Project CarPC - 8" Molded Touchscreen Computer In-Dash

[meissen]

Introduction
Project CarPC has been an on-going project to have a fully in-dash computer mounted in place of my head unit. With a CarPC, the possibilities are only as endless as your finances, creativity, and know-how. The most common features in a carPC is to hold one's mp3 collection, as well as GPS navigation. Future features, though, include full integration with cellphone, DVD capability, data logging, etc.

History
CarPC v1.0 - CarPC v1 is what started it all. I had found an awesome deal on a 10.4" touchscreen kiosk PC being sold on mp3car.com and bought it. I had the entire bezel molded and installed only to realize on "move in day" that the guts of the PC were way too big for the space behind the bezel.


CarPC v2.0 - I had to basically start from scratch after the demise of v1.0 -- a new 6" square Epia mini-ITX motherboard would ensure the guts could fit the space behind the dash, and a 7" touchscreen toned down the look after it was decided that the housing for a 10.4" touchscreen was just too big of a bezel. v2 worked great and I had it installed and running for over a year. The only thing I couldn't get over, though, was the bezel. While the lines of the customized bezel blended moderately well with the rest of the dash, it just didn't seem to be as easy to work on and didn't fit in with the rest of the dash as much as I wanted.


CarPC v3 - Current - Unsatisfied with how CarPC v2's bezel made the interior look, and not satisfied with how hard it was to remove and reinstall the carPC, I decided it was time for drastic changes to the interior of the vehicle. I had always loved how easy it looked to install a carPC in the 97+ dash. I purchased an entire dash from a fellow member of MiFbody.com and over the winter of 06-07 swapped the new dash in. Once the new dash was installed, it was time to customize the 97+ bezel.

[McCauleyWB]

By far one of the nicest I have seen.

[Transamman25]

Damn , that's skill !

[blindeyed]

Bad ass man, hard to believe you can cram a whole computer into such a small space. Very impressive!

[Fastbird]

Well done!!! That's slick!

[chevy42083]

Alright, I can imagine the simplicity of running GPS, integrating the radio and such. But what about the basics. How is the power wired? Does it use a laptop battery so that it doesn't get shutdown each time the car is shut off? I imagine it would be annoying if you had to shut the pc down each time you turned off the car.
What operating system does it run?

[meissen]

I have it wired directly to the battery, through a fuse, through a switch in my ash tray (I've got one of those Nitrous switch plates that I use just for the electronics in the car) and then to the PC's power supply.

The PC's power supply is an M2-ATX 160W Intelligent DC-DC power supply. These intelligent power supplies are great - you give it a constant, switched power, and ground. The power supply waits like 4 seconds after engine crank before it turns on for the power to stabilize, then it sends the turn-on signal to the motherboard. When the switched power source turns off (vehicle turns off and door opens) it then waits 10 seconds and then sends a "soft off" signal to the motherboard.

That then leads to the OS question - I run Windows XP SP2. For shut down, I have the power settings set up that if it receives the "Soft off" signal that it hibernates. This makes bootup and shutdown rather quick. The PC usually is on and music playing by the time I turn the car on and back out of the driveway. When I shut down the car, I usually open the door and then sit there and watch it shut down just to ensure it turns off. If I'm ever in a REALLY big hurry, I can always use the switch in my ashtray which kills the constant 12v source and turns the PC off immediately.

Then there's front end software that runs on Windows XP and runs in full screen mode. It's optimized for touch screens (big buttons, larger text) and will integrate with Winamp, GPS software, etc. Theres a lot of different ones but I like Road Runner.

[jakesz28]

I'm doing something similiar. But my touch screen is going in the dash, in place of the factory instrement panel. I'm running the same power supply in my pc which is smaller then most laptops. I have a speedometer screen with two wideband o2 sensors showing and another screen for to moniter the fuel pressures and nitrous pressure. I'm using it to record a data logger that I made. AFR, driveshaft speed, vehicle speed(front tire), 3 fuel pressure sensors, nitrous presure, crankcase vacuum, etc.

Looks good.