We run into forum member RedGTI on the CES 2009 Show floor

Forum member coucouillu Has something rather outrageous in the works. He has modified his existing Symphony II radio from his 2006 Audi A3 to incorporate a motorized touchscreen. But this project goes way beyond that:

Coucouillu began his mission with some simple Cad drawings to determine if this project was even feasible. Understanding his space limitations he began to modify his hardware to suit his needs. He turned the atx connector on an M3 sideways and desoldered some motherboard components and extended them for additional space. Following this he began to shape the face panel of the radio enclosure. The CD player and Cassette deck were unnecessary for this design so they were removed, patched, and modified to fit a lilliput motorized monitor.

Now how the heck do you manage to merge a stock Audi radio and a motorized Screen? By converging the mechanism from a LM Digital 6501 and the screen from a motorized Lilliput with a custom pcb all cut and hacked to fit into double-din Symphony's footprint. Oo Yeah, a computer fits in there too. Maybe these pictures explain a little better…






Just when you thought this job was complicated enough, coucouillu decided that the Lilliput microcontroller just wasn’t going to make the cut. After some testing and help from fellow forum members, coucouillu was able to devise his own PICBASIC microcontroller for the functions of the monitor. Here is a little video for proof.







Final customizations include a custom faceplate pcb, altered leds to match the Symphony II’s appeal, and a front USB port. -- Coucouillu recently scrapped his existing Jetway mobo for a smaller more powerful Commell LS-372. He has added a custom heatpipe, and completely hacked a uSDC to plug directly into the motherboard. I am expecting to see a finished product in the near future! To completely appreciate this project, I advise taking a few minutes to browse the thread. As alway, if you have a project you are working on or know of a community innovation, send a PM or post here .

Goce, Heather and I (Robert Wray) are heading to SEMA this week. Help us! [LIST][*]Tell us what you want you want to know more about. We will be blogging and shooting lots of HD video.

One of our forum users, Solrackm, is reporting that Xohm is now live in DC and Northern Viriginia for Wimax users who have purchased their equipment in Baltimore. Apparently xohm is not actively being sold, but the network can be accessed while it is in "test mode" It looks like things are happening fast. Xohm had a realitively big mobile sales setup at Baltimore's Fell's Point festival. Talk about this in our wimax forums.

The Mp3Car Store is launching a blog on the mp3car.com homepage to provide more up to date information to Mp3Car supporters. To kick off the blog, each day a different member of the Mp3Car team will introduce themselves and blog a bit on what it is they do every day at Mp3Car.

Why a Blog?
So much goes on behind the screen. With a blog, the Mp3Car team can let people know what is going on, as it happens, and provide a better sense of what Mp3Car is all about all in one central location.