Mac mini in a Volkswagen

pyramis writes "Matt Turner has installed a Mac mini into his Volkswagen as an integrated audio/video system. He's distributed the I/O ports around the cab for convenient access and installed a remote power button right into the dashboard. Cool pics of all of this, plus a detailed article on that cool power button."

Hard drive problems?

[xtal]

Those people who have done this with standard hard drives.. how do they stand up to being kicked around over time? I've seen a few people with carPC projects, but I've always wondered how the hard drives deal with the additional abuse over time.

You'd think a notebook HD would be alright. I assume that's what the mac mini is using?

(article slashdotted)

Article Text / MirrorDot

[Anonymous Coward]

Mirrordot article [mirrordot.org]

--ARTICLE TEXT:

GTi - MacMini

Well, it kept me from posting regularly, took about two weeks to plan and occupied nearly every night for about three weeks, but the big project I've been promising to post on is done...finally. I actually finished it last week, but wanted to make sure I had covered all the bases and that everything was working properly before putting the car back together and photographing it (thanks to Ryan [lighttight.com] for the quick shoot).

When the dimensions for the MacMini were announced, I immediately got to work figuring out what the best way to integrate one into my own car would be. If I was going to put a Mac in my car, I wanted to make sure it had all of the functionality that it would have in a home environment while still maintaining an easy-to-operate interface so that distractions could be kept to a minimum. So the researching, planning, sketching and disassembly of my cars interior (to see what would fit where) began. After taking the thought process to every extreme imaginable, I decided on the following equipment list:

- 1.42GHz MacMini with 512mb RAM, Superdrive, Bluetooth and Airport Extreme
- Xenarc [xenarc.com] 700tsv 7 USB touchscreen monitor with VGA and dual composite video inputs
- Cirque [cirque.com] EasyCat USB trackpad
- Griffin PowerMate assignable USB control knob
- Lacie 8 in 1 USB flash card reader
- Belkin USB 7-port powered hub
- Belkin USB four-port bus-powered hub
- Belkin Firewire 6-port mini hub
- Alpine PXA-H701 Multimedia processor with RUX-C701 controller
- MonsterCable MCPI300 300watt power inverter
- Female USB, Ethernet and Firewire ports
- 40gig iPod dock
- Griffin RadioShark USB FM/AM tuner

Over the next few days, I will be putting up a post on each general aspect of the install to more closely cover how I did what where and any problems I encountered, as well as the solutions I came up with for these problems as they arose. More detailed pictures of the process will accompany these posts as well, for those interested in the more technical aspects of the install - such as removing the power button and indicator from the MacMini and relocating them to the switch panel in the dash, extending the Apple power supply's cable to locate the "brick" in the rear side panel of the car, fabricating the brushed aluminum trim bezels and rebuilding the glove box interior to accomodate the MacMini. So, enjoy and please check back over the next few days to check out these posts and two new iPod dock installs from last week...

good site

[golfsportila]

www.mp3car.com is a great site if your looking to get into these.

Re:Hard drive problems?

[Twid]

Yes, the mini uses a 2.5" notebook drive. It's also almost fanless, so it should be good for applications like this. I have seen warning about blocking the bottom of the mini though, because that is where the vents are, so I'm not sure how well it would hold up in a glove compartment like in the article.

Ports vertical?

[Gyorg_Lavode]

Did he mount the various ports vertically? In a car that seems like a very bad idea as paper, grime, food will likely all get stuck in it.

Re:Hard drive problems?

[utlemming]

What I am interested in finding out is how the computer fairs after a nice hot summer. An August component causulty report would be kind of interesting. Well I understand that the Mac mini does have too much in terms of fans, that car does have a black interior. I can only imagine what would happen if you tried to turn it on when the car tempetures reach 140F in the sun. But I guess if he is far enough north, he shouldn't have too many problems...maybe an Idaho or Minnesota summer.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Needs some droolable graphics

[t_allardyce]

Now all we need is some sci-fi esque program that runs when you get in and start the car, it has to have some sort of voice to welcome you and in green-screen run through all the cars systems listing their status and then showing a 3D wireframe of the car and noting that the rear left tire has slightly lower tred than normal but is still within operating safety parameters and that it will notify the mechanic at the next check-up.

WiFi @ 70mph and iChat AV...

[dm614]

As I was reading this I was thinking how far could one take this? I remember reading on Slashdot a week or two ago that people managed to use WiFi while driving (I forgot how fast)... Then I met inspiration, in a city like Philadelphia (commerical WiFi may be better suited but work with me), for instance, where there will be Municipal WiFi, if you had other friends with a Mac Mini in their cars or even Macs at home you could in theory have Video chat with your friends- for free in car.

Imagine having an iChat icon pop-up while driving, let's ignore the immidiate safety risks and think about the "cool factor," you accept and your friend is right there in real time staring at you. It seems like something out of a movie, huh? But it's a really possibility. Especially with iChat AV's adoption of H.264 as its codec of choice (less bandwidth and better quality).

