Slashdot Mirror
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 wonder at what point this becomes over-kill. I wonder was it worth all the work (e.g. is it that useful).
On the "bright side", however, I can purchase a Toyota Prius and get a lot of the same functionality without all the work (and with 60+ miles per gallon)... of course, then I can't brag I have a Mac in my car and can't add things to it... but you get the picture.
For example, some guy named Wally Rodriguez built a similar Mac-based system.
Why does it frighten you? Did you even read the article? If you did, can you tell us what is so distracting? Everything there is an article about a car with a tech modification, someone like you is bound to post a lame reply like this just cuz you know that people who didn't read will bound to agree.
i d=93970&ci d=8066041
Go read the article.
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?s
------ Curiosity killed the cat. {satisfaction brought it back | it didn't die ignorant | lack of it is killing mankind
Maybe because movies aren't real?
insightful???? get tae fuck!
funny, YES
]damn the dude even "winks" of course this aint insightful
bah!*@%!
Did anyone else notice that it takes 1 minute 20 seconds to boot his car? Granted there are cities where you can get booted in under a minute for illegal parking, but I digress...
Total time for me to plug in my iPod and hit play: 10 secs. In-dash GPS? Turns on with the car.
I know that this is a minor nitpick, and it's truly an admirable geek project. He may have even saved a couple bucks from buying off the shelf. Does this really work any better than the store bought equivalents?
Am I the only person left in the world who:
You are attempting to read sigs. Cancel or Allow?
Actually, I've been thinking about this quite a bit recently, or at least a related topic: what object-oriented language works best in an embedded environment?
My first answer is "none", as embedded systems usually have more stringent requirements for speed and size. Also, most embedded programmers I know cannot do object-oriented programming well, even without the constraints I just described. (I could relate quite a few horror stories about that EE who just learned C++ and was let loose upon an unsuspecting source base. Nightmare for the brave, that.)
The top two choices are C++ and Java. I have bones to pick with each. C++ is ridiculously complex, and isn't even a real OO language, what with the crappy extensions provided for run-time type identification. At best, C++ is object-based, and tries to use very abstruse strategies (such as templating) for generic programming.
Furthermore, many of the language's idioms rely on exception handling. However, throwing an exception in an embedded system is usually a no-no due to speed constraints; embedded programmers prefer to have control over the flow of execution, and are loath to trusting opaque run-time management of any kind. And of course, exceptions are off-limits in device drivers.
Java has its own problems with the requirement of a virtual machine. The C++ run-time is too small to allow for rapid application development, but Java goes to the other extreme entirely. Admittedly, I know very little about Java's use in the embedded space, but how exactly is garbage collection controlled in the embedded world? How do Embedded Java systems avoid, for example, missing a device interrupt for the sake of cleaning house?
Objective-C seems to be just the right mix: real object-orientation, backwards compatibility with C, and a very small run-time library to support its extra functionality. And it's a breeze to learn, especially when compared to the other choices.
So has anyone thought of using Obj-C in an embedded system? Is it a viable, attractive alternative?
--- The American Way of Life is not a birthright. Hell, it's not even sustainable.
This Czech has done something similar, but approximately 10x more elegant and well-thought-out.
You may smell as you wish, but it's simple history.
http://www.lightauto.com/ledwinka.html
http://www.corvetteconti.com/C5-Backbone.htm
And of course VW, FIAT and even myself have designed and built backbone chassis well before the modern Corvette adopted it.
If you wish to do more in depth research on this you'll have to rely on these things called "books." Not everything is on the web. I can highly recommend "The Bosch Book of the Motor Car: Its Evolution" to the casual reader.
L.J.K. Setright's book "The Designers" also has a lovely little chapter on Ledwinka and his contributions although this title is now a bit scarce.
By the way, the four valve, double overhead cam engine was invented by Ernest Henry for Peugot in 1912. The "unibody" was pioneered by Lancia in the early 1920s, whose chief designer spent an evening drawing up plans for virually every independant suspension system known to man.
In fact the only really serious technical innovation in automotive technology since WWII has been the microprocessor. The rest of it has basically boiled down to the simple availability of better materials. Lancia didn't have the carbon fiber the modern F1 car is made out of, but the construction of the modern F1 is basically the same Lancia's 1922 Lambda.
KFG
Don't forget, this means several months of light in the summers.
Nice install BTW.
The rear doors are full sized and not wrapped around the rear wheels, add to that the shape of the trunk and you have a car that is extrodinarily long with seemingly no trunk.
--JLockard - "Some mornings, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps." - Emo Phillips
Didn't anyone else notice he said the car had an air-cooled V8 over the rear wheels?
I couldn't believe I was reading that correctly, and had to re-read it 4 times. That is far more strange than his custom computer.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.