Help - tips on motorising my laptop lcd

**Kishon** · 11-11-2008, 03:19 AM

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the English.

I always wanted to put a laptop in my car...however they are not cheap to come by. A friend of mine bought a new P4 and gave me his old one, so i scored a luck! This is how i went about doing this project. I stripped the entire laptop down and took of the LCD. Extended the VGA cables. Next i soldered wires running from the laptop power switch and ran it to the standard blank spaces for the switch that i installed (so it looked like there were no extra switches dangling around). i used a DC to DC converter to power the unit. Tested this and all was working fine. I then ran the audio cables to my head unit's auxiliary input that is wired up to a couple of amplifiers for some good sound!

I then took an old cd-rom drive and made a tray for a miniature keyboard and mouse (both wireless) and connected the wireless dongle to the usb port. the tray that i made was attached to the cd-rom door, so when i press the open/close button on the rom, it brings out the keyboard and mouse and when not in use, it is tucked away under the dash (not visible). i have also added a usb webcam that runs to the front bumper. I did this just for the fun of it.....but it could also prove to be useful, in which, my cars suspension is lowered and it will help when my lady friends park it in front of a curb

Next i took an old scanner and dismantled it. I took of everything that was in the scanner head and disposed of it. (like the mirrors and circuits). The only parts i have left is the gear mechanism, belt (the belt that moves the scanner head), scanner read head and the outer casing. Next i removed the motor because it is a stepper motor and requires a controller to turn it. You could try using a controller from an old floppy disk drive.....but thats a whole new project on it own!! I instead used a 12v motor (low rpm) that had enough torque to push the scanner head.
You probably have figured out by now that the LCD will be attached to the scanner head. I then connected a DPDT switch so that it changes the polarity on the motor for direction. These were hooked up to limit switches are fixed to both ends of the scanner so that when the LCD is pushed out it will reach the limit switch and cut the power to the motor and do the same when it is going into the tucked away position. (EVERYTHING WILL BE HIDDEN WHEN NOT IN USE!

)

THIS IS WERE I NEED YOUR HELP!
I need the LCD to come out of the dash and then tilt. Is there a mechanism i can build to make this work? Please if you have any ideas even if they sound a bit odd/dodgy please run it by me......you'll never know it could work! At the bottom is a drawing i got of the net somewhere. It did not help much, but maybe with your input i can get this project of the ground. Much Appreciated!
Here is my mail address Larry.pillay@btgroup.co.za

**jadik** · 11-23-2008, 12:38 PM

bumped in to familiar task
and came up with this kind of idea:
in attached picture: grey and black lines - guidelines
pink - cord
big grey circle motor
as the motor turnes- it gets screen goint down the guide lines: grey pulls it out, black does the tilt work

idea is pretty RAW, help is needed

**Kishon** · 11-24-2008, 12:28 AM

Thanks for the tips, and yes the idea is gonna need a lot of work. However i'm getting there slowly....will post pics as i go along for the other guys who have a similar idea.

**jadik** · 11-25-2008, 12:18 PM

BTW in what direction do you need to tilt your screen when it comes out?
Up or down?
In my case it's down, so I'm depending on the forces of gravity in some way =]

**Kishon** · 11-25-2008, 11:08 PM

Well mine needs to tilt upwards as i am installing in the centre console of the car. But force is not an issue for me because the scanner has a small gearbox and this produces a whole lot of torque! If i have to hold the scanner head to its side and power up the motor, it starts to move the bottom part of the scanner (upwards)!!! Are you also using a scanner? I have got that entire part working fine with the limit switches. Think i might have something with the slide and tilt motion...

..let me have a go at it and i will let you know if it works out.

**jadik** · 11-27-2008, 08:51 AM

I was thinking of using some smaller motor that I have from smthing ripped apart, don't even remember what exactly =]
do you have pic's of things you're doing?

**Kishon** · 11-27-2008, 10:42 PM

Yes i guess you'll have to use another motor....the scanner motors are usually bi-polar stepper motors and a controller is needed to turn them, so i don't

Uh Uh Uh, You didn't say the magic word !

recommend it. I used a 12V dc motor from an old home cd player. It was used to open and close the cd player door. All i did was hook it up to a LM7805C voltage regulator to feed it with 5 Volts so its does not spin too fast.....that worked out pretty good! I have pics at home of the scanner with the motor and limit switches installed......i will post them on Monday. In the meantime i'm going to work on the railings, slide and tilt motion this weekend

**HiJackZX1** · 11-29-2008, 02:19 AM

I would try to P/M Bugbyte and ask him to leave his 2 cents. He created a motorized screen for his setup.

**Bugbyte** · 12-01-2008, 08:47 AM

Need more info on this - come out of the dash and then tilt....how? Does it come up out of the dash and then tilt back, or forward, or what? It is on an articulating arm like the drawing in post one?

My screen is very simple. It flips up out of the dash. A single motion from flat to open and then back again. I used a servo for this purpose but if I did it over again, I would use a jackscrew and worm gear mechanism. Details are here.

I am currently reworking the controller for my device to allow it to open and close at the push of a dedicated button. I found that depending on the computer to open and close the screen means you can't see the screen until the computer boots and runs the open/close program. Often, you need to see information before that. I have a friend who is helping me use an Arduino board to develop the parameters for a PIC he will program, then we will build a dedicated circuit for it.

It doesn't have to be that complicated, though. If you wish, you can use a Mini-SSC serial port controller like I have used in the past. It can be programmed with BASIC.

**Kishon** · 12-01-2008, 11:30 PM

Thanks for your response BugByte.
Ok heres what i wanted the LCD to do. It must slide out facing down and then tilt back, (yes, like in the mechanism shown in my first post - it's going to be situated at the centre console of a VW golf MK1). I have so far got the scanner part right and still trying to figure out what i'm going to use for the railings that the LCD will run on. I'm not too worried about how it starts up and shuts down. For the startup and shut down i used a (third) N.O. limit switch that is situated near the middle of the scanner

So when the LCD moves it makes the limit switch (momentarily) to switch the laptop on and again to put it in hibernation.

i just need some ideas on the tilt and slide regarding the railings and the actual mechanism that will work for this........so if you have any ideas, please let me know. Thanks for your time.