AutoPi.io - Blog

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We blog about our adventures in making the AutoPi. We all have one or more Raspberry Pi's, most of us have cars, and we all share the love for cool tech projects.

Read and reset fault codes from your vehicle

The AutoPi IoT platform is much more than your regular OBD-II dongle. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t able to perform all of the same things a regular OBD-II dongle does (plus much more). One of the common things you would do is to read out details about fault codes in your vehicle. In this blog we will go over the details on how this is done with the AutoPi and how you can combine fault codes with triggers to make automatic alerts..... Read more

by autopi on Sept. 28, 2017, 11:57 a.m.

Discover hidden functions in your car (using CAN bus sniffing)

All modern vehicles today is controlled by multiple Electronic Control Units (ECU), which you can think of as small computers controlling all electrical components in your car. Using the OBD-II port and an AutoPi it is possible to communicate with the ECUs. One of the ECU’s is called the Engine Control Module (ECM). This is responsible for communication with a lot of subsystems, like transmission, power steering, windows and doors. These sub.... Read more

by autopi on Sept. 21, 2017, 2:22 p.m.

Speak to your car with Google Assistant - almost like K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could speak to your car and give it commands? We remember our childhood in the last millennium where Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff) and his intelligent Pontiac Trans Am named K.I.T.T. solved crime together. While we may not be able to have a meaningful conversation with our car just yet, it’s now a possibility to talk to your car and give it commands to execute. We are here giving a short introduction to how thi.... Read more

by autopi on Sept. 15, 2017, 11:37 a.m.

How-to build a Raspberry Pi touch screen car computer

Integrated car computers are not only for expensive cars like the Tesla Model X nor is it only for complex car DIY projects that require you to have a degree in engineering. Not many people know how easy it is; by combining a few components it is possible to make it for any car. Follow this guide to see how it can be done..... Read more

by autopi on Sept. 8, 2017, 11:08 a.m.

Build your own Black Ice Detection system for your car using AutoPi

The term “Black ice” refer to a winter phenomenon, where a layer of ice on the road is so thin it becomes transparent and thus appears “black” from the road below. This is a very common situation during winter times and can create hazardous situations for vehicles and pedestrians. The phenomenon often occurs when the temperature is right around freezing point and when a light rain hits a road surface which is below freezing point..... Read more

by autopi on Aug. 21, 2017, 1:18 p.m.

Saving your car interior on a hot day - Making a cabin overheating protection system using AutoPi

Studies show that on a hot summer day the temperature inside your vehicle will rise dramatically within just 10 minutes after you parked. HeatKill.org reports that with an outside temperature of 27 C (80 F), the inside temperature could rise to as high as 37 C (99 F) after just 10 minutes. The inside of your car becomes an oven roasting your interior. The sun will permanently damage the color and look of everything it touches, thereby degrading .... Read more

by autopi on July 7, 2017, 11:36 a.m.

Safely lend out your car with Parental Control and Teen Driver Mode from AutoPi

So your teenage son (or daughter) just received his driver’s licence after a period of learning. But you keep worrying about the skills and experience your son have. Will he be able to handle hazardous traffic situations? Will he be able to keep calm and maintain eyes on the road? And you are right to worry, the most common cause of death among teens are caused by driving related incidents. When we are in our younger ages we feel more invincible .... Read more

by autopi on July 4, 2017, 9:46 a.m.

How to easily add remote theft detection to your car

Your car is a valuable and expensive asset. Even with full insurance a car theft can be a cumbersome and expensive affair. But how can you help prevent theft of your car and possibly avoid an increased insurance premium? In this blog post, we explorer the possibilities to get remote theft detection, using the AutoPi platform..... Read more

by autopi on April 28, 2017, 8:55 a.m.

Is my car compatible with AutoPi?

How can you be sure your car is compatible with the AutoPi? In this blog, we give you a short introduction to the OBD standard, the location of the port and how to check if your car has support for the AutoPi..... Read more

by autopi on April 21, 2017, 3:19 p.m.

What is AutoPi and What Does It Do?

Get a short introduction to how AutoPi works and what it does for you. We will cover some of the technical details but also give a brief overview of the use case scenarios for this IoT device, like theft detection and remote safety monitoring. Get a felling of the AutoPi IoT platform and hardware dongle..... Read more

by autopi on April 11, 2017, 3:59 p.m.

Using a Raspberry Pi Zero as an IoT platform for your car

Internet of Things (IoT) is a popular buzzword in the tech/gadget community. The concept is that all the devices in our everyday life can be online/connected to the Internet 24/7, and thereby help to improve and make our lives more efficient. This includes our light bulbs, kitchen appliances, TVs, alarm and heating systems etc. All our "things" should be able to communicate with each other and be controlled from everywhere in order to achieve a m.... Read more

by autopi on March 10, 2017, 1:35 p.m.

Switching from Raspberry Compute to Raspberry Zero

During the design phase of the AutoPi, it was decided to use the Raspberry Compute Module. The Raspberry Compute Module is small, versatile and expandable in a lot of ways, which suited the AutoPi project perfect. All the pinouts from the Broadcom BCM2835 processor is available through the SODIMM DDR2 interface on the Compute Module. This gave us a lot of possibilities during the design phase of the AutoPi and therefore the Compute module was an .... Read more

by peter on Feb. 14, 2017, 7:26 p.m.