Well I've always wanted a PC in my car and something with a touch screen but it always seemed rather expensive to get it all sorted. I got myself an eeepc 701 a while ago, screen was kinda small for normal use so I ended up getting a 901 through work which I use. After gathering a lot of dust on my 701 I had an idea of getting a touchscreen kit (£25 from ebay) then sticking it all un my 206.
At first I wanted to extend the LCD cable between the motherboard and the LCD controller board. But cutting the cables, extending it doesn't seem to work. So my original plan of having the base under the seat went out the window, so it's now going behind the dash.
I've placed the motherboard right behind the middle top bit of the dash. Meaning I'm going to relocate the hazard light button somewhere else and i've taken out the clock. Otherwise there is too much stuff behind the dash for the moterboard to fit in.
I've made a circuit with a few relays so that when the power is turned on on the car then it presses the power switch until usb power is on which then does another relay to stop pressing the power switch. I've made a program so that when the power to the eeepc goes and it is on battery it auto goes into hibernate mode unless I press a button to stop it. This way using hibernate it will start up pretty instantly and give me the option of keeping it on using battery if I turn the car off.
The inverter also has a relay on it connected to the ignition so it will only be on when the car is on. I'll have a manual switch also just in case.
This is the setup I've got planned
- 300w inverter to power the eeepc
- Lineout on my eeepc -> 3.5mm to RCA cable -> J-link cable for my JVC HU allowing RCA input -> HU
- USB 7" touchscreen that just fits over the original screen
- 4GB internal SSD with windows + centrafuse UI. (Windows is nlited to make it as small as possible)
- 80GB 2.5" laptop HDD in a USB caddy for storing music
- USB ports at the very middle midle of the dash including line in
- USB GPS
Here are the pics I just took tonight of it so far:
The inverter
The eeepc's old case and mobo
Touch screen
The dash with grooves cut out for the screen corners and cables
Screen sitting in the dash bit
Screen actually in the dash (not plugged in)
Again from another angle
Where the motherboard is
Shot of the motherboard behind the dash.
Going to try and get the whole thing fitted just after the weekend. Need to make the last circuit for the inverter and fix my other circuit for turning the eee on. Apart from that it's all ready to be fitted in.
Eventually I'll fabric a proper cover for the screen to fit it in the dash. But for now I'll just secure it as is.
sooo.. what do you all think?
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