Work on lighting lift gate appliqué begins

[swegman]

Can (will) the applique be powered off when the car is off? I don't want the applique to be drawing any electrical power when the car is OFF, with the possible exception of the letters glowing green when the car is charging (assuming an inductive sensor has been designed for sensing current flow in the charge port, as I do not wish to make any electrical connection to the charge port).

Also, is there (can there be) an option to just have constant White lettering "TESLA" when the car is in reverse, rather than the "strobing" way the chart indicates?

Rick, don't forget me at the April installation.

 

[pgiralt]

Can (will) the applique be powered off when the car is off? I don't want the applique to be drawing any electrical power when the car is OFF, with the possible exception of the letters glowing green when the car is charging (assuming an inductive sensor has been designed for sensing current flow in the charge port, as I do not wish to make any electrical connection to the charge port).

I think that is the reason for this option that Danal mentioned: "1) When all lights, including "Tail Lights" are off, does logo glow medium bright? Options: (Yes)/No"

If you turn that off, the logo will not be on unless a tail/indicator/reverse light is on (or you've turned it on via bluetooth). At least that's what I think it does.

 

[swegman]

Just because the display is OFF does not mean that the controller is not drawing any electrical power. Even though the controller draws a very small amount of power, I prefer that it be totally OFF (e.g., zero current drain) when the car is OFF. All lights being OFF is not the same thing as the lights and controller being powered down. For example, when the display on an iPhone is OFF, the associated electronics still draw power from the battery.

 

[Paul Carter]

...
1) When all lights, including "Tail Lights" are off, does logo glow medium bright? Options: (Yes)/No
2) When sequences of Brake Lights, Left Turn, or Right Turn do their flashing thing, AND the "Tail Lights" are ON, does the flashing behavior sequence between Bright Red <> Medium Red, or Bright Red <> Black? Phrased another way, is the dim part of the flashing cycle tail light like, or fully black? Options: (Medium Red)/Black
...

Nice work, really great out of the box behaviours!

For BT:

1) I think off by default
2) If Tail Lights On, Medium Red always as base (i.e no black)

Other stuff.
Like a lot -> 1) "TESLA" 'breathe' to "__S__".
Love a lot -> 2) KnightRider scrolling.
Not sure -> 3) "TESLA" "EAT" in green. Intended to be turned on while charging (which we cannot sense at this time, so turn it on via BT when you want). Not in the old video; new video coming soon.
For the fun of it -> 4) Spastic Flasher mode. I think I called it "Random" in the video.
And for the 70's 80's guy in me -> 5) Disco mode. Make it more spastic, 110-125 blinks per minute ? :tongue:

 

[Danal]

The ONLY thing I had to suggest is an option while backing up that instead of the inside/out behavior, it does the knight rider sweeping but in bright white instead of in bright red. You've obviously thought out the options and they are all VERY logical. Thanks for doing that.

Will add to config options

I do have another question. First of all, I'm super happy you guys found an "always on" 12V. Is it on even when the car is off? Or is it on only when the car is on but even if no lights are on? Was curious about that... I have my front Tesla T glowing on and off ALL the time, even when the car was off. I wanted to do the same thing with the applique and maybe even my rear Tesla T now that the power wire is there (if it's a true always one).

My reading of the Wiring Diagram indicates it is truly always on. Regardless of sleep state, etc. It comes from the same 'bus' as the 12V 'jumper post'. It has a few fuses along the way, but no switches, control modules, relays, etc. That makes me believe it is always on.

However...

I don't have access to a car to physically verify at this moment. I will have such access by next week.

The connector is X961:WWMB2, pin 17, wire color RD (which is red) if you wish to verify yourself. This connector is somewhere on the right side of the trunk area, and will have LOTS of wires going to the right tail light assembly.

- - - Updated - - -

Can (will) the applique be powered off when the car is off? I don't want the applique to be drawing any electrical power when the car is OFF, with the possible exception of the letters glowing green when the car is charging (assuming an inductive sensor has been designed for sensing current flow in the charge port, as I do not wish to make any electrical connection to the charge port).

Power: Yes, the module will draw about 0.13 Amp at all times. This will remove 1 mile of range from the car every 11 days. If you wish it to not do this, simply run a wire to a 12V source that goes off when the car is off. At this moment in time, I do not see such a source anywhere in the rear of the car. There are plenty of choices up front. Therefore, each installer can decide the tradeoff between running a wire up front, vs. a vampire of 1 mile per 11 days.

Of course, choosing a wire that goes off when the car is off also means that nothing can be displayed with the car off. For example, the car cannot "Knight Rider" scroll, or "Breathe TESLA S" or similar, when sitting parked, if the power is off.

