The Project

I have a vision for the Hondat (our 2001 Honda Accord, yes I know, original name). I see a GPS guidance system, voice activated environmental controls, and engine stats. I see digital maintenance logs, gigabytes of media, and integrated hands-free over bluetooth. I see...a carputer.

I am starting down the long (and potentially expensive) path of designing, installing, and implementing a custom carputer.  I plan on using this blog not only to share my adventures, but to help organize all my ideas.  Thus begins the feature list:

• 7" Touchscreen interface


• Additional 4.5" LCD monitor


• Micro-ATX form factor for the computer


• Bluetooth


• GPS integration


• Media player (mp3, mpeg, jpeg, etc...)


• Engine stats via OBDII


• Engine diagnostics


• Maintenance Log with reminders


• Digital Environmental Controls


• Voice activated controls


• Trip logs

All this will be integrated into one slick interface.

Other low-priority possibilities include:

• Door lock and trunk control


• Bluetooth auto-unlocking from phone application


• Window control


• External sensors (ie. weather sensors, IR, tire pressure, etc...)


• External Cameras, automatically engaged with reverse


• Wifi


• Car Alarm


• Customized profiles based on driver with some sort of auto recognition (keyed fobs, voice recognition, something...)

I know there is software already out there that does all of this, but I'm looking at this as a learning tool and an exciting hobby.  I plan on using quite a bit of third party components, but I want to integrate them all myself.  I plan on this all being based off of a Linux OS.  Probably something like LFS so I am aware of every package installed on the system.

So here is the first draft of my carputer requirements.  I will most likely be editing this page as new ideas pop into my head, or initial ideas are refined.  I will also be using the tag system to expand on my adventures with each feature.  OBDII will be first up on that list, since I already have an OBDII to USB connector, compliments of Sean (thanks for the birthday present!).