Current state of Remote LCD/VFD control?

I recently bought a new car. The included stereo has so many fully integrated features with the vehicle, I hesitate to remove it in favor of the empeg, but I'd really like to install the empeg as a aux source. Problem is, as with many, no dash space left to do so. I DO have a space I could mount a slim, and/or smaller remote display.

I searched, beacause I recall a long time ago there were some users, altman, V99, others that had build at least to some level remote working VFD/LCD displays driven serially. Times they have a changed, and we are now in 2012. I see quite a few of us wanting some way to remote mount the empeg, if for no other reason than there is STILL nothing better for music play and management. Period.

(I keep waiting for someone somewhere to write an android app that works with music like the empeg does... I need to become a dev I think..)

Anyway, anyone know the current state of any of these projects? Is it possible to run a display serially? Ethernet? I see this thread:

http://empegbbs.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/140571/8

and related ones, that indicate that V99 did in fact make this work. I see the noratake dispays are available for $30. Id prefer a reverse LCD actually, since that would match the car better. I see that there were also some pretty cool projects to view/control the payer from a web browser via ethernet.

Just trying to think out loud, whats the current EASIEST and cheapest way to remotely control the empeg, with display (even if its slow/choppy) for trunk mounting? My VFD has seen better days anyway, so I wouldnt miss looking at it directly...

Yes, someone produced a very nice display extender, which allows you to remove the display board from your unit and mount it several feet away from the unit. Here's the original thread.

It was a bit pricey and there was only a limited run of them. At the time, I purchased a set of unpopulated boards so that if I needed it in the future, I could have one, but I ended up selling it with my last empeg.

Here's one in the for sale section. Not sure if it's still available.

We have a couple unpopulated extender boards we could build if you're interested.

Stu

In addition to the rare hardware extenders (I have a fully assembled one on the shelf here..), yes you can access the display and controls over ethernet. This requires the Hijack kernel and a few extra html/css bits, and it works rather well in most web browsers -- probably even from an android phone.

OK, did some more digging. The car is a 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe. Above the stock radio stack, on top of the dash, is a "storage bin". This is also the location for the center speaker in the high-end sound systems (which I do not have nor want).

Picture

You can sorta see it there, on top of that pic.

I removed the bin and the empeg would JUST fit if I were to slide it down in at an angle. Im thinking of custom crafting a "pod" for the empeg. I want this to be a permanent mount, I dont care about removing it (have wifi set up already).

Thinking I wish I had the ability to craft a new bezel, eliminating the handle etc. I guess I could give it a go with a bandsaw and some sheet aluminum or plastic.

Any thoughts about this insanity? Im thinking a pod, rounded to match the style of the dash, that blends back into the dash. Cover it all with simulated leather texture or perhaps just paint silver to match the car radio area.

If I cant do this, then the display extender would surely fit. The empeg itself will be tight, no sled possible, but I think I can make it work.

It looks doable. Might involve a lot of trial and error to get a good fit that matches the look of the interior, though. The display extender would be a cleaner, simpler install, but will add a lot of cost.

I'm sort of in the same boat, though I don't really have anywhere to put the empeg in the dash, so it's probably display extender or nothing for me.

Did some more playing last night. Thinking I can remove the top section of the dash stack, it just contains the clock and some idiot light for the passenger airbag. That gains me almost exactly a 1 DIN area. I'd just need to design a cover/pod and bezel.

Any ideas if there are round buttons that would work, like the EMPEG mark 1 had? Would make designing a new lens and bezel a lot easier.

If you have a 1 DIN, why not just pop the empeg in there?

I know Farnell/Newark has round buttons that fit the switches. I think the Mark 1 buttons came from Farnell. The switches are Multimec 3F Series Round Pushbutton Switches.

frog51 - well, its not really a 1DIN. Its the top of the radio stack, which is a clock, and also is covered by moulding that "melds" into the dash. Id have to replicate and modify that moulding somehow, and make a big enough opening for the display and buttons. Not an easy task, and Im considering other options.

As much as I HATE to even say this, because I love my empeg dearly, I wish there was an ipod or android music app that mimicked most of the functionality of the empeg software. Nowdays its not the hardware anymore, but the software of the empeg that is so perfect for car use.

down down down shuffles, wendy lists, enqueue, gapless playback, crossfade, parametric eq, etc. Seems to me as a non-dev that this should be totally do-able in a modern device.... Heck Id love to learn how to code JUST to work on such a project. Even a windows or "regular" linux port would let us make a carputer with a 7" screen and all the other DVD/GPS goodies of today.

