zep Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Okay, this might seem far fetched but I read something about it the other day. On an Opel forum one of the members was mentioning open source software that enabled you to use a laptop as an in-car display for speed/revs/boost/etc. Now I have a space EeePC which I wouldn't mind trying this with but I'm not really sure where to start. Getting it to work in the car isn't the issue really. It's hooking it up to the ECU (LEM G3) and being able to display the data from that. I know there are LINK products and software which does this (could I use the software?) but has anyone heard of any other projects which might be able to do this? Or am I dreaming? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep Posted May 22, 2009 Author Share Posted May 22, 2009 I have just had a look at the LINK site and they have the tuning software PCLink which shows realtime digital gauges. Could I use this? Anyone have experience with this software? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikuni Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 We had some real time guages on the lappy when tuning my car but the refresh rate was shit and only responded about .5-1 second after the engine did. Only really a problem with RPM but a pretty big problem. Also, dash mounted 15.6" lappy boe! Mean! You'll start a new trend replacing the monster tachs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuel Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 ^^ except eee PC's are tiny laptops: and this is one of the *bigger* eee PC's: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zep Posted May 22, 2009 Author Share Posted May 22, 2009 Hrm, that delay is not optimal really. The EeePC is 8.9" so you can have a bunch of small gauges on there. Could be cool. Buy yeah, the delay dosen't really make it worth it. Surprised about it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage Grumble Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 My mate was talking about doing this, usein a lappy as a dedicated display, but then he got a car with a motec and a stack dash (old owner dude wanted stack dash back) so hes making his own rip off version of it, puhuhuhuhuhu. I blazed around with my full size lappy connected to the G3 for a while, seemed to be pretty accurate and fast? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikuni Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 oooh an EEEEE PC those are tinyEEEE It could have been something to do with how it was setup that was making it lag. Sounds like it might be worth looking into if it was working sweet on another lap top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage Grumble Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Just open laptop up till its flat, and duct tape it to the outside of the windscreen. Heads up as fuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark105 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 i was contemplating doing the same thing, i cant see how it would be a problem with something like a eee PC with no moving parts (a laptop with a conventional hdd might die quicker in a car with decent suspension due to the jolts it might get) ive only seen the link software running on a link G4 storm but the update time on this was acceptable and i surely wouldn't be using the laptop display as my primary way of seeing what rpm i was doing though the lag would prove to be a problem with gauges such as boost also.. such things as engine temp, oil temp, oil pressure, intake temperature and so on would be cool. the only problem i can see with using some open source software is getting the link to output all the information in a way the laptop can receive it or needing some interface between the link and the laptop. using the serial interface for programming to run the gauges may result in still laggy gauges same as the link software but there are thing such as the display link which run some how so surely you could get it going nicely. defiantly plan to play with this some what when i build my race car. would defiantly make for a cheaper data logging unit then some of the commercial units out there, thats what i wanted to use it for mostly, find an open source data logger that you could use to tune your car for better performance and having a laptop already in your car with your ecu software on it would aid this heaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Piss easy dude, best place to browse is MP3Car.com. Go, do it! just read the 101 pages first and you'll get a good idea of what you can/cant do. Have been building mine slowly for ages now but stuff keeps coming up haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sentra Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 just put oil pressure and oil temp and rpm cut outs and override switches in and dont have any dials fuck it makes life so great looking at dials ftl datalog on raceday with laptop taped to seat/surely the link would do onboard logging you can view later like even crappy old microtecs do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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