Raspberry Pi Car-puter with touch screen, Apple Carplay, sensors, cameras, etc

Wanted to make a separate thread for this one since it's gonna be a work in progress for a long time. Slowly putting together a car-puter system with some useful stuff and some unnecessary "because why not" kinda stuff. I want it to be as smooth/seamless as possible. It's DIY and all, but I want to avoid any "quirks" or timing delays/annoyances. I want it to be simple to use, and have it not be obvious that it's a shitty DIY thrown together system when someone gets in my car.


Side-note: I know there are a lot of good aftermarket head units that do a lot of what I wan't, but I like building/learning stuff, and those also make it a lot harder to do the extra fancy unnecessary stuff that I want to do.


Priority features:

• Touch screen (done)
• Wireless Apple Carplay (done)
• Cameras
  • Backup camera linked to reverse gear
  • L/R Turn signal cameras linked to turn signals
  • dash camera
  • live video, eventually recording capabilities to external hard drive
  • Manual overrides to view cameras at any time
• Blind spot sensors
• Reverse/Forward distance sensors
• Altitude/press sensor
• Gryo for pitch roll angle
• Compass, ambient temp, cabin temp
  • Eventually want to replace the stock overhead panel that shows these with a switch panel
• Second accessible HDMI output for a projector

Nice-to-haves:

• Bluetooth screen mirroring or control from phone
• OBDII diagnostics
  • engine codes
  • real-time sensor data
• Neutral gear sensing to add a remote start system later on
  • Not gonna DIY the remote start, I just want to have an output to wire up to one
• Standalone GPS
• Standalone data plan
  • + Wifi hotspot (hoping to work remote from the truck sometimes)
• Touch screen control of aftermarket lights
• RetroPi/N64 Emulator
• Joystick control spotlight/camera

Main components (I'll update as I add more and commit to the components):

• Raspberry Pi 4, 4GB
• $146 SunFounder Latest 10" DIY Touch Screen All-in-One Solution for Raspberry Pi 5, IPS HD 1280x800 LCD, Built-in 5.1V/5A Output, HDMI, 10-Point, No Driver, Speakers, for RPi 5/4/3/Zero 2W
  Raspberry Pi 10 Inch Touch Screen - SunFounder
• Carlinkit Wireless Carplay Dongle Wired Android Auto USB Dongle,Compatible Car Machine is The Android System Version 4.4.2 or Above, Mirror Screen/iOS 13 14 /Online Upgrade Dongle/Google Waze Maps.
  Carlinkit Wireless USB dongle
• DC-DC 20A buck converter
• 12V Cigarette lighter charger as input to the converter
  • Temporary for proof of concept until I wire it to my fuse box
• plenty of 6' cables for USB extension, micro-HDMI to HDMI, USB-C Power

Raspberry pi Car-puter so far:

Stereo when I bought it. Kenwood DPX500BT. Now partly Frankensteined into the new setup for now.



Raspberry Pi 4gb and Carlinkit dongle to give me Apple CarPlay. Raspberry pi is running LineageOS 18.1 by Konstakang https://konstakang.com/devices/rpi4/LineageOS18/ which basically turns it into a tablet with Android 11 on it, with some extra customizable features that are fully unnecessary for a truck, but why not



I didn't want to dive fully into the DIY stereo system yet, so for now I'm basically using my Kenwood stereo with my Raspberry Pi as the input/controller, and that way my steering wheel controls still work without any headache. Eventually I'll be adding a DAC and DSP and amp to get everything cleaned up and all in one system, but for now this does what I wanted. But I didn't need the double-din sized stereo and the CD player all taking up room since I wanted to tuck it away, so I tore it apart to make it smaller. Removed the CD player portion but was stuck with the faceplate PCB at this angle because of the connector orientation.




It was impossible to find a connector/extension that would work with their proprietary connector, so I took a dremel to it and turned it into a 90 degree connector. Used some standoffs to secure it to the other PCB/housing, and later on I closed in the whole thing with the pieces from the original enclosure. Just bent them all in my vice, so it's not pretty, but nobody knows but me so that's fine.







Also took the dremel pretty heavily to the double-din dash piece so I could mount the touch screen to it


Picked up a buck converter and a cigarette lighter with an on/off button to clean up the 12v input and power it for now until I get the rest of the system together.



Mounted everything to the double din using some stand-offs and a lot of trial and error and more dremeling. I ended up relocating the buck converter later on, so now it just lives hidden away with the Kenwood stereo behind the touch screen. Desoldered the volume knob and extended it out with some wires so I can still use the knob with the touch screen. They're absurdly beefy, but I didn't have any long enough scraps of thinner gauge laying around and wanted to just get it done while I had the free time.


