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car pc


andybp

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since putting the rear mount turbo on my Z i've been driving around with a laptop balanced on my passenger seat connected to the utec ecu while i've been setting things up the uti software i've been using allows me to monitor pretty much most things controlled by the ecu the plan is to mount a low power itx motherboard behind the cubby (where the sat nav goes if you have one) this is connected to the ecu via a serial cable the input and output is via a 7" touch screen mounted in front also i've been considering using it as a pc based media player but for now i just want easy access to the ecu without a laptop balanced on the seat.

I already have all of the parts i need

 

12v dc dual core itx motherboard

4gb ram

30gb ssd

140mm fan for cooling

 

operating system is windows Vista not my first choice but for some reason XP SP3 wont run on the board just keeps crashing and it's not really powerful enough for windows 7 and the software will only run on windows so Linux is out i've already installed the software including all of the drivers required

 

IMAG0927_zpsigkdetfz.jpg

 

 

this is the 7" touchscreen these can be had very cheaply if you don't mind waiting for it from china

 

IMAG0932_zps1sgbbkv6.jpg

 

so that was the easy bit.

fitting the display in the cubby front was a bit more challenging I was going to fit it into the original cubby front but the button to open it is in the way

 

IMAG0921_zps34eja0lo.jpg

 

so i decided to make a new one i made a mold from the old one by pulling cling film over it and pushing it into a container of plaster when the plaster started to set i removed the front leaving the cling film behind in the mold after the plaster had set i removed the cling film and finished the mold sanding and filling any problem areas and removing the outline from the opening button on the original once smooth i waxed the mold

next i poured fiberglass resin into the mold coating the whole thing with a thin layer once this had set (about 10 min) i mixed up some more resin and built up several layers of resin and fiberglass mat in the mold to add strength once done i left this to cure properly

the next day i removed the new front from the mold this is the mold after i removed it

 

IMAG0920_zpshvhasxr8.jpg

 

and this is the new front it actually came out nearly perfect the photo's don't do it justice

 

IMAG0923_zps6tucsmfb.jpg

 

IMAG0924_zpsgl6ug6sf.jpg

 

next i filled the back of it with body filler to give me something to machine a recess into for the display

 

IMAG0929_zps27qbdnlj.jpg

 

then it was just a case of machining the recess using my CNC mill

 

IMAG0933_zpsy4lmrr4y.jpg

 

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this is the display fitted rear view and front view

 

IMAG0939_zps0wzmtjbd.jpg

 

IMAG0945_zpstfc7kg6z.jpg

 

i've only primed it so far, it needs a little bit of sanding and painting and then i need to get it fitted so lots to do yet but so far so good. :)

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Impressive work so far :)

Regarding software try to ditch Vista for Win7. Not sure what you mean by not powerful enough for Win7 as it will run almost anything and will give a smoother experience, Vista is much more resource hungry than Win 7.

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Impressive work so far :)

Regarding software try to ditch Vista for Win7. Not sure what you mean by not powerful enough for Win7 as it will run almost anything and will give a smoother experience, Vista is much more resource hungry than Win 7.

the other factor is i don't have a spare copy of win 7
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i've not got much done on this as i've been on standby all week but i am on my fourth operating system win XP wouldn't run for some reason kept crashing so i installed Vsta but had a few problems with drivers so i then went to Win 7 this didn't like the touchscreen now i'm on Win 8 and all working ok also i've got the fascia rubbed down and painted

 

IMAG0950_zpsc6lsmtfu.jpg

 

i'm off Friday so hope to get some more done then :)

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didn't think you could run windows on a PI ? too late now

I had to change my plan to locate it all behind the dash just not enough space so it's in the cubby behind the passenger seat motherboard and ssd mounted just need to run the cables to it .

switched live for the power, vga for the monitor, serial to the ecu, usb for the touch screen and a cable to the 2nd serial port for shutdown

 

IMAG0952_zpsze7r38ft.jpg

 

IMAG0953_zpsuq8ibsb4.jpg

 

:)

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I love it. Seriously tempted to do this. It's better than the after-thought of the glove box.

How did you connect the touch screen ribbon to the mobo? That's what intrigues me the most

there is a usb interface and cable that connects to the touchscreen digitiser and another interface/controller for the actual display which has vga, hdmi and composite inputs.

:)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Lets us see some more pictures! Good job, well done on the plaster fascia also.

the fascia is fiberglass and filler i just used plaster for the mold I have done some more on this project just not had time for a write up hope to get some more done and post it tomorrow or monday

:)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok I've got this pretty much finished now just the tidying up left to do, well that and i might change to a higher resolution display if i can find one at the right price

the power supply gave me a few problems the mother board was not happy to run at 14 volts instead of the 12 it was designed for and i couldn't drop in a 12 volt regulator as the supply voltage needs to be higher than 14 volts also the battery voltage sometimes drops to just above 12 volts so the easy option after some experimentation was to put a big diode in the supply to drop the voltage by 0.7 volts as the motherboard seemed happy to run between 11 and 13.5 volts.

the motherboard and the display are both fed from the live supply for the turbo oil pumps (if you don't know what I'm talking about have a look it's a long read a bit like war and peace http://www.350z-uk.c...diy-rear-mount/ ) which is controlled by an arduino nano and since i had spare outputs on this device i have altered the code so that when the car is started it turns on a relay which momentarily shorts the terminal for the power switch on the motherboard and when the ignition is turned off it does the same to shut it down before the power supply is turned off by the arduino controller

 

IMAG0968_zps6sarbxhj.jpg

 

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Here's a short vid of the start up and shut down sequence

 

http://vid1364.photo...zpsdz5ctsku.mp4

 

 

 

the fascia I made for the touchscreen has been in and out so many times that I'm probably going to have to re-paint it and the wiring around the motherboard needs tidying but other than that i'm done :D

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