Count me in for the New "air2air' TabletPC2FJ holder you've created. I'd prefer one for the Motion tablet PC, just waiting to see when they offer it with Vista or lower the pricing XP.
That cover on the right hand side is clever too. Imagine you designed that as well?
Instructions are superb, however it would be a challenge here for me to find a fab shop to do half the job of yours.
Keep those ideas cranking and possibly see you at the Summit this summer.
Air2Air, could ya give me the Dims of your
tablet, height-width, and the screen diag
dim too... Thanks Sir... Just trying to get
an idea of the size monitor to get for my
car-pc setup... The 7" I used in my Dodge
Ram is just too small for that placement...
Hmmm... Maybe I can use the 7" for the
drivers side, and use one simular to your
tablet size for the pasenger side... running
two monitors... Hmmm... Ideas Ideas Ideas....
OK, so Air2Air's Tablet-based navigation system is about the coolest geek thing I've seen in YEARS. I am in awe of your skills, sir. Sorry if it's old news, but I just read this thread now.
So that makes me think how many people here are thinking about the next generation of even smaller than Tablet-PC based in-car computers:
like fanless, 12V cigarette socket powered
mini-itx: size of your mouse pad
nano-itx: size of a CD Jewel case
pico-itx: size of a deck of cards
This is my 2.0 FJ computer mount for tablet PC's. It can fit your laptop with some tweaking.
When you made your laptop mount, did you explore whether it could be (hard) mounted directly to the vertical part of the dash board? I know there airbag is back there someplace, so maybe it's not possible.
Does anyone know if stuff can be hard-mounted there? I've never pulled the dash cover off....
EDIT: Should add that I parasite'd your idea for the onboard computer and went with a rugged PC from Xplore (iX104C3 Series) - now trying to figure out how best to mount...
OK here's how to do it. You will need a few feet of 3/8" tube and about 8 sq.ft of your chosen sheet material, either aluminum or steel. And several feet of the big 2" velcro.
The backplate creates a foundation to mount the brackets and keyboard shelf to. It hugs the contour of the dash including the radius at the top. It follows that radius all the way over to where it ends at the top, to form a big clip that the entire assembly hangs from. Later the backplate will be very securely velcroed to the dash from locations on the back and on the radiused portion.
Note the two "ears" at the ends for the keyboard shelf. These can either be welded on or bent as I have done. The only reason this assembly is in two pieces is that it was a prototype - you can do this out of one piece.
These are two vertical brackets that push the computer out away from the dash about 1.25". This is to get the back of the computer out flush with the dash's top and bottom radiuses to accomodate a taller screen. The holes are drilled for my computer only - not yours.
The brackets are welded 12" apart. For your laptop, you might attach a piece of masonite between the two brackets and attach the back of your laptop to that.
My tablet PC came with this plastic holder that was pretty ideal. I drilled the previous bracket holes to mount this holder.
These arms will bolt to the "ears" on the backplate, and hold the keyboard shelf. I pressed 3/4" of the ends in a vise and then drilled them. Then, round off the ends with the grinder.
For me it's a keyboard/mouse shelf but for laptop users it holds up the bottom of the laptop. You have 19" of allowable width until you start to interfere with the right door handle, and the support tabs are 14" apart. Otherwise, all other dimensions are up to you. I can see wanting to do something deeper to support the front of the laptop, for instance.
The 3/8" tubing I reinforced with is optional. You can use other sections like a 1/8 X 1/2 bar, for instance. This would be easier to bend of course. The support tabs are scrap 1/8 X 3/4 bar, but use whatever you have.
The arms are bolted tightly in place to the ears on the backing plate. Note that they point down at a 30 deg. angle so that the passenger does not become a shishkabob. The specific angle is up to your needs.
The shelf is bolted to the arms and we're almost home. I used locknuts so that the shelf can be flipped up as you see at right.
