Adding menus to Bolero - Possible?

[Papfox]

Hi,

 

I'm just looking at designing a piece of equipment to go in my car and I'd really like to integrate its operation with the car. Does anyone know if it's possible for something on the CANbus or connected to the Bolero in some other way to display screens it generates on the Bolero and collect inputs from the touch screen and rotary controls please? Being able to put something to define the interaction on the Bolero SD card then send data from it to the device would also be acceptable in my application.

 

Thanks,

Paul.

[BlackMountainYeti]

On 27/03/2019 at 20:59, Papfox said:

Does anyone know if it's possible for something on the CANbus or connected to the Bolero in some other way to display screens it generates on the Bolero and collect inputs from the touch screen and rotary controls please?

 

I believe it's possible. My car has an aftermarket bluetooth unit that seems to do something similar to what you're talking about. I believe lower spec versions of some cars had a Bolero fitted but no bluetooth, so you have the button for a phone but it doesn't do anything. It looks like a previous owner added a unit made by Dension. This provides bluetooth phone connectivity and I get the usual type of info on the Bloero screen (phonebook, call buttons, caller ID etc).

 

Sorry I can't help much more in terms of how the units are connected - I suspect it's CANbus but I'm not sure. Dension publish their install manual on their website so you can take a look at the info for current units. The direct link for one of them is:

 

https://www.dension.com/files/products/gateway_pro_bt_-_install_guide_0.pdf

 

It looks to me like it connects to CANbus but I'm no expert. I do note that it contains the following text under section 7:

 

Quote

On CAN BAP based systems (like RCD310, 510 or RNS510) the Pro emulates the factory MDI (Multimedia Interface) and Telephone option which needs to be coded since Model Year 2011.

 

Of course to do what you're proposing you'd need to know about programming for the Bolero/MDI so you can send and receive data in the right formats. If you can do that sort of stuff I'm well impressed...

 

 

 

Edited 1 April, 2019 by BlackMountainYeti

[langers2k]

I expect it'll only show screens that are included in the Bolero software. None of the touchscreen or rotary controls should end up on the CAN-bus as there is no reason for them to.

 

However, there are 3rd party 'add-in' boards that connect between the LCD screen and main board to allow alternative screens to be shown. They certainly support the touchscreen and I doubt it would be hard to snoop the rotary controls too.

 

You might want to add what you're trying to achieve as there might be alternative ways...

[Papfox]

Thank you both.

 

One of my other hobbies is amateur radio. My mobile amateur transceiver can be controlled over an RS232 serial connection plugged into its accessory connector. The protocol to control the radio and surface metering from it is well documented and Linux software to do it is freely available.

 

In a perfect world I'd like to achieve the following:

• Mount the amateur radio gear in the boot out of sight so I don't end up with brackets and control panels spoiling the look of the car interior.
• Install a Raspberry Pi or small microcontroller in the boot to control the radio.
• Craft a touchscreen and rotary control interface to display on the Bolero to provide access to the functions I want from the radio in the boot via the microcontroller.
• Use the phone kit mic and speaker link for the receive and transmit 2-way audio.
• Capture button presses from the MSFW phone buttons to operate the PTT and mute on the transceiver.

 

Thanks again,

Paul.