My conclusions on the 'trigger' project. We have three solutions in play to turn the lights on and off
@taekua with the Arduino uController based solution
@4SUPER9 with the ODB port tap (pin 16 is + and pin 4 is gnd
@Proppilot (me) with the solid state relay wired to an existing light
I vote
@taekua as the most eloquent solution that holds true to the desire to use the screen based 'Ambient Lights' button to turn on/off
I vote
@4SUPER9 as the easiest and most practical solution that does not use the screen button but turns the ambient lights on and off when you would want them. On as soon as you open the door...they stay on during your drive and all 'in car' activities no matter what is turned on or off and then shut off as soon as you exit and close the car door
I vote
@Proppilot solution as non-viable due to the extremely low voltage on the existing ambient lights during various outdoor lighting conditions. Could not get the hardware only solution to work .... DROPPED
I am going with the ODB solution (not even a splitter - just a plug with two wires attached that can be easily pulled by SERVICE if needed) and a solid state relay that takes 3-24 volts so no issues with the 16 volts we are dealing with that could be a problem with 12 volt relays and is silent. I am not going to actually power the controllers from the ODB port. It will only switch the SSR on/off to supply power to the controllers. Just tested any condition I could think of and was happy with the results.
I actually have the Arduino NANO and voltage detectors in hand but sending them back as I don't want to introduce something that I have to troubleshoot in the future if the lights did not work AND I will never actually turn the ambient lights OFF and if I want to, I will use
@taekua voice command setup that I really like ! So a hybrid of
@4SUPER9 for controlling power and
@taekua for figuring out the voice control
What a great learning journey folks !!! Hopefully any day now it will be warm enough to start working on the project in the garage again (it was snowing today in Toronto) and then I am going to push into finishing the project.