N810 as a car computer
 

Hi folks,

I'm considering using a 810 as a car computer, mainly for access to OBD engine management info, as well as Navigation. The 810 would be installed in a pod on the dash, so only its screen will be visible, no access to any hard-keys.

My question is, if the 810 is wired into the cars electrics, will it turn on automatically when external power is supplied to it?

thanks for any help

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

It'll turn on and go into battery-charging mode when power is applied; it could be tweaked to boot into runlevel 2.

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

Shouldn't be too hard:

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

thanks for the quick responses ..

is runlevel 2 fully booted and operational? (excuse my ignorance!)

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

as a side-note, is there even an OBDII program available for the N810 that'll read data from the diagnostics port on a car? Also, do you plan on simply using a 12v plug (cigarette) to charge the device or hooking it up directly to a 12v source somewhere in the vehicle wiring? How would you do the latter?

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

Yes. Every Linux distribution has various run levels (typically 0-6). 0 is halt, 1 is sort of a rescue/maintenance mode, 6 is restart. Some distros have one runlevel for booting to the command line and one for booting to X. In Maemo runlevel 2 is the default X session.

Wikipedia has a good rundown of runlevels http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runlevel

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

There's Carman. I've never used it but it looks nice.

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

Yes, Carman is the one is was going to try ..

On the power question, I'll be taking it to my local car audio shop for advice .. but there are usually a few options like using spare connections on the fuse box

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

Carman works great for viewing the data.

Quick description of my setup (similar to most folks I'f guess). I have a Nokia N800 which I use in car for satnav (Wayfinder), Media Playback (Canola2), and Engine Data (Carman).
As I don't have a aux-in on my stereo I use a Griffin Itrip universal+ FM transmitter which has a usb port for connecting chargers etc. However I don't find that it supplies quite enough power to charge the N800 well. My friend, who also has a N800, has the Nokia FM transmitter which has a retractable lead and a built in flylead for power, which works really well - much better than the Itrip. I also use a bluetooth GPS receiver, and bluetooth to my phone which has a data connection. I use the keys on the frontpanel to swap between the 3 applications as needed and find that as a removable carcomputer it works great.

A few points on the initial post - If you are intending to mount the 810 in such a way that the hardware keys are hidden - why not buy an 800, which has a lot more storage capacity (i have 32GB), and is a lot cheaper. Also you could purchase a separate GPS receiver and mount that somewhere that will get the best possible signal and then connect to it via bluetooth. I also would suggest that in my experience you need access to at least the D-pad and home,menu and back buttons. The N8x0 is not entirely touch driven yet, although for media playback Canola is.

Also the charge for the N8x0 is 5v so you will need a converter. I would suggest obtaining a multi accessory socket unit, hide it, and either hardwire that to the car supply (fused of course), or just plug that into the car's accessory socket. Then use std in-in car mobile chargers for the tablet, and phone if required.

Gary

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

Please keep us updated with the status of this as I'd be very interested in the results. Then I'd have an OBDII + GPS tool for my car!!!

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

http://openbossa.indt.org/carman

look at the roadmap page... the are working on having GPS functionality built into the Carman app. will be interesting to see what they incorporate and how its presented.

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

I use a N810, Elmscan5 Bluetooth (integrated version) and Carman too. It works very well.

Now I try to analyze the results with graphs in OpenOffice-Calc or RRDtool (don't know what I want).

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

Thanks for this, I didn't realise the N8x0 wasn't entirely touch driven, so i'll opt for the N800 as you suggest .. saving a bit of money in the process!

Would you recommend sticking with OS2007 on the 800 for a carputer scenario, or go for OS2008?

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

Os2008. At least the Menus are bigger in OS2008.

OS2008 menus:
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardw...a/app_menu.png

OS2007:
http://media.arstechnica.com/reviews...ia/11-menu.jpg

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

Hi Guys,

Do you know Carman supports CAN ( 6 x ) communication? I was looking for a place to ask in their website, didint find anything quick, going to have to email them.


TIA

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

Yes I would also like to know this as I believe my 2006 Volvo is CAN.

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

Just as a bit of a side note here guys I don't use my tablet as a car computer as you're describing, but simply as a front-end interface for a small ALIX system (over the wifi connection), simply because it makes it more versatile for me (I drive a Jeep so I don't want to have the tablet always out/visible, especially when offroading or driving around without a roof and doors, both for the safety of the tablet and for theft/etc). However, that being said, for your approach one thing to definitely keep in mind is the USB capabilities of the tablets. With a little bit of creativity and some very simple coding you can add a LOT of very cool functionality.

For example, here's what I've got in my setup (I'll point out differences between mine and if you were doing a straight tablet setup in a second)
- M3 ATX Pico Powersupply - Designed for automotive applications, it'll take voltage from 24V to 6V and regulate it out to a nice clean 5V and 12V DC; it even shuts itself off if the voltage on the battery drops below the acceptable range so you don't flatten the battery if you do something unusual and manage to leave it on for too long.
The thing is rated at 125W, so it can more than easily handle a few powered USB hubs, charging the tablet, GPS, and whatever else you want to throw at it. If you're got the space and desire you could even use it to power a hard drive (USB of course). In my case spinning discs are a bad plan (spinning hard drives + offroading == dead drives), but I power 4 USB hubs and as many thumb drives as I've got kicking around (right now I think I'm sitting at something like 36GB, and that's more due to cost and actual usage rather than technical limits). Best of all the thing is tiny, generates no heat, and works under any condition I've thrown at it (-20C to about 45C in the summer heat).

- Phidgets Interface kit 8/8/8 - Yes, touch screens are good and cool, but to use them you have to be looking at them to know what the heck you're doing; for me I wanted to have some more "conventional" controls for shifting through songs, etc; the Phidget lets me do that simply by plugging it into a USB port and running some basic software. They have development kits for virtually all programming languages, and if that's not enough they even give you a web server app so that you can just make calls to the program from JavaScript or Flash in a browser. The thing provides 8 Digital inputs (i.e. buttons), 8 Digital outputs (i.e. for turning on LEDs/etc) and 8 Analog inputs (i.e. light sensors, temp sensors, etc), all in a tiny package (it/s about 3" by 2.5", maybe a little smaller).
The number one reason for the phidgets though is to use one of the inputs to monitor when you turn the vehicle on or off (tie a relay into the ignition wire/trigger on the radio and you're good to go). That way, when the vehicle turns off, the music you're playing pauses where it was, and when you turn on later it resumes again. That's the biggest feature of a real "car system" VS a music player with an FM transmitter.

As I said all of my stuff is tied into an ALIX that I leave in the Jeep all the time (and the tablet stays with me when I come and go), but there's no reason that you couldn't do all of that directly into the tablet; it just depends on how creative you want to be and how far you want to go with it. My entire setup fits in the 4"x5"x3" space behind the thermostat controls on the dash by the way; and the tablet just sits wherever I want, either on the dash (the Jeep has a brilliant little tray for it to sit in) or in the hands of a passenger, etc.
One other thing to remember is that if you use USB you can cut a lot of extra costs by avoiding bluetooth... i.e. USB GPS, USB ODBII Interface, etc.

Hope that's beneficial in some way!

-Rob

Re: N810 as a car computer
 

Thanks for the write up! Great info (love the Phidget)
Hadn't thought about using a CarPC power supply, but i'm going to get the M3 Atx one you mention. I've bought an N800 and it should be here on friday, I'll update the post with how things progress ..