Did the rest of the tearing out as needed so I could run all the wires and have the Pi in my center console, that way it's super accessible for now so I can keep adding on and working on it. Also happened to be running some wiring for the side mirror defrosters, so it was pretty ugly for a bit.



Made a little false bottom for the center console with some scrap 2x4 chunks. I was thinking airflow and cooling might be an issue, but so far the only time I had the Pi overheat was after 6+ hours of driving, and that was before I added the more heavy duty cooling case with two fans.
The extra dangling cable is a usb input to my Kenwood so I can use that as an audio input if someone else wants to plug in.




And here it is:


I've got some grand plans for one day redoing the entire dash, shrink down the clock/hazard/airbag block since I don't need the clock there (ideally without screwing anything up in the process) and slimming down the whole center piece of the dash, but that's for a much later day, and I'll change my mind at some point anyways.


Next up I'm going to try and get the cameras and ultrasonic sensors going

 

Getting the cameras going has been a pretty hefty trial and error process. Backup cameras are generally all analog, while the touchscreen input is digital. Not knowing a ton about camera/video processing I thought that would be an easy workaround, I've got all the adapters in the world.

Initial attempt:

Picked up one of these switchers on Amazon.

JCOLI 4 Way Car Video Switch Parking Camera 4 View Image Split Screen Control Box

JCOLI 4 Way Car Video Switch Parking Camera 4 View Image Split Screen Control Box

Picked up a cheap analog backup camera also, with an analog-to-digital converter.

Original plan was to hook up this switcher with the ADC with an HDMI switch, and wire up that switcher so when I go into reverse or use my turn signal, the HDMI switch is activated along with the camera switcher so the touch screen would show the camera view.
After connecting everything up, got the video coming through and all was great. Frame rate was good, resolution was good. But when i set up a test circuit to make it switch between normal, there were some really long delays. The series of analog camera, camera switcher, ADC, HDMI switcher, and the touch screen was basically just too much processing along the way that added up to a 2-3 second delay when switching. For reverse, that's fine, it would be a slight annoyance but not a big deal. For the L/R turn signal cameras though, a 2-3 second delay basically makes that feature unusable.


Next up, USB UVC cameras.
Pros: Might actually work for this application
Cons: I'll be waterproofing them myself

Picked up one of these first:

$36 XYGStudy for Raspberry Pi OV5640 5MP USB Camera Module 2592x1944 USB Interface High Definition Small in Size Driver-Free Sensor Supports Raspberry Pi Jetson Nano

OV5648 5MP USB Camera Module 2592x1944 USB2.0 Interface High Definition Small in Size Auto Focusing UVC Protocol Driver-Free Sensor S
but then later found these that I like a little better. The lens being separate from the PCB will give me a little more flexibility when I make the enclosure for them

$29 Bewinner HD USB Camera Module,OV5640 5MP 25921944P Auto Focus OTG UVC USB Camera Module for Android Linux,Widely Used in Security Monitoring,Industrial Equipment,Driving

Bewinner HD USB Camera Module,OV5640 5MP 25921944P Auto Focus OTG UVC USB Camera Module


Since I'm using the third party LineageOS so that my Pi thinks it's an Android tablet, external hardware gets more complicated than it is on just Raspbian OS. GPIO stuff is a little more complicated and app development is too in some cases.
In this build, there are some issues with which camera APIs are working (Camera vs Camera2 vs CameraX). I dabbled a bit with developing an android app to deal with camera switching, but once I ran into the API issues I shelved that idea for now until it hopefully gets fixed in the next build.

For more of a proof-of-concept build and just to get it moving and working for now and get all of the sensors installed where I want, I decided to add a second Pi into the mix. I'll have my Lineage Pi handle the CarPlay and touch screen and all that, and I'll have a secondary Pi running Raspbian so I can make my life much easier when it comes to adding all of the sensors and cameras. Both are Pi 4s, and have wifi and ethernet, so my plan is to gather the data with my Raspbian Pi, and send it over to the Lineage Pi either through LAN or ethernet, and stream the video to the LAN as well. Once I get that going I'll have an app read in the data to display it how I want

 

How’s the project coming along? Had the same thought after seeing CarPlay works with the Pi. Google brought me right back to Tacomaworld lol.

my moonshot idea is having a 360 anytime view for my second gen. Maybe MQTT would be a good way to share data between Pi’s

 

Cool project!