I wouldn't think it'd be hard to figure out where to mount an iSight or to just make a custom case for it to be mounted stealthly in your car. You could even use it as a security system. If your alarm goes off it firesup and sends the stream to a police server. You could even have GPS installed to let the Police know where the crime is being committed.

I think the possibility for uses of the Mac Mini in cars is amazing and hopefully we'll see things like this in the near future.

I hope he's not in California

[808paulson]

He'll violate this law AB 301 passed in 2003-2004

http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/03-04/bill/asm/ab_0301- 0350/ab_301_bill_20030529_amended_sen.html [ca.gov]

Of course, there's a lot of exceptions.

Re:WiFi @ 70mph and iChat AV...

[EVDOguy]

I did exactly this 2 days ago. iChat AV 2 way video while going 60 MPH, see this link for pictures and a quicktime video (it was very cool).

http://www.evdoinfo.com/Tips/PC_5220/EVDO_iChat_2_ Way_Video_at_60_MPH_2005031194/ [evdoinfo.com]

Re:Puns

[Cliff.Braun]

You know, someone could write a script to just read the headlines, and post the same jokes over and over, come to think of it maybe they have...

Shouldn't be too hard...

[cjsnell]

GIAC offers software and hardware [giacusa.com] to do the switching on the fly. Hook up a serial port analyzer and figure out the protocol that the win32 app is using and duplicate this on the Mac. Integrate (as someone else said) into a Dashboard widget (heh, a Dashboard dashboard...).

The air conditioning shouldn't be *too* hard if the controls are analog. It could probably be done with some sort of microcontroller that interfaces with the Mac via a USBSerial adapter.

I don't think the mac mini is overpriced

[Anonymous Coward]

Cost out a small form factor PC that doesn't sound loud as a jet engine. Last time I saw a mac mini at a store playing a DVD continuously and I put my ear right against the system and couldn't ever hear a fan noise at all. Sure a mac mini may be underpowered for playing a game but for most common stuff like web browsing, email, dvd playing, etc it is more than adequate. Put airport and bluetooth on this tiny box and the only cables you need are the video and power cables and maybe a usb printer. I like the clean design of this system. I know my mother hates the noise of the hand-me-down pc I gave her so she always turns it off after use. If I give her a mac mini it can be running all the time and be used instantly.

Re:WiFi @ 70mph and iChat AV...

[EVDOguy]

It was NOT Wifi, it was EVDO (wireless broadband - no need for hotspot, you are the hotspot. Here is what is needed:

• Verizon BroadBand Access and be in EVDO coverage area
• PC 5220 Card, plus in PC or Mac OS X ($50, 2/2 year agreement, $80/month unlimited data)
• EVDO Booster Antenna ($79) http://booster-antenna.com/ [booster-antenna.com]
• make sure that EVDO coverage is in your area
• of course, iSight, iChat

Let me know if there are any other questions, a lot of additional info, is at the web site listed above.

Re:News at 11!

[MichaelSmith]

The burned out hulk of a VW was found along side the road.

Oddly enough I once saw an old style Beetle burst into flames. Apparently the springs in the back seat are just a bit too close to the battery.

If somebody too heavy sits in the back...

Re:Hard drive problems?

[adolf]

If the interior of the car is habitable for human occupants, then it is reasonable to assume that any modern installed electronics will survive just fine, as well.

For example:

Juan sprints from the climate-controlled oasis of his house, over to his VW. The handle of the car door scalds his hand when he touches it, but he opens it anyway and thrusts himself into the driver's seat.

"Jesus fuck," Juan says, "it's fucking hot in here." Juan keys the engine, rolls down all of the windows, and drives away.

Meanwhile, his Mac is booting up. And by the time it has been on long enough that heat build-up might be a real concern, the car's air conditioner has started producing cold, Juan has rolled up the windows, and things cool off rapidly.

See, Juan is going to make sure that his car is comfortable, automatically, because that's human nature. And if Juan is comfortable, then his computer is as well.

I'd not lose any sleep over this non-problem. One would probably suffer heat stroke before causing any meaningful damage to a modern computer in a car.

Expensive to what?

[SuperKendall]

Except if you consider the fact that it's designed almost entirely using laptop parts which are expensive to upgrade, and just aren't designed for the 24/7 duty cycle of a web server.

The whole point of the Mac MINI as a server is that you do not need to upgrade - you can use it for many light web server tasks easily. If you want another for backup it's super cheap - in fact they offer a $15/month plan to provide a hot-swap as needed.

And you get your own computer, with nothing else on it - so you have ultimate control over load on the computer.

As for "laptop parts" not being designed for 24/7 use, I would dispute that by pointing out they are actually designed more ruggedly for harsher environments, so the coddling a server room provides might well help them to last a long time. Though again, it hardly matters when they are so cheap to replace.