From Transport Evolved.
Every time Nikki walked up to our F-150 Lightning, the custom board she designed rebooted. She’d accidentally built an antenna – and that wasn’t even the whole problem.
Project Mellon is a DIY CAN bus gadget that makes our WOLFBOX SmartSlide powered tonneau cover smarter: it locks the cover while the truck’s in gear, unlocks it with the truck, and opens it from the HomeLink visor. In this video: the no-splice custom loom so many of you asked about (built on the trailer brake module’s STAC64 connector), a premature victory lap, and the 100 nF capacitor that finally squished the bug.
Should Mellon become a product, an open-source project, or stay a one-off? Tell us in the comments – Nikki can’t decide if it’s worth it or not!
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*⏱️ Chapter Breakdown*:
00:00 – Introduction
00:59 – A shout out to Little Collie
03:12 – How the loom was made
06:05 – The connector type
07:05 – The inspiration for Project Mellon
08:58 – A reminder as to what Mellon does
14:27 – Tests… and problems…
15:26 – The reboot problem…
18:26 – Nikki is wrong…
21:24 – A demonstration of how the system works
26:10 – Thanks, and goodbye!
💍 Project Mellon: The Fellowship Of The Cover
1. Installing the WOLFBOX SmartSlide powered tonneau cover – https://youtu.be/Mp55sdIVLcc
2. Adding WOLFBOX power running boards – and our no-splice loom – https://youtu.be/–79RtuRSqo
3. Project Mellon: designing and building our custom PCB – https://youtu.be/zPcvvDJC8mk
4. First test in the truck: will Mellon talk to the cover? – https://youtu.be/Qh31tiN4-BU
5. The new loom, a squished bug and full functionality (you are here!)
*Mentioned in this video*
🔗 WOLFBOX (SmartSlide tonneau cover, power running boards) – https://gears.wolfbox.com/?ref=TRANSPORTEVOLVED
🔗 Digi-Key (connectors and parts) – https://www.digikey.com
🔗 Espressif ESP32-C6 – https://www.espressif.com/en/products/socs/esp32-c6
🔗 Home Assistant – https://www.home-assistant.io
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*👥 Today’s Sponsors*
🌱 Electric Vehicle Association – https://www.myeva.org
🐕 Little Collie Shepherd – https://littlecollie.com
🔧 PCBWay ($5 off your first order: custom PCBs, metal parts and 3D prints) – https://pcbway.com/g/Z9hxkG
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*🎙️ Credits:*
Host, Script, Editor: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
Color: Vi Horton
Art & Animation : Erin Carlie
Producer: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
Music: via Artlist.io