Introduction

**TheAmigo** · 04-05-2005, 10:41 PM

I just ran across mp3car.com and the forums here are just full of stuff that I'm interested in! So much so that I couldn't decide where to start reading.

While I keep myself busy catching up on some of the boards, I thought I'd post a quick note to say hi and comment on the direction my carputer is going.

I installed an empeg (aka Rio Car) in my '02 Maxima just over two years ago. (moving the climate controls into the armrest to make room for the empeg in-dash). Now I'm working on putting a carputer in the trunk (headless Linux box) with a GPS (Garmin GPS18PC) and WiFi. Without a display, all the feedback will be audio through the empeg (both pre-recorded sounds and TTS).

I also have an OBDII interface (will plug into the empeg's serial port), but haven't installed it yet. Soon...

My wishlist of features is in a recent blog post. It probably seems a bit dull to this crowd as the target audience was mostly friends and coworkers.

My background is unix and networking, but I have zero experience with OBD-II (some of joshthepilot's posts were quite informative). Links to must-read threads on any relevant lessons learned (for any carputer topics) are appreciated.

**Bugbyte** · 04-05-2005, 11:09 PM

I like the idea of sending you car a message to disable the ECU if it's stolen. Check for a thread called "GPSsecure" for a program by xBrady that logs your position, altitude, velocity, and uploads the file to a server. You can recall the info from the server through a desktop program he has written.

Here's the location of my car at 8:25am this morning. I've pulled in front of the school and am droppping my kids off.