Rock crawling with computers - is it a good idea?

I think so!

I really do - sorry haters - I am going for it!

I have been told that it is not a good idea at all & to abandon the project

I do not think the person who said it was a "bad idea" cannot comprehend the possibility of a car that is better with the use of technology to be more rugged

My DR100 is taking shape, but it does need a lot more work

The concerns are that everything would be shaken to pieces - little do they know that I intend to build cases with dampers from RC cars - I have done this before, but not with a Mac mini or Mac Pro

I would like to get some sponsorship for this project

O2 for the 4G connectivity
A satellite broadband company
Apple for the computers
Intel for the custom Intel boards (controllers & router) & processors
CISCO, Corning & Intel for the networking
CISCO for working on a custom router with Intel

Previous Land Rover Range Rover DR100 Article

DR100 is a Desert Racer on a 100" wheelbase (Range Rover chassis)

I am endeavouring to build a prototype network for my Land Rover Range Rover desert racer hybrid

Vehicle Specifications

	Chassis:	1975 Range Rover 100" Wheel Base
    Engine:		1988 Range Rover 3.5l EFI V8
    Roll Cage / Space Frame:	FIA Specification 12 point competition cage
    Body:		Land Rover Series 3 Air Portable Custom
                 Lengthened to 100" Wheel Base

The Original Plan

I was interested in using Arduino & Raspberry Pi microcomputers to control the lighting within the cab of my desert racing Range Rover.

The Plan

Computer Controlled

I have been experimenting with Arduino, Edison & Raspberry Pi computers running embedded C/C++, Linux & OS X & networking with the aim to build my car network out of many of these devices.

	OS X:	3 x Mac Mini or 1 x Mac Pro
	Devices:	5 Arduinos, Intel Edisons  or Raspberry Pis
	Network Interconnect:
    	Optical networking
    	OM4
        MXC
        InfiniBand

The aim for the project is to build a network that will allow me to control anything within my Range Rover including the 1988 3.5l EFI V8; to be able to do this, I have designed a custom computer for running the V8 engine.

I am now looking at custom computers with fibre optic networking throughout the car - this is the way forward that I would like to investigate & look to taking.

It is a costly option, but it will enable me to build a system that is robust & can become an industry standard with experimentation.

It means that I can use systems that have proven themselves in data centres but have not been fully implemented in automotive environments.

I would like to build a custom router with 4G, satellite & radio connections.

The router will not have a (Wi-Fi) wireless access point (WAP).

There will be two dedicated WAPs with fibre optic network ports.

The main unit will be running on OS X & Linux, but there will be my iPad Air 2 on the dashboard running as maps & other dials.

The main dials will run on an iPad Air 2 display connected to a Mac mini that will be re-cased with hydraulic bypass dampers (shock absorbers) built into the case.

Controllers will be custom boards with fibre optic ports onboard.

The entire network will be running on Linux, except for the computers that can be directly interfaced with.

The engine controller will run a Linux distribution.

I am tempted to run Apple Darwin, based on BSD/Unix, on one of the computers in the cab.
This will probably be used as a diagnostic terminal when stationary.