Car PC using Raspberry Pi and Kodi Car Skin
#1
Hi all

I would like to install a RPi with a 7" touchscreen in my VW T4 for the following;

1 MP3 Player
2 FM Radio Tuner (or DAB)
3 Sat Nav
4 Rear View Camera (USB mounted at rear)
5 Dashcam (cam mounted on dsh)
6 Outside Temperature
7 Bluetooth connection to phone for hands free

I am not a programmer but know that the RPi can do each of these items separately. My question is, can the Kodi Car Skin be used on the Pi to control all of the above? In essence I would like to recreate the pc interface that most modern cars have. I like the look of the Kodi Car Skin but do not know if each of the menu bottons can be set-up to do the above. I would like the outside temperature to be showing all the time and the rear view camera to be available at the push of a button (for when reversing).

Has anyone already done this? If so, some guidance would be greatly appreciated.

TIA
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#2
http://engineering-diy.blogspot.com/2015...carpc.html
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#3
That link is great but it does not fully answer my question above :-(

I have seen this example before but it does not include items 4, 5 or 7 in my wish list. Therefore my question still stands, is it possible for Kodi to control these items? Can a custom menu button be added that for example turns on the webcam or answer a phone call?

Many thanks
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#4
(2016-11-15, 18:08)The Bod Wrote: Hi all

I would like to install a RPi with a 7" touchscreen in my VW T4 for the following;

1 MP3 Player
2 FM Radio Tuner (or DAB)
3 Sat Nav
4 Rear View Camera (USB mounted at rear)
5 Dashcam (cam mounted on dsh)
6 Outside Temperature
7 Bluetooth connection to phone for hands free

I am not a programmer but know that the RPi can do each of these items separately. My question is, can the Kodi Car Skin be used on the Pi to control all of the above? In essence I would like to recreate the pc interface that most modern cars have. I like the look of the Kodi Car Skin but do not know if each of the menu bottons can be set-up to do the above. I would like the outside temperature to be showing all the time and the rear view camera to be available at the push of a button (for when reversing).

Has anyone already done this? If so, some guidance would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

You wouldn't need a separate button to activate a reversing cam you would just have to piggy back off the existing reverse light switch on the gear box.
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#5
The cheap way for a lot of reverse cams to work is that they have two video inputs. One video input is the "default" and the other will take control when it sends a signal. By hooking up the reverse camera to the backup light power, the camera turns on only when you back up and the signal starting up takes priority of the screen.

However, I've only seen that on basic composite video screens. The better HDMI screens, like the little 5inch and 7inch guys you can find on ebay for really cheap, don't work that way. It might be a little bit more tricky. What I would suggest is getting one of the LCD screens that has a driverboard with both HDMI and composite video inputs. That way you can use the button from the driverboard (directly or soldered to a nice dash-mounted button) for the reverse cam. With a little bit of work, you could even have the Pi switch a replay for that button, or have the reverse light switch a relay for the button.

I'm pretty sure most of the stuff on your list is doable, except for maybe receiving bluetooth calls. Someone has probably attempted that, but I haven't really looked into Pi Car PCs in a while.
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#6
Ok, so can anyone offer some advice on how to install the CarPC skin onto OpenElec (Kodi) and a RPi3?

I have followed the Engineering (DIY) Blog linked from Idorel77 but there is no home/pi/ on the SD card to copy the carpc folder onto following the Raspian image? Is there something that I have forgot?[/align]
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#7
The Engineering (DIY) Blog has it's very own forum dedicated to providing support for his builds.
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#8
(2016-11-15, 18:08)The Bod Wrote: Hi all

I would like to install a RPi with a 7" touchscreen in my VW T4 for the following;

1 MP3 Player
2 FM Radio Tuner (or DAB)
3 Sat Nav
4 Rear View Camera (USB mounted at rear)
5 Dashcam (cam mounted on dsh)
6 Outside Temperature
7 Bluetooth connection to phone for hands free

I am not a programmer but know that the RPi can do each of these items separately. My question is, can the Kodi Car Skin be used on the Pi to control all of the above? In essence I would like to recreate the pc interface that most modern cars have. I like the look of the Kodi Car Skin but do not know if each of the menu bottons can be set-up to do the above. I would like the outside temperature to be showing all the time and the rear view camera to be available at the push of a button (for when reversing).

Has anyone already done this? If so, some guidance would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

Haha - I have just started to build an In Car Entertainment and Technology system and in order to get some help I headed over here and found your post.
I have a Pi3 an an official Pi 7 Inch Touchscreen and have just installed Kodi on top of the latest version of Rasbian Jessie.

I did not know that Kodi had an In Car Skin so I will check that out?

I have read loads of blogs etc but like you (and as is human nature) I will have to cobble bits n pieces from everywhere. I am looking at:
Entertainment - hence Kodi
Navigation
Internet Access
DAB / Internet Radio?
Voice Activated Controls
Face Recognition
Possibly a Motion Detector Alarm (if I get a UPS).

What are you using / going to use as a power supply? I bought a Mausberry 3A bespoke Pi supply.
Reversing Cam - had not thought about that?

In testing phase at the mo and have only just started.

System will be installed in a Classic Mini that I have just restored - sort of Retro / Hi Tech mix :-)
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#9
(2016-11-17, 20:26)The Bod Wrote: Ok, so can anyone offer some advice on how to install the CarPC skin onto OpenElec (Kodi) and a RPi3?

I have followed the Engineering (DIY) Blog linked from Idorel77 but there is no home/pi/ on the SD card to copy the carpc folder onto following the Raspian image? Is there something that I have forgot?[/align]

Not had a look yet but OpenELec is a custom image for a Media Centre is it not so may not have a standard Rasbian (Operating System) folder setup? I have installed Kodi on top of Rasbian Jessie (latest edition). My reasoning was so that I could have access to everything else Pi in my car if I needed it (not that I will be coding or blogging whilst driving of course).
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#10
(2016-11-19, 15:24)JonnyAlpha Wrote:
(2016-11-17, 20:26)The Bod Wrote: Ok, so can anyone offer some advice on how to install the CarPC skin onto OpenElec (Kodi) and a RPi3?

I have followed the Engineering (DIY) Blog linked from Idorel77 but there is no home/pi/ on the SD card to copy the carpc folder onto following the Raspian image? Is there something that I have forgot?[/align]

Not had a look yet but OpenELec is a custom image for a Media Centre is it not so may not have a standard Rasbian (Operating System) folder setup? I have installed Kodi on top of Rasbian Jessie (latest edition). My reasoning was so that I could have access to everything else Pi in my car if I needed it (not that I will be coding or blogging whilst driving of course).

Just had a quick skim of the Engineering DIY Blog (Raspberry Pi Car PC Tutorial - first line:

- write a fresh image with the latest RaspbianOS image from http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/

Which means they used an install of Rasbian not OpenElec. Did you install Kodi using the CarPC download that is linked from the blog? I have just joined the Engineering DIY Forum and have started to ask questions ref the installation. (Same User Name).
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#11
If you want a debian compatible kodi os try osmc.
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#12
You will need Raspbian if you want to use some of the other stuff from that guide, like the navigation stuff. OSMC should also work, in theory, but the steps will be different. If you just need Kodi with the CarPC skin then you can just download the current version as a .zip from github and use "install by zip" in any version of Kodi, regardless of the platform/OS: https://github.com/idorel77/skin.CarPC-touch_carbon/

(it works as a very usable skin for Android and iOS phones, for example)
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