Pine64 Head Unit

[Zoidiano0]

Hell Yeah>!
my pledge has been Lock-down today looking forward to get my Tracker number ( if i get one :p )
or just get a surprise at the mail

my list was

PlaxBox Pledge

1 64GB MicroSD Android
1 7" LCD Touch Screen
1 PINE64 ABS Playbox Enclosure
1 PINE64 USA 5V Power Supply
1 802.11BGN Wifi/ BT4.0 Module
1 PlayBox Kit
1 PINE A64+ 2GB

AddOns

1 5 Way 12C Cable
1 PINE64 Acrylic Open Enclosure
1 PINE64 POT Development Board
1 USB Serial Programmer for PINE64
1 PINE64 Ambient Light Sensor
1 PINE64 Humidity Temperature Sensor
1 HDMI to VGA Adapter With Audio
1 5MP Camera Module

hooping i get all in a single package ...maybe not but.. they r on my way

soon as i got them i'll upload a video Unboxing all

stay tune.!!

[files_copying]

Has anyone tried this raspberry pi based head unit? http://i-carus.com/ It may have some useful design decisions. I have read through this thread up to here and like this idea. How can I help speed up the work on this?

[Rob]

Hi Guys i know that the Board's has not been shipped yet but there is a common project for some of the members  and that is
to build a DIY Car Head Unit



this is a main project or a common goal to build this with our Board

i was talking with some people interested and this is the list of  some of the features that we think this HeadUnit Should have:

- AUDIO

- 4x50W RMS Audio Output ( with a better DAC  of course )

Better DAC

to join to our Amp's Systems

- GPS (USB, Serial)

- ND-105C
 
- BU-353-S4 (added by @dalasu)


- USB "POWERED HUB" (so we can power all kind of devices no matter the load (but care about the bandwidth)

- D-Link DUB-H7 (added by @dalasu)

- NOISE ISOLATOR

DC/DC Converter with Galvanic Isolation 5V/3A (added by @dalasu)


- SDR Radio http://sdrtouch.com/ for more info

- if we can get some help of a developer we can get audio streaming Android to Android Connection to play music from out own phone or of a friend ("Bluetooth"), Like a normal bluetooth head unit

- CAN and OBDII Capabilities
Torque

- Integrated Security System with the Pine64 and some RF peripherals
like  a 2 ways alarm systems but  better and we also can use a cellular service to send a text sms if something happens to out car   or simply via 915mhz RF

- Rear Camera Support  by using an external composite video receiver

Camera: Esky EC170-06

Receiver: Vktech
Receiver: Easycap DC60 STK1160 (Amazon.com) (added by @dalasu)
Receiver: Easycap DC60 STK1160 (ebay.com) (added by @dalasu)

- And of course if is possible have access to  ANDROID AUTO


ok if there is some questions and features to add to the list  please leave a comment and give your opinion about this project
and if someone can give a try of some of the products that i have mentioned in this list or if u know about some others that can work for us post it so i can add it to the list and we can have more options and so improve this project
thanks!

---

I am new to all of this but I really like this project idea...so many possibilities of functionalities to offer....I will be staying close to this and contributing once I get my kit.
Thx
Rob

[Zoidiano0]

Hello @Rob and @iles_copying thanks for joing on the aproject
well we r all awaiting for our pine packages if u have urs pls start testing some of te a running pps we provide to use like Viper4Android and trying to connect a gps module that could be nice ofcourse the development of this board in the sotfware part is quite only restricted to porting OS, no in using Gpio but there is some ports of python to gpio management if u can make it work on android that would be great
I'll do the same soon as i get my package hopefuly on late june until then i hope that running all the sotware requeriments that we need to make this work be avaliable so we can start working on this and improve it
one idea i had these days was to using a OBD2 ,CAN chip from obd solutions (avaliabre in sparkfun as break out board ) to use as monitoring the car using one of the 4 uarts avaliables in the pine well this ideas r going to be the ligth soon as we get our boards untill then
please add suggestions about features or modules, apps, integration or funtionalities that we can implement

[ipsw]

Hello, I'm happy to see this thread, because the original reason I bought the pine64 was to make a android-based CarPC

Here are my plan
*WiFi througt Huawei E5331 3G/Wifi modem
*GPS (Anyone have a VERIFIED GPS receiver that works with Pine64?), to use iCoyote (Waze-like). But the app itself doesn't start.. Too see later. And navigation with Tomtom app
*Pine64 on permanent 12V
*7" screen (who is already installed in the car, waiting for his Pine), on accessory 12V
*Touchscreen? Do you know if these eBay touchscreen module works with Pine?
*Music to my actual car radio (via jack or BT I don't care), to play Spotify.


