Raspberry Pi for in-car entertainment?

[wfoster]

I've got this crazy idea in my head at the moment.

Mounting a 7" Touchscreen and Raspberry Pi into my dashboard. It's perfect as it has a stereo out which can go into my car speakers and a keyboard and mouse (that can be kept in the glovebox). I'm thinking of using a 32GB USB stick as external storage for Spotifys' offline sync services.

What does everyone think of this idea? Going to be hard to do but nevermind, if it works, it'd be awesome.

I've thought of a few flaws already:

• Volume adjusting while driving
• Trying to select different tracks while driving (might not be a problem, depends how easy it is to use the 7" touchscreen)
• Powering the Raspberry Pi and Touchscreen

Can anybody think of any more problems that could be identified and solved before I start? Can anyone think of solutions to the flaws I've found already?

Priced everything up so far and it's around 200 pounds, all the kit apart from the touchscreen surround in my dash.

What do you think? Am I mad or is it a good idea?

 

[hulk2012]

I've got this crazy idea in my head at the moment.

Mounting a 7" Touchscreen and Raspberry Pi into my dashboard. It's perfect as it has a stereo out which can go into my car speakers and a keyboard and mouse (that can be kept in the glovebox). I'm thinking of using a 32GB USB stick as external storage for Spotifys' offline sync services.

What does everyone think of this idea? Going to be hard to do but nevermind, if it works, it'd be awesome.

I've thought of a few flaws already:

• Volume adjusting while driving
• Trying to select different tracks while driving (might not be a problem, depends how easy it is to use the 7" touchscreen)
• Powering the Raspberry Pi and Touchscreen

Can anybody think of any more problems that could be identified and solved before I start? Can anyone think of solutions to the flaws I've found already?

Priced everything up so far and it's around 200 pounds, all the kit apart from the touchscreen surround in my dash.

What do you think? Am I mad or is it a good idea?

Pm me..

 

[yg17]

I have an rPi and tried to use it as an Airplay speaker, and the quality from the internal jack is pretty crappy. Now, it's entirely possible (and likely) that I configured something wrong and it might sound just fine if you do it right. But supposedly you can use a USB sound card and get much better quality, I haven't tried that yet. But may want to keep that in mind.

Sounds like a cool project though and I don't think you're mad at all, keep us updated, I want to see the final result!

 

[musicjunky]

Any DIY project involving the Pi is interesting. Do update once it's complete!

 

[Apple fanboy]

Sounds great if it will work. Post a series of photos once you begin. Good luck.

 

[notjustjay]

People have certainly tinkered with similar devices. If you search around you'll find commercial head units that run on Android as well as Windows CE. People have also mounted tablets of various kinds (iPad mini, Nexus 7, etc.) in the double-DIN slot. Some route the audio directly through a car amp, others actually install a single-DIN head unit behind the iPad to handle the audio amplification as well as AM/FM radio.

I have installed a commercial Android head unit called the Parrot Asteroid Smart in my car. It has its glitches, but on the whole it works nicely.

Good luck!

 

[PaulRustad007]

Duct Tape and an iPad...work well on my dash and I can talk to Siri as I do it!