Chapter 1 - Introduction 

Chapter 2 - Prerequisites

May need minor car knowledge

No software or Raspberry Pi experience required

Chapter 3 - Software Development Primer

Why these tools and processes exist, with examples of what happens when you don’t use them. Basic introduction, maybe a few minor sample projects or basic code samples.

- Test driven development (TDD)

- Testing

- Debugging

- Deployments

- Event driven programming

Chapter 4 - Project Overview

How each individual project combines to produce a larger project (car dashboard). Reasons why this doesn’t use a modern On-board diagnostics (OBD) port. How to use the individual projects outside the context of the car project.

Chapter 5 - Raspberry Pi Configuration

SSH, pulling of build artifacts, auto starting application in “kiosk” mode.

Chapter 6 - Development Environment Configuration

Chapter 7: The Heartbeat

Chapter 8 - Mini Projects

–Door/Trunk Sensors 

–Fuel Sensor

–Tire Pressure Sensors 

–Project: Speedometer 

–Project: Mileometer

–Project: Engine + Ambient Temperature Sensors 

–Project: Parking Sensors

–Project: Seat Belt Sensors

–Project: Trip Computer

Chapter 9 - Installation

Covers ventilation/cooling, enclosure manufacture, mounting of display, hardening to handle sudden loss of power, security considerations, emergency power, power circuit, and car installation.

Chapter 10 - Wrapping Up

Future improvements, troubleshooting steps, alternative solutions. Advice on getting started as a software developer, and how to apply these skills learned to other software projects or any other challenges faced.

Joseph Coburn is an experienced computer science teacher, writer, editor, and software developer. His work has been shared by Adobe, Lifehacker, and the Arduino foundation. His code is used by thousands of people daily. And he is well versed with designing, implementing, and troubleshooting complex software systems. The opportunity to share with and teach software development skills in Python and with the Raspberry Pi hits the sweet-spot of software and teaching. 

Create your own car engine control unit (ECU) with a simple Raspberry PI while building the necessary skills to produce future more advanced projects. Once you've worked through the projects in this book, you'll have a smart car and the coding knowledge needed to develop advanced hardware and software projects.