My screen looks like this! It's an unique thing, as this car isn't made to accept screens, so handmade and looks dope !



I would be glad to help you on this project !
I'm currently waiting for my WiFi Module (Didn't bought it when I bought the Pine so...) and looking for a working GPS module

Has anyone tried this raspberry pi based head unit? http://i-carus.com/ It may have some useful design decisions. I have read through this thread up to here and like this idea. How can I help speed up the work on this?

I've tried, and I haven't seen any solution that wasn't crap, with RPi..
So my RPi return to local-server, and not in the car :p

By the way, sorry for my bad english 
Have a good day !

[Zoidiano0]

Hi @ipsw
well we still waiting to get some info about a gps that can work with the pine via usb or seria l
i have posted some of the GPS that might work with it, due their compatibilitu with android
i have also made some research about tp and android seems like some aresistive touch are already compatible with android via USB and maybe that one that u have, can work
i u can test those out o others that u think can work ls post them

BTW: ur screen looks dope Though
im planing to do the same on my car

i'll posth the progress soon as i can

[mesaxi]

Pretty sweet setup, how much would you say that cost you?

[files_copying]

My 2 2GB pine 64 boards arrived this morning. I also have the li-ion battery, rtc case, and remote. Besides loading Android and testing them out what else should I do?

[Zoidiano0]

its goo to hear that
well u can start testing the apps that we want to use such as viper that requires root and testing devices with usb interface or buetooth
and if u have test some gps modules so we can attach them later
mine its about to arrive late this week so exited to get my hand on this
i'll upload a video of the unboxing

please post pictures of the assembly and working apps

[Banichi]

I got my unit a few weeks ago but I've been traveling out of town a ton so I haven't had any time to play with it. Downloading the android image file from pine64.org is rather slow. I'm maxing out at 60KB/s and it's not my connection.

I only got the main board and the wifi/bt board. But I will test out what I can. I will need to build a power board with that DC-DC converter that is now on the first post. I currently have an android based head unit in my vehicle now but it's not fantastic. It's one of the better ones but it just made me realize how much better it could be. Hence the pine64.

My thoughts:

• Without having an existing head unit for amplification we would need some sort of amp and the MAX13301 looks great for that but I don't see a basic board designed around it....yet, So a board would have to be designed which shouldn't be too difficult.
  
• Finding some other LCD's that are compatible with the pine64 would be amazing since the pine's version looks like it won't be in stock for awhile. There are some capacitive multi-touch MIPI displays out there on places like alibaba. Some testing is in order.
  
• TabletTalk is one way to handle the hands free aspect but I do know that you can enable the HFP (hands free profile) in android but I am not finding that resource at the moment. The biggest problem with this with my current unit is that a good app would need to be made that can work with google contacts instead of pulling in contacts via bluetooth as well as a nice dialer.
  
• That said a good mic input is needed unless your car comes equipped with one that you can wire in.
  
• I also would prefer a GPS unit like what @dalasu mentioned (BU-353-S4 in OP)
  
• I've seen SDR Radio working before so hopefully there won't be any issues with the pine64. This will be one of my first tests.
  
• I've gotten the Headunit app working on my existing unit that I mentioned and it was on 4.4.4 and it's not supposed to work on builds earlier than Lollipop. So we shouldn't have too many problems there. Also the developer is very very active with the project. Assuming you want the android auto interface.
  
• Camera: I personally don't have much interest in a backup camera but if it were desired then 1 of 2 things would be needed: 1) A display that will auto-switch to an analog source when reverse is triggered (12v trigger I would assume) or 2) a power setup that keeps the android system powered but in sleep mode so that when the vehicle is powered and thrown in to reverse within a few seconds you don't have to wait for boot up to trigger the backup camera, (I'm guessing this can be triggered on a gpio pin?)
  
• One of the big issues I have with my existing unit is that while I can stream audio through apps and my hotspot, if I'm connected via bluetooth, bluetooth notifications/system audio won't play unless I'm in the bluetooth interface app. So a way to mux the bluetooth stream with the system audio would be great. Though this could be a limitation of how that hardware is designed.
  
• Steering wheel controls. I believe that this has been addressed around the internet before but I'll try and find some of those resources. I think that it will vary on if you have a resistance ladder or CANbus controls but I think that there are USB adapters for both situations.
  

Uh I think that's it for now. I'm gonna just be using my HDMI display for now and we'll see how that goes but I'll look for another touch display and see what I come up with.

Nathan