We've been concentrating on the electrical system lately so there's not much to report on the mechanical side as the car is essentially complete. I opened the piggy bank and bought the MoTeC C125 Dash Display Logger. As with most MoTeC products you can purchase the various options separately from the basic hardware. I elected to include the I/O option as that allows the data channels from the ECU to be displayed and logged via the CAN bus. I haven't bought the logging memory option as the M130 ECU includes this as standard so there's no point in duplicating this feature. The C125 fits very neatly into the ST205 instrument panel space mounted on a carbon panel and we have also installed indicator lights, alternator warning etc. on either side of the display.
This pic shows the various display options that you can configure on the system. You can set up different screens for Race, Practice and Dyno for example.
One of the good points about the MoTeC kit is the documentation and support. You can download the software and configure and test it all off-line. I find this feature very helpful as the car is a long drive away and I only get the chance to work on it every couple of weeks.
The C125 interfaces with other MoTeC devices, along with most popular standalone engine controllers. It can also display information from most OBD2 data streams. It features two separate CAN BUS inputs, along with two RS232 inputs giving a great deal of flexibility in connecting to the devices already on your car (or to the OEM systems on the car itself). Communications between your laptop and the C125 is via Ethernet, providing very fast and reliable downloads. This also means using inexpensive and easy to source Ethernet cables.
This image shows the communications setup screen, with just a few of the many pre-built communications templates available for popular devices. You can also build your own templates using the software.
The C125 features 6 0-5v inputs, 2 thermistor temp inputs, 2 digital inputs and three speed inputs. Along with these it also has a built in 3 axis accelerometer and internal temperature sensor. Like the communications screen, the setup is straight forward and there is pre-built templates for many sensors. Or you can again build your own as well. There is no need to buy special sensors specific only to this device. The C125 can work with most any sensor out there, OEM or aftermarket, providing you have the calibration data for that sensor.
Now that we have some data coming in, we can configure the C125 to display our information. The C125 features 3 pages that can be independently configured using a variety of basic template screen, then populating with the data you want to see. You can use a switch to toggle through the pages, or you can set a condition to automatically change pages for you based on one or multiple parameters.
These two pictures show some of the display templates, along with a glimpse of the setup for the parameters, units and labels for the display. The bottom row can have up to 20 “rows” setup that can be toggled through with a switch. You can also setup overrides to show pertinent data when an alarm condition is present. Screen backlighting can be adjusted via potentiometer, using a switch to toggle between two brightness levels programmed in the software, or it can be left at one fixed value.
The C125 incorporates shift lights driven via CAN. You can build your own pattern/color patterns which are triggered by just about any parameter in the system. This photo is an example of the main setup screen, a couple of shift light module (SLM) patterns and then the layout editor where you can pick your colors/position, can set the brightness for each layout, flash or steady, and the channel driving that pattern. SLM brightness can be adjusted the same as the dash backlight, either using the same controls as the dash backlight or independently controlled.
The C125 also features an alarms system, which allows you to set a variety of conditions that will trigger the alarm. From there you can have the alarm condition do various things, such as flash the SLM a specific pattern (see image above for warning pattern), flash messages and important data on the screen during alarm, or even send that data to other devices to change control strategies based on the alarm. In the image below you can see the alarm setup window, allowing up to 48 different conditions (each with multiple parameters as triggers). You can set light to flash or steady for each condition, set the warning message that comes up, and the duration the warning lasts.
Should you decide you want to now use your C125 as a logging device as well as a display, it has an available 250MB of memory. You can log up to 300 channels, across any and all the devices you have hooked to your C125, either directly or via CAN BUS. You can set the logging speed per channel, set multiple start/stop conditions and more. Analysis can be done using MoTeC’s i2 software.
The C125 also has user defined tables, both 2D and 3D, that you can apply any of the parameters in the system to the axis of, to create a new channel from the result.
An available 4 outputs, configurable for a wide variety of tasks, allow the C125 to control various devices such as fans, pumps, sprayers all based upon data parameters within the system (or the output of a table or condition).
One of the best features is the ability of the C125 to simulate data parameters, allowing you to test all systems driven by them without actually running the vehicle. Simply set each parameter you are working with to the desired value, and verify that the output or control is working how you want.