Charge Port: R1.0 will not support charge sensing. I'm not certain at this time that we will ever be able to sense charging.

Also, is there (can there be) an option to just have constant White lettering "TESLA" when the car is in reverse, rather than the "strobing" way the chart indicates?

Yes, will add this to configuration options.

- - - Updated - - -

And for the 70's 80's guy in me -> 5) Disco mode. Make it more spastic, 110-125 blinks per minute ? :tongue:

Will do.

- - - Updated - - -

If you add new behaviors can they be added later via Bluetooth?

No.

- - - Updated - - -

I late to this build so I am OK with anything the group wants. My ONLY concern is that we can easy choose to not use certain features that might not be legal or a little 'over the top' for an individual's tastes. This can be Accomplished by not making certain connections....correct ?

Correct. A given wire not hooked up = no behavior at the applique when that wire's light does its normal thing on the car.

 

[artsci]

Rick, don't forget me at the April installation.

Ok on that. Just have to figure out when, and can't do that until we know when we'll have complete letter insert and neopixel ready appliqués. But we're set to go very fast once all the bits have been acquired and are in place.

 

[SUPRKAR]

Danal
Can you add a wire to pulse green while charging. I want to use a amp clamp and relay to trigger charging. Send 12V to your controller Not use bluetooth to select and just green pulse no EAT

 

[NJ Plugin]

Danal,
The way you describe the brake lighting with the flash frequency corresponds to "G" force sensed from braking...though it sounds cool, without seeing it, to me it sounds like viewed from the rear could be confusing or make the back to busy. Could you make a option or setting to have all the letters simply be bright when the brakes are on (no flashing)?

Also, not sure if you considered the timing of the left and right flashers. Do you have the timing of the sequence of TESLA, TESLA, TESLA, TESLA, TESLA, TESLA to happen for the same exact time the blinkers blink (and at the same time)?

Could any (maybe #1 or 2) of your bluetooth options have a option to select the color of the lit letters. Some people might want to color coordinate with their car color or even a sports team (when tail gating)(having two colors alternate would be great.)

Rick,
Do you have enough "volunteers" for the April group install at the Hamilton SC?


Thanks Rick and Danal for all your time and effort working on this.

 

[swegman]

Danal, two things. First, the presence of always ON 12V in the wiring harness you refer to should be confirmed not just in your P85D, but also in the "classic" cars and the non-D cars with the new hardware. It is known that Tesla has had different versions of certain wiring harnesses with different wiring therein and even different colored wires for a particular function.

Second, .13Amps doesn't sound like much, BUT a great many people are experiencing sudden death of the 12V battery. I had my battery replaced last year. Someone I know just got stranded when his 6 month old 12V battery suddenly gave up he ghost. There is a huge thread on TMC about the problem. One thought is that the 12V battery can only be cycled a certain number of times before it dies. That is, the 12V battery is depleted by the vampire loss and then needs to be charged by the DC converter, but this can only be performed a predetermined number of times before the battery fails. Thus, any extra current drain, no matter how small, is undesirable.

 

[artsci]

Rick,
Do you have enough "volunteers" for the April group install at the Hamilton SC?


Thanks Rick and Danal for all your time and effort working on this.

At the moment we're planning installation on SUPRKAR's, swegman's, and my car. We can do more but only if we have enough appliqués that are ready by then. That depends primarily on how many have the letters cut out. Right now I have only seven with the letters cut out (five of those are already accounted for) and the next scheduled water jet availability at LAI is in five weeks. I'm building up a supply of appliqués for LAI so they can do a large batch (at the moment I have 13)

But as you were one of the first to express interest I'll commit to having one for you if Danal and I can get our respective work done in time. I'm confident that we'll be ready in first half of April but it's impossible to set a specific date now.

Of course everyone is welcome to attend and observe. As this will be a bit more complicated than the rear lighted T install, we'll need folks taking pictures and videos of the install so we can prepare the installation instructions. If we all pitch in it will be easier and go a lot faster.

 

[Danal]

Danal, two things. First, the presence of always ON 12V in the wiring harness you refer to should be confirmed not just in your P85D, but also in the "classic" cars and the non-D cars with the new hardware. It is known that Tesla has had different versions of certain wiring harnesses with different wiring therein and even different colored wires for a particular function.

Second, .13Amps doesn't sound like much, BUT a great many people are experiencing sudden death of the 12V battery. I had my battery replaced last year. Someone I know just got stranded when his 6 month old 12V battery suddenly gave up he ghost. There is a huge thread on TMC about the problem. One thought is that the 12V battery can only be cycled a certain number of times before it dies. That is, the 12V battery is depleted by the vampire loss and then needs to be charged by the DC converter, but this can only be performed a predetermined number of times before the battery fails. Thus, any extra current drain, no matter how small, is undesirable.

