Alright id been thinking of this one for awhile and its finally taken on some form thanks to the wonders of fleabay. The basic idea is instead of hacking up some custom dash, at least not for the moment, put in a computer than can hook up to the ecu, mp3, wifi etc... The screen here is a 7" motorised one with touchscreen and built in 4 channel amp with radio.
The computer is an embedded pc/104 board with a socket 370 on there, usual stuff including a compact flash socket. Im looking into a case for it at the moment and planning to put it in the centre console. So what ya recon?

 

Mighty pretty boss, good investment, but keep that locked up once it's in! Will it fit in the console?

 

Looks realllly nice. Ima be watching this close, if you can get it all working correctly, think ill do that so i can keep my HPTuners monitoring at all times. Id love that!

 

Nice idea!!

 

It would be cool to have it mounted under the middle AC vents. It could fold up out of sight when your not using it. Maybe on a swivel?

 

Thats a neat idea, though cant adjust the angle on the screen sideways, might make viewing difficult. For the moment at least its going to go where the stereo is. Its a 1DIN unit and il make a facia for it to fill the gap (radio is a 1.5 DIN mounting) with usb ports and such like, maybe a small keyboard if i can fit it in. The screen is motorised, just press a button on it or the remote and it hides away.

 

Thats pretty sweet, my buddy did that to his GTP like 5 years ago and it was the shiznit. Never have to load/unload a cd again, do anything you could at your desk but while mobile. Like to see a pic of that puppy installed in a camaro.

 

How about a folding keyboard from Tiger direct? mounted to a flex shaft, like the old time car phones?

 

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/8193/
EVEN BETTER!

 

Here is my VoomPC, purpose built 12v power supply, motherboard is 6.5x6.5 inches, 100GB hd, 1Gig Ram, 2.1 Pentium M processor running Win XP...

Building KR replica, so monitor is Xenarc 8.4 inch touch screen...



Raf

 

Did you build that unit or buy it ?

 

I bought all the pieces and put it together myself... case & power supply came together, I bought the motherboard, cpu, memory and HD, put it all together and loaded XP OS into with all the drivers....

Raf

 

Seems the computer isnt likely to fit in, i have smaller ones that will, though they dont have much ***** to run anything. 300MHz via something, just handy for a small embedded os, not for windows even if i strip it down. Soo i was thinking of stuffing it next to the ECU, Il check in weekend if it fits, any ideas for other locations that are hidden, i dont want it in the back of the car, so its got to fit in the dash?

 

Depending on how tall, maybe under driver's seat....
Not passenger, y pipe n cat keep it warm ...


Raf

 

How about in the back storage areas on the sides ? Mine are big enough to probably shuv my amp in, which i will do.

 

Aha!! found a space next to the ecu, just remove the plastic bracket make a new one and stuff the ecu and computer in the same place. Space is towards top of the pic, enough room for wires too

Also i have a neat data acqusition card coming from urside of the pond shortly with 16 analogue channels and 8 digital ones. Just add some amplifiers il make myself and some code and its all sorted for a fraction of the off the shelf price.

http://www.diamondsystems.com/products/diamondmm

 

I've wondered for a while how accurate is the HP Tuners system..?



Might have to get that for my T/A

 

I'm less actively working on the same idea. BTW, i'm gonna give away my ideal mounting location for the keyboard. I was looking at the laser keyboard that denthar posted a link to. Anyways, I was going to re-hinge the center console lid and spring load the laser projector so that the console opens towards the shifter and lays flat, and the projector rises up when the lid opens. Was going to use the chip emulator from moates to plug into the computer. I'm going the cheap route with just hacking my old PC up.

Also was going to build sort of a "case" in the dash/console, then use a hard drive extension cable to remote mount the drive so I can put it on a small springboard in the back bottom of the center console (just cut a notch in there) and add a cooling fan. Was also looking at a 12v touchscreen monitor, and with the USB ports on the PC, use a laptop broadband thing from the cell phone companies, and my wireless pc card is installed already so I can play around with music or .bin files in the den while eating a sandwich and then get in the car and upload all of it.

 

Ok, a quick update, changed the motherboard for an embedded Pentium M from the pentium III, because of cooler running but its faster too.
Audio and the touchscreen are all up and working, can get 5.1 surround from it apparantly! Found a case and drilled out the holes for it, now just need to adjust some connectors, add the psu unit and fit it under the dash.

