Behind the Scenes...My G35... (Warning: Many PICS)

[Tekknikal]

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After years of being fairly quiet, I'd like to talk about a project that's I'd worked very hard on for a long time. This was a project that I put a lot of energy into, and ended up being quite unlike any other I've ever seen...and very special to me...

I eventually nicknamed the core of the operation "Project Picasso". It was, at the time, a new concept that hadn't been done. It was also risky. But there was never any question on whether it was worth attempting. I figured it wouldn't be appreciated until year's after its creation...

It ended up encompassing an entire electrons build, and ultimately applying a unique vision to an Infiniti G35 Coupe - my G35 - to take it to a new level. It ended up being a success beyond what I thought it could have been.

The day I pulled it out, uninstalling it from my G35 years later... I was sad. Everyone I mentioned it to, pointed out that I have something new now. In a way that's true - the GT-R does everything my G35 did, only better. But I didn't build it and it's still not the same. Even to today, I still miss my drives with it. It was an experience that I won't forget anytime soon...

I remember picking it up like it was yesterday...

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I purchased the car before it even got to the dealership in Texas, fresh off the boat from Japan.
I remember being most impressed by it after doing a 10 hour leg on my way to Florida, and feeling like I was more than ready for another 10 hours...

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Drop off to return to St Croix.

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I remember having many a sleepless night waiting on it to arrive here. This also marked the first time I'd seen what it's like to get any real attention from a car...

A week or so later, she arrived - in flawless condition.

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And I started to rediscover what driving was like...

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On the east end of St Croix, I noticed an unusual feeling every time I turned... it felt like a wave of pleasure running up my arms :rofl:

Over the next months, I had many great miles. The only issue I had with the car was the brake pad indicator was bent. I ended up replacing the pads anyway. But later the Bose soundsystem started giving me problems - one of the CD channels would fade. I had thought about changing it out already, so when this happened, I went ahead and made the switch.

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I did the wiring and laid the groundwork for two amps, a sub, and a head unit. While the head unit swap might look easy, it wasn't. If you look at the pictures of the bose setup, the console is designed for the Bose head unit. That wasn't the real problem though- it turned out that the head unit and a/c control circuit board were both on the same PCB. That means, it's all integrated together. Luckily, there's a car in Japan called the Nissan Skyline 350GT- which is the same as the Infiniti G35. And in that car, there's an option for a double din sound system. So, I ended up making a big order from Japan for the upper console, smaller bose-free A/C board, and all the other bits and pieces I'd need. It cost several hundred dollars.

But the swap wouldn't be so simple. Changing the deck in the G35 isn't easy - you have to take down the entire lower dash and all panels below. Then you have to take out half the upper bezels. The first time I did it, it took me several hours just to get to the head unit. As you see in the pictures, the whole console must be changed. Since the japanese G35 doesn't have dual A/C I had to solder my dual A/C button onto their circuit board. With the help of Freddie_VI, we did this in one weekend. My first attempt at soldiering wasn't successful, and I fried the old board. Luckily, my second attempt - with the new board- was a big success and up to this day, that board is working without flaw. That's good because failure would have been a big problem. All the parts to do this swap had to be purchased- and shipped- from Japan. This took a lot of time and work to do and get right. It was very stressful because remember, this was on a one year old G35 coupe. Little did anyone know what I was up to- the outside appeared stock. Indeed, I was only beginning to formulate my plans for where I was going with this.

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And so the groundwork was laid. The box for the subwoofer was custom made to an exact specification, ideal for JL's 10W6V2. While none of this was done to set new records in bass decibels, it was all done to work better than stock in every way, from sound quality to reliability...and also again, to form the base infrastructure for what was to come...

Meanwhile, I was very much enjoying the G35 on the road. I had gotten into my Sunday drive routines. I can't describe how good these were...

On one occasion, I was driving next to the airport when, out of nowhere, a bird flew out and over the road. Instantly, some clear liquid had splattered all over the windshield. I hit the bird with such a force I thought that surely the radiator - or something- was broken.

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Luckily, nothing broke. But a lot of clean up was necessary...

Meanwhile, I continued to plan..

You see, four years prior I had built something that allowed me to take all of my music with me on the road. It also allowed for full navigation and full customization. It was called the AutoPC.

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It wasn't just a computer- it was a fully integrated embedded platform that I happened to run Windows on. I could have chosen to run Linux or Windows Embedded (the precursor to what is today Windows Mobile).. but I built it with power as I wanted to run the full, unadulterated, desktop Windows. In the Sentra, this system saw thousands of miles of successful use. I had hand wired and programmed my own GPS integration. It was unbelievably good. Even today, most cars do not have comparable systems. And this was over seven years ago.

In 2005, my plan was to do the same, for my G35 - only on an even higher level. I wanted the integration to be flawless and complete. I set out to do something on a level that hadn't been done before - despite being limited by the resources St Croix offered. With the continued help of Freddie_VI, I set out to build the new AutoPC. The Avidience....

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(to be continued)

[DomesticChiney]

Nice write up Tekk!!! Your degree is in Electrical Enginering right make the task of fabricating the sound system any easier?

[twincityfinest]

wow!!!! thats impressive with the Avidience!!!!

