Help Bugbyte kill his car PC with an iTouch/iPhone install

**Bugbyte** · 03-31-2009, 01:41 PM

Yeah, you have to turn it on. It works pretty well!

On a different note, Apple filed for a patent for an automotive touchscreen today. Engadget reported on it.

Doesn't mean they will build one, but they have taken a look at the idea.

**tdub24** · 04-03-2009, 02:32 PM

I turned it all on and made sure the lanuage was English. I can't get a peep out of it

**Bugbyte** · 04-04-2009, 12:22 AM

You sure you have the latest version?

**tdub24** · 04-04-2009, 12:47 AM

Ya theone from march

**tdub24** · 04-04-2009, 01:06 AM

version 1.2.0. English in settings. Driving directions on. Disable beep off. Wrong way hidden on. Still nothin

**jayjones** · 04-04-2009, 02:50 AM

Bugbyte -

Awesome setup!

If you're interested in reading/logging OBD-II data from your iPhone, you might look into Rev. It requires an extra hardware component (OBD-II interface), but the app is pretty awesome.

http://devtoaster.com/products/rev

Here's a video of it in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91DX4ODgbU

**infamous_t** · 04-04-2009, 05:25 AM

Originally Posted by Bugbyte

I need to figure out how to interact with the phone and control it from external devices like touchscreens or rotary selectors.

Using my Alpine + fullspeed cable I have near complete control.
I have full control of my iPhone thru my ipod enabled deck(ie iPod functions), I have near full control of the iphone using the touchscreen (ie internet, contacts etc).
A few hiccups:

ipod control is locked out on the touchscreen - This should be able to be overridden on a jailbroken iphone (with a clever coder)?
No video connector (on my cable) - should be solved with the ipod video cable(KCE-430iV)
Doesn't charge iphone - new video cable supports iphone/itouch, should charge, otherwise minor rewire should fix this
Normal phone operations including fade from music for calls work (haven't tested whether onboard mic or headphone mic still operates - mic button doesn't... bluetooth headsets may solve this)

Realistically this should work very much the same for most ipod enabled stereos... and I doubt many ppl with be doing this kind of setup without using a deck.

Hope this helps... I'm set on doing this once a touchscreen interface is possible

**meagain** · 04-05-2009, 01:00 AM

DemoGod - A screensplitr + VNC type deal. New 'app' in a sense.
Again unfortunately, it's laggy. IDK much about it but maybe it will behave a bit better.
Ah. It's only over Wifi?

http://i.gizmodo.com/5198636/demogod...top-wirelessly

**Bugbyte** · 04-07-2009, 11:00 AM

I've decided to stop talking about it and start trying it out, so today I purchased a Marvell Sheeva plug computer. It is a $99 embedded Linux system with an ethernet port and a USB output.

No monitor, no keyboard, no nothing. It is very low power and I am thinking that I will be able to run a web server on it and interface the iPhone with the computer via an old WiFi route I own.

I *think* the issue of touchscreen control will be solved by Apple opening up the Bluetooth stack on the iPhone in iPhone 3.0, but we have to wait on that for a bit (until June). In the meantime, I ordered a bluetooth to serial touchscreen device that hasn't arrived yet.

While I was waiting, I saw this guy at geekmyride.org accessing his OBDII data via php running on a car PC as a web server. He actually has an EVDO card so that he can access the car from anywhere in the world. The car uploads the data to an internet server and he interacts with it the same way, via a web page he displays on his iPod touch.

This got the wheels spinning and I envisioned replacing the full car PC with a low cost, low power system like the Sheeva that you could access via WiFi. I don't really need to access the car over the full web, just over the local web inside the car.

So, combined with an old WiFi router, I'll have a Linux PC in my car that I can access via a WiFi router. I intend to serve up web pages from it and have those web pages interact with the devices attached to the computer.

Only problem is I know next to nothing about Linux or php but I can probably figure this stuff out -eventually. There's lots of people on here that can help if I get stuck.

Here's the Sheeva plug main specs.

**rdholtz** · 04-07-2009, 11:14 AM

Since this SheevaPlug runs on 110V, and nobody loves inverters, I bet you could make it even better by tearing into it and converting it to 12V. That might actually be a whole new market for Marvell; I wonder if they've considered it.