 

Finally start getting back to it last week after I took a hiatus to finish up my rooftop tent project. I actually ended up going back on my decision on the camera type. Had some realizations on why things were taking so long to process, and it all came down to just the HDMI handshake that has to occur when switching. It will also be much easier to just get waterproof analog cameras made for cars than it would be to try and DIY waterproof/pot the usb cameras. I'll be making a more detailed post on the setup once I iron out a few details and finish up the schematic for it so I don't set the truck on fire, but basically I'll be using an analog video

$54 Toughsty™ 4Ch Mini Color Video Quad Splitter Multiplexer Processor Switcher for CCTV Security Camera

multiplexer for it again, and just having the feed go directly to one of the Rapsberry Pis so they can pass it through to the monitor. Since the HDMI connection wouldn't ever be switching, the analog signal switching is pretty quick and seamless. Planning on using the pi with an IR transmitter to send IR signals to control the switcher instead of the remote, and some opto-couplers to read in the L/R turn signals and reverse signal without frying the Pi with 12V.

I actually just looked at MQTT for the first time this last week. I'm not too familiar with it but it seems like it might be a good option for sending the non-video data. I'm thinking that if I can handle the video on the lineageOS pi, i can use MQTT for the rest of the signals I want to read in

 

I came across this thread looking for information about doing basically the same thing to my 2011 Tacoma. I'm glad to see this is such a recent project. I was hoping I could remove the stock radio and use everything from the RPi, but I'm not very familiar with their capabilities yet. If I can put in spotify and wire it to my speakers and bypass the radio that's the route I'd like to take. I also have a 3d printer and I have the file to print that faceplate after I customize it to my needs so nothing protrudes out (I'd like to keep it as stock looking as possible). Project so far looks great I'll keep up to date with it as I start my project, also.

 

For radio I was hoping to do the same, but the Pi is pretty limited when it comes to being a stereo. You can have Spotify loaded onto LineageOS on it, or use it through CarPlay with that dongle, but you'll need some extra things for the audio to work and sound good.

Your speakers at least need a new amplifier if you get rid of the stock stereo.
Basic audio output from the pi can be 3.5mm jack or HDMI, but for decent sound you'll need a digital-analog converter. The HiFiBerry DAC for the Pi is compatible with the Lineage builds (it has an easy setting for using it), that's what I'm going to end up using.

For mine I've been searching for a headless stereo/amp combo to use for it that has multiple input options. Main audio source would mostly be the analog coming from the Pi/DAC, but I'd like the option of bluetooth or USB for when someone else plugs in.

How'd you come across that file for the faceplate? And any way you could pass that along? I couldn't find one so I was gonna do a ton of measuring and trial and error so I could 3D print it too.

 

I was afraid I'd run into that same issue with the radio. I may just end up removing the stock radio and putting in a smaller one and the installing thetouch screen above it if there's sufficient room. I mainly want to use it for cameras, diagnostic, and GPS anyway. Absolutely, I'll be happy to send you the unmodified .Stil for the faceplate. Just DM me your email and I'll send it to you.

 

I recently started down this rabbit hole.
So far I am running a raspberry pi4 8g ram
7" raspberry touch screen
DD audio ds-1 signal processor
Alpine MRV-300 4 channel amp.
And a scoche faceplate.
Bluetooth dongle



For firmware, I am just going to start with the blue wave studios rasperry pi image to run android auto.
I still have a long ways to go, but so far it's been fun
There is lots I eventually want to add to it, and will come with time

 

On my setup, I can plug my phone directly to the input on my signal processor and run music directly off that until I get little bugs worked out of the pi side of things

 

Hi....how are you going to control the Pi3? The 3 requires 2.5 amps, however every USB port for vehicles that I'm finding is just 2.1 amps. Have you tracked down any that can put out more force required for the Pi3?

I'm dealing with incorporating a Pi3 utilizing Plex into my RV and attempting to sort out some way to control everything. I surmise I could hack something together to receive more amps in return, however it would be such a great deal simpler if I would simply purchase a USB port and fitting the Pi3 into that. I'm additionally attempting to sort out some way to control an outer hard drive for it, as I don't might suspect the Pi3 has sufficient force for the USB ports to control an outside hard drive and I'd like however much controlled off the DC batteries as could be expected.

 

I hard wired one of these in. Then send power directly to the pi through the gpio pins

uxcell Uxcell Power Converter Regulator DC 12V/24V to DC 5V 10A 50W Waterproof Voltage Convert Transformer

$15 uxcell Uxcell Power Converter Regulator DC 12V/24V to DC 5V 10A 50W Waterproof Voltage Convert Transformer

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENT1PPM

 

This is an amazing project. I love working with Raspberry Pis and have been thinking about doing a similar thing to you with cameras all around the truck for a 360 view. Great work so far!

 

This is AWESOME! any updates here? I just got a rasberry pi 3 and I'm interested in making an auxilary infotainment/nav screen to complement my stock stereo.

 

Hi,

I know this is an old thread, so not sure if I should expect a response.

