CNTC Android Phone Inclineometer

[ckc123]

ok folks. . I talked to the admin at CNTC, and I'm going to be developing a CNTC branded inclinometer for the Android phones..

I've got a working prototype, and I wanted to get everyone input feedback, and the more opinions and ideas the better it will be. I'm going to be donating the $$ to the CNTC for when it''s finally ready to be put on the Android Market (Free and Paid versions available) I also need some good photos for the templates as well (so anyone with a WHITE X,Pathy, Titan, Fontier, let me know if you have pictures you can take of the front/side)

Here is what I have as the design so far.


CNTC Android Phone Inclinometer

Features:

• CNTC Splash Screen when starts up.
  Displays a visual view of vehicle from side/back and current angle of inclination
  uses "skins" for each vihicle type (Xterra, Pathfinder, Frontier, and Titan) and thier respective acceptable angles of incline
  Displays the "Safe", "Caution", and "Warning" colors for each vehicle based on the current angle of the vehicle
  Displays both a visual and textual angle of the vehicle
  Play an audio alarm (Single Beep for exceeding Caution, and solid tone for Warning)
  Button to calibrate (using exising phone angle as a 0,0 baseline)
  Records maximum angle values exceeded during program execution time.

Optional (Enhancements to consider):

• Optional GPS location/Compass heading
  Record a GPS track of current values / times / location

Paid vs Free version is limtied by:

Free:

• update rate (10 seconds per update)
  No Audibile tones
  No Recording of Max values

Paid: ($$ goes to CNTC)

• Update Rate (1 second)
  Audible Tones
  Records Max Values

Beta Testing (Direct Distribution):

• Same as Paid version, but expires after 3 months.
  when starts up warning that beta will expire in X date

I'll also be looking for some beta testers (with Android phones).. any input/suggestions you guys can provide would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

[LGM]

Good on ya for doing this

How about a similar CNTC app for the iPhone?

[01R50]

Looks cool.

[ckc123]

iPhone??? I'm not sure if I could do that.. every time I get around Apple products I start to break out in hives

[inblack]

BBerry? maybe - wold look great on my storm.

[Nd4SpdSe]

I'd love one for PC...need a sensor of course.

[ckc123]

does anyone know where to get (or calculate ) the maximum roll/pitch which is safe for a vehicle?

[Nd4SpdSe]

I don't think you can calculate it. You'd be better off having those being a user-set option. Everyone's truck is setup differently (body lift, suspension lift, suspension configuation, tire size, rim offset, etc), and so is their experience and cline-comfort level

[Scotto]

does anyone know where to get (or calculate ) the maximum roll/pitch which is safe for a vehicle?

That's actually a really tricky question. Here's a link to how to figure it out: http://www.jeepaholics.com/tech/cog/

One of the interesting things to note is that COG is never quite in the middle of the truck, so the roll over angles are actually different for passenger and driver sides... For some reason we intuitively know that the pitch roll over is different from front to back, but for roll we think it's going to be the same. It's not - on the link, the test vehicle has almost 9* difference from one to the other.

Anyway, for our purposes, you could probably set the roll-over alarm for 30* or so, and the front to back at about 35*. I doubt there are many people here who have come close to these angles - Drew has, maybe Simon, Wayne must have at some point . It's pretty scary being in a truck at 20* or 25*. Let alone 30* or 35*. I doubt anyone would truly need an alarm to be told things are getting a little nerve-racking and that one ought to consider being careful.

This sounds like I am pooing on your idea but I'm not, it's a good one!

Scott

[ckc123]

Scott: that's exactly the type of feedback/ideas I'm looking for. it actually makes it easier (as they are user configuratble vs calculated etc.) and the visual warning indicators become pretty static (vs moving based on the vehicle)

I'm going to set a general visual indicator at >20 < 30 is a caution and > 30 is a warning.

Thanks..

[rush356]

Cool , i like it.
Now i need to get new phone. What kind of phones will it work with?

[ckc123]

it works with Android phones.. Motorola milestone, G1, HTC Dream etc..

[ckc123]

If anyone does have a phone you can now download it from the Android Market.. Version 1.0 is now available!!!

[meental]

joined up to say great app and im itching to go wheeling to try it out. just waiting for google to release the car mount for the N1.

[ckc123]

Thanks Meental..

If you don't mind,, can you provide some feedback on the market as well.. I have one guy who did not understand the progam and gave it a one star (it won't beep until you calibrate, but he didn't understand that so gives it a crappy rating)

guess I will have to put in an "Instructions for Use" for the people who just don't get it..

[nathan]

so will this work on a bb bold 9700?

[ckc123]

No. .BlackBerries are a proprietary OS, so it won't work on them..