VoCore 6.8 Inch Dashboard with I2C LEDs – Review

VoCore 6.8 Inch Dashboard with I2C LEDs – Review

When experienced simracers hear the name VoCore, they immediately think of the displays from the manufacturer of the same name, which are installed in almost every dashboard or steering wheel with a screen. With the 6.8-inch display, VoCore is now offering a combination of a screen with 24 LEDs and a housing for demonstration purposes for the first time.

Ordering and shipping

Anyone interested in the dashboard can currently only purchase it directly from the manufacturer’s website. It is offered there for $99.98, with the following shipping methods available:

• Shipping by Post (2~6 weeks, not recommend, unstable, postal to the country then postal delivery)
• Shipping by Airline (1~2 weeks, recommend for US/EU, airline to the country then postal delivery)
• Shipping by Express (3~5 days, stable and expansive, DHL delivery, remote areas need +$26)

Any customs duties and import fees are not included in the price. In our case, the delivery time was approx. 2 weeks, a customs invoice is not yet available.

Display

The centrepiece of the dashboard is the 8.8-inch display, which meets the usual Vocore specifications. High brightness, a maximum of 30 frames per second and a thin bezel also make the 6.8-inch model of the popular display a very good choice for DIY projects. The unchanged resolution of 800 x 480 pixels is still more than sufficient for use as a simracing dashboard despite the slightly larger screen size.

Specs

Controller and LEDs

As already announced in a blog entry (link to post), it is possible to connect a CH32V003 chip directly to the display board and thus save the internal USB hub and an ATMEGA chip that would otherwise be required to operate the display and LEDs. The WS2812 LEDs are then controlled directly. VoCore also provides demo boards and has put the corresponding circuit diagrams online.

A total of 24 LEDs were installed here, which are equipped with additional caps (integrated into the housing) for better light distribution in the following distribution:

• Left: 5 WS2812 LEDs
• Middle: 14 WS2812 LEDs
• Right: 5 WS2812 LEDs

Housing

The housing of the VoCore is primarily intended as a demonstration project and is therefore not particularly elaborately designed. Printed using the FDM process (the best print quality we have ever seen with this process), it offers space for the display, the LEDs and a USB-C port on the back. Both the screws for the front cover and the rear cover are screwed directly into the printed plastic, so a little care is required here. You also have to get a little creative if you want to mount the display on a wheelbase, as there are no threads or anything similar provided for this.

VoCore also provides a 3D model of the housing free of charge: https://github.com/Vonger/6IN8SHELL

Simhub

The integration into Simhub is seamless. All you need to do is add a new device in the following order; the drivers are already installed when Simhub is installed:

• Devices
• Add new device
• Create standard device (bottom left)
• Generic VoCore Screen with I2C LEDs

Profile für die LEDs können dann wie gewohnt importiert und Dashboards ebenso einfach ausgewählt werden.

Conclusion

The new dashboard from VoCore, even if it is actually only intended for demonstration purposes, is probably the cheapest way to acquire a functional dashboard with a VoCore screen (here even in the 6.8 inch version) and LEDs. For the low price, it should be more than clear that you are not getting a fully-rounded end product with fancy packaging, mounting brackets and USB cables. However, the dashboard with its new way of running LEDs should certainly be trend-setting, especially for future DIY projects.