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 Post subject: EngineLab/AEM ECU
PostPosted: Thu May 14, 2015 9:06 pm 
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Here's something I stumbled on a few years ago
http://enginelab.net/

but thought they'd folded......they haven't. I had a long chat with Jim from engine labs and what they did was do an exclusive deal with AEM
http://www.aemelectronics.com/products/ ... inity-ecu/

So the whole AEM infinity line is of EngineLab design and based on the engineLab code system. If you buy the AEM hardware and ask Jim nicely he'll set you up with access to the engine lab system at no charge and you can reprogram the ECU to do whatever you please. He told me all the 2 connector units are the same and have 12 fuel and 12 spark drivers, I'd just need to buy one and start programming it....very very tempting :)


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 Post subject: Re: EngineLab/AEM ECU
PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2015 6:45 am 
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I have a 1st generation AEM in one of my Supras. Nothing to do with EngineLab - it was loosely based on the GEMS unit from the UK, and was the first true PnP standalone to hit the market back in 2002 or 03. AEM's marketing brilliance, but also their weakness was that they'd sell it to anybody, unlocked, and people who knew nothing about engines were free to go destroy their motors. That earned them a bad reputation in the hotrodder world, when it was really the fault of the people who didn't have a clue what they were doing. Too, their software was very complicated and the documentation was very poor, so it was only through experimentation that even the tuners who knew what they were doing were able to learn the ECU. But it was a very powerful unit then with lots of I/O and capability (it had 128 pins and all were used)

That ECU's early reputation has been hanging over them ever since. Some people love their hardware, some swear it's the worst on the planet.

I think if you know what you're doing, and you go into it forewarned and have some support behind you, it "should" be a good ECU. I haven't heard of anyone running an Infinity 12 on anything, however. Maybe AEM themselves would share some info with you? Also, the tuner I use is an ex-AEM engineer who developed the signal conditioning circuitry for their 2nd gen unit, and he's also Rhys Millen's tuner for his Pikes Peak car. Real knowledgeable guy and he's still close to the factory - he might know if the '12 is in widespread use anywhere yet? If you're interested in talking to him, email me and I'll put you in touch.


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 Post subject: Re: EngineLab/AEM ECU
PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2015 9:03 am 
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Thanks.

What I was told the gen 1&2 are completely different from the infinity. The AEM interface on the infinity is very clunky and the control logic appears state of the art circa 1995 so probably very similar to what you are familiar with.

What the EngineLab interface does is basically wipe out everything AEM other than the name on the case and return it to EngineLab. In that state the underlying machine code is in place to read a crank and control injector, coil, and other drivers but there is no control logic at all, I would need to create all of that.......but as luck would have it I've spent a great deal of time over the past 4 years doing just that for my o5e ECU project but kept getting stuck with low level machine code issue....which are all solved int eh EngineLab setup.


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 Post subject: Re: EngineLab/AEM ECU
PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2015 9:23 pm 
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AEM's reputation was tarnished pretty badly by their CDI boxes about the time the Gen2 ECU came out, so it had a lukewarm reception. (Note: They never could fix all the gremlins in the CDI boxes so they pulled them off the market a couple of years ago, and now only offer inductive ignitions.) Then the Gen2's were really blown out of the water by the ProEFI boxes with newer, faster technology, so AEM knew they had to hit a home run with their Gen3 ECU's, or they were going to suffer the same fate as their CDI's.

Interestingly, I haven't heard many people raving about the Infinity other than the hardcore racers, but I sure see a lot of "lightly used" Infinities for sale by the Supra guys. Don't see too many used ProEFI's for sale, however.

If you're confident the hardware is solid, and you can dump the AEM interface and roll your own, then you might have something really interesting....... I don't think AEM play any options "games" like MoTeC do, either.


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 Post subject: Re: EngineLab/AEM ECU
PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2015 5:39 am 
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yeah.....I heard AEM = Almost Engine Management. Looking though the infinity layout and logic it looks like they took what they had from gen1/2 and simply ported it into the new infinity....so new on the outside, latest and greatest processor...running 1995 control logic. I really wasn't impressed with what I saw....for example I looked for almost 2 hours for the dwell setup and never did find it, that word is not in any of the documentation...WTF? Its filled with stuff like that.

