RGB Ambient Lighting project for Palladium Model S - lets do it

[Proppilot]

I believe @Proppilot mentioned upthread that because the new LEDs are so much brighter, one could leave the original bin lights in place. I would tend to believe that, given that I barely can see them, even when it is really dark. Do you think leaving the original lights on would interfere with the quality of the replacement LED's?

I applied my new strips right on top of the existing light pipes in the doors but I pulled the OEM LED emitter off the pipe and tie wrapped it to the wire bundle in the door so it is not pushing light into the pipe. In the end, I don't think you would even notice if it was on but that was my approach.

 

[Proppilot]

Very interesting. I just took another look. The controllers clearly says 8-14V, while the documentation clearly says otherwise, listing 6-18V. I am going to stay safe and stick with what the controller says, and use my step-down.

View attachment 1032825

That is very interesting and I agree, I would go with the Controller. I love the English translation.....'when the car flameout' = 'when the car powers down'

 

[taekua]

Confirmed I had issues with the yellow glue tape that came with my kits, I will have to replace it, the ones that came with a clear tape seems to be holding better.

Hey guys good news, the relay is working

Hooked to the driver's bin light.

Its a tad bigger than the previous one but I used this module Amazon

And here is the video of it working, now I just need to find/create a case for it.

 

[Proppilot]

Its a tad bigger than the previous one but I used this module Amazon

And here is the video of it working, now I just need to find/create a case for it.

ordered !!!!

 

[taekua]

I'm done with the console footwell and the lights under the seats.

I used these lights after splitting them and soldered an individual connector to each of them (did this to the two kits I had).

for the console footwell, I snapped the trim out then disconnected the light, removed the two screws that held the light assembly in place, then using vhb tape I placed one of the lights above. I installed a submodule in the console as there is the usb hub that gets power with a connector similar to the charging tray. please note that this one has different layout for the pins (yellow +~16v, brown ground). This means that you will keep the original light assembly as a spare as is left out of the picture.

Moving to the driver under seat lights.

Using a T45 I remove the 4 (very very tight) bolts that hold the seat in its place so I could juggle it to work under it. I installed one controller under the seat
and piggy back to the connector in the video red for +~16v and black for ground. Again I disconnected the two ambient lights. I used two of the lights in the picture above and placed them over the existing light assemblies.

For the left hand side under seat I followed the same process, however the color coding under the seat its purple +~16v and black ground.

This required a lot of effort as the screws are very very tight.

The only viable lights left might be the door puddle lights, but I am unsure if I will attempt them.

 

[Proppilot]

THAT ... LOOKS ... AWESOME !

I see you used two each side under the seats. Did you use one each side up front to keep the spare for the centre console or ?

With powering the remotes from the seat power themselves, do they turn on and off with cutting power to the MASTER via the relay ?

 

[taekua]

I used one subcontroller under each seat, and one more for the console footwell with everything being powered separately, everything still behaves at the command of the main controller. So only if the main controller powers on they will power up.

 

[taekua]

Today was the first day I drove with the relay as I was on vacation. I noticed the driver bin light is sensitive to the lighting conditions, so if it’s sunny or too much light outside, the light won’t turn on hence the relay won’t receive the trigger.

 

[Proppilot]

Today was the first day I drove with the relay as I was on vacation. I noticed the driver bin light is sensitive to the lighting conditions, so if it’s sunny or too much light outside, the light won’t turn on hence the relay won’t receive the trigger.

That is an interesting observation. I would have thought if the ambient lights were going to trigger, it would be with the same logic that changes the screen from dark to bright mode in the AM.

 

[4SUPER9]

Today was the first day I drove with the relay as I was on vacation. I noticed the driver bin light is sensitive to the lighting conditions, so if it’s sunny or too much light outside, the light won’t turn on hence the relay won’t receive the trigger.

That is an interesting observation. I would have thought if the ambient lights were going to trigger, it would be with the same logic that changes the screen from dark to bright mode in the AM.

It still could be on the same photo-sensitive trigger, but perhaps with different sensitivities? IDK, but that seems like a lot of thought that I don't think Tesla would have done.

I would still very much like to use the Ambient light switch for this. If this does not pan out, I will take power from the OBD instead, as that is clearly switched: on and off immediately with opening and closing of the doors, and not effected by Sentry Mode. Maybe I will keep the supplied toggle button and hide it somewhere as a quick on/off whenever needed.

