A free and open source vehicle headunit
What is PILOT Drive?
PILOT Drive is a fully open-source head unit/infotainment system built in Python 3.11 + Vue 3. It is intended to be ran on a Single Board Computer (SBC), such as the Raspberry Pi 4.
Why PILOT Drive?
Built to be hacked
PILOT Drive designed to be hackable through means of:
- Common languages/frameworks: Python is one of the most common & easy to learn languages, while the UI uses easy to read Vue Single File Components. Both of these make all current functionality easily tweakable.
- Modularity: The main features of PILOT Drive are contained as modular "services" that can be almost plug-and-play.
- Fully open source codebase: While some alternatives claim openness, most don't actually deliver after a certain threshold. PILOT Drive will always be open and free to use.
Privacy
"Big Data" has specifically been working to target the automotive industry lately. This is gross to say the least
- In a stock Android Auto/Apple CarPlay headunit, a plethora of data is collected and sold such as:
- Personal identifiers
- Biometrics
- Location data and driving habits
- Data synced from a connected device
- PILOT Drive will never collect or sell any of your information, and will always be open source to ensure this.
Features
In it's current implementation, PILOT Drive can:
- Play, display, and control audio from sources like bluetooth
- Display live data from a connected vehicle
- Show notifications from connected iOS & Android devices
- Control and display connected backup cameras
- Tailor the UI to the user's tastes with customizable themes and display settings
- Integrate with the PILOT Drive HAT for a seamless in-vehicle experience.
Documentation
The WIP documentation can be found here.
Want to contribute?
The project can always use an assist! You can contribute via...
- Bug reports/feature suggestions: Let your voice be heard! Help refine the project by finding bugs and giving your ideas on where the project should go.
- Sponsor the project: Use PILOT Drive? Want to provide the project with more resources? Sponsor the project to ensure it can continue to be developed. Any and all amounts help!
- Contribute code: Put your name on PILOT Drive and get your beautiful code merged into the codebase! For ideas on what to work on, check out the issues or roadmap!
For more info on contributing, see the contribution guidelines
Is PILOT Drive stable?
PILOT Drive is certainly not fully stable. So far, it's been a passion project with limited diversity of developer opinions/expertise. Unit/E2E testing is very little at the time of writing, and it hasn't been tried on many different machines and environments. If you're looking for something that will "just work", check out these alternatives:
What's it look like?
Here's a taste of PILOT Drive, with the default sherbet theme:
A connected bluetooth device (here "Wes's iPhone") playing "Drones Over Bklyn" - classic
Live vehicle data stream from a bluetooth connect OBDII reader
A notification from the IOS device connected via Bluetooth
The simple settings of PILOT Drive - soon to be more customizable
Notes
- Version: PILOT Drive is version 0.2.0, but in my heart it's v2.0. This is because I jumped the gun on my previous iteration - labeling a totally unstable and unorganized PILOT Drive v1. This version is the definition of a second iteration, but semver says different because of how much it will still likely change and be refactored.
- Stability: It's likely there's quite a few bugs within this release of PILOT Drive. A lot will change as features are added and existing ones are refined. Please have patience with all of this, and if there is something you want fixed or added, feel free to take a stab at adding it!
- Legal Disclaimer: Be aware of your local laws regarding in-vehicle entertainment/infotainment. Be safe! lamemakes and any other PILOT Drive contributors are not responsible for any unsafe driving due to the headunit and recommend against use while driving.
