A small project idea - Wireless trailer lighting control

RE: A small project idea - Wireless trailer lighting control

screamingtiger — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 12:34:29 GMT

Ive been slowly gathering parts of this. I got some NRF24L01+ 2.4 ghz modules for communication.

I also picked up some mosfets for another project but after I did some testing on the lights, the running lights pull 500Ma and the brake lights pull nearly 2A, and that is per side.

So I think I am going to resort to physical/mechanical relays. The ones I have are logic level but can handle 5A. I will still need 4 relays though as the lights must also function as blinkers. I am going to the store today to look at an LED based light for my trailer, I am curious how many amps those pull. I also like the idea of not worrying about burnt bulbs to change out. I may be able to use the mosfets yet.

I have some Chinese clone arduino mini pros I am going to be using. I am also considering a control panel with a touch LCD that lets me see what the lights are doing and allows me to manually control them for testing. For that I many have to use an arduino mega to have enough pins for the LCD but you can get those cheap (~10USD) as well.

Finally I have a small motorcycle battery to power the trailer lights. I am looking at a small solar charger for car batteries I can install on the trailer, so it can be completely green and self charging!

RE: A small project idea - Wireless trailer lighting control

screamingtiger — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 14:33:04 GMT

This project will be on hold a bit while I will spending my time on my SciFiYourPi project!

However I may take a sidetrack and do it while I am in the mood.

You know what would be REALLY cool? A self tracting trailer! What is that, will the trailer has an electric motor that provides some power for the trailer while being towed. Why I would want that? Will then I could pull a trailer with a TINY car. Like a smart car.

I think as time goes on big vehicles in the US will disappear and this type of concept will be needed. So the trailer will have to know the velocity and acceleration of the car to provide the right amount of power at the right times. Probably mostly when moving from a complete stop.

This could be done with an Arduino or Raspberry pi as the control unit.

RE: A small project idea - Wireless trailer lighting control

michaelkellett — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 14:08:37 GMT

I suspect you are in the US where the rules are different. In the UK your insurance company would not cover you for the use of home modified/built trailer lights using wireless links.

Although I agree with you about the awfulness of the standard trailer connectors you would need to do a lot of testing to prove that your wireless link was really reliable.

On trucks where the connectors carry safety critical stuff (like ABS control signals) they just use better connectors.