1. Welcome to Tacoma World!

    You are currently viewing as a guest! To get full-access, you need to register for a FREE account.

    As a registered member, you’ll be able to:
    • Participate in all Tacoma discussion topics
    • Communicate privately with other Tacoma owners from around the world
    • Post your own photos in our Members Gallery
    • Access all special features of the site

Using Raspberry Pi for conversion of dumb truck to smart truck

Discussion in '3rd Gen. Tacomas (2016-2023)' started by BigTex970, Mar 30, 2020.

  1. Mar 30, 2020 at 7:26 AM
    #1
    BigTex970

    BigTex970 [OP] Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2016
    Member:
    #202446
    Messages:
    40
    Gender:
    Male
    Vehicle:
    2017 Tacoma TRD OR DCSB
    Came across an article on the Raspberry Pi, which is a $35 pocket sized single board computer designed to teach kids about computers. Wondering if any of you smart people have ideas to connect to the Tacoma to extend use of Entune display, stream videos, act as a 1-4GB song archive, etc.

    Anybody used this? Ideas? Talk amongst yourselves4292-03.jpg
     
    wolf2600 and danielgonzzz like this.
  2. Mar 30, 2020 at 7:29 AM
    #2
    0xDEADBEEF

    0xDEADBEEF Swaying to the Symphony of Destruction

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2019
    Member:
    #285037
    Messages:
    19,430
    Vehicle:
    2000 reg cab 4x4 flatbed MT
    As long as you've got a good power supply for it, a Pi can do so so so many things. If Entune has a external video/audio input thats HDMI compatible, it could work.
     
    danielgonzzz likes this.
  3. Mar 30, 2020 at 7:33 AM
    #3
    Dirk Diggler

    Dirk Diggler Under the Stun Gun

    Joined:
    May 30, 2017
    Member:
    #220314
    Messages:
    3,550
    Columbus, GA
    Vehicle:
    2017 MGM OR DCSB
    I have a co worker who used these all the time to do whatever the hell he wanted really. Possibilities are endless
     
    JoeCOVA and tonered like this.
  4. Mar 30, 2020 at 8:27 AM
    #4
    wood714

    wood714 Got any Quaaludes?

    Joined:
    Oct 13, 2018
    Member:
    #269269
    Messages:
    1,397
    First Name:
    Kevin
    East Coast Florida
    Vehicle:
    2018 4x4 V6 SR5
    I just play old Nintendo games on mine.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. Mar 30, 2020 at 8:54 AM
    #5
    IMXPLRN

    IMXPLRN Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2019
    Member:
    #310601
    Messages:
    191
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Chris
    Folsom, CA
    Vehicle:
    2003 Prerunner
    Yeah, I do the same. Old nes, snes, genesis, TG16 etc...

    IMG_9735.jpg IMG_9736.jpg IMG_9734.jpg IMG_9738.jpg
     
    FireMedk, JoeSchmo, wolf2600 and 12 others like this.
  6. Mar 30, 2020 at 9:28 AM
    #6
    Taco_Coma

    Taco_Coma That's a lovely accent you have. New Jersey?

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2018
    Member:
    #271144
    Messages:
    2,979
    Gender:
    Male
    South NJ
    Vehicle:
    2018 DCSB SR5
    I do the same with mine it works great, I have an insane number of ROMs that i got from a guy I used to work with. Think it was around 5000. I have to find my old computer to look
     
    12TRDTacoma likes this.
  7. Mar 30, 2020 at 9:29 AM
    #7
    Skydvrr

    Skydvrr IG: @kalopsianick

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2017
    Member:
    #229889
    Messages:
    12,648
    First Name:
    Nick
    YMH
    Vehicle:
    Black '17 OR

    Crazy how far technology has come
     
  8. Mar 30, 2020 at 11:05 AM
    #8
    Woodrow F Call

    Woodrow F Call Kindling crackles and the smoke curls up...

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Member:
    #179160
    Messages:
    3,889
    Gender:
    Male
    Colorful Colorado
    Vehicle:
    16 DCSB SR5 4X4 "ikea furniture haulers" edition.
    So we can play 30 year old video games. :D
     
  9. Mar 30, 2020 at 11:29 AM
    #9
    Skydvrr

    Skydvrr IG: @kalopsianick

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2017
    Member:
    #229889
    Messages:
    12,648
    First Name:
    Nick
    YMH
    Vehicle:
    Black '17 OR

    So true haha
     
  10. Mar 30, 2020 at 1:42 PM
    #10
    deuceb

    deuceb Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2018
    Member:
    #253095
    Messages:
    554
    Gender:
    Male
    Denver | Austin
    Vehicle:
    2018 Taco BBPDCLBTRDOR | 2004 MB SL55 | 86 VW GTI
    Everlanders have a great setup and something I'm building. Trying figure out the best way to do cameras.


    There's this and many other projects on youtube and the interwebz


    I got this case:
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081VT2CPW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    This screen:
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0153R2A9I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    OpenAuto OS:
    http://www.bluewavestudio.io/index.php/bluewave-shop/openauto-pro-detail

    And I'm going to mount a RAM ball to the case to it so I can have it on my TPAM.
     
  11. Mar 30, 2020 at 2:49 PM
    #11
    JoeCOVA

    JoeCOVA Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2016
    Member:
    #202463
    Messages:
    9,656
    First Name:
    Joe
    Colorado Springs
    Vehicle:
    Ford F350, Lexus RX450h, FZJ80, Jeep YJ, Jeep LJ
    Raspberry Pi is much more powerful than a teaching tool. You're only limit is your imagination.
     
