Talking Car Project #6: Stereo Rooted With New Rom

I knew once I hit my stride that things would be flowing at a more steady pace.  The stereo is going to be the brain of the car and how it will be able to speak, accept, and execute commands.  The way this works is by using specific apps within the Android platform.  However the version of Android that it came with the stereo from the factory was not very good.  Aside from that, for my needs I needed the device to be rooted so I could take full advantage of the device and how it controls my vehicle.

I knew what I had would not work since the system had many app crashes.  So, I did what I have done countless others of times.  I did an absurd amount of reading on how to root the stereo so I would not brick it.   Finally,  I learned that I had to root the stereo a specific way with a specific firmware.  If I was off in my calculations or firmware version, it would have bricked it.  If I choose the correct firmware but had the incorrect resolution, I would brick it.  Needless-to-say that was not an option since I have been waiting to pull off this project for a very long time.

I guess you can say I figured it out.

Talking Car Project Entry #5: Ready To Begin

I have reached a much-needed milestone.  This project became an idea in my head well over a year ago.  Little did I know that one day I would be proactive in making it a reality.  I have to admit, I have had many trials and tribulations to get to this point.  However I know that was nothing compared to what lies ahead.  Hell, technically I haven't even made one line of code as of this moment.

No worries though, I have worked most of it out inside my head.  I just had to get everything squared away first before I could begin.




Up next, now I have to root the stereo so I can put the apps I need on it.

Talking Car Project Entry #4: Frustration And Delays

If someone were to ask me my greatest weakness, the answer would be simple.  I want things to swiftly happen and at my pace.  I have always said that the world move entirely too slow for me.  If my brain functions 100 miles per second, it is understandable that I also want life to move at an equal pace.

I have been delayed on getting started with the actual coding and programming of the project until i get the cosmetics squared away.  For the first 2 weeks after getting the stereo installed (which will be the cars brain so-to-speak) I had ran into issues with my reverse camera and also my front-facing camera as well.

I had finally gotten those issues squared away and resolved, and my last cosmetic task was to get the dash kit installed to make it look the right way.  While I waited for my dash and bezel to be shipped, it has an awful gap on both sides of the stereo.  The first bezel I purchased on Amazon did not work. Aggravated, I went to Custom Sounds and purchased the correct one.

The man told me "This will fit, it fits all double din radio."  Needless to say, when it arrived 2 days late, it did not fit.  So naturally, I was upset.  The fabricator suggested that I deal with it and leave the gaps in the dash.  I sternly gave him a "hell no".

So now here I am again, waiting.  I reached out to the manufacturer whom I purchased the stereo from and asked them to send me a different model.  Told them I would send back my stereo and pay the difference.

The problem is, this company is in China and I have already experienced a mass amount of incompetence from this company.  I. Am. Not. Happy.

I refuse to get started on the coding and programming of this project until it looks right.  I am quite relieved I did this because had I jumped the gun and rooted the stereo, and began... it would have been a loss to be since the warranty would have been voided.

I am here, and my project is delayed another few weeks until I receive the new head unit.

Again....

I.  Am.  Not.  Happy.

Talking Car Project: Entry #3 External Sound

I had purchased an external PA speaker that came in the mail.  I figured, in theory this should work.  The goal of this is to get the car to talk outside the car upon command.  To accomplish this I purchased a PA speaker with a 3.5 jack at the end of it.  I would then plug in a bluetooth adapter that would essentially make the speaker have bluetooth capabilities.

I also wanted it to where I would also speak through the microphone array I have connected to my stereo to also come out the external speaker upon command.  It is obvious that I would not want all audio from stereo or my microphone to come out externally, this is why giving it bluetooth was ideal so I could control what comes out the external speakers.

Granted I still have much work to do in regards to this project and much coding/programming however this is way cool.  I have other priorities so I cannot test, mount, and configure it just yet.

This is getting interesting.

Talking Car Project: Entry #2

I cannot say just how surreal this is for me.  I am slowly gaining traction on a project I have wanted to do for what seems like years.

If anyone has read my previous entries or have followed me on social media, you will probably know that I have been adapt in making my home smart.  I have demonstrated my smart home on numerous occasions.  One day, I was showing a friend of mine a famous video of a guy who is demonstrating what his smart home is capable of.

This video served as an inspiration for me and what I wanted my Smart Home to be able to do.  However by the time I was showing my friend the video, it wasn't so impressive to me since my home can do almost everything in the video.  I then had a realization, why can't my vehicle be smart?  I am not always at home.  What if I could have a vehicle that could be automated and smart?

The idea swirled in my head.  After all, the notion of a smart car is nothing new.  In fact the hit TV show Knight Rider had a smart car in it.  So the notion of a smart car is nothing really new, however oddly enough not many people have ever attempted to make one.

So I decided I was going to get me a smart car.  The main question I asked myself before I proceeded any further from the planning stage was, "could I pull this off?"

