Idea for computer-in-the-car!

[SilverJester]

I had one in my Talon, I mounted a mini-its motherboard in the trunk (the little storage area on the passenger side) and had a 7" touch screen in the dash, worked out great I loved it. Was better than having a cd changer plus I had movies. Unfortuently I got rear-ended and there went the computer, all but the screen Btw if anyone needs a screen mine is up for sale (in-dash fold out touch screen).

 

[rodwa4]

where does your screen go? in the where the sterio goes hopefully?

 

[huafist]

Mine is still under construction - right now I'm fabbing up the custom stuff I need to make it work. I've completely disassembled a laptop and resoldered a bunch of stuff (extending leads and whatnot. Also designed my startup/shutdown controller and a 12VDC - 18VDC Power Supply so I don't have to use an inverter. Hopefully I'll have it done soon and I'll post pics.

 

[bOOstd GSX]

thats cool! how much though? see i'm running on a tight budget, as in, have to buil my own comp from scratch... maybe even make my own custom case. where'd you get the keyboard though?

I paid $900 and ChuckT built it for me. I got the keyboard from CompUSA

 

[rodwa4]

i'm likeing the idea of putting the comp in the back, and just the mouse/keyboard/moniter in front. does anyone know if i could take a lcd off of a portable dvd player, and make it work with a comp? i could get a busted dvd player for cheap, with the screen still working, and use that.

 

[huafist]

You won't be able to do that for the same reason you can't take an LCD from a laptop and use it with another computer - LCD displays have to have a controller to make them work properly - these controllers are pretty specific, and in laptops and portable DVD players, they're integrated into the circuit board inside the unit, not the LCD itself. I suppose if the busted DVD unit had composite video in, you could get a video card w/comp. out and do it that way. Don't know what quality you'd get though.

 

[rodwa4]

thanks huafist. does anyone know where i can get a power supply to run off the cars battery?

 

[huafist]

Are you going to use a laptop or an ITX/uATX based computer? For standard 12VDC power supplies, you can use the Opus unit. As far as laptops go, a few of us have designed our own DC-DC units, but most use an inverter and a standard laptop power supply I think. check out http://www.mp3car.com - lots of good info there.

 

[rodwa4]

actually i'm thinking of building my own comp from scratch. maybe building a custom case to fit in the spare tire well. i would hopefully just use standard computer parts, and a ac/dc inverter would probably work best.

 

[huafist]

The problem with AC/DC inverters is they tend to introduce noise. I'd go with the Opus supply, they're relatively cheap and proven to work well.

 

[rodwa4]

and they will work with a standard comp?

 

[huafist]

Yeah, that's what they're designed for. ITX/uATX simply refers to the size/orientation of the motherboard - the power supply is the same configuration. So they'll work with any standard motherboard.

 

[rodwa4]

cool, the other thing is, what about long wires/cables to conect the mouse/keyboard and moniter up front? and also, what i want to do, is put a dvd drive in the dash, above the glove box, do they make a cable long enough for that?

 

[huafist]

cool, the other thing is, what about long wires/cables to conect the mouse/keyboard and moniter up front? and also, what i want to do, is put a dvd drive in the dash, above the glove box, do they make a cable long enough for that?

There are limits on the length of these cables - I don't know them off the top of my head. Some of the mp3car.com guys might know, but if nothing else, you can get them from the IEEE people.

 

[dave99gst]

just thought id post my pic up -
I do have a 10" touchscreen for a laptop f/s

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[n0c7]

What are you guys doing for startup/shutdown? I'm really considering this setup, but if I'm going to be using software to play my music(ie. WMP, iTunes, winamp, etc) and I turn the car off, I don't want the computer to shutoff without being properly shutdown, and I also don't want to have to shutdown the computer everytime I get outta the car and vice versa. I think if someone could tie in a timer into the ignition wire that would leave the 12V constant hot for 15 seconds after the car was off, send a trigger to the computer to go into standby mode, something along that line...turn the ignition to ON, computer gets power again, comes out of standby and there your music or whatever you were doing comes on again.

 

[huafist]

What are you guys doing for startup/shutdown? I'm really considering this setup, but if I'm going to be using software to play my music(ie. WMP, iTunes, winamp, etc) and I turn the car off, I don't want the computer to shutoff without being properly shutdown, and I also don't want to have to shutdown the computer everytime I get outta the car and vice versa. I think if someone could tie in a timer into the ignition wire that would leave the 12V constant hot for 15 seconds after the car was off, send a trigger to the computer to go into standby mode, something along that line...turn the ignition to ON, computer gets power again, comes out of standby and there your music or whatever you were doing comes on again.

There's several methods of going about this. I designed a shutdown controller of my own that connects to a serial port and wrote software to control it - it puts the machine in standby when the ignition is turned off and wakes it up when the ignition is turned on. There are many of these available for sale - they're typically between $45 and $60.

 

[n0c7]

There's several methods of going about this. I designed a shutdown controller of my own that connects to a serial port and wrote software to control it - it puts the machine in standby when the ignition is turned off and wakes it up when the ignition is turned on. There are many of these available for sale - they're typically between $45 and $60.

Great to hear that people actually considered it. What language did you write the code in and what OS are you using?

 

[huafist]

Great to hear that people actually considered it. What language did you write the code in and what OS are you using?

I'm using windows 98 on mine (older machine) and I wrote my code in Visual C++. Would be just as easy to do in unix/linux with C if you had a piece of software similar to mediaengine for windows to run the mp3's and stuff.
I chose windows primarily because I'm also gonna use it for datalogging and the like. I'm gonna also eventually install ECU+ in the car so I'll already have a computer to work it with.

 

[siueclipse]

yes, car computers are the same.

 

[huafist]

I'm waiting on good weather so I can finish up my carputer install. I can't fiberglass when it's colder than a welldigger's ass in the klondike and wet When I get it finished, I'll post pics for you to check out.

 

[Eclipse45150]

Ive been wanting to do this but do any companies offer navigation software to load onto it?

 

[huafist]

Ive been wanting to do this but do any companies offer navigation software to load onto it?

Sure do, and you can get GPS units fairly cheap. Earthmate, iGuidance, etc, etc, are all good choices. Deluo Electronics sells complete navigation systems at very reasonable prices.

 

[Eclipse45150]

Cool, thank you Ill have to check those places out. Im gonna try to build a computer to handle my music, playstation to (ima have to build the ps2 into there unless anyone knows where to get chips for a comp to play them), and my nav. and ideas for good prices on parts?

I am fairly new to the computer building and programming, Im goin to school for it, thats one reason why I want to do this, but do not of any good places to buy stuff