18 November 2005
Written by
Yours Truly (
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Published on November 18th, 2005 @ 10:36:49 am, using 3282 words, 34862 views
Project Day 1
The Leatherman Tool: We'll be using this a lot.
Well, here we are again, returning to the project which was supposed to begin in the spring of 2005, but because of other projects and random new distractions which got in the way, it looks like it's going to be a winter 2005/06 project. In case anyone is just joining us, this project involves the installation of a mini-ITX computer, retractable in-dashboard LCD touchscreen, gps receiver, wireless internet, mp3 audio (the equivalent of a 250-disc CD changer), and an aftermarket headunit into a 2001 Acura 3.2CL (non-navi). The system will be hardwired into the ignition switch: turn the key to start the car and the computer boots up at the same time. Almost hands-free.
This isn't to say that the last year was time lost, however. The last several months have seen many new developments in the world of mini-ITX computing, and in the realm of mobile LCD displays. In many ways, waiting the amount of time I have may prove to be a blessing in disguise, as the hardware which is available today wasn't around a year ago, and I would have been left wanting to tear apart my car again to upgrade the installed parts.
Anyway, on with the show... Yesterday afternoon I gathered together my Leatherman Wave Tool, a long-shaft screwdriver, some duct tape, and a digital camera, and began the surgery... The steps shown here, from photo #1 to photo #41, took about 75 minutes to complete. (The time it took to complete this write-up? A little longer).
This post is the creative work of Yours Truly and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
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24 May 2006
Written by
Yours Truly (
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Published on May 24th, 2006 @ 05:58:58 pm, using 1849 words, 31514 views
EDIT: Acura ITX Roadrunner skin now available in green
I've been working on a skin/template design for the RoadRunner touchscreen front-end application, since I decided to use RoadRunner instead of Media Engine. Both applications are quite good, but I found RoadRunner to be a little more flexible for the specific applications/tools I plan to use in the CarPC project.
The Acura ITX skin has a built-in audio player, audio browser, on-the-fly playlist builder, movie browser, video player, embedded PowerDVD dvd player, embedded Microsoft Streets and Trips, embedded iGuidance, on-screen keyboard, equalizer and mixer, blind man's screen, external applications menu, and skin switcher.
Yes, I can build custom interface designs for your own car computer project. Get in touch by leaving a comment or contacting me through the email form.
Here are some preliminary designs of the touchscreen interface...
Each of these images is reduced from the 800x600 actual size:
1. The splash/loading screen... The Acura ITX system runs on a stripped down version of Windows Media Center (approx 250Mb) and is configured to bypass the login prompt. When the system boots, or resumes from hibernate mode, the user is immediately presented with this screen:
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24 November 2007
Written by
Yours Truly (
)
Published on November 24th, 2007 @ 10:23:11 am, using 988 words, 15103 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…
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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20 November 2005
Written by
Yours Truly (
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Published on November 20th, 2005 @ 08:52:12 pm, using 928 words, 11577 views
One of the trickiest parts of the Acura ITX project is that I'd like the system to be largely hands-free. The system will have a keyboard only as backup, and will rely on the touchscreen interface via the LCD panel.
When it comes to powering the system on and off, the plan is to have the computer wired directly into the ignition of the Acura CL, so when the car is turned on, the computer boots up, and with a kill-switch wired inline between the ignition and the computer, for those occasions when the headunit is preferred over the ITX system.
Here are the power supply options I'm currently considering. They each have their pros and cons.
The 120W DC-DC Power supply has a micro-controller that controls and monitors various functions of the power supply operation. It monitors automobile battery voltage to protect against deep discharge. The Power-ON lead is monitored to start the PC when the power is turned on and to implement a safe shutdown procedure. It controls and monitors motherboard signals to provide smooth power-up and power down sequences. In addition, it also responds to shut down, stand-by and hibernate modes.
The power supply can be programmed to shut down the PC after a delay of time. Its outputs are monitored to assure proper PC operation. A green LED indicator in the power supply continually indicates the power system status and health. It is also used for troubleshooting. There are features that are built-in for trouble-free and safe PC operation. The input power is protected against transients, load dumps and double battery during jumpstarts. The PC does not reboot during engine start or cranking. It also uses state-of-the-art technologies and the most advanced techniques to maximize efficiency, performance and reliability. Simply put, there is no other PC power supply like it.
Here is a diagram of how the OPUS 120 is wired from the car battery to the computer system. This is a rather simplistic diagram and does not take into account the wiring via the vehicle's 12v ACC connection, nor the fused digital distribution block mounted in the trunk.
OPUS120 User guide (requires Adobe Acrobat)
M1-ATX is an intelligent vehicle (car, boat, electric cart, etc) 12V DC-DC ATX PC power supply. Designed to provide power and to control the ON/OFF switch of a motherboard (PC) based on ignition status, M1-ATX is a wide input (6-24V) vehicle or car DC-DC ATX power supply capable of surviving tough car engine cranks (down to 5.7V) as well as transient over-voltage situations.