 

were did u find that monitor?

that looks cool! wonder how well it works tho

 

Im working on a carputer aswell for my T/A.Still gotta get a power supply,case and screens.I want to run dual monitor mode..a 7inch where the deck used to be and maybe a 10 or 12inch where my pouch is on the passenger side dash.Dont want to have rear headrest screens because Im removing the back seats anyway and building a crazy sub box there..No back seat drivers in my ride lol.

Here is what my pc consists of so far:

Intel mother board dg45fc:dual channel memory,7.1 audio,dvi+hdmi output
Intel es5300 processor:2.6ghz 2mb cache
Kingston 2gb ddr2 ram
Samsung internal slim dvd drive/burner
Western didgtal 320gb 2.5 harddrive

I plan on getting the voompc case and m2 atx 160w power supply and lil addons like usb wireless,gps and power and reset buttons to be located on the dash.Im making a mount for the pc to be place on the passenger side at the bottom of the dash and remake the plastic panels and maybe weld brackets from the knee brace after I section it.I dont plan on having to load cds often at all so it doesnt have to be within arms length.

Should be fun build and simple with my background in custom installations just time consuming.I have moates chip burner and aldl hardware etc so that will also be permantly installed so I can datalog at will and tune incar instead of going for drives..coming home..burn a chip..go back out..try it..come home and readjust..burn..then drive lol.Now ill datalog while watchin a movie or anything else for that matter and have my tuning buddy adjust things on the bigger screen

 

Sounds a neat idea 86white, but have you thought how ur going to cool a quad core Xeon? Even a pentium 3 gets too hot without a fan. Possibly 160w might not be pushing things a bit close. Pentium M is reasonably fast and runs so much cooler and they are dirt cheap, just strip down the os to make it fast. A small version of xp installed takes up 400mb or so + pagefile on top. As for monitors mine sits in the dash but could put one in the sunvisor to hide it.
Yeah i had same idea to use it to tune, also for gauges and datalogging, just add some sensors etc. I have a seperate datalogger im working on at moment, is pretty small 10cm square. Just case it up and link it to the main computer probably with ethernet or wireless if it works near an engine that is.

 

I just upgraded to a 2.1 Pentium M... I would save some $$$ too on that setup, you're not ray tracing cartoons for dreamworks, something much less powerful & cheaper can keep up and do all you want...

Raf

 

I did buy a fan for the cpu,its a low profile fan and the case has 2 fans aswell.I will be adding more fans externally and on a switch mounted in my 4the gen console.From my calculations the 160w should be adequate from what I read up on Mp3car.com. Also for the amount of time I do spend in the car during the summer and being able to use the carputer..Ill be using it for more than just entertainment so I opted for something a lil more punch.I could of gone cheaper and strip down xp but it doesnt suit my needs at this time.Once I get it in then i can see how hot it gets and improve cooling.Thanks for the advice though,on the builds I do for customers wont need half the power I opted for lol and it wont always be in the car since it does get parked outside during winter Ill use it at home aswell

 

Oh and Im not using a quad core..dont need all that lol.Its a dual core

 

Anybody find/made software for diplaying gauges on the PC screen? I haven't found anything yet that is OBD1 compatible. They are all for OBD2. I'd like to run Speed, Tach and fuel level on dedicated gauges. Oil press., water temp, volts and whatever else from the carputer.

 

look into dyno software. they monitor all types of stuff, it prolly bypasses
the pcm entirely.

 

www.moates.net has readers and software...

They're not quite "gauges", there is another one, though I'm having trouble finding the website, mite be outa biz naz...

TurboLink...

video of it's gauges, rather nice looking...

http://video.google.com/videosearch?...8&sa=N&tab=wv#

The software you could download for free, I had Chris moates test it on his hardware, no luck...

I'll check for the site when I get home...

Rafael

 

wow, this is great I was curious if there was a program with an acompanying adapter for getting info from the ECU. I was gong to stick a pentium 4 I got from a freind in my car. it may be a bigger motherboard and all the sizing is generally larger but I'm nt going to buy a computer specificly for the car for a while. it IS a smaller scale motherboard for home PCs. I wasn't even going to really include a hed unt in my car, I was going to use the computer for the audio sinc eit has greater capacite than your stabdard head unit and has simpler wiring. a plus with a full size motherboard is I can had various components to make it interfac with stuff alot easier than if I used a VoomPC.

