Archives

Hi Guys,

I recently did a survey of the MIMA owners, and found that many only use MIMA on demand or MIMA active.
What do you think about a low cost minimal version of MIMA.

No PIMA, no ABC, no fan control or temp sensors, no display.

A small board with microcontroller, and a joystick with no mode switches. The central switch would switch from MIMA on demand to MIMA active (led mode indicator on joystick board) where no assist or regen would happen unless the stick were pressed?
The system would be much easier to install, possibility a short plug in harness to the ECM could do it.
Estimated cost $250-300?
The full MIMA system would still be available (if I get 10 people on the waiting list).
Only an idea at this point.
I realize that the price of the full MIMA system is high for many people, but it is a lot of work to build the system, and the harness is also a bear. This would get the price down to a level where many people may be able to swing it, and although not as complete a solution, would still meet the needs of many?

I'm one of those who uses only MIMA on demand and FAS's a lot. If I were doing it over my feature set would be:

(1) MIMA on demand only
(2) FAS module definitely
(3) Pushdown of joystick gives FAS (as it does now)
(4) Simple harness for easy removal when necessary
(5) Getting real Assist/Regen data from the MIMA display is really handy, so if possible feed the MIMA data into the factory Assist/Regen displays so the dash displays show the correct levels? Then no secondary display is needed (I know the stock displays are wrong but I catch myself looking at them rather than at the MIMA ones!!)
(5) Maintaining fan control would be nice.

This is just a wish list obviously, some of this may be unrealistic or too costly.

Hi Mike:

___Although not an Insight owner anymore, a simple FAS switch (no need for the brake vacuum monitoring or anything) and the ability to remove all assist via toggle would do it for me.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

MIMA Lite would have no AUX outputs to control FAS.

FAS is another thing, and has no connection to this concept, and could be operated with a simple momentary switch, or via the present interface to the full MIMA system.

To keep it simple, no display, since that involves connecting to the battery current sensor for the battery amps information, and adds complexity. Getting real assist and regen to the stock display is not an option, way too complex to hack into that.

PIMA and ABC depend on the MAP signal which needs the Opto isolation and more connections. This would mean higher price and more wiring to install.

I am basically talking about the core MIMA function of manual control of the IMA.
I only am considering this since I will need to make more boards, so adding another would not be a big factor and most of the code that is already written could be ported to a smaller microcontroller.

If I do not get the 10 backlogs for the regular MIMA, I will not consider this version either.
Lots of things I could do with the full system to further improve it.
LCD display
Joystick on steering wheel
Smart cruise control
are just a few of the things that many have asked about.

My time is getting diverted to other projects, so unless the price of gas gets more people interested, and the waiting list grows, we may have seen the last of the MIMA systems. I just don't know ???????

;)

Mike - just wait till gas hits $4.00 per gallon. Your going to be very busy soon!

Mike, now that I've got an Insight, I would be interested in this. I would like a FAS switch but the MIMA light as you've described it in your original post would be plenty nice for me. Since all I want to do is disable assist and regen I'd be fine with something I could mount out of sight instead of within easy reach.

Are you still thinking of doing this if you get enough demand?

I got very limited response to my MIMA lite thread, and I continue to get inquiries about the full system.
I don't have a lot of time, so at this point, MIMA light is not in the plans. I will make the final decision when I start the next build.

If all you want is to turn off the regen at will, you are talking about an IMA kill sw rather than MIMA.
A 50% duty cycle 2KHZ oscillator, and a 20 KHZ oscillator, ( 2- LM 555 chips)and two relays would do it,
This is even simpler than MIMA L, which is pretty simple.
http://www.99mpg.com/mima/diymimal/
The schematic for MIMA L:
http://www.99mpg.com/Data/resources/downloads/harnessdiagrams/mima_l.pdf
My first MIMA was built on a radio shack breadboard:
http://www.99mpg.com/mima/diymimal/mima_breadboard_small.jpg,0
I used this for several months.
I have one request for MIMA lite, where the guy actually sent me the waivers, your request would make 2.
If I had 20 or more people that were serious I would consider it more seriously.

I had forgotten that back in 2003, that an Insight owner in Ca. (Calpod) discovered that if you put a switch in parallel with the clutch switch, you can disable assist and regen, by fooling the car into thinking that the Clutch is pushed in.
No need for MIMA lite for the guys that only want to disable the IMA.