Timm Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Yup, I've always wanted one, and I've had most of the stuff, but never a screen. I finally saved up some money for the so popular lilliput 7" touchscreen. Specs. 1.5GB Ram 400GB HDD 2.2Ghz AMD 64bit processor 4 USB Ports (+ 4 internal) Wireless G card with external antenna mounted on trunk. USB GPS reciever 400 Watt Power Inverter USB to OBDII adapter Flexible Keyboard Windows XP Media Center Edition (Might go to XP PRO SP3.) & well, thats all for now. What I still want to integrate... Power on touch screen through accessory wire going to radio (to have it turn on when key is turned.) (Still need to figure if it puts out enough amps...) Find a good freeware program to show the live data (in a nice GUI) from the OBDII. Move HDD, and Power LED's to dash somewhere. (Maybe I/P?? ) Activate the momentary power button on computer through accessory wire to radio. (To turn on when key is switched, and activate the hibernation process when key is turned off.) Activate a 1:30sec delay between accessory power turning off, and turning off power inverter. (To give pc time to hibernate.) Maybe a capacitor to Power Inverter to help with large voltage loss while cranking. A fully automated gps tracking program (freeware), that uploads data whenever a wifi hotspot is present. (I do mean FULLY AUTOMATED, like steal my car, and I can track you.) Voice Commands via bluetooth headset. Have the program, just need to get the usb bluetooth dongle. Get the fusion brain! http://www.fusioncontrolcentre.com/FusionStore//catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=61 And from there, I'd like to use my voice commands to put "windows up", or to "open trunk", etc. Add a second screen (3 video outputs in PC) to view live engine data via OBDII USB adapter. So, yea, I've got some work to do (and some money to spend..) Oh and also, just wondering, but didn't mediaengine ever have an OBDII thing in it? I remember I had a OBD program with a really nice GUI, and a bunch of cool features. One of which I remember was the 0-60 test. Thanks! EDIT Also, u probably don't understand half the stuff I'm talking about with what I want to do. I'm bad at explaining, stuff. I usually just do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mra32 Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 I'm not sure if you looked into it, but the stuff that you talked about where certain things are getting power can be done with simple relays. For Example: Activate the momentary power button on computer through accessory wire to radio.(To turn on when key is switched, and activate the hibernation process when key is turned off.) A simple 12V relay will do this, just wire it up Activate a 1:30sec delay between accessory power turning off, and turning off power inverter.(To give pc time to hibernate.) A time delay relay would be nice. They are adjustable, so you can dial in the time you need Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timm Posted January 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Alright! Got a thing done! I'm now running the screens power through the accessory wire! Turns on with key switched, turns off with key off when door / trunk open. I'm not sure if you looked into it, but the stuff that you talked about where certain things are getting power can be done with simple relays. For Example: Activate the momentary power button on computer through accessory wire to radio.(To turn on when key is switched, and activate the hibernation process when key is turned off.) A simple 12V relay will do this, just wire it up Activate a 1:30sec delay between accessory power turning off, and turning off power inverter.(To give pc time to hibernate.) A time delay relay would be nice. They are adjustable, so you can dial in the time you need It's just gonna be hard to send a momentary pulse every time the key power is given to the accessory circuit, AND a momentary pulse everytime power is TAKEN AWAY from the circuit... WANTED: Circuit design help... :-( Maybe Help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Alrighty... Awsome choice on the touchscreen, I had zero problems with mine and the resolution was great.. Even better, at $200, they are more than half the cost as the Zenarc monitors.. As for the computer itself, an AMD 64 is not the way to go as far as a carputer. They run the hottest and use a large amount of power. The main goal you should have is power conservation. Trust me on this. A power invertor is not the best idea, been there done that. What you want is to actually build a decent computer designed for the car itself. Using a mini-ITX is the way to go. http://www.mitxpc.com/proddetail.asp?prod=PSDCDCM2ATX Read the entire description, that is what you sound like you really want. As far as powering the monitor, power from the radio is more than sufficient! I used it with no issues whatsover, and even used it as the 12V for the remote signal to my amp This power supply would be better to send the remote signal to the amp, because it can be delayed to prevent amp turn on thump, which is annoying and can damage speakers. http://www.mitxpc.com/proddetail.asp?prod=PSDCDCM3ATX The power supplies either way will take care of dealing with turning on and off the computer. And both will deal with voltage conditions while cranking!! As far as the OBD2 system, you will need another peice of hardware and I dont think any freeware front ends will have built in programs for the ODB2 system readouts. I used Media Engine which allowed me to listen to my music, run GPS stuff, and was setup for me to run external programs in the Media Engine interface itself. I used my HP Tuners setup like that. You will need something like these http://store.mp3car.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=obd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timm Posted January 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Trust me, this pc is only temporary (maybe for a long time temporary...) But I plan on building a REAL carputer when I can find the money. The carputer power supplies look awesome! Completely blew my mind when I first saw one! A REAL carpc PS would solve 3 of my biggest problems.. As for now though,, do you guys think this setup would work for the power inverter delayed turn off? What size capacitor should I use? Sorry for the crudeness. lol. switch is a manual override. Also, I've got plenty of relays to spare.. 