Summary of Car Dash Tablet
This project integrates an Android tablet into a 2014 VW Polo dashboard to replace the stock radio, enabling apps like Google Maps and Spotify. The system uses an Arduino Mega and a CANbus shield to interpret steering wheel commands (volume, mute) via Bluetooth. A DC converter powers the tablet continuously from the car's 12V supply, while a custom panel adapter secures the device in place.
Parts used in the Car Dash Tablet Project:
- An amplifier
- A canbus shield
- An Arduino Mega
- A bluetooth module
- A panel Adapter
- A 12V to 5V dc converter
Putting a tablet in car dash.This project was on my mind for a long time.Somehow I couldn’t find any free time to build this project. But now I have done it and I’ll tell you how.
My car is a VW Polo (2014 ) and don’t have any bluetooth connectivity with smartphones or so. And also it doesn’t have any GPS Navigation applications. So my purpose was to put a tablet instead of the useless car radio. With an Android tablet I was going to have Google Maps, Spotify ,Yandex , FM radio or lets say every android app you can imagine.This is the answer of “why should I put a tablet in my car.”
Lets begin.
Step 1: Parts That I Needed
An amplifier.Because my car’s radio includes an amp and when I took out stock car radio I also removed the amplifier in it.
A canbus shield.A canbus shield is necessary to be able to read can-bus commands from canbus line.Can bus line includes some of the car informations. I used this shield for detecting wheel button commands like Volume Up, Mute and Volume Down buttons. Behind the car radio there are two can bus cables. One of them is Canbus – HIGH and the other is Canbus-LOW. This cables must be connected to green sockets on SeeedStudio canbus shield.
An Arduino Mega
Arduino mega is responsible for parsing canbus data and send them to Android tablet. Sending data to Android tablet is some really complicated work because at first I decided to use an USB Host Shield and I have done all my work according to that.But it turns out USB Host shield and Canbus shield cannot work simultaneously because both of them using SPI to communicate with the Arduino over same pin.I tried to change the pin which is used by USB Host shield but it didn’t work.So I removed USB Host Shield and used a bluetooth module to communicate Android tablet.
And A panel Adapter
This is a panel adapter for my car and my car’s model.I put Android tablet in this adapter.It looks fine.I have bought it from ebay.
Step 2: Gathering the System
After gathering these items the final system is like picture above.
This system looks complicated but this is how my multimedia player works. A 12V to 5V dc converter is necessary to be able to charge the Android tablet. My car never cuts down power so the tablet is always %100 charged.It will never turn off. So I don’t need to make changes to tablet like powering on when the charger connected.This is not necessary in my case.
Lets continue with the programming.My favorite part.
Read more: Car Dash Tablet
- Why did the author put a tablet in the car?
To replace the useless car radio and access apps like Google Maps, Spotify, Yandex, and FM radio. - How are steering wheel button commands detected?
The canbus shield reads commands from the car's canbus line to detect volume and mute buttons. - Why was the USB Host Shield removed from the project?
It could not work simultaneously with the Canbus shield because both use SPI communication on the same pins. - What method was used to communicate with the Android tablet instead of USB?
A bluetooth module was used to send data from the Arduino to the Android tablet. - How is the Android tablet powered in this setup?
A 12V to 5V dc converter charges the tablet directly from the car's power supply. - Does the tablet turn off when the car is running?
No, the car never cuts down power, so the tablet remains at 100% charge and never turns off. - Where was the panel adapter for the tablet purchased?
The author bought the panel adapter specifically for their car model from eBay. - What specific car model was used for this project?
The project was built on a 2014 VW Polo that lacked Bluetooth and GPS navigation.
