May 13, 2008 by Rob.

Oh, I did. Here’s a link to an NPR story about monitoring drivers to improve their driving efficiency. It turns out that you can boost mileage 10-20% if you give people feedback about the cost of their bad habits.

As part of my thinking about EVs, I’d considered starting a company around this idea. It turns out that putting useful computers into people’s cars is both painful and expensive. You’d have to save a lot of gas to make this work. That doesn’t mean I’ve given up on it though…

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May 24, 2007 by Rob.

I was pricing out the computer tonight and it’s $$$.  About $750.  I guess spending 10% of the project $ on the computer is inline with my expectations, but…

Here is what I’m considering:

1. Case, Power Supply & Board: I like this board b/c it has the flash slot & PC card built-in.  It also has a fan
2. 7″ touch screen: this display seems like a good mix with the best mounting options
3. PicoLCD display: this would be the main UI for the driver
4. 512 MB RAM, 2 to 4 MB Flash
5. Wireless N (external range extending antenna)
6. USB GPS

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May 17, 2007 by Rob.

I’ve been looking into gettin’ me some of them car brains.  I especially like this model Mini-ITX because it has built in flash reader and PCMCIA.  The down side is that it requires a cooling fan (battery draw).

I was pricing out the wireless car and saw a Wi-Fi N PCI card that included an external long range antenna.  Pricey, but that may be just the ticket!

I still have to pick a monitor.  More on that later.

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April 30, 2007 by Rob.

Here is a link to the ill-fated Windows CE release that was embedded into the BMW iDrive.

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March 22, 2007 by Rob.

There is an active discussion about data logging on the EVDL and I wanted to capture some of the interesting links here.  A recent post included a reference to a IOTech A/D Card.

Posted in Computer, EV Tech | 1 Comment »

February 5, 2007 by Rob.

I had an interesting idea about my A/D needs for the computer data logging.  Data logging will allow my on-board computer to track the voltage & current draw as I drive.  It occurred to me that some multi-meters include serial/USB outputs.  Since I already need a MM it makes sense to get one that can also be my data logger.

Posted in Computer, EV Tech | 1 Comment »

January 24, 2007 by Rob.

I wanted to upload some pictures related to recent posts. (On flickr with comments)
This is the axle well that I’m planning to use for batteries (6 hopefully). I need to make some cardboard forms to make sure I have room. It will be close. The exhaust pipe should give clearance for the 2/0 wire from the far side of the pack.

Here is a the center console from the dash. It shows that space is very tight for a display. The area under the radio is about 3″ more forward than the radio and not a good location for a display.

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January 21, 2007 by Rob.

I’ve been thinking more about the on-board computer and looking for accessories. I found a potential USB GPS Receiver: the Haicom HI-204III-USB is a basic receiver designed for laptop integration. I could position anywhere with a sky view including externally. I want to automatically log location, direction, speed, amps, & voltage.

The other components I will need include A/D Inputs (USB) and some output drivers (USB). I also need WiFi (via USB or PCI). BlueTooth (via USB) would be awesome as a driver ID. I’ll only have 1 PCI, so I want make good choices.

I have limited places to put a big LCD Touchscreen so I’m looking for alternatives. If I mount it, it would mainly be for passenger use. Mini-Box has a cool picoLCD (2 lines) that is USB and includes outputs. This would be a fine driver status display.

I’m back to considering Linux as the right choice, so everything needs to be Linux compatible. I know you’re wondering: Ubuntu is the lead choice right now.
Note: My EV system comes with a stand-alone battery & amp gauge, so anything on the computer will be secondary. For safety, driving systems are dedicated function.

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January 19, 2007 by Rob.

My lunch topics today included a discussion about the computer for the RAV. The price/best form factor that I’ve seen so far is the Mini-ITX in a specially design Car case. The case includes special cushioned packaging for the hard drives. The alternative, a solid state flash drive, is limited in size (4 GB is $100). This would be more robust and use less power, but very limiting in the amount of information I can pack onto the computer. I’ll need more storage for my MP3 collection and videos too

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