Raspberry Pi for in car media player

[Theldron]

I have had a Raspberry Pi for a while, but have never used it. So I was wondering if there is a way to utilise it as a media player for the kids to use in the car.

 

I know that I can use, XMBC on a raspberry Pi, but what I am not sure of is the powering of it, ensuring that it shuts down properly and using a couple of screens for the kids to have on the seat head rests.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

Sean

[Gaz]

I've had a full blown PC in my car, I had a mini-itx system in my centre console (Landrover Defender) and used it for a good while running ordinance survey maps. I just hooked it up to an inverter and turned it on manually via a switch and then had a 7" touch screen monitor on my dash. It was a great little system but has now been superseded by a Nexus7 2013 7" tablet which is a much better solution. Why not just get them tablets instead, you can pick them up pretty cheap these days.

 

You'll need some form of power supply that has a battery (for when cranking the engine) and you'll need to wire it up to the ignition live and also something to perform a clean shutdown when the ignition is turned off.

[Dos_Box]

I've had a full blown PC in my car, I had a mini-itx system in my centre console (Landrover Defender) and used it for a good while running ordinance survey maps. I just hooked it up to an inverter and turned it on manually via a switch and then had a 7" touch screen monitor on my dash. It was a great little system but has now been superseded by a Nexus7 2013 7" tablet which is a much better solution. Why not just get them tablets instead, you can pick them up pretty cheap these days.

 

You'll need some form of power supply that has a battery (for when cranking the engine) and you'll need to wire it up to the ignition live and also something to perform a clean shutdown when the ignition is turned off.

 

Any pics? I'd like to see that

[Gaz]

I'm afraid not, however I've still got the vga cable and gps receiver in place as its routed up a door pillar to the windscreen.

 

However I'll be removing the roof off my defender this weekend so I'll make sure to remove the cables then.

 

The PC was an Antec ISK 300 with an Asus P8H61-I an Intel i3 2100T so it was nice an small and quite low powered. For the monitor I had a lilliput 7" touch screen.

 

Also connected was a Microsoft HD webcam for recording driving but thats also been replaced by a GoPro 3 and a wireless adapater for hotspotting.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Gaz

[CAWJames]

Snap, I had one in my Defender too, 8" on the dash and a mini-itx motherboard in a special case that looked like a car amp. Moved it to my Mercedes and upgraded the motherboard to a new one with a custom double-din screen to fit in the dash all OEM-like. Cost an arm and a leg once you get the right PSU's, cases and miles of wire into the car, but priceless when the AA man looks in the car with his mouth open, with the immortal words,"Is your car running XP?"

 

I would advocate tablets nowadays, much easier! I am getting a mount (brodit.se) for my Nexus in the new mini, then Bluetooth for sound. Don't fancy hacking up a new cars interior!

[Gaz]

If you need mounts for just about anything RAM Mount make very high quality mounts for just about anything. They are expensive but I needed something strong and not built in china that would take the abuse from the vibrations and off-roading that the Defender gets.

 

RAM Mount UK

 

I use this for my Nexus 7

RAM Mount UK

 

And for my smartphone

RAM Mount UK

[CAWJames]

Ah the vibrations, I used to run MiniDisc back in the day in mine. Read-ahead buffers X-reg disco v8 now, much more civilized!