Continuous Logging with PL?

m3x1c0

Bad luck Buick
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Is there any way to get the powerlogger to record continuously? The files are so small and the PL software so light it shouldnt be too hard to get hardware small enough to hide behind the dash. There would need to be a way for PL to automatically boot and start recording every time the car is on. This could be recording to a USB stick or SD card so I could just pull it out from time to time to look at recent logs. And the system could be smart enough to delete the oldest files once the memory is full.

I would love this because so many times I will have a random error and then go plug in my laptop and drive around and there is no error. I think also a lot of people that are blowing up engines without any clue as to why because they dont have there laptops hooked up at the time would be greatly benefited. I have no idea how to make this work but am fairly computer savvy and know several computer builders and software experts. Just food for thought. Maybe Bob will have something to say about it?
 
I have talked about this a few times, but it never materialized. Redesigning the PL to build logging into it (for a decent size logfile) is a big job. Logging with some kind of external hardware could be done lots of ways. I have some ideas that might just be possible in the upcoming year.

Good discussion, lets keep it going.

Bob
 
I have talked about this a few times, but it never materialized. Redesigning the PL to build logging into it (for a decent size logfile) is a big job. Logging with some kind of external hardware could be done lots of ways. I have some ideas that might just be possible in the upcoming year.

Good discussion, lets keep it going.

Bob
Bob like I said I have very savvy programmers looking for freelance work all the time. If you'd be willing to release source code I could talk to them about it and see if I could hire them out to help. I personally have built a Raspberry Pi computer the size of a child shoe that may be a good testing platform.
 
Bob like I said I have very savvy programmers looking for freelance work all the time. If you'd be willing to release source code I could talk to them about it and see if I could hire them out to help. I personally have built a Raspberry Pi computer the size of a child shoe that may be a good testing platform.

Source code is not open. but I have said several times that I will share the communication protocol.

The Pi is a nice platform to play with, the work required to gather the data is just part of the puzzle, you need to be able to use/display the data for it to be useful.

Bob
 
Source code is not open. but I have said several times that I will share the communication protocol.

The Pi is a nice platform to play with, the work required to gather the data is just part of the puzzle, you need to be able to use/display the data for it to be useful.

Bob
I digress here. I believe if you want to see the data real time you should be able to still plug in your laptop or monitor somehow. For me I'd love to be able to pull the memory card or USB stick when I want to review logs. If nothing eventful happens one could just leave the stick in the car until he feels the need to view the data. I suppose since there would be a computer running fulltime a breakout screen to see data realtime could just be another added feature.
 
There is a scanmaster in front of you that records wot 02's/knock and shows diagnostic codes.
 
There is a scanmaster in front of you that records wot 02's/knock and shows diagnostic codes.

Yes but after the key is shut off doesnt the saved kr go away? Plus when I hurt my motor I saw no KR even on my log. Thankfully I had my laptop plugged in and saw in the log that I wasn't getting enough fuel. If I hadnt had my laptop plugged in, like the 90% of the time that it isnt, I would have chased my tail for a while instead of knowing to look into my fuel system right away. Plus I could see that the chip was commanding more fuel but was not getting it. So I knew I had a physical problem rather than bad calibration.

I understand you veterans have this stuff down so well that you can pretty much tell when things go wrong right away. But this would definitely help the learning curve for the likes of me and I still see it as a valuable tool for everyone else.
 
m3x1c0-

I must say that it would be nice to always have that logging feature running. I would pay for that functionality.
 
yeah, I have been thinking of ways to do it. I have some ideas...

B
 
It would be cool to be able to plug in a phone or tablet and feed it the scanmaster data for display too.
 
I'd pay for all of the improvements discussed so far. I mostly never plug in the P/L because I have to power up the laptop, connect it to the ECM, hit the record button, etc...
 
This would be a great feature and I know I would get a lot of use out of it. I don't log near as much as I should right now but the logging and minor tuning I've done seems to dead on so I don't take the laptop with me very much. As I get older I don't like fiddling with things in the car when I'm driving. If the USB was there all the time or whatever you come up with I would have all kinds of data to look at which would be nice.
 
This would be of interest to me too. I have to get a PL still, would there be a new version coming out or would this be a retrofit to the existing one?
 
redesigning the PL to incorporate this is a big job, and would not help the tons of guys out there with PL's already. So it really needs to be an external solution. I have something in the works which will do the job. Just gotta get it done..

Bob
 
redesigning the PL to incorporate this is a big job, and would not help the tons of guys out there with PL's already. So it really needs to be an external solution. I have something in the works which will do the job. Just gotta get it done..

Bob

Excited for this!
 
Hope to the Powerlogger wired in this week. Hope this bump re-sparks some interest to develop this. I'll have to share laptop time with the family to log so this would be very nice.
Can you use a tablet? I can always have that with me. I'll go look in the tech section.
 
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