Mazda 323F GT

Creating your own car PC

I said once to my friend - My car will not leave the garage untill I'll have the same nav system as in yours :) He bought BMW 730tds with integrated nav. Well... I've decided to build my own then.

First of all I had to find a good parts for my PC. A good choice I found on http://store.mp3car.com . There were a better proposals on eBAY however none of the sellers can propose a reasonable variants for delivery. So I’ve got a VIA C3 1Ghz CPU motherboard with plenty of integrated stuff, Power supply unit DC 12V with CPU to monitor battery voltage and shutdown PC according to the settings, 8” touch screen Lilliput LCD 16:9 monitor, USB GPS receiver. Also additionally bought 512 Mb memory, 40Gb notebook HDD + notebook to ISA converter, cooler fan, trackball, small keyboard, couple of USB hubs, Bluetooth adapter, and still need to buy 4 USB cameras. I didn’t install any CD or DVD drives – decided to save space so will use USB flash drive for data transferring. Also installed a WiFi USB adapter, to be able to connect to the home PC and to download something quickly.

I didn’t order the PC case because decided to save the money and also wasn’t sure how to mount the PC so built the case right there in the car using available space. I’d not describe in details how to make a square box with holes using plexiglas :) I think it’s quite simple and don’t think anybody will make it anyway – better get one on a market. But so far I’ve made one and here is the example how everything looks from inside.

The most complicated part was a software load. It is mostly because you will need to deal with aftermarket shareware/freeware software, mostly custom build, not very reliable and complicated to install. The base OS is XP but I’ve cut the original version to optimise its performance. Right now it’s loading in 6 seconds :)

Second thing you will need is touch screen shell for car PC. You can find some on internet – I’ve choose RoadRunner because it’s almost an open source and quite easy to reconfigure. Also been installed a GPS map software (vector one with good resolution, up-to-date maps even showing road signs on it in the city), Bluetooth phone manager to integrate my Nokia so it’s showing phone status on a screen and I can dial using touchscreen monitor. Also PC can go to the internet using GPRS and Bluetooth. Connection to the phone is automatic as soon as you put it inside the car. Also installed some special soft on my smartphone which is allowing to control the Car PC via the phone joystick - it’s even showing Windows screen on a mobile phone screen – looks dodgy and small :-)

GPS receiver been mounted on a dash just behind the windscreen and it’s wire went through the custom dash, inside the torpedo and under the carpets.

Trackball been placed above the handbrake using velcro. It’s easy to find it there and to operate.

Keyboard is an USB one and disconnected most of the time hidden under the passenger’s seat. Connecting its only when need to work in the internet or to type something. Here on a pic there is a temp keys - got already a slim black one.

CarPC itself been mounted under the drivers seat. I’ve used the +12V wire which connects amplifiers. All cables went under the carpet (On a picture it’s showing a test keyboard).

Monitor been mounted on a special holder which can be rotated or moved into any direction. It’s been also connected to the car DVD player so I can watch movies on it as well. Computer sound been directed through radio transmitter device (see in the sigarette lighter plug, it is actually an MP3 flashcard player but there is also an external input available in it). PC sound goes through normal car FM radio. Alternative way would be to connect sound to the monitor speaker itself (but that would mean dodgy sound in movies).

The front USB hub been placed inside the torpedo close to the ash-tray. One cable from it goes to under the bonnet, second to the trackball, third to the GPS receiver and fourth is a reserved one placed inside the gloves compartment (just in case if will need to connect for example a flashcard or USB keyboard).

I still need to setup a rear USB hub, mount the cameras and to setup a free soft for the cameras – it’s allowing to view 4 USB cameras simultaneously on a monitor and to record video from any of them (even there is a motion detector to start the recording automatically).

Here are few screenshots from a working PC: basic windows XP, SatNav screen, Roadrunner touchscreen shell.

inside the RoadRunner also few pics: navigate through applications, watching the movie, going to internet using bluetooth connection to mobile phone and GPRS.

More pictures and story about install will follow.

Kira aka Aprilia, 2007