M1-ATX Product Manual
M1-ATX Specs, including power ratings
M1-ATX User Guide
M1-ATX Schematic Diagram and Dimensions
This power supply provides a direct bridge between the vehicle battery and the computer system. It has onboard LDO (Low-voltage Drop Out) circuitry, and has 8 user selectable microcontroller driven timing modes, allowing you to choose up to 8 ignition/shutdown timing schemes via a built-in shutdown controller. It can be purchased for approx $75 from various vendors specializing in vehicle computing electronics.
M2-ATX is an intelligent, high power, vehicle (car / boat / electric cart) 12V DC-DC ATX PC power supply designed for car pc and battery powered applications. Designed to provide power and to control the ON/OFF switch of a motherboard (car PC) based on ignition status, M2-ATX is a wide input (6 to 24V) vehicle / car / battery operated ATX power supply capable of surviving tough car engine cranks (down to 6V) as well as transient over-voltage situations.
The M2-ATX comes with complete cable harness consisting of:
- ATX cable extender plus HDD and Floppy power (9inch)
- Power input cable harness terminated in 0.25' fastons (12inch)
- 2 pin M/B on/off power ON control wire harness (9inch)
- set of LBJ (little black jumpers) to control various power sequencing schemes
M2-ATX Product Manual (English)
M2-ATX Specs, including power ratings
M2-ATX Schematic Diagram and Dimensions
M2-ATX Undocumented shutdown timings
M2-ATX has 8 user selectable microcontroller driven timing modes, allowing you to choose up to 8 ignition/shutdown car pc timing schemes via a built-in shutdown controller. By removing all user-selectable jumpers, M2-ATX becomes a traditional PC PSU with no ignition control (shutdown controller bypassed) and it can be used in non-vehicle computer applications.
Alternate option:
80W DC-DC Power Supply 12V Output from Opus Solutions. This system provides most of the same features as the m1-ATX power supply, including a micro-controller that controls and monitors various functions of the power supply operation. It monitors automobile battery voltage to protect against deep discharge. The Power-ON lead is monitored to start the PC when the power is turned on and to implement a safe shutdown procedure. It controls and monitors motherboard signals to provide smooth power-up and power down sequences. In addition, it also responds to shut down, stand-by and hibernate modes.
However, the Opus 80W Supply is not compatible with the EPIA M-series of mainboards, as the M-series requires a standard ATX power interface. The Opus Power Supply is designed for motherboards with 12V input power. Since the Acura ITX project will use an EPIA MII-12000 mainboard (for the onboard CompactFlash and PCMCIA slots), the Opus power supply is not exactly suitable to this project, but is listed here for reference.
Contemporaneous Auditory Narcotics:
or, What my speakers are currently pumping...
Dope on Plastic - Volume 3
This post is the creative work of Yours Truly and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
12 September 2007
Written by
Yours Truly (
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Published on September 12th, 2007 @ 12:37:35 pm, using 645 words, 12283 views
I redesigned the original Acura ITX blue skin in a green version for night driving. I’m still not quite sure about the exact shade of green and might, in the coming weeks and as time permits, attempt to shift the green to approximate a more striking neon shade of green, as well as increase the saturation of the shadowed areas so that they approach black, providing a higher contrast to the overall design.
The following screens were taken directly from the Photoshop master file for this skin layout, and not from a running copy of Roadrunner. Hence, no in-action text or album art can be seen in these screens. I hope to have some photos up in the next few days which will show the Acura ITX skin running in the car PC environment.
For a different view of this skin, in its active context, feel free to take a look at the original Acura ITX front-end design for Roadrunner post, which displays the same screens (among others) in the original blue version, captured from a running copy of Roadrunner, and which show such things as music playlists, GPS maps, album art and embedded PowerDVD software as it is displayed while the skin is running.
1. The splash/loading screen:
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12 December 2007
Written by
Yours Truly (
)
Published on December 12th, 2007 @ 11:02:53 pm, using 639 words, 13987 views
I designed this version of the ITX skin for Roadrunner touch screens for a fellow car computer enthusiast from Sweden, who contacted me via this site, requesting a custom-designed ITX skin based on the original skin for the Acura ITX carPC project. He intends to display his vehicle, a Nissan 200sx s14a (240sx), in Sweden’s largest car show…
We discussed his needs and requirements over the course of a couple days, settled on a price based on the amount of work required, and I set about designing a series of screens and RoadRunner scripts customized to his vehicle and the color-scheme he requested.
Here is a sampling of the screens which I designed for his car computer system:
1. The Loading screen
This is the screen which is presented after the car computer system has booted up and while the RoadRunner touch screen application is first loading. Here we see the Nissan s14a prior to the overlaying of any of the ITX Skin’s menus.
2. The Main Menu
Once RoadRunner has loaded, the main menu, shown here, is presented to the user. This screen gives access, via the lozenge buttons across the top, to the Audio Player, Audio Browser, Video Players, and embedded GPS navigation.
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18 May 2006
Written by
Yours Truly (
)
Published on May 18th, 2006 @ 06:40:28 pm, using 624 words, 13070 views
If you missed the first two parts of this story, you can read all of the details here:
Fabricating the Dashboard Chassis, Pt 1
Fabricating the Dashboard Chassis, Pt 2
The next stage of the Acura car computer fabrication process involved cutting a sheet of plexiglass to function as a stand-off layer between the metal headunit chassis and the burlwood ABS trim which will be visible to the outside...
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