Carputer
 

Started work on my Carputer last week, or rather the software that will run on it, im nowhere near installing in the car yet, but the A8 does make it easy to do tests to see what it looks like.

Started it because i wanted Speed camera alerts that will POP up over the normal MMI (which i believe i can do, but will cost me to find out) plus i wanted it to look at least a bit audiish, but its escalating and i am adding more and more.

it will work from audi like controls which will be hidden in the cupholder ie rotary control centre with 4 buttons around it, at least thats the plan, now the software is done enough for testing its next on the list

Done so far
Video, Music, Speedcameras, pics, extra navigation (just for the hell of it), Google earth, Ndrive (which is basically forward InfraRed cam (poor mans Flir :ROFL:) with bar for Speed in MPH or KPH and can record with imprint of gps speed etc, softwares done now depends on the hardware)

still to do
Skype, Email, phone, wifi, weather, google maps, live traffic camera view, and a bunch of other stuff, Blackberry mail(dont know if i can do this one).

also add voice commands etc. and it will eventually send Video to the rear headrests seperate to whatever the MMI is doing in the front.

looks pretty good so far, i used the new audi screens as a basis for it

i have only seen a couple of screens from the new audi so if anyone has some real shots it would help. particulaly of the Music screens, im not happy with my version of the music player at all.

Heres the Main Screen, naturally theres a long way to go and a lot of changes to be made, but this is the basis of it.

Attachment 1893

and here are some other menus
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no idea why the shots have come out elongated

That is fantastic. And, completed, you'll have a seriously marketable product

Thanks, Its a skin that works on ride runner, so once completed i will post it up for anyone to download, tricky bit for 8 owners is the non touchscreen interface, im looking at making a bluetooth interface or rather pulling a 4 button bluetooth mouse apart

then set the controls in a box and mount it in the cup holder space with hopefully some matching veneer to set it off. need some nice button caps but havent found any that resemble the audi ones yet.

gatso works well, though like many systems relies on poi type data, which you will be able to auto sync whenever you want, either by having internet access directly, or being close enough to your home wireless system (so you can download new data every morning). at the moment it alerts by (configurable) bleeping,and/or voice that says warning and the speed, and on screen display with current speed and road sign mph. also has a countdown in meters to the camera with a bar display like the audi dis display.. also tells what type of camera or school zone etc it is. im looking for data which has the heading information so it only alerts when going the correct way.

you need the internet in car for google earth to work, and the second nav which is mappoint, mapmonkey or iguidance will be able to track a gps device, very james bond, nice gadget but doesnt have much use though.

Looks great! I WANNNTTTTTTT lol :love:
if you look at this thread and the links to my other pics here you will find a load of screen shots I took from the new D4 which show some of the menus
Hope this helps! +++

Amazing! :)

It's so cool - I want one too!

Thanks for the pics, they should help a lot

I have a touch screen for my Projekt. If this is backwards compatable I could have a good few beer tokens for a working solution!!!!!!

no problem it will still work touchscreen, the main difference is there will be a lot less buttons available per screen, as for those without touchscreen it means scrolling through loads of options before you get to the one you need (most skins seem to have the play stop, ffwd and next, Vol+ and -, mute etc on every screen, as well as the music title), this one will have only the minimum required buttons and as much as possible keep to the audi theme, the volume can be controlled via the audi steering wheel controls anyway.

im going to make some changes thanks to the much clearer pictures architex added to make it even more authentic, but will add a few nice bits like ability to change the car in the main menu for D2 owners.

its very likely i will have to use flash to get the music lists for music to loook authentic as i dont think riderunner can handle it on its own. a lot more work but will look superb.

I have been dabbling with the concept of a carputer for a couple of years and played around with various front ends. I really like Ride Runner because of the ease of skinning and configuration. However a must have for me is Bluetooth phone which to date I have not got to work yet. I know it's on your to do list but have you looked at all at this area?

I would really like to go for Linux solution, and I had high hopes for Meego but this project seems to be moving v e r y s l o w l y, but these too don't seemed to have solved BT phone.

Also for me matching the Audi product is not a goal, something smart looking and in fitting with the car will do, or something I can skin.

For these reasons I had settled on Centrafuse as an all up finished product, and there as some pretty good add ons available including one that interfaces with VCDS. My main stubbling block athe moment is mounting a (touch) screen. I don't want an on dash one and with a pre FL D2 I only have a single DIN to play with. There aren't many suitable single DIN ready made solutions available so I am thinking I may have to build something myself, which is the planning stage I am at now.

i looked at centrufuse (and Streetdeck) and its a good product, but i settled on Ride runner becuase it seemed easier to work with and i wasnt happy that i would get all i needed from it, and the input without touchscreen didnt seem as good, also the ride runner option is open source so if i really got stuck i could add to the code.

im in the same boat as far as touchscreens go, there no room in the D3 without detroying the look of the interior, and besides we already have the MMI screen. which is why i have decided on mmi type buttons as controlls.

if you manage to find a single din touchscreen it wont have much of a display on it, so you will need to make your own cut down skin the amount of controls you will be able to add is also limited so wouldnt give you much advantage. im sure i saw a single din unit with full motorised touchscreen display somewhere, might be your best option, i had a link to it but ive had a crash and have to get my system reloaded today, so will lose all my links.

as for the bluetooth phone option, i already have audi bluetooth fitted in the car, Im going to add BT support and skins to the project but only becuase others may need it, and i see it as a first step to get my blackberry mails to synch up and be read by the auto voice, there shouldnt be a problem getting it to work though. tell me more about how far youve got with the bluetooth and i will see if i can suggest something.

I played around with BT in a RR setup but having spent quite a lot of time trawling through the MP3Car forums I came to the conclusion that there is a bit of licensed software needed that is no longer for sale so I kind of hit a dead end.

In Linux I have failed even to get a reliable connection to allow me to the basics like file transfer.

My minimal software skills do not enable me to create my own solution. I have dabbled with Java but I never found any good references on BT communications, especially those for hands free control or audio.

I like the idea of the rotary control and button(s) and was considering this myself. With a knotchy rotary swict it should with practice and familiarity be possible to carry out routine actions, change radio channel, select playlists etc, the system without looking at the screen. I was thinking of using a PIC to mimic TAB, SHIFT TAB and ENTER. How are you doing it?

I know I said matching the Audi one was not important but now I am on my home PC and can see your skin it really is very beautiful. Cracking work. Have you got a thread for this on MP3Car?

The rotary controls are the same as we have in the D3 anyway, you get used to it quickly. im going to use a bluetooth mouse as a basis, and break it up and make it into buttons etc for the moment as the pc will be in the boot for a while. once it gets to the front i will use a u-hid device, but any thing will work you can configure the buttons a number of ways.

I'm amazed the mp3car boys havent got an easy solution for the BT, I will take a look when ive got a chance, and if nothing jumps out i will have to make one from scratch.

i started a thread on mp3car under Ride runner > Skins >Skins in Progress

Just seen a new bluetooth app for riderunner on the mp3car appmart, will give it atry once ive got this machine reloaded again

made some changes, it is now a flash version of the skin, still running on riderunner, but is now configurable, and thanks to piccys of MMI , is even closer to the real MMI. added bar at the bottom for indicators, and almost everything you see is configurable

Attachment 1907

For those with touchscreen, you just add a line to the config file and it will behave slightly differently, and will give an option of more buttons.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1306152855

Nice work. +++