For the PC itself I am looking at three alternatives. Using an UMPC (ultra mobile PC) means everything is at the handlebar location, as the processor and touchscreen display are combined into a small package which is very convenient. The unit is easily removed for security and weather. Aside from running 12v power and a line out for audio there isn’t much to do to get this up and running and will appeal to those who don’t want to tinker. Of course with this simplicity come some limitations. The current crop of UPMC’s and MID (mobile internet devices) are limited in their processing power which may impact performance. While streaming video is (hopefully) not and issue on a bike, you may want to run GPS navigation and music playback together and even fire up an application to check your calendar or task list. I would like to test this level of processing on a UMPC as the subject of an upcoming post, but my survey of the available technology tells me that I might better wait for the next generation of these devices, so we’ll put this alternative on a back burner and move on to the next alternative, building a small PC that we can locate on the bike with a touchscreen display installed as described above.

There are two sizes of computers that are small enough to work in this scenario, Mini-ITX and Pico-ITX, referring to the dimensions of the motherboard. Systems built on the mini-itx platform will be aproximately 10″x7″x2″, sort of like a big textbook. Pico-itx willl shrink this down to about the size of two packs of cigarettes, but without the nicotine. While the idea of the smaller package is appealing, at the current time there are only one of two motherboard-cpu combinations for Pico, which limits our options somewhat. Mini-itx provides many combinations of motherboard, cpu, graphics and I/O devices like disks and solid state. Mini-itx also provides for many more interfaces such as USB and network and wireless connectivity including bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular. Because of this flexibility this is the platform I would recommend for the tinkerer. As I have discussed before, putting a computer in or on your vehicle is not for the faint of heart, as the integration of hardware and software will require considerable work and debugging. If you want a turn-key system you will have to use the UMPC solution and live with the limits or pay someone to build, install and test your system.

So, as with the CarPC solution, I need a touchscreen to proceed, and since I want to get started with the development of the software, I can use my lapop to prototype. Some interesting things to evaluate are what applications are going to get the most use on a bike and how to make them useful and safe, given the limitations of riding and computing.

Here are my thoughts on what I want a computer to do on my bike. Think of this as a wish list.

• Navigation – replace the Garmin Zumo for GPS with moving map, route guidance and POI’s (points of interest) search.
• Entertainment – play MP3′s and audio books.
• Communication – show me incoming telephone calls and allow me to answer or ignore and let me select someone from my address book and call or text them. Alert me that an email has arrived from someone I care about.

So far, I can do all of this using my Garmin Zumo, and it is waterproof and self contained. It also has bluetooth so it talks to my iPhone and my bluetooth enabled helmet for wireless communication. So, what else can we do that will take advantage of our new BikePC?

• Internet access – I want to be able to google-search while on the road. I do this today by stopping and using my iPhone. With access to the web, I want to grab weather and traffic reports for my route. I want to be able to use the information to overlay GPS navigation map data. Some high end GPS devices can do most of this today with the appropriate paid services. Of course, I want to set alerts on the stocks I am tracking.
• Access documents like letters, spreadsheets and PDF’s in case someone sends me one via email.
• Text to Speech – have the computer read me messages and documents.

So, there is my list of needs. Now, as to my list of wants. This is where I want to stretch existing capabilities of hardware and software.

• Voice control over all system functions – on a motorcycle this would help with the issue of how to control the computer while riding, but may prove to be difficult given the noisy environment.
• Video -rear and front view video camera’s with capture capability. Great for recording that oncoming pickup truck turning left in front of you and as a high tech rear view mirror to eliminate blind spots.
• Radar detection integration – I want to hide my radar detector out of the rain, but have alerts displayed on my touchscreen, with an audio alert.
• OBD II – On board diagnostics integration. Let the bikes computer tell my computer that it’s time for a service appointment. Tell the bike computer to go into gas saving mode or high performance mode by modifying the engine fuel management map.

This is my wish list. Your mileage may vary. I’m sure you have your own ideas about what you want your computer to do, and that’s the whole point, it’s your computer, so build it your way, and have the satisfaction of knowing that not even Bill Gates has what you have.

Hardware

The most visible component of the CarPC is the touchscreen, and this is my only majopr hardware cash expenditure planned at this stage. While searching ebay and MP3Car.com for bargains it seems I will have to lay out $250-$300 for this component and another $25 or so for mounting hardware, which I will illustrate in my next post.

Software

It has been great to try out one of the available commercial car front-end programs available, CentraFuse, but at a cost ranging from $125 for a basic version to $250 for navigation functions, I want to examine some other alternatives after the 30 day trial ends. Option 1 is to use one of the available free software offerings like the popular RoadRunner, and open source clone of the original Media Car. Other programs are available. Option 2 is to write my own program. I estimate this would take me too long given my limited programming skills and an aversion to reinventing the wheel. Advantages to using the open source free programs and those you write yourself are more flexibility in adding functions or making the system look and feel exactly like you require. If you are planning to develop a new function for some specialized need go to it, otherwise reaping the benefits of existing software is tempting. I will do a complete review of RoadRunner in a later post.

