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Crankshaft – A GNU/Linux for the Raspberry Pi as an Android Auto headunit
- yjftsjthsd-h 9y ago> Can I trust it to work? > It is alpha-level software, so of course not. Humility is a beautiful virtue to see.
- sammoorhouse 9y agoAt work we once found ourselves in the happy position of having far, far too many applicants for a position. We set a simple test as a high-pass filter. One of the questions was about whether garbage collection removes the risk of a memory leak. One memorable answer was simply "Of course not." Maybe it's the same guy?
- solarkraft 9y ago> Bugs? Ideas? Want to help? Think this page sucks? We think so too.
- jimmies 9y ago>Maybe it's the same guy? Of course not. ;-)
- cowmix 9y agoAfter watching the demo video, this seems to work as well as Android Auto built into many cars. I've rented probably 8 different cars with Android Auto.. this seems as good.
- solarkraft 9y agoI guess so. It runs Android Auto. But does that mean it's any good?
- jchw 9y agoI've got a '16 Honda Civic and a Google Pixel 2. Android Auto works... but it's buggy sometimes. Voice controlled elements frequently freeze everything, and sometimes it refuses to connect. It seems the source of the problem is probably Bluetooth, because turning that off for a moment generally improves things. Basically, it's totally possible to get Android Auto wrong. I've rented probably 3 different cars with Android Auto and none of them have the problems my personal Civic has. I guess what I'm getting at is, I'd happily take a reliable, open source implementation of Android Auto in my car over whatever comes in the stock head unit. Would I actually go around hacking firmware in my own car? Honestly it's a possibility.
- Z1515M8147 9y agoI was recently trying to find a solution like this after discovering that my car cannot have an aftermarket radio or hud install without ensuing a whole world of pain. The alternative I landed on though was this: https://www.autopi.io/hardware-dongle https://www.autopi.io/hardware-dongle
- oldcynic 9y agoWell something had to be done. People could buy any head unit they liked. There was even a DIN standard size and connector and they would talk to the car's built in display. Aftermarket units were often far better. How is a dealer meant to sell $MANUFACTURER units with a market like that? (/s, clearly)
- jacquesm 9y agoI've once left a car that I fully intended to buy because the dealer would not deliver it with a DIN slot. I absolutely hate integrated audio/media/navigation solutions, they always suck and a couple of years down the line nothing will work with them.
- brokenmachine 9y agoDo any cars come with DIN slots nowadays? Looks to me like they're all custom-moulded into the dash. Very irritating.
- rvolosatovs 9y agoIs a whole custom OS really necessary? Couldn't you just simply use Mopidy(https://www.mopidy.com/ https://www.mopidy.com/)? Possibly with some additional plugins required to make it work for cars. It runs on RPi and implements mpd protocol, hence, is fully compatible with mpd clients and has many more clients implemented targeting Mopidy itself. Also, it plays music from Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud and whatnot.
- phalangion 9y agoAndroid Auto is more than just music/audio. It has on-screen navigation, and other driving- friendly features.
- lttlrck 9y agoAndroid auto is more than just music, there is navigation, video, and an abundance of apps.
- jameshclark 9y agoIt looks like it's built on Rasbian with some binaries and systemd units, so it's not really a custom OS.
- aw3c2 9y agoI second this, especially since I have been burned by single-purpose raspberry "distros" multiple times in the past in the audio sector. Maintaince is more work than people often realise.
- jimmies 9y ago
- royjacobs 9y agoI'd pay good money* for a system that would package a PiZero, touchscreen, suction cup etc. into a single convenient package that I could plug into the 12v charging point of my car. Especially if it runs Android Auto! *A medium amount of money
- jimmies 9y agoThat's indeed the first thing I thought of. The problem with the Pi0 was that it doesn't have a Display header, so it turned out to be very messy. The 7-inch touchscreen is very big anyway, so the Pi3 actually isn't that big and bulky. I'm sure if ideas like Crankshaft take off, there will be people who make the suction cup structure for you. For now you can buy the touch screen cover for the back, but it doesn't have the suction cup. PS: If you really hate the bulkiness of the Pi3B, you can try the Pi A+. I haven't tried it because I don't have it, but it should also work.
- ohazi 9y ago"Official" rpi Touchscreen: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0153R2A9I/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0153R2A9I/ Case for pi and touchscreen: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01HV97F64/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01HV97F64/ Suction cup: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B076XZ9JN7/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B076XZ9JN7/ Car charger: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ISGCAJM/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ISGCAJM/ Might require a little finagling...
- 9y ago
- tmzt 9y agoDoes anybody know of any software that implements Android Auto or Apple Car protocols to display content on existing head unit? Maybe something that could run on a Raspberry Pi.
- kiteloop 9y agoI'm interested in the same use case, it would be great if this is possible!
- sameyolo 9y agoYou could try looking into some of the Android forums where they have unlocked the head units and have demonstrated being able to flash custom roms, although may be a bit different from what you're looking.
- solarkraft 9y agoThis is what I'm actually interested in.
