits built as "up only" and half built as "track mode DSC". This will optimize the pricing for the (first 40) "up only" buyers; it also brings down the price of the "track mode DSC" version. The "garage door opener" versions require modification (and additional components), and customisation to cater for "switched" and "powered" versions, etc; their price is therefore somewhat higher.
Here they are as delivered from CMS:
NOTE: In optimising the design for the production batch, I removed the possibility to make versions that have auxilliary outputs (like "Arunas" circuit mentioned above); however it is now possible for a circuit to provide BOTH "track mode DSC" and an output to control a garage door opener, or for a circuit to control two garage door openers!
Phase one - developing the first working version
I have for some time been a little troubled that GBMINI will not auto-close its windows - we know that the MINI can automatically do this, since English & European MINIs do - presumably litigation risks in USA forced MINI USA to disable this feature.So I decided to make a little circuit that would provide this feature for GBMINI! Nothing more complex than a small processor and some interface circuits ... I could also incorporate a "garage door opener" interface for my friend Gavin ... Easy! Or so I thought ...
I began with a PIC16HV540 which was supposed to directly handle the 12V levels in a car; my first design demonstrated that the existing MINI circuits were not keen on having other circuits added to them - I lost the ability to open or close windows, doors, etc! I updated the design but while waiting for the second set of boards to arrive, the HV540 in the test circuit in GBMINI smoked! Apparently the Microchip HV design is not robust enough to live in a car after all (in their defence they do not say it is suitable for cars, but they do tout its 12V capabilities ...
So back to the drawing board again for the third design - now using a normal 5V level PIC with a LM317 pre-regulator, and all the necessary interface circuits to fool the MINI into thinking nothing has changed ... I ordered five circuit boards from Bare Bones PCBs for $50, received them in about 3 days, built one and tested it:
The circuit worked fine on the bench, so I installed it in GBMINI and tested it:
The circuit installs between the toggle switch panel and the car harnesses; an 18 way connector (the black one) is removed from the back of the toggle switch panel and connected to the circuit:
An 18 way connector-to-connector harness I made then goes from the circuit to the toggle switch panel:
The wiring and circuit design allows the PIC to detect when the toggle switches are activated by the driver; it can also simulate their action! I have programmed the PIC to register a quick double click of the close/up window switch (for the driver and passenger sides); the circuit then maintains the switch active for 6s while the window closes. If the driver hits the down switch during the 6s, the auto-up is cancelled. Although the circuit has no way to detect when the window is fully closed, the existing MINI circuits do this and switch the motor off - the circuit fools the car into thinking the driver is simply holding the switch closed.
Another function I included in the original circuit provides a "closure" signal to activate a remote garage door opener. If the door unlock toggle switch is held for more than 0.5s, an opto-coupled signal is generated which can be wired to the garage door opener to trigger its function. This will hopefully provide a tidy garage door opener install in my friend Gavins MINI.
On the pictures you might see un-populated areas for additional circuits, intended to provide a "switched 12V" to control, for example, a radar detector which could be turned on/off using a toggle switch. I don't need this function, but my friend Ivan does!
A little bit of electronic fun :)
Phase two - Gavin & Ivans installs
Gavin ("GadgetGav" on MINI2) recently installed his circuit, which controls his garage door opener as well as the auto-close windows.
Gavins early version of the circuit provides a switched output, so he had to solder wires into his opener (he used a couple of connectors to allow easy disconnect).
Gavin took pictures of the finished installation ...Here you see the 18way extension harness leaving the circuit on the right, the original MINI connector plugged into the circuit, and the two wires to control the garage door opener.
Gavin put velcro on the back of the circuit and on the back of the garage door opener (you can also see the wires from the circuit connecting to the modified garage door opener); he also put velcro on the back of the trim piece below the toggle switch panel, giving him a tidy final install:
(More pics of GadgetGavs install in the gallery, starting here)
The extra circuitry,unused for my auto-up windows and Gavins garage door opener, was designed specifically for Ivan.
Ivan wanted the circuit to control his radar detector - his requirement "steals" the rear fog toggle switch which is unused on his MINI; when the car is started power is applied to the detector - if he toggles the switch, power is turned off and the LED on the switch turned on as a reminder. A second toggle restores power to the detector (and the LED turns off again):
Phase three - 25 circuits (actually about 30 in the end!)
With further interest from people that learned of my circuit, I decided to build a small batch of 25 circuits; I added more functionality so that a 9V output could be provided to simplify connection to 9V battery powered garage door openers (eliminating the need for soldering).Also, from an idea by Paul & Kev, I added circuits to implement TRACK MODE DSC - this feature can be activated on demand to automatically disable DSC each time the car is started. The feature can be de-activated for on-road driving.
My biggest headache, making the 18 way harnesses to connect between the circuit and the toggle switch panel, was solved thanks to Aaron & Chris at Inside Track Cabling; they built 25 harnesses which significantly eases my pain & suffering!
I have tested the latest circuit design which incorporates the ability to provide "track mode DSC" and am preparing to make circuits for interested parties ...
I have altered the programming slightly, since learning (thanks to Vin & Mike) that on some MINIs, holding the door unlock switch for a few seconds auto-opens both windows and, if present, the sunroof. While this is not a big problem when activating the auto-up, which is done once only for each window and can be done when the weather is dry, it would cause problems when holding the door unlock switch to activate a garage door opener!
So the updated software will activate the garage door output when the door toggle switch is either held up (unlock) or down (lock) ...
By mid March 2004, I have shipped the batch of 25 circuits, including this very custom one for "Aruna" which includes auto-up (of course), 9V power for a garage door opener, and a rear-fog toggle controlled output for extra lights:
Phase four - "mini" production run of (nearly) 100 circuits
Updated 4/24/2004: I have now shipped 33 circuits; I have 108 names interested ... I have a "production run" of nearly 100 circuits being built by a local contract manufacturer, CMS.
I bought all the parts and sent them to CMS, after hand-building a few test circuits to check the design (and to provide a sample):
I should have them back, built, by the end of April, then I will contact everyone to confirm their interest. I am having half the circuits built as "up only" and half built as "track mode DSC". This will optimize the pricing for the (first 40) "up only" buyers; it also brings down the price of the "track mode DSC" version. The "garage door opener" versions require modification (and additional components), and customisation to cater for "switched" and "powered" versions, etc; their price is therefore somewhat higher.
Here they are as delivered from CMS:
NOTE: In optimising the design for the production batch, I removed the possibility to make versions that have auxilliary outputs (like "Arunas" circuit mentioned above); however it is now possible for a circuit to provide BOTH "track mode DSC" and an output to control a garage door opener, or for a circuit to control two garage door openers!
Phase five - more "mini" production runs
Updated 9/20/2004: The recent review on Gabe Bridgers MotoringFile gave me a significant burst of orders, such that today I shipped the 350th circuit! I have decided to run yet another batch, which will take the total to just over 500 ...
The '05 MINIs have been found to be easier to install than earlier models - the new storage area below the toggle switch panel is very flexible and the top flap can be pulled down without even removing the torx screw, allowing a blind install by reaching in through the gap!