It’s time to place my order for a touchscreen monitor. While we wait for that to arrive, I’ll start the process of designing the BikePC

This project seems to fall into three major divisions; hardware, software and integration (including vehicle installation). Let’s take a look at hardware first.

Hardware: My laptop has an Intel Pentium M cpu, 512mb memory and a 40Gb hard drive. Memory and hard drive capacity can both be expanded easily. Connections include 2-USB, Serial, Printer, RJ11 and RJ45, Compact Flash and PCMCIA. A docking station provides a CD/DVD reader, and replicates all ports while adding an inch of thickness to the package. The laptop measures approximately 12” long, 10” wide and 1 ½” thick (2 ½” with dock). The system did not come with Bluetooth, but I have added a dongle. The system includes an integrated Wi-Fi card (type) and has LAN support.

As a user interface, this laptop uses a small rubber pointing device in the middle of the keyboard, with small buttons to select right and left “mouse” clicks. I could plug in an external mouse or use a Bluetooth mouse.

Software: The laptop is running Windows XP SP3 and has a pretty full suite of productivity (ha!) applications including Microsoft Office with Outlook.

As configured this system is stable, but seems a bit slow by modern standards. My “other” laptop, and HP is faster but bigger and runs Vista. I am not going to hack up that system this time around.

Integration: As a test, I loaded a copy of a state of the art CarPC front end, CentraFuse to the laptop and am happy to report that it runs great. I am not crazy about the time it takes from system boot to having the CentraFuse main menu load, but so far my investment is $0.00 and total time is 30 minutes! Running this laptop, on my er….lap I can select music to play, pictures to view, vids and DVD’s to play and read my email and check my calendar. I can surf the internet from my house, with wifi access. I can write this article. With a Bluetooth link I can handle phone calls. I’m thinking this is pretty neat, so let’s take this thing out to the car and see how it works.

At the car, I plug the IBM supplied power brick into a DC-AC inverter I bought at Best Buy. This provides 110v AC from the cars 12V DC via the cigarette lighter socket and works to charge the laptop. The laptop boots and runs just like in the house (slow but reliable).
So I am sitting in the car with the laptop on my lap, or rather resting half on the console, holding it with one hand and navigating the application with the other. This is not effective and of course putting it down to drive means I cannot see the screen without looking away from the road. Input is out of the question while underway. This will not work, so I will have to decide on a better interface solution if this is to work.

At this stage, there are two paths to follow. The first is the development and testing of each application including the front end software and each sub application, such as nav, music, etc. While each of these can be made to work with my laptop on the seat system, I doubt I could get a realistic feel for the viability of each with out a better interface. For this reason I have chosen to proceed with getting a touchscreen display to fit to the car.

Touchscreen displays come in many flavors, but the world of car computing seems to have narrowed down the choices to two or three makers and a handful of models. My criteria for selection are; screen size, screen brightness and cost and availability.

Size: For a car the best size seems to be 7” across. Displays from Xenarc are available from $250-$699, with higher prices models claiming brighter (sunlight readable) screens.

Mounting: For my car (2002 BMW 330i) I can install the touchscreen into the dashboard for a very integrated, factory look. Other cars may have similar options, and this usually requires purchasing or fabricating a custom bezel (surround trim) for the screen. For those too squeamish to hack their cars up, the screen can be mounted in front of the dash using any number of car mount systems from providers like RAM Mounts. For more information take a look at MP3Car.com or Google for forums focusing on your particular car, as someone has probably already done what you are thinking of.

In a car or on a motorcycle we need a way to interact with the system, and this is most practically done with a touchscreen display screen. Available front-end sotware (e.g. Centrfuse) provides access to entertainment, navigation, communication and custom functions with simple screen touches. This software can run on any windows device that has sufficient resources (RAM, Processor).

UMPC’s (Ultra Mobile Personal Computer) are very small but complete computers. Microsoft and Intel have been promoting this technology with software (Origami) and hardware (atom processors), but to date there seems to be more interest in very small notebook or netbook computers. This form factor has caught the eyes of many more folks than the idea of a tablet computer, but there are signs of interest in the tablet, touchscreen format with entries from Samsung (Q1) and others, including ruggedized devices.

Pros: My assessment is that this can work right now with available components. UMPC’s while not cheap will come down in price and can be used for general purpose computing when not in the car or on the motorcycle. All functionality is self contained and integrated, and the Operating Systems are well understood (XP/Vista/Unix). Most devices are expandable through USB.

