A carputer, or car-puter, is a computer with specializations to run in a car, such as compact size, low power requirement, and some customized components. The computing hardware is typically based on standard PCs or mobile devices. They normally have standard interfaces such as

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

, and

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

. The first carputer was introduced by Clarion on December 4, 1998, although

on-board diagnostics On-board diagnostics (OBD) is a term referring to a vehicle's self-diagnostic and reporting capability. In the United States, this capability is a requirement to comply with United States vehicle emission standards, federal emissions standards ...

have been employed since the 1980s to precisely measure the amount of fuel entering the engine as the

carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor or carburetter) is a device used by a gasoline internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the Ventu ...

s got too complex. A challenge to installing a computer in a car is the power supply. Energy is supplied as a nominal 12 VDC in cars or 24 VDC in some trucks. The voltage varies according to whether the engine is on or off since the battery generally delivers 12V, while the generator supplies more. There can be peaks, and at ignition time the supply current drops. External DC/DC converters can help to regulate voltages. Police cars often have Mobile data terminals in the form of a laptop swivel mounted where the driver's armrest would be. This can be used to log data and to query networked databases. Microsoft developed Windows Embedded Automotive and used it with the AutoPC, a brand of carputer jointly developed with Clarion. The system was released in 1998, and referred to the operating system itself as "Auto PC". It was based on

Windows CE Windows CE, later known as Windows Embedded CE and Windows Embedded Compact, is a discontinued operating system developed by Microsoft for mobile and embedded devices. It was part of the Windows Embedded family and served as the software foun ...

2.0. It evolved into "Windows CE for Automotive". The platform was used for the first two generations of MyFord Touch while the third generation runs QNX from

BlackBerry Limited BlackBerry Limited, formerly Research In Motion (RIM), is a Canadian software company specializing in secure communications and the Internet of things, Internet of Things (IoT). Founded in 1984, it developed the BlackBerry brand of Interactiv ...

.Ford dumps Microsoft for Blackberry for Sync 3
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USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' (12/11/2014)

Tablet computers A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...

such as the Nexus 7 can be installed either permanently (in-dash) or removably (a dock). They can be used for watching movies or listening to music, as well as for

GPS navigation A satellite navigation (satnav) device or GPS device is a device that uses satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS) or similar global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). A satnav device can determine the user's geographic coordinat ...

, and also have

for hands-free calls. Obd usb kkl interface

Computers can be used to decode

(OBD) data to a visual display. Many interfaces are based on the ELM327 OBD Interpreter ICs. STN1110 is also known to be used.STN1110 specifications
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References

{{Carputer In-car entertainment Mobile computers Windows Embedded Automotive devices Auto parts

See also

References