Mobile PSP holder
I think these look pretty cool, and would go nicely in the Zed.
We're talking about putting a screen in the centre console component; in Japan and the US a sat-nav system was offered which usually takes the space but it wasn't available in Australia at the time. Doh.
What makes the PSP really interesting is that it has a USB input and people have unsigned code executing on it. That means in theory you could receive input through the USB port, say engine management details, and display them on a custom application running on the PSP.
Ben from element software has a nifty engine management system in his WRX STi that draws pretty graphs showing the current acceleration, turbine pressure (boost) and the like, and I think it cost him around two thousand dollars.
Worst case scenario; it would make a great media player, with video output and MP3 capabilities (and my new 2GB memory card, which should be here today).
If it runs unsigned code, I’m sure you could find a hand-held GPS system with USB output that’d let you write your OWN satnav system. :)
I’ve been wanting to do something like this for years. There is a standard for car computer data called OBDII that I started reading up on, but then I moved to Sydney and haven’t had a car since.
A couple of things:
- Bear in mind that in Australia there are laws against showing movies in the drivers field of vision while the car is in motion.
- OBDII data frequently comes from non-standard port types that might need a converter to USB. Volvos have a single odd shaped port and Saabs have two that work as a pair. Japanese cars are usually fairly standard though.
Radford: Yeah that would be mintox.
Hale; I know Trev has done some hackery with his Honda and had some success. I thought each manufacturer would have their own independent protocol though.
Your own satnav system would be cool. Program in the speed cameras somehow (RSS feed?) and the world is your oyster!