Exchanging the SatNav unit (Volvo) in the DB9

Introduction

The SatNav unit that was built in the ca. 2006-2008 cars was the Volvo unit, which was already outdated by that time. System and maps were stored on a DVD and the DVD player located in the trunk. Depending on weather conditions, (humidity, temp.), there might be lots of read errors due to condensation. What a shame if you get lost in the middle of nowhere in such a car du to a lame SatNav!
Also map updates are expensive and if they are issued, they already are outdated.
No TMC or other fancy stuff was included those days. So the decision was made ...

The unit needs to be replaced

But there are some user requirements that need to be met:

Decision was made for a 5 inch Garmin 2598 LMT

The concept

Since all the infotainment stuff in the car is connected via MOST bus and just taking out one part would result in errors on the bus due to unavailability of that unit. It was decided to take out the original display unit only and leave the brain (inside the DVDplaver unit) in the car in a switched off state. This means we make sure that no route is active, when we take out the unit and that the voicevolume is turned off.
The display should be replaced by a whole new SatNav system mounted in the same position as the original one.
The new unit should be powered up as soon as the lid is lifted and should be switched off as soon as it is closed.
Swiveling the lid should be similar to the original motion. I experimented with a motor/gearbox-combination first, but that was not satisfying. Therefore i decided for a RC servo. Dueto the weight of the lid the assembly later on becomes quite heavy. So lots of torque from the servo is required. A low profile landing gear servo (brand: Spectrum) was chosen.
The whole motion should be controlled via a microcontroller that would allow the following:

How it was accomplished

up to that it was easy, now the work begins:
All the original parts are stored and can be refitted to original state if necessary.

There's room for future improvements, still:



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