The car/victim is a fully loaded 2001 Saturn L300 I picked up earlier this year. Its Automatic 3.0L V6 projects the car to 60 in 6.9 seconds. Not bad for an automatic, eh? This car really needs an on-board computer though.

The computer system is an Amiga 1200. Since Amiga's are video production oriented devices, I had no problem connecting to the composite output and generating an NTSC compatible screen mode at interlace. The display output was set to overscan (736x482), causing the screen to fill up completely.

The software was custom, but I made use of Scala MM300 (A multimedia engine), ARexx (A diverse inter-program communications language adapted to the original IBM REXX), Miami (A very good TCP/IP stack based on NetBSD code), and AmigaOS 3.1. Telnet and HTTP services are currently operating, and can be accessed at L300.saturn.car.roadragecafe.com. Keep in mind, since the code-red outbreak, port 80 has been blocked on airdata.net. Web access will not work currently.

The modem is a Novatel Wireless Sage CDPD modem. I pay $29.99 for unlimited access to a wireless network which covers nearly every major metropolitian area. The raw radio speed is 19.2kbps. The wireless service provides a static IP address and is "always on".

The power supply system consists of a connection from the console lighter jack to a special adapter I made for the TFT. I have a ligher-jack extension running into the back-seat lighter jack which goes into the trunk. This then connects to a power inverter (generates AC 110), and to the Amiga's power supply. Eventually, I am going to put a lighterjack plug into the trunk to avoid these excess wires around the car. In addition, I plan to place an ignition detector to only turn on the computer when the car is running.

I ran RCA cables from the trunk to the console to connect to the TFT. I plan to run these under the carpet once I do the final install.

The TFT is a 5" display which shows a full NTSC overscan picture. The display is very sharp and bright. Its a 4:5 aspect ratio and has a very wide horizontal viewing angle. The vertical angle is a bit less, but its still very useable. Since a screen is near eye level most of the time, its not a problem. One thing to note, like most TFTs, the display halves the picture (~200-260 lines). This kills interlace flicker as well as introduces some slight aliasing effects. As long as you take in account the halving when you create your images, it looks just fine. I paid $169 for the device, which I think is a very fair deal. 6" TFTs jump in price to nearly $300 or more.

I originally wanted to use the TFT as a HUD, but I am having trouble with the focal point. The display reflects nicely off the windshield, creating a hovering "holographic" effect, but you have to re-focus your eyes when looking at traffic. Until I correct this problem, I have placed the HUD under the stereo and then finally on-top of the dash (not pictured). I might place it inside the sun visor, since it has power for the mirror lights. Its all up in the air for now.

Once the system is powered on, the computer spends about 10-15 seconds booting up the operating system. Just before the OS boots, I have an image viewer showing a blank image to avoid any showing of the GUI. After the OS boot, the system loads up Scala, the TCP/IP stack, and then finally the ARexx software. A brief intro animation shows (exact flash animation sequence at www.saturn.com), as the first traffic information is pulled from the Washington Department of Transportation. After this data is pulled, it begins downloading over and over in a loop. The screen usually updates every minute. If RF connectivity is lost, it waits until the connection is restored.

The graphical display is a series of road maps which are color filled. Green is open road, Yellow is moderate traffic, Red is slow and heavy, and black is stop and go. A box to the bottom left displays the status of the express lanes (They are reversible lanes depending on the type of day). Once a GPS receiver is installed, the software will show the next traffic camera off to the side, and provide display zooming and scrolling.

During the next morning's commute, complete with a taped TFT to my windshield/dash, I was able to see traffic conditions in real-time. The WSDOT has every major freeway camera'ed every 1 mile as well as a traffic sensor every 1 mile. I was able to see traffic before it happened, and routed accordingly. It was probably the least stressful commute I have had on 405. The traffic conditions were very accurate, since I encountered the red and black strips of road (red and black are BAD), and sure enough I was stuck in traffic. Now I dont have to listen to those vague traffic reports on AM radio -- I can enjoy a CD or favorite FM college station (no commercials ;-).

Future improvements will be addition of GPS, connection of OBDII port, display of other various pieces of information on the display, direction/map display, etc.

I took these pictures late at night, and they turned out pretty bad. I really need to wash my car one of these days, as you can see from the rear view picture :-)