03-29-2021, 08:48 PM
Just for info, so far I have invested close to $1,000 into trying to create a functional computer for my 2005 Dodge Truck, comparable to those available in more modern vehicles. Some things have worked, some have not. Some things are still in the experimental stages. Some things are just beyond my capabilities...for now.
I use my truck to haul my horses all over the western US, so I often spend a lot of time on the road. I have been trying to incorporate TPMS, OBDII, multiple cameras, and a couple other things into my installation.
OAP has moved me forward quite a big step in this effort, providing a basic front-end interface from which to work. While I realize that many of your buyers have media players at the top of their wish list, the fact is that there are many, many, music/video head units on the market right now at very affordable prices, that are far better at being a head unit for music and video play than OAP. Using OAP for a music play head unit, in reality, really only provides a level of gratification for the DIYer in many of us. In my opinion, the real value of OAP lies in its use as a means of accessing the many apps and functions available through Android and Linux that don't have anything to do with music at all.
Those of us who are stuck in the Apple loop - iphone, ipad, macbook, etc - find functionality in OAP, in that there are 3rd party apps, such as Navit, that allow us to get certain functionalities not available to us through mirroring, like the Android users have. OAP at least allows us to have hands-free telephony with the iphone, alongside the laptop-like functionalities of the RaspbianOS operating system.
Which brings me to my wish list for OAP:
- First, it would be really nice to have Carplay, which would open up a world of apps and functionalities now only available to the Android users - navigation, just to name one (Navit is great, but being able to tap an address in a text and go there with Apple navigation is better).
- Second, I really need a Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS). It is a safety concern. I have a 1-ton dually truck and a long horse trailer, totaling 12 tires (including spares). I have driven for hours with a blown tire on the trailer without knowing it! I would love for OAP to have a TPMS system incorporated in it to be able to read TPMS sensors on the tires and show that on a GUI under OAP, with a notification flag that pops up on the main screen when a tire loses pressure, like you get in your car.
- Third, while OAP's rear-view camera implementation is great, I would love to see up to four cameras available, with views for all four at once or selectable individually in full screen. I need two cameras on my truck - one on the tailgate and one on the cab to view the bed - and I need two cameras in the trailer - one on the back for backing up and one in the horse compartment for watching the horses during transit.
- Fourth, I need OBDII, which has already been implemented in OAP. I just haven't yet found a reliable sensor that will connect with my truck that will also connect with my iphone (once Carplay is available on OAP, I will likely use the Apple apps for my OBDII dash). I was hoping to have the best of both worlds here. I may just have to go with OAP's implementation of it and see where that gets me.
- Fifth, I would love to be able to install OAP over a different Linux distro than Raspbian. Raspbian's setup puts everything into virtual partitions that seem to go away every time I have to reinstall OAP...which seems to be at every update...which destroys everything I have installed and set up with the previous installation. This is probably more an issue of not having Android Auto. For instance, I have had to reinstall and set up gpsd and Navit after EVERY OAP update. I would love to be able to partition my 120G SSD so that I had a system parition and a home partition, where I could reinstall all of OAP without disturbing anything else. I have tried to do this several times with Raspbian, but have not been able to make it persistent. This issue is a complaint I have seen on other sites with regard to OAP.
- Lastly, I would love to see OAP put more effort into supporting accessories that do not require USB connection in their installations. An example is your fondness for USB sound cards. I doubt anybody would choose to have a USB sound card dongle hanging out the front of their dash with a 3.5mm plug going to their car stereo amp and another going to a microphone hanging from the visor, if there were an option to have a sound card installed on the raspberrypi's 40-pin GPIO header and four solid brass standoffs mounted solidly inside an enclosed box. I would like to see more effort to support permanently installed accessories, with soldered or hard-wired connections, to make an OAP installation more like a commercially available head unit. Our OAP units are going into actual vehicles that will be moving on actual roads, potholes and all, and need to be more robust than the bench-tested units using USB connections.
Now, I know I can get all these things that I want in commercially available units. I can buy a TPMS system that supports 12 tires. I can buy a video camera system that supports many cameras. I can buy a media player head unit with all the bells and whistles. I can buy a laptop computer for my truck. However, each one would require a separate monitor and control unit in the cab of the pickup. I would have monitors and buttons all over the place! Or I could just pay the $85,000 price tag for a new truck.
It would be so much nicer if I could get all these things in one package with OAP. That's what I was hoping to accomplish when I bought OAP.
In short, I would like to see OAP put more effort into giving OAP functionalities that compare with what one gets in a late model vehicle, rather than spending so much time/effort on making it a cool media player. If you can do that, you won't have any trouble getting subscribers or funding projects. Kudos, by the way, on implementing OBDII. Can we get TPMS next, please?
