A trip computer is a

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

fitted to some

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

s; most modern trip computers record, calculate, and display the distance travelled, the average speed, the average fuel consumption, and

real-time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...

fuel consumption. The first, mechanical trip computers, such as the

Halda Halda Watch Company is a Swedish manufacturer of high-end watches. It was founded in 1887 by Henning Hammarlund in Svängsta. History Halda was founded in 1887 by the factory owner Henning Hammarlund (1857-1922) in order to primarily pro ...

Speedpilot, produced by a Swedish taximeter manufacturer, were made in the 1950s as car accessories to enable the driver to maintain a given time schedule, particularly useful in rallying. One was installed as standard equipment in the 1958

Saab GT750 The Saab GT750 ('' Gran Turismo 750'') is an automobile from Saab produced between 1958 and 1960. It was introduced at the New York International Auto Show in 1958 and featured safety belts as standard, which soon became commonplace on most cars. ...

. The 1952 Fiat 1900 came standard with a complex mechanical device, called ''mediometro'' in Italian, that showed the average speed. In 1978, the

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

division of

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

introduced the "Cadillac Trip Computer", available on the

Cadillac Seville The Seville was manufactured by Cadillac from 1975 to 2004 as a smaller-sized, premium model. It was replaced by the STS in 2004. Origin of the name The name of "Cadillac's first small car" was selected over a revival of LaSalle or the GM des ...

;

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

also launched an electric trip computer on its low-end Omni/Horizon. They can range from basic to complex. The most basic trip computers incorporate average fuel mileage and perhaps an outside temperature display. Mid-range versions often include information on fuel, speed, distance, cardinal heading (compass), and elapsed time. The most advanced trip computers are reserved for high-end cars and often display average calculations for two drivers, a stop watch, tire-pressure information, over-speed warnings, and many other features. Sometimes the trip computer's display is in the gauge cluster, the dashboard or navigation-system screen, or an overhead console. Some displays include information about scheduled maintenance. The current Acura TL does this in stages, first alerting the driver with a "Due Soon" message; once the programmed mileage is reached, the message is "Due Now"; when more time or distance has elapsed, the message changes to "Past Due". Mercedes-Benz vehicles constantly monitor the quality of the oil and alert the driver when the oil has degraded to a certain extent. GM and FCA vehicles provide oil change alerts based on the number and length of trips, engine temperature, and other factors. Some vehicles also use the trip computer to allow owners to change certain aspects of vehicle behavior, e.g. how the power locks work, but in most cars "setting preferences" is now done through a center screen also used for the backup camera and radio. Some trip computers can display the diagnostic codes that mechanics use. This is especially useful when the mechanic wants to see the codes while driving the car. In 2004, Linear Logic developed the ScanGauge, which at the time was the only easily installed (via

OBDII On-board diagnostics (OBD) is a term referring to a vehicle's self-diagnostic and reporting capability. OBD systems give the vehicle owner or repair technician access to the status of the various vehicle sub-systems. The amount of diagnostic inf ...

) accessory that worked as a trip computer, 4 simultaneous digital gauges, and a diagnostic trouble-code reader. This device has available 12 different measurements which can be used as the 4 digital gauges. The units of measure can be independently selected between miles/km, gallons/liters, Celsius/Fahrenheit, and PSI/kPa. In 2008, the

OBDuino OBDuino is an open source trip computer design based on the Arduino platform. An OBDuino may be assembled and customised by an electronics hobbyist; it displays information such as instantaneous fuel economy (e.g. miles per gallon, L/100 km o ...

project announced a low-cost

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

trip computer design using the

interface and the

Arduino Arduino () is an open-source hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardware products are licensed unde ...

hobbyist microcontroller platform, released under the

GPL The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general u ...

open source license.

References

{{Car-interior Auto parts Automotive accessories Automotive electronics Measuring instruments Onboard computers

See also

References