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.

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).

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?

Os2008. At least the Menus are bigger in OS2008.

OS2008 menus:


OS2007:

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

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

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

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 ..