And at 1:00am we are ready to dry fit. Forgot to take a picture of the velcro, but you are running 3 of the 2" strips, cut to 14". The first goes across the very end of the curved radius at the top. The next two go across the vertical portion of the dash. Make the velcro the last step after painting, computer installation, etc. because with that amount of velcro, the mount just ain't coming off without a major fight.
Finishing notes - I also forgot to photograph the two trim pieces that you see on either side of the screen. These are both 6" high. The left one is 3" wide and the right is 6". The right also is radiused to match the dash. These two pieces are highly optional because, again, they are specific to my mount.
The blue stuff? That's neoprene from Michael's. Yeah, the big craft supply place. They have really cool materials... I am gonna do a full-length mousepad across the keyboard for instance.
Good luck folks!
Excellent work needs to be bumped
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Well, originally I had no intention to produce these; just wanted to share how to make your own with the forum.
However one of the vendors and I are talking about a small (< 25 ) production run. I will simplify and refine the design to be lighter, simpler and more attractive. Powder coat in matching colors.
Laptops do not come with mounting kits like Tablets do, however. So a clip arrangement will be devised to hold the laptop on there.
Don't think this should take too long to put together. Thanks you guys!
Any word yet? I am still very interested! I do hope that you go with a more...universal mount. maybe even something with some bolt-on brackets, instead of hard mounts in only one location. Assuming, of course, that you are still moving with this.
The idea here is this: I want to use a remote pc with only a touchscreen on the dash, so once removed, you would never know it's there. But on the other hand, I would like to put one of my laptops in there once in a while. I was planning on this screen, mounted in that location:
But of course, I wouldn't want it to stick out too far. Hence the reason I suggest some more universal system...even just a flat plate that you drill your own holes in. Easy, functional, and saves you hassle.
Quote:
JV711 previously said:
OK, so Air2Air's Tablet-based navigation system is about the coolest geek thing I've seen in YEARS. I am in awe of your skills, sir. Sorry if it's old news, but I just read this thread now.
So that makes me think how many people here are thinking about the next generation of even smaller than Tablet-PC based in-car computers:
like fanless, 12V cigarette socket powered
mini-itx: size of your mouse pad
nano-itx: size of a CD Jewel case
pico-itx: size of a deck of cards
For 400.00 you can have a PC in your pocket that allows you to video phone everyone, all the time, and surf the net all day long. Amazing.
Also, don't ever use a cigarette lighter adapter...that's the cheap way of getting power. You want to go with a nice DC-DC converter with built in startup/shutdown controllers and onboard regulators. I run both the PC and the LCD on the power supply, and the more high end ones have extra "power antenna" wires for switching on amps and the like, to avoid power surges while the PC boots. Very nice stuff coming out!
It's easier to build these yourself than it looks.
MrCat88 I have about twenty guys pissed at me because I just can't find the time to make kits for these. I apologize to all you guys. You really can do it yourself however - even if you have never touched metal before.
I bet a lot of folks here have experience with fiberglass. Well, just make a mold off your dash for the backplate!
All the metal to make these is available at Home Depot/Lowe's. I would print out the instructions here and take them to your local fab shop, or your BWW. (Buddy With a Welder).
Your BWW also likely has snips, or you can buy them. The metal edges can be sanded down with your woodworking sander such as a belt sander. The bending can be done in your bench vise.
You do not have to copy the design 100%; just use the dimensions. The most difficult part - the welded tube edges around the keyboard tray - is optional.
PC choices
MrCat when I was originally checking out systems I looked at the Lilliput stuff and it is beautiful. It's just that touchscreen does not always translate well to your Windows apps. Again, you know how cheap a cheap laptop can be, and that always seems to be the best way to go because you've got everything there in one package; the power supply, drives, keyboard etc.
The links you show above are indeed awesome - that stuff was not out when I did this 6 months ago. I am sending those to my brother for his new Rubicon.. thanks!
My advice is to strongly avoid the separate component systems and only do an all in one. There is just not a benefit from the separate components, and there is zero room around the glovebox. You would either have to put the components (like a separate CPU) inside the center console or in the glovebox which is of course ridiculously small.
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