Ben Nelson's Electro-Metro Build thread

[jackbauer]

You can bend plexi using a one bar electric heater.just remove the guard.

[dremd]

Or you can glue pieces of plexi together to form angles.

[bennelson]

Yesterday was another EV build day.

The big fun surprise was that my friend Tom had dug up a tablet PC that runs Windows XP.

That means I can run the RTD Explorer software on it to view information, in real-time, from my controller. I will also be able to tweak the settings on the controller. For example, if I want to accelerate faster, all I have to do it type in a command. I could also turn it down if someone else is driving the car for the first time (possibly good for Valet Parking!)

Since it is a full-blown computer (just only a 8.4" screen though) I can also run music or videos on it. I think the computer will be mounted right by the car stereo, so I can output sound from the PC into the car stereo.

This could be nice to be able to show off some of my YouTube videos in the car while displaying it at a carshow. The tablet PC even has an expansion port. If I can find a dock that goes with it, I could use it to run a second monitor to display in the engine compartment!

For specs on the tablet PC, please visit:
HP Rugged Tablet PC tr3000 - North America/U.S. QuickSpecs
Mine does not have Bluetooth, and the antennae on the wireless LAN doesn't seem to be working right. Also, I have no battery for the computer, but was able to find a power adapter that will take 11-16V in (range of 12 battery voltage) and output the required 20 volts DC for the computer.

Watch the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKwNVNKjPX4

[vinny1989]

That, is cool.

I would suggest upgrading the RAM though. 128mb isnt really enouh for XP, 512mb or 1gb would work better (Less page filing).

Could you build it into the dash somehow?

Like i said, thats cool..

[Clev]

384MB is the theoretical maximum for this unit. It has 128MB non-removable, and Kingston says that up to a 256MB PC133 SO-DIMM would work, bringing the total to 384MB. I have a ton of PC133 RAM, but no SO-DIMMS; otherwise I'd send you one to try.

[bennelson]

My unit has 128MB or RAM built-in. It then has ONE slot for additional memory, and the most that can be is 512MB - which it just happens to have!


So my particular computer has 640MB of total RAM in it - more than enough for RTD Explorer, but the more the merrier for use as entertainment system.

One downside of the Geo Metro, is that it has a small dashboard - there really isn't a lot of space to build in custom computers and things.

My car has driver AND passenger airbags. One guy suggested removing the passenger airbag, and building the computer into the dash there. I don't think that would be ideal, and it would be a poor viewing angle. Also, I don't know what my insurance agent would say about removing an airbag....

I think the tablet would be best on some sort of a swivel mount, so the viewing angle could be adjusted, but it could still be out of the way when I am driving with a passenger.

[adamj12b]

Hey Ben,

Just wanted to let you know that I have finished the latest version of RTD explorer. This is version 0.3.0.1. You will have to visit www.EVVette.com to download the new version as the updater broke with this version and should be fixed for the next.

Also, something you might want to look into for mounting the tablet is something called Jotto Desk. This is what the police cars use to mount their laptops. They bolt under the passenger seat bolts and have a vertical support with an arm to mount the computer. They are quite expensive new, but search ebay. I have found a few for a good price.


Let me know what you think.


-Adam

[bennelson]

Well, I did it.

I seem to have broken my controller again.

For whatever odd reason, when I went to turn the car on - the motor went full blast right away. I turned the key off to kill it. When I turned the car on again, there was no power to the controller.

The pre-charge resistor was getting warm too, but I think that's just because the main contactor wasn't snapping shut. Usually, the resistor only has energy going through it for about 5 seconds. If I left the car on WITHOUT the main contactor closing, the resistor would continue to heat.

This also happened to be the first time I hooked up the tablet computer up to the Cougar.

I would imagine that it is completely unrelated, and just a freak of chance.

I pulled the controller and took the cover off. Nothing was smoked on the power board. It looked like resistor R1 on the logic board might be burnt out.



I e-mailed Paul about it, and he sent me a few tips for testing the controller.


Adam, I like the idea of the Jotto Desk. I hadn't though of using the seat bolts as a mounting point. I'm sure I could build something that would work like that.

I roughly positioned the tablet is a few places. It only really fits on the passenger dash (right in front of the airbag. And on this car, there is no "off switch" for the airbag) or free-floating somewhere towards the passenger side.

Supported on an arm, the tablet could get to a place out of the way of the passenger and airbag, without also blocking the stick-shift or radio.

Come to think of it, a Kensington lock to an arm literally bolted under the seat would make the tablet PC somewhat theft resistant.

[bennelson]

Paul's latest e-mail seems to indicate that it's probably a minor problem with the controller.

Adam has a theory on what happened, and I am waiting to hear back on what it is.

[MetroMPG]

Were you in or out of gear when the motor went full tilt?