I havent used 3ds MAX Solidworks is pretty high end CAD software. I know how to use CREO (formerly Pro Enginner) and Solidworks has similar controls. with CREO i know how to set up machining programs and all that good stuff. Worst case I can get this into solidworks and rebuild the model then put it into CREO. Just a FYI I am designing a new intake manifold setup for our cars that will replace hopefully the upper and lower intake manifolds and keep everything else where it is and allow for better flow and for direct port nitrous :tiphat:

I've been playing around in 3d this weekend making some components and sizing down my model. So I figured I would show you all what I have been up to..

Oh and check out my Tesla screen album for other pictures not shown here!

http://www.the370z.com/members/asorg...uld-minute.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/asorg...ming-build.jpg

So I spent a lot of time over the weekend and last night finding specifics on the core components of the computer and put them into 3d. Including a simplified dash model. I managed to get the file down from 3 million polygons down to around 50,000. Now that I have a workable model I will be reshaping it to fit the large screen!

I will post some more pictures when I get home tonight!

I finally had a chance to take a couple pictures of some a the components I have been working on. This is a slim DVD burner to play your physical media. I have also modeled the RAM sticks and Solid State Drive. But they just weren't as cool looking as these lol.

http://www.the370z.com/members/asorg...ent-center.jpg

I spent 3 hours last night working on the dash model, and had just started putting in some detail. All of a sudden the program freezes up and gives me a fatal error! So it turns out I hadn't saved at all and lost every bit of my work.... Back to the drawing board...

ouch! sorry to hear it.

Why are you using such a large computer for this? You can use like an ITX motherboard. Are you trying to play crysis on this thing? If its just a nav and audio player i dont see the need for such a large computer in there. Correct me if I am wrong. But from my understanding it looks like you are sticking a full sized ATX mobo in there.

I am going to have to get that software. I am really struggling with getting my ATOS cloud files to open in solidworks. I have been pretty busy and havent had much time to mess with it. But I think I am going to get the autodesk 3ds software you are using and play with it a little.

Oh I am going with a mini ITX board for the build. That picture of the two boards side by side is for my work PC. I had to switch to Intel to properly run the Kinect. If you look at the 3d model picture I have in the thread, it's actually a ASRock Q5000 Minix ITX that I have modeled and will be using.

Yeah 3ds MAX works very well for point clouds. I just want to point out that the dash I am doing in MAX. But the rest I have done in Inventor for accuracy and speed. If you need me to convert and simplify your model so you can put it easier into Solidworks PM me and I could help you out! That is if you can't get a hold of the software.

Lesson learned save once and save often.. :shakes head:

oh ok :tup:

What are you using as the GPU? Or just on board graphics?

At the moment just the onboard AMD Radeon HD 8330 Graphics. I think that will be enough to run everything I am wanting to do. But when I get into the hardware I may change my mind.

i can get you the solidworks if necessary. I have a copy of 2015 pro

What file format does the scan come out of ATOS at?

Here's a weekend update everyone. I sat down today and started putting in the work to redesign the dash so I can bring in the other models for the computer. I am making a new mesh over the old because the geometry works so much better than the original scan. There is a good few hours in there so far. And I've totally been saving every 10 minutes lol!

http://www.the370z.com/members/asorg...itor-model.jpg

i can save the cloud files in a number of formats. the one that is supposed to be useful is .stl

the scan itself is an .atos file

Very cool! Just let me know if you need help to get it into Solidworks!

I've been pushing through the dash design into a well modifiable design. I was able to flesh out the front and sides last night. I will be posting pictures this evening so stay tuned. I'm allowing myself about 3 weeks for the redesign of the dash but with the progress made so far I'm hoping to cut that in half.

In preparation of the next step I have been talking with representatives with 3d Systems. I ordered a sample kit of all the different printing methods. So I will finally be able to put hands on the different types to figure out if stereolithography (SLA) is the way that I want to go.

After speaking with them I found that they do sheet metal there also. So I may be able to kill two birds with one stone and have them make my PC case as well!

Did you get that laser scanned or 3d scanned?

I did and I have a link to where it is housed on my Dropbox for anyone who wants the 3d scan file.

I been talking with a few people on Facebook and Instagram about this. They mentioned that they would like to see the incorporation of an engine or fuel management system into the computer. Maybe even the addition of an integrated ECU like Megasquirt.

Is this something you all would be interested in? If so I may look into this side as well soon. I would love to get more people interested in this as well on Facebook and Instagram. Hit me up for the details of any interested in following there too.

Funny I was just thinking about this, or at least something similar, earlier today

In answer to your question, IMHO, it isn't necessary to integrate a standlone ECU in to this. I don't know if there are enough people running a standalone/piggyback ECU to warrant the extra effort. I'd say 99% of tuned cars are using Uprev, or EcuTek. Which work with just a cable connection. So a USB port is all that would be needed there.

My though is that the value of this for those of us who are more performance oriented anyway, would be the ability to interface and monitor the factory ECU; through UpRev, Dashcommand, EcuTek, whatever.

Which raised the question: which OS is will this thing be running? I assume one of the main goals is to be able to control this thing via touchscreen. So I imagine Windows 8/10 or Android-x86 are the two logical choices. If I had to guess you are probably leaning towards Windows.

