Installing a PC in the Cab: How I Did It

[rbattelle]

I thought I would post the results of a little project I started about a week ago. I did several searches and couldn't find where anyone else has done this, so here's a synopsis of what I did.



I realized last week that I might be able to use my wife's old Pentium PC in my truck, permanently. I have Alex Pepers OBDII equipment (www.obd-2.com), and I always thought it would be nice to be able to monitor engine parameters regularly without the need for a separate laptop. So I set about the task of integrating a PC into my cab. Here's what I did:



1. Find a location to mount the motherboard. Preferably, it should be as large a space as possible, so that the power supplies and hard drive can be mounted as well. I chose the under-seat storage bin under the front-middle seat. I removed the bin and made some strategic modifications to allow the motherboard, hard drive, and power supply to fit snugly inside. The advantage to the under-seat location is it becomes the "case" for the motherboard... no need to buy a separate case or project box.



2. Construct a "tray" to mount the motherboard. The PC I was using was a mini-tower. I removed the bottom steel plate that held the motherboard, and cut it down so that it's just exactly the same size as the motherboard (they're usually oversized). I also bolted on the card-slot grate to the end of it, so that my video, USB, and COM boards have something to screw into. I bolted the power supply directly to the tray.



3. Get an LCD monitor and a VGA-to-A/V converter cable. The monitor I got is a Legacy L7M: 7. 2 inches wide, about 4. 5 inches high (16:9). This monitor is the cheapest I could find in that size: about $100. It has a standard A/V input jack. The VGA-to-A/V converter I got was $50 from tigerdirect.com.



4. Wire in a 12VDC-to-120VAC converter through a 30 amp relay and switch to your vehicle electrical system. This will allow you to power the PC using normal household AC current on a mobile platform. I stashed the converter under the passenger seat, and wired it into one of the constant-hot circuits on my Painless auxillary fuseblock. Be sure to use a converter of at least 200 watt capacity.



I have my power switch mounted in the overhead compartment along with a small green LED connected to the Power LED output on the motherboard. I mounted the monitor up on the dash (see pic), but have not decided whether that will be its permanent location.



Problems with this setup:

1. Where to mount the monitor so it doesn't block your view, and ensuring it's securely fastened.

2. The resolution on the monitor is not exactly "excellent". I am able to read the gauges in the OBDII software (which is what I want), but am unable to read very small text. Those with poorer eyesight than mine would have more trouble. There are better monitors out there, but they go for around $400 each.



One side benefit to having a PC in the cab: I could buy mapping software that communicates with my GPS, so I could have a navigation system.



Note: although I could have easily (and very cheaply) used a Pentium II motherboard/processor instead of the old Pentium 166 I did use, the advantage to the P166 is it doesn't need a CPU fan. Plus, in my case, it was free.



Just thought I'd throw that out there, to show it can certainly be done. Any comments/suggestions/questions would be very much welcomed!

 

[rbattelle]

Here's what the monitor looks like up on the dash from the drivers seat. If anyone has a better mounting idea, I am searching for something better (sturdier). It's "secured" with adhesive-backed velcro at the moment.



I can give lots more detail about this, if anyone is interested.

 

[Deezul1]

Thats what I call thinking "OUTSIDE" the box. Excellent idea. Good ideas on mounting also. Free is always good especially when the free stuff does all you need it to do. Now I need to figure out what I could use a onboard PC for due to the fact that being correctly valved there is no engine managment puter to monitor on my truck

 

[stownsend]

Great idea. What are you using it for? Do you get data from the truck, or are you just word processing?



A question I have is, if your using the monitor only for a trip computer, why is it mounted in your view? If it's not "need-to-know" information, why not stick it somewhere out of the way?



Steve

 

[rbattelle]

Steve,



I'm using it primarily with the OBDII software I got from Alex Peper. I just put up the "gauges" screen, which shows me %load, RPM, vehicle speed, coolant temp, intake air temp, and throttle position. Some of these are redundant, I know, but coolant temp, for example, shows a number(convenient). There are other parameters I could monitor, but I'm still playing with it.



I don't do any wordprocessing... that would be too dangerous, so I stick just to spreadsheet work. :-laf



For those of you with a non-OBDII engine, you could always just use it as a navigation system (if you have a GPS). However, for use with a navigation system I believe it would be imperative to get the more expensive ($400) small-format LCD display. They're made by a company called Xenarc. I assume they have better resolution than the $100 monitor I'm using. My monitor was never really intended to be used for a computer; it's really meant for a portable DVD player. The resolution on it is not much better than a television, which is why reading small text can be hard. But the price was good.



