Ok, new car and new computer HELP

rhurley · 10-06-2003, 03:17 PM

Hey, well, i have been using this board for like 2 years now, and after building a couple car computers myself, I have finally decided to take on the ultimate project - a complete car rebuild fully operated by a computer.

I have a 1964 1/2 mustang that I am in the process of completely rebuilding. I want the computer to do everything from AC, heat, gps, music, movies...everything.

Does anyone have any suggestions for the start of this project? I have moderate experience at this, and again, have built a couple - i won the science fair using this site a couple of years ago.

I expect a few problems: the mustang dash is going to be tough, i do not want the installation to be modest, nothing off the wall - it needs to be clean, and preferably, just a touch screen with an indash install. I do not believe fiberglass is the way to go, any suggestions?

Since it is a ground up restoration, it will be easy to install everything; i will just build the interior around it. Does anyone have any computer case suggestions? Should i build a box, or integrated into the trunk or the dash?

Any tips on controlling AC/heat/head lights/windshield wipers, etc?

anything would be great
-andrew

brrman · 10-06-2003, 03:20 PM

yer gonna need a lot of microcontrollers...

SjLucky · 10-06-2003, 03:29 PM

plastic injected dash? costly but its not fiberglass.
Why no fiberglass?

rhurley · 10-06-2003, 03:59 PM

i figured that being primarily a metal showing dash, that fiberglass would have a hard time bonding - i have no experience with fiberglass, i was just told that it would not be practical. would it be easy to cut out a large hold in the dash, fiberglass around my custom controls and TFT?

fluffy2097 · 10-06-2003, 04:02 PM

Be carefull here. It may seem cool to have everything in your car run off a PC. But what happens to all you're critical systems when your PC crashes? I don't know about you, but if it's a rainy night and I'm driving on the highway I don't want my windshield wipers and headlights to suddenly turn off because my PC crashed. Make sure that when you do things they will fail safe.

rhurley · 10-06-2003, 04:16 PM

thats a good point, what about just having the more "cosmetical" options for the computer, i just want to intergrate it into my car as much as possible. How about just the AC, heat, basic computer functions?

SjLucky · 10-06-2003, 04:53 PM

yeah its true that fiberglass wont bond to metal but with a little creative thinking it shouldnt be too much of a headache
I agree with fluffy be carefull. and I will suggest back up systems just case things go haywire.

fluffy2097 · 10-06-2003, 05:08 PM

For most of the things you want to control you just need to turn switches. Now, because I have a thing for mechanical stuff, I think it would be really cool to have a bank of switches somewhere connected to solenoids controlled by a serial port or something. That way whenever something is triggered you can see the switch get flicked.

Overall the idea is quite impractical and probably would look terrible unless you made a steam punk themed car or something. However, it is an idea to get you started on how to control things.

the_spy_guy · 10-06-2003, 10:48 PM

im in the process of trying to make a program to control my digital climate controls.

Does your mustang have digi-climate or manual climate?

either way, the software is simmilar and the output board will be the same. i have searched for months to find the best and cheapest output board. it woul be serial control. the reason i did not use parralell is because when your computer boots, ive been told it tests the pins on the parralel port, which in turn would activate some of the devices connected (not good). i will try to post some progress later, but if you have any specific questions, let me know.

Brad

rhurley · 10-07-2003, 09:00 AM

yeah, i think it may be impractical, the more i think about it. But i do want to have a custom dash, with at least 2 intergrated TFTs, for GPS and music. is it really worth trying to run your climate control off a computer that takes a minute to boot up?

guitar333 · 10-07-2003, 03:01 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by the_spy_guy

im in the process of trying to make a program to control my digital climate controls.

Does your mustang have digi-climate or manual climate?

either way, the software is simmilar and the output board will be the same. i have searched for months to find the best and cheapest output board. it woul be serial control. the reason i did not use parralell is because when your computer boots, ive been told it tests the pins on the parralel port, which in turn would activate some of the devices connected (not good). i will try to post some progress later, but if you have any specific questions, let me know.

Brad

mastero uses parallel relay control and i dont think he has that problem

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