80s Engine Computer

I decided to scrap this entire project as I got rid of the old truck, and don't have the need anymore. This was more for fun than anything else, but I no longer have the time or other resources for it. Would love to see this done someday, but I just have no interest in doing this myself. I have far too much going on with the pandemic and such wrecking my life over and over again. I'm also clearing metnal space for other projects. Sorry to disapoint anyone following this project. Life is crazy right now and it's time to really get to work on what is most important for me right now.

I was searching for interesting C64 hardware, and found a very cool piece of software. It lets you emulate a disk drive on a Raspberry Pi. This would save me quite a bit of money and time messing with old disk drives and such, and no need to buy custom chips and such,

https://cbm-pi1541.firebaseapp.com/

While browsing the modern hardware for the C64, I found a useful little project that could help speed up development significantly. Its a flash cartridge that uses a dual port RAM chip. The C64 sees it as a ROM chip, and a microcontroller feeds that RAM chip data. A PC feeds the micro, and you can make updates without restarting and such. A very handy feature indeed. I assume I'll have to make one myself, as the project seems to have gone dorment. Still very glad people publish stuff like this. 

https://hackaday.io/project/388-c64-flash-cart

I've never made a custom board before, so that should be interesting. I kinda worry it would fry my C64 though, so there's that. I need to learn more about so many things for this project. It's going to be very difficult for me, but it will force me to learn tons of new skills.

I found a possible interface and software solution to at least get started. It's from Australia, and designed for a robotic arm, but could help me with my project. Would be a fun bit of hardware to own anyway. Still need to research much more.

https://www.gamedude.com.au/products/shop/robot-2000-c64-control-interface-for-quickshot-svi-2000-robot-arm

I found someone who had done exactly what I wanted to do, but way back in 1984, when my truck and the C64 were new. If I can track down the software, I can use it, Otherwise, I have to make it all myself. I'm not great at programming, and this articel hints at using assembly language, which I have never used. It's a good start, as it proves what I wish to do is possible.

https://www.commodore.ca/commodore-gallery/commodore-64-car-pilot-1984-worlds-first-consumer-gps/

As my Atari 1200XL is pretty rare, and in need of minor keyboard repair, I have decided not to use it to power this project. I may add it in some day for use at car shows, but I want to make sure I have something more reliable and less valuable for every day use. I really want to go 8-bit on this, as that is what would have been common at the time this truck was made. I will be designing this in multiple stages. First will be using an Arduino Mega just to make sure I get something monitoring the engine as fast as I can. Then I will probably switch it over to use the RC2014 Z80 system to get an 8-bit, period correct system in right away, then I will build something custom and etch my own PCBs and put it all together. Very busy these days, can't spare the time or money to knock this all out any time soon.

As the truck this system is being designed for is now my daily driver, I have to come up with something faster and more reliable to make sure I don't destroy the engine I put $1,500 into a few months ago. It is running weird, and I have been spending the past few weeks working out all the little problems I can and adding gauges to things that need monitored. I still plan on making a period correct monitoring system for this old truck, but I may not be working on this much for a while until I am certain that my truck no longer needs any more attention to be a reliable daily driver.

I still welcome any and all input on this project as it is the kind of challenge that I really want to be taking on.

I have been trying to think of a very simple way to load my engine monitoring program at startup, without having to use a ridiculous cassette drive, or a separate computer. I think I have finally found the answer: Custom Cartridges. I SHOULD be able to write my programs to a chip, stick that in a custom PCB, then put that in the Atari and leave it there. This should be the easiest way to load the program every time the computer is started. So far I have found something that may prove useful:

- http://hackaday.com/2012/06/16/building-your-own-atari-cartridges/

I still need to figure out what IC to put on the board, as well as how to flash it. Will research this later.

A major step in this project is to determine what the Atari can physically handle. After that, I can plan out all the features, then start developing those features. I haven't found many good resources yet on Atari inputs and outputs, but this looks to be a good start:

http://www.atariarchives.org/creativeatari/Interfacing_Your_Atari.php

I will be going through that shortly to compile a list of realistic capabilities for the Atari 1200XL, regarding physical interfacing.

After much consideration, I am rethinking using my Atari 1200XL for this project. I have much restoration to do on this particular PC, and it's going to be intense, and fairly expensive. I don't like the idea of leaving my most prized possession sitting in a truck regularly. This leaves the project at a weird place.

I do have a possible solution for daily use: Atari 800XL implemented on an FPGA development board. I could stuff this into my dead Atari 400 Case and run it as a hardware emulation with working SIO port and such. I am currently working on getting the software needed to do this, before buying an FPGA board. I found this:

- http://www.scrameta.net/eclairexl.html

- http://www.scrameta.net/

Getting one of those running would be quite the project for me, so I will continue to develop the software on Windows 7 with the Altirra emulator, and send programs to my 1200XL via SIO2PC adapter when I get one in. I may just do the entire project on original hardware, as planned, and use it sparingly, such as for car shows and such.