Understood on the wiring harness variants. There are also US vs Europe/Asia variants (the reverse lights are different), and more.

Regarding current drain: As stated previously, this is installers choice. You decide if you want always on 12V, or on/off with car 12V. With this choice comes the physical reality of where the installer must run a wire.

- - - Updated - - -

To expand on this a little bit, if the installer chooses:

1) Always on 12V.

• Per the wiring diagram, most cars should be able to install all wiring in the liftgate and trunk.
• There will be a small current drain at all times. I will see if I can make it even smaller than .13 Amp. No promises.
• The module will always be Bluetooth accessible.
• The module can run any of the 'special effect' things, like Knightrider, or TESLA S or similar, even when the car is off.

2) On/Off with car 12V

• Per the wiring diagram, every car will need to run a wire all the way to the dash/frunk area.
• There will be no current drain when the car is off. (Off being defined by what fuse we choose.)
• The module will NOT be Bluetooth accessible when the car is off.
• The module can NOT run any display of any kind when the car is off.

3) If for some reason 12V is not available in the trunk area, and you also do not want to run a wire up front, then it is technically possible to connect the 12V supply for the module to the "Tail" light (sometimes called "Parking") light wire. I DO NOT recommend this. Those wires come from a control module, and I have no way of knowing how sensitive that module is to current draw. When all the neopixels are on, this assembly draws about 2 amps. I am writing this as much to discourage people who think of this idea as any other reason. Again, I DO NOT recommend this, and if you choose to do it, it is AT YOUR OWN RISK. If you do, the following will be true:

• Per the wiring diagram, most cars should be able to install all wiring in the liftgate and trunk.
• There will be no current drain when the tail/parking lights are off.
• The module will only be Bluetooth accessible when the tail/parking lights are on.
• The module can only run any of the 'special effect' things, like Knightrider, or TESLA S or similar, when the parking lights are on.
• When the tail/parking lights are off, the module will NOT display anything when braking, turn, reverse occur.

 

[NJ Plugin]

Sounds great. Thanks.

At the moment we're planning installation on SUPRKAR's, swegman's, and my car. We can do more but only if we have enough appliqués that are ready by then. That depends primarily on how many have the letters cut out. Right now I have only seven with the letters cut out (five of those are already accounted for) and the next scheduled water jet availability at LAI is in five weeks. I'm building up a supply of appliqués for LAI so they can do a large batch (at the moment I have 13)

But as you were one of the first to express interest I'll commit to having one for you if Danal and I can get our respective work done in time. I'm confident that we'll be ready in first half of April but it's impossible to set a specific date now.

Of course everyone is welcome to attend and observe. As this will be a bit more complicated than the rear lighted T install, we'll need folks taking pictures and videos of the install so we can prepare the installation instructions. If we all pitch in it will be easier and go a lot faster.

 

[Danal]

Based on input, I've decided to make EVERY input wire configurable on/off via Bluetooth. That way, everyone can install and hook up all wires, and choose to have anything they want. Or not. And change their mind later! As per prior posts, there will also be configuration commands to set options. Therefore, the configuration commands will be (defaults at "out of box" and/or "factory reset" are bolded):

FR = Factory Reset

BROFF = Brake input does nothing
BRON = Brake ON leaving steady/blinking choice unchanged (see below)
BRONS = Brake ON steady (no blinking)
BRONG = Brake ON blinking with rate changing as G force changes
BRONB = Brake ON blinking at a constant rate (TBD).

RTOFF = Right turn input does nothing
RTON = Right turn signal sequences each letter to the right
LTOFF = Left turn input does nothin
LTON = Left turn signal sequences each letter to the left

TLOFF = Tail light input does nothing and other modes that blink, blink to black
TLON = Tail light input causes medium red glow of all letters, and other modes that blink blink between this medium red and bright red

RVOFF = Reverse input does nothing
RVON = Reverse input enabled leaving style choice unchanged (see below)
RVONC = White Lights, scrolling center outward, as shown on video.
RVONS = White Lights, fading between TESLA and S
RVONK = White Lights, Kitt/Knightrider scrolling

CHOFF = Charge input does nothing. NOTE: WE DO NOT (YET) HAVE AN OFFICIAL WAY TO SENSE CHARGING. The input exists, and hooking it up to anything is AT YOUR OWN RISK.
CHON = Charge input enabled, leaving style choice unchanged (see below)
CHONE = Charge input enable, light each letter of TESLA EAT in the most recent charging color set
CHONS = Charge input enable, fading between TESLA and S in the most recent charging color set
CHONK = Charge input enable, Kitt/Knightrider scroll in most recent charging color set
CHON_HHHHHH = Set charge color. Blank must be one of the style choices above. HHHHHH is a 24 bit color code in Hex. There are guides all over the web on how to select these colors, and some of the are very simple. For example, Red is FF0000, Green is 00FF00, and Blue is 0000FF. I know this is not a great way to end-user select a color; please remember the controller has a VERY limited amount of processor and memory space, in order to hold down cost. So technically, the factory default would be equivalent to CHONE00FF00

There is one more command that has a permanent effect: Setting a PIN. This will prevent other folks from changing your configuration with their Bluetooth!!