In trying to make bluetooth audio work with my entertainment unit in 2007 Toyota Camry with a JBL amp, I broke the head unit. Now, I decided I wanted to make something all the way from scratch, using a raspi 4 and maybe harnesses and stuff.

Right now, I am trying to send an aux cable signal directly to the amp system of the jbl Amp already installed in the vehicle.
I have turned in days and nights only to find out that nothing is working.

I got a bunch of harnesses to connect RCA cable directly to an aux jack connected to my phone output, but it never played any sound on the speakers. If at all I should be able to figure out that the car system is mute or something, then I don't know.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks
AntiDigest

 

old mp3car member here. i was doing this back before the pi first existed!

i dug a little to what i could find on the camry jbl system, and this popped up as a required item for installing a replacement head unit on a jbl system:

http://www.metraonline.com/part/AXDIS-TY1

the difficulty here is that we're trying to work around the needs of the jbl amp, which is somewhat unique. in the 2016+ tacoma jbl systems, the signal between the amp/head unit is proprietary to the system, and requires a special decoder to keep the factory radio, but install aftermarket amps.

by your indication of 'bunch of harnesses', i suspect you're only using wire adapters, and not something like the axdis-ty1, which would correctly interface with the amp.

the information i can't locate is what type of signal the camry jbl amp requires. in reading the axdis-ty1 installation specs, it appears that it requires speaker level inputs from an aftermarket radio to operate correctly. the auxilary input it specifies connects only to the new aftermarket radio, and doesn't interface with the oem amp.

which, if true, would mean that you cannot send audio to the oem jbl amp directly from the pi. you'll require some sort of amplifier, as well as a module similar in function to the axdis-ty1 to send the proper signaling to the jbl amp. not cheap whatsoever, unfortunately.

the easiest way out of this predicament is likely going to be that you'll need to install a standard car audio head unit(i understand you were trying to get away from this), as well as something like the axdis-ty1 as the adapter harness. so another $200-worth of material, give or take..

 

It is a 2007 JBL system, would it still have proprietary signal ?

You assumed that right.

Is this still possible to work with a raspi ? And could there possibly be a cheaper alternative to AXDIS-TY1 ??

In general, I assumed that this JBL system (the one in my Camry) would be able to take direct signal. I also assumed that a normal signal to the speakers would work well, as it is already directly going to the AMP before going to the speakers. I am not sure what proprietary signal would be.

 

no idea. i couldn't find much on keeping the head unit, but replacing the jbl amp in those cars, which would give insight into the control protocols being used.

i don't know of any immediate alternatives, and i don't believe there's going to be any way to work with only the raspi.

there's really 3 common variants of an audio amplifier.

1. take a low level signal input and create a higher output speaker level signal. any aftermarket amp does this, some factory amps do this.
2. take a speaker level signal input and create an even higher output speaker level signal. many aftermarket amps do this, factory amps are more commonly this type, as it's easier to keep the wiring models between vehicles simple.
3. take a special signal like a digital/coaxial/optical signal, and convert it to a high output speaker level signal. very few aftermarket amps do this, but it's a very common method for many factory amps to use. it's also the most difficult to work with, as it's non-standard for any aftermarket gear, so we're at the mercy of smarter aftermarket integration companies to break the signal type and offer a converter solution.

it appears to me that the camry amp is somewhere between options 2+3.
if it was only option 2, a

$8 metra 70-1761 radio wiring harness for toyota 87-up power 4 speaker

metra 70-1761 harness should have allowed you direct connection to the speakers to play at an extremely low volume.
if it was only option 3, the axdis-ty1 wouldn't be as 'simple' as it is.

because the pi has a low level output, it really only leaves you with 2 options:
1. entirely abandon the oem jbl amp, install an aftermarket amp, connect the pi directly to it.
2. connect the pi to a small aftermarket amp to go into the adapter module like the axdis-ty1 to connect to the jbl amp.

that's really it. the axdis-ty1 is relatively cheap at about $100, any radio/small 2-4 channel amp is going to be around another $100, making it much cheaper than an aftermarket amp solution.

any aftermarket 5-channel amp that can equal the jbl amp is going to start at around $500, plus new power and signal wiring, likely closing in somewhere around $600-2,000 fully installed.

and there lies how the demise of mp3car started. installing a computer in a car will never be the cheapest option.

 

Can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe the best possible solution of this is to get an aftermarket radio with android auto and carplay and get that to work with the AXDIS-TY1 with the JBL system.
Been trying to get this to work for almost a year now and already spent like $200 on it. Should've probably gone with the aftermarket radio in the first place.

Heh, some things never get done, LOL.

 

yeah, i really even hate recommending a radio in this case, i love oddball solutions that are cheaper than the mainstream options.

but in this case there's no other option.