The Mitsubishi Pajero Owners Club®

[iam_TJ]

Never one to do things half-assed, I've begun designing and developing a custom removable vehicle console (RVC) to replace the Radio/CD, Sat Nav and Air-Con controls in a Mark 3 Elegance, but the design could work in any vehicle with suitable custom dock and interface. Removable since the device I intend to base it around has a dual purpose as a tablet PC.

If you've done something similar and kept notes it'd be great if you could share them, especially if you've snooped the CANbus! If you're interested in following along and possibly contributing ideas and solutions to the many challenges I'm sure this will generate let me know. I'm intending setting up a web-space to collaborate with others since part of the aim of this project is as a flag-ship project for a hack/maker space.

It will be built around a Samsung Galaxy Book2 ARM-based 4G/LTE OLED 12" tablet PC which will slot into a 3D-printed recessed dock in portrait configuration. The dock will have captive USB-C plugs to allow connection of Power and external USB devices such as a CANbus Pro, GPS module, and audio device and amplifier. I'll be replacing MS Windows with Linux, and aim (via virtualisation) to have it run both a regular GNU/Linux (such as Automotive Grade Linux) and Android. OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) will provide a pure black, non-emissive (no backlight) background at night so there's no glow or glare as there would be with LCD or LED. This was a prime requirement that led to the choice of the Book2. Being ARM is a bonus since it opens the potential to build Android for it and have access to the massive range of apps, in particular, navigation software.

I started (on the vehicle) by moving the air-conditioner controls to the lower slot to enable experimentation with the space - didn't see anyone else mention that the air-con controls facia is 7mm wider than the lower aperture so I had to trim 3.5mm off each side of the centre panel aperture for it to fit snugly (without this the top of the console is pushed forward).

My plan is to eventually replace the air-con control itself by integrating its functions into the RVC once I've decoded the control and sensor logic and replicated it in an external GPIO module. If this proves possible it might allow the RVC to use the lower DIN slot and fit completely inside the centre console (currently I expect it'll be above the top of the dash by about 3cm).

I intend to remodel the centre console completely including removing the DIN rails and upper/lower divider and 3D print custom parts and install the USB accessories in part of the space plus possibly a chocolate safe to prevent snacking whilst driving   .

I shall also integrate front, rear, top, and side cameras to provide dash-cam, reversing, caravan/trailer and generally improve situational awareness in tight spaces and add Bluetooth 'phone integration - might even be able to make it a miracast display.

The Book2 and CANbus Pro are on the way. My first task will be the hardest part of the entire project - creating the Linux Device Tree database so Linux runs the hardware flawlessly, since it is an exclusive Samsung/Microsoft ARM Windows OS device with very little in the way of specific Linux support (there's no Android build for it but there are very similar devices using the same Qualcomm chipset).

If you've ideas for other functions that should be added please mention them early!

[Google]

[peteinchad]

Sounds like an interesting project.

[iam_TJ]

It plays to a lot of interests, too.

The Galaxy Book2 arrived this week - OLED display is perfect; absolute black background so no backlight glow. The USB <> CANbus adapter should arrive this coming week.

I've had the main dashboard out a few times recently chasing down failed bulbs. That's got me considering how to intercept the signals to the dashboard so the new info system can use them too.

The dashboard's flat flexible connectors, and the captive plugs in the chassis, suggest I may be able to recess the existing plugs and put short female-to-male Y-splitters in, which would enable using a GPIO (General Purpose I/O) controller to monitor the states of the on/off indicators.

Before I do that though I'll monitor the CANbus in case it is broadcasting the same signals.

[peteinchad]

I built something to fit in the 1DIN storage space on my MkII.

I went down the route of building it from scratch using Arduinos.

Some photos of it on this post

http://www.pocuk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1440546&sid=30ffe5f7405d6b5e9064fb11b63dc822

Most of the photos are near the bottom of the page.