Pondering a CarPC w/ Raspberry Pi; Anyone done it?

Naenyn

So after a bit of reading, it looks like CentraFuse is pretty awesome.. and it would require running Windows (Gah!) on the Car PC. Sooo that rules out the Raspberry Pi.

Any thoughts on hardware for a Car PC for a 370Z that'd fit (at least the screen) in the compartment above the car stereo? I'd like to keep the head unit in place, although I might replace it somewhere down the line.

Thoughts?

Nillaz

I'm not sure if you're looking for particular brands/models #'s to look for so I'll just give you some generalized food for thought.

Trying to fit all of the PC components and the screen in the cubby might start to get a little dicey as far as space is concerned. A bare nano-ITX board measures 4.7" x 4.7". A mini-ITX measures 6.7" x 6.7" Add in a PSU, wires, etc, and you won't have much room to breath. If you can come up with another location for the PC itself you'll probably save yourself a ton of headache and your options will increase exponentially.

Just about any 7" 16 x 9 screen should fit the space comfortably, though you're going to have to come up with some sort of a bezel/chassis to secure it. 8" might be pushing it but possibly doable depending on your ingenuity. Xenarc and Lilliput are probably the biggest manufacturers for carpc monitors. Considering the high placement of the cubby in the car I'd go with a model that has a transflective overlay or at least a high nit model. I'd avoid a glossy capacitive screen...they look awesome at night but tend to have glare during the day and are a fingerprint nightmare.

Tying everything into your onboard diagnostics should be relatively straightforward. There's a bunch of OBDII adapters out there that can connect to your PC via wired connection or bluetooth.

Hope this at least gives you a bit to think about.