Would a Garmin NUVI LCD / Touch Panel be of any use?

[mancow]

I was looking at my NUVI the other day and couldn't help but thing how perfect the display and touch sensor would be for a multitude of projects. Has anyone ever used one with the Arduino? Is it even compatible at all?

[SouthernAtHeart]

I'm surprised no one has hack a nuvi into an Arduino project yet.

[Zapro]

No. You'd need an ARM processor to push pixel data fast enough to use the LCD panel. There is no memory in the LCD panel, so you need to refresh it FAST. The touch is a simple 2-wire resistive, and you can use that quite simply on an Arduino.

The hardware as-is isn't usable with an Arduino, since it doesn't run WindowsCE underneath like almost all other GPS'es. It may run a variant of VxWorks, but last i checked my old Nüvi, the software ran directly on the hardware, no underlying OS.

// Per.

[SouthernAtHeart]

What about just using the GPS out of one. I've considered taking an old one apart. Has anyone done this?  Does the GPS receiver unplug like one you'd buy at SparkFun?

[Zapro]

On almost all Nüvi's the Sirfstar III chipset is imbedded on the mainboard, and does not have a seperate PCB, so re-using the GPS receiver is quite a hassle.
It does output standard NMEA sentences, so you could re-use that part if you'd like.

// Per.

[SouthernAtHeart]

Thanks. I always wondered about how easy it'd be to pull the chip outa one and reuse. Not worth the bother.