Ive been trolling here for quite awhile and am now bench testing my set up. still have some components to add but all the basics are here. any suggestions, tips, or links to tools would be greatly appreciated. im teaching myself this stuff as i go, and I knowit an ambitious project.
Purpose: Designing the carputer for a custom car project, nothing to extreme, but am building the car as a cross country road rally/GT touring car. The vehicle is an 82 924 turbo, engine is still out and the body isnt done, so im in no hurry, but included in this will probably be a custom dash. no obd, and sensor monitoring is part of the goal. bottom line, my build is for car performance first, navigation, timing, and the entertainment part is a lower priority. rather than buying separate data loggers, and other performance interfaces, i figured id build a car puter and integrate as much as possible.
components:
the budget is low, ive been collecting parts over the past several months. I still need to find a decent (and cheap) fm tuner module, micro keyboard, and figure out the car sensor interface (looking at phidgets and similar items), and considering the Rooftop GPS/Cellular/PCS/WiFi antenna sold here in the store. i would like to run two separate gps programs at once (if possible) to be able to sync times and locations during competitive events. before installation i will also be adding shock mounts and silicone washers. not extreme off roading , but the ride will get a bit rough at times. oh, and no radio head unit, going straight to a small amp to power car speakers and thinking of putting volume control via the amp input lines rather than using a griffin type control..not there yet. later ill look to also integrate a Valentine one radar detector, TPMS, and others such sensors, but right now, trying to keep it basic (and im no programmer, so i need proven applications i can install myself)
For software, heres what im experimenting with:
Win XP pro, reduced down similar to "tiny xp",im playing with the isso pack 4 vista updates, Ride runner (having some trouble with skins, and getting things to work correctly more reading to do, i need a step by step...) some sort of war driving program, and interface software for lcd streaming for the secondary display. no idea what gps/nav software to use(still waiting for the module). the multiviewer for the cctv dvr (not sure if/how i can get it to work with RR (more reading i guess.) I also want to try voice command, maybe with dragon or via voice?
The software is the biggest hurdle for me, but im learning. im bench testing on an old 600mhz ibm netvista all in one (yes, ive got mini xp running fine on it), finding stuff i like and how it works, and then ill load the "successes" onto the carputer... im also working with mostly free software (no worries, i will make donations to those developers whos stuff i end up using!) right now im just trying to figure out how to install a skin in rr and get the main screen to split with a logo in the middle. ive got it to play music via winamp, and itll read weather and movies, nothing else working there yet.
again, thanks in advance , both for the whole site which is an amazing resource, and any opinions, tips, or suggestions you could provide.
Eric.
Linear Mode