Cons: Still emerging technology means early devices will be surpassed soon with more power and lower cost. All in one solution may limit flexibility for specialized applications. Your expensive UMPC may be a technology dead end. Ruggedized units are still very expensive.

CarPC’s use an enclosure with small form factor components that duplicate those found in a full size computer, in fact you could just stuff your home desktop in your car with a DC->AC power converter and you have a CarPC and people have done this. Today, small form factor (mini, nano and pico) units can be secreted under your passenger seat, in your truck or glove box and connected to a dashboard display for touchscreen application control. Many CPU, Storage and Display screen options exist today. Power management, once a problem in a 12V environment, is now handled with inexpensive automated electronics. Windows front end software is identical to that described in the UMPC section above.

Pros: Availability and low entry costs. DIY advice available online (MP3Car.com). Flexibility and expandability.

Cons: Some assembly required. Some retailers offer pre-assembled systems, tested and ready to go. Most folks who go this way relish the idea of building their own from components.

Laptop computers are a tempting solution, as many people have an old one gathering dust. WIth enough processor power and a copy of Windows XP you can try out in car computing on a shoestring budget before making a larger investment. In fact this is not a bad way to explore custom interfaces to radar, GPS, Satellite radio and Video cameras of that’s where your interests lie. You will need to wrestle with where to put the laptop to allow access, how to power it and turn it on and off if remote mounted, and you will need to get a touchscreen display to get full usability.

Pros: Instant solution allowing prototyping of in car computing. No hardware integration required. Availability is good with many price points. You probably also have lots of applications for business and play already on your system.

Cons: Laptops were not really designed to operate with their lids closed and will require modifications to do this and to provide a way to hide them away. You also need a way to power them on/off when desired. These issues will require some internal surgery on your laptop. This has all been documented on DIY sites.

So, where does this leave us? For me, the temptation is to build a custom CarPC, with the best of available components. I also like the idea of just strapping a tiny UMPC to the handlebars of my ride and being done with it. If I had the financial resources I would probably do just that. Looking at the rapidly changing technology terrain I am stuck by the pace of change in these areas, and prefer to wait and see how a number of these areas develop in the near term.

While I am waiting for the hardware I want to emerge I plan to experiment with the software side. I have an IBM Thinkpad notebook computer that is unused and in my next post I will talk about my experience turning it into an in car and on bike computer.

Reasons to Add Computing Capability to Your Ride

1. You don’t want to be disconnected from the information and services that you have at home:

2. You want to integrate functions now performed by multiple devices such as Navigation, Entertainment, Radar detection, Traffic and Weather Tracking, Communication, Internet Access and Personal Information Management.

3. You want to experiment with this emerging technology and push the envelope without tying yourself to the offerings of the mainstream automobile manufacturers.

4. You want to impress your buddies and get into MIT.

The are a number of potential solutions available, so let’s review them and their relative pros and cons:

A. A smartphone with appropriate features can provide voice communication, text and email communication, internet access, entertainment (MP3) and PIM functions. With little buttons and a tiny screen interaction with the device is limited to answering the phone and maybe skipping to the next MP3. From a safety standpoint most other functions will require stopping the vehicle. Major pros are availability, low cost and ease of setup. The cons are that you cannot easily integrate external functions, and the aforementioned difficulty interacting with the system while underway. This solution just doesn’t have the power to provide enough of the functionality we are looking for unless someone wants to develop a remote touchscreen interface for their smartphone.

B. CarPC’s have been around for a few years, and the latest now incorporate slim cases, car power adapters and separate touch screen displays, and provide powerful processors, data storage and available data interfaces, with major Operating System support (Windows, Unix). Pros are flexibility and huge hobby base of users. Cons – you have to build and integrate it all yourself of pay someone to do it, and it can get expensive for a dedicated system. This solution is worth pursuing for bikers willing to invest the time to build an integrate it into theeir bikes.

C. Notebook Computers are a well known solution. I have used one in my car, most often to search the web for a business. Challenges include power, solved with a 12VDC to AC converter and internet access, solved with a cellphone acting as a modem (Nokia N95, GPRS, 3.5G, DUN, Bluetooth to an Apple Powerbook). Pros are availability (you may already have one you can use part time) and portability, integration of Processor, Display (only if you have touch screen tablet style notebook), and Communication (many have integrated cellphone modem cards and wifi). Applications are available and mature. Cons are cost if you must buy a new one, need for a special mount for the car, and size for motorcycle installation, pretty much eliminating this option for bikers

D. Ultra Mobile PC’s (UMPC) bridge the space between a CarPC and Notebook with an interesting plus – They are competely intergrated systems with touch screen displays in front of a small PC. This form factor is small enough to mount on the front of a motorcycle using available mounting systems (RAM,etc), within reach of the rider. Mounting in a car should be trivial. This technology is worth investigating more closely.

