Carputer Project

[SCRIBR]

MrBean that looks bloody fantastic

During January (a weekend to fit around work) micky G & I will be putting on my RAP1d intercooler & piping @ his place. I'll your you know when we are there as it'd be good to catch up.

Catch

Andrew

[MrBean]

@ MAtty: Thanx for the feedback, this is just the very forst part of this project though - somehow, by hook or crook, I intend to replace the complete ICC, and do controls for the HVAC from a 2nd PC, of which I have already aquired the motherboard, memory, cpu and flashdisk - the Commell LS-372

This thing is only as big as 2/3 the size of a DVD box, or 146x100mm !

So, this unit will form the backbone of bot my HVAC, and possibly my Instrument Cluster controls - certainly enough horsepower in the Core 2 Duo T7300 2gig cpu.....

So, some more to come in the next year.

@ Andrew: Let me know if I should PM you my mobile no, I am sure I am quite close to Micky's place anyway, and we can meet up - I have a few days free till 7 Jan 2008

Lucky me....lol

[SubJimbo]

This Is looking Excellent! Great Work!

I Hope to build my own CarPuter and try and work on something similar to this is a few months when I get my XR6, Great Job Once again! Hope to see an update soon!

[Slymeat]

Absolutly amazing Bean.

[MrBean]

Thanx for the kind words, and inspiration, Guys

Ok, going back to my original goals when this first started out, let's see what's up - comments in blue

Goals:

1) Most important is the factory look! The mod must/will not detract from original factory looks...

So far keeping with this, I have the temporary TFT LCD mounted on the right, next to my steering wheel, and are busy re-designing a factory injection-moulded bezel to house my 10.4" LCD

2) Powerful system, doing multitasking without ANY hickups.

Decided on the Core Duo Apple MacMini, expanded to 2gig Ram, 7200rpm Seagate Momentus HD, and 1.8Gig Core 2 Duo Merom CPU - complete

3) Deadreckoning GPS system, using Gyro and GPS input.

Awaiting arrival of the daughterboard, finally managed to source the Gyro fairly cheaply in Oz - 90%

4) Capacity to play MP3's, DVD's

Spec'ed System will be more than capable of doing anything you throw at it - complete

5) Internet Wireless connectivity.

Via build-in WiFi capability of the MacMini, works like a dream - complete

6) Infrared (IR) control of computer

Decided to use a combination of LCD touchscreen input, and an Industrial Stainless Steel Trackball, mounted in the original cupholder - complete

7) On/Off activation either manually, or selectively ignition controlled

Using the Carnetix 2140 controller, decided to make this ignition-controlled only - complete

OBD-II (onboard diagnostics) display and logging of variables.

Decided on the Autoenginuity interface and software, which supports all the sensors on my BF UTE - complete

9) Quiet operation, minimizing powerdrain.

Mounted the computer in my cd-console, and using a 120mm computer case fan, with decent flow, but low noise to keep things cool - complete

10) High-quality Touchscreen - 5-wire resistive is the best.

The temporary Xenarc 700TSV 7" LCD uses the 5-wire resistive touchpanel, which is very good - the permanent 10.4" have only a 4-wire resistive, still excellent quality, although most input will happen via the industrial trackball - complete for now

So, as you all can see, the goals above will determine plenty much what components I select for this Project, as I have realized early on although a Via Epia "may" work, it will not do so to satisfy my unique requirements.

I am in the process of designing a new carputer, using specialized case, making use of internal heatpipes to create a truelly passive-cooled setup, all with a very minuscule footprint, slightly larger than a 3.5" harddrive.

Extras:

I have just received my Tyre Pressure Monitoring kit from my supplier, and I am 90% complete removing the wireless receiver, and integrating it via a custom PIC-Micro into my Carputer - all the temperature, and pressures, from each wheel will be displayed in realtime on CentraFuse frontend, with adjustable alarm-limits to warn of excursions.

