Carputer

A Long time dream of mine which was only recently realized, my carputer (car computer) is a Via ITX motherboard with specialized hardware for installation in mobile environments. The main interface for the pc is a 7" Lilliput touch screen, there is also a mini keyboard in the glove box for use in BIOS, DOS or whatever other situation that the touch screen cannot be used as an input device.

I ordered an aluminum MCS computer case which looks allot like a car audio amplifier, this came with a 90w dc to dc regulator (power supply). The computer has an 80gb laptop hard drive, 1gb of RAM and a Via 1000 MHz processor. This might not seem like much however it is more than enough computer power to serve as a proof of concept for what I term as the "Mark I". This machine will be upgraded in the future with a modern multicore processor, and at least 2gb of ram. In addition to this I intend to add 2 4gb solid state hard drives in a raid stripe (for speed). This should hopefully accomplish my primary goal witch is a 30 second boot time.

The computer installed with relative ease just a few sheet metal screws and a splice to the power wires for the CD changer (removed). I modified the ashtray to accommodate my power button and LED, you simply flip open the ashtray to reveal them. This unit is removable and modular; it has an rj-45 connector that fits into a 4j-45 receptacle beneath the ashtray.

I did a custom bezel for the 7" Lilliput touch screen; I integrated it into the factory radio bezel using dynatron flexible bumper repair compound. this material unlike bondo "which is typically used in instances such as this" has similar properties to plastic so it responds to environmental factors such as heat/cold/shifting by expanding/contracting/flexing slightly just as plastic would.

The Carputer has a WIFI card 802b/g which is connected to a round high-gain Omni-directional wireless antenna. I am also using a Microsoft GPS puck which is mounted directly to the underside of the rear windshield, so that it has an unobstructed "view" of the sky. This is necessary to obtain the best possible signal, unfortunately this is not exactly the best GPS receiver that can be obtained and will be upgraded in the future. I gave it a quick coat of black to better camouflage it prior to installing it.

The computer runs windows XP sp3, I have no intention of upgrading to windows vista or even windows 7. Originally I intended to run Linux in the car, however due to a total lack of reliable GPS software I had to re-determine my software needs. The GPS software that I ended up using is called IGuidance. There are some additional software’s that I rely upon to help make the computer usable with minimal interaction. Key among this list is "Rocket Dock" a program launcher, as well as an onscreen keyboard with a custom made skin designed by me.