Installing a Computer in a 2k5 Prius - GreenHybrid

Schwa · #1 (**permalink**) 06-14-2005, 04:02 PM

My friend and I have been working on installing the usual round of car audio equipment into his new Prius. For us this has included a computer with a touchscreen LCD monitor amongst various amplifiers and speaker replacements. Now that the amps and speakers were finished, for now we proceeded to install the screen into the dash, and after about 8 hours of pulling the dash apart, messing with the mounting brackets and plastic covers, we finally managed to make it all work!

Some pics of the screen in action, it was dark by the time we finished, so pictures aren't that great:

Closed:

Opening:

(it's a spring loaded mechanical design, not motorized)

Open:

The computer itself sits right under the driver's seat. Next project will be to implement a double pole relay that will switch the input of the JBL amp from the headunit to the computer.

We also discovered that there is considerable space under the screen, possibly enough to install a laptop slotloading CD/DVD ROM drive there (and even appears to have mounting holes on the bottom) but we're also thinking about trying to put a USB hub there, it seems like it could have included some USB ports on the front since the interface is USB for the touchscreen.

I'll take some better photos of the rest of the "works" and post them up in a bit.

Right now everything is in revision 1 stages, meaning we've made a lot of guesses as far as what would be suitable for the setup, but later finding out that we needed to change things around a bit, so the end result is that some of the installations are a bit on the messy side, until we re-do and finalize everything to make it neat and tidy.

Some obstacles we are facing is the heat generated by the amps needs to be vented, so for now the cover for the hidden compartment is removed to allow for air to circulate, but in the future we may construct a new cover that includes vents and / or fans to circulate the air. Time to start learning how to fiberglass!

Our first efforts were in a Chrysler K car, you can check out the first revision (mostly pre-touchscreen, but includes some photos of the screen we eventually installed) here: http://thiscar.doesntexist.com

And some photos of the early revisions of the computer in the Nissan Sentra here: http://presto.homeftp.net:8080/sentra

davaguco · #2 (**permalink**) 06-15-2005, 02:28 AM

Wow, it looks very nice indeed.

Schwa · #3 (**permalink**) 06-16-2005, 03:52 PM

The Prius has a pretty easy to take apart, but tedious dash, takes a lot of removal to get at the stereo headunit area:

Just 2 screws and 6 bolts held everything together, otherwise it's just plastic clips and hooks.

Schwa · #4 (**permalink**) 06-19-2005, 01:00 AM

The motherboard, harddrive and 12v power supply under the driver's seat:

Eventually we'll construct something to give it some protection, but for now the "project board" holds everything in place.
It's size allows it to wedge into place so it doesn't slide around.
There is actually quite a bit of space under the seat, this is a regular (small) ATX motherboard out of an HP mini-tower with a 3.5" 80gig HD.
The 12v PSU is not very visible, but it's about half the width of the HD and about the same length.
Ideally a smaller mini-ITX motherboard would be more suitable for enclosing.

When the seat is back it's not visible, and with it pulled forward it's fairly accessible:

Ports are somewhat accessible, but a USB hub in the center console will negate any need to plug stuff into the motherboard.

Passive crossovers for the front speakers and the wires for audio in/out.

The blue wire is connected to the 12v outlet in the center console for "remote on" connections on the amps.

Subwoofer, amps and active crossover:

The wiring is supposed to be hidden, on the underside of the plywood (painted black) but many revisions have been made since we first planned the board, originally we had the computer on this board, but using a smaller amp for the front speakers. The computer would be a nightmare in here because of heat, right now these amps get really hot, a new cover with vents and fans (with heat sensors) is being worked on... in the meantime it has to stay uncovered or the amps will go into thermal protection.

Sub box held in place with this:

The box is wedged up against the back seats and the aluminum hatch cover bar. This keeps it from moving forward and back, and the friction of the carpet keeps it from sliding sideways. This makes it easy to remove when the back seats are folded down for cargo. Maybe re-cover the box with matching carpet, or make a custom box with matching carpet, not sure yet.

