Goldy's Flappy Paddles Build Thread

[GregLeBon]

Adding buttons to steering wheels can be a right PITA: I had a similar problem when trying to use steering-wheel mounted buttons to operate a programmable water-injection controller...!

You can't go the F1 route (socket in the centre of the steering shaft, inside the splines): you may have to settle for the coiled-cable option., like the rally / BTCC cars use?
Not quite OEM, but by far the simplest solution!

re: the opticals......is your car fitted with an electrical PS pump, like the Mk3? If so, it could be to do with the control of that..?

[Rosssco]

Goldy, as an aside to what your doing here, going by what you've said, a Celica steering wheel won't fit an MR2, or do you mean just the Celica slipring..? Seen a Celica steering wheel I fancy (98' I think), and was sure it would physically fit, but unsure from the wiring side..

Ross

[Goldy]

Goldy, as an aside to what your doing here, going by what you've said, a Celica steering wheel won't fit an MR2, or do you mean just the Celica slipring..? Seen a Celica steering wheel I fancy (98' I think), and was sure it would physically fit, but unsure from the wiring side..

Ross

The Celica Slipring wouldn't fit, I haven't tried a wheel yet. The early celica wheels had the same splines as the MR2 and i'm wondering if the later ones were the same too... If the MRS wheel fits a MK2 then the new shape Celica wheel should fit as well! Give it a go and let me know how you get on? :icon_biggrin:

Greg, I had a thought that the optics were for the steering fog lights, but I can't find any info on them...

[AlunJ]

Ok, oddball idea time.....
could the input from the shift pedals be transmitted down the wire that normally feeds power to the horn switch?

I'm thinking amplitude modulated voltage on that wire - lock the power coming into it from the cars electrical system at 12v with a zener, then modulate up / down to transfer data. One micro in the steering wheel transmitting down the wire (bonus feature: you could have lots of buttons and still make it work) and a slave receiver unit decoding what's going on and making sure the rest of the electrical system never sees the voltage spikes along that wire. Can kinda see in my head how it could work, but too tired to communicate it effectively lol will try again tomorrow (if the ideas not just completely stupid).

[Nod]

You could look at the slip rings in a MK3 Supra steering wheel ;)

or DC Can Bus ;)

[rockingthe2]

optics could be (possibly) for turning fog lights? but for wiring the paddles up you could mount the paddles in the steering column trim and although you wouldnt have the paddles turn with the steering wheel, the wiring would not need to spin, many cars ive seen here in the US have this kind of setup, it is simpler and less to go wrong. other than that maybe wire the paddles as far as you can so they wont need to turn, then connect them with some sort of rotating connector.

[Goldy]

Right more progress,

Having taken the steering wheel apart, i've decided that the best option would be to secure the switch to the horn earth contact. This gives me two mounting points and the horn contact can act as the ground connection on the switch. Convieniently the switch contacts mount up amost perfectly.

So i've drilled two 3mm holes in the horn plate, and i've tapped the switch contact so I can screw in an M3 machine screw. Hey presto... two micro switches securely mounted.





I've re-fitted the steering wheel and added my aluminium flap to check the clearance. I think it's about the right size so as not to be too intrusive. Nik is producing some sexy carbon flaps which I think will look the dogs doo daas when fitted :icon_rr:



On the subject of wiring the flaps i've decided to go with a similar idea to what Alun mentioned but a lot simpler : Fit a different resistor to each switch and the horn. When each button is pushed it will connect that resistor to ground this will give three different voltage levels. Using a comparator I can compare the voltages against a set level to give me three digital outputs. Its very similar to the way that most steering wheel stereo controls seem to work. I'll post up a circuit diagram when i've drawn it!

Does anyone know how much current the horn requires?

Cheers,

Simon

[dgh938peg]

Does anyone know how much current the horn requires?

Not sure but i like that idea of how to operate them. Thinking about it, could the horn be left at full bore current/voltage and then resistorise the two switches for the box?

[Goldy]

I thought about doing that but I wasn't sure what the horn would do when you used the flappy paddles. I would still need the same number of components to decode the signals.

[OlberJ]

Are the optics not for your self cancelling indicators?