In my mind, this is a very important part of having this carputer in the 1st place, it is an added safety factor when doing serious travelling with a 500+ HP (on the wheels) UTE

As everyone can see, things are pretty much smooth sailing from hereon in, I am awaiting arrival of my PIC-micro and associated PCB, and then it is time to install the pressure sensors inside each wheel, yes, even the sparewheel will have one.

I will post pics on the weekend to showcase my progress.

I still need to make a bezel to permanently fix to industrial trackball in it's position, but, jeesh, this stainless unit sure looks nice, and I am sure this is a first for a carputer setup

[Adam]

Crazy stuff Phillip!

This is a massive project. I can't wait to see the results.

I'm happy I followed some of your ideas for mine. I love it!

[jEtONiT]

mate you're an absolute champion..

I along with many others can't wait to see the final product.

good stuff

[SubJimbo]

With the new bezel you are getting made up, Is the "Tissue space" going to be replaced by the original ICC screen?, Along with the 10.4"?

Edited 29/01/08 02:57 PM by SubJimbo

[MrBean]

Thanx for the comments, Guys - appreciated

@ SubJimbo: The "new" fascia will look exactly like the old one, except the vents will be gone, and the 10" LCD will be located where the current factory unit is sitting.

I will manually relocate the factory LCD to the tissuebox area.

a Small update: I am busy with the TPMS system, received my PIC micros, PCB, and components.

Did some hacking to remove TPMS kit's RF Receiver from it's original location, and soldered it onto my PCB - now, when I connect the unit to my USB port, it detects it.

I need to take the UTE to have the pressure sensors installed, so I can thoroughly test the system, but all looking extremely good so far.

I took plenty pics, will update on the weekend.

[MrBean]

Hello Guys,

Extras:

I have just received my Tyre Pressure Monitoring kit from my supplier, and I am 90% complete removing the wireless receiver, and integrating it via a custom PIC-Micro into my Carputer - all the temperature, and pressures, from each wheel will be displayed in realtime on CentraFuse frontend, with adjustable alarm-limits to warn of excursions.

In my mind, this is a very important part of having this carputer in the 1st place, it is an added safety factor when doing serious travelling with a 500+ HP (on the wheels) UTE

Ok, as promissed, a few detailed pictures of how to do the TPMS setup, based on a custom PIC USB interface, and the 3rd Eye TPMS kit.

Here's the TPMS kit as it will arrive, all neatly packed, in an eye-catching box - no pun intended - of course without the usb interface....

Taking a close-up between the RF receiver, which is the unit with the LCD display combination, one of the 5 tyre pressure sensors, the unit in the front, and the PIC micro USB to PC interface board.

Another shot, showing the rear, with the serial number in this case, of the RF module.

I decided to get her naked, and expose her innermost secrets to the salivating masses out there....

And take off some of her clothes, actually, completely strip her - lol...

Well, I got lost for a moment there, soz about that....

Here is a pic showing how I desoldered the LCD board, and ending up with the RF/PSU combination board, and the LCD/Decoder board.

And here is a shot of the same from the back, the piece on the bottom, right, is what we are interested in - the RF Receiver, repsonding to frequencies at 433,92Mhz.

So, we need to do a bit of dremmelling, and end up with this - be very, very careful of firstly, statics, and secondly, to cut just to the left of the little divider line on the PCB - the larger portion must be the RF Receiver part!

And here is the connections to be made, they will be soldered to pins on the PIC USB interface pcb:

to give us an end result, looking something like this (hopefully yours do too):

and here:

I just thought I'd post a good guide on how-to do this mod, as it is challenging, but worthwhile.

What do we acheive by doing the above mod?

Well, now we can display our tyre temps, and pressures directly onto our Carputer Frontend - the plugin for Roadrunner is ready, and working, and the Centrafuse one is nearly Beta, the developer will notify me as soon as it is.

For now, I have tested mine with Robby's test applet, and it works very well.

Nice, and a good safety feature to add to your carputer setup.

Now you can start to understand why I opted for the very powerful Core 2 Duo based solution

Enjoy this thread, I hope it is helpful.

Edited 01/02/08 09:36 AM by MrBean