Another shot of the screen, running Media Engine this time:

More Photos, higher resolution here: http://intdata.homeip.net/gallery/dansprius

Schwa · #5 (**permalink**) 06-25-2005, 02:09 AM

Fresh from tonight's adventure in Prius modding:

The Stealth EV Button. We think the dealership won't notice, or rather won't assume it's any sort of modification to the car.

The button is a reset switch from an old 486 tower, glued to the plastic facing.

It works, but the display does not indicate EV mode is on. The only response is the triple beep when it cancels.

flare · #6 (**permalink**) 07-05-2005, 04:07 PM

umm can you mass produce this and sell one to me at a discount plz

Douglas · #7 (**permalink**) 07-05-2005, 07:36 PM

I am looking at installing a Mac Mini. They are much smaller, and you can use an off the shelf Laptop power adapter for power. Then use the video touch screen for the display using the video in adapter from Coastal Tech. Only remaining issue is touch screen input to the Mac Mini. This will be a much cleaner installation. I will post photos when I get it working.

Schwa · #8 (**permalink**) 07-06-2005, 02:57 AM

We are working on replacing the big motherboard with a mini-ITX board, they are pretty cheap these days at ~$100 CAD. Unfortunately using the built-in screen doesn't seem like a good option, it's preferable to be able to use the computer and the MFD at the same time so that instant FE and the GPS map can be used at the same time. The way it interfaces is quite a bit different too, and the built-in display seems rather low resolution, or maybe that's just the software/hardware Toyota uses. The Xenarc LCD screen is capable of 800x480 native resolution, and goes up to 1600x1200 in scaled mode with 2 A/V RCA inputs as well for low-res devices, it came from http://www.mp3car.com/store/index.php?cPath=25 and same with the 12v power supply.

A Mac-Mini is a great idea, that was my first reaction after seeing it for the first time, but quite a bit more money... However you might be able to mount it in the extra slot so that it's DVD drive is useable. Let us know how it turns out!

Schwa · #9 (**permalink**) 08-27-2005, 02:36 AM

An update...

We had some heat problems with the amps, they would go into thermal protection mode if the cover was on, and sometimes even without the cover if the windows were closed, so the plan was to make a new cover out of wood with holes for fans and venting. This was a bit ugly and heavy, so instead we cut a hole in the side of the plastic bin and mounted the fan on the outside, sucking air out to the car where there's a vent with a flap that lets air escape from the car behind the small side compartment.

The fan is a standard computer case size fan, but it's very high speed and noisy as hell. It draws 0.87 amps of power!

The Sony amp isn't in the best position to get much air circulation on it, so we might re-arrange it to take better advantage of the air flow. Originally we wanted the computer between the amps, that's why there's a big space there.

With the stock cover the sound is hardly noticeable, and once any music is playing, even at low volume you can't hear it at all. We tested it at high volume for an hour or so and neither amp overheated, whereas before they would cut out due to thermal protection in 1/2 hour or less.

Schwa · #10 (**permalink**) 02-22-2006, 01:01 AM

Upgraded the amps, and eliminated everything else in the compartment. This amp has really nice sound, and everything needed in one package, including automatic fan control!

http://www.dls.se/english/fstark/a7n.htm

We made all the wiring unpluggable so that it can be completely removed if there's a flat tire. The ground cable is temporarily hooked up on top until we get a connector for it tomorrow.

The front door speakers are being upgraded too, unfortunately the fancy ones were distorting once installed, and one of them shredded itself. These are 150 watt dual voice coil subs that can be run with an open baffle to provide low-midrange, we might move them to the back door if there's more space in them, the front window hits it if it's in too far and having the thick spacer makes the speaker hit the grill in the door when there's a lot of low bass.

A further upgrade will be to put a few gel-cells in the compartment so that the computer and stereo can run without running down the little 12v Prius battery.