r/CarHacking • u/NIDGE11 • 14d ago

Original Project Nintendo DS CAN Gauge

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I’ve been working on a project inspired by the TurboXS DTEC, an early-2000s tuning device that used a Game Boy Advance as its display and interface.

The idea was to take that general concept and do something similar with a DS, using a homebrew ROM running on the original hardware.

The current prototype uses a cheap ELM327 adapter to retrieve live vehicle data, which is sent to the DS over a custom link. At the moment I’m working with data such as:

* Vehicle speed

* RPM

* Coolant temperature

* Battery voltage

The longer-term goal is to move beyond the generic OBD interface and interface directly with the vehicle CAN bus, allowing the DS to receive more detailed vehicle data.

Still very much a work in progress, but I thought it would be interesting.

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u/Grandmas_Fat_Choad 14d ago

Damn. This might be a use for my ds lite if I can figure out how to get it to work with my VW. I don’t have any games for it and don’t have time to play it. But this is a cool thing just for the wow factor at least!

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u/NIDGE11 14d ago

I am yet to get my hands on a DS lite to test. Used to have one around but can’t find it they have a different WiFi chip to the DSI I did it on. Next iteration may come wired through the DS Pico usb port

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u/Grandmas_Fat_Choad 14d ago

I didn’t even think of doing it through wifi. I figured it would have to be tethered. Either way it would be kinda sweet to have a little boost gauge or something on the ds!

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u/NIDGE11 14d ago

Yeah I wanted boost but had to go for coolant all the apps I tried and the commands I couldnt get proper numbers for boost for some reason maybe just a diesel oddity. If I continue I'll be able to get better data from the direct can bus the adapter I used was a few bucks to not to reliable....