[evoking]

nice...Tekk

[Tekknikal]

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To continue the story, I set out to build new generation AutopPC, the Avidience, for my G35.

The planning stage took about six months of active research.

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The first stages involved R&D on the latest technologies of interest. I had decided what I wanted to do and focused my R&D on what I would be building as opposed to what all was out there. The next stage involved a component planning and R&D. This meant that I needed to understand how the components would integrate together to achieve what I wanted them to. Issues would always arise. The project was helped because I had no real budget, but was hindered because this is an iterative process. You can't just built a system as complex as this at one time. You have to set your goals... look at the parts available... pick what you think works best...look at potential issues, fix them... make sure you can meet said goals, if not modify.. if you can, continue. But with so many components, it's not easy. Everything from the voltage drop across the hundreds of feet of cable, to the multiplexing of USB signals, to the compatibility of drivers and expected reliability has to be accounted for. So, in the final stage of R&D, all components were checked and double checked.

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Then I moved to the procurement phase, where I acquired everything. Living here on St Croix, this isn't easy, but after a month of purchases, I was ready to proceed.

Then came Freddie_VI's assistance. In late July 2005 I briefed him on everything that I had planned, for the first time sharing what the project would be. No one else knew. His response was immediate and one of confidence... "Lets do this." Very confidence inspiring when, to be honest, I wasn't sure how well it would all work. On paper, the project looked complete, but as many tuners and builders know, things do not always go to plan when things go from theory to practice. It's one thing to understand something in a book, and get it right on paper. It's often something different to do it in real life. All I could do was hope that my plans on paper were as sound and solid as I thought they were.

The general idea behind the actual plan was as follows:

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I would mount the heart of the Avidience in the trunk of the G. The display would go in a cubby hole on the top of the center of the dash- where Infiniti put the screen on their navigation equipped G35s (which mine was not). Sound would be handled via a DSP that would be placed in the upper glovebox. I would also mount a DVD writer there. OBD2 would be directly connected to the Avidience. In its place I would leave two USB ports. While the display would be a touchscreen, I would also connect the steering wheel controls to the Avidience and splice into them under the dashboard. The system would have a bluetooth antenna mounted under the LCD, and would have a IR reciever mounted in the display for the climate controls. This would not be visible. There would be two intelligent powernetworks in the car- one in the front to power forward devices, one in the rear to power rearward devices. The two would integrate into Infiniti's factory power distribution setup, and would monitor the car's power levels. The Avidience would start with thecar and shutoff with the car. It would also shutoff if it started draining the car's battery too much - to protect the battery so I don't get stranded if it's used for too long with the car off.

With the idea in place, and several months of work complete into understanding how I need execute it... we went to work...

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^final testing of bluetooth before installation

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^hardware testing: visible = embedded motherboard

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^DSP outputs; this device would receive the Avidience's audio as a digital signal and do D/A work to output it as an analog signal into the Alpine head unit.

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^The LCD; Making sure software is all installed BEFORE integration...

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^All the networking icons...the Avidience would be able to network with pretty much anything

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^Dismantling the screen, and preparing to swap internal parts for Avidience use

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^one of the cables that would need to be swapped

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^the core screen, with the touch layer on top

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^repackaging everything

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^confirming it works before installation. The next time it would be started would be on its own power!!!

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^Meanwhile, this is what it looked like inside the G :rofl:

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^the upper console, removed and awaiting modification/integration

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^one of the mods, upgrading cables... a LOT of signals would be passed through the car, want to ensure sound quality as much as possible

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^preparing integration of LCD, Bluetooth, and termination of A/V cables

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^the LCD, ready for integration

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^Headed over to get started on the project. The car would be here for a few days...

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^During installation, am running all my cables through the car

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^Another shot during installation. here you can see the integration of the OBD2 (the red box)

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^Another view

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^The trunk, the holding bin for components at a certain stage of waiting in the integration chain

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^The screen, waiting for early/initial integration

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^Freddie_VI had an idea of how to improve my concept for closing the screen. His idea worked exceedingly well. In this pic, we were examining clearances

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^Screen Open

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^Several days in, we had made big progress. Here we were testing the fitment of the DSP and DVD writer

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^There are two independent data networks in the car. This shot shows off the wiring at the ends of them. These USB hubs distribute the data for each of the two networks. With the forward power network alreaday setup, we were getting close!

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^Really getting close!!

Then we did a full power on test for the first time, before final re-assembly. After over an hour of double checking, I hit the switch for primary power...what would happen??? :noes: :noes: :runaway:

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Start Up Successfull! :party::king::cheers::goodtimes:

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^taking a moment to bask in its glow. All systems were working, even tested some of the accessory features such as OBD2 (pictured above)

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^Reassembly. It was very, very late in the night, but at this point we couldn't stop and pressed on to the end. The hard part was far behind us.

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^System restart successful after reassembly. 90% done putting everything back together

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ALL DONE :party:

More Pics:

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I ate and slept this project for months. The numbers at right are the hours we spent outside, each day, in the car...working on this. We didn't really take breaks or eat during those times...

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[StreetRX7]

Very impressive work really good shit..... +1000

[DomesticChiney]

HOLY $H!T thats alot of wiring!!! Excellent work!

[evoking]

great job..