xterra-overland-dashboard/docs/architecture.md

Xterra Overland Power & Monitoring Dashboard

Purpose

A custom monitoring and control system for a Nissan Xterra using a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W dashboard interface and an ESP32 cargo-area controller.

The system provides:

• House battery monitoring
• Fridge monitoring
• Temperature monitoring
• Power control
• Alarm management
• Future vehicle telemetry

Dashboard Module

Hardware

• Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W
• 3.5" SPI Capacitive Touchscreen
• UART-over-CAT5 communications
• WiFi backup communications

Responsibilities

• Touchscreen user interface
• Local web dashboard
• Alarm display
• Configuration management
• Relay control interface
• Data visualization

Cargo Module

Hardware

• ESP32 Relay Controller
• UART-over-CAT5 interface
• House Battery Interface
• DS18B20 Temperature Sensor Bus
• Bosch Relay Drivers

Responsibilities

• Sensor collection
• Relay control
• Alarm processing
• Communications server
• Configuration storage

Communications

Primary:

• UART over CAT5

Backup:

• WiFi HTTP API

Future:

• MQTT
• Home Assistant
• Grafana
• InfluxDB

Future Expansion

• JBD/Xiaoxiang BLE Battery Monitoring
• OBD-II
• CAN Bus
• GPS
• Trip Logging
• Fuel Level
• Coolant Temperature
• RPM
• Starlink Diagnostics