Carputer Whoring
 

Took some screenshots today of the computer since I upgraded the software, it has some great new options. Here's some of the screens, I didn't do all of them.

This is the main menu.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...menu.sized.jpg

Then you click the navigation button.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...mall.sized.jpg

From there you can click the i and get the information from the GPS receiver including longitude, lattitude, altitude, number of locked satellites, speed, heading and universal time clock. Touching the flash logo on the left switches between information.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...ts/i.sized.jpg

Then backing out of there and hitting the 4 arrows on the navigation screen gives you the fullsize navigation screen.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...tion.sized.jpg

Then hit menu to get the iGuidance menu screen.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...menu.sized.jpg

Click destination to put in where you want to go, I didn't take a shot of that, it's not exciting. But when you do set a distination, it gives you your speed, distance and ETA.

Or click Shortcuts to get the following menu.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...cuts.sized.jpg

Need to find an ATM nearby? Simply click ATM and it'll give you all banks in the area, direction and distance to them.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/.../atm.sized.jpg

Or maybe you need to find a gas station? Click GAS and it'll give you all the gas stations near you with direction and distance. It also gives you the names.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/.../gas.sized.jpg

Downtown and need to find parking? Click Parking and it gives you all the lots you can go to and their names along with distance and direction.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...king.sized.jpg

If you're driving through a new city and don't know what to do, click Tourist Information and it'll suggest places to go.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...rist.sized.jpg

Backing out to the main menu, you can hit EVIC and get your vehicles health report.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...evic.sized.jpg

Click Gasoline and input the type of gas you just got, how much, what it cost you and how far you went on it.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...line.sized.jpg

Then click Reports and it'll automatically calculate the type of gas which gives you the best miles per gallon along with a readout of the statistics for each tank. I haven't used this yet and probably never will, my tank doesn't go below half.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...orts.sized.jpg

Click maintenance and it'll track all your maintenance schedules based on mileage and time.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...ance.sized.jpg

Click Events and there's a calendar to keep track of all your maintenance appointments.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...ents.sized.jpg

Back out to the main menu and click Weather for a forcast. This one's outdated, I wasn't picking up a Wi-Fi signal when I took the screenshot.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...5day.sized.jpg

Click Radar to get a rain forecast for the country.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...rain.sized.jpg

Or wind.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...wind.sized.jpg

Back out to the main menu again and click Phone to connect to your phone via bluetooth and import all your contacts. This way you can simply dial on the screen, or say it if you have the voice control installed, and use your microphone/speakers to use your phone which never comes out of your pocket. On an incoming call, it automatically cuts your stereo volume and switches to the Phone screen so you can answer. I don't have this set up since the Phone Control application doesn't work with Blackberrys.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...hone.sized.jpg

Back out to the main menu and click Video to start playing movies or music videos. In this screenshot I was playing a video but obviously screenshots don't pick that up. The green numbers and the bottom controls fade away after a few seconds so it's just the video.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...ideo.sized.jpg

Back out to the main menu again and click Skins to sort through all the frontend skins you downloaded from the internet. I only have one other one since the one I use is the best one I've found. I don't really look for them anymore anyway. But this is the other one I have, it's good to know I can change the layout anytime I want instead of being stuck with the same frontend forever.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...skin.sized.jpg

And finally go back to the main menu and click Music to get to the music screen. The music will continue to play on every screen you are on except the video screen which plays the sound from the video.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...usic.sized.jpg

The computer is a mini-ITX motherboard hooked up to a DC-DC power supply hooked straight to the battery, no inverter, and also has a startup/shutdown controller which senses a 12 volt signal on ignition and automatically boots/shutsdown the computer with the vehicle. I don't have to do anything extra. It's then run under the carpet to the 7 inch Xenarc touchscreen in the dash which controls everything. I also have a Holux 213 GPS receiver inside the dash which runs back to the computer via USB and connects to the satellite. Since I need to get information from one single GPS receiver for both the front end and also the GPS software, I used Xport3 to split the physical COM port into 2 virtual COM ports. And I have a Wi-Fi snooper which automatically locates and logs onto unsecure wireless signals I drive by so I don't need to physically log on when I want to use the net. Future modifications include a higher decible antenna to be able to pick up signals farther away and also a OBD-II reader to get the full potential of the diagnostics applications. Today I got a right angle PCI riser so I can fit a Audigy2 PCI card in the tiny computer case horizontally instead of the typical vertical PCI mount, and tomorrow UPS will be dropping off my mini wireless PS3 keyboard which will work with the computer as well. See below for image!

http://www.ebgames.com/common/images/lbox/802682b.jpg

It's certainly coming together, I'm sure there's more that I forgot to mention. I'm still figuring out the cool stuff with it. It also has a trip calculator which you can start and stop manually and it keeps track of total distance, average speed, highest speed and things like that, and when the car is turned off, the computer doesn't shut down, it hibernates. So since it's sitting in a suspended state, the trip computer log is still there when it's started again. This way I can start the trip, drop it off at the mechanic and look at all the information when I get it back, most importantly the highest speed. I'm also looking at a Wi-Fi tracking system which will tell me where he went as well. Let me know what you think! I'll post more features if I think of them later.

