Basic raspberry pi media center for a skoolie.

[Tootalltechie]

Just watched this video of automotive grade Linux on raspberry pi.
https://youtu.be/TvzcnwP9jzI

Sent from my SM-G530W using Tapatalk

 

[cadillackid]

Another device I use a lot is a zbasic.net chip, thesecare a bit more complex as you build your boards around them but for low level like reading sensors and controlling things they are super, I did a quick POC to remap the accelerator pedal on my 444e to be more aggressive , using the built in ADCband DAC functions..

Automotive grade Linux on the PI looks real interesting, I'm going to have to explore more. Lots of great stuff in this thread
Christopher

 

[warewolff]

I love the auto linux but to my knowledge there are no J1708 versions .... could something like this J1708 to wifi adapter be used with rasberry pi to read/monitor everything from the ecu on our internationals?

 

[cadillackid]

the easiest way i think is to build the ELM-325 chip based circuit that is posted on an RV forum.. ther ELM325 does all the heavy hitting as far as the J1708 link is concerned and then you talk to it with standard 'AT' style "modem" commands.. the circuit to make it talk is pretty easy, an RS-485 driver on one end and then whatever type of link you want on the other.. most common is an FTDI type converter so you can plug it into a USB port.. software wise you could write a go-between daemon that would write to registers which auto-linux could read and display.. or your own GUI using pythin / QT or others..
-Christopher

 

[LincolnEcho]

the easiest way i think is to build the ELM-325 chip based circuit that is posted on an RV forum.. ther ELM325 does all the heavy hitting as far as the J1708 link is concerned and then you talk to it with standard 'AT' style "modem" commands.. the circuit to make it talk is pretty easy, an RS-485 driver on one end and then whatever type of link you want on the other.. most common is an FTDI type converter so you can plug it into a USB port.. software wise you could write a go-between daemon that would write to registers which auto-linux could read and display.. or your own GUI using pythin / QT or others..
-Christopher

That would be better solution for a dashboard cluster than a pi. The pi would be more for less processor intensive things like lights, gps, tunes, movies...

I've been under the bus (literally) filling holes and sanding / grinding floor. hope to put a video of the pi together soon.

 

[warewolff]

That would be better solution for a dashboard cluster than a pi. The pi would be more for less processor intensive things like lights, gps, tunes, movies...

I've been under the bus (literally) filling holes and sanding / grinding floor. hope to put a video of the pi together soon.

You could still use the pi as your display for all of this, no? Cadillac's method solves communicating with our heavy duty buses. The link for that RV tutorial cadillac was talking about is available HERE.

 

[cadillackid]

im not familiar enough with autlinux to know if it is easily modified for more data sources.. I plan on having multiple screeens and each screen will be on its own source unless i go with serial type LCD's, but colors and such get hairy with serial screens compared to usoing a Pi and an adafruit or Maker type screen. Python is capable of opening a serial port in linux and communicating easily with an API.. so something like the FTDI chip will load up as /dev/ttyUSB0 or such and is easily talked to.. QT is a fairly easy GUI to work with as well and supports multiple object types.. ie buttons / display only, etc..

if you are .NET type, Mono has been succesfully run on a Pi.. a Pi 3 is what I would recommend.. then you could write your GUI in .NET, though I think serial gets tougher with .NET, you could run a Virtual serial app like VSPDL linux by Tibbo in server mode and then from .NET it becomes a local socket connection which is easy..

theres a ton of directions to go in... a lot depends on what you are most comfortable operating in and programming in,, there is no right or wrong way to do this.. and im guessing all of us have different environments in which we are best at building / programming.
-Christopher

 

[warewolff]

Why reinvent the wheel if it's already been made?

For $265 on Amazon,
THIS J1708 Bluefire for trucks bluetooth adapter communicates with their android/iOS app for trucks:

It's not as pretty as programming custom gauges but has enough data to replace the analog stuff ... no? I could easily program a cheap android head unit to launch the app on startup.

Just for giggles I emailed the company to see if they plan on releasing a GUI for the data, similar to Torque Pro ....

Unfortunately I am not a programmer and designing one myself is a bit above my pay grade.

 

[cadillackid]

That was my issue when I looked at that before is I didn't like the screen, wasn't goons be as readable on a dash as I wanted, I never tested it to see if it pulls down the HPOP data from my 7.3 or not, my vmspc doesn't on its own but the computer sends it since navistar gets it . That data is important so I want it on whatever solution I end up with.
Christopher

 

[warewolff]

Another very easy option is to use an in between like THIS Systems-Link Databus Gauge Driver that works to take the cpu data and interpret it to intelligent analog gauges.

Effectively it's a hybrid digital/analog system and opens up the option of using standard gauges without having to route every single wire/sensor yourself. It'd be comparable in price to the previous Bluefire Adapter and thr end result might look a little nicer / more stock.

Sorry to threadjack. Just wanted to detail available options, particularly in regard to engine monitoring.

 

[cadillackid]

that is a badass box!! what a great find!! there are a couple people on here I know of looking to ditch the navistar cluster in favor of analog-style truck gauges... i dont consider that a threadjack at all.. after all its still in the realms of custom dashboarding which is really what this thread has turned into
-Christopher

 

[warewolff]

I'm waiting on a quote for a full dash cluster replacement from that manufacturer ... I'll update with the cost.

 

[warewolff]

Bluefire upgraded their app to include custom digital gauges, compatible on any android or iOS system!!! I specially requested this feature almost a year ago and the developers followed through... I am so happy. To my knowledge this is now THE most cost effective route in replacing those old analog clusters ... attached an image of what it looks like ... fully customizable as well btw.

 

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

thread bump for a farely new member that just asked these questions.
to much for me to answer?

 

[flattracker]

I am a fan of the raspberry pi. I have setup a few as media centers. One can play their music and movies using one. The video quality is HD and with the right add-on board high quality stereo is possible. I built one for my brother and he installed it in his camper. It will work with most any flat screen tv that can handle HDMI. I am going to install mine in the bus and connect it to a 55" TV.
To play your movies, use MKV and Handbrake to re-encode them first. For use as a media center I use libreElec operating system with KODI.
When you get a raspberry pi board with the noobs microSD card, the libreElec is there as well as linux. Mine comes up with a screen to boot either OS. Once up in KODI you have menu driven screens to select what you wish to watch or play.
I like the raspberry pi 4 B the best. If one boots up the Linux OS they can access the net and perform all the normal operations one does. It has 2.4 Ghz and 5.0 Ghz wifi, blue tooth gigabit ethernet, HDMI video, USB 3.0. I have used one to post to this forum, buy on eBay, etc. With a 12 volt to 5 volt converter one could run one from your cigarette lighter connector. They are small, about the size of an Altoids tin. One can store their music and movies on a memory stick or a hard drive.


By the way, if you own an legitimate original of a movie or an album, you can legally re-encode/copy cds for your own use. You must keep ownership of the originals and cannot sell or give away your copies.

 

[cadillackid]

The pi 4B boards are the best, I’ve found when running KODI or even on raspboan desktop that the 4 and 8 gig ram boards are much preferred ..

Boards are a bit hard to get right now although some of the canakits are easier to find..

Many people (like us) switched to RPI boards when other embedded systems like pc engines ran dry .. lots of demand for RPI right now..