Blufires
30th May 2009, 10:12 AM
OK, this idea is hypothetical, and I won't be implementing until I need a new phone (these things are way out of my budget).
I was thinking the other day that my HTC Universal would make a great car computer, with its 16GB SDHC memory card, fairly large 3.6" screen, qwerty keyboard (ever tried a stylus on the road?), and dual cameras.
I was thinking that the casing could be removed, and the motherboard mounted on the reverse of a "faceplate" to fill up the space left where my old tape player used to be. The screen could be mounted in a gap in this, and the keyboard (if it's a separate pcb) could be mounted below this on the face plate.
The connections for the application buttons (like backlight, camera and notes) could be re-routed to those kind of buttons you can buy at radioshack (it's dick smith for us Australians though). This would then make it easy to use things such as music and navigation software without playing around on the screen (start menu is hard to use with fingers, especially while driving).
Voice command would be a usefull feature, by allowing you to controll your device (including music and navigation) by a microphone, while keeping both hands on the wheel. This could be used by attatching an ipod video (5th Gen) video output cable, with the video plug replaced with a 3.5mm audio socket, and a microphone attatched. The positive side of this video plug usually connects to the 4th pin of the 3.5mm jack in an ipod, which supplies the video output, however, in iphones AND, luckily, the HTC Universal, this section supplies the microphone input.
The camera ccds (one 1.3MP and one ?VGA?) could MAYBE be extended with shielded (twisted) wiring such as that in LAN cables, so as to mount one in the front and one in the rear bumper bars. These could then be used as usual with the camera application launched by the camera button as reversing and manouvering cameras. It would also be quite usefull to be able to simply press a button to snap the number plate of an ancient diesel smoking up the joint or a raging hoon ripping up in front of you, to report to police (if you like to do that kinda thing).
I'm hard pressed to find a use for the light, although it could possibly be used to aid the visibility of the reversing camera (because reversing lights are never bright enough).
Now if only I was skilled at visual basic and owned an accelerometer enabled device. I'd put one of those G readout things like in the new Nissan GTR. (Sorry, I can't remember where I saw it).
Please post your ideas and suggestions. Also if anybody has any knowlege of data cabling and electronics, would extending a ccd's wires by 1-2 meters be possible?
I was thinking the other day that my HTC Universal would make a great car computer, with its 16GB SDHC memory card, fairly large 3.6" screen, qwerty keyboard (ever tried a stylus on the road?), and dual cameras.
I was thinking that the casing could be removed, and the motherboard mounted on the reverse of a "faceplate" to fill up the space left where my old tape player used to be. The screen could be mounted in a gap in this, and the keyboard (if it's a separate pcb) could be mounted below this on the face plate.
The connections for the application buttons (like backlight, camera and notes) could be re-routed to those kind of buttons you can buy at radioshack (it's dick smith for us Australians though). This would then make it easy to use things such as music and navigation software without playing around on the screen (start menu is hard to use with fingers, especially while driving).
Voice command would be a usefull feature, by allowing you to controll your device (including music and navigation) by a microphone, while keeping both hands on the wheel. This could be used by attatching an ipod video (5th Gen) video output cable, with the video plug replaced with a 3.5mm audio socket, and a microphone attatched. The positive side of this video plug usually connects to the 4th pin of the 3.5mm jack in an ipod, which supplies the video output, however, in iphones AND, luckily, the HTC Universal, this section supplies the microphone input.
The camera ccds (one 1.3MP and one ?VGA?) could MAYBE be extended with shielded (twisted) wiring such as that in LAN cables, so as to mount one in the front and one in the rear bumper bars. These could then be used as usual with the camera application launched by the camera button as reversing and manouvering cameras. It would also be quite usefull to be able to simply press a button to snap the number plate of an ancient diesel smoking up the joint or a raging hoon ripping up in front of you, to report to police (if you like to do that kinda thing).
I'm hard pressed to find a use for the light, although it could possibly be used to aid the visibility of the reversing camera (because reversing lights are never bright enough).
Now if only I was skilled at visual basic and owned an accelerometer enabled device. I'd put one of those G readout things like in the new Nissan GTR. (Sorry, I can't remember where I saw it).
Please post your ideas and suggestions. Also if anybody has any knowlege of data cabling and electronics, would extending a ccd's wires by 1-2 meters be possible?