External touchscreen on MP900c: Can it be done?

This is going to come across to most of you as a ridiculous question, but I do have specific applications in mind.

The question is this, could anyone confirm or disprove conclusively that an external touch screen could be made to work with CE.Net devices – specifically a Mobilepro 900c. Information on others devices would be useful as well.

In the absence of absolutes, educated speculation anyone?

What kind of applications?

I knew someone would ask.

Two ideas really:
1) Hacking the bezel apart and rigging a TFT replacement for DSTN screen by way of some internal taps on the VGA out.

2)Carputer. The Mobilepro stays under the seat and a Xenarc LCD screen is mounted in-dash w/ touch. this has been a long held dream of mine. Most build CarPC's with fully booting MacX or XPpro. Not me baby. Instant on all the way.

I think the problem is going to be finding the drivers that allow the USB port to communicate with the touchscreen input. I mean getting a picture on the touchscreen is no problem, that is simply a connection to the vga port. But the touchscreen sends its signals back to the computer by the USB port and the software to interpret those signals doesn't exist for CE devices that I know of.

Rich

p.s. Or maybe I'm wrong: http://www.ezscreen.com/download_current.html

Edited by Rich Hawley 2006-08-09 8:14 AM

This is one of those times you have got to love this community! Rich, you are a many of many Mobilepro’s. Thank you so much.

I actually figured that the drivers may be included in most CE builds, since touch is native and so is USB. I understand that the drivers aren’t that much different from a standard mouse driver, in that the hardware differs, but the protocols for cursor movement remain mostly the same.

At any rate, thanks again, Rich. Now that we see it can be done, any real world experience out there? Anyone with the bits and bobs to give this a test? I speculate that the drivers will work with many USB touchscreens.

Hey. I was planning to use my Branium WiBook as a car computer but I ended up with the touchpad model and then I realized its pretty darn big. I know that several of these USB and serial touchscreens have Windows CE drivers for at least ARM and x86.

Here is an example of one I came across:

DL00874IH USB/RS232 Touchscreen
http://www.theguruguys.com/files/?N=D

Search the mp3car.com forums for a few more.

I know of someone that bought a generic one on eBay and it even came with WinCE drivers for all processor types. (ARM, MIPS, SH3, SH4, X86)

BTW, if you need a WinCE audio player for your carputer, may I suggest MortPlayer. It was designed from the ground up to be a touchscreen friendly WinCE audio player for in-car use. Its open source and based on GSPlayer. There are some interesting sample skins for it there too. Check it out here: http://www.sto-helit.de/modules/edito/content.php?id=28

Hey, if you want to discuss this in realtime on IRC, come say hi on EFNet #Hpcdev I'd love to here more about your plans.




Edited by TFGBD 2006-08-15 3:15 AM

Hey TFGBD, I’m honored. I found the same hardware controller at the link Rich gave me and the ever classic EarthLCD.com. I’m figuring that most small form factor touch screens come with the same embedded controller. Which is really what I was figuring on.

In my travels here on the factor, I’ve come across Mort before, and, Oh, that I could program I might be able to take advantage of that source code. The base device here is going to be a 900c if all pans out. I have a GPS receiver I use on my 728 and it sits perfectly in front of all my gauges. Plus I’d use a Bluetooth phone as a modem. Something with….

Wait, off topic. That’s why you posted your contact info. I guess this is a sign that it’s time for me to get on IRC. Well, I did resist the peer pressure for almost eight years. Thanks for taking the time and for the link!