7 I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 The power invertor should have an on/off switch. Mine did, I removed the switch from it, cut the wires for it internally to lenthen them and run them to the switch up from. I actually used the GP 2nd gear start switch. DO NOT constantly switch the power to the invertor on and off.. They arent designed to do that continuously, thats why they should be hardwired to the battery and the on/off switch on them is to be used. The biggest problem is you have to turn the invertor off. Heres why. If you shut the PC down, but leave the invertor on, it will still use power and drain the battery pretty quickly. Invertors arent exactly efficient by any means. This arrised an issue when you turn it on, and go to turn the PC on, they wont always start right away. It make take a few minutes. The best bet in this case it to deal with the PC constantly loosing all power, or turn the PC off to hibernate and leave the invertor on, but like I said, that will drain the battery.. And by your drawings, you are making things much more difficult. Invertors have built in surge protection and go into protect with a low voltage condition (such as cranking sometime) so a capacitor is best left at the store It will serve no practicle use except wasting cash. And, no relays are needed here bub, I know how much you want to use them You just dont need them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timm Posted January 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 The power invertor should have an on/off switch. Mine did, I removed the switch from it, cut the wires for it internally to lenthen them and run them to the switch up from. I actually used the GP 2nd gear start switch. DO NOT constantly switch the power to the invertor on and off.. They arent designed to do that continuously, thats why they should be hardwired to the battery and the on/off switch on them is to be used. The biggest problem is you have to turn the invertor off. Heres why. If you shut the PC down, but leave the invertor on, it will still use power and drain the battery pretty quickly. Invertors arent exactly efficient by any means. This arrised an issue when you turn it on, and go to turn the PC on, they wont always start right away. It make take a few minutes. The best bet in this case it to deal with the PC constantly loosing all power, or turn the PC off to hibernate and leave the invertor on, but like I said, that will drain the battery.. And by your drawings, you are making things much more difficult. Invertors have built in surge protection and go into protect with a low voltage condition (such as cranking sometime) so a capacitor is best left at the store It will serve no practicle use except wasting cash. And, no relays are needed here bub, I know how much you want to use them You just dont need them I too took out the switch from the power inverter! Mounted it in my headlamp control assembly. That would be really harsh on an inverter to constantly cut and restore power to it, and it probably would have failed by now if I ended up wiring it like that.. I was going to put the pc in standby, but that would drain the battery.. So now I wait for the PC to hibernate, then turn off power inverter. The wiring diagram from hell I posted up was just for the switch circuitry of the power inverter, not the main power, I just want to find a way to have the power inverter switch its self on when the key is switched, and shut off after a minute or two. The capacitor isn't a giant car stereo thing, but just a small one, just to keep the contacts of the relay closed long enough for the pc to hibernate. So as the accessory power is turned off, the relay stays closed until the capacitor drains (the diode is just to keep the capacitor from draining to other things on the accessory circuit.). Once the capacitor drains, the relay opens the circuit (in this case, the power switch circuit of the power inverter.) and HOPEFULLY the pc had time to hibernate. Overall, I really shouldn't be dealing with anything over 1 amp in this circuit. It's basically just a delayed turnoff of the power inverter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 I think I may be lost, but as far as the switch for the invertor, you just lengthen the wires from the invertor to the switch?? Just do that and turn the invertor on and off manually and save a lot of headaches and hacking into stock wiring.. Plus, my switch to my invertor was switched via ground, so it had to be inline to the invertor.. You can hibernate and turn the invertor off, but your startup on the PC will prolly be delayed and you may have to press the power on switch twice to get it to boot up. That was a problem with me using a home PC.. Carputer setups are designed a little differently, hence the power supplies I listed still allow a bit of power to the PC even while shut completely down, but they have a voltage protect where they will cut all power so you dont have a dead battery. Soory, but your putting toooooo much effort in something that can be solved properly for under $300... Just look... http://www.mitxpc.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CPCIAVOOM2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mra32 Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 that capacitor would work, and it would be pretty easy to spec, since relays are usually sold with information on the current that the solenoid draws. ever think about getting a PLC? I've used the siemens 230rc with the computer attachment cable and the sofware to go with it. SOOOO easy to make complicated timing delays and pulses into constant signals and vice versa. I think i picked one up for under $50. The only thing is that it also draws power. I'm not sure how much. Oh yeah, i dont think they are made anymore, but thats how you get them so cheap. They might just have newer models, i dunno you'd have to look into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timm Posted January 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 yea, your right. I think I'll just invest in a real carputer. I actually have some people who want that computer... IDK what they'd be willing to pay for it. I guess I was looking in the wrong places for the carputers, everywhere I looked a decent one was around $800.00! This one seems really nice! Anyone know a good site for good (and CHEAP) carputer setups? http://www.mitxpc.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CPCIAVOOM2 That one looks REALLY good for the price! that capacitor would work, and it would be pretty easy to spec, since relays are usually sold with information on the current that the solenoid draws. ever think about getting a PLC? I've used the siemens 230rc with the computer attachment cable and the sofware to go with it. SOOOO easy to make complicated timing delays and pulses into constant signals and vice versa. I think i picked one up for under $50. The only thing is that it also draws power. I'm not sure how much. Oh yeah, i dont think they are made anymore, but thats how you get them so cheap. They might just have newer models, i dunno you'd have to look into it. That PLC sounds a lot like the fusion brain.. http://www.fusioncontrolcentre.com/FusionStore//catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=61 well, I KNOW the fusion brain IS a PLC (Programmable Logic Chip). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mra32 Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 I dunno depends on the logic its capable of. Is there a way to get the software without buying the thing, then you could see what it can do before you drop a load of cash on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timm Posted January 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 I dunno depends on the logic its capable of. Is there a way to get the software without buying the thing, then you could see what it can do before you drop a load of cash on it http://www.fusioncontrolcentre.com/FusionStore/catalog/software.php There's the download page. Ill try it out and see how it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timm Posted January 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Here it is! And I can verify that's exactly what it looks like. (I downloaded it.) http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/fb-software/116124-uber-mdx-configurator-beta-testing.html Now I just want it more!!! :biggrin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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