Workshop 12 has partnered with Shapeways.com to provide 3D printing services for Brainiac plastics. Shapeways provides great customer service and quality printed products at a very competitive price. While Workshop 12 has designed the Brainiac plastics Shapeways takes over the production and shipping by creating orders in the Shapeways Workshop 12 storefront. NOTE: Brainiac plastics are designed for the non-navigation version of the Nissan 350Z
What do I need to get started?
The Brainiac custom fit plastics for the Nissan 350Z have been designed to securely hold a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1″ tablet in your dashboard creating a sleek factory integrated look. The starting point is to acquire one of these tablets if you do not already have one, which can typically found on eBay or Amazon at a reasonable price.
Software Experience
Workshop 12 has created an Android home screen launcher application that will bring a more driver friendly user interface to the Android experience. This means larger touch targets for launching applications, high contrast white on black graphics, customizable accent colors and two finger gestures for media control such as volume adjustment and moving between tracks in your play list.
This application has been made available only for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1″ devices used with Brainiac plastics. To download on your device, open Google Play and search for “Brainiac Launcher”.
What do I order from Shapeways?
The 350Z solution consists of two separate pieces of plastics which need to each be added to your shopping cart on Shapeways.com. These two pieces create a “sandwich” like configuration on the central “waterfall” of the 350Z dashboard.
Shapeways Versatile Plastic is a durable nylon plastic that can be used for a wide range of applications, both for prototyping and for end products. Printed using Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), when thin, it’s flexible enough for hinges and springs and when thick, it’s strong enough for structural components.
How do I install the Brainiac plastics in my dashboard?
We’ve pulled together a video to show the step-by-step process of installing the Brainiac plastics into your 350Z which is no more difficult than performing a aftermarket stereo installation. You can also find some generic aftermarket stereo installation instructions from Crutchfield. While the 02-05 and 06-09 dashboards are slightly different, the same process is applied for both.
How do I wire my tablet into my car’s electronics?
We’ve also posted some content on how to configure your tablet’s power settings to best suit an in-car installation. A detailed blog post has also been supplied to give you a nice wiring diagram for reference. Your general requirements will be:
- 1 X Aftermarket stereo wiring harness specific for your vehicle
- 1 X Amplifier to run your door speakers (something like this one fits in tight spaces)
- 1 X Jtron 12V to 5V DC-DC Voltage Power Adaptor for USB (connect to stereo wiring harness)
- 1 X Micro-USB OTG cable (On The Go). This allows you to both charge and use USB accessories.
- 1 X Standard 3.5mm male headphone to male RCA cable
- 1 X (Optionally) a 3.5mm Stereo Isolation Transformer (will remove any “hum” or “noise” that is present coming out of the headphone jack)
Unboxing Your Plastics