Which is good since you need Windows for UpRev/EcuTek interface. You need Android to run something like Dashcommand/Torque. However, there is an app called Bluestack that let's you run Android apps on a Windows system. Which would give you the best of both worlds in theory.

Running Windows would make it possible to plug in keyboard, and be able to change parameters on the car's display for those of us running UpRev or EcuTek. or for those that aren't running those, you could easily (not yet tested) get it to work with Dashcommand/Torque.

Either way, I don't think you need to modify your design to accommodate anything more than a few easily accessible USB ports (perhaps some tucked away and 1 or 2 easily accessible from the front or the center console).

just my :twocents: of course.

Thanks for the headsup AntiVenom! To answer your question I'm planning to set up the system to run Windows 8/10 as the base operating system but I am planning on getting Centrafuse to run the OBD-II controls and audio. It is also where I found out about integrating the climate controls. I will be modifying the user interface drastically to suit my design. I just may need to find a programming guru to help me out there if I can't get my buddy involved.

Here is a couple of links to there site and one to the climate control I found.

https://www.centrafuse.com/us/

Integrated Climate Control

http://www.the370z.com/members/asorg...-speedo-pc.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/asorg...eenshot-pc.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/asorg...control-pc.jpg

that's pretty slick software.

doing some quick research it looks like you can integrate Dashcommand in to Centrafuse. Might be easier than trying to code Centrafuse to do it (i.e. reinventing the wheel).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0aeMSwuIi0

edit: i re-read your reply and it answered my concern about the interface needing tweaking. sounds like you are already thinking about it.

That good to know about the integration! Either way I will still do some coding even if its just to improve the look of the interface. and make it work better with a larger screen. I'm definitely going to check out that video! Yeah man I spent about the first four months I had my car looking for an existing option for the Z. But only found a double DIN style, with Dashcommand and I wanted more options so I decided to make my own. Then spent a couple more months looking for the right products to make it all happen. You have to be prepared if you want to be successful at this kind of thing lol!

I took a picture last night of where I'm at in the dash modeling. I have filled in the sides and vents. Just need to do some more work on the ignition hole and the passenger seat belt light.

I've been throwing around the idea of removing passenger seat belt "button" since it doesn't do anything and replacing it with a driver facing camera. What are the communities thoughts on this?

http://www.the370z.com/members/asorg...ts-3ds-max.jpg

I hope everyone had a wonderful long Independence day weekend here in the US! I just wanted to share this 3d that I found over the weekend on a 3d sharing website called Sketchfab. If you haven't heard of it you should check it out. This is a model that was uploaded by the CEO of Sketchfab himself. It was modeled after the famous picture from the end of WWII with a sailor and woman in a white dress kissing.

I hope this imbed link works for viewing if so I will be putting the dash up there for 3d viewing right here on the forum. As a progress update I have made substantial progress on the back side of the dash. I am hoping by the end of the week I will have the back side wrapped up and start working on the mounting tabs. As of now I am ahead of my own design schedule so that's pretty awesome. Help me to build interest in this and meet other Z owners by following me on Instagram @valkyriesystems and like my Facebook page @ Valkyrie Systems!

Here is the link to "Embracing Peace" on Sketchfab for those interested.

https://sketchfab.com/models/deead58...43fea5f2936349

Found the thread! How may I subscribe?


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At the top of the thread is a button with an arrow beside it called "Thread Tools". Click that button and select subscribe. You can choose how often if at all you want to be notified with updates on this thread.

I was thinking about you previous question regarding the camera in the airbag slot.

Maybe I am being overly practical, but I can't think of a benefit of having on there. I did however think that it might be an ideal spot for some kind of light sensor? Think: smartphone display brightness auto-adjust. Not sure if this is something that can be implemented in to this setup. OR maybe a good spot for a USB and/or aux in ports.

just food for thought.

Oh I am definitely going to have AUX and at least 1 maybe 2 USB ports made into the dash. The auto-dimmer is something I have been thinking about but haven't had the time yet to look into how to best implement this. Definitely the biggest thing to me was whether I should include the Passenger airbag back into the dash or hide it behind the build since there really is no way to turn it on/off from there. In my opinion it just kind of takes up valuable space. Space I could be using for awesomeness lol.

I am definitely going to look more into the auto dimmer thanks for that AntiVenom!!

Dude I'm freaking psyched for this :D


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Auto dimmer could be used with a light sensor like the phones have


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I did a quick search without good results but I know there are options out there for it. And I will find them!:tiphat:

Dissect a smartphone with the future


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Hey everyone I'm rendering a short video of where I'm at right now in the modeling process of the dash. I hope to have it finished and posted tonight so keep tuned and let me know what you think!!

There were some complications with the video last night, so I wasn't able to get it posted I will be all over it this evening though! Complications or no it's going up!

got some more scanning done. Used a different lens set to make the files smaller. Hopefully I will be able to work with these files. They are close to 2gig each instead of 19gig!

I still have some fill in work to get the gaps that I wasnt able to catch with the scanner, but I can do that at home.

http://www.the370z.com/members/venom...708-upper2.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/venom...7707-upper.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/venom...lower-good.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/venom...l-assembly.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/venom...assembly-2.jpg

Man that looks good! I'm excited to see what you do with it! Keep me posted on your design.