EDit: I live in jersey, I was curious. could I replace the physical meters with a screen and use that as the readout for my car, or would I have to keep the old gauges? cause it's not hard to attatch two screens.

 

I haven't located an off the shelf gauge software for the OBD1 ECMs yet. The scanning software such as from Moates will report the info to you, but its in a format that is sure to get me in an accident if I try to read it going down the road. The turbolink software is close, but the guy sold out the hardware to Edge Performance so a compatible cable isn't available for it anymore that I can find. I'm considering "upgrading" my LT1 to OBD2 wiring and PCM just so I can run Palmer's Dash Command. I've e-mailed them about an OBD1 version for our cars and received no response. If enough people ask them for it (hint) maybe they will produce a version for us.

http://www.palmerperformance.com/pro...mand/index.php

At the moment, you need your old gauges. Somebody show me I'm wrong!

 

You might find this interesting, it's a Toyota MR-2 with an amazing carputer in it. Two touchscreens to replace the gauges and a third in the middle for media etc. Pretty amazing setup. From what I remember reading the first time I came across this (couldn't find the original article now) was the guy programmed the whole thing himself in Visual C# and Visual Basic. If I had that kind of skillz I'd probably opt for a Linux solution, but it's still pretty epic.
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/11/f...ate-car-puter/

I've been tossing around a similar idea for quite some time now, was wondering about the reliability/life expectancy of mechanical hard drives... seems to me you could hit one big pothole and it's dead. Anyone here have experience with this? I was thinking a solid state drive might be a better idea.

 

MR-2? That's not 3rd gen related

Check this one out...

http://www.kittsupercar.com/

Voice activated, touch screens, automated, etc...

Sorry, it's in Italian... But it is a 3rd gen Firebird

Rafael

 

I don't recall computer parts hacked into a vehicle being model-dependent and ya gotta respect the MR-2, it's pretty badass for an import.

That Firebird looks pretty slick too, can't read Italian but to me it looks more like the gauges are all digital LED style, rather than displaying gauges on a monitor. The thing about the MR-2, all the displays are totally customizable so you can put whatever info you want in front of you. That'd be a pretty big job to setup though.

Off topic, how well do ya think he corners with that flight yoke in place of a steering wheel?

 

Just messin with ya...

The Firebird has a customizable display in the center console, touch screen and all too... video is a bit long, but demonstartes voice command, automation, windows up / down, seats moving, etc...

Just thinking about all thar wiring gives me a head ache!

Raf

 

El_muerte - You're right, a solid state drive would be ideal for this application. Last time I checked though, they cost a LOT more than a regular old laptop drive. Laptop drives are made to take SOME abuse, all depends on the roads you drive. Here in PA, the only time our roads are smooth is in the winter when the potholes are filled with snow and ice. That being said, I'm pretty sure a regular old hard drive will work just fine IF you mount it on some type of spring-loaded or floating platform/mount AND if you mount it vertically, not horizontally. Mounting the drive vertically will prevent the read/write heads from smacking the platters on a large bump. You might get some read/write errors from the drive arms bouncing around over large potholes, but at least you won't scratch a platter this way.

I am planning on putting a computer in my Camaro, possibly as soon as next winter. First, I need to get the V8 swap done. I'll be using a regular old laptop drive, unless the solid state drives take a major nosedive in price before then.

 

If you want to go with the windows route, I'd recommend looking into the PXE creator installer suite you can get to convert a normal windows installation into a PXE installation, which means the OS runs on read-only media (like a dvd or flash drive or such). This way, you dont get unexpected errors due to write issues during bumps or unexpected power failures. It should prevent any sort of corruption. A writeable drive could be used to store anything you may want to write during use, like logs and such, but that could be done on a flash drive to minimize corruption issues too.

anyways, it's an idea. search google for win pxe or similar. It's kinda like the tiny xp software that lets you create your own slipstreamed / cut down installation cds from your official windows cd.

 

Haha yeah, probably twenty pounds of extra wire in there. What a nightmare trying to keep track of all that.

