acura ITX

expeditions in mobile computing

24 November 2007

iGuidance v4 Embedded into RoadRunner

Written by Yours Truly ( Contact the author of this post )
Published on November 24th, 2007 @ 10:23:11 am, using 988 words, 9341 views

It was long past due getting rid of Microsoft Streets and Trips and replacing it with iGuidance on the car computer. Don’t get me wrong, S&T is a more-than-decent GPS mapping application, but it falls short in two very important areas when it comes to being used in a mobile computing environment. Specifically, it has very small navigational controls and poor rerouting functionality. Streets and Trips is a great application when running on a small 12- or 13- or 14-inch laptop screen, but when running on the small 7in or 8in touchscreen typical of most carPC installations, the navigational controls are very difficult to manage, especially considering the fact that you’re behind the wheel of a ton of moving steel while trying to navigate the GPS screen. It’s bad enough some of us engage in cellphone conversations or eat breakfast while driving. We don’t need the additional distraction of hunting down minutely-sized buttons on a dashboard mounted touchscreen…

…so I decided, at long last, to integrate iGuidance v4.0 into the Acura ITX mobile computer…

iGuidance embedded GPS mapping software

The iGuidance v4.0 application comes with three versions of the program on the installation DVD (PocketPC, Laptop, & UMPC/Car PC). For use in the carPC system I chose, obviously enough, the UMPC/CarPC version. Installation is fairly simple, finishing quickly and requiring a reboot of the computer prior to first-use.

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acura ITX

A journal outlining my project to hard-wire a mini-ITX car computer into the ignition of a 2001 Acura 3.2CL. The site covers such topics as wiring and power, touch screens, navigation and GPS, embedded applications, etc...


Mobile Computing Highlights

  • Removing the dashboard and stock stereo from a 2001 Acura CL
  • Initial stages of installation of the Acura-ITX mini-ITX carputer system
  • Custom touch screen front-end design for RoadRunner
  • On-the-fly music playlist builder for RoadRunner
  • Dashboard mounted touchscreen in a 2001 Acura CL
  • Acura mini-ITX touch screen interface design
  • Fabricating a dashboard mounting chassis for a mini-itx car computer
  • iGuidance embedded for carputer navigation
  • Acura mini-ITX carPC system and wiring open testbed

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  • 35 posts written between 15 February, 2005 and 12 December, 2007
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