 

[Proppilot]

I will take power from the OBD instead, as that is clearly switched: on and off immediately with opening and closing of the doors, and not effected by Sentry Mode.

What is the behaviour of the power source to the charging tray ? Yesterday I did some observation of my ambient lights in the day and they did not dim. I am going to hook up a voltmeter to it and test. It does seem like over engineering especially since it is LED lighting so no need to conserve.

 

[4SUPER9]

What is the behaviour of the power source to the charging tray ? Yesterday I did some observation of my ambient lights in the day and they did not dim. I am going to hook up a voltmeter to it and test. It does seem like over engineering especially since it is LED lighting so no need to conserve.

I believe the behavior is similar to the OBD, though I am not sure how Sentry Mode effects it.
I am confused about the OEM ambient lights: the lights in the driver's footwell only dim when off, and the door bins are off by photocell? Any insights you glean would be appreciated.

 

[taekua]

I believe the behavior is similar to the OBD, though I am not sure how Sentry Mode effects it.
I am confused about the OEM ambient lights: the lights in the driver's footwell only dim when off, and the door bins are off by photocell? Any insights you glean would be appreciated.

Keep in mind this can change or could be different between software versions or even by regions.

But fear not as I have spent couple hours figuring out how to do voice control (siri/ios only) for the lights. I will be sharing a video as soon as it gets to upload and process.

With the voice control, I think I will bypass the relay (disconnect it) so that even during daylight Ill be able to have control over the lights.

 

[taekua]

Behold Siri Voice controlled RGB lights

tutorial included

Its gonna blur soon and I will rerecord it with no personal info available before I make it public.

 

[Proppilot]

By golly I love this thread ! the learning and experimentation shared here has been outstanding. @taekua I love this ! So I see in this case the controllers can be hard wired to power and no longer cutting power to them via that relay. You are controlling them via their native app Lotus Lantern. Brilliant !

I will be able to get back into the project on the 13th/14th and will push. I am also going to do some voltage monitoring of the ambient light signal. I think by far easiest place to grab it without tools is pulling off the lower console cover at the back that has the round single light in it. I will connect a voltmeter and drive/observe to confirm what you report and also to see if it varies by SW/FW etc.

 

[taekua]

What is the behaviour of the power source to the charging tray ? Yesterday I did some observation of my ambient lights in the day and they did not dim. I am going to hook up a voltmeter to it and test. It does seem like over engineering especially since it is LED lighting so no need to conserve.

as @vcor shared, I believe charging tray will remain on for some time after you exit and lock the car unless you have sentry mode, in which case, the charging tray keeps to receive power.

 

[taekua]

Sharing the rerecorded non-blurred video with a better guide on how to create the shortcuts and gestures

 

[Faksnima]

Sharing the rerecorded non-blurred video with a better guide on how to create the shortcuts and gestures

So....when are you offering installations ?

 

[Proppilot]

It's a gratifying project but I would not do someone else's car for any money...... a weekend off is worth WAY more !

 

[Proppilot]

WHY the Ambient Light control on the screen won't (easily) work !

Hi folks, based on the reports of light dimming and relays buzzing, I had a few minutes to pull the cap off the rear console and hook a scope up to the ambient light there. As I suspected, the lighting is controlled with a PWM signal. For those non-electrical/technical. This means that the car controller takes a DC or steady voltage and instead of lowering it, it turns it on and off rapidly (as you can see on the picture / at 168.9 times per second) which results in the light being less bright. At zero times per minute, it would be full bright. At the time I tested, it was daylight and the car in the garage and the duty cycle (time ON vs time OFF) is about 1:5 meaning ON for 1/5 and off for 4/5 of the time. The resulting average voltage that our optical relays would see right now is about 3.53 volts so not enough to even turn it on. With a higher duty cycle (say under dimmer conditions) you may see 3/4 ON and 2/5 OFF which would be a higher voltage which could turn ON the relays we were trying but in the case of @taekua his relay was BUZZING and that is because per the image, the voltage is going ON and OFF rapidly.

Hopefully not TOO technical of an explanation that it cannot be understood by all but bottom line ....... those little cheap relays we are trying will NOT do the trick.

There are technical work arounds that MIGHT work but I need to think about it on my flight to Zurich tonight I found a couple of interesting solutions that I am going to try. I want to keep it SIMPLE so we can keep on the path of using the screen ON/OFF which is my Plan A B and C.

For any engineering/curious types. There are a lot of discussions on RC forums about units that take PWM in and turn relays on/off and also about using SSRs or Solid State Relays.