In my next post I’ll take a closer look at these solutions and examine available offerings and start to plan out the development of a system that provides the functionality we are looking for.

It seems that many manufacturers are offering GPS on their bikes, complete with cradles to mount them to your bike, so let’s start right and say that the only good place for a GPS is in your line of sight as you look out at the road. It is no good to have the GPS sitting on the right or left handlebar, even though it is convenient for pressing buttons on the unit, and that is the root of the problem. You cannot really watch the road and play with the GPS. Some units wiill lock out any button pressing while in motion, but that can be and is often overridden. So you sit there at 70 mph zooming out to find the highway and don’t see the traffic stopped ahead. With the unit located in your line of sight you can see whats on the screen without taking your eyes off the road.

So, now what. Well, most GPS’s have voice guidance, with turn-by-turn directions to your destination. To benefit from this you will need a way to get that voice into your ears. In a future post I’ll be reviewing motorcycle intercoms. For now, let’s just say that the real benefit of the voice guidance is that you can follow directions without your eyes leaving the road.

A well planned trip means you entering your destination address at the start of the trip, and/or entering any intermediate waypoints  you want to pass through. To be continued…

Now this may be heresy in parts of the motorcycle riding universe, but I also like to be able to receive phone calls while I ride. Better yet, I want to be able to place a call while riding, maybe to get let someone know I am OK, maybe to call 911 to get the pickup truck full of drunks off my tail.

I take short rides and long rides. On the long rides it’s nice to be able to listeen to some music while zipping along at 70 mph. I like to be able to access my iPods 3,000 song library. When I get tired of the same songs I need to hear the radio, and lately Satellite Radio for more programming, traffic and weather.

Since we are talking about Riding Connected I should mention that there is occasionally a passenger on my bike. She likes to be able to talk to me while I ride. An intercom lets us do that, and much to my surprise I like it. If you don’t like to hear what your passenger is saying an “off” button would be nice (that’s audio off, not an ejection seat).

I like to ride fast, not crazy just faster than the speed limit. I cannot afford another ticket so I need to hear my radar detector go off so I can keep riding. Motorcycles make fine radar and laser targets. The police use technology to catch us, we can use it to avoid unpleasant meetings.

The last time I took a major long ride (New York to Missouri and back), I often found myself on back roads, with no idea where the next gas station was. Running out of gas in a car is inconvenient, on a bike it can be the end of a nice trip. My GPS knows where the gas is, and where the nearest restaurant is. I love knowing where things are. Sometimes I let the GPS just track where I am until I have a thought about where I want to go next, and then I’m off.

Since riding should occupy most of your attention, navigation should be voice prompted so you don’t have to look down at a GPS moving map. Sure it’s a color display and has lots of numbers and signs, but 2 years ago I was glancing down at the display and suddenly there was a Mini-Cooper crunched into my front wheel and I was looking up at a crowd of folks through a cracked helmet visor. Voice is good.

All this talk about voice and music and talk my have you wondering about how you are supposed to hear all that while riding through the wind and engine noise and general cacophony of modern life. The answer if speakers in your helmet, pressed tightly to your ears inside all that nice soft foam. All this is powered by a package of electronics in the form of an intercom system. More to come on this.

So, these are my requirements for being The Connected Rider. It may not be for everyone, but hey, it’s my dime. My plan is to spend some time on each of the above requirements in future posts to the blog. As I look at each category; Navigation, Communication, Entertainment and Information Management, Safety and Awareness I plan to describe the current state of the art and open up a discussion of best hardware, software and techniques. I will review products and describe how to make it all work for you in DIY article format.

A little bit about me. I’ve been riding motorcycles for 40 years. I currently own a 2005 BMW K1200LT (a very large luxury touring bike-see picture below), very well equipped for long distance touring and weekend day trips, but a bit of a boat for around town use. I have a craving for another sport bike (previously owned a 1996 Ducati 996). In a previous life I was an Information Technology executive. This is nothing like that.

** Update ** Well, I recently sold the LT, as it was just too heavy to manage. At 850lbs plus, it was a real handful around town. There is probably no better bike for long cross country touring on paved roads, but with much of my driving moving to day trips, I wanted a bike that was more sporty while retaining some touring amenities. This type of bike is called a GT, In the hierarchy of bikes ranging from sport through sport touring to grand touring to luxury touring. I ended up with another BMW, this time a 2008 BMW K1200GT, which combines a 150+ hp motor with amenities including heated seats and grips, adjustable windscreen, electronic suspension adjustment and adequate storage with two hard side cases and an available 49 liter topcase.

In the coming posts I’ll describe the features and performance of this new ride.