Put a Computer in your Car... Anyone done it?
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 15
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Put a Computer in your Car... Anyone done it? I want to integrate a computer into the car which will allow me to do several things:
1) Play music like my MP3 collection from a hard drive, preferrably through my stock Monsoon sound system.
2) Provide satellite navigation with audio cues, again preferrably through my stock sound system.
3) Conduct live OBD II monitoring/recording
4) Record live performance data, like through a GTech or similar
5) Integrate the above data with multilple video streams (of me at a roadrace or auto-X, etc)
6) Allow me to get my emails, instant messages, surf the web, videoteleconferencing, etc all while conducting daily driving, (stoplights, etc.)
7) Essentially turn my '02 WS6 into a modern KITT using off-the shelf 2007 technology.
Keys to success include:
Include a startup/shutdown control to not drain the battery.
Minimize moving parts to reduce the chance of crash or failure from vibration.
Minimize the physical size and weight of the install.
the computer to be mostly hidden, and the parts exposed look factory or professionally installed.
minimize my cost by using a lot of stuff I already have and limiting my purchases to off-the shelf technology
use a touchscreen, a text-to speech engine and voice recognition / voice command software to minimize the need for keyboard and mouse and minimize my time looking at the display while maximizing my productivity.
use wireless keyboard, mouse and listening devices when necessary to reduce hassle of wires. Must be easily stowable when not being used.
Have easily accessible ports for expansion, update, data transfer and communication, (USB, SD card slot, CD/DVD-ROM, etc.)
Can anyone point me in the right direction? Does the Monsoon head unit include an aux sound port? Thanks.
1) Play music like my MP3 collection from a hard drive, preferrably through my stock Monsoon sound system.
2) Provide satellite navigation with audio cues, again preferrably through my stock sound system.
3) Conduct live OBD II monitoring/recording
4) Record live performance data, like through a GTech or similar
5) Integrate the above data with multilple video streams (of me at a roadrace or auto-X, etc)
6) Allow me to get my emails, instant messages, surf the web, videoteleconferencing, etc all while conducting daily driving, (stoplights, etc.)
7) Essentially turn my '02 WS6 into a modern KITT using off-the shelf 2007 technology.
Keys to success include:
Include a startup/shutdown control to not drain the battery.
Minimize moving parts to reduce the chance of crash or failure from vibration.
Minimize the physical size and weight of the install.
the computer to be mostly hidden, and the parts exposed look factory or professionally installed.
minimize my cost by using a lot of stuff I already have and limiting my purchases to off-the shelf technology
use a touchscreen, a text-to speech engine and voice recognition / voice command software to minimize the need for keyboard and mouse and minimize my time looking at the display while maximizing my productivity.
use wireless keyboard, mouse and listening devices when necessary to reduce hassle of wires. Must be easily stowable when not being used.
Have easily accessible ports for expansion, update, data transfer and communication, (USB, SD card slot, CD/DVD-ROM, etc.)
Can anyone point me in the right direction? Does the Monsoon head unit include an aux sound port? Thanks.
Teching In
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
I was giving this some thought as well. I came up with a laptop and a docking port/port replicator device under the seat or something that way everything could stay hooked up and I could easily remove the laptop if needed. You could very easily have a laptop with WiFi and Bluetooth capability where you could stream MP3's from your bluetooth cellphone/MP3 player or play directly from harddrive. having WiFi lets you add to your files from your house without removing the laptop. there are many wireless keyboards and mice/trackballs that could be used. You could add a USB external DVD player to your system for easy access to that.
Laptops are built to handle shocks as well.
There are several ways to get aux audio into the stock headunit. there are adapters out there or you could tap into the headunit directly from inside also.
My concerns are finding a touchscreen LCD that will work on the computer and be small enough to integrate to the system and be able to mount somewhere.
Hope this helps!
Laptops are built to handle shocks as well.
There are several ways to get aux audio into the stock headunit. there are adapters out there or you could tap into the headunit directly from inside also.
My concerns are finding a touchscreen LCD that will work on the computer and be small enough to integrate to the system and be able to mount somewhere.