P = Display current PIN. Only works after an unlock, so not really all that useful.
P1234 = Set the PIN to '1234'. You need to change this!

 

[Danal]

And these will be the "immediate" commands. These will display until another BT command overrides them, or an input wire (that is enabled) changes state.

OFF = Make the display dark. Allows the below commands to be overridden via BT.

FM = Display current Free Memory. Really only useful to me. Just telling you about it for your curiosity.
GS = Display outputs from the G Sensor, as well as calculated totals. Really only useful to me. Just telling you about it for your curiosity.
CV = Display Code Version. If there are ever multiple versions, I may ask you to enter this command and tell me what it says.

RC = Random Color Mode. Also known as "Disco Mode"
RC123 = Disco mode with beats per minute setting from 1 to 999. Maybe. There may be some limits on the upper and lower bounds due to the way I dispatch "Frame Rates" for all the other animation. I'll do my best. This BPM setting will NOT be kept across power cycles.

Think of DI as "Display Immediate"

DI = Display starts running, leaving style choice unchanged (see below)
DIE = Display starts running, light each letter of TESLA EAT in the most recent color set, or green (00FF00) if no color set.
DIS = Display starts running, fading between TESLA and S in the most recent color set, or white (FFFFFF) if no color set.
DIK = Display starts running, Kitt/Knightrider scroll in most recent color set, or red (FF0000) if no color set.
DI_HHHHHH = Charge Display starts running. Blank is a style choice above. Color is the same as configuration command CH above. This color will revert to Red (FF0000) after a power cycle.

KS = Kitt/Knightrider scrolling. This is equivalent to DIKFF0000, and is provided because it is MUCH easier to type.

TS = TESLA S very slow breathe. This is equivalent to DISFFFFFF, and is provided because it is MUCH easier to type.

Did I forget any? Or can you think of any more?

 

[artsci]

Some progress to report.

I've ordered the mounting bracket for the appliqué and it's being shipped to Danal so he can test the fit of the appliqué with the neopixel arrays attached. As the arrays are only 1.5mm thick we don't think mounting will be a problem but it's better to be safe than sorry. The bracket is the black plastic piece on the back of the liftgate that the appliqué attaches to. This will enable us to bench test fit before we attempt installation on a Model S

Still waiting to hear from the shop casting the letter inserts but my hope is that I'll be able see them on Thursday. If they're ready we hope to have two working appliqués ready for installation by the end of next week.

 

[MikeBur]

Just found, and read, this entire thread today. What a great progression and major props and kudos to artsci and danal. Awesome progress from concept to reality. I even went down the neopixels thread when first suggested by danal and thought "yep, I need that variation", only to continue reading the rest of the thread.

this has to be done, if for nothing else then supporting the entrepreneurial nature of this. Sign me up please! And any folk in the PacNW fancy fitting this after? ;-)

cheers, Mike

 

[Denarius]

I heard a rumor that Tesla is redesigning this appliqué due to the issues with fog in the tail lights. I expect the lettering will be identical, and everything should still fit, but I thought I'd share it here.

 

[DavidB]

I'm sure this redesigned appliqué will be coming soon. Just like the CHAdeMO was coming soon in 2012.

 

[artsci]

I'm sure this redesigned appliqué will be coming soon. Just like the CHAdeMO was coming soon in 2012.

It's definitely coming but it won't have any impact on our work as the difference only concerns the lenses on each side.

Another update: learned today the casting the letters in acrylic will take one day for each set (unless multiple molds are made, which also will take too much time) so we're going to 3D print 10 sets using an Objet 30 printer, which will take only a few hours to print 10 sets but cost a bit more. So this means that I'll be installing the letters on the appliqués with cut out letters that I have (six and Danal one) and shipping them to Danal over the weekend. If all of this goes according to plan we should have a number of fully operating appliqués by the end of next week.

SUPRKAR, swegman, and NJ Plugin -- how do Sunday, April 5 and the following Sunday for a rain/weather date look for you for the group installation at the Hamilton SC. We could also bump that up to March 29 assuming we want to risk the weather. I'll PM you about this.

 

[rogbmw]

Rick,
Please add me to the list.
Thanks,
Roger