Matthew Dowsett Seeks Crowdfunding for the Sparkdog PF-DI Engine Management Expansion Board

Do-it-yourself engine control enthusiast Matthew Dowsett has launched a crowdfunding campaign for a second-generation prototype of Sparkdog, a board designed to bring high-pressure injection control and more to the hobbyist.

"I am raising funds to build 20 Sparkdog PF-DI 2nd revision prototype boards that can be used as a standalone board," Dowsett explains of his campaign, which is aiming to raise $2,239, "or can be added to a DIY-ECU such as Rabbit ECU for additional functionality like high-pressure injector driver and dual reversible DC motor drivers.

"The Sparkdog PF-DI board will open the door to some fun DIY engine management projects that are currently impossible due to the technical complexity of modern direct injection engines. The test car is a MK6 VW Golf GTI with a 2.0 TSI EA888 engine."

The second revision of the Sparkdog PF-DI board includes a high-pressure injector drive supporting four multiplexed injectors, a dual DC motor driver, a spill valve drive circuit, two saturated drive circuits for variable valve timing (VVT) control, an input for boost control power supply, and headers for the Arduino Due, Arduino Mega, and Teensy 3.5 microcontroller development boards.

"I am hoping to deliver a product that makes it easy for hobbyists to get up and running with direct injection and DC motor control in their DIY engine control projects," says Dowsett of the project.

"There is always some risk of unknown challenges, but this project has the advantage that the 1st prototype board is already running in the test car. It is impossible to be 100% sure the circuits will work for all high-pressure injectors but there is a good chance the board can be modified to suit most applications."

The second-generation prototype boards are priced at $106 on the Kickstarter campaign page, with delivery to backers expected in July 2020.