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Ultimate Automotive Computer Installation
ErnstKompressor writes "I came across a story detailing an awesome car mod out of the Czech Republic. The author undertook what must be the most impressive exercise in computer integration I have ever seen, installing an extensive Mac system with custom Cocoa software controlling nearly every aspect of a 1993 Tatra 613. On-board systems monitoring, navigation, entertainment, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, plus much more, are all rolled into a tight, extensible, package. Check it out."
I hope it has the bandwidth.... It seems to be fairly.. Crashed?
e s/ if it won't load for you..
I threw a copy of my version of the images at
http://www.sq7.org/temp/mirror/www.mujmac.cz/imag
-Colin
Colin Davis
Few words about Tatra
:-) - Click on any photo to get hi-res in new window!
:-) During the installation, I also added some more functions (communication with engine controller, on-board micrcontroller for basic telemetric data). Of course I could simply buy a head unit that supports MP3 playback and a dedicated navigation hardware. However I was not very excited about the prospect of spending several thousands euro for a dedicated hardware and then wait for the manufacturer to release the maps I needed (Czech republic in particular). Use of standard computer gives me much more freedom in the configuration of the system and potential upgrades - both software and hardware.
Although not as known as many other car manufacturers, Tatra is actually the second oldest automobile company in the world (with only Daimler being older). It was established in 19th century and throughout the years came with many innovations, that helped to change many things in the industry. Just one example, probably quite surprising: the famous VW Beetle was "inspired" by certain streamline Tatra cars (V570, T97) so much, that Volkswagen had to pay few millions of D-Marks to Tatra as a compensation for patent violations. During 1930 and 1940, Tatra created several amazing cars, like T77, T87, T97 and trucks like T111. After the communist revolution in 1948, Tatra specialized mostly in truck production and the passenger cars were only manufactured in very limited numbers to be used by ruling elite. T603 was produced between 1958 and 1975 and the T613 (designed by Vignale) was produced between 1974 and 1996.
A picture for those who still think Jaguar is a big car
I must admit, I have loved Tatra's since I was a little boy. My father used to work as chaffeur for one of local bosses and I spent a lot of time on the rear seat of a T603 when I was three or four years old. Later, as a student I owned one of T603s myself. For few years I move to more practical cars for few years (Honda Civic and Volvo 480 to be exact), but what my Dutch friends call a Tatra-virus was still deep inside me. So when I stared to work in Holland and needed a comfortable car for almost-monthly trips to Czech republic, Tatra was very high on my list of choices. After two or three months I found one in good condition and I did not hesitate a minute.
Exterior picture of T613-4 Mi Long
My car is one of later T613s, produced in summer 1993 for Frankfurt auto show (and not actually used much after that). It is a T613-4Mi Long version (M=power steering, i=multi-point injection, long = wheelbase 3150mm instead of standard 3000mm). A sedan, larger than Mercedes Benz S-Klasse, with 3.5 litre V8 air cooled engine (200HP, 300 NM), mounted above the rear axle. It was originally an "Elektronik" version, which means all the controls were fully digital with several computers (including one for voice output) and parts communicating with each other using CAN-bus. (Hi, Volvo guys, your S80 was by far not the first one, would you correct your advertising materials please?) This equipment was later removed (by factory) and replaced by more traditional standard wiring, but at the moment I have decided to buy it, I was already sure that a computer must come back. And so it did - I started to work on my installation in summer 2002 and by Christmas, I had a working installation.
Why?
The basic two reasons that led me to the installation of the computer were the replacement of CD changer by an MP3 player and a navigation solution, based on Route 66 application. I am pretty sure anyone who needs to make 1000 km trips every month or has ever been lost in Copenhagen can understand these two reasons
First time in the Tatra - still in the original case (although without all the plastic)
The first idea was to use an LCD iMac, and built it into the original dashboard. The base unit was supposed to be placed within the dashboard and the display with its holder outside. This idea had two basic flaws: iMac's 1
You do know that T613 has engine in the back, right?
If he's American it seems likely he's never even heard of Tatra before, let alone know where the engine is.
Having heard of Ledwinka is right out, even though he's without question one of the most brilliant automotive designers in history.
The article mentions the influence of Tatra on the VW, but rip all the plastic off the latest Corvette and what do you find?
Yep, that's right. Ledwinka's backbone chassis.
KFG
WTF?!?!? If I'm understanding this correctly, you people seem to think that one can only have a BLUE (Aqua) colored desktop on a MacOS X computer? That is f&%*ing ridiculous! Of course you can change the color of a Mac's desktop. Mine is currently grey, but lately it has been red, orange and green. Also, MacOS X has a pretty neat desktop slideshow feature that is a minor obsession of mine. You can rotate through all of the photos in a folder (well, they fade in and out) on your desktop over a specified time period. For me, it's every 5 seconds, and it's random. I find myself spending an alarmming amount of time on Google Image Search finding pics to add to my slideshow folder. (Can this be done in XP?)
