Hi everyone.
I played around with RealDash many many years ago and had a good experience overall. It seems that things have really progressed, which is great!
As an experimenter / tinkerer by nature I’ve always wanted to build a completely custom SBC “Carputer” (for want of a better word)
I plan on working my way through, step by step, but my weapon of choice for this build is a punchy 16GB Ram Odroid M2 and a remotely mounted 7.9 inch (Extra-wide angle 16:5 aspect ratio) touchscreen, up high on the dash similar to an OEM BMW/Mazda arrangement.
I’m very aware that there are Android head units that can accomplish many of the things that i’m trying to achieve but i’d really like to start with a clean slate on this one due to the removal of unnecessary bloatware and freedom of installation, with regards to SBC and screen… as well as being able to choose the screen size and aspect ratio.
As this SBC is compatible with both Android and Linux, I was wondering if I could borrow some experience from other builders as to which operating system would be best to use for a custom ground up buiild. Pros/Cons, most suitable CAN adapter etc.
I think the single most important thing that I want to get right is to be able to put the monitor and SBC into the appropriate “Sleep” or “Power Saving” mode when turning off the car… and similar for reviving the dash/display when keying on… as nothing is more frustrating (for me) than slow dash boot times.
Obviously an occasional reboot will be necessary, but i’d rather it not be every time I drive the car!
Apparently the M2 is a good candidate for this… (using power saving features of android 14) as well as it being grunty/fast enough to get up and running quickly should a full reboot be necessary.
Car is a turbo 3 cylinder Daihatsu Charade G202 and my ECU is a Haltech Elite 1500.
I’m keen to have my first play with CANBUS as my previous experience was OEM cars with OBD2 bluetooth, followed by Speeduino via serial.
I’d also have some questions as to how the many different dashboard designs will work with the extra wide aspect ratio 16:5 displays? I’m asuming i’d have to buid a dash from scratch if my resolution was quite “oddball”.
Anyway, looking forward to all the learning that this project will bring and advice from fellow builders.
Thanks in advance.
JC