I bought a new but open box infinity-8 last night on ebay for $2000, now I need to get the EngineLab EL Console to wipe out the badness and start creating goodness in its place. I'm pretty sure I can make the unit do anything the motec would do and I'll probably start by mostly copying the motec control logic. EngineLab provides a simulator so most all the basic logic testing can be done on the computer, and the HW is already tested so.......

Are you interested in coming along for the ride? I'm thinking I'll setup a forum section just for AEM/EngineLab development and projects.

If the AEM/Engine Lab experiment doesn't work I still have the 05e ECU I've been working on as a fall-back. I have all the parts I need to assemble functional but frankenish hardware I think and a buddy is doing a proper board design right now and is shooting to have working and nice HW in...2 months probably.


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 Post subject: Re: EngineLab/AEM ECU
PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2015 6:00 am 
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I decide to give this it's own section because it's going to be very cool :)

viewforum.php?f=18


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 Post subject: Re: EngineLab/AEM ECU
PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2015 6:32 am 
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Sure, I'd be interested in coming along, and helping wherever I could. I need a box to run in parallel with the Motronics for the FCar. The Megasquirt 3 can't do it with a single box, and the MoTeC wasn't on my radar screen for many of the reasons you've discovered. Now that you've discovered the underlying hardware in the AEM is actually EngineLab and you think you can clean up the interface, you've got my attention!

p.s. Post some pics of the guts in that Infinity 8; it'll be interesting to see if it really does have 12/12 drivers.


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 Post subject: Re: EngineLab/AEM ECU
PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2015 1:05 pm 
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I'll pop it open and post pics as soon as it arrives.

Jim at Enginelab isn;t great at returning email, so if I don't heard anything by monday afternoon I'll call him and see about getting things rolling. this thing has a CAN channels so in theory 1 channel could be OBDII ...for anyone who needs that to check on their engine for any reason ;)


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 Post subject: Re: EngineLab/AEM ECU
PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2015 6:17 am 
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I realise I'm probably asking how long is a piece of string, but do you have a feel for what, and how long it would take to get this puppy running well enough to fire 12 injectors and 12 coils with the usual complement of input sensors like TPS, CLT, WBO2, AIT, etc.? For my purposes, at least initially, I don't need any other I/O. However, that CAN to OBD2 signal conversion is interesting...... Link do that also.


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 Post subject: Re: EngineLab/AEM ECU
PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2015 9:16 am 
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cribbj wrote:
I realise I'm probably asking how long is a piece of string, but do you have a feel for what, and how long it would take to get this puppy running well enough to fire 12 injectors and 12 coils with the usual complement of input sensors like TPS, CLT, WBO2, AIT, etc.? For my purposes, at least initially, I don't need any other I/O. However, that CAN to OBD2 signal conversion is interesting...... Link do that also.


As I understand it the basic code is all there and it just needs to be setup. Setting up a sensor to read and convert to the voltage to say temperature is probably 15-30 minutes work, that's easy. The time will be spent figuring out the best way to convert the sensor data into an injector pulse time that correct properly for everything that matters. going from 1 working injector to 12 working injectors is probably 30-60 minutes as it's just cut and paste work. If the software is what it claims to be, 1 week full time or 1 month at the place I have time for seems right before the setup is ready for live testing.

Part of the power of this setup is the simulator. I think the plan should be set this up first and start generating signals for all the primary inputs. These get market as "plant" signals so they stay on the PC and don't end up in the ECU. Once there are signals to read......we start reading them and converting to useful stuff. This is basically the same way I setup the o5e system, in the tuner you select test mode and all the signals are faked so you can test the output of any combination of inputs and compare to what you were expecting to see.

I just need Jim to set me up with the software now so I can get rolling....I really think getting used to the software is going to be the biggest hurdle.


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