Tag Archive for: raspberry pi

Some of our customers want to do more than wire up a set of switches. They want to build their own way to control their Infinitybox system — a custom interface, a custom dashboard, their own logic — and make their vehicle truly one of a kind. The Next Generation IPM1 Kit was designed to welcome exactly that kind of creativity.

The entire Next Generation System runs on J1939, the same robust CAN protocol trusted across the heavy-duty and commercial vehicle world. We publish the J1939 messages that command the MASTERCELL NGX, POWERCELL NGX, inMOTION NGX and inVIEW modules, which means a builder who wants to create their own controller has a clear, documented path to do it. Want to drive the system from a touchscreen? A custom panel? Something no one has tried yet? The door is open.

Here is a customer who walked right through it.

A Builder-Designed Touchscreen Console

The custom touchscreen interface for “Shameless,” a 1967 C10, with controls for windows, ignition, starter, and lighting.

Brook B. at White Post Restorations wanted something clean, modern, and entirely his own for the center console of a truck build. So he designed it — a portrait-mounted 10.1″ Greenworks touchscreen running on a Raspberry Pi, with a custom interface he created to control the vehicle’s electrical system.

The result is elegant. Tap an element on the screen, and the corresponding function comes to life through his Infinitybox system. No bank of physical switches. No cluttered dash. Just a sleek, intuitive display that looks like it belongs in a vehicle costing many times more.

How He Connected It

This is where the open architecture of the IPM1 Kit shines. Brook had more than one path available to him, and that flexibility is the whole point.

He chose to drive the inputs on his MASTERCELL NGX directly, using an MCP23017 I/O expander on a development board. The touch elements on his screen trigger the expander, the expander drives the MASTERCELL NGX inputs, and the system responds. Clean and direct.

Another option would have been a CAN hat for the Raspberry Pi, connecting straight to our J1939 network and sending messages directly to the system. Both approaches work. Both are open to any builder. The choice comes down to what fits your project best — and that is precisely the freedom we want our customers to have.

The Role of AI

Here is the part that would have sounded like science fiction a few years ago. Brook used AI tools to help write the code that builds his screens and controls the entire system. He did not need to be a career software engineer. He had a vision, a set of modern tools, and a system designed to be controlled — and he brought it all together.

This is the new world opening up for builders. Affordable, powerful platforms like Raspberry Pi and Arduino, combined with AI-assisted coding, are putting custom vehicle control within reach of anyone willing to experiment. Pair those tools with a system that was built to be controlled, and the creative possibilities multiply.

This Is What Flexibility Looks Like

We did not build Brook’s touchscreen. He did. We simply built a system flexible enough to say yes to it.

That is the philosophy behind the entire Next Generation System: flexibility, functionality, and simplicity. Give builders a solid, reliable foundation, publish the messages that control it, and then get out of the way so they can create.

Brook’s console is one example. Yours could be the next.

Ready to Build Something of Your Own?

If you are dreaming up a custom way to control your vehicle — a touchscreen, a custom controller, an integration we have not even thought of yet — start with the IPM1 Kit. Then reach out to us. We are always happy to talk through the options for expanding how you control your car.

Get your IPM1 Kit today, and let’s see what you build.

Call us at (847) 232-1991 or visit infinitybox.com to get started.