    Skydvrr likes this.
  12. Mar 30, 2020 at 2:54 PM
    #12
    0xDEADBEEF

    0xDEADBEEF Swaying to the Symphony of Destruction

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2019
    Member:
    #285037
    Messages:
    19,430
    Vehicle:
    2000 reg cab 4x4 flatbed MT
    I've been tossing around the idea of building a relay control board that lives under the hood, with an interface powered by a Pi on the dash. It could be touchscreen, but I like buttons better. The nice part is with some good design you could control an unlimited number of relays with one control unit and one set of wires to the front of the truck. All the high current stuff would stay out of the cab, and you could even make it wireless.

    Unfortunately I have exactly zero extra electric accessories on my truck that need controlling, so its a super low priority. :laughing:
     
    CrippledHo and Skydvrr like this.
  13. Mar 30, 2020 at 5:38 PM
    #13
    Jlp468

    Jlp468 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 10, 2019
    Member:
    #312983
    Messages:
    63
    Gender:
    Male

    I went down the rabbit hole of raspberry pi and the possibilities are eennddlesss. Kinda overwhelming if you don’t really have an idea already in mind
     
    JoeCOVA[QUOTED] likes this.
  14. Mar 30, 2020 at 7:19 PM
    #14
    mutely

    mutely Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2017
    Member:
    #210640
    Messages:
    1,848
    Vehicle:
    TRD Pro in metallic primer
    I’ve got prittymuch this, but mine is behind the radio not under hood. Also used Arduino clone and not pi, as it has built in ADO so I can read the steering wheel controls, and use those to control the relays. Also has Bluetooth and Wifi, so I can control the relays from phone.
     
    0xDEADBEEF[QUOTED] likes this.
  15. Mar 30, 2020 at 7:31 PM
    #15
    0xDEADBEEF

    0xDEADBEEF Swaying to the Symphony of Destruction

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2019
    Member:
    #285037
    Messages:
    19,430
    Vehicle:
    2000 reg cab 4x4 flatbed MT
    Very good. I don't have steering wheel controls, but that's a great idea.

    Which Arduino clone did you use? There's certainly no lack of capable Arduino boards. Only real reason I was thinking about pi was for driving a larger display, maybe talking to an obd adapter.
     
  16. Mar 30, 2020 at 7:47 PM
    #16
    mutely

    mutely Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2017
    Member:
    #210640
    Messages:
    1,848
    Vehicle:
    TRD Pro in metallic primer
    It’s an esp8266 based board with integrated relays (which there are many varieties), But this one was the only one I found that also had spare GPIO pins so I didn’t need so solder to the chip myself for external input.
    https://aptinex.com/product/aptinex-iot-relaynode-rn4ce8/

    I’ve got a ton of experience with Pi, if you want a screen then it’s the best option, but it has a ton of pitfalls for this style project. Make sure you read up on read only root, or use a distribution that has it, it’s the ONLY way you’re going to make a Pi reliable for this style project.
     
  17. Mar 30, 2020 at 7:57 PM
    #17
    0xDEADBEEF

    0xDEADBEEF Swaying to the Symphony of Destruction

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2019
    Member:
    #285037
    Messages:
    19,430
    Vehicle:
    2000 reg cab 4x4 flatbed MT
    Nice. Mqtt built in even.

    Yeah I'm torn on displays. If I could come up with information that I actually wanted to display beyond just making a button board, then a pi would be the ticket.


    And yeah pis can be a pain. There's just a lot of extra complexity dealing with Linux. I've done a ton of it, but sometimes it's just nice to toss an Arduino at it and have things just work. I think the microsd card is the biggest Achilles heel for a project like this, they tend to just not boot sometimes if they get a little dislodged. Something like a beaglebone with onboard eMMC would be more reliable.
     
  18. Mar 30, 2020 at 8:18 PM
    #18
    mutely

    mutely Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2017
    Member:
    #210640
    Messages:
    1,848
    Vehicle:
    TRD Pro in metallic primer
    I’ve had great luck on Pi’s by using the cf card read only (Ie RO root Linux, my own distribution) then any old USB thumb drive for data will do. Just make sure to use ram drive for anything write intensive (like logs). They are rock solid from any corruption that way, then you just need to worry about their Finikey power.

    As for that board I posted, I threw away the firmware and used my own, don’t think I even powered it up with theirs. Use it to control different camera input , camera override, Gps lockout override, ECT always on and probably some other things I’ve forgotten ...:)
     
    0xDEADBEEF likes this.
  19. May 13, 2020 at 9:52 AM
    #19
    ngrossman3

    ngrossman3 New Member

    Joined:
    May 13, 2020
    Member:
    #327916
    Messages:
    2
    Gender:
    Male
    I am in the process of building a Relay controllor using an Arduino, Rasp Pi, and an Android Head unit. The relays and arduino are in the engine bay and are controlled with a 2 wire serial connection going back to the raspberry pi. I then wrote an android app that will wirelessly send commands to the Pi. I have all of the software done and I am now trying to clean up the wiring and mount everything. Future plans are to connect to the trucks canbus so I can monitor engine parameters and maybe even control some factory features.
     
    0xDEADBEEF likes this.
  20. Dec 7, 2021 at 8:09 PM
    #20
    chuymoreno

    chuymoreno Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2016
    Member:
    #203101
    Messages:
    430
    Gender:
    Male
    El Paso, Texas
    Vehicle:
    Tacoma SR5
    Any updates on your project?
    I want to use a touch screen to control the Offroad lights like the spod.
    Monitoring the engine parameters would be like the screen saver and once I click on touch the screen it would then switch to the screen controlling the aux lights
     

Products Discussed in

To Top