I did some research and to make a long story short....

yes.

More details to come in future post.

If This Then That

The past few days I have been racking my brain on how I was going to accomplish some of the things I am working on.  It is no secret that I want to automate my home.  However this is nothing new and lots of people have done this.  In fact more and more people are beginning to do this as technology makes it more accessible.  So what was I looking to do?  Was I looking to do the same ol’ home automation that everyone else seems to be doing or do I want to do something unique?  Being who I am, unique was the only way to roll for me.

 

After some thinking, I realized this just basically boiled down to the computer programming phrase of “If This Then That”.  If THIS happens, then THAT will happen.  In laymen’s terms, you can make something happen IF a certain condition is met.  For example IF my home detected motion while I am away, THEN a text message will be sent to my phone. (This is a feature that will be set up in my home)

In my situation, it comes down to what I want and what I can pull off with the resources at my disposal.  I have been researching this sort of thing for weeks and I was extremely surprised by just how many options that are out there. The problem is, choosing one that is right for me.

I admit that I have been overwhelmed by how many options I have when it comes to IF THIS THEN THAT- so much in fact that I have been having trouble what will and what will not work for my situation.  The original idea was to have my artificial intelligent program to be the central hub of my home.  I wanted to have my home as close to a Jarvis as I could get it.  Since that initial idea, I have learned a lot when it comes to home automation.  Now, I know of programs, apps, and methods that allow me to completely omit using Denise at all.  While using Denise as my homes brain was the whole point of automating my home, there are so many methods that it is not necessary. 

Aside from everything, I recently learned of IFTTT.  IFTTT is a web site/service that was created in 2012 that allows you to automate all sorts of things using the IF.T.T.T. situation.  For example, IF you post a photo to FaceBook THEN you can have it also upload to Instagram or Twitter.  Granted this would be extremely limited in a home (unless I used a Belkin Wemo Home Automation setup) automation but still shows huge promise.

This is very cool but it just adds yet another option for me to consider.  Hopefully, in the next few weeks I will start to make decisions on what I want and what I want to do and all this won’t come off so scatterbrained.  This is going to happen however it is no where near as simple or easy as I thought.

My Home’s Brain Will Arrive In Early January

Several weeks ago I had reached out to the company who makes SmartThings and asked them to send me a unit for product review.  They agreed and said that it would arrive mid-November.  Leading up to mid-November I received an email saying that media review units were delayed and that they would not be able to send me a unit until January.  I was a little disappointed, especially since a vast amount of things involving some of my projects regarding Denise required this piece of technology.  After all, this was going to be the brains of my property and everything was going to be tied into it. 

This morning I awoke to an email from the company reassuring me that I was going to get one.  In addition, I was also told about a new mobile device app that made it even easier to control the devices in the home.  I could not be any more excited. 

First thing I am going to do aside from continue working with my home security and home automation, is get SmartThings to work alongside my smart Nest thermostat.

This this going to be awesome!

It’s Here!

This morning I awoke to find a present at my doorstep.  It appears as if my Nest Smart Thermostat has finally arrived. This is the first piece of equipment that I have received for my upcoming home automation project.

The Nest Learning Thermostat is a smart device that connects to your homes existing Wi-Fi.  It learns the patterns of how cold or warm you want your home to be and will adjust itself accordingly.  In the long-term, it claims to save cost on your electric bill.  This should come in handy especially with winter approaching.

Just as I predicted in my last post, this has renewed my resolve when it comes to my artificial intelligent projects.  I am excited, and ready to continue working towards accomplishing them.  I really do not know what had come over me yesterday.  I am fully aware of what I felt and what I wrote in the previous blog post.  This morning, I feel none of what I had felt yesterday and chalk it up to a momentary lapse in self confidence.

Additional Home Automation Ideas

I know I have not written in a few days but I honestly think it was purely justified.  I have been working away at my home automation project.  Aside from not wanting to give away too much information, I have also been working on securing the equipment that I need in order to pull this off.  So in order to bring this project to life, I need to actually acquire the equipment before I even attempt to integrate it with my artificial intelligence program.  Having said that, I will worry about how to actually get the program to control the device(s) later on.

As much as I want this project to come to life as easily and inexpensively as possible, I keep finding new devices that I could potentially add onto the project that would make the cool factor go through the roof.  One example is a device I came across that is a smart doorbell.  When the doorbell is pressed, a notification pops up on your cell phone.  The home owner then has the opportunity to respond to whomever is at the door with video and audio- even if the homeowner is not at home.



This thing is absolutely cool.  I learned that the video above is the video that was used when the company was crowdfunding in order to fund bring the device to market.  Since then it appears as if they did in fact hit their funding goal and have changed their name from iCam to Skybell.
 
Realistically this probably will not make it into the project however this is something I am definitely going to get.