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

nice, i never even use half of the functions there .. haha, but great job.. and how about more pic on the actual set up?

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

very nice. im building one this summer

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

wow that is sick

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

justin timberlake..weaksauce

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

looks great, roadrunner is the best!

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

Here you go.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/.../9_G.sized.jpg

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...75_G.sized.jpg

My $12 Ebay bezel that I cut up and put over the screen.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/.../8_G.sized.jpg

Here is the bare motherboard, CPU and 2.5 inch hard drive. Don't mind the rest of the stuff, it's just hooked to it for bench testing.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...uter.sized.jpg

The computer (blue) and amp for the speakers. The case, for obvious reasons, is called the Ampie. And I've since bolted it to the car.....so no stealing!

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...mp_1.sized.jpg

See the GPS receiver sticking out inside the fan shroud? It's HIGHLY magentic so it stays put. I'm serious, I stuck it to my desk and needed 2 hands to pry it off.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...er_1.sized.jpg

Close up.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...er_2.sized.jpg

Firewall

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...l/Firewall.jpg

Soldering 18 gauge wires to the harness.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...es_1.sized.jpg

19 feet of speaker wire. I needed every bit of it.

http://danmaher.com/pictures/albums/...es_2.sized.jpg

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

I'm getting a little piece of hardware called Fusion Brain, it just got released....I think it was a few weeks ago. But it connects to your vehicles harness via USB and allows you to control your entire electrical system via the screen. It is just a simple board....

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/1...ualbetagv2.jpg

And the on screen setup lets you assign functions to each output on the brain itself....

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8707/dokl1.jpg

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5276/configdosc6.jpg

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/4...uetypesvx3.jpg

Don't like how it looks? Don't want your devices being assigned a number? Throw a skin over top of it and make your own labels for what is what.

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5...skinnedqf2.jpg

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5...skinnedip4.jpg

Skinning process of one of the screens.....it's pretty easy. If anyone's wondering, I have a software development degree. A lot of people can probably read this, but I don't know, might look like German to some people.

New Products Coming As Well:
Volume Controls - ETA May 2007
Acceleration Sensors (g-force) - ETA May 2007
Servo Control - ETA July 2007
Infrared Temperature Sensor - ETA July 2007

And no, I don't work for them so I'm not promoting! I planned on getting it originally to run my air ride suspension but you know how that's turning out. But it'll still be fun to power my sunroof with it......wait, I have a DX, there is no sunroof. Well I can do the windows......oh wait.....DX........well I can......no........hell, I'll find something for it. So when I'm done, you can let me know if you like mine more than his!

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

haha, nice negative reps!
It's actually that Black Eyed Peas song, JT does the chorus. So he gets credit on the filename.

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

ok i got to ask.....how much $ so far

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

Hey that is a sick setup. Nice job!!

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

feeling it man.. i wanna do that in the summer too, just gotta save up money for it... but that is a nice setup and skin you have going on dex

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

I probably just moved into the $2000 range.

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

Got a package from UPS this morning. These aren't available ANYWHERE in Canada. It took me a while but I finally found a supplier in the USA that ships to Canada.

http://www.danmaher.com/images/1sized.jpg

http://www.danmaher.com/images/5sized.jpg

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

really love the setup, but did u just grab the templates from the website? or u draw the bkrush effects urself? its been a while since i touched my carputer ...
had you figured out how to integrate the OBD2 READER INTO the roadrunner? a year back i couldn't figure out how to integrate it into the roadrunner interface. maybe now they had something?

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

I'm not sure what you mean by bkrush effects. And if it's brush, I still don't know what you mean, sorry!
All the templates came from www.mp3car.com, just download the new version of Roadrunner, install it, and pick which template you like. This one is called Steel Blues, made by MGD. I haven't looked at the OBD-II integration yet but I know it's not hard. Basically you just have to get the software that integrates with it and then run the software inside the front end.....just pick a front end that has the option for it. That's it.

Re: Carputer Whoring
 

Nice setup.

But i gotta ask.... Is all that really necessary? I mean come on. :shrug:

Must be nice to have money to blow. :flush: