andybp Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 since putting the rear mount turbo on my Z i've been driving around with a laptop balanced on my passenger seat connected to the utec ecu while i've been setting things up the uti software i've been using allows me to monitor pretty much most things controlled by the ecu the plan is to mount a low power itx motherboard behind the cubby (where the sat nav goes if you have one) this is connected to the ecu via a serial cable the input and output is via a 7" touch screen mounted in front also i've been considering using it as a pc based media player but for now i just want easy access to the ecu without a laptop balanced on the seat. I already have all of the parts i need 12v dc dual core itx motherboard 4gb ram 30gb ssd 140mm fan for cooling operating system is windows Vista not my first choice but for some reason XP SP3 wont run on the board just keeps crashing and it's not really powerful enough for windows 7 and the software will only run on windows so Linux is out i've already installed the software including all of the drivers required this is the 7" touchscreen these can be had very cheaply if you don't mind waiting for it from china so that was the easy bit. fitting the display in the cubby front was a bit more challenging I was going to fit it into the original cubby front but the button to open it is in the way so i decided to make a new one i made a mold from the old one by pulling cling film over it and pushing it into a container of plaster when the plaster started to set i removed the front leaving the cling film behind in the mold after the plaster had set i removed the cling film and finished the mold sanding and filling any problem areas and removing the outline from the opening button on the original once smooth i waxed the mold next i poured fiberglass resin into the mold coating the whole thing with a thin layer once this had set (about 10 min) i mixed up some more resin and built up several layers of resin and fiberglass mat in the mold to add strength once done i left this to cure properly the next day i removed the new front from the mold this is the mold after i removed it and this is the new front it actually came out nearly perfect the photo's don't do it justice next i filled the back of it with body filler to give me something to machine a recess into for the display then it was just a case of machining the recess using my CNC mill this is the display fitted rear view and front view i've only primed it so far, it needs a little bit of sanding and painting and then i need to get it fitted so lots to do yet but so far so good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exotic Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Impressive work so far Regarding software try to ditch Vista for Win7. Not sure what you mean by not powerful enough for Win7 as it will run almost anything and will give a smoother experience, Vista is much more resource hungry than Win 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybp Posted September 26, 2015 Author Share Posted September 26, 2015 Impressive work so far Regarding software try to ditch Vista for Win7. Not sure what you mean by not powerful enough for Win7 as it will run almost anything and will give a smoother experience, Vista is much more resource hungry than Win 7. the other factor is i don't have a spare copy of win 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 I might have an iso of win7 lurking somewhere I could we-tranfer to you if you wanted? Good effort on the fabrication btw - let the blue screens of death begin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Another impressive project Andy, you've got the skills to pay the bills Shame you can't put a lightweight linux distro on there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybp Posted September 26, 2015 Author Share Posted September 26, 2015 Another impressive project Andy, you've got the skills to pay the bills Shame you can't put a lightweight linux distro on there linux would have been my first choice but the software wont work with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bounty Bar Kid Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Cheap netbook in the glove compartment with fan to aid cooling could have sufficed and made it more portable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybp Posted September 26, 2015 Author Share Posted September 26, 2015 Cheap netbook in the glove compartment with fan to aid cooling could have sufficed and made it more portable. now where would be the fun in that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybp Posted September 30, 2015 Author Share Posted September 30, 2015 i've not got much done on this as i've been on standby all week but i am on my fourth operating system win XP wouldn't run for some reason kept crashing so i installed Vsta but had a few problems with drivers so i then went to Win 7 this didn't like the touchscreen now i'm on Win 8 and all working ok also i've got the fascia rubbed down and painted i'm off Friday so hope to get some more done then 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggalo Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 Your geeky-fu is impressive, I like it!! Why not use a Raspberry Pi though? It's quad core will blow your old Jetway mobo away You shouldn't have any problems running WIn7 or Linux on a Pi. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R88RPE Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 I love this build. I thought I was bad ass fitting a android head unit haha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybp Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 didn't think you could run windows on a PI ? too late now I had to change my plan to locate it all behind the dash just not enough space so it's in the cubby behind the passenger seat motherboard and ssd mounted just need to run the cables to it . switched live for the power, vga for the monitor, serial to the ecu, usb for the touch screen and a cable to the 2nd serial port for shutdown 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggalo Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 I love it. Seriously tempted to do this. It's better than the after-thought of the glove box. How did you connect the touch screen ribbon to the mobo? That's what intrigues me the most Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybp Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 I love it. Seriously tempted to do this. It's better than the after-thought of the glove box. How did you connect the touch screen ribbon to the mobo? That's what intrigues me the most there is a usb interface and cable that connects to the touchscreen digitiser and another interface/controller for the actual display which has vga, hdmi and composite inputs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggalo Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 Have you got a link to the type of USB > Ribbon you used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybp Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 the whole display including the controller and touchscreen interface £33 including delivery from china which took 10 days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybp Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 it's a standard 4 wire resistive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybp Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201275194097?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggalo Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 Brilliant! I wonder if I could run Android on it which could double as Satnav, media player and radio. Inspirational thread for sure, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 If you're gonna run android, why not just strip down a cheap tablet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggalo Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 If you're gonna run android, why not just strip down a cheap tablet? I would have to refer to Post #8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exec Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Lets us see some more pictures! Good job, well done on the plaster fascia also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybp Posted October 24, 2015 Author Share Posted October 24, 2015 Lets us see some more pictures! Good job, well done on the plaster fascia also. the fascia is fiberglass and filler i just used plaster for the mold I have done some more on this project just not had time for a write up hope to get some more done and post it tomorrow or monday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybp Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 Ok I've got this pretty much finished now just the tidying up left to do, well that and i might change to a higher resolution display if i can find one at the right price the power supply gave me a few problems the mother board was not happy to run at 14 volts instead of the 12 it was designed for and i couldn't drop in a 12 volt regulator as the supply voltage needs to be higher than 14 volts also the battery voltage sometimes drops to just above 12 volts so the easy option after some experimentation was to put a big diode in the supply to drop the voltage by 0.7 volts as the motherboard seemed happy to run between 11 and 13.5 volts. the motherboard and the display are both fed from the live supply for the turbo oil pumps (if you don't know what I'm talking about have a look it's a long read a bit like war and peace http://www.350z-uk.c...diy-rear-mount/ ) which is controlled by an arduino nano and since i had spare outputs on this device i have altered the code so that when the car is started it turns on a relay which momentarily shorts the terminal for the power switch on the motherboard and when the ignition is turned off it does the same to shut it down before the power supply is turned off by the arduino controller Here's a short vid of the start up and shut down sequence http://vid1364.photo...zpsdz5ctsku.mp4 the fascia I made for the touchscreen has been in and out so many times that I'm probably going to have to re-paint it and the wiring around the motherboard needs tidying but other than that i'm done 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 very I wish they wouldn't put "no signal" messages up on screens, just be patient! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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