Hope this helps!
laptop would be the only waiy for that. sicne most people who build computers into their car use the space where the factory radio is, you'd have to have a laptop to still use thw factory sound.
now if you wanted to build a computer with touchscreen etc. it wouldnt be hard, and most computer sounds cards put out enough juice to power the door speakers although ideally you'd probably want to amplify everything and use the sound card outputs as preamp outputs for the amps. there is a site, like mp3car.com or something like that with some info.
now if you wanted to build a computer with touchscreen etc. it wouldnt be hard, and most computer sounds cards put out enough juice to power the door speakers although ideally you'd probably want to amplify everything and use the sound card outputs as preamp outputs for the amps. there is a site, like mp3car.com or something like that with some info.
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TECH Resident
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From: Showing Italians the power of LS1
I have a PC in,my TA. I have a 8" touchscreen that allows me to access about 40Gb of music, GPS navigation, and video if i'm in the car waiting for someone. The system uses a mini-ITX form factor motherboard and a 100Gb laptop hard drive suspended using a metal bracket and thick rubber o-rings. Using a "front end" software like Roadrunner, you can do all the things you want to do. I use a little aluminum volume **** thingy thats flushed into my center console where the ashtray used to be to control volume/track/mute of the system. its called a griffin Powermate and is connected to the PC via USB. This way, I dont have to take my eyes off the road to do the most common tasks of operating the music. The best resources for learning how to build it would be mp3car.com and mini-itx.com. I really would not suggest this as a project for you if you are not moderately computer literate, and mechanically inclined. Here are a few photos of my system. Unfortunately they are all a little old, as I havent updated them in a while:
I have since moved the motherboard, power supply and HD to a custom fiberglass enclosure behind the drivers seat, and replaced the HD with the laptop drive mentioned earlier. Again, I would hit up the forums listed above and do lots of research before buying any parts.
I have since moved the motherboard, power supply and HD to a custom fiberglass enclosure behind the drivers seat, and replaced the HD with the laptop drive mentioned earlier. Again, I would hit up the forums listed above and do lots of research before buying any parts.
Last edited by Snootch; Aug 20, 2007 at 03:37 AM.
I use a Laptop with svideo out and a wirless trackball my system has been on here and I will edit this post soon with the pics that are already here on the site
I have 2 screens and wireless and GPS connected to a slingbox at the house that allows me to watch Direct TV almost anywhere in my chevy / connect to all my mp3's and use yahoo music to het what I don't have and stream it too
I use a mini keyboard that stays in the console most of the time
I use Microsoft Streets with a gps built in the dash and it has cured my where am I and how do I get questions right away...
The laptop is a IBM t42 and has been flawless
Happy to tell more about it if asked
L
I have 2 screens and wireless and GPS connected to a slingbox at the house that allows me to watch Direct TV almost anywhere in my chevy / connect to all my mp3's and use yahoo music to het what I don't have and stream it too
I use a mini keyboard that stays in the console most of the time
I use Microsoft Streets with a gps built in the dash and it has cured my where am I and how do I get questions right away...
The laptop is a IBM t42 and has been flawless
Happy to tell more about it if asked
L
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 747
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From: sofla
Holy Shi#!, im in love with the look of that screen and setup.
I just dont know if i can do that to my car.
I just dont know if i can do that to my car.
Originally Posted by Snootch
I have a PC in,my TA. I have a 8" touchscreen that allows me to access about 40Gb of music, GPS navigation, and video if i'm in the car waiting for someone. The system uses a mini-ITX form factor motherboard and a 100Gb laptop hard drive suspended using a metal bracket and thick rubber o-rings. Using a "front end" software like Roadrunner, you can do all the things you want to do. I use a little aluminum volume **** thingy thats flushed into my center console where the ashtray used to be to control volume/track/mute of the system. its called a griffin Powermate and is connected to the PC via USB. This way, I dont have to take my eyes off the road to do the most common tasks of operating the music. The best resources for learning how to build it would be mp3car.com and mini-itx.com. I really would not suggest this as a project for you if you are not moderately computer literate, and mechanically inclined. Here are a few photos of my system. Unfortunately they are all a little old, as I havent updated them in a while:
I have since moved the motherboard, power supply and HD to a custom fiberglass enclosure behind the drivers seat, and replaced the HD with the laptop drive mentioned earlier. Again, I would hit up the forums listed above and do lots of research before buying any parts.
I have since moved the motherboard, power supply and HD to a custom fiberglass enclosure behind the drivers seat, and replaced the HD with the laptop drive mentioned earlier. Again, I would hit up the forums listed above and do lots of research before buying any parts.