You can purchase a Toyota Prius, good for you, I can't, he probably can't too. How much do you think he earns in his country? He didn't do this for bragging about a Mac in his car. This guy has a very neat hack, read the article, look at the pictures. He gave very smart reasons for why he did the things he did.
& ci d=8066041
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=93970
"First I wanted to completely seal the motherboard case, but later I found this was not really a good idea, particularly due to the changes in temperature and the air volume inside the case. To fix this, I have installed two Gore-Tex valves on the case. These valves are used in automotive industry to allow air circulation in the headlight units while keeping the water on the outside."
"All the custom software is written in Cocoa. The main application was designed and written by Ondra Eada, I have used this opportunity to learn Objective C from him and later written most of the plug-ins."
As you can seen, not another guy trying to get on slashdot, from the hacks, he is quite smarter than the average slashdot reader.
------ Curiosity killed the cat. {satisfaction brought it back | it didn't die ignorant | lack of it is killing mankind
Well, yes, you can change that to grey, and if you download shapeshifter, you can use all sorts of themes.
This guy's setup is pretty nicely done. It's the first decent Macintosh one I've seen -- it's all in the software, and this fellow has done a quality job.
There are some really impressive installations out there. You can see a lot of them on the mp3car.com finished project board. In case anyone is curious, this is my installation.
~GoRK
Because where the guy lives he probably can't afford a car like that even if he saves for the next 10 years ?
I don't think so pal. Tatras were competition for Mercedes, Jaguar, Bentley, and Rolls Royce.
This car cost more than your house.
I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
I'd have suggested mounting the Remote Wonder instead of those other buttons. It's RF based with amazing range and the Mac Software is excellent and customizable down to the app. Plus, if he had made a small mount for it on the dashboard, it could be passed around to the people in the backseats to control the audio as well.
---- The geek shall inherit the Earth.
but to move closer to the topic, thats pretty impressive stuff in that car. it never ceases to amaze me how geeks like i hope to be can interface with engines and computers like that. anybody know where i can learn more about it?
Easy: Buy a 1994 and up VW, Audi, Seat or Skoda. They all have a computer interface port where you can interface with all the electronic gadgets in the car. Everything from the airbags to the stereo, the transmission (if it's auto), tons of engine parameters... basically everything that runs on electricity is wired into the central system.
And VW (who owns Audi Seat Skoda and also Lamborghini, Rolls Royce and Bentley) has always openly published the communication protocols and specs to their interfaces - very Open Source like.
Read more Here. These guys make an interface cable and software to communicate with your car. It plugs into your PC or laptop using standard RS-232 serial port or USB. I have a Turbo diesel Jetta and I can put a laptop in the passenger seat and monitor turbo boost pressure, anti-lock brake status, and even radio station information from the laptop!! I've always wondered why more hackers haven't been interested in these car brands since they have such open communication specs.... MAybe someone here can start a project on sourceforge to create a Linux client program to talk to my car?? (It's Windows only right now)
I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
Actually, there is some guy who forked out of the Gnustep project with the goal of building an embedded version of the OpenStep API, his project is called mGSTEP. Judging from the frequent updates on his project, it seems quite active.
Alpine's coming out with one later this year. You don't slam it into the head unit, but when you plug the iPod in, its control and display get transferred to the head unit.
Ha! Compare the distractions of kids in the back watching SpongeBob to kids in the back who are *NOT* watching SpongeBob.
You should get a tinge of fear every time you get close to a mini-van and realize how much the driver may be distracted in a car people can stand up and walk around in. I never used to until I owned one. I'm back to a station wagon now where people stay where you put them.
tatra is not russian car. soviet elite was driving zil, volga and chaika. more info - Cars from East
oh yeah? then why do they always blow up when they nose dive off a cliff in james bond movies? ;)
I know that was a joke, but rear engine == front fuel tank in most cars.
Do not fold, spindle or mutilate.
Proud owner of 5 money suckers + 1 wife.
Wouldn't that be 6 money suckers?
Perl - $Just @when->$you ${thought} s/yn/tax/ &couldn\'t %get $worse;
Ah, yes, the "in his country" argument.
The per capita GNP of the Czech Republic is about US$15,000. It is NOT a third world country, no matter how much anyone who has experienced their public water system may try to tell you. The Czech economy is rather elitist, especially now that Vaclav Klaus is running the show--he has stated openly that he thinks that maybe ten percent of the population should have a tertiary education. Thus, if you are an engineer, you're probably doing fine by American standards. You probably won't be making $140,000/year (although that is not out of the question), but it is quite likely you would be making $30-50k just as in the United States the per capita GNP is about $36k and engineers routinely make $70-80k.
Besides, if the guy can afford four or five brand new Macintosh computers, he's pretty much bought a new Prius.
lots of much more impressive installs at mp3car.com