So there's my wish list. I know, I know...TLDR.
I use my truck to haul my horses all over the western US, so I often spend a lot of time on the road. I have been trying to incorporate TPMS, OBDII, multiple cameras, and a couple other things into my installation.
OAP has moved me forward quite a big step in this effort, providing a basic front-end interface from which to work. While I realize that many of your buyers have media players at the top of their wish list, the fact is that there are many, many, music/video head units on the market right now at very affordable prices, that are far better at being a head unit for music and video play than OAP. Using OAP for a music play head unit, in reality, really only provides a level of gratification for the DIYer in many of us. In my opinion, the real value of OAP lies in its use as a means of accessing the many apps and functions available through Android and Linux that don't have anything to do with music at all.
Those of us who are stuck in the Apple loop - iphone, ipad, macbook, etc - find functionality in OAP, in that there are 3rd party apps, such as Navit, that allow us to get certain functionalities not available to us through mirroring, like the Android users have. OAP at least allows us to have hands-free telephony with the iphone, alongside the laptop-like functionalities of the RaspbianOS operating system.
Which brings me to my wish list for OAP:
- First, it would be really nice to have Carplay, which would open up a world of apps and functionalities now only available to the Android users - navigation, just to name one (Navit is great, but being able to tap an address in a text and go there with Apple navigation is better).
- Second, I really need a Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS). It is a safety concern. I have a 1-ton dually truck and a long horse trailer, totaling 12 tires (including spares). I have driven for hours with a blown tire on the trailer without knowing it! I would love for OAP to have a TPMS system incorporated in it to be able to read TPMS sensors on the tires and show that on a GUI under OAP, with a notification flag that pops up on the main screen when a tire loses pressure, like you get in your car.
- Third, while OAP's rear-view camera implementation is great, I would love to see up to four cameras available, with views for all four at once or selectable individually in full screen. I need two cameras on my truck - one on the tailgate and one on the cab to view the bed - and I need two cameras in the trailer - one on the back for backing up and one in the horse compartment for watching the horses during transit.
- Fourth, I need OBDII, which has already been implemented in OAP. I just haven't yet found a reliable sensor that will connect with my truck that will also connect with my iphone (once Carplay is available on OAP, I will likely use the Apple apps for my OBDII dash). I was hoping to have the best of both worlds here. I may just have to go with OAP's implementation of it and see where that gets me.
- Fifth, I would love to be able to install OAP over a different Linux distro than Raspbian. Raspbian's setup puts everything into virtual partitions that seem to go away every time I have to reinstall OAP...which seems to be at every update...which destroys everything I have installed and set up with the previous installation. This is probably more an issue of not having Android Auto. For instance, I have had to reinstall and set up gpsd and Navit after EVERY OAP update. I would love to be able to partition my 120G SSD so that I had a system parition and a home partition, where I could reinstall all of OAP without disturbing anything else. I have tried to do this several times with Raspbian, but have not been able to make it persistent. This issue is a complaint I have seen on other sites with regard to OAP.
- Lastly, I would love to see OAP put more effort into supporting accessories that do not require USB connection in their installations. An example is your fondness for USB sound cards. I doubt anybody would choose to have a USB sound card dongle hanging out the front of their dash with a 3.5mm plug going to their car stereo amp and another going to a microphone hanging from the visor, if there were an option to have a sound card installed on the raspberrypi's 40-pin GPIO header and four solid brass standoffs mounted solidly inside an enclosed box. I would like to see more effort to support permanently installed accessories, with soldered or hard-wired connections, to make an OAP installation more like a commercially available head unit. Our OAP units are going into actual vehicles that will be moving on actual roads, potholes and all, and need to be more robust than the bench-tested units using USB connections.
Now, I know I can get all these things that I want in commercially available units. I can buy a TPMS system that supports 12 tires. I can buy a video camera system that supports many cameras. I can buy a media player head unit with all the bells and whistles. I can buy a laptop computer for my truck. However, each one would require a separate monitor and control unit in the cab of the pickup. I would have monitors and buttons all over the place! Or I could just pay the $85,000 price tag for a new truck.
It would be so much nicer if I could get all these things in one package with OAP. That's what I was hoping to accomplish when I bought OAP.
In short, I would like to see OAP put more effort into giving OAP functionalities that compare with what one gets in a late model vehicle, rather than spending so much time/effort on making it a cool media player. If you can do that, you won't have any trouble getting subscribers or funding projects. Kudos, by the way, on implementing OBDII. Can we get TPMS next, please?
So there's my wish list. I know, I know...TLDR.