What is a carputer
A Carputer is, quite simply a Computer in a Car. Why? Well, why not?!
Okay, first reason is I'm a spod, and I like my car. So this way I get to spod in my car!
Actually not really. It actually serves a number of purposes (purpae?), namely: -
| MP3 Player | It gives me instant access to x,000 music files without swapping and scratching CDs. |
| Satelite Navigation | It's not quite there yet, but ultimately it will be my GPS Satelite Navigation system. |
| Movies | As well as music I can play movies. Now obviously this is not for when I'm driving, but for when I'm bored waiting for someone, or just for the sake of it! |
What's it made of
The system is based around a VIA EPIA M9000 Mini-ITX motherboard. This board has almost everything required for a computer, all that is required in addition is RAM, hard disk and power. A case is optional, and in my case messy (which is why you won't find any pictures of that here yet!).
To this I have added 256Mb RAM, a 40Gb Hard Disk and a Morex 60w DC-DC PSU.
To power the whole thing in the car, I had to build a regulator and protector circuit. Since a cars alternator can provide anything up to about 15 volts (not to mention 300v transients!) I needed something to protect the DC-DC convertor. After much trawling around the internet and purchasing of components from Farnell and Maplin, I built this regulator: -
This provides a stable and protected 12v supply to both the computer, and the LCD screen (which can be seen in the image gallery for my Carputer) at The Image Gallery.
That's it, I'm bored for now. I'll post more details when there's more to post!
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