This morning was my first drive to work with it (about 15 miles of interstate). Ironically, Windows crashed on me once and I had to reboot. Other than that, it worked fine. But I do need to figure out a better way to mount the monitor... something more sturdy.

 

[wsurf]

Excellent, great job! How about a flip down type of monitor like the new DVD players in cars? I know you would have to buy this but it would offer an advantage of moving it out of the way when you wanted.

 

[AndyMan]

What O/S

What O/S are you running on that guy? Since you said it crashed, I'm assuming you installed 95 or 98? If you have access to a copy, NT 4 is a great O/S. Far more stable than it's 9x counterparts.



Setup looks good, and is a way cool idea!

Andy

 

[HoleshotHolset]

How about feeding some MP3's through the audio system?



Matt

 

[rbattelle]

You could certainly play MP3s on it, but you'd need some additional wiring and probably an amplifier to play them through the factory speakers.



I'm running Windows 98. BTW, I was wrong when I said it had crashed on me on the way to work. I didn't realize the default was for the monitor to shut off at 15 minutes if you don't move the mouse! I have since adjusted that.



I'm now working on an aluminum bracket that will allow me to mount the monitor in front of one of the panel heat vents. I'll pretty much lose that vent, but the installation will be more secure and a bit easier to read (since the display will be physically closer to me).

 

[HoleshotHolset]

You could easily play MP3's through the factory audio system by picking up a cheap FM modulator. Tune in to the frequency you selected - and you're good to go. No additional amps, or much wiring for that matter, required.



A wireless mouse/keyboard would be cool for this application.....



Matt

 

[Josparkz]

Originally posted by rbattelle

I thought I would post the results of a little project I started about a week ago.



Cool set-up

 

[JR2]

THe OBD stuff is nice, MP3's would be fantastic... how about adding a 8021. b wireless reciever and then you could get internet.



Now even better would be a gauge set up. You could wire all kinds of sensors to the engine and hook them up via the compter and then record all the data to the hard drive for later play back. I know there is someone on the board that could build the software and associated black box to hook the sensors too.

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

data aquisition would definitely be killer

 

[TBrennan]

I'm building one for my truck also. I have 7" VGA touchscreen and most of the components that will be mounted in my custom center console. This is an idea I have been toying with for over 10 years.



As far as online resources, check out www.mp3car.com and their forums. Tons of info and there are several companies now making full on automotive based pc equipment.

 

[RabidRam]

Diesel Geek

I am a computer geek (programmer) by day and a diesel freak... ALWAYS! I am definitely interested in the direction that this thread takes on. I don't have the brains to figure out everything from scratch, but if someone wants to spear-head the first Cummins-based O/S... let me know. I'll "chip" (pun intended) in whenever I can.



Just a thought... maybe this new software could be hooked up to an industry-first soot sensor. That way, you can measure how much smoke you are releasing into the atmosphere without having to check your rear-view mirror. Plus, it would give us something else to brag about.



"Uh, yeah... I'm pushing 460HP, 900lb/ft of torque, and 37lbs an hour of soot. Whadda you got?"



Dave

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

Re: Diesel Geek

Originally posted by DKaiser





"Uh, yeah... I'm pushing 460HP, 900lb/ft of torque, and 37lbs an hour of soot. Whadda you got?"



Dave

3. 6 GHZ of Petium power Augh augh augh.



As for the monitor, check out a standard flip down unit or Visor style for the pasenger side. Outa sight outa sticky finger reach. Also tag up that system with a gps software (Delorme or the like) and then you have the world at your fingertips. I use my laptop to play DVD's / GPS / and mp3's. I simply use an FM modulator from iRock.

 

[rbattelle]

As I said earlier, I think the key is to get a good monitor. My monitor is fine for TV and DVD playing, but not so good for a PC (poor resolution). Down the road when I get some extra cash I'll put in a 640x480 resolution monitor. Then a GPS and navigation system becomes feasible. Here's a pic of the new monitor installation... much better and sturdier than the old one:

 

[rbattelle]

And oh by the way, Alex Pepers software (www.obd-2.com) does data acquisition and playback.

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

I also would have the PC "Wake up" when you turn the key on to the Pentum Sound. .

 

[bighammer]

Can you change the speedometer calibration with the software?



If I were going to install a computer, I would canibalize a notebook and put the touchpad in the armrest, and turn the monitor around and hang it from the roof. (probably too big to build into the dash ) The DVD player could go almost anywhere.