@92RS_Ttop:
Yeah, a laptop drive would probably work alright, especially the newer ones with the freefall sensor. Setting it loosely on soft rubber grommets would probably handle all but the largest shocks. If your roads are good then no problem, around here there's potholes that'll swallow a smaller car whole.

 

Safemode - This WinPXE you're talking about, will it run from a flash drive? I've got a spare 512MB drive laying around I could probably fit it on. If I could do that, I could cut costs a lot by using other thumb drives to store the files, or use a smaller solid state drive. I have a pretty large collection of thumb drives and SD cards.

 

yea, it'll load off of pretty much anything that can be booted. You'd have to look up any particulars, but it's similar to live-install distros in linux.

The main idea is you can make the OS media read-only so you never get any write corruptions. No need to properly shut-down and such.

 

Got a reply from Palmer Performance regarding Dash Command for OBD1 (Computer screen gauges):

Hello,

Currently it is not yet a high priority, as we have many exciting projects
already pending at the moment, but it is not off the list. Thank you so
much for your input. We always value feedback and suggestions.

Thanks,
Holly
PPE Sales

Not much, but check 'em out and if interested let them know there is a market.

http://www.palmerperformance.com/pro...mand/index.php

 

any one tried using those $299 laptops that are real small like 9-10"? I picked one up for travelling and it has a 1.6 ghz processor and 1 gig ram with 160 gig HD. runs windows XP and seems perfect for a carputer application. Acer is the brand I got from Frys, and I was thinking about grabbing another one for the car. Any thoughts?

 

My thoughts: First limititation is the number of USB ports. 1 for engine diagnostic port connection, 2nd for touchscreen, 3rd for thumb drive MP3 access, 4th for GPS, 5th for DVD palyer. I'd still want to add a separate touch screen and dedicated 12V automotive power supply. $300 puts you in the range of some purpose built boxes.

 

300 goes pretty far in a custom rig.

 

well USB is not really a draw back it comes with 3, and a hub is easy enough. I do agree on the touch screen but that is the same with the boxes too right? really there isnt much else needed and at the end of day .if you dont want to leave it in the car you dont have to. I dont know seems like there are just as many benefits to a small laptop as there is with a built unit. Seems like you need to spend much more than $300 at least on mp3car to get anything decent.

I already have a hub, I have an external HD with 256 gigs of music on it so I just need to wire in the power supply and touch screen to get it started anyways. But really since it has a 160 gig hd i dont really even need the port for thumb drive of external HD. I dont know it doesnt seem like a bad option

 

I'm not knocking it at all, especially if your goal is to be able sit with it on the couch and watch Buck Rogers re-runs when the wife has the T.V. Just listing my thinking to justify a dedicated unit. Would be really great to offset the price by not having to buy a few gauges, but I haven't nailed that down yet.

How much can the hub do at one time?

 

The hub I have has 4 usb ports so i would have 6 total. How big are these built boxes? These little laptops are like 9" x 2" so there is also a space savings if it is to be run on a touch screen.

I am looking at it more from the point for $300 there is a complete working computer including screen, and keyboard that is not needed, but can be. If a hub is needed they are cheap, and all of the other costs would be the same unless I am missing something.

I am not necessarily going to be removing the laptop, I already have one of these small ones that I use to travel with, and a laptop at home. The idea came because i just picked up one of these things and thought they may work. They just seem a little more flexible to have a fairly powerful laptop that is real small compared to building basically the same thing. I realize in the high end built boxes the internals are higher end but this may be a cheap and real easy option...also for those on a budget could run with the laptop before they purchase the touch screen.

 

a hub plugged into a laptop like that wouldn't work all the great. the power supply in a laptop that small isnt all the powerful. you'f be lucky to run more than one thing out of the hub. you would have to get a hub with an intependent power source to have 100% reliability with it.

 

not sure that is entirely 100% true. It may be an issue but I have not found that to be the case with the one i just got. I have used the hub on mine when i first got it without any problems at all running an external HD and DVD.

 

KOS, the external hdd and dvd both have their own power adapters and don't draw anything from the USB. Some devices do draw power, but if the HD and DVD drive are all you're going to run, then you have no issue.

 

my external HD did not have an external power supply. Worked just fine. Is this something you have tried or just saying?