Computer + Camera + Media Centre Project

[cds]

Hi Guys,

Recently I decided I'm probably going to be getting another car so I've created "project" ideas for the VT commodore I have now.

I have laying around some Mini Dome Security Camera's (with low infrared vision so it can see at night) loads of spare computers parts and an idea I've had in my head for awhile just haven't had the time or probably the money to spend on it to make it actually something good.

The plan or the idea at this point is, running a Windows Media Center operating system on a computer I'll build up that will fit into the car somewhere (probably the boot near my amp) in a tidy custom designed computer box attached to the boot like my amp also. I'll purchase a Touch Screen that I can install into the car somewhere easily accessed from drive and front passenger so that I can access my media center desktop. Basically I have a big collection of music at home, I'll setup Syncing so that whenever my car is in range of my home (for like when I get home I'll park my car it will pick up my wireless router been in range and start re syncing my songs with my home collection so i have my most updated collection in my car as well) I guess since in the morning I let my car idle for a few minutes this would be the most when the PC would be syncing songs - i calculated around in 3 minutes the system could sync approx 50 songs no worries which is fine. On top of that I will have a dome security camera installed into my car maybe 1 at the front 1 at the back that will continuously do recording whenever there is motion. There has been times where if I had a video camera and I had it running, alot of accidents i witnessed would of been alot more easier to prove :P not my fault. Ontop of that, we could load heaps of awesome BCM monitoring software and hook the computer to the car too, so we can get some readings for when I want to see them (could be useful in the future).

At this point its an idea, not correctly flawlessly thought about yet but I thought it would be a good idea to share and see if anyone else has feedback on my idea / plan.

Oh and on the terms of legality of camera recording any ideas?

[stocky]

I would say you would have issues with power if youre going to leave it recording while the car is not running. Would motion sensors constantly be picking up cars going past yours if you parked on the side of a road?
Ive been researching some similar stuff lately. Using those similar IR cameras and a wireless receiver for a bit of security, just not inside a car

[cds]

No, I didn't plan on recording while the car was off however it is possible I thought about this, as for sensor for car your right it would pick up the cars driving by unless you setup selective motion detection but then it would be useless to catch people trying to break into your car from the outside.

There is a site I found that has PSU's for computers standard atx supply that use very low consumption rating without not monitor running (as that's the killer with power on computers) and maybe use a portable usb hdd for lower power consumption. On note of power to the system you might be able to connect it to another battery that's unlinked to the main battery in my friends car he has 2 battery's generally his got a crazy sound system, on a few occasions his had his battery go flat because he had his sound system running a tad bit longer than he should have, he designed a 2 battery setup and basically the 2nd battery is not connected all the time. he had a switch inside his car in which he can switch which instantly connects his 2nd battery to the main supply to start his car. If he wants to charge both batteries he leaves them both on then flicks the switch back at a later time when he wants to keep it as a reserve. I guess (all of the above work) for the extra battery doesn't provide much benefits to me vs the work involved hence why I decided not to use the camera for security purposes but for just in car driving to catch (lol moments on the road) on record, im sure there's plenty of times where u wish u had of got that on record? :P

[stocky]

some car alarms have ultrasonic sensors that detect objects close to the car. perhaps working out how to hook one of those up to the system to boot it up?

if you were to do this in windows, im guessing you would use the hibernate option, as it can boot up the computer in a few seconds, with all recording programs still running. so -
start car - computer starts, 10 seconds later, recording.
turn off car - hibernate
motion sensor - boot up, possibly only running for 30 minutes or so?
i have no idea how you would get that kind of thing running though. ill leave the hard bit for you

[cds]

Seems easy all you would need is a device that could to switch, the motherboard to power up has a 2 pin terminal which if makes contact will boot the computer. And yeah hibernate with decent amount of RAM would have a pretty fast boot pc. Defiantly an idea :P would need to do some more additional research I guess in terms of the security while car is off part.

[cds]

Interesting I just had an idea... I just remembered I had one of these Tablet PC laying around in my lab I don't need anymore, I wonder if I could mount it to the car? Anyone have any ideas?

[stocky]

just remember having a visible computer will encourage people to break into the car. at least it will put your security system to the test, although, recording stuff wont be very useful if a thief takes the hard drive

[cds]

That's is true, however I wonder if I could install a portable usb drive hidden under the dash somewhere something like this Freeagent Go and make it only removable if you unscrewed the entire dash, that way i could store all my data on that (or at least the sensitive data).

[stocky]

yeah that could work. just be sure it can withstand the constant shocks from driving. lots of people have done car pc setups so it wont be hard to get something setup. a lot of people just use a smaller lcd screen mounted where the stereo goes, and have a pc setup in the glovebox, or under a seat

[joel448]

always wanted to set up windows with a touchscreen in my car,
dunno if i'd go as far as cameras etc... mainly just wanted it for the music/movies/internet...
top idea!

[Static89]

i have always loved thie idea of doing this, so i did a bit of reseach after u brought it up, see how posible it was, found this website that i thought was pretty handy MP3Car.com - Powered by vBulletin

[SquishyShoes]

Good luck, hope your still doing this because it interests me how it will finish up.

[keza87]

Has anything come to life with the carPC?
I installed one in the Golf I used to have. Used a 7" widescreen touchscreen LCD in the double din dash, audio to an amp then to the speakers. It had a small motherboard mounted in a plastic tool case that I bought from bunnings along with an 80GB desktop HDD and a 240V power supply running from an inverter. Also had a TV tuner that could pickup radio.
My only issue with it was that the inverter didn't like startups! But the killer was accidentally connecting 12V and 5V

I have seen Jaycar selling a dc-dc power supply for computers in cars so that might help as well.

This is something I still have a plan for when I can be bothered, I still have most of the parts.