Raspberry PI Car Accessory

Car Accessory Ideas

I am thinking about the next raspberry pi based project for car accessory.

One of the key features are dashcam type of drive recording support.

I think this is very important feature especially when accident like car crash or brek-in happens. 

I have bought the following product from Xiaomi and this one is really good considering the low price.

YI 2.7" Screen Full HD 1080P60 165 Wide Angle Dashboard Camera

Thanks to DASHCAMTALK  site and they provide a great review of this product.

This feature requires video streaming, audio streaming, and storage management.

Can I mimic the similar features of this product using raspberry pi?

My guess is yes, although buying this product would be cheaper than DIY...

Well the point is to enjoy the project and learn something 😊

Luckily I have learned many from the previous blog, and streaming video and audio can be done.

Forget the quality for now... I am sure I can't exceed the actual product quality 😰

I can also add inertial sensors to detect the collision.

Maybe I can use the same sensor I used, BMI160 previous blog or BNO055  previous blog.

This sensor can trigger the recording and also provide the inertial data like angular velocity and acceleration.

Having GPS would also be helpful and I am sure there would be lots of information from all the DIY experts. I need to research that.

Since it is DIY, what else can I add or what else do I want??

Once I thought about message board on my rear window to show the other driver a message.

It is very simple message like "Thank you" or "Sorry" to show my quick response to the driver who gave me the space to change the lane or who got unhappy with my driving behavior.

I think this could be done by raspberry PI as well as long as I can get reasonable power, size, and price LED matrix board.

Maybe something like this work but might require multiple...

I would like to keep 5V power supply so that it is easier for the hardware integration.

Digital Flexible LED Matrix Panel DC5V

Well, it will not be cheap if I need to use 2-3 of these to expand the viewing range.

The another method is may be using HUD type of method using display panel, but this may cost as well. Using magnifying mirror with the small display might be also a candidate, but the viewing angle would be a problem. 

Any rate, maybe using LED matrix panel can be the first route.

I think it is also possible to add motor to rotate the camera angle remotely.

With the above panel, it could be very power hungry device... Need to control well.

Hmm... let's think more later.

Features

Okay now the summary of features.

• Video and audio recording using "picam + USB microphone" or "USB webcam"
• Format and resolution are up to the camera
• Video and audio streaming to smartphone
• It can be old android phone
• Video and audio playback from smartphone
• Detect collision and monitor the inertial data
• GPS data logging
• Message board with remote operation support
• TBD

Planning

I guess first thing is to review the old video and audio streaming project in the previous blog, and implement sensor data and others.

I wonder how long it takes to complete but it would be fun.

Thank you for reading!

I will update this project as I make progress.