NOTE: By todays carputer standards this page is pretty outdated. Hopefully you will still find it helpful in some way.
carputer








Although I would not consider the carputer to be a mini-project, it took quite a bit of work and time to complete. I am only putting it in this section because it was done so long ago, that I have lost many of the pictures, and forgotten most of the details about the project. And since I no longer have this vehicle I cant just go take more pictures.


These pictures here are the only remaining pictures I have. I know, it pretty much takes away all the fun about reading these things when there are no pictures, but we'll just have to do with what we have.

The carputer case was built from black plexiglass and was put into a Ford Ranger, ext cab. There were 2 foldable seats in the back, and behind each seat was a storage compartment that was accesible when the seats were folded down. One compartment had emergency supplies and a jack, while the other compartment was completely empty. This empty compartment is where I decided to (and was really the only option) put my carputer. It fit perfectly into this area. I ran an audio cable from the carputer into the stereo using a wired FM modulator. This means I would turn my radio to a particular station to listen to the carputer. This method has a bit of quality loss, but I was fine with that. My speakers were not very good anyways. There was also a serial cable from the carputer to the LCD that I fit into the change holder. The serial was what provided information to the LCD. These cables were run under the carpet so they would not be seen. The carputer got power from an inverter under the driver seat that got power directly from the battery (don't forget to use an inline fuse!).

The LCD I used was made by Matrix Orbital. It fit into the change holder pretty good. There was a small gap around the edges where you could see the circuit board, so I just filled in that space with some left over black plexi by making a "border" around the LCD screen (sort of visible in last picture). On the LCD, I had it display, Artist - Album, Track #/Total Tracks, Time Passed/Time Remaining, it also showed a symbol for Pause, Play, and Stop, depending on its current state.



In the last picture you are looking at it from behind the change holder. That is the back of the LCD with the serial port visible. Below the LCD is the circuit board for the IR receiver (IRman, made by Evation). The IRman was also run by serial. The 3 red wires are going to the actual IR receiver. I later found out I could have made my own for much cheaper.

The whole carputer was controlled with a universal remote control (like for a television), which explains why I have an IR receiver. I used the most basic remote I could find. Power turned on/off the carputer. Volume of course changed volume up and down. Play/Pause/Stop did there normal functions, some other button toggled random tracks on and off. The menu button brought up a list on the LCD of the artists on the carputer. I could then use the UP/DOWN arrows to navigate through the list of artist to find an album or a song. There were other button functions I do not recall at the moment..


This technology I used is pretty dated now. The hardware and software availabe these days can do a much better job depending of course on how complex you want to make your setup. But now, using an MP3 player could be a much easier option since there availablility is so great, and really does the exact same thing, all while fitting in your pocket as well.

If you do want to make your own carputer, I highly recommend MP3car. It has a helpful message board, and lots of great information.


files

I managed to turn up an old cd that had some the programs I ran on the carputer. Now keep in mind, these files are from circa 2002. So their are more than likely better, updated versions available, and probably better methods to use than these programs. But here they are for your convenience:

  • Winamp 2.81 Lite: I used Winamp to play the audio files, mainly because it is stable and easy use. It also has lots of plugins available. This particular version features just the basics needed to run it, nothing extra. Hence the "Lite"
  • WinLIRC 0.6.4: This programs gives you the ability to transmit and receive standard infrared remote control signals. This allows you to control your computer using almost any standard infrared remote control
  • Girder 3.25: Another infrared control program, I used in in conjunction with WinLIRC
  • LCD Plugin: This is a plugin for Winamp that allows a custom designed output to a basic LCD, such as the one I used
  • DFX Plugin: Another plugin for Winamp. This was a really good sound equalizer/customization program. Made even my stock speakers sound good!