- drewmol 9y agoHere's a thread from XDA about the Honda pilot, may be a good place to start perusing https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/heard-2016-honda-pilot-android-based-t3141346 https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/heard-2016-hon...
- kbenson 9y agoThat does seem interesting. I was looking at whether it was possibly to flash/replace the head unit software if a few years old Camry the other week, but didn't find anything useful. Do you happen to have info on which android forums someone should look in?
- antirez 9y agoI wonder if this works with any PI display.
- jimmies 9y agoIt should. It's a MVP right now, so it doesn't need to achieve many things, and I don't want to make a broad statement. I think having a controlled test environment does help a lot. The official one is cheap and good too, so I don't feel guilty about saying it supports only that.
- antirez 9y agoThanks for the reply, I'll get the official one then, I asked because the official PI stuff are a bit harder to get via the channels I use, like Amazon, where the price for other displays is also like 1/3 of the official one (maybe they are garbage?). It makes sense to me to start something new with a narrow setup and not many moving parts btw...
- andreiw 9y agoCool. I always wanted to go the other way - being able to cast video into my head unit, like a phone. I read that MirrorLink is inherently VNC and USB networking. Does anyone have a MirrorLink «server» stack that can run on a board with OTG?
- danellis 9y agoAs an aside, it's always nice to see a clean, readable web site like this.
- jagger27 9y agoI hope projects like this stick around long enough to provide some postmarket support after the manufacturer gives up. I've been waiting far too long for Mazda to ship their promised CarPlay update and I'm wondering how I might take matters into my own hands.
- zekesnider 9y agoSame here. Really disappointed in the lack of communication from Mazda. There is some open source software for the Mazda head unit that runs Android Auto, but nothing on the CarPlay front yet. Most of the CarPlay specifications are locked behind the MFi program which makes it difficult for an open source solution to exist for it.
- Promarged 9y agoI hope it's more full featured than regular Android Auto that is so basic (compared to what is built-in in my Skoda) that enabling it just degrades my "driving experience". The only added benefit is traffic info in Google Maps.
- azurelogic 9y agoI've been wishing for something like this or a standalone unit for CarPlay. It would be amazing if I could just mount something in the CD slot in my car and plug in to the aux jack. I'm sure Apple would have a cow at the idea though.
- poloniculmov 9y agoThere are aftermarket radios that support Android Auto/Car Play. Assuming you don't have a weird in-dash radio, you should be able to fit something like this[1]. [1] http://www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk/car/nav_mm/carplay-mm/DMX7017DABS/ http://www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk/car/nav_mm/carplay-mm/D...
- kinos 9y agoSo why would I want to use this instead of just turning Android Auto mode on on my phone?
- jimmies 9y agoIf you have a small phone then you have a bigger screen. Plus no more having to temporarily mount the phone if you can mount the head unit permanently. I have used a couple of phone holders, they suck and broke after a while. So I often just glance on the phone which sits in the cupholder when I want directions.
- curun1r 9y agoThis is one area where I kinda hope open source doesn't have much success. OSS seems to struggle with UX and a poor UX in a car unit will get people killed. Simply put, this kind of system needs to function almost entirely without the driver looking at the screen. The demo in the video fails hard at this. Android Auto and CarPlay are only non-nightmarish because the primary control mechanism is voice and they're integrated with steering wheel controls. Even then, they're likely to be too distracting for drivers to avoid accidents. These kinds of systems need a lot of user testing with sophisticated eye tracking setups before we can feel comfortable letting the masses use them while driving. OSS developers just won't be able to afford that. Once cars are driving themselves, then I can see OSS entertainment units providing value. But as long as a human driver is responsible for not killing all the car's occupants and anyone who might come in (violent) contact with the outside of the car, there should be a high safety bar for these kinds systems and I'm not sure OSS will ever be able to clear that.
- toast0 9y agoHave you used a modern factory touchscreen head unit? They're pretty much unusable without looking either.
- aetherspawn 9y agoIn fairness they have big touch buttons and stuff placed in corners so you can quickly locate. The ones on this device are tiny and require visual interpretation to find. And I can’t see this getting steering wheel integration any time soon, so there’s more attention you have to pay it.
- Slansitartop 9y agoNot always. About 50% of the time I need to mess with bluetooth settings on my car because it paired to the wrong device. That involves navigating through at least three menus and hitting small-size buttons on the far side of the screen from the driver.
- intrasight 9y agoComment: I assume that my next car will have Alexa Question: How is Amazon Auto different from just sticking your phone onto your dash?
- tylerjwilk00 9y agoPerhaps this is obvious but a simpler solution is to just install [1] Android Auto on your Android phone. Does this work on iOS? Of course not. [1] https://www.android.com/auto/ https://www.android.com/auto/
- cowmix 9y agoI do this now and it is not a useful as this project.
- brokenmachine 9y agoCan this work somehow as a bluetooth handsfree for a phone? I've thought about putting a rpi in my dash before, but it always comes down to that single feature that I would miss from the headunit that I'm using now.