Before you jump into the deep end of the pool, ask Hugo how many man-hours they put into emplode and the firmware for the player. The answer may surprise you.

tanstaafl.

While it is true that they sunk a lot of man years in the project. It is also true that a large part of what they did wouldn't need to be done if you were starting it now. You'd be starting from a very different place than they were if you built on the base of something like iOS or Android (from both a hardware and software point of view).

Hardware and software has moved on. Just the simple fact that hardware is dramatically faster would save you lots of time spent endlessly optimising stuff to get it to work with the CPU power available.

And I'll bet Roger could write emplode in no time nowadays

N.B. to be clear, I'm not claiming it would be a trivial task now, just significantly easier

But how do you keep your eyes on the road while doing a down down down, when there's no tactile response on your touchscreen device? The answer is, you don't. The empeg is awesome because of *both*. Touch-screen in cars is only a good idea when the only person operating it is the passenger.

Right. I am glad my new car lets me access the most important functions with the steering wheel controls, because having to fiddle with the touchscreen is a nuisance. If there was an empeg app for my Android phone, I don't think I'd use it unless I could somehow interface the steering wheel controls with it. Trying to hunt for buttons on a 4" or so screen while you're driving is a recipe for disaster.

Oh, by no means was I trying to imply it would be "easy", just that it seems it would be totally different now. And I totally agree that touch screens really have no place in a car - for the driver anyway. But again, thinking about what makes the empeg great as opposed to an ipod or other MP3 player, or even most if not all in car entertainment systems is... what? IMO its:

- Database driven, not relying on just MP3 tags at runtime
- Tactile easy to use interface, that is logical, customizable to a certain extent, and most importantly relatively safe to use while driving
- The features of the player software. I.e. how it works. Shuffle mode, the various ways playlists work, and of course things like crossfade, EQ, realtime volume normalization, etc.

Again, not a dev, but been in IT for close to 30 years. Built the proverbial heathkit stuff as a kid. Hack and tinker with anything, etc. It just seems that starting with a new platform, once could design a "player app" that has all that we love about the empeg, perhaps even hardware controls (steering wheel, bluetooth, who knows).

I kinda think about an empeg Gen3. A newer "carputer" platform, one of the available single board PCs, use whatever display works. Use whatever input method works (keyboard - via bluetooth? Custom designed "keyboard" which is really more like an IR remote or button set that uses BT to talk to the PC and could be mounted anywhere? Part of the display/2DIN part? Something like the old Sony stalk? Just tossing out ideas). Perhaps all written on Android? Newer Linux? Windows Moblie?

Pipe dream Im sure, but really, I STILL havent found anything that is just plain as GOOD as the empeg. Nothing. Still planning to somehow hack it into my dash, but its not going to be easy...

Wow. Found this place while searching for double DIN kits:

http://www.autotux.com/2010-santa-fe-dash-monitor-surround-kit/

Looks like they make a double DIN "pod" to replace the top storage compartment, exactly where I want to mount the empeg. Trouble is of course - its DOUBLE DIN. Pondering buying it and slicing it down to single DIN. Would be by far the nicest install I can imagine for the Empeg. Either that or it's possibly considering moving on (BACK) to a carpc and something like Cerntrafuse or RoadRunner. CF is quite usable, nice looking, and uses a database driven interface similar to but not as good as the empeg.

Maybe I'm totally off here, but this thread got me thinking. Technology has come a little ways since the Empegs and even the remote display adapters were designed. Looking at this in 2012, could you build a similar remote display with something like an Arduino?
Given that you can control the Empeg over ethernet, and there seem to be Arduino programs to access web pages, and programs to drive display screens, could you throw a few together and make a network based display extender? You wouldn't get the animations or anything like that, but anything that's accessible over the web page might work.

I have absolutely no experience with Arduinos, and don't need a remote display (I took off my facia and knobs and hid my Empeg behind some plexiglas and just use the remote) but the idea came to mind so I thought I'd put it out there.

We actually would (or should) get the animations over a network display --> the current (Hijack) web interface to the empeg already does this, so anything else network-based should be able to achieve it as well.

It's not 100% real-time, but close enough so as not to matter for most purposes.

I guess I have to start looking seriously into Arduino to solve empeg integration problems in my new car, like this guy did to read his car's CAN bus to interpret steering wheel controls for his stereo using this CAN bus shield.